Destructed World Cacophony IC

[Shalashaska]

There was something about Marionette that had Onyx feeling something no other girl had ever made him feel before. He was thinking in a way he never had before. He had known plenty girls, yeah, but there was just something special about the puppeteer. Perhaps it was her confidence or merely the way she had clearly been toying with him. Like he was a puppet and she was in control of his strings.

"I've never been into the bitchy types." His tone was filled with venom, his previous anxiety gone. No, it was still there. Merely suppressed as he viewed the girl in front of him as a legitimate threat. His hand rose, wrapping around the wrist of the hand she had used to touch his lips as he glared down at the girl.

'We've both been to the same hellhole. If I have powers... She probably does too.' He reasoned mentally, his brain working to assess the situation. 'If I can Terminate things, what can she do? If it's connected to our personalities... Fuck.' He released her wrist and took a step back, his mannerism and posture making his opinion of the situation quite clear. His mind was still racing, searching for an explanation or an out. Would his powers even work on her?

"Y'know, if you were trying to woo me, you failed miserably, hun." Onyx quipped, his tone having lightened considerably. She was a potential danger, definitely, but this was different from when he was a child on the streets trying to get by. Besides, not even she'd be bold enough to try something dangerous when there was still people around. "Y'know what, I'll admit I bitched out when I left Alina and Yohan. No arguing that, but we all agreed on what was going to happen so I doubt there's any bad blood, meaning you can fuck off with that guilt-trip bullshit. Cute how you avoided the question, though. How do you know what happened between the three of us? How do you even know what happened with me? You weren't there. So what is it? Your power is some sort of bullshit omnipotence? Or is this some sort of freaky skinjackers thing and you ain't really Marionette?"

 

[ERode]

@RedArmyShogun @Random
Blackbird? Namie cocked an eyebrow at that, before smiling.

"Well, guess I was really worried over nothing," the auburn haired reporter said with a laugh, "Got seniors from the Ornithology Club looking after you already, eh? Pretty awkward place for a recruiting pitch though, I wager. But yeah, if those episodes become common, Ringrange has the resources you need to get help. Consider it, Alice."

He jotted down a few more notes on his pad, before nodding, satisfied with his own material. Giving Alina a sideways glance as she shot out a line in his direction, Namie looked like he was about to say something, before he ultimately shrugged. Once the white-haired girl left, he turned back to the crippled girl once more.

"Strange girl, eh? But hey," he said, extending his hand through the bars, "Thanks for your time. As my card reads, the name's Namie Wallows, from the Second Journalism Club. You hungry for anything? I'll tell my buddy to fetch you something to eat while you wait for your release."

Regardless of whether or not Alice responded, the reporter soon waved his farewell and departed, leaving her to the cavernous silence and her own thoughts.

Outside, the clock tower ticked away, inching closer to midnight with each passing second.

@Jakers
"Ah, man," the man said, shaking his head, "All that pluckiness gone so soon, huh? Lost something else other than your wallet and your dignity?"

There was clearly pity in his tone, despite how brusque Yohan was acting, and the curly-haired man retracted his hand, settling for patting Yohan on the back. The gaze in his eyes could almost be mistaken for sympathetic, before that faded away to something…softer, yet undefinable. "Well, all the skill in the world, placed in the hands of one man, is only good for a drink or two," he said, "And…"

"…you look like you have problems a drink or two won't solve."

The jade pipe twirled in his fingers, before transitioning into a bronze stamp half-way through, bearing the same four-leaf clover design that was on his cheek. Tossing it towards Yohan, the man said, a cheeky grin on his face once more, "The Carnival Club's hosting a show tomorrow evening, Student District. Bring your friends and show the ticket booth the stand! If you think my magic is impressive, just wait till you see our boss's!"

With a light step, he took a few more steps away, before suddenly turning around.

"And dude! Smile, why don't you! Better to fake a smile than look like your dog just died, you know?"

@Jageroux
A flash of interest, of excitement perhaps, crossed Marionette's expression as Onyx grabbed her wrist, his thick, warm hand eclipsing her cool skin. But any shows of courage from him never lasted long, and even that bit of excitement faded as he stepped back, away from her. The warmth of his flesh still lingered at her fingertips, as the silver-haired youth chose to trade words instead.

Did he still not understand?

Had he run so far away that he couldn't even see what was obvious?

Like twilight to night, Marionette's mood went from disappointment to disinterest. Onyx was neither a threat nor a pawn. He was just a joker that wielded a power too heavy for him to use. Too frightening to use.

Her yellow eye glimmered even within the light of the streetlamp.

Had he noticed yet, that he was alone?

No, of course not. She did everything just to set everything up.

"That's a lot of questions," Marionette said, "For someone who refuses to search for answers."

What had her other hand been doing the whole time Onyx was transfixed by the sensation of her fingertips and the beauty of her magenta eye?

Holding an exquisite Thomson Contender, its black barrel devouring the incandescence of Roaring Surf Street.

Since when had the music stopped?

 

[Shalashaska]

"Oh, please. I've searched for answers, but I've come up with a whole lot of na-da." Onyx commented, aggravation evident in his voice. Where the hell else was he supposed to look? He searched in the real world and came up with nothing; he ran when he wound back up in that distorted reality and found nothing. But for him to finally have someone who could potentially answer questions only to have them avoided was beyond infuriating.

That was when he caught it, though. The sight of the Contender and he felt as though the air had been sucked from his lungs.

The Blackbird.

'What the hell? The Blackbird killed Marionette when we were there… How would she have…? Just had to be skinjackers.' He concluded mentally, feeling legitimately exhausted.

"So, you're not Marionette?" Onyx inquired, still keeping his cool. He wasn't exactly worried, but he was cautious.

'She knows about Terminate… Does that mean she has a way of avoiding it? Fuck, she has the upperhand, but… Won't know unless I try.'

"Terminate." He said, focusing on Marionette. All he had to do was stop her from raising the gun. He highly doubted he could stop the bullet the moment it was fired - he wouldn't have enough time to focus on it before it hit.

It wasn't enough.

Or, more specifically, Onyx simply had not made enough preparations. Taking a single step back may have granted him a little more space, but no matter how powerful a gun was, it was useless if its barrel was directed away. Where he should have advanced, he retreated instead.

It could have been decided then. Pressing a trigger was faster than speaking a word, and she could have acted the moment it looked like he was about to open his mouth.

She could have done it even while he was utterly mesmerized by her.

But she didn't, and she allowed him to bring his power over her, body locking in place, trigger finger incapable of moving, a taunting smirk on her face. She was terminated.

Or was this just her pretense?

'Did it work?' He wondered, still cautious as he waited for Marionette to raise the gun and blow him away. But she never raised her gun and she never pulled the trigger. Hands clenched, Onyx approached the frozen Marionette. His anxiety was being replaced with a confidence that he may not have deserved. A confidence that may not have even been his own. 'It worked? Onyx was still unsure, but his mannerisms and demeanor showed otherwise.

Standing in front of Marionette once again, he cautiously reached forward, hand closing around the barrel of the Contender before pulling it from her hand. Hefting the gun in his hand, he looked between the Marionette and the Contender.

"What the hell do you want from me?" He inquired under his breath. "You already knew about Terminate, so what's your deal? What the hell are you after? If you wanted to kill me you probably could have." Onyx held the gun, his grip on it tight with his finger along the trigger as that same familiar anger reared its head. Reaching forward, fingers wrapping around her neck, Onyx glared at Marionette once again, unfreezing the girl.

"What do you want from me?" He repeated, his exhaustion and frustration was evident. This thing wasn't Marionette, right? It was just the Blackbird? What did it want from him? Last time it killed him, but now it was just toying with him. For what purpose?

"All I want is to dominate," Marionette replied, "Now release me, Onyx."

'What?' He was confused. Not because of her words, but because he did as she demanded. It was odd, not being in control of yourself, but he felt a slight pride at the fact his assumption had been correct. She could control people.

He watched as his hand released her throat before coming back down to his side. He made no attempt to speak; he had accepted that she wouldn't answer any of his questions, and that the ball was currently in her court.

Marionette touched her throat, feeling the warmth that lingered still on her flesh.

"The gun next?"

She could order him to shoot himself, of course. Get those people to clean up the mess. Remove someone entirely from the tribulations before they became a problem. But...that wasn't entertaining enough, was it? Though she could replicate it, Terminate was still a powerful ability in its own right. Who knows? Perhaps one day Onyx would come to her, desiring the usage of her power to aid his quest in catching the eye of his loved one.

A silly idea.

She smiled, hefted the gun in her hands once more, before holstering it, the Contender disappearing into the folds of her skirt.

"Now, out of respect for your gentlemanly conduct towards myself, I suppose I can answer the question that you've been blind to."

The smile widened, as if she relished divulging such information.

"These are trials to select a new ruler, a proper Empress to unite the world under a common banner! Selected amongst the rough diamonds that have gathered within the greatest academic institute on this earth, we are to do battle with each other, sacrificing pieces of ourselves in order to obtain the power of Purged Bell, the holy grail that heralds the coming of a new era!"

Her arms spread out to her sides, as if embracing the light of an otherworldly sun, before they snapped back towards her sides.

The smile was gone now.

"But, alas, I can not call over this world immediately, Onyx. So, for the time being…"

She tilted her head to the side, her expression dead serious.

"How about you take off your clothes and go for a nice evening jog?"

The music in Roaring Surf Street began once more, the Jazz Club's saxes ringing through the wondrous night.

'What the fuck? He was legitimately confused. He… Acknowledged everything she said. He heard everything, but actually understanding it was another matter altogether. 'I didn't sign-up for any of this bullshit. Wait, if it's to choose an Empress, then why the fuck am I apart of this?'

Then she told him to run around naked.

'Wait. Wait. Wait, hang on!' Onyx attempted to argue though no words came off, an embarrassed blush spreading over his face as he began to strip. 'Come on, you have to admit this is childish. Oh fuck you.' Onyx groaned, completely naked before he took off running, mentally spewing as a slew of profanities, attempting to ignore the stares and people pointing at him.

'Why me? This is bullshit.'

"Say 'hi' to Alina and Yohan for me!" Marionette called cheerily.

'No. No, no, no, no!' Onyx repeated mentally as he kept running, he really didn't want to Alina and Yohan to see him like this. Having a bunch of strangers see him running around naked was one thing - but those two? 'I'm gonna kill 'er! I'm gonna make her pay for this! I swear to God!' Onyx repeated mentally. How long had he been running anyway?

"Wait!" He stopped running, finally. Breathing heavily, he struggled to catch his breath as he looked around and once again became self-conscious when made eye contact with a real cutie who was clearly apart of the Jazz Club.

