Λbsence

[Warm Regret]

"Viva wait!" Peri called as he trailed after the blue haired young woman. "Remember what happened the last time you ran off ahead!?" His voice becoming a soft echo to those who could hear it as he moved further and further away. Eventually he caught up to his comrade and walked along side her, his eyes closed and his arms folded. "Honestly, at some point we'll need to address this reckless behavior of yours." He said in a voice that was becoming vexingly familiar. Fortunately, Periwinkle quickly changed the subject as they descended further into the tunnels. "I still cannot believe a vast network of tunnels like this exists underneath Basar Stitch, all unbeknownst to those who live there. It is truly magnificent." He remarked mostly to himself, as his royal blue eyes roamed the dark caverns. The mingling scent of seawater and explosive materials wasn't exactly a pleasing aroma to add to the scenery but oddly it was something he found himself quickly getting used to.

At one point, the darkness of the caverns appeared to close in on them and Periwinkle feared what little light they had would soon be extinguished. It wasn't that he was afraid of the dark but what did concern him was that it was becoming more difficult to see and who knew what to expect in this underground area they were unfamiliar with. The other thing that bothered him, perhaps even more so, was that he was unfamiliar with half the people traveling with him and he didn't know what they were capable of. Just before he let his imagination get the best of him, the tunnels opened up again to an extraordinary sight and the blue haired young man exhaled. His royal blue eyes grew in size and his lips parted slightly forming an agreeable expression. Before him was an impressive sight, like a hidden cove. There were tools and other useful things strewn about and on the water was a glorious ship. The words sprawled across it read 'Vanila Cloud'. He happened to hear Guy speak the words under his breath and smiled. Unlike his companion, he didn't interpret the name in a poetic sense, instead it made him immediately think of a dessert. He was instantly struck with inspiration, a new desert, he would call it… 'Vanila Cloud'.

None of them were able to linger there for two long, as the angry sound of feral barking caught their attention. Peri looked at Guy first with confusion then turned to face the culprit. His initial thought was that Vargo had neglected to mention some guard dogs he owned to protect his work but when he saw Poemi, he assumed she was the apprentice they were looking for and the guard dogs were under her command. Before anyone could react, Poemi gave them all a glimpse of her Moirae powers. Whenever something unnatural occurred, Peri immediately knew that it somehow involved the Moirae cards, so it wasn't hard to deduce what was going on. What really struck him as odd, is how he found himself surrounded by people who use Moirae cards, given their rarity and his innate dislike for them. To suddenly find himself in the company of multiple Moirae card users was some sort of strange irony.

Unlike Viva and Guy, Poemi's powers seemed more disturbing and much closer to what he assumed Moirae powers to be like. He watched with a furrowed brow as the woman warped and distorted the dogs body's before allowing them to return to normal. Afterwards he released some of the tension in his body and watched the dogs run off, probably to get away from her. Although the animals looked uncomfortable, they weren't killed by whatever power she possessed and they didn't appear to be injured either, so that was a good thing but it was still alarming to say the least. After Poemi introduced herself, Guy was the one to speak to her first. Being ever the cautious one, he wanted her to prove she was the apprentice they were looking for. Before she could answer, Periwinkle added his own request. "Perhaps we should each introduce ourselves, to ease whatever concerns there might be?" He asked the group in his usual proper accent. The way he spoke didn't seem common for most young people his age, which may have been odd in itself. "For instance, who are you?" He said turning towards Kaito. Putting him on the spot. "You haven't said a word since the incident with Vargo. Might I inquire, who you are and what your intentions are here?" He asked flatly, unable to hide the distrustful look on his face.

 

[Finhawk]

| | Taipale Kallain | |​

As the group trekked through the tunnels, Kallain had a sudden realization when he was given a short moment to think. He should add the maze of secret tunnels to his map! ....Except on second thought, he couldn't map out the tunnels with such a quick passing-through, he didn't really know where exactly on Basar Stitch they even were at the moment, and the tunnels wouldn't be as much of a secret after that. But still, somewhat awkwardly as he was also busy walking, Kallain fished out a notebook and a pen from his bag. He then flipped through the pages quickly and wrote down something while squinting in the poor lighting, bringing the open notebook comically close to his nose while having to stop for a moment next to a torch. He tucked his belongings back to the safety of his bag, catching up to the rest a bit with few hurried steps, just as the scenery before them expanded into the cavern.

It was quite the sight. After his eyes recovered from the cruel assault of the sudden increase of light, that is. Kallain blinked at the scene before them, his eyes flitting from one working station, tool, or unfinished project to the next. However, it didn't take long at all for his gaze to fixate on the ship so readily on display in the middle of it all. Ah-hah! There was a ship to find after all! And such a pretty ship it was, he mused to himself. Letting out a tiny puff of breath, a smile wormed onto his face as he let his eyes wander around the ship's form.

'Vanilla Cloud', huh? That's... cute. Kallain figured it was a fitting name.

What wasn't cute, however, were the dogs suddenly charging at them. And what definitely wasn't cute in any shape or form was the equally sudden deforming of the canines. Shocked, horrified, and morbidly curious, Kallain stared in bewilderment as the animals floated off the ground. As this 'Poemi', apparently the apprentice and the source of the... mistreatment of the dogs, restored them back to normal, Kallain's dumbfounded and somewhat distasteful stare remained on the retreating canines even as they disappeared from sight. Only when Dreadlocks was halfway through his debriefing of the apprentice did Kallain shift his gaze on the person being scrutinized as well.

"Vargo wanted you to finish your 'project' and he also wished you to leave," Kallain added a bit numbly after the blue-haired kid began interrogating the thuggish lad he had ran into in the jungle. After falling silent for a second, the shield-bearer scrunched up his nose lightly as he gave a hasty look around the others, starting to come around from the momentary shock, "And I must point out I do believe leaving is indeed the wisest option here." Leaving soon, to be more specific. It didn't really feel like the best of time to have introductory rounds right then and there.

It seemed Kallain had to once again start seriously questioning all his life choices. Or perhaps he should just laugh at his current predicament as that might be what he would do if someone was telling all this to him as a story. And that's exactly what he'd deem it: a story. He'd find the tale hard to believe if he hadn't gotten involved himself. Creepy and less-creepy weirdos just kept on popping out of every crevice and it seemed each time he started asking questions, he's only handed more of them with no answers to speak of. Yeah, he was quite ready to skitter off somewhere else.

 

[Giltine13]

♦ Kuroyuki Kaito ♦​

Kaito started their journey through the labyrinth somewhere in the middle of the group, but as they neared their goal, he allowed others to get ahead of him and ended as the last one, save for the few times Mr. Shield stopped to scribble something down. At some point he scratched his ear only to find that the fur had disappeared giving way for smooth skin, so Kaito lowered his hood and gave a few awkward brushes to the mess he called hair. Soon after, they finally reached some kind of an end point that basked them in its wondrous light. It took a couple blinks for his eyes to adjust to the brightness, but after that they were ready to explore the newly found cavern.

Kaito wasted no time looking around the new space, instead his eyes immediately focused on the nearby docked ship. It was alluring and elegant, a splendidly built vessel that seemed to be calling out to the sea. He hoped that Vargo was planning to sell the beauty or something – it would truly be a shame to cage it like this forever. 'Vanilla Cloud' was a fitting name for something so graceful, although Kaito didn't personally like it, much too innocent and cute for him. Albeit, he still wished for the ship to get lucky with a fine doctor, to travel far and wide.

And then Kaito's thoughts were rudely interrupted by barking of all things. It made his hair stand on end and he quickly backpedaled away from the offensive sound promising teeth, slobber and grossness. But before he could get too far the growling fleabags suddenly blew up and took off the ground to awkwardly roll in the air. Kaito watched the fur-balloons in confusion, something between sick amusement and disgust rolling in his stomach. Then, as quickly as they got up, the canines went back down, just to scatter away from the cave. At this moment Kaito couldn't help but wonder if it was too late to return to his ship and pretend this never happened.

Not that he had much time to ponder as chatting quickly followed the event with a few demands thrown around; surprisingly one got aimed at him too. Kaito thought about pretending to be mute, but two of these guys already heard him talking... Then perhaps he could play to be deaf? For all they know, he was following them around just for giggles, completely unaware of the task they were given by the legendary shipwright. And now he was taking too long to answer, to the point someone else butted in.

Kaito had to agree with the white guy, they should get out of here before MAGNA crashed in. Or it might already be too late and they just walked into a trap laid out for Vargo. The real apprentice could be somewhere far away in shackles, while this woman would be a MAGNA 'big bad bitch' sent out to close off Vargo's escape route. But instead of Vargo she got them and now was forced to play the part of the apprentice. That would explain those teethed fur balls and why an apprentice would possess such a great power as a Moirae card. This 'Poemi' didn't really look like a shipwright either, assistant or not, at least in Kaito's opinion. He could try to test her knowledge in shipbuilding or something, but who is to say MAGNA haven't thought of that option too and thus sent someone qualified to deal with it?

Maybe he was just being paranoid and a little too quiet. It was about time to address the question thrown at him, "Who am I? That's a hard one – I'm a lot of things, from the guy that knows bits of everything to that utter backstabbing asshole. No worries, though, I won't back stab you or anything," Kaito patted himself down as if searching for something, "Don't have a dagger for that," he gave a cheesy smile to the blue nose, "As for intents, dunno, I guess I'm just wasting time. As are you, being much more concerned with me than that woman over there."

 

[Warm Regret]

The pressure of their circumstance was starting to constrict and some of them wanted a chance to escape it. It was clear that staying put for too long would only make matters worse, the best option would be to put as much distance as they could between Basar Stitch and themselves, as possible. There were still questions that needed answers but the point made by someone earlier was true…they didn't have the luxury of waiting around for those answers. The confusion amongst the group was almost as thick as the fog from earlier and it would take more time than they could spare to pierce through it. Of particular concern to Peri, was the pierced stranger. Peri didn't like Kaito's response to his question, he thought the young man was being purposely flippant with him but it wasn't like he could force him to give a more satisfactory response either.

Folding his arms across his small chest, he continued to give Kaito a disapproving look. "Perhaps you are right…for now." He said coolly, his proper accent adding to the calmness of his voice. He fully intended to find out more about the stranger who had somehow leached onto them. For all he knew, this boy with the piercings could be a MAGNA spy or a thief, waiting to slit their throats when they were least expecting it…despite claiming the opposite. "I suppose I'll just have to keep my eye on you in the mean time." He added with a wary smile.

