Chaos Sonic

“What’s the saying? Power corrupts? Or is it the desire for power that corrupts people? It’s difficult to tell when so many people can do so many different things, I suppose.” Override listened intently to every word that was spoken, understanding the ins and outs (the best he could). Luckily he had P.I.X.E.L. to assist in the case he failed to catch up on something, the A.I. assistant recording the entire conversation for an easy access to play back afterwards. However, after a while, he received a new message. If anyone noticed, they would've noticed him tapping the side of his armored head. What's the message...? he thought, watching it finally appear on his HUD. And what it was...wasn't great. It was from Victor himself at G3... "Got an actual fucking S-Class this time. Caesar just declared war on the city. Drop what you're doing and get to Goodale Park. That's our new base of operations for this. Escort any VIPs with you." ...oh no... Override read the message that was pulled up on his visuals. ...at a time like this? Shit...okay, it's okay, so long as nothing happens right now at this location, we should be fi-... “Oh dear. It looks like we’re interrupting something.” The armored hero cursed under his breath, seeing Hellhound make an appearance...as well as four more Gibbons members made the scene. The display gave him the names from the G3 Database.... Censer, the one who looked like a type of ninja.... Lucky Cat, the one with the cat ears... Arcturus, the blonde one... and Vambrace, the one with the interesting machinery on his arm. He stood up, assessing the situation they had right now. Currently, it was Hellhound and four of the Gibbons' members...with himself, Thessa, Sybil and the Archangel. The plan right now, according to Victor, was to get to Goodale Park and escort VIPs to that location. BGM “Archangel Lailah, by order of Scarlet City’s new hegemon, Caesar of the Gibbons Gang, you are to step down as leader of the Apostles effective immediately.” “No.” "Kids these days...Hey, Miss Angel, sorry but I might end up breaking your church a lil bit." "so which of you sinners wanna go first?" It seemed like the others were all fired up for this...but instead of joining in with the banter, Override made a move. "I do hope you'll forgive any property damage from our side, Archangel." he quickly said, before immediately lifting his right arm towards Hellhound and immediately shot a pulse bolt straight towards them, making sure to only hit the person...not the dog. The moment the pulse bolt shot out, Censer made the next move, moving immediately in front of Hellhound and slamming a smoke bomb down in front of them. The pulse bolt passed through the smoke without hitting them...and slammed right into a church wall. "...perfect..." Override finally groaned, lowering his hand for a moment. "...now I'm aiding in desecrating a church. Bad enough I'm a lapsed saint...now I get to burn as well." This just wasn't his day, though he rolled his shoulders some, noticing both Hellhound and Censer making a rush towards them. "Make sure the Archangel is secured. If anything, get out of here and go to the rendezvous point! I'll cover you!" And so, Override had his repulsors flare to life as he rushed towards the two.

Ziun hated this...one moment he was perfectly fine and out of the hulking creature's way, the next moment he blinked, this creature was barrelling down on top of him in a massive bear hug attack. He basically had his life flash before his eyes...this was NOT how he thought he'd go out...then again, Ziun wasn't going to go out like this at all. Not after losing Robin the floor before...he said he was going keep on for the two of them, and he meant it! But the question became...how would he possibly be able to get out? It was getting so bad that the bard was currently sweating like a mad dog. Wait...sweating...? The gears began to turn in his mind, which caused him to sweat even more with all the thinking and mind racing. Ziun started to wriggle in the hulking creature's arms, doing his best to break free from the creature's grasp. The sweat, surprisingly, seeped through his clothing to the point where he was just basically...a sweaty mess. "The one time...my fear...has come in handy!" he groaned, still wriggling further within the hulking beast's arms. Eventually...the wriggling began to work and after a moment or two, he finally got to a point where his arms were free, now able to finally push himself out of the arms of the beast. "G-Gah..." he huffed, scrambling away from the creature. "N-No offense to you, but if one is to touch me like that specifically...they need to at least buy me a drink first!" He now watched as the hulking beast was on it's knees after the whole situation. Ziun took the opportunity to make a move, thanks to Estelle's reinforcement to his rapier, he swung it a bit before striking at the hulking beast, making more and more gashes along the beast's arms and even it's sides. "Such an uncivilized creature...I swear."

There I am, Turn the Page

Obligatory/obvious interest drop...considering we already talked about it.

Gene watched the Axe Guardian, hearing the subtle but growing louder humming from the weapon He couldn't exactly tell what this was, but it was something he had to keep an ear out for. But he couldn't really focus too much on that, what with the Guardian currently slamming the axe into the ground and sending another thunderous clap axe slam. This wasn't good...he couldn't afford to be knocked back down by something like this again. "W-Water Wall!" Gene shouted, throwing his hand in front of him, holding his upper arm as the sigil on his hand began to glow. Between him and the oncoming reverberations appeared another wall of water. "Shitshitshit..." he groaned, moving back a bit. The wall of water would provide a negation to some of the reverberation, sure, but right now he needed to distance himself from the wall. After getting a bit further away from it, Gene watched it shatter against the weight of the reverberations. But the plus side: he was alive still. A sigh of relief was breathed at this. But they weren't out of the woods yet. "E-engulf in draconian flames! Just....lose already, ugh!" Luckily, Sabrina was shooting it with a fireball, though the elemental affinity here wasn't exactly helping in the long run. Nevertheless, he was glad she was doing something to keep the guardian busy. Gene decided to take this opportunity to strike again at the guardian...especially while it was being distracted. With a slow exhale, Gene rushed towards the guardian once more before striking at the armored foe's back...about the time the fireball was making contact. As he got close...he noticed. The fist of the armored guardian began to vibrate with the same type of magic as it's axe did...and he simply punched the fireball with ease. The armor was scorched, of course, but Gene also noticed it was starting to crack around the hand. "...wait...what?" he muttered, before looking at the area of the guardian he struck. All this time, water came out of the wounds...and yet...the spot he struck this time...the armor began to crack and split. W-What is going on? Gene thought, immediately backing away from the armored warrior, trying to get his bearings together. Where did the water go? What changed? It makes no sense...could it be the fire? No...wait...maybe it's that sound magic...that has to be it. I mean...what else could it be?

"Hmmm. Boop. You know, I think I just remembered. I was going to go have a chat with Mauvache over a cup of tea. Something important I was going to tell her I think. Wow, and here we are right at her house isn't that convenient! If I had to guess I'd say you were planning on doing the same right? Is that why you wanted something to drink before? Hmm, interesting. But you know what the best parts of signs like this? If you ignore what they say, they have no power over you! How about we just go on in anyway? What's the worst that could happen?" "Honestly, I would advise against that. I'm sure there's a reason why they have the Arena closed. Aside from that, part of me is unsure what will happen if we disobey our fellow top-hat wearing employer." he sighed, tipping his hat over his eyes for a bit. This had to be the worst idea that anyone had...and that went without saying on him asking Grigoriy to train him. This...this however was something completely different. "Hmmm, but, is that fun?" Lacie asked, tapping her forehead as though she had come up with a brilliant response. "...would it really though?" Trevor asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Don't know if you don't try, come on magic man! I tried to go in through the roof but a rather rude storm tried to zap me." "A storm? Puzzling...there's no cloud in the sky. Hmmm, must be a perfectly placed electric defense spell to keep out intruders..." Trevor lulled this thought in his mind, rubbing his chin slightly. "Yeah, that, electro de-fence, exactly." Lacie said. "And then I saw you down here and well, came to say hi!" Trevor sighed a bit, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "...I'm afraid to ask that you possibly show me...but my curiosity is getting the better of me." "Oho there's the adventurous spirit I know you for." Lacie said despite having only just met Trevor now. "Follow me!" She began to form what Trevor could then see were simply saucers that she was using as platforms to jump higher. The adventurous spirit I know you for? But we've never met...something is truly puzzling here with Lacie...a mystery even. I'll have to make a few notes about this later... "Very well..." Trevor sighed, beginning to follow after Lacie, though he was a bit clumsier in the execution of following. He fell face first towards the ground, only grabbing one of the saucers to stop himself. "...pray tell...how in the world do you make it look so easy?" "What do you mean?" She said, turning around and looking down towards Trevor while continuing to jump. "I don't make it look anything I simply do it." "Yeah...and apparently you're doing it better than meeeeee...!" Trevor attempted to get his balance and follow Lacie once more, though he was doing it on a crawl's pace...though at the last word in that sentence, he almost fell again. It almost didn't help that the saucers were disappearing after she generating, so it was obvious why he wasn't able to properly follow after her. "Come on come on, what will you do if you take too long and all the fun is over before you make it?" She doesn't seem to intend to stop and help. "Then at least I'll get my workout for the day..." he huffed, finally pulling himself back up and continued to follow after Lacie. What kind of sorcery is she working with and where on this plane of existence can I learn it... he thought, shaking his head slightly. As they reached the top, having to cling to the side, Trevor sees there shouldn't be anything blocking the way to the roof. However up this close he could see clouds located entirely above the building. If he tried to climb higher a bolt of lightning would fall from said clouds. "Hmmm...storm clouds, huh?" the young sorcerer watched the clouds with intent. He began to rub his chin slightly. "Hmmm...okay, this should be interesting. Let's see what we can find out about this." With a quick flick of his wrist, his yellow-gemmed ring began to glow and Trevor began to cast a simple Thunder spell towards the clouds. The Thunder spell went into the clouds, crackled in the process, but nothing else occurred. "Hmmm...curiouser and curiouser."