"Uh… Hi." He said with the most charming smile one could say while completely naked. "Nice night, huh?" Onyx inquired with the same smile. Unsurprisingly, she didn't answer him. I mean, who would willingly talk to some stranger standing around naked. Instead, she did him a favor and tossed him a curtain to cover himself with before walking away.

"Alright! Some other time then, hun!" Onyx called out to her while wrapping the curtain around himself. Sighing, he shook his head before he began his walk of shame. "Man, this fucking sucks."

 

[Jakers]

"It's... complicated," Yohan replied in a monotone when the guy asked what his problems was. Did he really look that depressed? Maybe that had just become his hanging face at this point, if it wasn't already. "Just... complicated."

Looking at the stamp that just seemed to appear perfectly balanced atop his thumb, Yohan gave a shrug. Maybe something like that would cheer him up, at the least, and help loosen his nerves, but knowing how things went now, the world would probably just break whenever he was trying to enjoy himself.

No harm in trying, though, he supposed.

"Thanks, I'll think about it," Yohan murmured, pocketing the stamp for later. He sort of ignored the guy's request to smile, but still offered him a farewell. "Later, then, whatever your name was. You looked like a 'Jeffrey' to me, so I'll go with that." it was the first joking statement he'd said in a while, but it didn't help much to loosen his nerves. If anything, the faint sound of jazz that licked the night air was doing a much better job of that. As Yohan walked, he found his lips whistling along to the rhythm.

Now, where was he?

Ah, right. Alina and Onyx. That bench, maybe he could...

It wasn't too long of walking at all, however, when Yohan's brows raised at an extremely... peculiar sight, of a male figure way off in the distance.
"Jesus Christ almighty."

Well, there was Onyx, alright. A deer in the headlights of the Roaring Surf, his privates one layer away from being on public display. With the jazz still tooting away in the background, it was almost like watching some sort of comedy sketch, except Yohan wasn't laughing; he didn't even want to know the context of this situation... all he knew was that it was nice to see the familiar face again. Giving a brief raise of his hand in greeting, Yohan seemed surprisingly unphased by the predicament of his companion.

"What the bloody hell did they do to you, Onyx?" Yohan inquired simply, rushing up to the guy who was covering what Yohan could only assume was his modesty with little more than a large piece of fabric. Shrugging off his long coat, he offered the thing to Onyx, "Do it all the way up. Should be long enough to cover up that and not give people nightmares, at the very least. Did you wake up like this?" Yohan asked, starting to get a little paranoid that he might be the next to suddenly lose all his clothes. Didn't that clover guy mention it? It only made Yohan all the more suspicious.

Looking around, he tried to do one favor for another brother by redirecting the curious gazes of the crowd with the grumpiest stare he could muster.
"What are you all looking at? Get on with whatever you were all doing." Yohan spat. Whilst this only made some onlookers even more curious, particularly the female crowd, the majority averted their gaze.

Turning back to Onyx, Yohan shook his head and sighed.
"...Honestly, I don't even know what to say. But you seem alright, that's what matters. Don't sweat it about what you did back in the fake world, I doubt it would've helped much... I'm not sure if Alina's even okay right now..." Yohan's voice seemed concerned for a moment as he put his hands in his trouser pockets instead of his coat's. "Did you want to go see if she's at the bench now? I could run and get you some trousers, so don't worry about scarring her for life."

 

[Jakers]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Marionette said 'hi'." Those were the first words out of Onyx's mouth when he saw Yohan and he wasn't sure if it was because she had commanded him to say it or because it was still on his mind. Frankly, he wasn't even bothered by the fact he was standing around practically naked, with only a curtain to cover his modesty. No, he was more caught up on all of the bullshit Marionette had spewed before making him run around naked. "Also, Marionette is the one that did this to me. That bitch is actually off her rocker." Onyx began to explain, taking a deep breath before pausing when Yohan handed him his coat. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Oh, thanks, dude." He said as he quickly swapped out the curtain for the coat, following Yohan's directions to button it all the way up. "God, there's a fucking draft. This is so uncomfortable." He complained with a sigh, shaking his head as he could only hope no one he knew would actually recognize him. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I think I remember where my clothes are. Sort of. Well, the general location, at least. Also, there was this really cute girl who gave me this curtain. Dude, she was totally eying the goods. I swear, I think I may finally have a chance. Also, Marionette said we're being taken to that shithole of a world as part of a trial to select a new Empress to rule the world." Onyx blurted out as he began to walk towards where he was sure he had left his clothes. "She knew a lot. Like, she knew what happened after we split up. It was actually creepy. And she had the gun that killed me, Alina, what's her face and Marionette. Like… I don't think that was actually Marionette. Or if it was, they're like freakin' bodysnatchers, dude. This is so fucked." Onyx complained with a groan.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Marionette? Who the hell's that? Is that a name that can actually be physically given to someone?" Yohan simply shook his head. Whoever she was, he was already pretty determined to try and avenge Onyx for whatever she did to him at this point. If he'd just got beaten up or whatever, that was fine, but THIS? This [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]wasn't [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]okay. "Don't you worry, karma will get her back for this. Sounds like a fucking cow, whoever she is." he added simply.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Lifting an eyebrow up as Onyx's talk began to get more serious, Yohan's hands in his pockets began to fumble somewhat uncomfortably. A new 'Empress'? And she knew about all the deaths, and what had happened? For someone who abused a power to cause mischief such as making people stroll about naked, they seemed more intimidating than Yohan actually thought.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Hmph. Nothing could be out of the realm of possibility at this point… and she certainly seems like a threat. Don't let her get to your head, though. Some tart with a firearm is the last thing to stress about here." Yohan grumbled, looking behind him. Wherever 'Marionette' was, she didn't seem to be around here, "That does remind me, though. I saw some other stranger with 'the eye'. I offered for her to tag along with me, and try and work together to see if we can figure this whole thing out… but she wasn't having any of it. Instead, she gave me a stare that might as well have been a death threat." [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Yohan rubbed the rim of his eyes, sighing as he tried to let the distant smooth jazz calm his nerves.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"...What I'm getting at is… by the looks of things, people are starting to lose their minds from the 'cycle'. Even with me, I can feel parts of myself just… [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]breaking away[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent], each time I wake up." He didn't mean literally, of course; every part of him seemed to be intact. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"All these powers… and ever since I heard that first gunshot, and watched that first body fall…" Yohan grabbed the rim of his hat, adjusting it slightly as he frowned. "Our journeys to the alternate world… may soon become a bloodbath. That's why we've got to figure [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]something[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] out. Or at least, find [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]some[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] way to work around it, but…" Yohan shook his head, looking a little hopeless. "I'm starting to wonder what is there we [/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]can[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] do at this point. ...Did you want to get properly dressed, or something? Maybe we can find Alina and at least head to a restaurant. Getting mentally fucked is hungry work."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Shit, so it ain't just me?" Onyx groaned out in response to Yohan's mention of losing parts of one's self after each trip. He thought maybe the trips were just leaving him a bit… Frazzled. He remembered how after the first time, he was hesitant to even go outside. He pushed through it, but it was a block that was evident in his mind. Though, after he won the second trial, he noticed that he didn't experience anything like that again. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Maybe the price of losing is losing… 'yourself'?'He wondered curiously before shaking his head. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Well, seems like we've both had run-ins with some real bitches. Though, maybe it's possible she's been at this longer than us? Maybe she's aware of whatever the hell this is supposed to be, so she saw you as like competition or some shit?" Onyx spitballed, figuring it was either that or the girl just wasn't the sociable type. "I think my clothes should be somewhere around here… Maybe…?" He scratched his head as he looked around frantically, hoping to find his pile of clothes somewhere.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"T-There…" Onyx sighed when he saw his clothes had been kicked into a corner. "I'll duck into the alley and change real quick." He said as he ran to get his clothes and dress himself, the thought of wearing pants against making him happier than it should have. After a good minute in the alley, Onyx exited with an annoyed look on his face as he handed the coat back to Yohan.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Someone took my jacket and my money, but left my wallet. I'm more pissed about my jacket more than anything, not gonna lie." He folded his arms while muttering curses under his breath. "Anyway… Have, uh, you noticed anything… Different? Like, people doing weird shit that shouldn't be possible?" His voice dropped to a whisper as he looked around, searching for a target. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Because, after that second round… Uh…" He kept looking before settling on someone who was sitting on a bench, eating a sandwich. Waiting until the guy was in the middle of a bite, Onyx spoke. "Terminate." His target froze, his body going completely stiff as Onyx focused on him. [/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]"I say the word and focus and then this happens." He explained, still staring at the poor guy that was just trying to eat. "Anything like this with you?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Observing simply as a stranger just seemed to stop whatever he was doing like some sort of mannequin, Yohan didn't seem all that freaked out. If anything, he nodded his head as if reassured somehow.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Yeah. Powers and shit. Apparently, that became a thing." Yohan adjusted his cap, looking to his companion, before making sure nobody was looking. Well, the guy temporarily frozen into nothingness sure didn't count. "You mean something like this?" with that, Yohan simply uttered his 'power word':[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent]
[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]" T r a n s l o c a t e . "[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Without a sound, or any further ceremony, Yohan's entire body seemed to flicker out of existence. Only a gentle breeze replaced his original position.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"I didn't think we'd be able to use things like this in the 'real world'. It's all a mystery that defies all physics," Yohan's voice came from above, revealing himself sitting nonchalantly on a high, murky window in the alley, crossing his arms. Abruptly, he jumped off the window, and it seemed like he was either looking for suicide or to break his legs, until he murmured the power word again.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"...But I'm not surprised by anything anymore." An unharmed Yohan's voice came from behind Onyx, and there he was, picking a fingernail simply, as if nothing really happened. "...Is that guy gonna be stuck like that for a while, by the way? If no one else is going to have that sandwich, I might as well have it." it seemed like Yohan was joking at first, but his stomach audibly gurgled.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Either way… you seen Alina…? I haven't even caught a glimpse of her around, yet… I'm starting to get concerned."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Woah. Woah, woah, woah." Onyx said as he tried to keep up with Yohan. Just how did this even work? This, technically, defied all logic. Was it magic? Onyx didn't believe in magic - he was more of a science type of guy, even if he was admittedly a little on the dumb side. But he couldn't figure out any other way to explain any of this. "You can teleport… I can… Stop stuff. Marionette was able to control what I did. How the fuck does this even work?" Onyx, so caught up on trying to figure out the 'how' between their abilities dropped his focus on the poor guy who was trying to enjoy his sandwich, with the victim promptly running away - sandwich in tow.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Like… I'm a Horologist. Time is my thing, right? So, I guess that could explain my whole… 'Time Stop' or whatever you want to call it. Marionette had some little freaky ass puppet show going on, so her being able to control other people is a bit of a stretch but I can see it. How would you explain the whole teleporting schtick? I haven't seen Alina, but I'm sure she's fine. Let's walk and talk - we all agreed to meet up at a bench, right? She may already be there."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Yohan shrugged simply at Onyx's question. Everyone's power did seem to have some sort of 'theme' according to who they were, now that he mentioned it.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]"...My life was mostly running away from people, tricking them. That might have something to do with it." Yohan pondered dryly, though he didn't seem to want to go into any detail. "And if you haven't seen her, I've got no idea where she is. I was checking benches for a while, but…" [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]Yohan looked to the floor, slowly shaking his head.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=transparent]"Something…[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] really bad[/BCOLOR][BCOLOR=transparent] happened to her. Back in the second world. Let's just say that. I tried to help, but… I couldn't save her." the monotonic voice of Yohan actually seemed to be showing a crack of emotion towards the end of his sentence. "Still. There are a lot of benches. I'm sure it's just a miscommunication error… we'll find out for certain in the next iteration, huh?"[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"...Anyway. You wanna discuss this further by a restaurant or something? There's a nice place near where that good jazz is going on. Maybe you'll be able to pick someone up, now that you're wearing something." Yohan added. Slipping his coat back on, he put them back in those pockets where they belonged, "Don't worry, I've got some money. You don't have to pay me back or anything. Who even cares at this point. If the physics I studied for years have just suddenly been disproved, loans are the last thing I care about at this point."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Really bad, huh…?" Onyx repeated Yohan's words as he tried to think about how bad things could have gone. He didn't want to dwell on it, though. He had already been dealing with the guilt of ditching them, and he had barely accepted that he had done the right thing. The last thing he needed was to guilt himself again - he'd just reassure himself that Alina would be fine.[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Hell yeah! Let's go!" Onyx said with a fist pump, the thought of subjecting some poor girl to his terrible pick-up lines making him feel a little better. One day, some girl would be compassionate enough to at least give him to time of day. One day. "Maybe that Jazz Club cutie'll be there. Bonus points if Alina is around too - I can go for the 2 for 1 special!" He added, his confidence legitimately worthy of an eyeroll. [/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Oh, y'know, I've been thinkin'. We seem to be sent to that shithole during a certain time, right? It always seems to be evening when we're sent and time doesn't seem to pass. I think if we can figure out some sort of schedule or pattern, we may at least be able to plan ahead of time."[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=transparent]"Sounds good. Just don't terrorize too many women..."[/BCOLOR]