The blue haired youth decided to remain quiet for a while after his exchange with the stranger. With too many people communicating and wanting to express something, those words tend to get lost and Periwinkle thought it important they all were on the same page. Besides, Guy had asked Poemi a question, it was rude of him not to let her answer but he recognized that Kallian had a point too. The Vanilla Cloud, it was their best means of escape. It was also one of the most impressive ships he had ever seen. Surely Vargo meant for them to take it. While waiting for Poemi's response, a breeze kicked up off the water and stirred his cornflower blue hair and periwinkle scarf. It was slowly starting to come together for him…that the ship was their treasure…but what did they know about sailing and when they finally leave Basar Stitch, where would they go?

 

[sun.]

With the tension between the rag tag group and the apparent apprentice, and even some of the people within their group, on the rise, Viva couldn't help but zone out. They had a beautiful ship right in front of their eyes! Well, that, and the fact that the legendary Vargo had tasked them to rescue his apprentice. Though she seemed to be able to take care of herself just fine, they had a promise to fulfill.

"Guys? Can we not just-"

But the rare moment of reason coming from the blue-haired Moirae user was interrupted by an eardrum shattering tremor coursing through the cavern. Dust and pieces of stone drizzled down, slowly at first, before chunks of rocks came crashing, splashing the group and the surrounding tools with water, and sending the ship into a wobbly fit.

"What the- Run! To the ship, we gotta get out of here!"

There was no time for interrogation, or wonder, or anything anymore. They just needed to get out, and quick. Running as if the devil himself was after her, Vivahoja quickly turned to Poemi once the group had gotten onto the ship, and a collective metaphorical show of hand confirmed that nobody was missing.

"I have no idea what you had in mind for this ship, place, or Vargo, but you need to get us out of here or both the ship and us get crushed."

Before the newly-encountered Moirae user had a chance to agree or deny the request, tactical positions, shouted by a group of men, came echoing throughout the secret workshop, as a seemingly endless row of MAGNA soldiers poured into the cave.

"There they are! Line 1A, fire!"

Before anyone knew it, a rain of bullets hailed towards the Vanilla Cloud, the wooden edges splintering as stray shots grazed the ship.

"Reload! Take aim!"

The procedure was about to be repeated, as suddenly, the tremors culminated in a deafening roar, and rays of sunlight pierced the dusty twilight in the cavern. Not one, but two gargantuan humanoid torsos, mere black silhouettes against the harsh sunlight, peered down into the cave, gigantic chunks of the cave's "ceiling" in both their hands.

"Titans have breached the cave successfully" one of the commanders yelled over the loud scenery, and into a small contact globe mounted on his wrist. Shortly after, a rain of ropes came crashing down, with a sizable portion landing right on the Cloud's deck. More heavily armored Agents came sliding down the hole, and onto the ship, swinging their sharp sabers, as if to show-off in front of the group. Hostilities were put on hold, however, as suddenly one of the Titans leering down onto the battlefield stumbled back. Another audible impact, and another. Another. Over and over again. The Titan's ally unable to intervene, it's massive limbs too slow for the assailant, a final collision, accompanied by a binding flash of light, pushed the Titan out of sight. With one of the Titan out of view, its loud foot steps still revealed its retreat.

Universal confusion was followed by a burst of wind, as the one responsible landed right amidst the MAGNA soldiers on the shore.

"Well, I admit I did not think you little monkeys knew about my last bastion here. But..."

He paused, briefly looking back over his shoulder, and at the Vanilla Cloud, his apprentice, and the rag tag group that had wanted to help him.

"I will not allow you to stop this ship from leaving!"

For the first time since meeting him, the crew heard a different tone in Vargo's voice. A jittering anger, unlike his calm and collected, almost paternal mumble. Straightening his back, the imposing figure towered over the comparatively puny Agents, and began to grow even further, and further, his arms and torso growing at an alarming rate.

"You want to capture me? Well, then..."

The white hair seemed to retreat back into his head until it all was a universal size, as, simultaneously, distinguished hair, no... fur sprouted all over the shipwrights body. Finally, with his legs transformed, now much shorter than his humongous arms, a giant ape, even larger than the already imposing Vargo they had known, stood before the Agents.

"HERE I AM!"

His voice distorted, as if a constant underlying screech came from somewhere within the beast, the silver gorilla perked up and beat his wide chest, before turning back to the Vanilla Cloud once again.

"I trust you can beat these clowns. I will keep the rest of them out of your way! Leave! Far away!"

 

[Jakers]

​

"Don't be intimidated by him," Jamal advised Peri, keeping stern eyes under his shades over the young man with three times as many piercings in his face than his own. He'd already seen how the old-looking man fought and acted, and there was something about that guy which Jamal couldn't help but trust and respect. This guy, though, who Jamal knew the least about, wasn't exactly giving him a good feeling by the unhelpful introduction and lack of respect he'd shown Peri so far. "He'll be outnumbered if he tries to do anything stupid. We can figure stuff out lat--"

Cutting off as he realized time was of the essence - as pointed out by Viva and the shieldbearing man - Jamal hurriedly clambered abroad the ship with the others, cringing a little as he quickly recognized the oh-so-familiar sound of the massive twat brigade known as 'MAGNA' firing at them again. Putting up a few roads defensively behind him, the bullets were 'absorbed' by his roads for a short while, each bullet causing a wave of green light to spread out across the glass plank, before it eventually started to 'crack'. Before it shattered, Jamal was sure to dispel each road before replacing it with another one, otherwise his body would sustain damage.

Hearing Vargo's battle cry soon after a group of sword-bearing MAGNA infiltrated the Vanilla Cloud, Jamal knew by now he'd just have to assume 'Poemi' was the real deal and knew how to get this thing moving. He couldn't see exactly what Vargo was doing, but judging by the huge sounds of impacts and the overwhelming, almost animalistic roars, the man was a living legend who Jamal didn't want to disappoint, and Vargo was buying them enough time to get the Vanilla Cloud soaring away onto the seas.

They still had to deal with the group of swordbearing shitters, though. Unsure what to do for a moment as they pranced about with their fancy swords in a rather show-offy manner, the young man appeared to be a mixture of both panicked and seriously unimpressed.
"Oy, piss off! Some of us here don't even have a boun--" Jamal roared, but MAGNA being MAGNA, they weren't listening at all at this point. Instead of pulling out his knife to fight, however, Jamal simply turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him across the length of the Vanilla Cloud, a single one of the sword-wielding MAGNA operatives choosing to give chase to the young man.

Creating one his 'roads' upwards at a vertical angle, Jamal crouched his body to slide on the smooth, wooden deck of the ship, before his legs seemingly stuck to the upwards-facing road, defying all gravity. Running upwards at a high speed, green light pulsating across the glass-like construct as bullets tried to shoot him through it, Jamal rummaged around for his blowgun and drew it along with a handful of darts, a few of his other darts falling out from his pack due to the awkward angle his body was at.

Watching as the short yet muscular man hurtled up the road of translucent light, one of the elite MAGNA officers let out a battle cry as he attempted to step on it himself, assuming he'd be able to follow Jamal up the road as well. However, as soon as the MAGNA operative set foot on the road, a strange, golden-red pulse echoed out from the point he'd stood on, and he found that his leg was literally stuck to the road.

With one leg at a 90-degree angle and the other hopping to keep its balance, the MAGNA operative flailed his sword about randomly, luckily deflecting one of the blowgun darts Jamal was firing at him from above. The second dart, however - by some lucky miracle - landed right in his cheek. Quickly pulling it out with an angry snarl, the narcotic within the blowgun dart was evidently quite powerful, as the MAGNA operative abruptly began to fall asleep, even whilst standing in his awkward position.

Giving a quiet "shit, that was lucky..." under his breath, Jamal created another horizontal road at the top of the vertical one he was standing on, essentially creating an upside-down 'L' shape with two of his roads. Moving from one road to the other, the young man was now standing upside-down above the ship's deck, confusing all MAGNA officers that distracted themselves with looking at him.

Using his vantage point, Jamal was really starting to feel the exhausting burn of using 'Thunder Road' so frequently, but as long as he kept his breathing technique right and didn't physically push his own body too hard, he'd be able to hang in there. His dreadlock ponytail hanging at a strange angle and his pair of sunglasses barely staying attached to his face, jungle-green light flowed through the young man's arm as he created a duo vertically-facing 'roads' either side of the MAGNA swordsmen, along with a few ramps here and there near his allies to use if need be.

"If you push one of those MAGNA bastards onto my 'roads', they'll stick right onnit'! Use that to your advantage-" Jamal paused, accidentally dropping his blowgun and the couple of narcotic darts he was holding onto the deck below in confusion. A bit of swearing came afterwards, before he looked down to Poemi

"How do we get this thing movin', then?! Sure as shit doesn't look like a regular ship-" Jamal called out, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. He would've also added, 'I'll hold them off', but there was no way in hell he'd be able to, even if he didn't drop his blowgun. He could only hope the people around him were actually able to fight way better than he could, and the 'roads' he'd set up on the ship's deck would provide enough freeform mobility for the others to avoid being hit.

 

[Warm Regret]

​

Preoccupied with questioning each other's identities and motives, the small group was oblivious to the fact that MAGNA had been surreptitiously bearing down on them the entire time. In the interim however, Peri's mood was assuaged when it was revealed that Guy had his suspicions of the man with the piercings. It made him feel like his caution was justified, however he also had to recognize that Guy was pretty much suspicious of everyone. With all the talk back and forth, it wasn't until Viva tried to speak up, that a chunk of the ceiling gave way and crashed into the nearby waters. It was an occurrence that guaranteed everyone's attention was now directed towards the same threat.

A tremor that could not be ignored shook the area around them. The quake wasn't strong enough to cause him to lose his footing but it was strong enough to loosen the heavy slabs of rock and stone that made up the cavern's highest points. Periwinkle looked up with wide eyes of royal blue but before he had time to wonder what was happening, Viva sounded the alarm so to speak and like the others, Peri bolted towards the ship. The tail of his officers jacket flapped in the wind behind him, while his blue hair wafted in the breeze he created. He may have been small but he was fast, it was almost essential given his upbringing. The next few moments were utter chaos as the small group made their way towards the Vanilla Cloud. Pieces of earth crashed down around them and to make matters worse, MAGNA agents stormed in and opened fire. To the right of him he could see Guy toss up a few of his 'Thunder Roads' in a defensive manner, which Peri thought was quick thinking but there was only so much damage the roads could sustain before shattering. Nevertheless, he had probably saved them from injury by deflecting much of the enemy's fire.