"No, no I do not. I don't want your weird frog bubbles anywhere near me actually. I'd be more worried bout what those guys are up to. What do they think they're doin' over there?" Marv shrugged a bit at Clobber. "It was just an offer..." he said, before looking in the direction that Clobber was directing him, and he wasn't too thrilled at seeing what he was seeing. Both the legion of Hector and Es was...attacking...the sleeping Jirachi. He had that phrase go through his mind again: ATTACKING a sleeping MYTHICAL Pokémon. His hand met his face, letting out a bit of a sigh. "...you can't be serious...I can't be seeing that..." But alas...he WAS seeing this. Things weren't doing any favors for the pair of them either. Hector was a Falinks, meaning he was a Fighting Type. Es was a Rotom, an Electric/Ghost. Meanwhile, Jirachi the Wish Granter, was Steel and Psychic. The Psychic typing countered the Fighting type, while the Ghost typing countered the Psychic typing. Out of the two of them, Es was the perfect fit for this, but at the same time...it was a Mythical Pokémon, they had no business just attacking it when it was doing absolutely nothing. And it seemed like the two here were the only ones going for this...as the others were already moving away towards a tree. Marv sighed heavily again before figuring it was time to shout at the two. "HEY!!!" Marv yelled, apparently having his voice mid-croak in the process. He cleared his throat after it, not expecting that. "Are you two really going to attack a SLEEPING MYTHICAL Pokémon? C'mon!! First off...Hector, you're doing jack all to it! It's Steel/Psychic!" He rubbed the sides of his head some, just shaking his head. "And second of all, why are you fighting Jirachi? Do you want the Mythical Pokémon to be against us? Hell, if this goes awry, the Legendaries might be on our tails!"

Once the meeting was over the crew was able to prep for some time to hang out with one another, just like they had time and time before. This time, rather than Falisha or Kendra, he decided to go with Evelyn this time. Those from the Nippon needed to stick together after all...which did mean it was only a matter of time before he and Sai had to hang out...he still wasn't prepared for that day. But in either case, he set up the hang out with Eve for Thursday...make it easy on the two of them instead of trying to just rush before the weekend...never a good idea. Daichi waited, his eyes glancing at his phone at the time. He wasn't in a rush or hurry to get in if Eve was late…however…he knew the food would be the freshest if they would get in right at or before the lunch rush. After all, it was VI Guys, the burgers and fries here couldn't be beat. Though he did have to ask himself: How is it that the easiest way to hang out with these guys happens to be food? In truth, when he hung out with Kendra, it was more than just food but an Exhibition Match at an arena…with concessions. And with Falisha, it was just them hanging out somewhat at their second team match and opening packs…without food. Perhaps he was just thinking too hard about it. Eventually, he did end up seeing Eve make her way in his direction. "And here I thought you were gonna be late." he smiled, giving a two-fingered salute. “So did I,” Eve sighed, parking her D-Wheel and removing her helmet. “Hit just about every red light on the way here. I almost thought about running one of them, but I really don’t want to deal with a ticket.” Eyeing up the food joint where the two agreed to meet for lunch - on Daichi’s glowing recommendation, that is - one question sprung to mind. This was her first time here, and she’d heard good things, but that was all online reviews, which left one confusing thing to be answered… “So… is it supposed to be pronounced “Vy-Guys” because it rhymes, or “Six Guys”?” Daichi looked at Eve before looking up at the sign above the restaurant’s door. His hand met his chin as he rubbed it slightly. “...to be honest…I don’t really know.” he admitted. “Hm. We should look into that sometime, after we eat.” Eve led the way in, admiring the interior design of the place. Lots of posters and records and stuff on the walls. And that fast food smell, but considerably stronger than in other places. “Nice place,” she commented. “Yeah it’s got a pretty nice aesthetic all things considered.” he nodded, strolling in right behind Eve. “It’s got that retro feel to it, which ain’t bad. But the food sorta improves the aesthetic, surprisingly.” “What, do they put little decorative Famicom on their burgers or something?” Evelyn joked, stepping up to the register to look over the menu. Surprisingly diverse options! She’d never seen a fast food place sell grilled cheese sandwiches before, but she respected this establishment all the more for it. “I can order for us if you grab us a table. What are you getting?” “A bacon cheeseburger…and an order of the cajun fries.” Daichi nodded, before leaving Eve to her devices to find a table…perhaps this was a bad decision on his part. “Got it.” —A few moments later— BGM “...” Sitting on the table, between Evelyn and Daichi, was a tray. It had Daichi’s bacon cheeseburger, a grilled cheese sandwich for Evelyn… and a veritable mountain of cajun fries. To the untrained observer, it may have seemed more like fries with a side of burger and sandwich, rather than the other way around. “...is this normal?” she asked. Daichi’s head was in his hand as he let out an audible sigh. “...Eve…what exactly did you tell the cashier…?” “Two medium drinks,” Evelyn said, reading off the receipt. “One bacon cheeseburger. One grilled cheese sandwich. And a large cajun fry.” “A…large cajun fry…” he repeated, his head slowly raising slightly to look at her over the mountain of fries. “Out of curiosity…did you read the reviews on this place? And if so…did you see if any of them said explicitly not to order a large?” “All the reviews said was that the fries were a great value. I thought it just meant they were really good fries. So I did what I’d do when I’m eating with someone anywhere else and got a large to split, but… I think this is something to split with the whole team, not just two people.” “Bingo.” Daichi nodded, sighing a bit. “This place isn’t like anywhere else…you fell into their trap and ploy…now we’ve gone into the ‘Potato Dimension’ as it were.” He paused, before stuffing his face with a few of them. “...could be worse though…” “We could get some to-go boxes once we’ve had our fill,” Eve nodded, saving the fries for after she had the chance to enjoy her sandwich. “Good point, good point.” Daichi agreed with this notion. After all, it would probably benefit the team after the fact, boost morale and all that jazz. “Though next time, let’s try and not say a large fry…lest we go through this again.” he laughed. After the general potato debacle, Daichi took a swig of his drink and decided to start some conversation. "So, have you decided to run in this upcoming match or are you letting Falisha have another go in the spotlight?"