 

[ERode]

Marionette had a laugh as she left the scene, watching Onyx run off as naked as a baby. Tack-tack-tack went her heels as she strode confidently through the streets, leaving the affluent district and the sound of music. Shadows grew longer as the intervals between street lamps increased, and it was within the shadows that her companion emerged. They hooked arms, and, like a couple of a lax evening's stroll, continued onwards, occasionally exchanging whispers. Down the street, into a gurney, towards the north.

Xi Feng let out a deep breath. The orientation was over, and she was alone, but the knowledge she had been privy to was still branded into her mind. The blade rasped within the scabbard as she partially sheathed and unsheathed it. The light emanating from the Council Tower shone almost like the forgotten moon, but she ignored that. The heavens that ruled humanity could not be cleaved. Not yet. Her heterochromatic eyes burned as she swallowed the last bit of her hesitation. A large hand clasped against her shoulder, and she allowed it to remain there. This was reassurance. But this was also unnecessary.

Heidemarie watched the world from above, the night wind tousling her mousy-brown hair. One eye illuminated the darkness as she viewed the tapestry below. Beautiful. But…viewed from so high up, it was just another cage, wasn't it? More chains that bound her, more responsibilities and duties to pay attention to, more masks to layer on top of herself. One hand reached out, pulling out the Kriegmeister RT-70, aiming it at the world below her. Her finger caressed the trigger, her expression hardening. And then, she sighed. The night wind howled, pulling away her hatred.

And…

Down below…

Namie stretched, glad to be out of the stuffy environment that was the Disciplinary Committee's holding pens. Noticing his friend waiting outside, the auburn haired youth waved, flashed a v for victory, before exchanging a brisk handshake.

The notepad was relinquished.

He smiled, tipped his hat to the older youth, and strode off.

It was nice, working.

---

The clock chimed from a distance, signalling the arrival of late evening, and a stubble-faced guard walked over. Baton striking the bars of the cell, he said, more disinterested rather than irritated, "You're free to go, Alice. For your own good, I pray I don't encounter you here again."

 

[Random]

Alina was pretty sure that had to be some kind of curfew around here that she was stepping out of line for.
It wasn't as if Ringrange was known, what with being a glorified university the size of an island, for just allowing students to do whatever they wanted, especially when it affected studies, and being out this late was probably going to do exactly that.
On the other hand, they hadn't placed any kind of rule against teleporting to an alternate world where logic was continually disemboweled in which superpowers were abound and a giant bell ruled over all.

So it was, you know, probably fine.

