Final Five

[Astoria]

No response.

That answer, or the lack thereof, was something that bothered Iphie. Honestly, there were only three plausible conclusions that they not give an answer. One being they were wholly arrogant to the point that they could not conceive of their own downfall. Two, that they were arrogant, but had a yet-to-be-seen defense to back them up, or three, they foolishly underestimated her judgment and offensive capabilities. Or, perhaps, as it was more likely, a combination of all three. It was a wonder how she ever got along with them all. The fourth was that she royally fucked up the frequencies which she was communicating on, but that was something reserved for amateur hour.

Regardless, these conclusions did little to deter her from her resolution, and the purple-haired executed fired away with great prejudice, because fuck them and their invisible helicopter. She fired and fired, even through the disruptive 'help' that Kyouko had given in the form of crashing an airplane into the skyscraper they stood on. Scrambling a bit for a footing at the resulting explosions, many of her shots went wide, completely missing their mark. Only after a few valuable seconds was she able to readjust, finally hitting her mark with a visible flash.

Iphie was about to close in for the kill when her entire line of fire was disrupted. The entire sky seemed to be blanked out, and even she had to stop her attack to see what the hell was blotting out the night sky. Up above them was what appeared to be massive airship, of some featureless form. Had it been identifiable to her, she probably would have blasted away at the thing too for interfering, but she was completely in the dark about the origins of the thing or the heat it was packing. While it was flat on the top like an aircraft carrier, for all she knew, it had an orbital-grade laser that could vaporize their entire building at the moment, so she wasn't going to push her luck. That didn't mean she wasn't livid, however; she was confident that one more well-placed shot would have destroyed the Thremonts' escape vehicle and given Iphie her comeuppance. Breathing in deeply, she glared daggers into the back of the vessel as the massive aircarrier-like ship roared away. Noting the absence of flaming helicopter and the lack of VTOL swarms after it left, she was fairly sure it was something that the Thremonts had cooked up in secret.

Clenching her fists in restrained anger, she finally returned her attention to her immediate surroundings. It seemed, in the short while that she had focused on the air, the entire landscape had literally changed. Much of the roof was a smoldering ruin, and almost all of the black suits were dead or dying. This scale of destruction caught her off-guard enough that it dissipated some of her pent-up rage, leading her to mutter "Good lord, what happened here?" under her breath. It was about this time that Iphie's call was finally answered by Kyouko. Refraining from telling her new teammate to go fuck herself, she simply dropped the call instead, watching the two other girls circle around the penthouse, surveying the damage.

Tian took it to himself to rescue the downed thugs, leaving Iphigenia alone on the crippled deck, where she was approached by a turncoat blackcoat. He was an older looking man, but his words offered nothing useful to her. Interestingly though, he clearly knew that they were the Final Five and he wasn't hostile. Evidently, he had something interesting to say. Taking the cautious approach, she eyed the man as she replaced her phone into its pocket.

"And… you are?"

Taking one eye off him after saying this, she shot back down to Tian. "No promises. I'm actually rather pissed."

 

[Zombehs]

"Geez," he muttered with a scowl as the projectile veered away from the VTOL that Kyouko had latched onto after being thrown by Runa. Good thing he hadn't gone with an Exploder like the first time otherwise the Final Five would have been down a member… As the Shooter disappeared into the distance, Ling turned his attention to the massive airship that blotted out the night sky with its immense size. He was impressed and annoyed at the same time. 'Always bigger fish, huh?' It was an irritating thought and a crackling lance of energy burst into existence over his shoulder. With a hmph, the projectile flew forth like a bolt of lightning and crashed against the vessel's underside.

Unsurprisingly, the damage seemed to be negligible. It was hard to tell at the distance and with the lack of light, but it seemed the area of impact had been blackened and several layers of armor might have given away. Several out of who knew how many dozens. As the engines powered up and the vessel pulled away, Ling watched the colossal object disappear over the horizon before he turned his attention back to the wreckage of a rooftop that had been their home. And for once, he hadn't been the source of the most collateral damage. Well… that depended on what happened with the first VTOL that went down actually. To check on that he actually drifted over to the edge of the rooftop and focused his attention downwards.