Ziun narrowly dodged the beast's strike that was aiming straight for his skull, thanks to Chris. Once he dodge, Chris seemed to find himself next to him, both seeming to catch their breaths for the moment. Now, what brilliant scheme would Chris have ne-... “Okay, while it’s distracted...uh, get away from it?” "That's the best plan you have?!" Ziun asked baffled, watching Chris now rushing towards the cultists. He had a thought in this moment...could he possibly use this hulking beast to his advantage and have it knock the cultists out of the equation? If he was chased by the creature, heading towards the cultists, he COULD get those cultists out of the way. A moment before he put his plan into motion, however, he watched Lana attack and kill a cultist. After that, she rushed behind Chris towards the cultists. Alas, my plan is basically fruitless now... he sighed, before actually having another thought. ...perhaps this beast might actually be more along the lines of a dunce, meaning the plan wouldn't work. On the other hand, I'm positive those cultists would be the brains of the operations...so it wouldn't work. Perhaps this now is the best course of action. So now what was he supposed to do? It was at this moment that he glanced down and finally noticed about his rapier...it was...glowing a bit. It seemed...sharper...and when he gently swung it, it seemed quicker than he had ever swung before. He connected the dots, glancing over at Estelle as she began to cast fire against the beast. "Seems like I'll have to do this then...t'would be a shame if I neglected this gift of a buff." Ziun said, moving towards the hulking beast, immediately proceeding to deliver slash upon slash on the beast. The rapier in his hand was quicker than he had ever used it, and it felt natural...almost like the true potential of the weapon was seen in this moment. Maybe it was the spell that was cast upon it...or maybe it was his own mind playing tricks on him. Regardless, the bard continued to deliver quickened, sharp cuts and slashes on the beast. This plus the fire would definitely wound the beast.

"Uh! I guess we're going now!" Gene followed Sabrina's lead and for the most part, the plan worked...until he felt the pain again...right in his unguarded torso. His eyes went wide, feeling the sound magic and vibrations coursing throughout his body...it hurt...no, it didn't just hurt, it was PAINFUL. Right now he had two wounds from this axe wielder...and he was already feeling his consciousness falter, fatigue was already beginning to slowly creep in now. His breath was getting a bit shallow from what he could feel. Sure he could stand still, but it was obvious on one fact: Gene Eric could not keep this going. The young man was already attempting to move back away from the Axe Guardian, successfully dislodging himself from it's axe...though it hurt like a mother, huffing and panting in the process. ...w-what...a-are...we...s-s-supposed to...do? he thought, trying to steady himself some. This was getting them no where, and he wasn't in any shape to keep going. But that was only the beginning. He glanced over to the other two and his eyes went wide with fear. The Lance Guardian had Marshall, though from what he could see...she was...she... "N-No...no no no no no no..." Gene muttered under his breath, feeling his chest get real tight for a bit. He knew what this was to an extent: hyperventilating. He could feel his heart beating a mile a minute as well. Was he...? There was no doubt about it, he was having a panic attack. Gene immediately dropped to his knees for a moment, the Aqua Star sword clanging to the ground before dissipating. ...t-t-this can't be happening...c-can't...be...happening... he thought, clutching his chest slightly, gasping for air some. They had already lost so many others... Drake, Jocelyn, Percy, they practically left them to fend for themselves, no words...nothing...and now Marshall. It was only Sabrina, Abby and himself...but with how he was feeling...he'd follow right behind Marshall. They weren't able to do much of anything right now...one step forward, ten steps back it seemed. He looked up in the direction of Abby and then at Sabrina, still trying to catch his breath. He shook his head slightly, still trying to calm himself down, though now he was seeing the Axe Guardian moving. The Guardian practically performed a jump attack, swinging it's axe in the process. Gene panicked again, immediately scrambling and tried to dodge the attack, to which he thankfully did...but barely. The axe slamming into the ground caused that sonic boom again and it struck at him, knocking him back a bit more. D-D-Damnit!! he thought, struggling to get himself up. ...s-some hero...I-I turned out to be... Gene proceeded to slam his closed fist into the ground, his whole body shaking. ...how t-the hell...a-are we supposed to beat them...?! Were his dreams of being the courageous hero just that: dreams? He was a fearless swordsman that laughed in the face of danger in his dreams, and yet, he was shaking like a leaf...he was terrified. He clenched his fists, his eyes closed tightly, trying hard not to just burst into tears. BGM Could it be that he was right along? That his step father was ri-... His fist slammed into the ground again harder than he did prior, causing his fist to bleed a bit, shaking his head fiercely. "N-No...I-I'd rather die again...b-before I ever think he was right..." he muttered weakly to himself. He did his best to steady himself, finally getting back up, his legs shaking beneath him. Gene's eyes, they had tears in them, but there was a fierceness in them...one that showed he wasn't done. To his hand, Aqua Star was summoned once more. Gene wasn't done...he couldn't be done...not after just seeing that Marshall was willing to throw her own life in the line of duty...but at the same time, he wasn't going to let HIS words be the thing that he found out were proven true about him. He shifted slightly, knowing that now the Guardian had a bit of a recovery period. This wasn't the first time this happened...now he knew something. Twirling Aqua Star in his hand a bit, Gene rushed forward towards the recovering Guardian. He rushed around him, striking at the armored being, namely at his shoulder...the one with axe. The moment he saw him move, the young man immediately disengaged and skidded to a stop near Sabrina. "...t-that should be the time then..." he said, his voice still wavering slightly. He was still shaking, his grip on the sword's hilt was deathly tight. Yes, he was still scared to death (literally), but Gene couldn't stop...not now. "...we make sure they're at a distance...do that attack...they have to recover afterwards...s-s-should be the time to strike..."

It was a blur, in more ways than one. Marv heard the howling wind, felt it…it was intense, like he was experiencing a massive tornado or even a hurricane. It came out of nowhere but practically ravaged them all like a wild animal, feral and bloodthirsty. To say Marv's heart was beating miles a minute was an understatement…he honestly felt like he was going to collapse from a heart-attack. Everything else was fuzzy, as his vision played tricks on him…or did it? He could've swore he saw a portal open and…a Pokémon of some sort…and a human? He reached out for it, didn't he? Cause that was -----...he did want to at least make sure that ----- was alright... But was that what he was doing? Then…it all went black for Marv. The wind was the thing that caused Marv to stir, though it was a calm awakening versus the monstrous beast that whisked them from their previous location. No, this seemed more like a parent's tender touch to wake their child. It was something Marv did not mind, as he stirred himself awake. The surroundings seemed more colorful than the stone dungeon that had been their first awakening experience. The hot sun, the soft grass, the cool breeze, a blue sky and a few palm trees stretching above them. It was a beautiful picture that lay before them, at least, from what Marv could see. There wasn't any urban noise, which meant civilization wasn't around much…which was both a plus and a negative. The plus being, it was more peaceful and quiet. The negative being, they didn't know how far civilization was…and they needed that at least, especially if they wanted food. Marv finally began to sit up, no longer wishing to stare up at the blue sky, as he rubbed a hand over his face. He paused, looking at his hand. It was a white hand with blue…that…was right, right? He shuffled himself upward and began to hop…wait…hop? Regardless, he hopped until he found himself a small spot where water was. Looking down, he saw his reflection: a Froakie. He recognized the Kalosian starter, but was he always a-... His eyes went blank, his thoughts began to mist over. It was like he went into a sort of trance-like state. It lasted a bit before finally snapping out of it, though Marv then ended up wondering just one thing. …what…was I just thinking about? Once he got himself situated, he noticed Hector, Es and the aptly named Clobber (he at least remembered the little brawling octopus requested to be named that) looking at a… "Wait…is that…?" Marv muttered, tilting his head, looking at the white and yellow Pokémon. There wasn't any mistake. Once again, he hopped in the direction of the others, trying to make sense of the strange thing. “Hello? Are you awake? Did you bring us here?” “If so! Watch it, b-b-b-buddy! Unlike some of my friends here, I’ve got a br-brain, and can only t-t-t-take so many blows to the noggin!" "Oh yeah? Really coulda fooled me. Surprised you don't think they're dead, too." "Seemed like a bit of an insult…but maybe was meant as a compliment?" Marv shrugged. He looked at the three, before looking at the sleeping Pokémon. "And I'm not sure this little guy did it…unless they wished us out." The Froakie looked at the others, before explaining. "...they did a whole Poll back on the forum. Was a popularity contest…I think…but this little guy popped up. It's Jirachi. Soooo the odds of meeting a Mythical are…kinda high." He glanced at Clobber, seeing his face basically still covered in dirt. "By the way…yooooou want me to clean you up? Got something…right about here…" Marv motioned with his hand over his whole face, showing Clobber where the dirt happened to be.

