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All three of them watched the wide open door where Irvin and Caitlin were standing minutes ago. The air around the door was a little fuzzy, and held a bluish hue, meaning the shield was still in place. Elizia placed one hand on the shield, feeling its strength decrease the further Irvin got from the house. Behind her, Mabel hiccuped as she called for her parents.

Elizia glanced back at the Shark kids, Mabel already sobbing while Trent was too shocked about being left behind to do anything to calm down his sister. It seemed whatever the family was dealing with now was dangerous enough for Irvin and Caitlin to leave their kids behind. Which raised the question of what exactly were they involved in all the more. She turned back to the shield, already weak enough for her to dissipate it with her own magic. Trent might know. He’s seventeen, which means he understand and is possibly starting to get involved in his family affairs already.

The shield broke just as she saw a man cross the porch and step into her house without an introduction or apology for the surprise intrusion. She noted his detective-like appearance. The man stood under the door frame, maintaining his boundaries and waiting for her to allow him further into her house.

"Elizia, I presume?" he asked.

“Yes,” she replied. Her arm began to tingle again. “How can I help you?”
 
Koi Ross
Layer 2

Surprised by the immediacy of the vision, it took a moment for Koi's reflexes to kick in. Firing up her hoversuit, she tried to take off, but the hesitation cost her. The net projectile caught her around the legs as she rose off the ground, it's momentum throwing her off balance. Crashing into the railing of the sidewalk, there was a brief second of balance before she tipped over the side.

She panicked. She was tumbling head over heels - surprisingly a first for her flying - with a net entangling her lower body. The ground - the true ground - could be seen rising up to meet her in flashes as she spun. Rather than try to right herself, she covered her head and activated her hoversuit. Koi slammed back first into a wall before dropping the last few feet to the muck and grime of Level 0. Stunned and in pain, she lay there as hurried footsteps were heard on the sidewalk above.
 
Laina, Youn, 'Obliterate', and Co.



Finally, one of them spoke out. "Young lady," the male voice on the right paused, gathering his thoughts, "with the white hair. Get away from that thing, quickly. To us." With his free hand, he beckoned for Youn to come closer.

With an innocent curiosity, Youn stared back at the strange figure, entirely absorbed into its otherworldly appearance. "Hello~~? I am supposed to be called Youn!" A name Faust had given her. "Are you of the same race as Terror?!...Uh, my guardian-thing! I mean, having multiple eyes and a mask and all! She is very shy so she doesn't talk much...huh...maybe that lies in the family?!"

Terror, on the other hand, gave off a threatening aura that made more than up for Youn's current lack of danger; and if Standing roughly between the two wasn't enough, she even projected a energy shield around the young girl, visible only to the finest of eyes.

Youn's focus finally broke as a third party introduced itself. "Huh?" Tilting her head in confusion. 'With white hair they clearly mean you Master.' Explained Faust, not bothering to move Youn to safety, though different motives the Neverborn was just as curious as its host. "Oh! But...Away? Me? From? Why?" Youn asked, looking around in confusion. 'And with "that thing" he meant...Terror's sibling.' - "Oh!...But we are having a family reunion right now!"

"Hold tight Orie, I'm not in the best of moods right now." Laina patted the orphan's scraggily brown hair coated in white-grey dust.

Standing from her squatted position, she paced quietly towards the scene in the not-so-far distance. Laina's eyes firmly fixated on the masked girl across from the smaller white-haired one. The opposing duo whom approached shortly after her own arrival also didn't sit quite that well with her, and the fact that all of these people were 'coincidentally' in the same area as her injured orphan made the taste in her mouth all the more bitter. The distance was now closed between her and the two groups, her presence would be known, the whites of her eyes slightly pinkened by the crying she had done not that long ago, dusty hands clenched as she changed her view between the two groups.

"Pardon my intrusion, I've just a question.. Is the culprit of the nearby explosions present within the vicinity?" She smiled softly, with a hidden venom in her now shut eyes.

With a quick look to one another, the masked figures reflected a clear misunderstanding.