They made it to the ship but they still weren't safe. MAGNA continued to fire at them and if that wasn't enough, two titans were tearing away at the cavern's ceiling. "Above us!" Peri shouted to alert the others, as MAGNA agents used ropes to slide down into the cave. To his dismay, many of the invading agents landed onboard the Vanilla Cloud. Things were getting bad now and Periwinkle could feel his body begin to tense. Before he could do anything, a scuffle above them seemed to have caught everyone's attention, even the MAGNA agents. It was difficult to tell what exactly was happening above them but Periwinkle could only assume something had taken on one of the Titans. Shielding his eyes from a blinding flash of light, Periwinkle lowered his hand to see Vargo suddenly standing there on the shore and at that moment, he knew that they were in for an eyeful.

The blue haired young man was not disappointed as he watched in mild disbelief. Right before his eyes he saw Vargo transform into something that was no longer human but something more primal. Despite his intimidating appearance, Vargo managed to maintain his humanity and even spoke to them, telling them to flee as quickly as possible. Periwinkle couldn't help but feel a little useless. This was the second time Vargo had intervened to help them. Although he seemed to be exerting even more power this time, would he be able to continue to fend them all off? It wasn't a question he had long to ponder, as they had their own pressing matter to deal with. Several MAGNA agents were onboard the Vanilla Cloud and it would be a showdown to see who sailed off with the prized sea vessel.

He watched several of his new companions scatter to deal with their assailants and before he could make much progress, he found himself surrounded. With sabers drawn, three agents closed in on him looking overly confident. "Give it up kid, you're outnumbered and you're outmatched. Surrender now and nobody gets hurt." It was then that one of Guy's roads randomly appeared before him, which the MAGNA agents cautiously avoided. Periwinkle narrowed his eyes on the trio of agents, with a focused and somewhat stern look as he withdrew his own blade, a dueling sword. He slashed the air with it in a flashy manner before holding it vertically so that the blade was between his eyes. Had anyone been paying close enough attention, they would notice that Peri's sword style was very similar to that of the MAGNA agents.

His free hand was bent comfortably behind his back as he lowered his sword so that the tip was aimed at the MAGNA trio. "On the contrary." He began calmly. "It is you who is outmatched." Suddenly a violent burst of energy raged outward, similar to the energy shown by Vargo but nowhere near as powerful. At his feet was a visible source of the energy, a myriad of pigmented lights, pale in color and flickering like a soft flame. "He…he knows Suntsumei!?" Said one of the MAGNA trio, clearly surprised at the turn of events but Periwinkle took their confusion to his advantage and raced forward right onto Guy's 'Thunder Road'. His own speed and agility had been augmented by the use of his Suntsumei, but even that was magnified by utilizing one of Guy's 'Thunder Roads'. It was an interesting experiment and Peri hoped it would end with a positive result.

In a speedy dash of multi-colored slashes, Periwinkle was able to disable and disarm all three of his enemies in a flash. The blue haired youth slid to a walking halt just behind the MAGNA trio, holding his sword vertically between his eyes before thrusting it to the side, at which point all three soldiers fell to the ground after a painful groan. The leader of the trio growled at the blue haired boy, cradling his sore hand after falling to his knees. "You little punk! You'll pay for that!" He spat through gritted teeth. Periwinkle kept his calm when he replied, his proper accent almost calming as he spoke, still facing away from the trio. "I would suggest that you and your men abandon this ship. The Vanilla Cloud will never become property of MAGNA." He said before sprinting towards another MAGNA agent, unaware that one was planning on ambushing him as well.

​

 

[Aero Blue]

Things were progressing at a sickening pace. First she found herself interrogated by a dreadlocked unknown, before somehow finding herself party to an inner-group clash between blue-haired pretty boy and smug-looking… well, the smug one was kind of pretty too in her estimation, if Poemi was to be completely honest with herself. And then, suddenly, MAGMA appeared, bullets and titans and the like. Distressingly enough, old man Vargo himself entered the fray. Distressingly foolish, of course; Poemi wondered if Vargo knew how trite it was for old folk to try so hard for a blaze of glory nowadays.

All that, and still no one complimented her on her balloon-dogs. Rude.

"Proof." She mumbled, her soft diction and repressed mannerisms at odds with her general presentation, "I didn't stab your backs the moment MAGMA came; that's your proof."

There was, of course, work to be done, but before that:

Poemi leaned over the railings of the Vanilla Cloud, shouting to her shipwright-master, "Thanks for all your teachings, and the grub, old man! I really, deeply appreciate it; although I probably won't miss you very much, because I'm sort of a sociopath, and you already knew that! Also, live! Because if you die here, everyone'll just remember you as a big stupid ape!"

And now - as Poemi offered a thumbs-up to Jamal's inquiry - the work could begin in earnest.

"There are systems built in place, courtesy of old man Vargo. But, I haven't tested them enough to be sure they won't blow us sky-high, or just flicker out, so I can't pop 'em just yet. I've got a fail-safe system though, for emergencies." Poemi called out, hands gripped upon a wheel along the wall of the vessel.

It was an impromptu thing, and Poemi had never shared it with Vargo, for fear of displeasing the old man - but now was as good a time as ever to bring it out. There was a thick steel-wiring that lined the interior of the Vanilla Cloud, that superheated upon the spinning of a wheel.

And when it superheated…

Massive balloons, rigged all along the edge of the ship, inflated as the heat coursed throughout the wiring and fed into them. And as they expanded, the ship began to rise.

"Alright, now! Somewhere near the stern, there's these rigs - looks kind of like if someone mixed a furnace or two and… okay, well, another bunch of dogs. The idea is that they sort breathe fire, which should help propel us in the opposite direction. Someone go find 'em!"

 

[Giltine13]

♦ Kuroyuki Kaito ♦​

Kaito hadn't seen this one coming, but really, he should've. This almost felt like déjà vu and in no way was it a good or welcomed feeling. In a matter of seconds they were running towards the ship they didn't even finish admiring, a barrage of bullets on their tail. The sound of splintering wood pulled at his heart strings and, unwilling to shout since his life was a little more important than a piece of a dead tree, but still wanting to express his pain, he angrily whispered, "Watch the ship, you sea-clowns!" And while he thought his words would be answered with more shots, instead two enormous bodies of darkness showed themselves and honestly, he started really liking those bullets.

As if icing on the cake, the ship got invaded by more MAGNA flies swinging around their fancy blades. Currently, Kaito felt more as a gun guy, shrugging the stolen rifle of his shoulder and taking aim at one of the soldiers currently dilly dazing somewhere off to the sky where it sounded like some ferocious punches were exchanged. For a second he entertained the idea of shooting the man straight in the head, but pushed it aside – the bastard hadn't done anything wrong to him so far, no need to be so mean. Instead he aimed at the man's right shoulder while they were still distracted by Vargo, at least the voice sounded like his. One shot, one screech of pain and a lot of men suddenly forced awake from their daydreaming.

Unsurprisingly, those men close to the one he just shot looked pretty pissed and Kaito took this precious moment to give them his best grin, taking aim and firing off another shot. While he intended to get him on the shoulder too, the guy moved, so the bullet pierced somewhere closer to his bicep instead. The pain still made him drop the saber and that was good enough. Kaito quickly rose to his feet from his crouching hiding spot, fired at another grunt as now they were getting out their own guns and ran. On his way around the ship he shot another man in the back, the force of the impact sending him overboard. From there he caught a glance at the cave's floor and he just had to make a double take – currently there was a beast of white fur tearing through the MAGNA forces and, if his ears were still properly functional, the creature's cries sounded awfully like Vargo.

Well, at least now he could understand why the man took on an apprentice with a cursed card of all things. By the looks of it, Vargo possessed the same type of card as he did – that made Kaito somewhat feel proud and at the same time a total failure. The guy was going totally berserk on them, while here stood Kaito silently praying his own card wouldn't decide to trip him over at any given moment. Such a far cry from that mastery, talk about a rub in. His little break was cut short when a blade got a little too close to his neck, tearing away at his jacket's collar and Kaito had to suddenly jump on the rail to avoid another swing. The man immediately started retreating, stumbling over his own feet, once the rifle's barrel was in his face, but when Kaito pulled the trigger and nothing happened, all confidence returned to the soldier.

The blade once more went after him, Kaito parried it with the gun which was a little awkward, but hey, if he managed to make high heels work, he can work a gun too! They exchange a few blows, then there was another one heading their way, so Kaito jumped over the man taking the gun by the barrel and, before the MAGNA grunt could turn to attack him, swung it like a bat, hitting the butt right in his face and off the ship. Then he booked it away from the incoming man and almost ran into a wall of green light he knew wasn't there before. That gave enough time for his pursuer to catch up and once again he was in an improvised duel until he punched the man into the wall believing it will knock the wind out of him only for the soldier to get stuck. He couldn't help the barks of laughter that escaped at the guy's dumbfounded face.

After a much needed moment to poke at the MAGNA grunt here and there to watch him squirm, Kaito made his way around the admittedly handy wall intending to head off looking for another fight when he stepped onto something. Curious, he picked up the long tool and after a quick scan, pocketed it. He could hear the strange dog woman shouting something now and then suddenly the whole ship jolted and he stumbled grabbing for the railing to keep himself up. Kaito wasn't the only one caught by surprise and a few other MAGNA grunts clutched at anything nearby the same way he did. The rogue caught the closest one to him by the scruff and threw the man overboard with a two fingered salute. This thing sure turned out into a mess, but hey, at least it seemed they would be finally getting out of this hornet nest.

 

[Finhawk]

| | Taipale Kallain | |​

In his hurry and worry to get a move on, Kallain didn't place quite as much attention to the apparent suspiciousness of the pierced lad as some of the others seemed to do. He was quite confident that the thug's best interests also involved getting as far away from there as possible first and foremost. Besides, it's not like he knew much of how shady backstabbers operated but he highly suspected that announcing their intent of backstabbing wasn't common practice. So, even before the tremor and the cavern starting to fall apart interrupted any possible spark of a quarrel, Kallain had decided not to worry too much about the daggerless traitor-suspect. And as soon as all hell started breaking loose, the matter was mostly wiped from his mind as rushing into the cutesy ship became the priority.

In the beginning of the chaos, Kallain noted that the apprentice, that had now been more or less proven to really be the apprentice, was probably fishier than the piercing lad. Based on the yelling about being a sociopath and the talk about stabbing backs as well. Those dogs hadn't been forgotten either. But regardless, the same still applied to her, leaving was most likely the most pressing issue to her as well.