 

[Skyswimsky]

No answer. "Hellooo~~?" Strange, maybe Iphie's gone got stolen and this was some sort of prank? She had to check that later, for now, Kyouko was still in the air. Just about to try rescuing herself...somehow...it was Runa who catched her again and apparently scolded her a bit. "I didn't have to! But I did! We either go hard or go home!" Speaking of going hard, Kyouko's attention soon shifted away from the damage she had done to the roof towards the sky. Some kickass gigantic titan ship thing was blacking out the sun, or moon.

"Is that...also our enemy? Let's roll!" Aiming her fist towards the sky, it was then that the undefined fantastic object distanced itself in a matter of seconds. "....or not." Her motivation clearly took a hit as she finally got down from Runa who safely landed on the destroyed roof again.

It was then that Tian asked for her heroic aid. Right, some of the blacksuits most likely died... but considering her limited power, it was not something she could have avoided, or could she? Was this now the point in time she was supposed to mass revive all her dead enemies? No, surely not. "Alright, I'm on it!" Before jumping down into the debris the brunette gave a quick look to Iphie. "I think someone stole your smart phone! I got a prank call." With her informed, Kyouko was now looking for any other survivors...and in case they would actually try to retaliate, well, that was something she would think about if it actually came so far.

 

[Asuras]

None of the black suits were in any position to retaliate against Tian-Gui, either incapacitated, mentally devastated, or too broken physically to do more than moan as the hero carried them out of the fires and onto the rooftop. In the distance was the sound of police sirens and fire engines, as was expected. They'd be there within minutes.

The black suit defector loosened his tie before removing it, unbuttoning his shirt at the top before sliding a hand through his hair. He suddenly looked far more individual than his former 'comrades'. The man looked down at Iphie with cool eyes, seeming wholly unperturbed by anything at all, as if he had just arrived home from work in a mundane office.

"Chase Baneford, young miss. Or should I say, Miss Courtlandt. I didn't realize you'd found yourself into the arms of the Final Five... Three? What are you nowadays?" he asked, turning to find Runa carrying Ling over to the scene. "Funny how fate works. I once worked for your father on a number of tasks. Confidential of course, even for you." He surveyed the wreckage before him, face cast by an orange glow of the growing fire rising from their penthouse.

"Shame," he said, shaking his head, "Seemed like a nice place from the schematics the Thremont's men were given. I suppose you're all particularly confused about all that's happened. What with losing your HQ as well, I feel awfully bad. How about you all come stay at my place for the night? I've got more than enough room."

 

[Astoria]

Had Iphigenia been younger, perhaps she would have been less tactful in her response to Kyouko's appearance. Regardless, there was still a very real urge to snark or snap at the younger girl. Instead, she shot her a glance, before dismissing her statement with a hand wave.

"I'm not always at a liberty to answer a call. Even when I placed it myself." While in combat was pretty much a given. Pausing, with a fleeting glance at the defector, she continued. "Could you give Tian a hand? He needs help downstairs."

Having finished addressing her day's source of discontent, she returned her attention to the suited turncoat, who had introduced himself quite well, actually. She was surprised that he worked for her late father though, and in the implied capacity. When she learned of her father's more 'intricate' meddlings, she was equally as surprised; she only ever knew her father as a nice man and role model. But if she really thought about it, Iphie wasn't the best person either, so being ethically bankrupt probably ran in the family.

"Final Five again, actually," she replied, coiling her headset cord around her fingers. "Confidential tasks, huh? You know, Pratt & Whitney's new CEO has been a bit of a cunt lately…" Laughing that off with a wave, she declined Mr. Baneford's offer. "It is a shame, really. I never got a full tour of the place." At least she got a partial one. Ah well. "I appreciate the offer, but I have my own residence in the city. I'm not sure about the others; it would be nice to have a chat over tea or lunch, though."

His suggestion of staying over at his house was a bit forward, to say the least, especially considering how suspicious his profile currently stood. It would be really nice to have the opportunity to debrief him regardless, especially given his involvement with her father and the Thremonts.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Runa landed near the others, done with ferrying people around for the night. "Man...you guys really need to learn how to fly," she complained to deaf ears. "It's way too useful to just rely on me all the time, and I might not be able to always carry everyone."

She shrugged at the offer to stay over. "What's wrong with this place? Just put out the fires and stuff and it'll be fine." While no stranger to the finer creature comforts of human civilization, it wasn't much of a stretch to say that she could do just fine without pretty much all of them. "It's not like i have anywhere else to go. Well, I guess I could crash at a park somewhere. Nobody would care too much about that." She thought about things for a while. "Ah crap! All my school stuff's probably trashed!"