Tapping her foot against the base of the fountain a little impatiently, she had long since given up on Alice showing up at any point while she was actually watching, so she had decided to amuse herself with some thought experiments instead.
Of course, each and every one of them had shifted in the direction of that other world.
It made sense that it bothered her, but even so she'd have liked to have been able to go without thinking about it for three seconds.

~~~

Listening to the girl's crypted offer, it was rather short and to the point. Well provided you had been to that other world, seen what Alice had seen. Which left her with more questions than not about this girl in general. She couldn't be that gunner, could she? And why did she ask about her eye..

Trapped in her thoughts briefly, Namie provides a distraction, making another suggestion at seeking help. With an offer of his card, Alice smiles thinly at the offer of food, thanking him in kind. He was being awfully nice to her. Feeling a bit guilty with some of her lies she rather hoped the reporter wouldn't get dragged into this mess. Watching him leave Alice turns her attention the the cell's toilet, letting her reflection in the water show. Gasping she knew now what the girl from before meant with asking how her eye was. It was a bit shocking to say the least, the eye behind the mechanical glass and metal was now yellow.

As the hours come and pass and a simple meal is brought to Alice and eventually the bell chimes late that evening, a man carrying a baton with a hint of stubble, giving her some parting advice, he opens the cell. Just like that Alice was free. Pondering if she should just refuse the offer and return home, things likely would not be so simple. With a tired sigh Alice makes her way towards the fountain, or rather several fountain's unsure of where she had to go, as a result she wandered throughout the district working her way in from where she was held. Arriving a few hours later, Alice a bit wary of a trap and tired, slowly waving her right arm at the girl.

One whom took far longer to find than she expected on the account of literally walking to every major fountain in the district.

Coming from a smaller sideroad with a rather glum expression to her face Alice exhales, stopping her waving. "Um...hi? So, what..was that place?" Truthfully, she had much more to ask, but the possibility this girl was from the other world, or could want her dead, kept the Machine Girl's mouth shut.

Alina chuckled a bit at her uneasy tone. "Relax. I'm not even armed, see? Much as I wish I was… It would making living through that other world easier."
Turning around and sitting down on the base of the fountain, she folded her hands carefully in her lap.
"Name's Alina. Alina October. You look exhausted. What took you so long?"

Looking slightly annoyed after the girl's reassurance, or rather Alina's, the mechanical arms lift slightly with her shoulders, as if to shrug them slump. "Do you have any idea, how many fountains are in this part of the City? I went around to them all, well almost... Oh yeah, name's Alice Engels."

"Yeah, I know… W-wait, wait. Did you say…? Argh, dammit, I messed up!" she cried, clutching her head in frustration. "I told the guys the same thing! No wonder they never showed up!"
She kicked in the air a little.
"T-tomorrow. Tomorrow it'll probably happen again. I'll work it out with them then. That's what I'll do. Yeah. S-sorry. I really didn't think that one through... I'm not good at talking to new people, so I guess I got a little wrapped up in my act…"
She laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. "Anyway… That world, right? The Far Side?"

Frowning, she couldn't be too mad about the situation, while a mistake that took her a lot of time, she did see several nice parts of the surrounding region at least, it wasn't life endangering. Though it had seemed other people she told this too had simply and wisely given up, leaving her to wonder who was more the fool of them all.

Arching her still flesh eyebrow at mention of the other place, Alice's face adopts an even more grim appearance. "..Yes.. I had…" Pausing for a bit, it was rather difficult to put to words, though in the end being simple was the best course. "I had died there, or so I thought.. So what was that place, what did you want to talk to me about it?" There wasn't really any point in dragging this out, though the memory of how she died had brought on some discomfort.

Ah, there it was.
Alina stood up, that grin spreading across her face again.
"You've got a special power, right?"

Noting that grin from before, Alice stiffens briefly before answering, that grin gave her the creeps. "P-powers? What.. I, what?" Deeply confused and troubled by this words, Alice narrows her eye, she truly had no idea what was going on here. "All I know is I went to that world, got crushed to death, then I… I don't want to talk about that.. I know nothing of any powers.. Just a giant yellow eye."
"Is that so?" she said. "I've died too, actually. Twice. I know a couple of guys who can say the same. But here's the thing. Death has taken a toll. You felt it too, right? You lose something. But in return, you get something to fill the gap. A special power. So it seems, anyway."
She sighed.
"Honestly, I haven't managed to get my hands on something that valuable myself, but the others have. That's why I was wondering, with that eye of yours that shows you've died, if you had one as well."

Powers from death.. Such a concept just seemed simply insane, but she could not deny what happened in that world, not when another seemed to know at least what happened there.

"Two others, well no, three others were with me, but one of them I never really got to see, plus a strange man with a gun… I just couldn't keep up when the building turned to rubble. If I have some power, I don't know of it… I'll admit I don't feel the same, but if we get power from there, why? Why us? What is the point? Why that place?" To her the aspect of the power, be they even had one, or if it was real was not as important as that crucial question, she seriously doubted it was for fun and games, not after that abomination she seen.

"Who knows?" she shrugged. "All I know is that grey sun isn't. It's some sort of bell. Between that ticking and the bell, there's a time limit. So that bell calls the shots in that other world. Which implies it's running the place completely, but… Hm."
She tapped her chin for a few moments. "I won't bore you to death with my theories, but still. You've only died once, so I guess it makes sense that you haven't found anything special yet. There's a serious reason why I called you here."
Slipping her hands into her pockets, she smiled again, a little warmer, a little less dark. "What do you say to becoming an ally of mine? Help all four of us live a little longer?"

"All I know is what you have with you seems to go there...though now I feel stupid, I partly died as I carried food with me, expecting we may need it.." Though it didn't make sense in a way if death was how you gained power there, if so couldn't one just keep committing suicide? Pondering that, Alina's request did catch her off guard.

While she had been honest, perhaps to a fault before that world, that seemed to have died with her in that world, pondering the request, what if they could not be allies for long, or if they ran into that same trouble again? On the other hand.. "I'll accept.. Though I hope not to go back in there till I find some answers.. I just get a sinking feeling I'll have no say in it." Smiling a little, the expression had a bit of sadness to it, but seemed better than what her face was stuck to previously. "Maybe we can get some answers as well.. I might just start wearing my Clipper hands if it seems I'll keep going back there." Grinning slightly she was at least for the time being agreeing to the offer.

Alina nodded carefully. "There are two others. A guy named Yohan, and a guy named Onyx. They're both pretty irresponsible. For different reasons. You'll recognise one by his accent and his stupid clothes, and the other by his stupid… stupid everything, really."
She shook her head. "I haven't seen the two of them since we got back, which is probably my fault. I basically told them the same thing I told you… The two of them seem to have weapons, though, and Yohan can teleport, so we have that. If you have some kind of weapon you can keep on you, then make sure you have it for the evening. That's when we get sent over."


"Hmm, accent and stupid clothes." She wasn't sure if she liked the sound of that, were they reliable.. Well hopefully they were. "I didn't get there names, but the ones I met, one was a committee member.. Foringer, the other was a guy with a staff. They were in a rush to save someone else, so I don't remember much. Though when I returned… eh it's nothing." Wondering why that time, or what was the point in it all, Alina didn't seem to have those answers, on the weapons note however. "..I wouldn't say they are weapons, but I do have some claws I used to help with gardening, they have sharp edges though, better than nothing I guess, I also have a practice Rapier, but I don't see me being allowed to walk around with that." Going back to her blank expression, the Machine Girl blinks a few times before stretching her arms slightly. "Was that all? I kinda want to try sleeping before this all starts again.."

"Just one more thing," she said, raising her hand. "Backtrack a bit. That committee member. The one who visited you at night, right?"

"Ah..so you know about that, yes she and her boss, I guess he was. They were the ones that took me to the cell, you know her?"

"Not personally, but I guess I know a lot more than I have any right to. Powers aside, I work part-time as an economic analyst, so I'm good at picking up on things. I wouldn't consider them safe until you're sure about them not having a gold eye. Meet back here at noon tomorrow, if you can. I'll try and find my boys, I guess."

"Hmm.. I just, well I can tell you what I do here some other day, I should be able to get away with my clipper hands, but I'm not sure if I.." Pausing for a bit, those hands were rather difficult to use for tasks requiring a fine touch, ultimately could lead to dying again in short order, though that seemed likely to happen regardless. "It's nothing, anyways good luck in finding them, least I know the fountain this time."
"Y-yeah. Sorry about that. Well, see you tomorrow. Watch your back, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll keep an eye out for things, I'm used to it by now. Given how I look more people are cruel than nice. See you later Alina."
With that the Machine Girl heads off back down the alleyway she originated from, giving a small wave as she did so.
Alina shook her head as she watched Alice go.
"Honestly… Was it her confidence she lost last time?"

 

[ERode]

A Land of Broken Pasts and Lost Futures​

The clock struck midnight, but a Saturday night meant that midnight was merely just the start of the night. Those on dates were home now, or perhaps romping around in a comfortable hotel. Blimps still trugged along in the skies, but now, they only bore advertisements, collaborators between the Third Culinary Club and the Airsailing Club having raked in cash from those early-semester lovebirds. Automobiles cruised through streets that were slowly emptying out, and many stores have already closed in Roaring Surf Street. After all, late night wasn't the domain of gentlemen and ladies, but of rabble-rousers and merry-makers. The commercial areas of the Student District was alive and bustling, bars open for fraternities to drink the night away with bad songs and worse jokes.

In the residential area, however, the raucous lights were distant, the party turned into whispers carried by the night wind.

It tossed her raven hair, strands flicking into heterochromatic eyes, but Xifeng took no notice. The address in his profile must have been correct. Such a ramshackled dorm made sense for one with that sort of background. The stairs on the outside creaked as she walked up, each step causing the rusty metal to groan. Three floors and seventy-two steps before the appropriate room number was located, and from there…

A word. A flash. And then, silence.

There were no lights in, and as the thin, wooden door opened, there were no other rooms as well. A cluttered bedside desk and a bed, wallspace being used to plaster more blueprints and fanciful ideas. No other rooms.

This was a 'proper' dorm, after all, with communal kitchens, bathrooms, and many other things. For most students within Ringrange, living in such a space was simply...unimaginable.

But it didn't matter for Xifeng. This was simply another step for her.

The floorboards didn't creak as she slid her boots quietly around any possible obstacles, from discarded balls of paper to empty bottles. One hand removed the coat from its hook on the wall. Another hand grasped the hilt of the katana tightly. Was she really going to do this?

His foot rested upon her body, softly grinding her to dust.

Yes, she was.

The coat flew silently through the air, descending upon Yohan's sleeping form, as the three magic words resonated through the air.

"Destructed World Generate."

And.

She.

Plunged.

Whatever dreams roamed inside the target's mind faded away.

Interrupted by that all too familiar sensation.

Pain.

His golden eye - be it a blessing or a curse - briefly felt like it bored into the back of his skull, and his stomach churned with an intangible sickness. There was no time to wake up, assess the situation, or wonder what happened. All he felt was a loud breath gasp in the back of his mind as he felt a floating sensation. His nonexistent body drifting; arising.

All there was to see was gray. A gray outline of his room, his surroundings, and his former body. Words tried to come from a mouth that didn't exist, but in this state, he was but a mind.

The gray that slowly increased in luminance, until it felt like he was directly staring into some colourless sun. No eyelids could shield him from the overwhelming bright, and no hands could shield him from this whitish flare. For a moment, he experienced blindness.

A strong waft of incense was processed by the back of his mind as his monochromatic eyesight began to recover, though there still wasn't much to see.

'...This is finally it, then? Or, rather… is it just that time once more?'

He didn't know who was talking to. Or rather, who he was 'thinking' to.

'...'

For once in his life, Yohan felt alone.