But possible traitors were the least of his concern when there was titans looming above, MAGNA firing at them and flooding onto the ship, and Vargo busting in again and turning into some kind of gorilla. As he whipped out his shield for the second time on that day in order to defend himself against the barrage of MAGNA waving their swords around, his accidental allies did nothing to help him keep his focus on breaking more noses.

Mr. Dreadlocks got to conjuring up those pretty green.... thingies again. And he could apparently stand upside down on them? What in the what? Kallain almost got a sword to the face as he stopped to stare at that spectacle for a second too long. Thankfully, Kallain's reaction time was no source of shame to him and thus, only his shoulder got a taste of the foreign blade. Furthermore, as the guy said, the 'roads' were quite handy indeed. Just a little push with his shield was enough to knock the enthusiastic MAGNA fellow stumbling back onto one of them and sure enough, the poor bastard stuck right on like a helpless fly! It was child's play to smack the guy's lights out the next moment.

As he tried to keep tabs on where the rest were doing their respective pest control while annoying and frustrating the next couple of MAGNA goons that were trying and failing to make him into human fillet, Kallain noticed weird lights dancing at the edge of his vision. A quick glance confirmed the source of the display to be blue haired kid. Huh, perhaps he really should stop assuming anyone on that island was 'normal'...

Sniffing out the opening created by that brief distraction, one of the MAGNA took a bold swing towards Kallain's neck. However, that sword didn't succeed at getting better acquainted with the man's pale flesh, instead being rudely blocked and forced aside by his loyal shield. The next instant, a second MAGNA's sword gracefully swished by above Kallain's head as he dropped down on one bent leg and quickly swept the two goons off their feet with the other. As they began picking themselves up, one of them got his head cracked back down onto the deck, effectively switching his lights out, while the next almost made it up before taking a sharp shield to the knee. Which one might assume to dissuade him from running around with sharp objects for a while, but just in case, Kallain made sure to kick the guy's sword off his hand.

The next MAGNA got unceremoniously pushed onto another 'road' and left be after a quick disarming by a nasty sting to the sword-hand from Kallain's own much smaller blade. Just then, the very surface they stood on made a sudden move, disrupting the 'disagreement' on deck for just a short moment. And then there was something about dogs that breathe fire or something along those lines if he heard right and Kallain wasn't quite sure what to think of that either. At least their vessel was starting to move in some direction. Ships sail upwards now apparently? So the shield bearer figured he'd just do his bit to keep the remaining pesky MAGNA busy while people who hopefully knew what was up got them moving further.

As the shallow cut in his shoulder started making itself known, even such small injuries being a hindrance when you swing a heavy slab of metal around, A thought entered Kallain's head as he brought his shield up with a small slightly pained hiss to block another attempt at his life. Perhaps he was high and this was all some weird drug-induced dream, it was just about crazy enough for that. Though, on second thought, he wasn't one to do drugs so why would he be high in the first place? And Kallain didn't quite place enough stock in his imagination to come up with this.

 

[sun.]

Vivahoja had ducked her way into a small crowd of Agents, swinging her fists wildly as she continuously evaded the slashes of the grunts. Knocking out two agents with successive hits, she quickly backed off and rapidly threw her arm forward; With a canon-like thrust, the black liquid burst out of her palm, coating the deck in oil and causing one of the agents, who stood on a diagonal slop to slide ride off the ship, announcing his departure with a loud splash.

"I could do this all day, heh," she smirked, clearly enjoying the bout, as she cart-wheeled her way away from the approaching reinforcements. "I got you, Grey!" Lack of formalities aside, she quickly slid her hand onto Kallain's injured arm and coated the wound in her oil; a short-term solution, no doubt, but for now? Good enough. "Hey, uh..." she stumbled, trying to redirect Kallain's attention to the tall, important-looking guy descending right before Peri in the back of the ship. "We should probably help him, c'mon!"

While the crew fought off the Agents, the transformed Vargo raged on the shore, flattening those who dared to stay in his reach. He ruthlessly stuck his arm out and picked up one of the screaming Agents like a mere toy, his palm encasing his much smaller opponent, and threw him out into the open sea and out of sight.

"The only dumb ape here is you, now get lost before the Sentinel comes. And keep my ship whole, you hear me?", he grunted out, a faint hint of a chuckle in his snarling scream.

As the ship finally began to move, a mist came crawling out between the finely crafted and positioned floorboards, eventually taking on a tall and thin shape. Shortly after, the mist-like silhouette seemed to harden, as color and texture appeared all over the shape, revealing haggard cheeks, and the large-pored, pale skin that mirrored the spongy skin of a recently deceased. Combing his thin, grey hair back with a comb made of shining white bone, the man prodded the gaps between his uneven teeth with his tongue, signaling his discontent with.

"'Now this... this is really an unfortunate chain of events, innit?"

"'So, if I recount correctly, you very consciously chose not to activate the device I handed you, and failed to even consider using it within the last, uh... thirty or so minutes?"

The man known as Wolf put away his pocket watch, letting it slide back into the deep pockets of his desaturated trenchcoat. Despite the careening vessel--that caused Kaito and the MAGNA soldiers to hold onto the ship for dear life--he stood where he had appeared, his feet seemingly glued to the planks, his figure impossibly gaunt for such baggy clothing, elongated like a shadow waiting to disappear into the darkness.

"'What a shame... Ah, well, can't be helped then. Mister Kaito, or... would you prefer Jack? Well, Jack, Kaito, whichever you wish, it's time you take responsibility for not honoring our deal."

His already-rolling rs seemed to turn into full-blown growls, his voice slowly distorting into a predatory hiss, as he slowly walked towards Kaito. His gait slow and confident, completely unaffected by the swings of the vessel. The closer he got, it seemed his features distorted into those of a canine ready to strike, the shadows in his unsightly face dancing and deepening.

"Nuh uh!"

Out of nowhere, Callihan had appeared, grabbing Wolf by his sleeves, stretching out the fabric of his billowing coat.

"You are such an annoying little shit, you know that, yes?"

Callihan did not grace him with a reply, and instead quietly smiled at him, as a loud bang fell Wolf, a hole blown straight through his forehead, as smoke wafted into the air, spewing right out of Callihan's companion's chrome-covered firearm.

"Hey, kid... Give me that that thing he gave you."

"It's rude to shoot someone in the back."

The calm words were spoken with such intensity it seemed to tighten the air itself, as Wolf fumbled with his ill-fitting clothes, stumbling back up; the hole in his gone, he straightened his tie, once again showing that lopsided smirk that revealed his rotten teeth.

"Now. It's time to end this little play session."

The man with the hat and gun still held his hand out towards Kaito, while Callihan stood between the two men, alternating her gaze between Wolf and Kaito. With his gun still aimed at Wolf, the mysterious man seemed less casual then the last time they had met, instead showing off a more business-minded attitude.

"Quick now."

Further back in the ship, a Watcher slid down the rope, seemingly the last of his squad. His eyes honed in on Periwinkle, where his eyes turned to slits. With his lips curled into a malicious smile, he made strides to walk right in front of the blue-haired boy, his long legs giving him an avian waddle. Towering above Peri, he stuck a finger in his oddly-shaped, triangular ears, and leered down at him as he kept drilling deeper into his ear-canal. A few of his underlings, including the ones who had backed off after watching Peri's display of Sunstumei, watched with mild disgust and disapproval, though it felt more like annoyance than anything.

"So you are Munsell's kid, huh? Hayahahah! You look even weaker than I expected after hearing about you. Well, traitor, are you ready to be brought to justice?!" The Watcher drew his saber, its handle adorned in ways no ordinary Agent would ever dare to, and electricity seemed to dance through the blade, buzzing in the way only a painful tool of death could.

"HYAH!"

Still having his finger in his ear, he leaped forward, trying to impale Peri with his electrified blade.

Back on the shore, Vargo had just flattened yet another Agent, as a massive crash tore apart the rocky shore. Within seconds, two figures emerged, the both of them equally shocking: A second Vargo, though not transformed but every bit as physically imposing as the one they had met just a while ago, traded blows with the mohawk'd Sentinel they had observed watching over the Mayor's speech of cooperation; The Sentinel Herbaro himself had found Vargo and company. With lighting-fast blows, Herbaro laid into the second Vargo, barraging him into the stone wall of the bulbous cavern. Ruthlessly, he leaped into the air, and drilled the already beaten man into the ground.

"Enough with the charade now."

The Sentinel words were sharp and crystal-clear, not impaired by any sort of huff or other sign of exhaustion, despite the immense offense he had just launched, not to speak of the meteoric fall into the solid rock.

"Aw, alright... Guess the old man's right there anyways..."

Vargo had observed the fight. His iris-less eyes squinting in concentration now softened.

"I may be old, but not as old as you make me look, Haffin."

The second Vargo seemed to shrink and melt into a fleshy glob, before it reshaped into a muscular stature; a middle-aged man with well-trimmed facial hair, and a side-shaven head appeared. Despite his physical fitness, his apparent true stature did not measure up to Vargo's impressive physique whatsoever, more mirroring Herbarbo's wiry build.

"Well, I couldn't keep him off any longer, V, sorry."

Vargo, who had long intimidated the ordinary agents into freely surrendering, turned to the newly-arrived men, crossing his arms. "You did a magnificent job, don't worry. It was only a matter of time anyways." With a pained gaze, he eyed the ship that still hadn't quite left the cavern, gaining too little traction. "Aid me one more time then, Haffin."

The man who had doubled as the shipwright smiled and nodded his in affirmation with immense vigor.

"Obviously!"

Herbaro on the other hand seemed to get angry, his features darkening as he glared at Haffin. A vein bulged out and reached quite far into the shaven sides of his head.

"I wanted to kill you anyways," he spat at Haffin, cracking his neck in preparation, "I can do that, and then subdue the shipwright. And then..." He craned his neck to eye the Vanilla Cloud, where the various fights still raged. With a lighting quick motion, he extended his arm, from where a silky string emerged, shooting right past the turmoil, and into the crowd aboard the Vanilla Cloud, where it attached to Dee, who had swung her rocket launcher wildly to fend of the approaching Agents. With a quick flick of his wrist, the string engulfed Dee's body, cocooning it, and dragged her off the ship, right next to his feet. Like a spider who had caught her prey, he loomed over the helpless girl, triumphantly resting a food on her encased form. "... I'll kill your apprentice and her little friends, too, just to make sure there's nobody left to help you."

The murderous confession elicited an enraged roar from the shipwright, whose massive form quickly leaped to attack the Sentinel. Despite the ridiculous difference in size, the thin forearm of Herbaro sufficed, blocking the incoming punch without even moving the Sentinel. Quickly, Haffin joined the fight to aid him.