Without another word, the girl went right over to the edge of the hole smashed in the roof and hopped right down into the wreckage of the penthouse, to salvage what she could of her everyday life.

 

[ERode]

The suits weren't resisting their rescue, and Tian-Gui wasn't hearing any agonizing cries of electrical suffering, so he decided that a promise from Iphie wasn't, in fact, necessary. While there were interesting things being exchanged between this Chase Baneford and Iphie, most importantly the fact that he used to work for her father before, the hero largely ignored it. The police should be heading there soon, sirens coming both from the skies and the roads, as flying cruisers closed in from the distance.

Well, he managed to save the ones who were in the most critical condition, so it'd be fine from here. Tian-Gui was a bit bummed that his house was pretty much a pile of rubble at this point, but all the important things were present. His wallet was still inside his armor, and his clothes were probably still fine in the laundry room. While Runa was in a panic over how her school materials were probably crushed and ruined by the wreckage, all Tian-Gui did was laugh. After all, he had finished his own college degree a year or so back. With his golden-armored body, he pushed and lifted and squeezed through the rubble, until he could finally reach the remains of the laundry room. As if protected by the gods of fate, his clothes laid there, only a few specks of plaster on them.

"Nice."

With that, the Flamestone turned into red dust, as he put his normal clothes back on, looking as stylish as ever. He flicked out his cellphone and sent a quick text to Limov, asking the Russian chauffeur how everyone else was doing. The hacker girl would probably have fallen into utter despair due to all her technology being crushed, but hey, now she had a reason for going out and enjoying the real world!

"Any luck with your school stuff, Runa? You can probably just reprint them at the library tomorrow or something! I'm sure your teacher will understand!"

 

[R-9 Pilot]

"Yeah, sure, that'll go over really well," Runa shouted from elsewhere in the apartment, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm sorry I don't have my homework, or my books, or my uniform, but my house got invaded by goons and then a VTOL crashed into it. Like anyone would actually buy the truth this time."

She did manage to salvage what she could of her books and her clothes. sure, the work she was doing in the living room was a lost cause, but it's not like everything everywhere in the flat had been completely destroyed. She was still quick about grabbing what she could from the rubble, and didn't bother making a really thorough search. It wasn't long before she, too, ended up at the laundry room to retrieve her clothes. "I found some things, but I'm gonna have to borrow some stuff for a while." She grumbled a bit at her imperfect results, and dropped a backpack that was lightly charred and dusted with powdered drywall. "Anyway, think they'll let us stay here?" It was as good a time as any for idle conversation, as they got dressed in a wrecked apartment.

 

[Astoria]

Having insisted on some kind of lunch or breakfast with the turncoat Mr. Baneford in the following days, Iphigenia followed the others in making their way below to the shelled out husk of the Final Five's penthouse. It would have been rather ironic if her clothes had been destroyed in her effort to save them, but upon arriving at where she'd last left them, she was surprised to find that they had not burned away and that Tian and Runa were changing into their clothes again. Doing likewise, she shrugged into her jacket again, listening to the exchange between Runa and Tian before jumping into the conversation.

"Well, I could write you a note," offered Iphie to Runa. "Company letterhead, signature, fountain pen, the works. It would legitimize the note a bit more."

Poking at the rubble at the entrance of the laundry room, she was actually surprised the entire place wasn't fully gutted out by jet fuel fire. At least that put to rest that jet fuel did not, in fact, melt steel beams. Regardless, the place still looked pretty fucked up. Mr. Baneford had offered them to stay at his place, but she had qualms about letting anybody staying at the residence of a hired hand that had just invaded their headquarters.

"If "they" is me, then no," responded Iphigenia. "I've got a penthouse a little ways downtown. If you'd like, you can all stay over for the night, as long as you don't attract more helicopter gunships, or people that identify as such."

Regardless of what they said, after mulling about at the remains of the burnt out penthouse and stewing at the Thremonts a bit, she would have returned to the mentioned apartment downtown. It was in a rather quaint looking building; with an nouveau art deco style base extending up to the twentieth floor and a full glass facade for the remainder of the tower, it looked slightly anachronistic for the city, but styled enough to still look modern.