It was an ominous and foreboding feeling...the feeling of being watched. He had experienced in his life, sure...especially during his adventures within the Ever, those Undecided always did have a funny way of just appearing out of nowhere. Nevertheless, he kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings for the time being as he made his way to the Arena. However, once he arrived there, he would simply be met with a holographic sign... ARENA TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE "Hmmm, well that's troublesome..." Trevor sighed, seeing the grimoire rising up next to him. "Our third trip to this location and suddenly it's needing maintenance." Quite a mystery. Mayhaps what miss Nabudis said about Mauvache just simply knowing may be the case? "It's a thought...but one that we don't know for sure." he shrugged slightly, preparing to turn immediately on his heel, but he froze. Something caught his eye, something glistening in the sunlight. It was a rainstorm...of...knives. "What in the...?" Trevor clicked his tongue slightly, immediately casting Aerora as a quick wind swept around him and immediately defended him against quite a few of the knives. "And here I was afraid to not get a workout in." he muttered, immediately backing away from his original standing spot. Unfortunately, more knives continued to fall...more accurately, directly at him. Trevor began to grit his teeth somewhat, before having an idea. "Well...I had been wanting to test this one out specifically...MAGNET!" He shouted and threw his hand to the side as a small set of constantly rotating orbs of magic appeared directly to his right and with it, the knives began to gravitate direction towards it. "Perfect! It works like a charm...now, if I were the source of this knife-storm...where would I be?" Trevor began to immediately survey his surroundings. At first he didn't see anything, then he would hear something above. If he looked, which he obviously did, there would be a woman dropping down towards him from the sky. She seemed to be jumping from small round objects that appear right before she landed on them. Each time she landed she'd kick off, they'd break, and she'd land on another a bit further down. The young sorcerer raised an eyebrow, seeing this woman approaching him in quite the flashy display. It was obvious she was a potential user of magic, so this would be interesting. "Impressive trick you've displayed..." Trevor spoke, still staying on the defensive. "I suppose an introduction is in order...miss...?" "Oh, don't you know me? No why would you, we've never met. Isn't that funny? Because for some reason." She jumped from the next disk, vaulting overhead and twirling. "Looking at you makes me kind of upset, like you did something really, really, mean to me in a past life." Before landing a few more knives suddenly appeared in front of her and were shot towards Trevor. "Magnet!" Trevor cast the spell right in the area between him and this mystery woman, attempting to halt the knives. "Perhaps a case of mistaken identity?" he asked, walking away from the Magnet area to look at the woman. "Nevertheless, I suppose I'll introduce myself then. Trevor Masters, apprentice to Balthazar B-..." "Lacie! That's my name! Almost forgot it! But I don't remember the last name right now, maybe it's time to change it again." She tapped a finger to her chin. "Hm. What was I doing...Oh!" More knives, quite charming. Trevor frowned at being interrupted like that, but the name was now out there: Lacie. Unfortunately, it didn't exactly ring a bell... "Well, miss Lacie, whatever you believe me to have done, I can assure you I haven't." he said, nonchalantly firing off a Fira spell to stop the next wave of knives. "Oh, I know. I'm already past that part. I'm just greeting you. What's the saying...'knives to meet you'!" She then began to cackle. "Charming." Trevor sighed. "With the knives present like this, my dear, I feel like you may be trying to end my life. This seems all so sudden...I hardly know you." he said with a sly smirk, as he tipped his hat. "You could at least buy me a drink first." "Well I WAS trying to, but now I'm not! Oh, I've got tea!" She then is holding a cup, and a teapot, and began to pour some liquid into the cup. What even was she? Trevor had to ponder this. Never before, at least not in his recollection, had he ever met a woman of this caliber to the point where she seemed...almost absent minded. Ditzy even, but then again, it was rude to even make such a judgment call on that. "Well then." he said, remaining defensive, but was somewhat more relaxed about the situation. "So pray tell, my dear, why attempt to attack me...meet me...whatever you wish to call this?" "I told you didn't I? I wasn't lying, I'm a lot of things but not a liar!" She takes a sip of the tea, then seemed to remember something. "Oh yeah you wanted some didn't you?" She offered the cup. "I still feel kind of mad when I look at you, but the best people are a little mad I always say." Trevor snapped his fingers and had the cup float his direction, taking it in his hand. "My apologies, never once intended to insinuate you as a 'liar'. But perhaps, like I mentioned earlier, it's a case of mistaken identity. I seem to resemble someone you've met, perhaps" "Nope! I remember all the faces I've seen, especially mine!" She held up a mirror and gasped, "wait, I'm gorgeous!" Trevor blinked a few times, seeing the Cabanomicon rising up once more and writing the following for him to see: Seems you attract all the loons, Masters. He sighed and closed the book. "Thank you for your riveting insight, my leatherbound friend. Not exactly helping." he muttered.

What was once just a casual conversation between Jeremy and Gareth turned into the latter going on the defensive against the two bull-headed brawlers. Jeremy was already just rubbing the bridge of his nose, lifting his glasses slightly in the process. He looked up just in time to see Kess giving him the deadliest of glares. “If there WERE, I’d bet they could stay out of my WAY. MOVE, idiot!” It was obvious what she was trying to tell him: HELP US YOU, IDIOT!! But as Jeremy watched the two follow after the Fount of Brilliance, he just stood there on the edge of the building, letting out a sigh. "...help, you say? Or you guys could've NOT gone in guns blazing and just let me talk to him." he grumbled, running a hand through his hair. All the while he could hear Ibuz snickering from within his lamp. "What's got you all giddy, Ibuz?" "Isn't it obvious? Seeing those two brawl heavy buffoons rushing into the fray like that is quite the spectacle. And considering that the Hero of Light practically dispatched them without so much as a second thought...truly he is worthy of the holy sword!" "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying this...but now he's being forced to fight them." Jeremy sighed, shaking his head a bit. "Guess there's no choice then..." "Are we going to assist? And if so...which party, master?" Jeremy glanced down at the lamp, shaking his head again. "Firstly, yes. Secondly, who do you think? I told Gareth earlier...and if I decide to back away now from it, he'll think it's namely all big words." he adjusted his glasses, backing away from the building's edge, before taking a running leap to the next building's roof...as Ibuz appeared and grabbed his hand to pull him immediately over to it. "Kess and the Brit are strong...so we'll have to find a way to stop them...if we can..." "Brains over brawn situation, master?" "Only way to do it..." he said, descending after the fighting trio. "Let's just hope they don't try and turn on me immediately...maybe they could see reason...though I highly doubt it."