On the Vanilla Cloud, attention was momentarily drawn towards a burning body, which fell onto top of the deck, followed by a sleek figure clad in black.

"Alright! So you beat me here! I'll still win by rescuing all of your sorry asses!"

Perite had landed on all fours, right amidst a cluster of Agents, all of which were easily dispatched with a fiery fusillade of molten... something. The screaming Agents jumped off the ship, into the rescuing cool of the salt water, as Perite sprinted across the ship to find Jamal.

"This shit is slow, can you get off your asses and get this ship out of here? Where is... AHA!" Overly dramatic, he reached out and pointed at Poemi. "You know how this stuf works, yeah? Make it hurry!" With the authority of a strict teacher, the hothead grabbed both Jamal and Poemi, and dragged them towards the steering wheel, where his cluelessness became evident. "Eh? So what now? Let's go! I'll keep the MAGNA monkeys off your backs!"

 

[Jakers]

​

In his whole life, Jamal had never considered creating the term 'visual diarrhea' until now, because that was exactly what was happening.

The middle-aged, grey-haired guy was kicking ass at a rapid rate, using only his fists and a shield despite probably being twice the age of most of the MAGNA agents. The piercing-coated man was, as well, and was apparently having a great time sticking people to his roads. The girl with the dangerous-ass looking rocket launcher got... pulled off by something, and, Viva, being Viva, was spewing oil everywhere whilst looking like she was having the time of her life.

And Peri... as soon as he drew that sword, though he'd never seen it in person, he could instantly recognize that sort of energy from all the tales he'd heard. That wasn't a card or anything, that had to be...

Th... that's... there's no way! This whole time, he knew fucking Suntsumei?!

Instantly feeling inner regret for calling Peri a 'kid' at some point, Jamal safely returned to the deck by hopping off his roads, and was willing to risk his wellbeing in order to try and get this damn ship moving already. One MAGNA agent seemingly appeared out of nowhere, grinning and spinning two short blades around in his hands.
"Fuhahaha! Behold, my legendary swordsmanship! Now I've got yo-"
"-JUST PISS OFF!!" Jamal instantly roared in reply to a MAGNA who'd jumped in the way of him, simply creating a sloped 'road' that went over the man's head, and just running over him, leaving the MAGNA swordsman looking rather disappointed.

Thankfully, other than that brief encounter, MAGNA seemed to be ignoring him the most out of the group, probably as he was just running rather than fighting, and most couldn't be bothered to catch up with him. He needed to kickstart this thing just as Poemi had said... where the shit were those 'furnace-dogs' she was going about earlier?

Before he could find them, however, a familiar face that Jamal didn't exactly like made a sudden re-appearance. As the flaming body fell from the sky, it was safe to say that Jamal wasn't too pleased with his sudden entrance, a vein surfacing and pulsating on the young man's forehead.

"HEY!! THERE'S OIL ON THE SHIP, DON'T IGNITE IT, YOU DICKHEAD!!" Jamal roared, his sunglasses almost falling off from his rage. Whatever the guy was doing, though, he clearly wasn't listening, and started wildly throwing flaming crap at MAGNA agents, which was admittedly effective. He wasn't sure how flammable Viva's oily shit was, but having flaming oil slicks on a ship of this quality that they were gonna ride out of here sounded absolutely awful. Discreetly creating some roads to stop the fiery man's projectiles from touching the oil, Jamal took a moment to give a little breath of relief, before the guy started sprinting towards him.

Trying to dodge the guy's grab, the young man slipped up and failed, before he was grabbed by the scruff by the fiery man. Because he was shirtless, he had to deal with the displeasure of feeling the guy's sweaty, still boiling-hot palms against his skin.
"Oy!! Could you not be a fuckin' tool for just ten seconds?! I don't know how this wack-ass cruiser' works; g-get off!" Jamal grunted, trying to squirm out of the guy's grip. Having no luck in doing that, he grouchily accepted his fate halfway along, before he and Vargo's apprentice were shoved near the wheel.

Obviously, the guy didn't know the first thing on how to actually get a ship moving. To be fair, Jamal didn't in the case of this ship either, but perhaps he could at least help the apprentice out with all the knowledge of routes and MAGNA patrols he'd picked up in his life of running. A vein on his forehead still bulging, he glared in response to the red-haired man who'd said his name was... nah, he'd forgotten.
"Fine, could you do that, then?! And don't. Ignite. The fucking. Ship." Jamal growled; the whole situation had clearly given the dark-skinned man quite the temper, and he was angry enough to bark back at someone who could easily kick his ass. Once he was done with that, he turned back to Poemi, clearly trusting her now after seeing how much she knew about the Vanilla Cloud.

"Rightten', seeing as I'm here now, I might'as well be your bootleg navigator. I already thought of a decent route outta' here that avoids the most MAGNA patrols in the caves earlier. Lemme just scrawl this shit down," Jamal murmured, before summoning a rather small, square 'road', no bigger than the palm of his hand in front of him. Holding the minature road as if it were a notebook, Jamal dragged his finger across it, leaving stains of green light that allowed him to use 'Thunder Road' like an impromptu piece of paper.

Working rather fast, and occasionally making a weird hand sign towards the sun and the waves, it was clear the young man knew his shit when it came to planning routes without a proper map, or was good at pretending to. A series of green arrows, lines, and letters had been drawn on the hand-sized 'road' in front of him; only one who knew a lot about the position of MAGNA ports, latitude, and longitude would understand the man's scribbles.

"Yeah. That'll work - okay - when this thing gets moving, just follow my directions; I really can't be asked to run into more MAGNA 'tards today," Jamal grumbled in Poemi's rough direction, every part of his voice screaming out 'moody teenager' as discreetly as the blaze of the sun itself, "So, we need to jack this thing started... with fire-breathin' dogs? Not bein' funny, lady, but you're kind of a prick to animals. You could use them, but..."

Jamal spared a quick look back to the red-haired, living fireball.
"Couldn't we just use that guy instead?"

 

[Aero Blue]

"It's… it's not animal cruelty; it's…"

Poemi - who at this point was decidedly and keenly aware of just how easily what she did could be construed as… Construed? Now that Poemi thought about it: maybe it really was just animal abuse and cruelty in its wackiest, most ridiculous form. Poemi's eyes flitted from left to right and left again in her sockets, as if contemplating some sort of philosophical quandary.

Which didn't take, of course.

She mumbled beneath her breath:

"... the actualization of the dreams of youth - flying, breathing fire - bestowed upon canine creatures like a blessing…"

But then again, the road-runner did have a point. With a strange calm that defied the circumstances at hand, she strode towards the man of the fiery, molten something-or-another. She addressed him with the same dispassion as a surgeon asking for a scalpel, a bogeyman scientist dissecting her subject, "Mister. If the two of us hoist you over our shoulders, like a rocket launcher, which way should we aim you for maximum boost potential?"

After all, surely he'd defer to the will of Vargo's most illustrious apprentice ever.

 

[Warm Regret]

​

Sprinting forward, Periwinkle encountered his next adversary, a MAGNA agent of no extraordinary skill. The pale glow of lights that emanated from where he stood, slowly disappeared and he engaged his opponent in one on one combat with only the use of his sword. It wouldn't have been a fair fight to use his Suntsumei abilities against only one foe of lesser skill. He was confident enough in his training that he could handle one MAGNA agent with no problem.

The sharp sound of metal against metal resonated through the immediate area as Peri's sword repeatedly made contact with that of the MAGNA agent's. Once their swords became deadlocked, Periwinkle flicked his wrist in a circular motion forcing his opponent's hand into an unfamiliar position. As their swords moved against each other in a counter clockwise motion, the MAGNA agent lost his grip and his sword went flying. Periwinkle then aimed the tip of his sword at the now defenseless MAGNA agent who quickly put up his hands and backed away. "Who's next?" Peri asked to the remaining MANGA agents muttering to one another, a few of whom began to back down.

Behind him was another MAGNA agent ready to pounce but when the ship began to rise into the air, it temporarily halted any attempts at combat by him or against him. Falling to one knee, he pressed his free hand against the deck for balance, while gripping his sword in the other. "Are we flying?!" He said aloud to himself as he looked around, his cornflower blue hair tussled as the vessel increased in altitude. In the distance, he could hear Poemi shouting something about dogs that breathe fire and he wondered to himself if she was the one responsible for making the ship fly.

In the brief moment of confusion caused by the rising ship, he took note of his surroundings and saw that the pierced stranger was handling himself well against several of the MAGNA agents. There was something else happening that he couldn't quite make out but it appeared to be an unnaturally shifting fog. Next he noticed the shield user, whom had quite the stalwart defense, was also able to hold his own. Despite the man's gray hair, he had no issue keeping up with any of the agents. In just a few moments of watching, Periwinkle could glean a certain finesse in the way that he fought, something that usually only came with experience.

After getting to his feet again, he readied his sword once more, resting one hand behind his back. His stance was calm and precise but as he waited for the agents closest to him to make their move, he noticed that the young dark skinned girl had been ensnared by some unnatural thread. "Look out!" He called to her but it was too late, she had been pulled clean off the ship. Periwinkle rushed to the railing and looked beyond it to see that it was Herbaro who was responsible. There was also some sort of conflict between him, Vargo and another man he had never seen before.

"Impossible…" He said to himself, his body tingling. He saw Herbaro deflect a punch from the transformed Vargo and barely even flinch. Considering how strong Vargo was, witnessing such a display of raw power was enough to shake Peri to his core. With an anxious look on his face he turned back to face what was happening on board and noticed that Perite was now near the head of the ship. There was some type of altercation between him, Poemi and Guy but it didn't seem like a hostile one, so he didn't find the need to act. ~Are they trying to move the ship?~ He wondered to himself.

Not too far from the trio, he noticed that Viva had joined the fray, using a combination of fisticuffs, acrobatics and black sludge to deal with her adversaries. It was a relief to see her fighting so well. Given his earlier interactions with her, he was almost certain she would accidentally knock herself out along with the agents she was fighting. He saw that she had joined up with the shield user and when Peri tried to get closer to them, he was stopped by the decent of another one of MAGNA's lackeys. This man seemed different than the grunts surrounding him, especially since they appeared to back off after his approach. Periwinkle remained focused, gripping his sword tightly, one hand resting behind his back as his royal blue eyes darted back and forth to make sure he wouldn't be ambushed. Finally, his gaze fell squarely on the unusually tall man with oddly shaped ears…which he couldn't seem to keep his finger out of.