Iphie's apartment was a duplex, although technically three stories if the portion of the roof that was allocated to the penthouse was included. Upon arriving, visitors would be ferried to the uppermost of the two floors, which were connected via an indoor staircase. Aside from the various guest bedrooms on the upper level, the entire apartment actually saw some fair use for a single girl and a one-person staff. The lower level was the most frequented, with Iphigenia's Shanhu office, complete with a server room and workroom. It also had a small gym, a living room, the kitchen, and the less relevant service rooms. The upper level was much more of a living space, with a second living room with a balcony that hung over the first, and the myriad bedrooms and bathrooms that never really saw frequent or sustained use.

The skeleton crew of a staff consisted of a single maid, a green-eyed, dark-haired girl by the name of Chloe. A year younger than Iphie, she was her childhood friend and retainer, and somebody that keep together and defend a residence better than anybody else Iphigenia knew. It was this person that greeted Iphie and any other guests that might have arrived that night with a bow. Dressed in a black tailcoat, she had an indeterminate smile that seemed to balance between smug and demure as Iphie addressed the arriving party.

"Well, this is it. Since you all lived in the other penthouse, I suppose things shouldn't be much different." Turning to look at her maid for a moment, Iphie made a quick hand gesture. "This is Chloe; she'll show you around. Please treat her well."

 

[Skyswimsky]

Well. In the end, no one got hurt further. The all-the-same looking goons that she may or may not have killed didn't show any form of resistance, and thus, neither did Kyouko. After she was done, and thanks to the nitpicking Runa was doing, she only realized now that the house she just rekt was in fact, also the home for the majority of the Final Five members. Well, that wasn't too good... but no one faulted her, so ultimately it was...okay? Yeah. And maybe she was supposed to stay here from now on too! So it effectively meant she also destroyed her own home...and she was okay with it, so the others should be fine too. Fool-proof logic.

Regardless, soon after she was done it looked like Iphie was offering everyone an invitation to go over to her place. It...sounded honestly awesome, some kind of sleep-over with her new friends and all but ultimately ... she did not want to. This was kinda outside her work-time now, wasn't it? It was not like Kyouko didn't like the thought of rekking Iphie's place too, but after what happened to Miku, she promised herself to keep a certain distance, and this was just too much.

"Thanks, but no, I have a home of my own! So... just call me in the morning or something! I probably maybe wake up and hear it~ See ya!" With those words, Kyouko gave her good-byes to the group.

Using public transports on her way home, the girl had a lot of time to think about todays events. She was now... a hero, someone she always aspired to be, a dream coming true, so why wasn't she hypeactively happy right now? Probably because, ultimately, the title of hero was just that, a title. In the end, she was still weak, her fame and strength build upon a lie. In the end, she still needed to be protected by others. In the end, she still killed a lot of people, maybe they had friends, family, people who were super sad about them not returning from work now, just as sad as she was about Miku and her dad gone.

It was totally different from what she had seen in the TV shows, where the villains got antagonized to an extent that all you wanted is them getting punched in the face. And their henchmen? Well... nobody cared about the henchmen, but ultimately, now, in real life, they were people too. Sure, they deserved to be punished...but like that? Was Kyouko Hiruma, the heroic hero nobody deserved but that everyone needed, in fact, just a murderer?

"Tzch..." Shifting her position in the the high-speed train, Kyouko was mad. Mad at herself. Mad at her lack of power. Mad that she wasn't really able to save anyone but herself today. That was not what being a hero was on about, no, today, Kyouko completely failed and disappointed all the people that have suffered today, and more importantly, Miku. It was a fact that the only reason she was here was because of her best friends sacrifice, and now, Kyouko continued to disappoint her even in death. "I'm so pathethic..." Giving herself a mocking smile, Kyouko sighed again. Everything sucked and she just wanted to stop thinking now.

---

The building was big, pretty much a small mansion that could easily entertain a fifty or so guests with enough breathing room upwards. "I'm home~!" And it was also just as devoid of human life. The only other person who sometimes checked in on her was her father's best friend: Bobfried. Apart from his funny name, he was actually a pretty cool dude, sure, Kyouko was very certain that he cut himself a big slice from the pie, but as long as he managed all the annoying paperwork and Kyouko could spend as much money as she wanted to, she did not really care. He wasn't the type of guy to take everything from his best friend's daughter just to enrich himself, no, he was the kind of guy who respected her deceased father and made sure Kyouko would be all-right, or at least that's what the wannabe hero thought.