Override stood there, assessing the situation for a moment or two, though he noticed immediately about the Archangel seemed to...have a quickened breath for a moment. The lights flanking her grew jittery, more so than they normally were. "Tell me you got most of that on the visuals, P.I.X.E.L." he said, muting himself to speak to his A.I. "The visuals showed it, sir. We'll add it to the end of the report towards Roy." “I think, technically, it's six ears. But alright. Let’s go back downstairs. I suggest this for two reasons: I think it will be easier to make the points I need to make with the stained glass as a backdrop -- one in particular, I think, will do just fine -- and the second is, well, if things continue to escalate as they are now, the naves are a bit more open and certainly more replaceable than the materials contained within this office. I would also prefer the loser, whoever she may be, be allowed to flee this place and lick her wounds. I do hate that you came all the way up here only to be brought back down, but I suppose it can’t be helped. Please,” "We appreciate it." Override nodded, finally unmuting himself as he followed suit and went back down the stairs. He seemed to notice that the Archangel was conversing with Sybil herself, but alas, right now he couldn't make out what they were speaking on. Perhaps it was for the better. Regardless, the more time Override spent in this church building, the more uncomfortable he was getting. Slight memories flickered into his mind of him being drug here every single Sunday...it wasn't the greatest time in his life at that point. Hopefully none of that would play a factor in the conversations today...he hoped. Once they were finally downstairs, the tech hero saw the sun shining through the warped stained glass...and even though he wasn't a religious man, he saw the beauty in this mystique and overall atmosphere surrounding it. It felt a bit calming, to say the least. He questioned why the Archangel chose this as the backdrop of their conversation, though he figured it had something to do with the figures on the window. “So, G3 needs to learn more about the end of the world, hm? They need to brace for Nihil’s inevitable return, do they? How may I be of service?” "If this is the situation, then yes. We'll need whatever information you can give us, Archangel." he spoke, keeping a glancing watch over at Sybil whilst looking at the stained glass window again. "Though I suppose, as I haven't been around here and my memory is a bit hazy on the details, please enlighten me: who or what is Nilhil?" "Nihil is a who," Lailah said, clarifying the question before getting into the details. "He was a supervillain, perhaps the only one who lived to ever attain the status of archvillain, with goals nothing short of world domination -- or destruction." "The only one ever attaining the archvillain status? I suppose that's fair, considering there aren't very many of those." Override nodded. "Now, what do you mean 'his return'? Did he threaten to come back? ...sounds like a villain thing to do..." "Nihil's final plot was to bring the sun crashing down on Scarlet City." Lailah gestured to the stained glass behind her. "He, Zorro, and Astra are locked in an eternal battle up there, one that, for reasons made clearer in our texts, he will inevitably win, consuming everything and leaving him lord of the ashes. That is the end of the world we believe in. The return of Nihil and the apocalypse are one and the same." Sounds like a bunch of drivel to me... Override thought, listening more to the Archangel. He was a scientific mind, at present...no one had the physical power to have the sun crash into the planet, let alone Scarlet City. There had to be a logical answer. "Okay..." he nodded, sighing slightly. "So is it stated how he'd win?" "Zorro was a living legend," Lailah said. She held her hands in front of her chest and interlocked her fingers. "I mean that literally. His power is boosted by belief, so as long as people believe in him, he is certain to win. But if we falter, so will he," she returned one of her hands to behind her back and balled the other one into a fist, "and Astra will follow." "So it's a general faith situation..." Override unenthusiastically responded. "Sounds like a way to just sell the religious rhetoric, but that's simply me. Doesn't exactly help..." he muttered, trailing off some. "Humor me then if you will, Archangel. Aside from the belief system, what else could possibly happen to signify something of this caliber happening?" "Sir, I don't believe that she'll be kind to hearing something like t-..." P.I.X.E.L.'s warning came a bit too late on that. "These are real people," Lailah shot back. "They may not be in the general archives, but there are sources that reach that far back, you only have to know where to look. And besides, unbelievable things happen around us every day? Isn't the existence of superpowers a small miracle in and of itself? Don't ask for my humor without offering a little in return." Override was silent for a bit on the outside, though on the inside, while he was muted... "...could've warned me a bit quicker there, partner." he grumbled. "Perhaps you should have read and assessed the room first, sir. I understand you have your own thoughts on the subject at hand, but perhaps some diplomacy would help. Try not to bring your personal views and stake into it. In her words, 'humor her', sir." "..." Override put a hand to his face, if the armor wasn't there, he'd be dragging it along as he face palmed. "I'm not religious, so pardon my outbursts in the way of my speaking. I meant no disrespect, so I'll offer my own humor in this as well...please, continue."

Ziun was pleased to see his illusion worked...not greatly, mind you, but it did something. Downside: the hulking being was now barrelling towards him, this wasn't the best outcome. However it only got worse after Chris decided to wrangle the hulking beast...only for him to be drug along for the ride. “Um. Um! Okay, it’s slowed down now, but, uh, new plan: help!” "Not the best plan you've had!" Ziun shouted, already turning heel and running away from the rest of the party, leading the hulking beast (and Chris) towards the top left corner of the room. Due to Chris' efforts, however, he was slowed down...so that made trying to evade the being a bit easier. "Hmm...if this beast has some forward momentum...perhaps a bit of a trick might help!" He kept running, but casually conjured up an illusion a few feet in front of the hulking beast...a nice sized hole. The hope was that the beast would try to halt itself, trip and fall over. Alas, this wasn't the case. Ziun looked over his shoulder, seeing that the beast...ran completely over top of the illusory hole in the ground. It was almost like it was oblivious to the possible danger. ...great...it's as daft as a jester... he thought, lamenting as he kept running. An idea came to him, possibly using the power of music to soothe the beast. The saying was: music soothe the savage beast, after all. However, surprisingly, he thought against it. No, if it's as daft as it is...then my music will fall on deaf ears. Typical...a potential group to play my music for and one is as dumb as they come. What was the only option? With a sigh, Ziun knew what it was: fight it. He hated that he had to resort to this, all the fighting. If they could've just done this quietly or worked the illusions to the point of hiding themselves, they could've slipped through undetected. That was his honest hope, but it wasn't to be. He grabbed the hilt of his rapier and moved a bit, before turning around and making his way towards the still advancing hulking beast. With a quick movement, he immediately struck at the creature's legs...once...twice...thrice! However, he noticed the hulking monster lifting it's arms up...about to smash him into the ground. The bard immediately moved to his right, feeling the ground somewhat rumble as beast slammed his fists into the ground. Ziun kept the attack up, slashing at the left arm and even leg of the beast...though he watched the arm being swung in a wide arc...he narrowly dodged it...but he still got clipped by it. Close proximity and dodging...seems like that's a bit harder...

It happened all too quickly...and Gene was shocked. The Axe Guardian struck at him, Aqua Star being sent flying out of the young man's hands...and it's axe was lodged in his side, the burst of sound and his entire body shuddered as it sent a shock through him. He was stunned, watching the blood exiting through the wound...and yet he stood tall still. But it didn't mean it didn't hurt like a mothe-... His eyes went wide the moment the guardian pulled the axe out from his side and struck at Sabrina. "....FUUUUUUUUUUUU-..." Gene shouted, holding his side slightly, doing his best to back up a bit. He needed to assess the situation, while also attempt to tend to his wound. Unfortunately, he glanced at his hand with the sigils, sighing. ...fantastic...Water and Wind. Neither one can probably allow me to heal...d-damnit... he thought, gritting his teeth slightly. Meanwhile, he watched as Sabrina launched a fireball at the guardian, while the latter ended up striking Sabrina who was landing from her little assault. However, this was a good thing. Right now, Gene noticed something: the Axe Guardian was now in a sort of lag after it's attack. Meaning they had time...now was the plan making part. C'mon Eric...there has to be SOMETHING you've seen, read or played that could be applicable in this moment!! Gene thought, closing his eyes for a moment. Then that's when he saw a moment...a scene...something he recalled from his various anime and shows he watched. ...maybe that could work here... Gene thought, making his way up beside Sabrina. "...I think I have an idea. You familiar with SAO at all...?" he asked hopeful. "Of course I am what kind of question is that?" He slightly winced at that reaction, but it was understandable. "I mean...I don't know your tastes in anime or manga..." he muttered, before clearing his throat and began to explain. "Floor 1 boss, the Kobold Lord. The way they defeated it...with the switch technique. It could work...considering it was having a hard time keeping up with the both of us." Gene saw her raise an eyebrow for a moment, before clearing this up. "Basically, parry an attack...switch...strike. Lather, rinse, repeat." Gene watched a sly smirk appear on Sabrina's face, which must've meant she was agreeing to this plan, which caused him to breathe a sigh of relief. "That said..." he paused, huffing slightly. "I'm in no condition to take point in this and lead it...you care to take point? We're both pretty speedy, but I'm also nursing this gash in my side." "Uhhh you mean you want me to go first? I can do that." He nodded, giving a bit of a smile himself. "I'll follow your lead...the more we overwhelm it, the better our outcome might be. I mean, after all, just a bit ago...our assault worked...with a bit of fine tuning, this plan could be just what could work." Calling Aqua Star back to his hand, Gene gave Sabrina a look and nod. "At your word...Dracona."