In the background, dominating the far-off horizon, was a great wheel, the face of a clock with twelve numbers emblazoned upon it. A twisted hour hand pointed towards '12' and slowly, agonizingly so, made its way towards '1'.

In the foreground, a field of wilted, smouldering flowers served as the battleground before him, a blue smoke stinging his eyes and overpowering his senses with an inordinate sweetness. The ground was hot underneath his bare feet, but not uncomfortably so. No, what was discomforting was the 'sky' above them. A flesh-colored 'sky' that reached only seven feet up, barely enough room to even jump in this world. The light came from the pulsating 'blood' that coursed from the flesh, and the wind that pulled through the cloud of floral incense was moist, like a human's breath.

Her sword was plunged into the earth, and as she pulled it away, a black liquid oozed from the dirt.

Xifeng flicked it away, clear displeasure on her face.

So the Divine Mandate had a sense of fairness after all.

She readied her blade once more, against this unarmed foe of hers.

<Prove your LOVE is true.>​

As the compact, boxed in 'world' manifested itself, the sensation of heat on his bare feet awoken Yohan's senses once more.

But this heat was nothing.

The grisly sky felt more like a ceiling… the ticking machine that centered itself in the background of his vision no matter where he looked.

And for some reason, when his eyes slowly trailed across to that familiar mane of raven hair, confusion wasn't the first thing that came into his mind in this beautiful, yet grisly and deadly arena. It almost felt like he'd been expecting her, ever since he saw that stare.

Unarmed, in a simple shirt and trousers, dirty blonde hair brushing against his face in the 'alive' wind, Yohan said nothing this time, his eyes simply glaring back. Slowly, methodically, he bent over and took a handful of the smouldering petals, releasing them and watching them twirl away in the incense-filled breeze.

"..."

His eyes slowly trailed back to the stained blade drawn on him. But he didn't question what couldn't be questioned. Now, he would only speed up whatever truth there was.

"Come."

Petals scattered in the moist wind, dancing along the chaotic rails granted to them. Each lungful of air was agony, but…

Breathe in, breathe out.

Discomfort, irritation, regrets, those were all irrelevant.

The ground burst with ooze and burning petals as she dashed forwards, the tip of her blade drawing a line through the flower field, the ruined innocence.

She approached, columns of jet black goo rising in her wake. Her eyes showing nothing other than a will to block out all emotions; all so she could properly focus on her one true goal.

Yet all Yohan did was stand, hands in pockets, and watch the bitter, fleshy sky.

Closer. Closer. Closer. She didn't wait to go into striking range, and prematurely swung upwards, causing a wave of the jet sludge to come right at him.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Blow it away into the wind. Watch that blackened petal soar.

" T r a n s l o c a t e . "

Her target's body disappeared, and the thunk and splash into goo of something behind her sounded. Except, behind her wasn't Yohan Rye. Behind her was merely a small, metal ball.

Silently, surrounded by burnt petals, his body descended upon her, a simple wrench in hand to attempt to strike his opponent's head from above.

Translocate. An easy enough word to understand. Much more straightforward than her own. And nothing all that special compared to the one she faced.

A movement power was only dangerous once it started affecting others. She continued with her forward movement, the sound of a heavy landing behind her all that she needed to know about Yohan's power.

Spinning around, the blue mist was cleaved as she brought her sword into a half-moon swing.

The black ooze sizzled on her heavy boots.

The golden eyes met, animosity exchanged.

Her movements too fast for him to land the hit from above, his feet splashed into warm, lightly burning ooze, going up to his thighs.

By the time he unbent his knees from the landing, a streak of silver was coming at him from the side. Trained, precise movements one could only expect from one of her caliber.

" T r a n -
Not enough time to say the word again, his body instinctively hopped backwards in an effort to minimise the damage. The blade slicing like a hot knife through butter into the outer layer of his flesh, a clean cut across his stomach formed.

Drops of red topped the blackness below, and that red swirled.

But this pain, this sentence to an eventual 'death' here, was nothing.

In his falling motion backwards, his arm had swiftly thrown another small, metal ball, the projectile going straight for her head.
- s l o c a t e . "

She ducked the thing effortlessly, moving in forward to charge once more, but that hadn't been his intention. Keeping his eyes set focused on the ball, as he finished the word, only droplets of blood remained in his original position.

Readjust.

Behind her and facing away, now, he quickly tried to yank the girl's shirt from behind, using the other free hand to swing the wrench towards the back of her neck.

Her target disappeared once more, but it was becoming obvious where he would be going. Always a blind spot. Always close. Always trying to land a decisive blow before he ran out of power.

But a blind spot wasn't a blind spot if he continuously sought to only go to such places.

And when facing someone with his power, what was important was…

An empty field stood before her.

...where he wasn't.

She dove forward, his fingers hooking onto the fabric of her coat only to be torn away by the momentum of her movement. One palm reached out, stamping against the smouldering flower field. Her legs twisted, spinning her body around as she completely the one-handed cartwheel, landing on her feet once more, facing the wrench-wielding hydrologist.

The edge of the katana faced him.

His weakness was her movement, for his attempts at stopping her were too shallow.

And, once again, her sword lashed out, flower petals scattering in the deadly dance.

Her movements were trained, and his, were not. That was simply how it was.

As soon as the shirt ripped, and the sword sang, he began to mutter the word once more.

Bringing the wrench up to intercept the blade, a loud clang sounded, and sparks rose up to join the smouldering petals. At the moment of impact, he completed the word, his body flaring up with his nausea and his head aching as he did, despite his practices.

The translocate was but a short blink, but closer towards his combatant, so that he was virtually adjacent to the girl, right in front of her; right on her inside.

Dropping the wrench and using his bare hand to grab the girl's sword arm, Yohan attempted to twist the arm back in attempt to disarm her. In a follow up, his leg rose from the black sludge, droplets of goop splashing upwards as he attempted to drive his knee into the stomach of his 'foe'.

The smell of incense further permeated the air. After his third translocate, his movements were getting slightly more sluggish, and now both his mind and slashed stomach were in pain.

But for some reason, he didn't want to give up yet.

A hissing burst came in the distance, and a previously thrown sphere carried by a water jet soared into the fleshy sky, aqua droplets raining on the black, red, and ember-soaked battleground.

Breathe in. ...Breathe out?

She was prepared for another attack from behind, not for Yohan to translocate forwards instead. Eyes widening slightly, Xifeng dropped her sword and took the blow to the stomach, bending over as one arm twisted. The concept was solid, but the technique was still shoddy.

She had not bent over due to any particular pain from the blow.

Instead, her spare hand grasped Yohan's raised leg, before her right foot swept outwards, knocking his remaining foot off balance. The two fell onto the scalding ground, Xifeng on top. Something had snapped, cracked, popped, but the adrenaline was already there, keeping her focused.

That spare hand raised once more, upon the foe she straddled.

Would things have gone differently if he hadn't dropped the wrench?

The back of his neck searing against smoldered ground, Yohan twisted his body to the side to jerk his head around, glancing over at the sword that had been dropped. Putting his two arms to the side of him in the direction of the punch, he blocked a hit that would've interrupted his power word once more.

His body disappeared.

The clock struck five.

Reaching up, and clutching the handle of the blade, Yohan's breaths appeared heavy as he took a roll to the side, stirring up embers as he arched his back up. A few meters away, Yohan pointed the blade at the raven haired girl, ready to swing at an approach.

Though, even when armed, possessing such a weapon wasn't so much of an advantage when one was starting to get exhausted, and hadn't maintained footing.

The shining tip pointed across at the raven-maned disciplinary member - the golden eye of a potential 'empress' - it was the longest moment of peace, even if it was for but a moment, that could be had in this battle.

And for the first time since the start, Yohan Rye opened his mouth to speak, uttering words other than the polysyllabic command that had become familiar to the girl by now.

"Why do you seek to 'win'?"

Slowly, she got up, steam rising from parts of her skin that the black ooze had splattered on. A sharp twist relocated her wrist, and she hardly flinched at the pain it caused. Suppress the pain. A will of iron was something she no longer had, but she was still an usurper. If this was enough to make her bend…

"I fight to take back what I lost."

Her fists hardened, adopting another pose.

"What do you love?"

…

"The idea of 'redemption'."

Streaks of dirty blonde were outlined against that golden light.

"That idea that behind every person that does terrible things, there will be a chance to prove to everyone they're not who they really are."

The details were faded, but Yohan Rye knew that if a heaven existed, he would definitely not be going to it. Behind those locked golden gates, a scowl of a mother, a father, were holding the shoulders of that glaring 'successor'.

The drawn sword dropping slightly, his head looked to the ground.

"And what is it you've 'lost'? What drew you to combat me? A personal reason, or am I just…" Yohan tilted the sword upwards again slightly.

"...Next in line?"

Redemption?

What a sickening thought.

So a rapist wasn't really a rapist. A murderer wasn't really a murderer. A bastard wasn't really a bastard. So they should all be given chances to show that they weren't awful people after all, to be forgiven. But the sins remained, sinking into the bones of those that still remembered.

Her knuckles turned white.

"It wasn't personal."

"Then why."

"...convenience."

He sighed.

"For a woman driven by rules, I find it strange you can't justify reasons for going against them," Yohan paused for a moment. Recalling something. Watching that clock. "...Is becoming the 'Empress' what you seek?"

"When have men ever understood a woman's heart?" A faint smile. "Have you caught your breath yet?"

"Forget it, then. ...We both know you won't find a true answer to that here."

The slightest of smiles mirrored across the scorching flowerbed.

The man kept silent for a while, before getting back up to his feet. He looked up, and gave a simple nod in response to the latter, his grip on the blade slacked, untrained… but ready.

"Back to it, then."

He waited for her move, red still drizzling from his front.

The same as always. No hesitation. Suppress the fear. Burn the blood. Her hair flowed behind her as she charged forwards, arms raised to protect her face. A black lioness to descend upon the sword-stealer.

Who was the one here, that had the weaker mindset?

Her prey remained still in wait, blade extended.

Not looking to run. Not looking for any particular opening.

Just looking to end this, here and now, be it him or her.

He muttered under his breath, only the 'cate' clearly audible. Nothing happened. Again. Nothing happened. He rapidly feinted his one move, giving it a sudden aura of unpredictability.

Until suddenly, the true word was spoken.

" T r a n s l o c a t e . "

With the extended blade, pointed at the tip, he appeared right in front of the charging girl as close as it allowed, and thrusted with all his remaining might for the neck of the predator.

The clock struck 9.

"Assassinate."

It had been decided the moment he wielded her sword instead of his fists.

The blade slide through her throat as if she weren't even there, exiting out the other end as her clothes fell out of her body. One fist lashed out in that instant, passing through steel and slamming into Yohan's curled fingers, while another reached out, grasping him by his hair. As if exchanging favours, she pulled his face down into her knee.

Crunch.

His nose broke, his consciousness flickered, and blood joined his descent into the ground.

The sword landed with a gentle thump on the floor as Yohan landed on his back, redness steadily dripping down his mouth.

"Translo… c-ca… translocate…"

His body slumped to the side of the girl, his arm weakly clawing at her leg from the floor in some sort of desperate attempt, only leaving harmless marks. His breaths wheezing, the arm fell to his side, his mind toppling. No more energy was left. Too many consecutive teleports. Too many injuries. And above all, too many misjudgements.

As his eyes struggled to remain squinted open, all he could see was the bare outline of the victor; the victor that had been decided before the battle had even begun.

"...Tha… th… that's it, then." A broken voice croaked. His body no longer resisted, or struggled. It didn't even roll over, and the golden eye didn't even close to look away from his sentence.

A splutter sounded, coughing out some crimson that landed back onto his face.

"Break… my… neck… 'victor'."

That was it.

The finale.

She held her cards until the very end and won.

But...she waited still. The clock ticked away in the background, 9 becoming 10. 10 becoming 11. 11 becoming…

He wasn't getting up after all.

Her power wore off, and once again, she became a denizen of the world. Her sword was hers once more, and with decisive steps, she strode over, wrapped in the incense and humid wind. Above, the fleshy sky pulsated. Below, the wilted field smouldered.

Shnnnk.

Inbetween, lifeblood flowed into the gaps created by their conflict, dying the world red.

Now, there was only one.

---