A sound of confusion escaped one of their mouths, and they took a moment to think. Giving up on dealing with unforseen interruptions, they dropped the facade. Any cooperation with the situation vanished in an instant as one of them relaxed and pulled out what was hidden in his coat.

"Fuck it," he mumbled, raising a large handgun in Youn's direction. The blackened weapon hissed and rotated in several places before a dull red light emanated from the ribbed openings along its sides. Not to be left out, the other followed in tandem, aiming their own firearm at Laina. "Sorry kids, nothing personal."

---Random Skys Note do not post yet ---
And if that wasn't enough, another person made her appearance as well, so much potential food. "Explosion?" The young error tilted her head in confusion, just to be cut off by her Neverborn within. "Master! Care- ... those two would surely make good Neverborn, don't you think so too, Master?' Appealing to her the girl clasped her hands happily together."Oh! Good thinking Faust!" With a new goal in mind Youn proceeded to cough a bit, puking out two small seed-like objects. "Go wild Terror! You know what to do, right?" She now commanded, giving her both of the seeds she just lovely created.


Terror in return kept his gaze on the strange being for a moment before fixating on one of the two, now clearly, enemies. A pair of 6 energy wings appeared on her back before she dashed towards them, leaving Youn rather defenseless against the unknown being.

At the words the men spoke, and the declaration of war proclaimed as the small girl commanded another figure to attack one of the men, words vividly displayed themselves before Laina's eyes. 'Guilty'. The fact that these men reacted to her words so defensively and were now arming themselves, and threatening herself and the small girl in the distance, they seemed to best fit this title more than any other for the time being.

And seeing that the other person who was threatened had already reacted, Laina felt that it was proper that she do the same.

Quickly her eyes shot open, searching for cover, higher ground, or any sort of position that would put her unarmed self in a good position to act without being immediately injured. Before she could register where she had decided on, her body lept and vaulted away from danger, behind a large slab of concrete that had been present in the area. Seeing as the figure the girl had ordered to attack the two pressed at them head on, she'd likely have their attention for the time being.

"One... two... !" Darting out from behind the cover she had found, Laina sprinted with all the speed she could muster towards the two armed men until finally falling to her left side and sliding the rest of distance needing to be closed.

Here she quickly formed a peace sign with her right hand, and opened her left, bringing the two together to create a gesture that'd seem like 'Scissors cutting paper' with her hands. Her arms outstretched towards the two in a forceful motion, the medium for her designared spell being used caused a forceful gust of wind to fire in the pair's direction.

Both of the enemies first shots were directed at Terror's oncoming form, the strange being far more terrifying and pressing than Laina's mundane appearance. With a sharp whistle, the guns unloaded a pair of cross-shaped energetic projectiles at Terror, though one of them was strangely off its mark; it would clearly fly right past Terror if she continued on her current path. The figure to the right turned his gun to Laina as she appeared from behind cover, firing once but missing before another charge emanated from the barrel.

The gust of wind Laina had fired swept his aim skywards. The shot fired upwards, fizzling into nothing as it hit a building's side. Regaining control over his arm, the figure began to lower his arm back to Laina.

Dodging was out of the question for the Neverborn, as Youn was directly behind her. Nothing stopped her charge however, taking the bullet head on Terror did take some measures though. One was in the form of a simple counter-attack with an energy projectile, hopefully making both of them explode midair. The second was a defensive measure in form of an energy shield. Whatever the result may have been, Terror kept charging forward. Hopefully reaching the figure that was not busy quarreling with Laina followed by a simple stab in its general chest area, only making sure to not hit the heart.

Terror's projectile impacted the one fired before, and the two appeared to fizzle out of existence before the second bullet from the unknown individuals took a U-turn and flung itself straight into the first, as if the two bullets were drawn together. As Terror continued forward unabated, the gunslinger readied another shot, this time raising his free hand to form a symbol at the side of his gun.

The bullet that was to be fired out instead elongated itself as a beam of energy, and the man intercepted Terror's own weapon with a burst of energy. With a grunt, the man pressed her strike backwards, reeling her arm away and exposing her side to attack.