Moving on, the building was huge, though considered all maids, he did not like butlers, were fired it was only a question of time until the fearsome enemy named dust would start its reconquest of the furniture that was still placed here. Her father liked parties after all, and like any good host, he had everything that was needed...with the exception of the alcohol that Bobfried took away, because a minor wasn't allowed to drink or something.

Yeah, her father, looking back he might have not been that great but for Kyouko he was the best dad in the world, he really loved her, and she loved him. 'Live every day like it would be your last one' was a motto of his, and maybe doing it like that wasn't so wrong... whatever, he was gone now and Kyouko could not bring him, or Miku, back. Not even bothering to check the fridge the actually exhausted Hiruma girl bee-lined right towards her bedroom, ignoring all duties of brushing her teeth or whatever else, Kyouko undressed herself until naked and finally cuddled herself into the sweet sweet land of dreams, with a few tears rolling down her cheeks.[/hr]

 

[ERode]

Tian-Gui flashed a toothy grin at Runa's palatable sarcasm, and was about to shoot back a response, when Iphie did it for him. All things considered, bringing up pictures or a newspaper article would probably shut that skeptical teacher up, and if that didn't do the job…well, that's a pretty terrible teacher then.

"Runa," the raven-haired man said lightly, bringing out the glowing screen of his cellphone to show the time and date, "It's only Saturday. How about we go out tomorrow and get those new things? Shouldn't be too hard to find, right? Not like missing a few days worth of homework is the end of your academic life anyways~"

There was, of course, the question of whether or not the police would let them stay in the wrecked portion of the apartment building. Like Ling and Runa, Tian-Gui didn't exactly mind just sleeping out on the streets or whatever, but Yigga had her nuclear bunker room, and if the Thremonts found it in their heart to come back for a second round…well, their giant airship thing could probably just flat out uproot the bunker and drag it along. Of course, it wasn't too likely that something like that would happen, but it was enough of a reason for Tian-Gui to refuse Iphie's offer. It would be a little awkward for her parents, anyways.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine. Someone's gotta answer questions from the police and watch the house, after all. Anyways, it'll probably be awkward for your parents if you brought a man they didn't know over, right?"

Without waiting for any sort of clarification from the purple-haired girl, Tian-Gui squeezed himself through dusty corridors and pushed away some collapsed furniture, before finding himself a chair that wasn't completely smashed and setting it beside the door to Yigga's room. He sat down, crossed his legs, flicked out his phone, praised the heavens for free wi-fi, and waited for the authorities to come.

Hm…maybe he should don his armor once more, just so they'd actually recognize him.

 

[Zombehs]

He couldn't really discern any of the damage that the helicopter had caused on its way down oddly enough, but didn't think too hard on it as Runa arrived to ferry him back towards the rooftop of their now destroyed residence. He floated down several feet once she had let go of him and surveyed the damage from up close. There was only so much he could see from up on the roof though, and eventually he also dropped through the smoldering hole to enter the burnt out remains of their penthouse.

While it didn't seem too structurally compromised there were still sections that proved troublesome to squeeze through while within the Coffin. It only took a few moments for him to abandon the physical shell for his formless state to give the rubble a thorough search.

"Ah geez…" It was about then that he recalled the five that he had knocked out in the first place and made his way over to check if they were still alive. To his disappointment they had not managed to survive the destruction of the penthouse, the blood that had seeped from beneath the fallen ceiling already dried thanks to the flames. He searched for a while longer before satisfied he had missed nothing and by the time he returned, the two newcomers had already left the area for their homes presumably.

 

[Asuras]

Late in the night, Iphigenia had recieved visitors; not her fellow Final Five members, but Final Five associates nonetheless. Mason and Amoix stood in the doorway. Mason bore an apologetic, almost embarrassed look, while Amoix seemed immediately intrigued by the corporate princess's abode, peering in with curious eyes. "I hope you have room for an old man and an extra maid," Mason asked of Iphie, whether or not she was the one to answer the door.