There was nothing left now. The golden radiance closed, and Xi Feng turned. A hole was in that jacket, but at that last moment, she stopped, the tip puncturing only skin.

She despised redemption stories.

But she despised half-assed efforts more.

"You think dying will absolve you of your sins?"

"What is your LOVE?"

"It's my brother and my indepedence."

"It's my mother and my vengeance."

"It's myself and my ascension.

"What is your LOVE?"

Day broke on the god-absent Sunday.
​

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[fieldbox= Alice Engels, plum, solid]


After that nights meeting, Alice makes it back to her home in the student district, surprisingly without incident given the late hour. Not being one of the worse or better rooms, it was rather small with a workbench of tools, oils and gears. A couch for sleeping, a bathroom with a shower and spigot that supplied hot water at least, and some furniture for storage finished the room off.

Hitting the couch first thing and pulling a blanket up the girl falls asleep out of exhaustion sake more than anything else, waking up the next morning the Machine Girl sets out about performing maintenance on her mechanical parts. Applying oil where needed, checking the tightness of gears, various things of the like. Next was to strip from her clothing and washing herself, fortunately or in fortunately this meant a bucket of hot water and a rag. While mechanical parts made up her limbs and a portion of her face, the rest was still flesh and as a result needed to be cleaned. While the mechanical limbs could be improved and made better with proper resources and research, and weren't prone to failure from a simple bath, they did at times collect and hold water, which truthfully was a pain to clean. As a result a simple bath like this was much more preferred.

Finishing that, it was time for one small issue. Turning her attention to the bathroom Mirror, that yellow eye was still in her skull. It wasn't a dream after all. And if her other eye was next, she was exactly sure how, or if she should explain this to her Grandfather. While she could no longer lie about her reasoning on what he had done, he did take care of her finances in part, even as the family wealth had mostly been consumed by reparations. She had to be thankful for that much, until more answers were found she could not drag him from his work into this, even the clothes she now put on were in thanks to his allowance.

On that note, her thoughts switch to Namie and Alina. The conversations of both, plus this new reality left her much to think of as she used what food she had left to make a simple sandwich. Circumstances had forced Namie to being correct, she needed to learn more about the City and the activities within it, not staying in her room minus when she had classes, work or was being studied. Then there was what Alina had said, no matter how crazy it all sound until she had answers or evidence to the contrary she would likely end up in that world again.

"Why me..." In truth growing up as a rich girl having to care for herself and working on machines that were now a huge part of her, this was yet another discomfort added on top of it all. Finishing her meal, she at least would have some means to protect herself. Going to the tool bench out in the center was a pair of rather large bronze clockwork claws. Useful for cutting shrubbery, boxes or meat, she could at least put them over her mechanical hands like a pair of oversized gloves. She could justify carrying them around so long as she didn't wear them in public as being tools for one of her side jobs with the so-called gardening club. Unless she ended up in the disciplinary committee or somehow ended up with special permission, carrying her practice Rapier in the street just was not an option. She could justify bringing it to the training center she attended, but walking the streets with it? That would likely draw more attention than the claws.

Perhaps it would be better to just wear on of them.. Though fortunately from her breakdown, it seemed her limbs did pack a bit more punch than she had assumed. Grabbing just the left claw, Alice slips it into a simple holder, attaching it to her side, if it became an issue then other options would need to be looked into. Setting out to explore the city and buying some replacement groceries, Alice was going to take some of Namie's advice to heart before she had to meet with Alina and her two friends, that was her goal for today, even if said day might make some of that difficult. That and finding answers about that other world of course.

[/fieldbox]

 

[Jakers]

His body gently drifting away into unconsciousness in that sea of red and flaming petals, there was no 'voice' to greet Yohan as his mind fizzled away into the third dream. His mind groaning at him from within, for not fighting dirty and ignoring his morals 'to win'.

But he'd lost that will to break 'honour', ever since he forgotten the thrill to 'win'. He didn't even know what he was anymore. Just a lost soul at this point, trying to decipher some intangible 'system'.

He braced himself for the worst possible outcome, his mind thinking up all the horrible things he'd have to endure this time.

When Yohan braced himself for some form of torture, though, instead... there was no feeling.

No voice, no feeling. Just the sensation of floating in a sea of blue, a feeling of defeat interlaced in his stomach far more painful than it should've been. Uncontrollably, tears formed in his eyes as the thought manifested itself deeper and deeper, until it felt like hands were gouging a hole into his stomach. What had even been the point of trying?

What even was the point?

A silent world didn't answer. Raindrops crafted from air fell into the translucent sea his prone body was floating in. Through tear-welling eyes, he recognized something in the colour of this empty environment.

The sky had a faint colour to it.

A colour that reminded him of his mother's eyes.

And as he made that connection, the voices just got louder and louder and louder.

Everything he did was a failure.
He should've just ended it as soon as he cheated his way through that first game.
He wasn't worth it.

Nothing but these sneering, blue voices that poked at his mind filled his ears, their voices a slow moan, comprised of his family members.

A sword remained pointed at him from the sky, rain flickering off the blade that pointed at his heart to remind Yohan Rye of his place.

Life isn't worth anything for a sinner.

The claws below were rising from this invisible sea for him, and all he could do was accept it and close his tear-filled eyes.

~ ~ ~​

With a slow breath, Yohan awakened, a single tear falling from each of each of his eyes, before his mind pulled back into the 'real world' once more.

What was different this time?

Nothing felt different. He felt... normal. No, better. Despite going through another awful 'vision', despite failing to accomplish anything again... he felt somewhat refreshed. As if all of his various failures didn't matter anymore, and all that mattered now was achieving as many successes as possible, before 'time ran out'.

His mind was buzzing, thinking of all the things he could occupy himself with this morning. Where doubt and pessmism stopped him from working on some of the ideas pinned to his wall, he now wanted to try them all, whether he failed them or not.

Oblivious to the wound in his stomach; already forgetting about the incident with the raven-haired girl, it wasn't long before Yohan stormed out of his dorm, briefcase in and handfuls of blueprints under each arm.

So what if it's too late for me? Even if there's no going back, now... but... I will contribute something.

The workshop awaited.

 

[Random]

Something was dusty.

Alina, face-down in her pillow, body sprawled over bedclothes, was not entirely sure what, but something definitely felt like dust.
She moved her head and looked drearily into the daylight speckled across the carpet.
"This room..."
Something about it bothered her.
Maybe it was the cold, twisting knife of returning to find a missing Marionette still wedged into her gut.
Had she been taken?
"Unlikely" had been her conclusion. She probably just woke up and left. Alina still felt the mild guilty pangs of her memories of lost puppets, but she figured she would reimburse the girl next time they met.
She had other things to do. Benches and fountains came to mind.
But first, of course, she had to deal with this cold sweat she'd woken up with.
Pinching the folds in her dampened pyjamas, she offhandedly pondered what kind of dream she'd been having.
All she remembered was whispering and pale, misty hands.

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

Alina suspected that might well have been the first shower that had tangibly refreshed her.
Stretching the last of her tension away, she actually felt energised.
She was really and truly in a good place.
Despite everything, she was actually happy.
How surreal. But knowing that a person could find happiness even without knowing of it in the midst of so grim a situation was enough to simply cheer her up even more.
She'd be fine without breakfast, she decided, just a snack was okay.

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

Sex ante meridiem.
Meridiem.
Sex post meridiem.

At three distinct times of day, the only religion she knew of with a Bell rang it.
It was stupid. It was unfounded. But it seemed to fit and it was the only thing she could think of, so she was sticking with it.
Clocks were a pain, but if it worked for now, it'd work until that world came by again.
"Still… it'd be nice if we didn't have a timer..." she muttered, offhandedly kicking a mote of gravel.

________

After departing with Yohan, Onyx had immediately headed back to his dorm to sleep. Only, as he laid down he was assaulted by an unrest that kept him awake for most of the night. So many questions were circulating through his head - Empress? Trials? It all sounded like the results of a bad fever dream. Maybe he was actually in the hospital and all of this was just him being delusional.

If only.

Eventually, he fell asleep and almost as quickly woke up back up to find the sun peeking through his blinds. With a curse, Onyx rolled out of bed and went about his morning routine. He needed to wake up, get himself together and try and find the others. Stepping out onto the street, Onyx took a deep breath, a slight apprehension taking hold of him. The thought of actually searching for them intimidated him.

Strange.

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

Hands in his pockets, Onyx strolled down the streets, a curiosity overtaking him as he began to think about random things. 'Was Jesus an Empress? Maybe he went through the same shit. Boy, I bet that was awkward.' Onyx mused as he watched people make way to whatever religious events they were partaking in.

'He probably was. Makes sense, in retrospect.' Onyx decided, clasping his hands behind his head. 'If I was Yohan, I'd probably be avoiding anything religious because I'm a gambler. If I was Alina, I'd probably be in some library being smart and shit.'

"Or maybe I'm just a stupid piece of shit." Onyx blurted out when he spotted Alina, legitimately surprised when he saw the girl. Jogging to catch up to her, he quickly came up beside her.

"Marionette says 'Hi'." He said, immediately feeling anxious when he realized that her power was still affecting him. How long did it last, exactly? "Ugh, fuck her. Anyway, uh… How's it going?"
"Onyx!" Alina exclaimed. She wasn't used to this whole 'friends' thing, but she was extremely glad to see him. "I'm sorry! I forgot to say what bench it was! I found someone who could help probably us though."
She shook her head.
"No, more importantly, how are you doing? I haven't seen you since I did that stupid thing with the ghosts. Did you get out alive?"

"Uh…" Onyx was caught off guard, honestly. He was so used to Alina being so calm and subdued that he didn't think she even had the ability to be excited. Boy was he wrong. "I'm… I'm alright. I guess. I made it out. Well, uh, this sort of goes back to Marionette in a way." He blurted out before explaining the events that transpired the night before, repeating everything Marionette told him.
"... Which is something I also find very weird, because I'm a dude so how the hell do they expect me to be a goddamn Empress?" He ranted before taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Your thoughts on any of this bullshit?"
She frowned thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. It does make sense, but if Marionette's an enemy now, can we trust everything she says? I assume she's just playing with us, but still… I guess it's the best thing we have to go off for now. Dominate, huh…?"
She shuffled a foot on the ground.
"That's way too strong," she shook her head. "Our best bet is to just not try to fight her at all, honestly. See who lives longer if we can lure her into hazards and stuff if we have no other choice, but I'd rather not run into her."
She shrugged. "Let's think about it closer to the time. More importantly," she smirked wryly, "is it too much to ask for a guy to go shopping with me really quick?"

"I can't believe she made me run around naked." Onyx muttered under his breath, still somewhat embarrassed over the whole ordeal. Who even does that? What about the whole 'great power, great responsibility' thing? Sure, he would never adhere to such boring logic, but he expected other people not to abuse their powers. "Shopping?" Did this classify as a date? Was Alina really that desperate? Had he finally lucked out?

"Uh, sure." He shrugged. He needed to be casual - he couldn't show Alina his desperation. Maybe, if he played his cards right, he could even partake in some…

'Handholding…' He thought in reverence, as if it was the greatest thing that could ever happen. "Where we going?" Onyx inquired with a raised brow, legitimately curious as to what Alina intended on buying.

"Well, it's a little unorthodox," she said, "but I need something to stab with, bluntly. Or not so bluntly, as the case may be."
She smirked a little at her own joke.
"I don't want to trouble you, but then I also don't intend to let you get lost on your own again after that little episode. Know anywhere decent?"

"Oh." Onyx remarked, genuinely surprised. It made sense, now that he thought about it. "Uh…" Could he really take Alina to the blacksmith club? Yeah, he could probably get away with it once without raising any questions, but a second time? If Alina wanted an actual weapon…