Peri's eyes became narrow and fixed as he readied himself for yet another battle but the tall man's mention of his family name and him abandoning his duties, caused the breath to audibly leave lungs in a long and troubled sigh. His royal blue eyes shot open and his voice trembled slightly. "H-how did you…" He didn't finish his sentence as he lowered his eyes and let them zigzag back and forth across the ship's deck. Did his father have something to do with this? Was this a test or was this his punishment? Did any of his new comrades hear what was said? It would be troublesome if they knew he was a former MAGNA recruit, with family members who are still in the ranks…especially after he made such a big deal about the man with the piercings. His mind continued racing while panic was written all over his face.

In his distracted state, he almost didn't notice the tall man lunge at him, however he quickly realized what was happening and leapt to his right at the last second to dodge. The man's electrified blade barely missed him but still grazed his chest which was enough to inflict a decent amount of pain. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" The young man screamed while falling to his knees, holding his chest with one hand and propping himself up using his sword in the other. His head was lowered and his breathing heavy, as electricity crackled softly around him before dissipating. Periwinkle raised his head to look up at the tall man, a small bead of sweat forming at the side of his forehead and his normally kept hair slightly mussed and out of place.

Gathering his strength, the look on the blue haired youth's face was full of resolve. If there was one way to get under his skin, it was to tell him that he wasn't good enough. He had this pesky yearning to prove others wrong, probably due to years of being told that he was a failure by his father. This impulse drove him to do his best, to prove to others that he wasn't weak but it was a double edged sword. While striving to do better was a good thing, it also lead him to be baited into unnecessary challenges, even those that may be impossible for him to win. "Underestimating me was your first mistake." He said while activating his Suntsumei again, a flame like aura flickering from where he knelt, a blur of pale colors continuously bleeding into one aother.

Standing slowly, he held his sword just as he had done earlier, with the blade at a vertical angle and one hand behind his back. His style was similar to the tall man's one handed style, except Peri stood with grace while the tall man lacked elegance. "Your second, was believing that MAGNA is on the side of justice." Quickly assessing the situation, he realized that even if his sword came into contact with the tall man's electrified blade, it may still seriously shock him. He had to be quick and avoid crossing swords as well as avoid being struck himself, a difficult tactic to say the least.

"Hrrrraa!" Bolting forward, he used the added boost of speed granted to him by using his Suntsumei ability and took several rapid swipes at the tall man with his dueling sword. He purposely slashed in different places while trying to avoid hitting the other man's saber. It appeared that many of his strikes were wide and sloppy, easily allowing his opponent the opportunity to doge. Secretly, this was done intentionally. His goal wasn't to land every hit, anything that landed was just a bonus, instead he hoped his opponent would simply dodge such a wild attack rather than parry. His plan was that each slash of his sword left behind a bright flash of colored light and with so many successive swipes, Periwinkle's strategy was to try and temporarily disorient his opponent with the brilliance of his whirlwind attack.

 

[Finhawk]

| | Taipale Kallain | |​

Not having quite anticipated or noticed the blue-haired woman friggin' cartwheeling over to him, Kallain was understandably slightly taken off guard as she then proceeded to smear some kind of oil on his annoying little wound. However, he managed to recover from the momentary surprise well enough in time to simply punch the MAGNA agent that had been attempting to pester him, sending the poor thing to meet the deck.

The smallest of slightly irritated frowns briefly visited Kallain's face as he quickly glanced over at his shoulder. First he got a bit of blood on his shirt, not to mention the new hole that wasn't supposed to be there, and now there was oil smeared on it. The horror! Though that terrible problem was soon brushed aside as the woman's voice snapped Kallain's attention back to her the next moment. After following her gaze in search of the help-needer, the man narrowed his eyes slightly at the person who seemed to be the result of nature's less reputable experiments and whom the other blue-haired individual on that ship hadn't seemed to notice yet. "Yeah, I suppose we should," he started, glancing back at the energetic lass with something akin to confusion flashing on his face for a moment. "Um, thank you?" he then offered as they began to move towards the kid. He wasn't quite sure why he felt compelled to thank the woman for slapping some oil on him but he apparently did.

Wait. From where on earth did she even whip out that oil from in the first place!?

That question was, however, dismissed by a loud gunshot. Which by all means wasn't the only one of its kind in that fray but it drew Kallain's attention reagrdless and almost made him stop in his tracks. With guns in play, he was perhaps partly expecting to be met by the sight of the gunmaniac he had run into and dragged along. Or perhaps she dragged him along. Details... However, he surely wasn't expecting to see the two fishy crowd-herders to have appeared on the ship.

As he drew nearer to their destination on deck, Kallain also spotted Mr. Piercings with them. They might've been creepy but not apparently hostile to them, or towards the lad at that moment as far as he could assess with a mere second's look.

His legs kept carrying him just a tad further and his eyes briefly spotted Dee. She seemed to be holding her own.

Another step.

Dee being swiftly wrapped in something.

Wait. What?

That was when Kallain rooted his feet onto the deck. His eyes widening at the horrible realization, it took a second for the shout to escape him after initially opening his mouth, "Dee!"

He began to scamper towards his cocooned companion who was actually still more or less a complete stranger to him. But with Kallain being too far and it all happening too quickly, she was off the ship before he could do anything about it.

Kallain stopped again. His eyes glued to the railing where Dee went overboard, his focus was momentarily shattered. Going after her would be stupid. The kid still needed help. But could others be yanked off as Dee was? They needed to leave. There were titans. A sentinel. Way too many others to list. Probably more to come.

And Vargo.

Vargo was still down there too.

From the corner of his eye, Kallain noticed a MAGNA goon trying to take advantage of his distraction and he managed to raise his shield to guard himself just in time, if just a bit ungracefully so.

Dee could be left to Vargo, the logic in him told him as it regained the reigns in Kallain's head. There was still a fight to be fought, he needed to direct any and all attention to that. He could ponder on everything that went wrong later. The scream ringing out then solidified that conclusion.

Kallain maybe smashed that MAGNA agent unconscious perhaps with a slight excess of force. The poor thing would live though.

Snapping his focus towards the scream, the shield bearer was predictably met with the scene of the freak having launched his attack on the kid. So Kallain squared his shoulders and did his very best to finally stop giving all the distractions way too much attention and shut foolish emotions out. He had been more or less off from the moment things started going sideways. Though who could blame him?

However, by the time he got close enough to the scuffle between the freak-MAGNA and the kiddo, the latter seemed to have gotten a grip and was busy launching a counter attack. So Kallain decided to direct his energy into keeping any possible bold opportunist agents off the kid's back while doing his best to remain ready to jump in if it was needed.

 

[Giltine13]

♦ Kuroyuki Kaito ♦​

The ship was still moving upwards, but after the initial jolt, it wasn't too hard to regain your footing and Kaito was more than happy to continue clearing out the trash. He had managed to defeat a whole total of one MAGNA soldier before he was halted again, this time by someone a lot creepier than your average human. And what would you now, this guy seemed like another card user... Geez, was this Moirae bingo and he somehow failed to receive a card or something? Talk about a weird day. Not that there was much time for dilly-dallying, especially at the man's concerning words which forced a frown on Kaito's face.

"Excuse me? What did you want me to do? Shoot it back in the tunnels? Yeah, that would've turned out fantastic. Or out here, where there was no sign of the man you wanted? Yeah, later he did come around, but in case you failed to notice I was slightly preoccupied with these scumbags," he gestured to the ship's deck littered with MAGNA goons still struggling to take down their ragtag group. In all honesty, Kaito had once more forgotten about the device, gods knew he didn't have the best memory. But even if he didn't, the reasoning would still stay solid and he probably would've ended up in the same situation. Sadly, the man didn't seem convinced and continued on as if he hadn't even heard the rogue. Damn, were people rude in these times or wh-

The bastard had said his name. How the fuck did he know his actual name!? Even his wanted posters didn't have it plastered on, so what gives? This had just become a completely different level of creepy and Kaito probably should stop over thinking this matter, since currently the already unsightly man was turning even uglier with all the promises of a quick death. Not that he got any chance to do anything as the little pale girl from before decided to jump to thief's rescue, tugging the cat by its tail, or however that saying went, followed up by a nasty bang. Now, he never considered himself a damsel in distress, but hey, who was he to stop those two?

The demand caught Kaito off guard – why would Cowboy hat want the little trinket? That and he had been wanting to tear the little contraption apart himself, so he wasn't too happy about handing it over. Just the fact that the man would want it made his curiosity tingle like crazy, but after a little staring back and forth between the two weird partners and apparently immortal man made it pretty clear that he seriously didn't want to be involved in this mess. Boy, if their ragtag group had thought of him as suspicious before, he could only imagine how this looked. Hopefully they were too busy to pay their little gathering much attention.

The 'quick now' pretty much sealed the deal and with a quick "Help yourself," Kaito threw the gadget for Cowboy hat to catch. He had planned to stay and help out like the kind-hearted man he was, when a huge cocoon flying through the air and off the ship caught his eye. The silky coffin landed by Mohawk boy's feet, who no doubt was MAGNA if not the blasted sentinel, so it had to be one of their own. The thief quickly turned back to the deck and made a quick head count, silently checking off everyone from his imaginary list just for one person to turn up missing – the happy and perhaps a little on the insane side small goofball that had travelled with Mr. Shield.

Kaito almost shrieked in horror, how dare that bastard steal one of his two beloved brats! This was outrageous, unbelievable, unforgivable! He wanted to jump, to swim there and get her back, he wanted to do it so bad that for a moment he completely forgot how precious this ship was and allowed his nails to dig into the wooden railing. Of course, that would be completely stupid, the pompous bastard didn't seem to have much trouble fighting off Vargo and whomever was that other guy, so what could Kaito hope to do? But damn, out of all people he could've went for, it just had to be one of the two he actually liked, now didn't it?

 

[sun.]

"You should be kneeling in front of MAGNA!" the lanky Watcher screeched as he countered Peri's swipes, the sound of their blades clashing and the whirring of his electrified sword filled the air.
"You know nothing, little boy!" With gleeful hatred, Sasa deflected the young fighter's attacks, slowly switching the dynamic of their battle from defense to offense, as his long limbs turned into a whirlwind of strikes. "And you are nothing, too! What a disappointment! I thought you'd give a better battle, hyaha!"

On the shore, Haffin had jumped Herbaro, while Vargo swung wildly. The Sentinel left Dee where she laid, no longer preoccupying himself with mere chicanery, but instead battled the two men properly. His lithe body evaded both the humongous fist of Vargo's transformed body, as well as the lightning quick dashes from the copycat man known as Haffin. Vargo growled loudly, the rock splintering wherever he buried his fist after failing to nail Herbaro, and Haffin's greasy hair swirled around his face as he repeatedly lashed at Herbaro, only for the man to dodge him, forcing Haffin to change his trajectory, and attack again.