Quickly after her initial spell had been cast, Laina changed the position of her right hand into a fist and cupped it with her left. Her sliding upon the dusty ground had come to a stop, and in reaction to the man's aim being lowered once again she bounced to her feet and outstretched her arms in response. This time, rather than simple wind being emitted by her magic, Laina launched a loud and nearly visible shockwave towards the man. The force was great, enough to shake the ground in a small radius around her.

Though, this time she did not stop there. As soon as the previous spell had been cast, before she could find out it's success or unsuccess Laina began to charge towards the armed man in a curved sprint. Scooping some rubble and dust within her now open left palm on the way, she muttered quietly what could be heard as "Dissect" and almost instantaneously the debris she had scooped up was replaced with a three foot long glass-like needle within her grasp. Once she was in range of her target, Laina would drive the weapon outwards towards the man's abdomen in an attempt to skewer him.

Covering his chest with his arms, the man took the force of the shockwave point blank, but managed to withstand simply being knocked about. The armor he wore and the quick lean forward aided in resisting a fall. Still, he was forced back a few feet, sliding along the ground.

Without flinching, the individual before Laina brought to bear his free hand and promptly grasped the weapon she had created, stopping it inches from his chest. With a pull he brought it closer, the needle sweeping to his side, and threw his other arm upon the length of it, instantly shattering the impromptu weapon. Extending out his gun, he aimed to whip Laina with the blunt weapon.

Using the time Terror needed to regain her balance, she didn't hesitate to lift her other hand towards her opponent. Collecting a few energy particles for just a short moment before materializing it into a lance like object that served more of a powerful one-time thrust aimed at the lower half of her target.

"Position!" the man cried out, raising his forearm before the lance. Strips of what seemed like metal shot forth from underneath the cloth covering his arm, collecting just in front of the lance. Their presence absorbed the energy of the attack, but quickly melted away into a slag at the man's feet.

Taking the blunt strike to the face, Laina recoiled, vaulting back from the man and gaining some distance before he could exploit any openings. Spitting the blood from her mouth she took the offensive once again, this time running straight towards the man and jumping high within the air before reaching him. While airborne, she set her focus on the ground directly below her target, shutting her right eye and speaking another spell's incantation out loud.

"Erupt!"

Before Laina could even land in a clumsy hurdle tumbling as much of a distance that she could, a small red coal could be seen forming below the assailant's legs. It wasn't bright enough to attract too much attention, but before you know it the coal seemed to fizzle out like a fuse and from the ashes a pillar of fire would rise from it's location. The spell's fire would quickly climb in height to about twelve feet, and spread outwards to a diameter of ten feet. The pillar would sufficiently fuel itself for fifteen seconds before dying off and leaving a black scar on the ground beneath it.

Just as the spell ignited, the man looked down to see his fate sealed. Engulfed in an obscuring cloud of flame, he disappeared from sight for the full duration. Only when it subsided did his form appear once more, tattered, scorched, and still. He took a single step forward before falling to his knees, seemingly incapacitated.

Witnessing his comrade fallen, the individual engaging Terror growled in anger and lunged backwards, escaping the melee he was caught in. Sweeping aside his coat, the man retrieved a large stack of strips of paper before flinging them into the air. The strips floated before him, patterning themselves in a circular symbol before glowing.

"Enough of this," he grumbled, raising a hand to the prepared written spell, "Command!"

As both Youn and Laina were facing the man, their eyes were oblivious to the unknown girl that had remained at Youn's back. The strange individual's head quickly jolted to the side, as if suffering from a spasm, before turning back to face the spell-casting man.

Focused on the spell he was holding up, the man, for a moment, appeared sure of himself. As a second passed, and then another, and then a third, he became taken aback. Something clearly wasn't working. With a yell he dropped the spell, paper strips flittering to the ground, and pulled up his gun firing once.

Not at Youn or Laina, but at the girl behind.