“It is quite the logical fallacy to assume one squad is better than another when you know nothing of said squad. But to answer your question, it really depends. So far they tend to be between three and five. The first squad, in fact, has only three.” Trevor frowned slightly, sighing a bit. "It wasn't an assumption regarding that. I was simply asking if there was a hierarchy about that, given our introduction to Squad Grand was one that warranted it seeming to be a higher echelon than elite. I meant no disrespect." He was having to walk on eggshells around this woman, he wasn't thrilled about it in the slightest. "However, if the members of a squad are between three and five, then we should be in quite the bit of luck after all. That's truly a blessing in disguise, I would say." He turned to the grimoire, who now finished writing everything and returned to it's resting position at his side. ...perhaps fate is working it's way to put us in a better position... Trevor simply ruminated in thought, before hearing Melissa's query. “Trevor, someone texted Fen and me with plans already, do you think you could tell Mauvache for us then?” He smiled and simply nodded. "Of course. Any chance to possibly speak to our resident employer is always good, especially when my last conversation with her proved to be quite informative." he snapped his fingers, his coffee cup floating and making it's way to the sink. After all, it would've been rude to assume Melissa would simply wash his own dishes when he was capable of doing it...or rather, having the dishes do it themselves.

“Not an apostle, then? That’s fine. But Lailah’s like every other holy leader Scarlet City has had, so I would have assumed you’d have been able to make some extrapolations.” Victor wasn't all too much into religion, not when there was the stuff he had to deal with. At the same time, he wasn't going to say it was all just boring stuff that he cared not one iota about, but it was something that many actually followed, so he wasn't going to just be down on it. Everyone had their own choice to believe whatever they wanted, who was he to judge anyway. "Honestly, sometimes you just gotta go do the thing instead of asking for every scenario." "It's now how I work...I don't question how you work." he said, giving Thessa a side glance. "Information is key...otherwise we're out there on the field, flopping like a fish out of water. It's best to get everything we can about the situation and then work it out." “You had better get going, before the situation gets even worse.” "If anything happens, I'll let you know immediately." Victor nodded, turning on his heel, the nanites in his watch already reacting as they began to form his suit around him. An x shaped building didn't seem like the best design choice, but then again, it made it easier to spot. X marks the spot, after all...you'd have to be insane to even miss this place. The Church of the Sacred Harp...he had heard about this place, then again, who didn't? Same with the Apostles of the Sun...everyone knew the stories, hell it was a search engine click away if you didn't. Nevertheless, Override didn't care too much about it...all he cared about right now was getting the job done, complete the mission. They were on a time limit, after all. "You know I used to go here. Not the church. The school, when it was a school. They tore it down a loooong time ago. The Joseph School, I think. The principal was caught in some sort of big scandal so everyone left then this thing was put up in its place." "Scandal...somehow that doesn't surprise me." Override sighed over the coms. "I'd say, maybe it was for the better that they transitioned it into what it is today...after all, giving things a second chance isn't a bad thing." He almost got wistful after he said that, but he focused and landed right down in front of the building. Naturally, Thessa made it in before he did...always the quick one apparently. "So not a churchy guy I suppose?" Override sighed a bit. "Parents were religious, they sort of drug me to this kind of stuff all the time..." he waved his hand slightly. "Unfortunately, I got bored of it. It wasn't something I was ever into...once I got to the high school years of my life, I decided not to keep going. Had more pressing matters to attend to...like honing my powers. Parents basically respected my wishes...thankfully." "Welcome to the Church of the Sacred Harp, how may we be of service today?" "Yo! We're here to see the important lady for some hero business!" "More hero business? Couldn't you have just sent a message to the person already talking to her? Why send two more -...Um, well, she's currently in a meeting now, but since you two were the ones scheduled I'm sure she would at least like to see that you are here, if you would follow me?" That didn't sound good. Override immediately tapped his helmet, making contact with Roy. "Quick question, were there any other Capes supposed to be having an appointment with the Archangel. And I'm talking hero business appointment?" "No? Why would we send more than two capes, and not at the same time?" "I figured that was the case. Seems there was a mistaken identity situation down here. Someone is already speaking with the Archangel...we're being directed to get speak with her now." "That would explain the rapid change in colors this morning. Maybe if you hadn't- no, it's been getting worse since then anyway. It could just be another petitioner. Still, be on your guard." "Affirmative." Override ended transmission, before following after Thessa and the Pastor. Whoever was here before them was already in the process of talking with the Archangel, so this wasn't the best scenario for them in the long run. Once they finally arrived where Lailah was, he noticed the other person in the room. Luckily he muted himself within the suit, to where the outside couldn't hear. "P.I.X.E.L., do a facial recognition scan on the person here..." "In the process of it now, sir." the A.I. spoke, before a few things popped up on the HUD of Override's helmet. "It seems to be...according to the villain directory via the G3 database...Sybil Ashton." "Sybil? So a villain is here..." he muttered, nodding. "For the moment, send a copy of what we're seeing here to Roy. Let him know we're not going to engage here...the last thing we need is a scene being presented at the church, especially if our actions cause scrutiny to G3." "At once..." P.I.X.E.L. responded, as Override unmuted himself and began to move. "Heya, we're s'posed to talk to you about the end of the world." Least she's forward about it... Override thought, speaking next. "What my associate means is, we're the heroes from the G3 Organization: Aeon and Override, we had the appointment to meet with you, Archangel."

Oddly enough, the first impression Gene had on the guardians wasn't a negative one...rather it was more akin to: "...the design of that armor, the color scheme...it looks amazing!!" Needless to say, he was excited to see such an amazing design on these guardians, like it was something ripped straight from his fantasy games and stories...hell, even his own dreams! But now wasn't the time to be gawking at these beings, it was time to fight them. “...Gene or Abby-- One of you should probably come with me. Sabrina, I would suggest trying to use a combination of your weapon’s range and speed against the one with the axe, while whoever doesn’t come with me tries to cover you. Above all, try to see what they’re capable of before engaging directly; I suspect this is going to require us to use our heads as well as our strength,” Honestly it sounded like a pretty sound plan in the grand scheme of things, Gene nodded in response only. He was originally planning to go with Marshall and assist her, but his attention was directed towards Sabrina. A sigh escaped his lips, as he honestly thought about. It was obvious he and her weren't meshing well with personalities and the like, but even still, she was a teammate. Summoning forth Aqua Star to his hand, he exhaled slowly. Alright Eric...the guardian is currently focused on her...and it's in movement now. he thought, the grip on his sword tightening slightly. That being the case...it's obvious that myself and her are a pair of the speedier ones...and if he's distracted by her, with my speed... Gene nodded, having the plan formulate. BGM "Abby, try and give Marshall the assistance as needed...I got Sabrina." Gene simply said before rushing forward. He accelerated quickly, just like he did against the Drengr, the wind becoming his ally in this effort. He closed the gap almost in an instant, now being right in front of the guardian. "Weapon Art: Quick Strike!!" he shouted, swinging the sword at an upward perpendicular line along the guardian's chest. It was obvious that this threw a wrench in the guardian's plans, not even realizing he was there until he was right in swinging range. Oddly enough, when the sword scraped across it's armor, there was a definite trail of water present. Huh...that's interesting...oh wait, right! "Call your scythe back quick!" he shouted back towards Sabrina, looking over his shoulder, which she did. Gene probably should've kept his eyes ahead of him, due to the fact that the guardian immediately shoulder checked him and knocked him back. The guardian seemed to immediately take this opportunity to perform a horizontal swing with it's axe. "W-Water Wall!!" he shouted, as the wall of water appeared right before him, the perfect shield to block the axe strike. The axe collided with the wall and destroyed it immediately, causing a pulse of sound in the process. This pulse pushed Gene back some, to where he could actually back up a bit further. Right now, he wasn't in the way of the axe...which was the good thing. "S-So...got any ideas...?" he wiped his brow some, backing up towards Sabrina, his eyes still focused on the guardian. "I dunno! Keep trying?" Sabrina rushed to the other side of the guardian and tried to attack again with a reckless swing of her scythe. "Could work...let's give a shot!" Gene nodded, following her lead, rushing the opposite side to strike.