It came as no surprise that Mason and Amoix seemed to take heed of their surroundings, as if planning for a great battle. They were household caretakers, after all, and being granted the graces of someone who barely even knew them. "I am Mason Wick, and this is Amoix Resiuelle," he introduced. Both of them synchronized their formal bow. "We were the caretakers of the final Five's penthouse, and obviously, now without a home. We only need one night here to find another temporary abode. That was some fighting..." he said.

"I'll say," Amoix said with obvious sarcasm.

"Can we do anything for you while we're here?" Mason asked, glancing over at her own maid, Chloe.

---

A loud chattering filled the hallways outside the dilapidated penthouse. Firemen and police officers had reached the top floor, and lingered outside, seemingly halted. Someone called out. "Final five? Are you in here?" A police officer, clearly decorated compared to his three other subordinates, stood in the doorway, a hand held up to the wall as if prepared to knock to no avail. The fires raged loud enough to drown out most sound. "We're coming in."

The group of officers found their way to the three heroes who still remained, seeming perplexed by their apathy towards the destruction around them. The captain scratched his forehead just under the cap he wore. "Quite a mess you've been subject to. What happened?" he asked, looking around. "We'll have the fire responders put out the flames. We won't peep through your penthouse otherwise. I can imagine there's a bit that probably shouldn't be found. Still, we'll need an explanation before we can just pass this off as an accident. I know the sort of trouble you guys experience, but I still need to say I came here and got some answers."

The Final Five, at least, Tian, Ling, and Runa, were already well aware of the way that Shanhu's police department treated their escapades. They often turned the other cheek, fully understanding of how badly things could turn with the people they dealt with. Shanhus underground wasn't something the mundane civilian security sector could fathom, much less attack.

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Runa could do much but play nice with the police and gave a proper statement. Some stuff happened, there was a fight, people stole some things and so-on, and there's a lot of property damage and hurt people. Or, in more detail, they came home to find some sort of killteam roving around, and eventually chased them only to find their employers getting away with some stolen items which the Five had acquired earlier in the day. Said employers made good an escape by using everyone else, including a few gunships, as a distraction. One of those gunships sort of got thrown through the penthouse roof, leading to the current state of disrepair.

Once she didn't need to stick around, Runa left for Iphigenia's house, so she could at least sleep in a proper bed. Never mind that she ends up knocking on one of the doors leading to the roof or a balcony, rather than going in through the rest of the building. Being able to fly is convenient. She enthusiastically introduces herself to whatever staff lets her in, and explains her presence as follows, "Well, Iphigenia said I could crash here, so I'm going to take her up on it. I managed to salvage some more clothes, so i brought those with me. I'm really not much trouble, just give me a space to sleep, and that should be enough." She was already eager to go wander around and explore the change of scenery, and it was obvious from the way her ahoge danced around excitedly as she spoke.

 

[Astoria]

As it seemed, it looked like the other members of the Final Five were too busy picking up the remnants of their former home to be bothered to retire to an enclosed shelter. But as it turned out, some of the supporting members ended up showing up after all, not too soon after Iphie arrived back home herself. It seemed the more interesting twins continued to be holed up in their bunker, so it was the caretaking duo that showed up.
For Chloe, it was actually a bit of an awkward dichotomy, with the whole matter of having a maid and a butler temporarily joining the household as guests. Given that they'd offered to help, it put her in a difficult spot. Making them do any sort of work would be an insult to them as guests, but she also knew from experience that sitting around and idling didn't sit right, either. In the end, she treated them as guests, politely turning down Mason's offer.

"I'd be loath to ask of anything of you as guests," she declined. "Relax, make yourselves at home for the night. Although, would you mind sharing your thoughts on a few things?"

With a yawn, Iphie went to retire to bed. Usually, she'd stay up a bit later than now to wind down at the computer, but the day's events had left her quite worn out, and she retreated to her bedroom after being as host-like as she could reasonably be. After taking a shower and changing into silken pajamas, she rolled around a bit in bed before noticing something in the balcony window, nearly sending her crashing to the floor in surprise. She recovered quickly enough when she realized it was Runa, and she slid open the balcony door to her bedroom, chiding her teammate as she did so.

"Runa… The elevators are perfectly fine too, you know." Pausing to put another piece in, she finally gave up on any further argument, simply because of how silly it was. "Well, alright." With a wry smile, she quickly ushered her out of her bedroom and out to the living room where the caretakers were chatting, prompting Chloe to ever-so-slightly raise an eyebrow.