"Well, uh… There's… Y'know." He shrugged, feeling quite uneasy about saying the word's 'Dropout District'. "But, I guess it depends on how stabby you're trying to get? Could try one of the industrial clubs. Or, uh, maybe a novelty shop? They may have like antique knives or something."
"Oh, that's an idea," she said. "They decorate walls with swords in the Yu, right? Who knows, we might be able to find something genuine if we look hard enough. This month's stipends should be enough to cover that easily. The only thing to worry about is getting ripped off, but if I still know what I'm doing, that shouldn't be an issue."
"I highly doubt they'll have anything extremely fake. It'd make those uppity-collectors super pissed if they weren't genuine. Though, I guess we'll see once we get there." Onyx chirped, genuinely excited to go to an antique store. Why? He didn't know. Maybe because in his head he had convinced himself it was pretty much a date even if it obviously wasn't. "Not gonna lie, I've never been to one. An antique place that wasn't all about clocks, I mean. My dad usually tries to keep my away from expensive stuff that isn't clock-related because he's afraid I'll lose my interest in horology." He rambled, wanting something to talk about as they began walking.

"That's what I'm here for, by the way. Horology. Probably one of the most boring things, but it's pretty neat. Fixing stuff, y'know? There's just something satisfying about when you finally get all the gears to click and work together." He rubbed the back of his neck. "What about you? I know Yohan has his water… Stuff. What're you here for?"

Alina thought about clocks for a moment or two as he explained. True, it would have been satisfying to try that, but awfully monotonous to just put cogs together all day. She probably could have lived that way once.
"I'm here because of my parents," she said, a simple statement that offered neither passion nor dread. "They work as administrative staff. Higher-ups, you know? I was born in Ringrange, so I've never been anywhere else. I don't have any special talents or interests besides analysing things. Even that's not what it was a few days ago, but I think it must have been some kind of sickness of the mind anyway. I did have a small job going where I'd predict how markets are going, values of certain materials and stock and stuff. I don't think I can do that anymore now that the analysis is reduced to voices in the back of my head. The best I have now are trustworthy hunches. Conclusions that I can't see the reasoning for."

"So, is it like… I talked to Yohan last night, and he mentioned something about kind of losing himself. It only happened to me once, the first time I died on the other side. Is it the same for you?" He inquired, curious to see if his suspicion was correct. If it was, then it meant 'changing' every time you died or gaining a new ability if you 'won'. "Also, can you do… Anything weird? Like, Yohan can teleport and I can… Stop stuff. Like, freeze stuff in time I guess? Anything like that for you?"

"Ha. I wish. That slot machine seems to have eaten my money. I've died twice and gotten nothing out of it. That's why I'm so keen to be able to kill things," she explained. "It's not just me. I saw a gold eye on Alice, the clockwork girl, but she didn't even know what I was talking about when I mentioned powers. Yohan's Translocate isn't as strong as I expected, though. While that spirit thing possessed me I came up with a loophole without even trying. Too bad it was listening in, I guess. These powers are beyond humanity for sure, but they're certainly not in the realm of God."
She met his gold eye briefly.
"More to the point, did you get anything besides that freezing power? You technically won the last round, right? Are there any kind of rewards for surviving?"

"I think it kind of… Advanced? Uh, I wasn't really aware of my power until after I 'won' or whatever. But, I sort of knew it had changed? Kind of like… Instinct. I've only tested it slightly, but I'm pretty sure I can affect more than one person now. I think there may be more, based on the crazy shit I saw, but I haven't really figured it out yet. I have an idea, but I don't want to just go around and potentially fuck someone's head up." He admitted. Onyx really didn't want to test his powers on random people - it seemed extremely rude, to him at least. And then he still felt bad about sandwich guy from the other night.
Alina seemed to consider this for a moment. "I want to try something. On three, try using it on me. You're comfortable with that, right?"

"Wait you want me to…" He was far from comfortable with using Alina as a test subject. It just seemed needlessly risky. "I mean, I could, but... " He rubbed his face. If she was willing, who was he to say no? She wasn't a coward, so he should just follow her example, right?

"Okay. Let me just... " He placed a hand on each of her shoulders to keep her steady. "It'd be bad if you fell and cracked your head, y'know?" He chuckled awkwardly, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself for what he was going to do.

"Let me know when you're ready."

"Alright. Three, two, one," she said, and then jumped as high as she could.

By the time she had 'one', Onyx had said 'Terminate'. He had been so focused on attempting Mindlock, he didn't even consider using his standard Terminate. How was this going go, he wondered? If it worked how he thought it would, she'd be rendered unconscious. Would he have to catch her? He'd probably have to, to keep her from hitting the ground.

Alina felt something attaching to her mind.
Wait, what? That's not what was meant to be happening.
Realising she'd underestimated Onyx's versatility by quite a bit, she pushed back. This didn't allow her test to work.
But even if she failed, she knew at least the first step had kind of worked.

He had been legitimately caught off guard when he felt the 'resistance'. Onyx didn't know what he had been expecting, but it wasn't this. Still, he wouldn't back down. He redoubled his focus, fully intent on 'Terminating' Alina's mind. He needed to practice, after all. If Alina was capable of giving him this much trouble, then he suspected it'd be even more difficult if it was anyone else. He didn't feel comfortable pressing too hard, though. If she kept resisting, he'd stop - not wanting to risk any potential mental damage.

It… was working.
That was a surprise.
Sure, okay.
She pushed back. Hard.
This hadn't been her intention when she had told him to Terminate her, and to be honest, she was kind of pissed.
She didn't notice, but she had gritted her teeth. This was not going to be easy, but it was going to be fun.

'Goddammit, Alina.' Onyx huffed out a rough breath, prepared to make one last push with Mind Lock before he called it quits. He was probably going to have a killer headache after this. Still, the very fact he was even having a mental battle told him everything he needed to know about the viability of Terminate. He was mostly curious to see if it would even be possible, and this pretty much confirmed it. Though, Alina's resistance made it difficult for him to even find out the end result.

Unless he somehow mentally beat her into submission. But, that was a bit too much for him.

"S-s...stop…"
Alina just about managed to force out words. "This… wasn't…!"
That pressure on her brain hurt more the more she pushed it back.
This wasn't what she was trying to do.
This had to stop. It had to stop now.
Did she really have to use that already?
Two seconds more. That was all she would allow.
After that, she was using force.

Okay this had to stop. He ended it and immediately staggered back, his head pounding as he doubled over and clutched his head.

"Oh. Fuck. That hurts. Oh god." He blinked as he knelt down, still holding his head. "Holy shit…!" He remarked, trying to blink the pain away.

"I didn't think it would actually work like that." Onyx admitted, glancing over to Alina. "Aw man, sorry about that. I really, really didn't think it'd work like that."
"It's… it's fine… It's my fault," she replied, clutching her right eye. That was too close. "I just wanted to check if it turned off gravity."
She blinked a little blood out of her eye, sighing.
"On the plus side, I definitely have a plan to take out Marionette now, believe it or not. It does involve punching girls, if you're into that."
She stood up straight, eager to keep up appearances before one or both of them got more humiliated.
"I'll explain on the way. Come on."

"Fuck her. I have no issue with smacking the shit out of her." Onyx remarked as he stood, still holding his head. "Lead the way."

"Yeah, see… It might not be her you're smacking the shit out of."

 

[ERode]

@RedArmyShogun
If nothing else, the weather seemed to be agreeing with Alice that crisp morning. Sunlight filtered through the clouds more strongly than normal, casting a soft gray light over everything, as stores were slow to open. Most students were, understandably, not a fan of doing anything on early Sunday mornings. A trio, wearing finer clothes than normal, strode towards the steepled roof of a church, while a newspaper boy chewed on a steaming potato, watching his lethargic peers with a mixture of irritation and bemusement. Various others were still blinking at how bright it was, stumbling back home with the assistance of some Disciplinary Committee officers who had the bad luck of dealing with weekend drunkards. The cobblestone streets of the Student District, while not as full as it usually is, was still busy, one way or the other.

At least the donut stand, headed by a tanned Statesman, seemed to be getting a lot of attention. With hot coffee and fried pastries dipped in various sugary sauces, it had a line built up already, the youth's clear, bass voice ringing unabashedly from his elevated position.

"Nothing kickstarts the day better than coffee and donuts, friends! To celebrate our opening, we're having a special promo of 4 for 4! Snatch it up while y'all can, cause supply is short and demand?"

He winked in a daredevil fashion towards Alice, on the other side of the street.

"Humongous!"

@Jakers
Blocktown on Sunday mornings was an anomaly compared to other parts of Ringrange. Though it was still early in the semester, the month didn't matter at all to senior students, many who were absolutely absorbed in their studies. Only the truly privileged had a spot in Scholar Street, after all, so the talentless, passionate rest had to make do with renting out workshops on the weekends, realizing their own dreams with ink-stained hands and bloodshot eyes. God may have rested on Sunday, but Mankind surely did not.

Thus, no one spared a glance towards Yohan as he strode through the blocky buildings of the Educational District, searching for an unoccupied workshop amongst the collection of similarly shaped buildings.

Indeed, the few that did notice considered him to be late.

@Random @Jageroux
While Onyx and Alina had an intense staring contest, others within the Roaring Surf Street couldn't help but stare, muttering and wondering what exactly they were talking about. The pain in both their expressions didn't help either, and a few of them even recognized Onyx as the naked stripper person from last night, who the Third Journalism Club had decided was worthy of a front page article. Was he doing something to the girl or something? One of the concerned gentlemen thought it was enough of an issue to flag down a patrolling officer nearby, and right as the two were about to depart, a woman in the blue-and-white of the Disciplinary Committee approached them.

Standing half a head above Onyx, the blonde woman smiled cordially at both of them, her blue eyes pleasant but wary. She produced a pink handkerchief and offered it to Alina, motioning towards the girl's eye. "Morning there," she said, "I'm Officer Warren. Everything fine between the two of you here?"

Her blue eyes flickered over their attire, their posture, their appearance, ready to draw her own conclusions.

But hopefully, they were going to be honest.

 

[Shalashaska]

Onyx had been caught off guard by the blonde woman's appearance, but he had been quick to react. He was generally pretty stupid, but lying was one of the few things he was good at. An odd skill to have, and not exactly one he'd proudly admit to, but a skill nonetheless.

He let out a surprise gasp, looking around while rubbing his head. Onyx's demeanor was one of confusion and embarrassment. In all honesty, he didn't realize they had attracted a crowd, so it lended to his performance.

"Oh man, we really made a scene this time around." He laughed dumbly before facing the Disciplinary Committee member. "I'm Onyx and this is Alina. Sorry for making such a scene." He apologized.

Genuine.

"It's been like this since we were younger, honestly. One disagreement then we have a life or death staring contest until one of us blinks or Allie's eye starts bleeding." He sighed, hands went into his pockets. "I had wanted to get something to eat, but she wanted to some antique shop first and, well, stare down of the century over here." He laughed, the reddening of his cheeks making him come off as even more embarrassed.

Casual.

"It's so normal to us, I never really thought about how it'd look in public, truthfully." He admitted. "Sorry for the disturbance. Hey, Allie, your eye Okay? You have another headache or anything like that?" He inquired, a concerned gaze focused on Alina - as if she actually was some sort of childhood friend.

 

[Random]

Credit where is was due, Onyx could be smooth when he needed to be.
Relatively smooth. By his standards.
There were a few holes.
Just a few though.

"Honestly, we can't have been that much younger," huffed Alina, putting on an air of sugar-and-ice indignity as she accepted the handkerchief and wiped her eye with it. "It's your staring at me that gave me a headache, jerk. At least warn me when you're going to do that. I told you, my immunodeficiency is acting up recently, you know that my blood vessels can't take surprises these days."
She gave a loud sigh of frustration. "Still, a loss is a loss, so I guess we're going to eat."

She turned to Warren apologetically. "Sorry. He doesn't really have much regard for time or place. It's a habit, so I ended up going along with it," she said. "I guess we all have someone we can share our quirks with, right?"

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[fieldbox= Alice Engels, plum, solid]