Just a few seconds passed before Terror closed into melee range again, giving only a short check to certify that his aim was not towards her Queen but simply something else. Seeming to take all her time in the world she simply aimed towards his chest area again.

Youn on the other hand grew tired of this, having commanded her Neverborn to implant the Abyssal Seed sure seemed to tamper her combat ability. Though the young Error didn't have much time for a decision upon seeing that her new best friend was target of her targets gunfire. If she would die then Terror would surely be sad, no? While that thought seemed tempting in itself Youn wouldn't allow that! "YOUN TACKLE!" She gave of heroic and jumped at the dumbfounded being, giving it some sort of hug-tackle and hopefully removing it from line of fire.

The two were thrown mutually to the ground, easily missing the shot fired. But such a stunt wouldn't place them in complete safety, and the man quickly lined up a second shot at both Youn and her downed 'friend'.

Before he could even pull the trigger, the man froze and jolted, as if every muscle in his body suddenly tensed up. He remained in the state for a second, groaning in pain before his position became the site of a chaotic arcane feat.

His limbs were twisted or torn completely off, chunks of his body collapsed in on themselves into a single point, orbs of energy materialized upon his skin, and his armor melted right off of his body. It was as if someone couldn't decide which spell to cast, and so simply resolved to cast every single one they knew, all at once. It sufficed to say that his body was burned, torn, crushed, vaporized, and pulverzied within a split second until little remained of his former self. Only blood, ash, and the twisted remains of partially melted metal remained where he once stood.

Seeing her spell hit it's mark as she regained her footing, Laina quietly made her way towards the singed man. Her right cheek had already reddened from the blow she had taken from her opponent, and nearby the other enemy had also fallen victim to some sort of spell, one seemingly worse than the one cast by herself.

"You alive? Probably not.." Laina kicked at the lifeless body, dipping her lead to the left as she quietly asked the potential corpse.

Though her question was still left unanswered, and as the orphan whom was nearby could tell, Laina pressed on with her vindiction. Wiping some stray droplets of blood from her lips and chin, she paced forward towards the taller woman whom seemed to be having some sort of seizure before. The masked woman was her first choice for guilty party, but when the two men appeared out of the blue, their aggression changed her mind. Now that they were gone..

"You.. Answer my question." Laina scratched her head, eyes carefully fixated on the figure's movement. Silent as ever, the figure simply pulled herself up from her fallen stance at Youn's side. Staring up at Laina, it was clear the individual either could not or simply would not speak. She remained quiet, eyes looking about in curiosity.

The play of agony didn't stop Terror in her tracks but ultimately led to simply hitting the air. Not batting an eye the being turned around and made haste towards the Queen's side.
an
"Are you alright?" Youn asked with bit of a proud undertone and stood up as well. 'I believe she is not capable of conversing with us.' "No, I told you. She is just as shy as Terror!" Looking over to the two corpses her gaze stopped upon the rather intact body. Tasty. "Right...where was I..." the Error thought out loud just to be interrupted by Terror this time, the Neverborn kneeled so deep that her head hit the ground, offering the two seeds in her open palms back to Youn. "Oh! Don't worry! I was about to command you to olibrate...oblibtare....ob..." - 'Obliterate.' - "Obliterate! Them anyways." A complex word which sound the Error liked a lot.


"Obliterate," The figure at Youn's side suddenly spoke up. She spoke to no one in particular, still eyeing her surroundings.

Laina quietly eyed the babbling girl, before reajusting her focus back on the masked figure. Grunting in annoyance she dipped her head in defeat, she clearly wasn't going to get answers from these people. Pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, and then rubbing her cheek with the same hand, Laina turned back to the orphan whom had been waiting for her to finish up.

"Names?" Laina focused intently on Youn, and then on the masked character.

"Huh?" The young Errors mood lightened visible as the strange being actually spoke a word, and if it was a chant she repeated happily, dancing around the 6 eyed woman. "Obliterate! Obliterate! That's a cool sounding word, right?!" And followed with a genius idea. "Oh! I know! We just call you Obliterate."