"You're both growing old. Pathetic."

Despite the distress that was carved into Vargo's distorted face, and Haffin's face being coated in sweat, the man with the mohawk carried a faint smile devoid of genuine joy on his face.

"I would've expected more from you."

Haffin dashed again, and this time, Herbaro didn't let him slip through. The Sentinel evaded the strike once more, but followed up with a bone-shattering kneestrike into Haffine's midsection, exerting not only his own strength, but utilizing Haffin's momentum. With a dying man's ache, Haffine stumbled towards the ground, twitching.

"B-bastard..."

Vargo roared upon seeing his comrade struck down, and charged Herbaro with reckless abandon. The Sentinel, however, had narrowed his sights towards the Vanilla Cloud, where Vargo had glanced to just seconds ago.

"No!" he huffed, zoning on the group at the back end of the ship. They couldn't leave this island alive. Disregarding the shipwright, Herbaro charged from where he stood, closing in on the old man's final work, as he reached out towards Perite, Jamal, Poemi and Viva.

"You're mine!"

He leaped, from the far-off shore, quickly closing the distance between himself and the ship.

Meanwhile, Sasa launched a barrage of swipes, giving Peri the option to be sliced or to back off towards Kallain's position. The Watcher's motions were erratic, unlike most of the higher-ups of the MAGNA battalion, his limber stature wiggling and leaning into every motion. However, before being able to deliver any sort of fatal strike--or noticing Kallain's support--the odd-eared Watcher ceased taunting the blue-haired boy, instead turning his face towards Herbaro, who rapidly approached the ship.

"S-Sentinel Herbaro?"

The confusion was written into his half-concealed face, as he saw his superior fly towards the end of the ship, dropping his defenses momentarily.

"NO!" Wolf's voice was filled with panic and rage, unlike the meek discomfort Kaito could observe seeping through his behavior. The man with the revolver leaped forward, his free hand outstretched to catch the little box, as Wolf's feature momentarily flashed with all horrible things imaginable, predatory and bloody, pitch-black and bulbous, he, too, leaped at it.

"Callihan, now!"

The small girl dashed into Wolf's body, her shape illuminating somehow. Her small frame seemed to invert, the colors burned and washed out at the same time, as her light skin turned black and her dark coat became lighter and lighter.

"Gotcha!"

The eldritch-looking Wolf screamed out, as the trio's bodies seemed to melt into one other, creating a swirl at the point where they all touched. It billowed and throbbed intensely, until all three of them of them disappeared inside the whirlpool of light and fog, as if there had never been there.

& Poemi​

With eye twitching and his teeth grinding against each other, Perite glared at Jamal with viscous intent. If anything, the words of caution only made him seek out the oil, ready to burn the shorter man to a pile of dust; until he swirled around to blast a duo of Agents with a flare of molten substance, setting their protective clothes ablaze. With painful screams, the two jumped off the ascending ship, seeking refuge in the cooling water down below.

"I'm not a damn engine, you freaky-"

Perite stopped in his tracks, as, from the corner of his eye, he watched a young girl pulled off the ship, and towards the fight between Vargo, Haffin, and Herbaro. The hot-headed Rogue scoffed, narrowing his eyes.

"Fine... Where do you need the heat to go, then?"

His quieter voice, still devoid of sympathy, but palpably cooperative growled as he glared at Jamal once more.

"But you and your stupid-ass friends better not try to pull a fast one on me, or I'll torch your sorry asses!"

Poemi countered the man's hot-headed fire with a stone-faced cool, intoning with an almost robotic deadpan, "Sh. Quieter, or I'll throw you over when we're done - you're really not going to let us carry you like a gun?"

Her deadpan gave way to disappointment at the latter note, before continuing. "Quantity over placement, mostly, but you'll have to make adjustments if we need to make evasive maneuvers; we can spot for you?"

The young man at Poemi's side mostly ignored the threat, only sparing a brief bit of stinkeye back to the fiery man before he turned his head to glance at the shipwright's apprentice.

"Ey', you still didn't fully explain where the heat needs to go. Remember you're the only one who knows how this wack-ass ship actually functions, yeah?"
Jamal said, the stress of the situation making him string words together so fast they were barely understandable, "Point exactly out where he needs t'smoke, an' I'll prepare cover for him!"


Perite, still with gritted teeth, looked from Jamal to Poemi and back, finally nodding. "Fine, you," he growled, pointing at Poemi, "we need this ship to get out of here, and fast. I don't know what sort of mechanic you had in mind here, but I'm gonna bring the heat, more than you anticipated… I am not gonna blow anything up on purpose, but you should keep a close eye on how much is too much, or this piece of shit is gonna burn down. And you..." With a mean grin, he turned to Jamal, leering down at him. "Give it your best, or your little card is gonna be nothing but ash, yeah?!"

Amidst the bedlam, Poemi pointed - in somewhat formulaic fashion - nearabouts the center of the stern, "The steel circle at the end of the stern, one of Vargo's toys - feeds into the combustion cylinder. I didn't finish the tune-up, but if you feed into it and ignite, theoretically the detonation should provide enough forward momentum for us to get blasting out of here. We'll need someone to steer, of course…"

Following where Poemi was pointing across the battle-ridden ship, Jamal gave a firm nod, before having to crane his neck up to look into the eyes the fiery man in front of him. A furious frown quickly appeared on Jamal's face. This son of a bitch… looking down at him like that… he wasn't that short, damn it!

"And you'd better not give your best, or you'll burn this masterwork down like the moron you are," Jamal growled in return, the vein on his forehead returning as he looked Perite back dead in the eye, "now c'mon, we need to get movin'! I'll escort your sorry ass! Poemi, I'll come back once this guy starts flamin' on that thing!"

Rushing forward, long black dreads swirled behind the man as a wave of fresh green travelled down his arm. The familiar emerald light sweeping in front of the man as it created a sloping road to go above the battlefield ahead.

Starting to sprint up the road nonsensically fast despite the upwards angle, the commotion the other fighters on the ship were causing meant MAGNA was too distracted to fire at them; at least for now. With a sharp head gesture, Jamal beckoned the fiery man to follow.
"Just full-on run on it, and don't throw flaming shit at it this time, asshole!!"

With a nonchalant shrug, Perite scoffed, refusing to acknowledge Jamal's concern with a reply. "Yeah, yeah..." he grumbled, shuffling towards the road conjured by Jamal's Moirae Card. Just as he was about to step on it, a familiar voice caused the young man to turn around with a furious expression.

"Hey! Heeey! Can I help?!"

With a wide smile and a few scratches on her dirty, oil-stained face, Viva jogged towards the little group, swinging her arms wildly.

Staring down at Viva in deep thought for a moment, Jamal seemed to be mentally considering a few things, before he spoke,
"We're gonna be burning shit to get this ship moving, so I guess?!" somewhat reluctantly, he made a slope for Viva to join them on the road towards the combustion cylinder, "just don't overdo it! Both of you! Okay?!"

Vivahoja nodded enthusiastically, quickly eyeing Perite instead.

"You don't have to tell me, as long as that guy won't freak out." Perite readied himself to bark back, his face already a grimace of rage, but just then, he had stepped onto Jamal's Thunderroad, feeling himself propelled forwards. Just barely regaining balance, the hothead steadied himself, not wanting to fall into the water below.

"You could've said something, idiot!"

Viva giggled at his struggles, as she recalled their first encounter. A quiet "What are you laughing about, idiot?" sounded from the back, before the blue-haired girl now followed Perite's path, lifting her black arm.

"I'm guessing he'll aim right into that thing?" she asked, pointing at the contraption Poemi had gestured towards earlier. "Do we need, like, a lot of energy, or should I use only a touch of oil?"

As if on cue, the apprentice's voice sounded, a burgeoning enthusiasm lining her words, "C'mon; B-L-A-S-T blast it!"

Perite didn't need to hear another word. Pulling his arms behind, he took on a fighting stance that vaguely resembled an interpretative dance of a slingshot, while Viva quickly launched a squirt of oil onto the circular ring, startled by Poemi's sudden call for action.

"Uhhh… th-that might've been a tad too-"
"LAVA BOLT!"

Perite yelled out his technique, launching a fusillade of the white-hot molten substance from his palms, the tip of his hair burning in sync with his fiery body. Immediately, the 1000s of degrees of heat were fired with pin-point accuracy into the steel circle, triggering the starting mechanism.

For a split second, the vessel juttered and creaked, before the idle ship smoked and whistled with a mighty ferocity as overwhelming flame jolted the countless, intricate mechanisms of the master shipwright's creation into action.

The sudden ascent of the Vanilla Cloud caused a wave of stumbles and screams, the mighty vessel giving a roar as it rose up into the sea wind. Panicking and sliding off one of his roads due to the sudden movements of the ship, Jamal wheezed as he stopped himself from falling into the sea with yet another road, his vision going fuzzy from a mixture of both the impact and the rapid road creation.

Wobbly getting back up to his feet, noticing the unstable swirling and tilting of the ship, it was clear that if nobody got to the wheel in time, this beautiful ship was going to crash into splinters. No way was he going to let that happen to such craftsmanship… after everything they'd done! No. Fucking. WAY.

Bolting forward, Jamal rejoined Poemi near the wheel, noticing she wasn't holding it.
"You…" Jamal wheezed, "don't, DON'T shitting tell me you don't fucking know how to fly this thing!"

Almost imperceptibly, Poemi pouted, "Technically, I do know how to fly this thing; just tilt the wheel a bit there, spin it a bit there, adjust for something or another. I just don't know, you know, how to do all that without crashing us…"

As if to (needlessly) illustrate her point, Poemi yanked at the wheel…

… resulting in a screeching veer hard-left.

"You see?"
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, POEMI!!"

Almost toppling over due to the sudden change of direction, Jamal instinctively lunged forward to stop the ship from crashing to its certain doom. Anything loose that was on the floor slid everywhere, toppling off the ship along with droplets of thick black oil.

Pulling back the ship's wheel as hard as he could to stop the ship from plummeting, though in an extremely wobbly fashion, Jamal simply began to guess his way around the ship's wheel, sweating profusely.

The stress of this masterpiece ship now being in his hands seemed to be so severe for the man that it looked like he was about to faint. But with Vargo's so-called 'apprentice' having no clue how to operate the thing, he had little other options other than to guess himself, and treat it as if it were just a normal ship on drugs.

Just as Herbaro was about to land on the ship, his gaze shifted; The frightening trip's disappearance demanded his attention.