Exiting her apartment the day was rather pleasant, even some traces of sunlight was visible, though not as nice, if eerily as that other world. It was also rather warm all things considered. Venturing a rare smile, it seemed like a dream. Watching the crowds around her a few drunkards were being sent home or to the cells, others were going to church judging by manner of dress. A newspaper boy was easting a potato, seeing him reminded her of the reporter Namie. Somewhat Tempted to grab a newspaper she needed her money for food.

Shaking the thought aside, she didn't really want to see what was wrote about her. Sniffing the air as a tan skinned man gave her a wink while shouting some slogans. It smelled good... and the price wasn't too bad either. Reflecting on her meeting for that afternoon and the news of today a peace offering might come in handy. "Smells so good.." Heading across the street and getting in line things seemed to move rather swiftly. Not really caring to try her luck at holding a cup of coffee she passes on that, while the more hot and sugary sauced covered pastries were better hot and couldn't be left to sit around for a bit.

Choosing some jam filled pastries that were from Eirchenstadt. Selecting the berry mix, she wastes little time sticking the one she could have in her mouth. "Huh! Delicious! Mmmm.. t-thank you." Frowning a bit, she had to share the other three, doubting the offer was good for another go around as she chews on the desert awkwardly reaching with her money to pay for them she resigns herself to moving on. First off finding a grocery stand that was open in the morning, she bought her usual fair, bread, dried meat, vegetables and cheese. While the shop had nicer items, she simply could not afford them at present.

As the minutes and hours passed Alice would eventually returning home to drop her groceries off, checking the pastries to be sure they are still soft and edible, there was a bit more time left in the day. While it was scary a bit she did want to see more of the district like Namie had suggested, plus with a day going this well she dreaded to think how it would be when and if they went back to that world. Heading back out the door and down a few side streets with her pastry bag in hand, the Machine Girl soon runs into a curious sight.

Ahead of her lifting a carriage axel in his hands was a man dressed in a pair of leathery underwear looking garments, with a pale white mask, a neck harness and wrist gauntlets. Dead lifting the axel and it's wheels, the man casually drops it, before flexing his arms and chest muscles. Grapping a speaker phone, he had a cultured if not raspy deep voice, mostly bald stray strands of hair blew in the wind. "Ah yes. Just don't walk away! Let us have a civil discussion." Grabbing a stack of bricks with his left hand the strangely dressed man continues to speak, this time looking towards Alice herself, whom had moved closer to watch the show.

"Too Much Pain, Too much suffering and sadness has passed in our world... We invite you to the Carnival Club's Nightly show, we have clowns, and magic tricks, and a strong man act with old fashioned Wrestling, with yours truly. Let us send you home with smiles and laughs and awe inspiring tales! No one cared who I was until I put on the mask.. But ah, you! Girl in the Audience, yes you with the metal skull patch, come here."

Half wondering if the man was slightly insane, at least he was a student.. He couldn't be that bad right? Alice unsure, points at herself and mouths the word me? "Yes don't be shy, they make me wear the mask so I can't bite." Chuckling and then flexing again, Alice walks a bit slowly as the crowd parts ways. Suddenly and without warning the masked man smashes the brick pile in his left hand against face, shattering them. Pulling a single slip of paper from the dust now caked on his mask, he hands it over towards the Machine Girl's clockwork limbs. "You should come see the show little lady, here have a ticket. You look like you could use some better memories in this world of ours." To some applause with his feat of strength, or insanity, Alice accepts the slip of paper.

Unsure of if she would even be able to go, she doubted very much she wanted to make this fellow angry and refuse. "Um..Thank You." Smiling lightly, the larger man goes back to his flexing as a stilt walking clown strains to pick up the Wagon axel, to the laughter of some. Stepping back into the crowd Alice pockets the ticket, at least it seemed like it would be eventful, all in all this little sideshow could be a nice way to kill time.

[/fieldbox]

 

[Shalashaska]

It worked.

Onyx was surprised, but he didn't show it. And, as expected Alina instantly caught on so seamlessly Warren probably believed everything. Giving them a few parting words, the Disciplinarian soon left the duo to their own 'weirdness'.

"I'll try to be more careful." Onyx said, arms folding as he turned to Alina. "I should have known better than to think testing Terminate in public would be a good idea. If that was anyone else, that could have gone south really face. Nice catching on, by the way." He commended Alina, which was odd considering he didn't have a single doubt she was probably smarter than him general.

"Still though, we should honestly get a move on before any trouble rears its head." He clasped his hands behind his head, his fingers intertwining. "I expect you know where the antique shop is, right? Either that or we have a long day ahead of us."

 

[Random]

Alina sighed in relief the moment Warren was out of sight.
"Honestly, you didn't do that bad yourself putting that together on the fly," she smiled back to Onyx. She hadn't actually expected such a coherent and seamless lie out of nowhere from him.
Though he raised a good point. She had absolutely no clue where in the world to find an antique shop. It wasn't exactly a major interest of hers to seek out old things for the sake of it, so she didn't even know where to begin.
"It'll be an adventure...?" she attempted.
Well, never mind. There would probably be some kind of signposting somewhere they could use.

She just hoped they would find it before the Bell rang again.

 

[ERode]

@RedArmyShogun
The sideshow continued on, feats of strength demonstrated to a crowd of curious onlookers. From rolling up a cast iron frying pan to singlehandedly hoisting up members in the audience, the masked strongman continued to perform, shilling the Carnival Club's Shining Festa all the while. A few people received free tickets, while others were assured of how affordable the prices were. After all, this was all just for fun, not profit, and the money they made was going to go back to Ringrange in the form of charities and all that.

Perhaps a bit good to be true, but the charm of a jolly, muscled man went a long way. Almost like a manly, masked Santa Claus, perhaps. The street performance continued on, until the clocktower gonged, denoting early noon, and the muscle man's troupe departed, to a smattering of applause. The crowd dissolved as props were disassembled and stored away, and soon, the muscled man was carrying a great big sack of stuff as they marched off wherever else.

"Weird gent, eh?" A familiar voice called. In his signature messenger cap, Namie waved at the clockwork girl from a few meters away, a basket of greens cradled in his arm. "Broke open your piggy bank, Alice? Or did your grandpa send you more money?"

@Jakers
Each individual workshop was abuzz with a quiet, focused intensity, students either working alone or in small groups. Their abacuses clicked and clacked as their pencils traced over large pieces of paper, imagining prototypes to new inventions, or creating tangible models that could serve to prove their own theories about the reality that surrounds them. Materials were always in high demand in Ringrange, after all, and rarely did one start on the creation of a product until they were absolutely certain that its theoretical foundation was strong.

Yohan himself was leaning over a large workbench, his own tools on the table alongside his blueprints. Though anything that required actual forging wasn't possible within the workshops of Blocktown, they were meant more for assembly and fine-tuning. There were special grounds for experimentations as well, though the testing of actual lethal weapons were restricted to the shores of Ringrange. As he immersed himself in his work, however, an older man, a professor with an impressive moustache and a dark brown complexion, leaned over, peering at the sketches.

"First time, lad?" he asked, a voice booming even as he spoke softly, "Don't recognize your face here."

@Random @Jageroux
There wasn't any sort of signpost leading to an antiques shop that held weapons. After all, Roaring Surf Street was a place of eloquent boutiques and flowery bakeries, and while furniture and other necessities could be found there as well, many of the shops held goods that could be easily placed in well-designed paper bags. After all, it was a place that was popular for dates, not for house renovations or treasure-hunting. No pawn shops at all were present, while antique shops were mainly devoid of anything that could be used as a weapon, unless the couple planned on weaponizing beautifully painted vases.

Finally, however, after going through what felt like dozens of shops holding cute matching trinkets or house decorations that would make their wallets collectively scream in terror, the two found themselves what looked to be a promising location. Bearing woodwork reminiscent of the designs of temples within Tian Guo, the faint aroma of incense could be smelled, suffused with lavender and many other fragrances. Above the double doors of the establishment was a sign carved painstakingly to copy the sweeping calligraphy of ink brushes, stating 'The Dragon's Den'.

Pulling open the doors via brass handles, another wave of fragrance washed over the two as they stepped in. It was definitely a different vibe compared to the bright, more open designs of the other shops they ventured into. Here, it was hard to tell if all the clutter and lack of organization was meant to instill exoticism or just laziness, and the many candles scattered around the aisles looked more like a fire hazard than anything else.

In the back of the room, a Morceban man with a noble posture sat, reading through a newspaper from a foreign land while sipping on green tea. His blond hair was swept back and tied into the same ponytail that Tian Guo natives had, and his blue eyes flicked up momentarily towards the latest patrons in the shop, before going back to his reading, uninterested in these white plebs.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

[fieldbox= Alice Engels, plum, solid]

Watching the act, with the fascination of a girl befitting her age would, Alice is somewhat impressed. As more tickets are handed out and the information on where the bulk of the money would be going, the rather jolly strongman backs up with the others, making way to perform on another street corner. In all honesty if not for her willingness to learn more about the city she would have just stayed shut up in her room, missing it.

Speak of, or in this case think of the Devil and he would appear. Arching her eyebrows this was a bit of a surprise. She was still carrying the bakery items, though she had dropped off most of her groceries, there was also one of her claws in the bag at her waist, it was only bad luck that Namie had shown up, though she couldn't be too upset with it, afterall it was partly by his pushing she did get to see the wonderful show.

"Huh..? Reporter Namie, ah! Be careful waving! Carry it with both hands! I really don't have the money if you lose your stuff as well..." Pondering what to tell him as way of explanation, it was partly lies but mostly truth. While recent events may have shattered part of her honest nature, she didn't feel lying fully to Namie was the best of ideas, plus he had been a bit nice to her at least. "The Piggy Bank is apt, I had left over pay from my work with gardening. It's enough to last the week, till I can get more work. Though I might look into working with one of the other clubs as well.. Not like I have much to do with my time. I plan to contact my Grandfather tomorrow, or wait till my monthly allowance.."

The only real falsehood she muttered was mentioning telling her Grandfather about this, there was no way that was happening. At least until she knew more of what was going on and could weight it.

Smiling lightly at if not a bit sadly at Namie, her golden eye briefly vanishes behind the mechanical shutter as she turns her attention back to the departing man. "He seems like someone that's been through a lot, yet he's a better man for it rather than a worse. How many can say that..." Turning her attention back to the reporter, the Machine Girl tilts her head slightly in recognition.

"Also, I truly do thank you for the advice on seeing more of the City... I mostly stayed in my room short of work or classes and would not have seen the things I have today otherwise. Though I'll admit I didn't expect to see you so suddenly."

[/fieldbox]

 

[Shalashaska]

"... And so, that's when she slapped me and said 'Don't talk to me ever again.'" Onyx finished recounting the story of the very first time he ever got turned down. "Frankly, I don't think she should have slapped me, honestly. I mean, yeah - I threw up on her poodle. But the thing was fucking ugly as shit to begin with, so I didn't do that much damage." He added with a roll of his eyes as they came up to the door of 'The Dragon's Den'.

"With a name like 'The Dragon's Den', if we don't find some sort of weapon I'm going to feel cheated, honestly." He said, scratching the back of his head. Opening the door, he was surprised when a wave of 'stuff' hit his nose. It smelled really... Foreign. But, frankly, Onyx had always been bad when it came to exotic fragrances. It's why he tended to avoid girls that wore perfume, because most of the time, to him, it smelled like dog piss. "Wow." He said, reeling back slightly as he attempted to adapt the smell of the place. Stepping inside, he raised an eyebrow at the clutter before looking to Alina with a puzzled expression on his face. Did they come in through the back? Was this the storage area?

He noticed the shopkeeper, but he didn't say anything. He really didn't know what to say, to be honest.

"Uh... Um. This is a lot to take in." He coughed, turning to Alina. "I mean, there's clearly... stuff here, so... Yeah. Let's find something pointy and dangerous." Onyx clapped while looking around, a smile on his face. He didn't know why he was smiling, but he was. Sometimes it was best not to question things and just go with the flow.