With that out of the way the young Error finally paid attention to Laina. "I am supposed to be called Youn!" She just repeated herself before pointing towards her guardian who was standing now again. "And this shy Neverborn listens to the name of Terror!" And the same gesture towards the 6 eyed being. "And that is Obliterate! There is also Faust and Rats present, though you can't see them! Oh and 'The Pack', but I rather call them Fluffy!" She 'introduced' herself kinda hyped, after all she made a new best friend!

Proceeding to give Laina a more inspecting look over her body the white hair continued. "Hey Faust, what is that thing she is wearing? It makes her a lot more yummy looking."

Raising her eyebrow to Youn, Laina nodded slowly. The small girl made her feel uneasy, it wasn't exactly fear, but the strangeness was heavily present and in return made it incredibly difficult for her to stay intuitive. She then turned her sights on the masked woman, whom was repeating a spoken word like a newborn.. Curiousity struck her more than anything, but that would have to wait.

"Alright then.. Do you two have somewhere to be? I've got an orphan to accompany, but I want to bring you guys to a friend.." Laina asked and rattled on, nonchalantly pulling the notebook she had on her person into her hand. Opening it up to have a pen reveal itself placed carefully inside, she licked at the metallic tip and began to scribble words.

"A friend?!" Youn asked excited and flapped her hands up and down. "So many new friends today! Well, that sounds exciting, so I am in." - "Or are we?" A voice now resounded as Faust made its appearance public. "We can clearly not trust her...BUT I am willing to exchange information." The figure glanced over the dead bodies before its gaze fixated on the bodysuit girl. "Eehhh? Why not? It sounds more fun than just lazing around! And Terror and Obliterate would get some nice time to catch up! Terror! Come here!" Youn commanded before proceeding to push her towards Obliterate-chan. "Don't you have to talk about super tragic backgrounds or something?!"

"Exchanging information is exactly what my friend is specializing in. But that's not something I should be saying to you." Laina sneered, turning her gaze back to Youn and placing a hand on her stomache rubbing it in a circular motion.

"You said you were hungry right? Mathis has a restaurant, and if me and you can vouch for what happened today as solid information, he'd feed you well. Not to mention, he makes the best ramen I have ever had." By now Laina has begun to pace towards Youn even further, until she was a few feet away, a safe distance by her judgement.

"So how about it?" Her head dipped to the right, her eyes changing from each of the girl's things.. And then to the masked figure.

"But we already ate this week!" Youn declined her request, until Faust spoke up. "Master, what I said regarding THAT was specifically for 'The Pack', you on the other hand can eat as much as you want. And this so-called Ramen is supposed to be a delicacy." That was all it needed to convince the small Error, with a bright shine in her eyes she nodded. "Alright, let's do that!" Before starting to wander off into a random direction.

Sighing to herself, Laina turned her eyes to the masked woman once again with an unsure expression. She still hadn't known who was the culprit for all of this, nor did she get answers from any of the surviving people at the scene. But this Youn person didn't seem capable of it, leaving the un-named figure the only remaining suspect, but Laina kept herself contempt for now.

"Hey.. It's North, towards the shops and stuff... And there's an orphan waiting for me too. Some come on back over here!" Laina shouted before Youn could get too far, walking towards the barely out of sight orphan, picking him up by his collar and holding him in both of her arms.

Tilting her head in confusion she asked "North?" -"Just follow the woman." -"Alright!" Turning around the white hair changed her direction towards Laina, but not without getting close to Obliterate again, grabbing her hand and pulling her with her. The other two simply followed.
 
Felicia Bell

If the writing wasn't magically conducted, but robotic, who would have had such resources on hand to write something like this message? Felicia frowned inwardly, but kept her thoughts clear from her expression as she watched the drones hover about. At seeing that one of them had found a wayward feather - she thought she had gotten rid of them all before - she watched the officer's expression from the corner of her eye, and seeing how he merely raised an eyebrow and blew it away, she made no comment. Acting upset or surprised about that would only arouse the suspicion that she was trying to hide something, so she pretended it was something normal.