"I… I seemed to have missed the helicopter," commented the maid, twirling a lock of her hair as she looked at the newcomer.

"She's the helicopter. Long story." Now that Iphie had recovered from the initial shock of seeing a face in her window, she simply shrugged before turning to Runa. "Would you like some tea, or something to eat?"

 

[Asuras]

The officer nodded with each point Runa had made, promptly pulling out a notepad to write swiftly upon. His eyebrows were raised during its entirety, clearly stunned by the day's events. He opened his mouth on occasion, but silenced himself as Runa's breathless story-telling continued on. Before he could actually ask further questions and understand key points, Runa decided her job was done and flew off, leaving him with Tian-Gui and the floating rocks. He scratched his head and sighed, flipping the notepad closed before sliding it into a pocket.

"Well I suppose that'll do. I'll have the fire responders get in here and take care of what still remains... unless you can somehow handle it yourself? Don't suppose you need any extra assistance? A place to stay maybe?" Eventually, by whichever means, the penthouse destruction was quelled, leaving it a damp, hot, and dilapidated mess of its former self. The members could only hope that they had enough store funds to repair the damage, or otherwise purchase a new place. What with Kyouko's personal wealth, there were a number of members who considered what they thought to be the best option...

---

"Certainly. What is it you're-Ah! Runa! Glad to see you're unharmed. Though I expected nothing less. What of the others? Did they not come with you?" Mason asked, giving the girl a light bow. "My apologies. What is it you wanted to ask us, ma'am?" Mason said, turning back to Chloe.

"We're probably not the best people to be talking to when it comes to the Final Five's escapades and secrets, if that's what you're curious about," Amoix shrugged, smiling. "We might not be at liberty to say even if we knew." The maid narrowed her eyes playfully. "Your master might be a new member, but we can't divulge stuff to every friend they have!"

 

[R-9 Pilot]

"Elevator takes too long to go that high up," Runa replied, puffing out her cheeks in a pout and resting her hands on the back of her head. "It'd be a waste of time."

That one errant strand of hair that had been twitching around turns to point right at the maid after her comment. "Hm? What helicopter," Runa asked at about the same time Iphie explained the situation. "Long story short, I can fly, and it's way quicker to just land on the top of a building than get in at the ground floor." Her only response to the offer of tea or food was, "Yes."

Runa nodded to the Five's usual servants. "Nah, I kinda ditched them back at the penthouse," she admitted sheepishly. "They can follow on foot or whatever, if it's a major concern. Glad to see you two made it out ok." She wandered further into the apartment. "This is a really nice place you've got here," she commented to her host. "Is it, like, some sort of prerequisite to actually being part of the Final five that you have to live on top of a high-rise in some sort of really swanky apartment, or is that just coincidence?"

She eventually settled onto the living room couch. "We're not imposing or anything, are we," she asked. "It does look like there's room, but that doesn't mean we should just all show up here, either."

 

[ERode]

In the end, Tian-Gui had allowed Runa to deal with the police's questions. While he wasn't shy at all about meeting them, it was a good learning experience for the eldritch girl anyways. After she cleared up the situation and flew off, no doubt to Iphie's house for a slumber party, the young man scratched his head and said to the officer, "Yeah, if the firemen could help put out the fires that would be great. I can handle dealing with whatever remains."

Of course, that didn't change the fact that, with the Final Five's current funds, it would probably be quite some strain on their finances when it came to repairing the place after all the junk had been swept out. Well, there was no point in crying over spilt milk. The Thremont will pay for it in the future, and for the time being, they'll have to scrap by in some other ways.

As the firemen poured inside, Tian-Gui sat himself beside the nuclear bunker room of the shut-in hacker, and flicked out his cellphone once more. It was at 20% power, and most of the electrical outlets were busted. Looked like he wouldn't be able to kill time tonight, eh? Tian-Gui scrolled through his contacts list and brought up John, before sending over a quick text message.

Yo, John, got news of the Thremont attack? Can you dig up information on the siblings? Find out whether they've been pulling off any super suspicious projects? Blueprints to their buildings would be great too.

He wasn't expecting a response any time soon though, and with that, the raven-haired youth knocked on the nuclear bomb shelter. "Still got electricity in there, right? Mind if I come in to charge my phone? Shit's busted up out here, Yigga."