Prior Floor Exit The sight began to finally return to Ziun, but when he looked around...he wasn't thrilled about what he saw. He was indeed alive, there was Lana, Chris and Estelle...and yet, she wasn't there. This began to make Ziun feel a knot in his stomach, causing the bard to turn around to see the door way all but faded. He scrambled to where the door was, only to put his hand where the door remained at one point... This wasn't how this was supposed to go...not in the slightest. It was supposed to be the two of them with this new little crew making out with whatever riches this dungeon had at the end. That was their plan from the beginning...the Dread Pirate Robin and the humble bard Ziun. He simply let out a sigh, standing to his feet as he did his best not to show the tears that he wanted to let free...it wasn't something he figured Robin would be appreciative of. After all, they still had work to do here...he couldn't wallow in the pit that he was finding himself in. Instead, he removed one of the feathers in his hat and pulled out a small notebook. Opening the notebook, he proceeded to write a few things. An ode to a dear friend, one who swore we'd see the end But alas: the time came and went, and while she was the one the goddess sent She was the one the zombies hate, thusly she was ate To the Dread Pirate Robin, for she'll continue to sail untrodden A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he turned around on his heel, the feather returning to his hat and the notebook being put back into his pocket. He slowly pulled his hat over his eyes and finally spoke: "...let's keep going..." Present Floor The room was filled with a reddish tinted fog. His heartbeat intensified the moment he entered the room. A vague feeling of panic entered their mind, causing them to be more nervous and jumpy than they already were, and each of them would have to, on occasion, fight an urge to flee. But Ziun couldn't...he was already working on keeping on this...he had to at least for Robin's sake. There was not much in the room, especially compared to others. A large, open, coffin rested on a dais in the middle. On the left and right of it were two men. They wore dark purple robes and had their faces mostly covered, and each of them carried a dagger in their hand. They seemed to have been chanting, or praying, when the group entered. It was the worst thing that Ziun saw, it would be absolutely the worst thing he could've seen...and he was already dealing with skeletons, wandering eyes and zombies...which was already the worst in general. “This way!” "uh, right!" "Right behind you!" Ziun huffed, following after Chris and Lana. He decided, perhaps, there could be a way to give them an out...all he needed to do was finagle some stuff. "In the meantime, let's see if we can give something to deal with." While he ran after his party members, he threw his right hand in the direction of the cultists and the hulking creature and threw an illusory cone of various, vivid colors. The hope: it would stun them, blind them or maybe cause them to fall over due to a seizure with the various flashing and moving colors. One could only hope.

"Why, of course, but this is part of the schedule. After all..." “Miss, Fen and I made some stir fry if you want breakfast. You know, since you came all this way…” "I have heard that this squad has an expert cook and I would like to test her mettle for myself. So I shall be staying for breakfast, rejoice! Did you know, commanders who dine with their soldiers have a 30% higher life expectancy? Though the soldiers have 30% lower, oddly. Well, anyway, let us eat." Trevor wanted it to show on his face, the fact that this woman was being invited by Melissa... Oh how he wanted to lament this insane notion to have her join, but alas, that would draw too much attention to himself and therefore give him more reason to be scrutinized by Penelope. For now, he would simply sigh to himself and shut the front door. Nevertheless, it was obvious that this woman led a squad: Unfailing Strategy. That was one he hadn't heard of, but then again, he didn't hear much about Squad Grand either, so it was probably for the best. He simply moved over, pouring himself a cup of coffee and took a moment to sit down at the table, sipping on it. "So an Elite Squad? I suppose there's a tier system we're still not aware of yet...if this is the case, then we're most likely still at the bottom echelon of squad tiers..." he took a long sip of his coffee, before turning to his grimoire. "Please make a note or two about this." It was already being planned on. the book retorted, it's pages flipping back as a pen manifested itself and began to write on it's own. "If that's the case, if Unfailing Strategy is an elite, then by process of elimination...Squad Grand is most likely of an echelon higher than elite." he said, sighing. "But then again, I'm unsure so this may just be conjecture. Though I must ask, how many are usually in a squad? Because if it's more than three, we may be in a predicament ourselves due to our numbers."

"Excellent work Exalted! Your problem solving skills proved to be sufficient to pass and thus you are now eligible to take on the combat trial!" Sufficient? It was just enough? Gene had to admit, that didn't seem too reassuring if he was honest. They couldn't just be 'good enough', they needed to be more than that. A sigh escaped his lips as he was prepping to go into the room they were in prior, but stopped at hearing Sabrina's query. "I never was good at puzzles but that wasn't so bad! Do you think....coming here made us smarter too?" "M-Maybe..." he instinctively answered, only immediately shutting his mouth. He didn't want to keep saying anything in regards to these three and make it look like he was the one that was insane, so to speak. ...though it's more likely that this still tutorial mode...it had to have been...still think they should've done this tutorial mode at the beginning, might've helped out a lot more and make us not look like dolts... Gene thought with another sigh. Once they returned into the main room, the door was now unlocked thanks to their efforts. Then another hallway that sloped downward for them to go down. Gene was alright with this for the most part, but what caught his eyes were the cravings along the hallway walls, this continuation of the second scene. The animal and humanoid figures...together...moving forward towards some strange alien figures...strange, they were running in the last room. Gene thought, still watching the walls as he kept moving. Cloud shapes carved here too...oh wait what's this? Mankind and animals now...fighting the alien creatures? Huh... Alien's side having more clouds...arcs and zigzags...lightning? And it's all coming from these alien creatures? Gene rubbed his chin slightly, before finally just asking outright. "Hey River...question...what do these inscribed images mean??" “Though I am not well versed in the history of this world before the calamity, I believe they depict the story of how the people of Aerstroff came to be.” "So it's a creation myth/story? They fought against these...alien like creatures?" Gene asked, now beginning to get intrigued more. “That appears to be the case. I am not entirely sure what they are, but from what we have seen it would appear that these invaders had arrived and engaged in hostilities with the locals. They also appeared to have been close to ruin before Storm had lent his divine blessing and assistance.” The young man nodded. "I see..." It wasn't much, but this was definitely the starts of a bigger narrative, least in his eyes. Knowing the history of this place would definitely come in handy, least in his mind it would.

Ziun hated this...he hated it with every fiber of his being. He was struck by one of the eyes, and slowly but surely he was feeling weaker and weaker. His strength, being sapped and siphoned away by that damn beam. He kept trying to pull Robin along, but it was getting harder and harder to do. If he kept this up, he'd be overtaken...unfortunately that's what happened. The zombie at his leg began to pull itself further up his leg, in turn made the bard falter and he was pulled to the ground. Both he and Robin now were on the ground, a zombie still crawling up the bard's side. He cursed under his breath at this display, his teeth gritting. This wasn't how his song and tale was supposed to end, it was unheard of! Regrettably, he let go of Robin's hand, in order to shift around to grab his rapier out. "G-Get...OFF!!!" he cursed, stabbing the zombie. Once he knew it was dead (again), the bard slowly got up, his legs still wobbling under the lack of strength he had. But he was still determined to leave with Robin. "C-Come now, Dread Pirate...we're falling behind..." he moved slightly to reach down to help Robin up...but he saw something out of the corner of his eye that made him turn as white as the spirits in the previous rooms. The eye had a small glint in it's...well, eye...and Ziun knew what this meant: another beam. Instinctively, he stumbled back away from the trajectory of the beam, only to see that Robin got hit with it rather than he. Another curse was had under his breath, as his shaky grip on his rapier continued. "R-Robin...I'll keep going...follow after me, please!" he said, his voice having a bit of shakiness to it. But nevertheless, he turned and started to move forward. Robin was a tough fighter, she wouldn't be left behind like this...would she? Regardless, Ziun noticed the eye now positioning itself in front of the stairs from the exit...but this did not deter him. Perhaps it should've, but he was determined to leave still...so much so that he attempted to run past the eye, though his weak, strength stripped body betrayed him. Halfway through this, he was struck again by the eye's beam. Ziun figured he knew what this was...another strength sapping spell...unfortunately it wasn't. Slowly but surely, his vision went darker and darker...until he could see nothing. "N-No...NO NO!!!" he shouted, flailing slightly in panic. He kept going though, he was scared and frightened at this, but he knew the direction he was facing was the way of the exit...so he was close...VERY close. However, he felt something looming near him...it had to have been the eye. The next thing he felt was his body shiver and shudder, feeling the tendril of the eye make contact with him. Instinctively, Ziun took the rapier and began to flail his arm slightly, trying to strike at the tendril. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was so close to the eye, or vice versa, but he landed a hit...blindly. Once he felt the looming sensation back away from him, still feeling the uneasy feeling of the eye's contact, he did his best to run blindly forward...until finally...finally he hit the threshold. He fell on the floor, tripping on his own feet passing through the threshold and began to breathe heavily. "A-Am I alive? I-I still can't see... R-Robin?? R-Robin...did she make it?!?" he shouted, his hands feeling around the ground to attempt to feel anyone's feet.