"Who are these people?" he muttered, captivated by the unnatural display. "HUH?!"

"YEAAAH!"

Perite propelled himself away from the ship, blasting him into the rapidly disappearing shore on the other side of the island, while Herbaro's fingertips ust barely grazed the wood of the ship's exterior, as the massive vessel slipped away, propelled so quickly that the Sentinel's momentum was insufficient of grasping it.

"Wooo!" Viva yelled, desperately clinging onto the bulwark, her long, parted mane flowing in the wind, as the Vanilla Cloud flew out into the open ocean. Sasa screamed, his stance unsafe as his attention scattered between his superior, Peri, and the approaching Kallain, his lanky body sailing off the ship and out of sight. With a massive splash, the ship hit the waters, rapidly making way through the blue of the tropical water.

They had done it.

They had escaped.

 

[Warm Regret]

​

Regrettably, Periwinkle's little plan did not work, as the gangly MAGNA crony refused to take the bait. Instead of dodging Periwinkle's attacks, the tall man decided to repel them, then redirect the flow of their battle. Although Peri's plan failed, it wasn't a complete loss, he was still able to learn a thing or two about his opponents fighting style. He learned that the tall man was more of an offensive fighter rather than focusing on defense and agility. He also noticed that the man's electrified blade didn't easily phase him when their swords clashed, meaning his adversary would have to make direct contact with his blade to have the same brutal effect as earlier. Finding himself on the defensive now, Periwinkle had to adjust his tactics just to keep up.

It was evident from the man's appearance and elaborate weapon, that he wasn't some green MAGNA cadet. If Periwinkle had to guess, just from skill level alone, he would place the man in Watcher status. With a determined look on his face, Periwinkle managed to hold his own against the Watcher, deflecting most of the attacks launched at him while dodging the others. His free hand was still clenched calmly behind his back and his royal blue eyes only averting from his opponent momentarily, to spot the approaching shield bearer from his peripheral view. Although outwardly he remained calm and focused, inside he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up with the Watcher. He was always taught to never let the opponent see weakness, so as far as anyone watching was concerned, Periwinkle was handling this battle with both poise and grace.

The Watcher's comments about his skill stung less this time around because Periwinkle knew that he had purposely started the fight with sloppy form and a lack of precision. This was potentially something that might play to his advantage. "Your allegiance to MAGNA has blinded you! No longer will I be controlled. Each individual should be allowed to carve their own path in the world and I won't let you stop me from carving mine….Haa!" He blurted out assuredly between strikes and before their swords became temporarily deadlocked again. This time the Watcher launched another offensive barrage at the blue haired boy, which left him no choice but to dodge. Leaping backward, Periwinkle landed beside Kallain but quickly resumed his fighting stance.

Like the Watcher, Periwinkle also noticed that Herbaro was approaching the ship. Given how easily the Sentinel was able to stave off Vargo's attacks, they would be no match for him if they became the focus of his ire...however, Peri didn't let himself get as distracted as the Watcher had become. There was nothing Peri could do about Herbaro, the tall man was still his opponent and therefore the most immediate threat. Just before Periwinkle was able to launch another attack, the ship lurched then made a sharp turn towards port. The unexpected movement of the ship caused him to fall to one knee and steady himself with his free hand while still holding his sword in the other. Unfortunately for the Watcher, the sudden movement of the ship combined with the distraction of his surroundings, prevented him from securing his footing and ultimately being swept off the ship.

Periwinkle rushed to the railing to see that the Watcher had fallen into the sea and that Perite managed to prevent Herbaro from landing on the ship. When did he even show up? Sheathing his sword again, the shifting aura of colors that became activated with his Suntsumei ability, flickered and faded away like a dying flame. He moved in Kallain's direction and caught a glimpse of the wide open sea. "We did it...I can't believe it..." Moving forward he looked out into the great expanse, as the sea breeze ruffled his hair, the blue scarf around his neck billowing behind him. Their future was uncertain and that frightened him...but it was his future, to shape the way he saw fit...and that...made him smile.

 

[Giltine13]

| | Taipale Kallain | | ♦ Kuroyuki Kaito ♦​

Frantic eyes followed the three figures currently fighting on shore, searching for a glimmer of hope or something similar. Kaito still couldn't make up his mind on what to do and just stood there like an idiot, clenching the railing, impatiently waiting. The trio was slowly inching away from the captured girl, but before they could get far enough, something on the ship grabbed the sentinel's attention and... 'Oh boy, here the bastard comes!' Actually, that was the perfect opportunity, in a sense they could switch places. Sadly, the half-baked plan was never meant to be, as out of nowhere the distance between the shore and the ship started to rapidly grow and their surroundings blurred.

As Kallain was making his way over to the rather chatty dueling duo, he didn't notice Herbaro until the MAGNA weirdo alerted him to the sentinel's presence with his own reaction. And so, everything became so much worse in that blink of an eye as Kallain's gaze landed on the threat he thought Vargo had under control on the shore. Evidently not, however, and the shield bearer definitely hadn't foreseen Herbaro just leaping onto the ship. Perhaps he should've, it's a sentinel after all.

Therefore, the white-haired man froze for just a moment, trying to come up with the optimal next step. In a more usual situation, it'd be best to leave the first threat to the kid and focus on the new arrival himself. But this wasn't usual, this was a sentinel. Herbaro would turn him into well-dressed scrap metal in a blink of an eye. However, Kallain didn't get a chance to make any kind of hasty decisions regarding the situation before the ship itself surprised him next.

The sudden and speedy movement of the ship stole a surprised yell from Kallain's throat, only for it to be drowned in the rest of the commotion, as the poor man stumbled. That first imbalance was all it took for the crazed ship to yank him the rest of the way down almost instantaneously and thumping down onto the deck. From then on, the laws of physics took over and Kallain was quickly sailing across the deck horizontally before he could even begin to chastise the ship for being so rude. However, during that trip on the deck, the man found himself to be the next committer of that same sin as he crashed into something. Or someone.

Kaito was on his knees holding onto the railing for dear life when something rammed into him from behind, effectively knocking all air out of his lungs and smashing his face against the ship. His head was already helplessly spinning, now on top of that he had to deal with his senses getting quickly overwhelmed by the scent of blood, undoubtedly coming from his throbbing nose, alongside the offensive weight still refusing to budge. At this point, Kaito was rather sure some MAGNA soldier had noticed him spacing out moments ago and thought it would be smart to use this chance for an attack. If his current predicament was anything to go by, the grunt was definitely on the right track, but lord help him when Kaito finally got loose – the bastard will wish he was never born! For now though, he needed to get the prick off of him utilizing some desperate measures...

Kallain didn't have time to attempt to discern the identity of the roadblock he had slammed against as the ship continued on its rapid path while not even having the decency to keep the course straight. The white-haired man almost went skidding across the deck once more as the Vanilla Cloud made a sudden sharp turn. However, he managed to grab onto the railing in the nick of time, albeit a bit awkwardly due to the shield strapped to his arm, and thus squished his poor victim between himself and the ship. The victim was anything but defenceless though, Kallain could feel the bastard stabbing him mercilessly as the ship proceeded with the escape. Lucky for him, the weapon used was nothing more lethal than fingers. However, unlucky for him, the person he had pinned against the railing was brutally proficient in poking, finding just the right spot to land devastating stabs between his ribs.

His torture came to a sudden halt not a second too soon as the ship splashed onto the water, making Kallain lose his grip on the railing. Fortunately the travel on the sea from that point on calmed down a bit so instead of taking an involuntary tour on the Vanilla Cloud again, he merely slumped down on the deck by the railing and managed to stay there. Then, he actually got a good look at the unfortunate soul he had steamrolled. Pushing himself up on his butt and letting his shield clank down onto the deck beside him, Kallain lifted his gaze on the figure smashed face-first onto the railing and even though he couldn't see the guy's face as he continued to hide it by ducking it over the railing to empty his stomach, the shield bearer could recognize it as the piercing-laddie from the get-up.

"Ah-! Oh dear, I'm so terribly sorry! I didn't- Are you alright?" Eyes widening, the short exclamation escaped him first before he started frantically blurting out apologies, unsurely reaching a hand towards the guy. Hopefully, the ship and he had only captured the thug in a sandwich-hug.

Hah, wasn't air and freedom simply the most delicious things in the world? Kaito surely thought so when his attacker finally rolled off, where to he couldn't care less as right now the top priority was to get his head over the railing. Not a second after this accomplishment he had to say goodbye to that awful whiskey he drank at the bar this morning. Good thing he didn't pay for it that would've been such a waste of money. Only after he was finished heaving at the dear ocean below, hands still trembling trying to keep him upright, did the apologies carelessly thrown around register in his mind and with that came the realization that his imagined MAGNA grunt was Mr. Shield. Damn, betrayals always came from places you least expect.

Kaito took a moment to relax and gather himself back together before answering the white-haired man with a small wave of his hand, "Wright, wright, no worries... Guess now I know what it feels like to be hit by a ton of bricks! Khi-hi!" He laughed splattering a little blood which currently was flowing down his face – he probably should do something about it. That was the moment when the thief finally realized that his bag was no longer thrown over his shoulder. He must've lost the blasted thing when his brat tried to make a pancake of him, which left quite the possibility his precious cargo ended up overboard. If that was the case, he was gonna kill the guy.

"More importantly, my bag! Where in the seven seas did my bag go!?" Kaito demanded, hectically looking around the deck.

(A collaboration with @Finhawk )​

 

[Aero Blue]

Poemi had long since embraced her own capacity for raucous shenanigans and chaos, and doing so had meant making allowances for the same of others. What that entailed? Generally speaking, a calm dispassion. The ability to accept that leaping sentinels, and red-haired 'rocketmen' weren't oddities, but normities. Just things that happened, even when they were as momentous as their fortuitous escape. Which, granted, was deserving of some celebration.

"Woo." Poemi intoned, glancing pointedly at the 'Wolf of Jaruud', "See? Nothing to worry about - about anything. You're a natural."

She stopped in a look of some muted puzzlement, as if missing something, before her eyes widened as if an epiphany had dawned upon her, "... so this is when a balloon-dog celebration would make sense. Ah. I understand now."

Through some force of will she broke herself out of her thought-prison, returning to the Dreaded one. A second small - and eminently more relevant - epiphany had accompanied the first; who were these people - really - that she had taken aboard her mentor's vessel? Their introductions had been decidedly curt, not that the events that followed would have allowed for much else.

The pink-haired one - the Captain, presumably? There'd have to be words, at some point.

"So, dreads… where we off to?"