Of course they wouldn't open the door enough for him to slip in, but at least he could slide his phone through that gap. Moments later, his blue eyes noticed three pale fingers pick it up and bring it in. "Thanks, I guess?"

Well, with all that done, he'll just have to clean this place up, huh? As firemen extinguished the flames, Tian-Gui donned his armor and did his part of the work, lifting up pieces of machinery, picking up bags of ashen trash, and all that stuff. It was good, physical training, and, in the end, he had no trouble sleeping at all.
~
The morning came, and, without windows or a curtain or anything else, Tian-Gui might have caught a cold if not for his superhuman constitution. Yawning and cracking his limbs, he did his morning calisthetics, stretching out his body and gyrating his hips until his body was warm again. The fire had pretty much exterminated all his clothes and his magazines, but what was important was that Yigga had slid the fully charged cellphone out when he woke up. After all, his wallet was linked to his cellphone, and from there, he could buy everything again. It would be a shame that his vintage jeans were now just vintage ashes, but Tian-Gui wasn't too depressed from that.

John would take a week to gather the information required to assist in Operation Cerberus.

In that week, seeing as to how they didn't have any sort of headquarters, and were going to go up against an enemy whose military power they were unaware of…

Tian-Gui's fingers flew about the screen, as he sent a text message to the rest of the Final Five.

Everyone, we have a week before Operation Cerberus begins! Before then, let's go on a weeklong camping trip! It's training time! :D

 

[Astoria]

"You'd be impressed by how fast the elevators here are."

It looked like in the end that Iphie was not going to get her early rest for the day. So much for beauty sleep, but that was the consequence of offering shelter and taking guests. She was not as much of a traditional person as her father was though, and in the sense of coming right back out in pajamas in front of guests, she was rather casual.

For Chloe, it seemed she was a bit misunderstood; in the end, she didn't care much for particulars about the Final Five. If she did, she was a person that would be straightforward enough to just ask her employer. After all, the green-eyed maid was the person that handled much of the paperwork and mail that flowed in everyday for her busy master. No, she was interested in more mundane things.

She shrugged, throwing up her hands in an equally playful manner. "Oh no. I was referring to more professional matters." Naturally, with the appearance of some unique caretakers from a unique organization, the sharp-eyed maid wanted to share techniques and experiences. Naturally, that would have to wait just a bit further, though.

Being an ever-vigilant maid, Chloe responded to Runa's affirmative, although vague answer. "Shall I whip up a late night snack, then?"

Iphie's reply was a bit dismissive at first, but she also said yes, before snapping a finger. "Oh right, didn't Masahito send over his team's prototype bubble tea machine? Let's give that thing a whirl, too." Hell, perhaps she'd just stay up anyway. Call some lawyers, roast the Thremonts' legal department a bit, maybe review some of their old business agreements for discrepancies. Sitting down on the same couch, she dismissed Runa's misgivings. "I'm not the party girl type, but this is no big deal, really. As I said, as long as you don't get the place gutted by 30mm autocannon shells, it's quite alright."

At the same time, her phone buzzed. As she finished speaking, she glanced over at the screen to see a group MMS from Tian, provoking a frown from the neat-and-clean loving host. Shifting on the cushion, she tapped out a reply.

Camping? How about at the NASA space centre? They still do that program, right?

 

[R-9 Pilot]

Runa nodded and answered Chloe's further request affirmatively. "Yes, please."

She took a seat on the couch, idly kicking her legs for a while, as she thought. "Hm...I don't think we're in for another attack tonight. I certainly hope so, anyway. We've had enough excitement for one day." Too much, really. They'd been through too many fights, and Runa was looking forward to finally getting some rest.

The next morning, Tian's text arrived at her phone in time to wake her up, and elicited a frown of her own. It was too early for someone her age to be rolling out of bed, never mind that there was probably school she was already almost ignoring. She shot back her own reply:

Don't just go declaring operations on your own. nobody knows what they even are. And I've got school and stuff, missing a whole week would put me really behind :(

"You don't really think he'll drag us all off to train with him, do you," Runa asked Iphie. "You haven't seen the sort of stuff he calls training yet, anyway. It's crazy. I can handle the workouts and the half a dozen raw eggs, but then he gets to stuff like finding new and unusual ways to get the crap beaten out of you. What the hell is taking a bunch of heavy blows supposed to teach you, anyway?"