Back to the Lab Again Once the day ended, for most of the time, Victor and P.I.X.E.L. remained recluse in the workshop below his day job. Things still didn't add up for the intellectual, but perhaps that was the intrigue about it. There was, for the first time in a long while, something that Victor couldn't explain nor replicate in anything...it was thrilling, sure, but if this wasn't the end of the world type of stuff, perhaps he could enjoy it a bit more? "In six months, the world will end." He found himself listening to Cassandra's final words again, trying to once again glean anything from this. Aside from this, he replayed and replayed the footage from this moment, trying his best to see if anything was seen...anything out of the ordinary...but no avail. He rubbed the bridge between his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. "We're missing something...we have to be." he muttered to no one. "...he wouldn't have had any issue finding the problem and would've isolated it immediately. What would I do if I were him? ...damnit..." Victor bit his thumb slightly, in the process of hyper-fixing his attention to this, his mind racing quite a bit as he began to think about... "If I may, sir." the Scottish voice of P.I.X.E.L. broke through the silence. "Please try not to continue with this tonight. You'll only torment yourself further... Instead, set this on the back-burner for now." Victor sighed again, before minimizing the footage. "Have it run in the background...I need to have every inch of the footage analyzed." he said, before opening another screen. "In the mean time...let's see what we can do about miss Penelope's machine, shall we? Seems like it might be a fried motherboard...heh, child's play if I'm honest. Alright, let's get to work then." It would cause him to be distracted, the good kind, for a while. Talking to machinery, rearranging their inner workings...it was what Victor lived for...it's what his heart and mind excelled in. There would be more time for him to become engrossed with this apocalypse...but for now...he needed focus...and that's what he did. November 7th - Monday “Because you two were the ones who volunteered to relay as much information as you could find regarding the end of- regarding Cassandra’s prophecy, you’re being assigned to formally pay that debt. We’ve been running our end-of-the-world simulations this past week, but we need to explore every option available to us. If it’s an end of the world somebody has thought of, it’s one we can try to prepare for. We’ve arranged a meeting with the Archangel, the spiritual leader of Scarlet City’s largest religion, and you two lucky ducks get to go talk to her.” "Makes sense...start with the religious aspect of this and see if anything cross references what we're seeing..." Victor nodded. Now whether this was a religious prophecy or just something else, he didn't know, but it was best to cover all bases and go with what they could. A...type of troubleshooting in his eyes. There was a reason that Roy was the director's right-hand man. "Oh, and Aeon? Don’t disappear to go get food this time, hm?" Oh but what if I suddenly crave something? I gotta go get it then, you wouldn't not let me do that would you Roy boy?" "Don't ask me to repeat myself, especially if it makes the situation worse." This elicited a sigh that escaped Victor's lips, rubbing the bridge of his nose slightly. Once again, he found himself in a situation where Aeon was getting under someone's skin...but unfortunately, it was Roy. There was another reason why he was the director's right-hand man...he took no shit from anyone, period. "Director Sekelsky is a lot more tolerant of chicanery. Which is good. It's why he's going to a meeting with three erratic gang leaders. But while I'm in his place, G3 operates under my rules. I don't have consequences in mind for if you break them yet, but I will find them, you can be assured of that." "Yeah Victor is a lot better at this, that's for sure. Well all I gotta do is figure out what they know about the end of the world, make sure they aren't involved, and keep em from making things worse right? I'm sure I'll figure it out and if anything goes wrong I'll just fix it up. And hey maybe we'll find out they're behind it and I can bust it up right off the bat, that'd make ya happy wouldn't it Roy? oh and some advice, consequences can go both ways so best to keep that in mind yeah?" "Glad we understand each other, then." "In any case..." Victor spoke up, clearing his throat. "We'll make sure that we get the appropriate information from the Archangel and relay them back to you as instructed. Is there anything else we need to know before hand on meeting this individual? Dos or don'ts, for the long and short of it."

"Yes, you would say that wouldn't you. You probably don't think your harassment was anything short of natural. After all, such a pretty girl alone in the library, surely she would be interested right?" The moment the young girl said this, his eyes widened, everything around him started to grow distant...so much so that he really didn't pay too much attention to what she was saying afterwards. He blinked a few times, before his hand met his face, sliding off it slowly. "I have come here to see that you understand that whatever the world you came from was like you shall not be able to continue your philandering ways here." "...you can't be serious..." Trevor muttered, only to see the grimoire starting to slowly float up next to him. He glared at it for a moment. "...unless you want to be used as fuel for the fire, I suggest you don't say a word." he threatened the book, which began to slowly float back down towards his side. He exhaled slowly, taking his hat off, letting it float in the air above him as he ran his hands through his hair and then having his hat land back on top of his head. "Alright, this is one huge misunderstanding, miss...?" "Oh I see, a misunderstanding huh?" She then raises an arm and fiddles with her watch while muttering, "Doesn't take responsibility..." Trevor just stared in the young girl's direction. ...oh this is going swimmingly... the thought ran through his mind. "...will you even give me a moment to explain myself?" he asked, sighing as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's only fair, am I wrong?" She continued to mess with the watch, "Claims to want to explain self, proceeds to not do so, seems unwilling to follow through..." She looked up at Trevor, "No, no, carry on, I'm learning all sorts of things about you this way." ...seriously?? Another sigh escaped his lips. "Your friend, miss Keres, I met her at the library...this much is true." he began. "She spoke to me in regards to the books speaking about the Great Dragon, or more accurately, the lack of anything before the Great Dragon. She mentioned that it was generally just the religion that would be found, which alas, wasn't what I was searching for." he paused, watching the young girl messing with her watch still. It was slightly annoying, but he couldn't do much about it, since he was obviously being interrogated for something he didn't even do. "She and I ended up having a slight conversation about how her magic and my magic being different and even so far as to say it was different than Mauvache's. After this, I began to explain something with her in regards to how my magic differs from her...with it taking more of a scientific aspect...using the electromagnetic energy from the nervous system and giving it physical form when these rings are used as a catalyst." Trevor paused again, showing his three rings. "After this, I simply asked to know about her magic...as a fellow user of the arcane, I wish to know how other magic works. You could easily ask my fellow squad-mate Fen...I'm enthralled about this. I also was curious about the book she carried, it was a pretty heavy looking book. Then, that's when she said that 'she had a boyfriend', to which I was simply dumbstruck. I wasn't meaning for this to sound like some courtship...it was a misunderstanding. I implore you to believe me." She said one more thing as she tapped at her watch "Too many unnecessary details..." The girl looked up at Trevor and smiled. "You aren't very good at this. Thankfully for you I already know what happened, I just wanted to see how you'd respond. Otherwise you'd very much still be in hot water." She nodded her head. "Yes I've learnt a great deal about you through this, Trevor." "I'm not very good at...telling the truth?" Trevor gave her a inquisitive look, before shaking his head a bit. "You know what, perhaps it's better for me not to know what you referred to there..." he breathed a sigh of relief, trying to compose himself. "In any case, I hope that I was able to provide you with...whatever data you were looking for...?" She smiled wider. "Oh, you were. I can safely say that I, Penelope Nabudis, safely remain the sharpest mind among the Guardians here. I wondered when I learned that another magic user had been brought here but it seems my position was not threatened." "Penelope Nabudis..." Trevor nodded, before looking down at the grimoire, who was already making a note of the name. "Well then, miss Penelope, I shant keep you any longer...as I am certain one such as yourself has a busy schedule."