The most we can tell you is that you have some sort of deranged stalker. Felicia kept the annoyance and frustration from her face as she nodded meekly, still keeping that worried expression that was expected of her. "I... I'll hire a personal guard," she murmured, lowering her eyes to the ground. She didn't want a personal guard, but seeing as this already happened, she would have to reach a compromise. When this reached her manager, he would force her to get one, all the same.

"Thank you for your help," she offered them a small smile, small lips curling up sweetly as she bowed her head. She glanced at the drones and shook her head, "I don't mind, I don't want to be alone right now." If it was only for keeping watch on her home's surroundings, then she could keep her own abilities hidden for that amount of time the drone would stay.

At the sudden burst of frantic voices from one of the officer's communication devices, Felicia blinked. She could swear she could hear some news or a mention of 'Sparkle Belle Lovejoy' and something like a 'bombing', the many sentences bursting out only adding to the feeling that whoever was on the other line was pretty frantic and hurried. When the other officer asked her what else she would need, she politely waved it off. "I will be fine waiting for your results, officer. You're leaving one of your drones. Just... I don't want to be alone for some time. I'll be calling my manager to come over." She looked at the other officer as he continued to speak into his communicator, and hearing the raised voices.

Something must have happened, with how rushed they were speaking to each other. Felicia wondered what that was, and resolved to keep an eye on the news as soon as the officers have left. She knew one Sparkle Belle Lovejoy, even though they only met briefly before. The pop singer was supposed to come on in an interview today, along with that other artist, Barenna, was it?

The actress was aware of some of the less savory rumors about the Policus. She had heard of one certain officer who was pretty much hated by the public, because he seemed to like provoking them and when they struck first, he would the excuse to hit back. She wondered if this was also linked to the incident that had obviously happened.
 
Armel was just about to tackle her to the ground when a strange green orb penetrated his gun, completely melting it. He saw orbs everywhere doing the same to all the weapons around him. By the time he looked back, the girl was gone. There was no where for her to go without him noticing. Unless... He rushed to the edge of the highway. At last he spotted a large green glow traveling across the sky. This was something new. She was using magic outside the Magical Laws, and while he wasn't exactly clear himself, she was the most likely suspect for the bombing.

"This is Armel reporting! The bombing has caused the protesters to panic. We are apprehending them for questioning. I am in pursuit of the lead suspect. I need any troops that can be spared to search for her. She appears to be in her early twenties, long pink hair, and riding a strange green orb above the city. She is believed to be operating outside the Magus Prohibitum. She is to be considered very dangerous, as she bore a hole through any weapon easily in a two hundred yard radius. I request a Stryker vehicle, for my pursuit."

The transports were too slow and had too little visibility to be of any help. His request was approved and the vehicle would be there soon. He hurried to the dropzone.

"Nechronica, I need you to be my spotter. We are looking for a Pink haired girl in her twenties, currently flying above the city on a green orb of sorts. She is our number one suspect for the bombing, and seems to be using illegal magic."

His vehicle had arrived. The Stryker had always been his favorite. It was a small one or two person trike, with a radar and scanners to seek out anything within a large radius. It was equipped with a Mk-II Pulse rifle. The rifle used electrical surges as ammo, allowing it to potentially never run out. However the amount of energy used per shot could be adjusted, so the weapon could range from no stronger than a taser, to a laser capable of burning a hole in a wall.
 
"Mausoleum" - Jhanuis Bedniv | Central Babylon, Prime Hour Tower, Lobby
---

Kano flipped out his cell device the moment the skyrail slowed to a near-halt, the displays inside the vehicle flaring with images of a great tower crumbling under an invisible attack, and the subsequent vanishing of the lighting inside the windows of the tower next to it; Prime Hour. The footage currently running on the screen is being shot from an adjacent building, and the panic inherent in the voice of the person holding the camera was being matched by the troubled conversations beginning to pour out of the people watching the footage.

-------​

Jin made his way towards the lobby's massive central pillar, the shadow of its form the only thing the barest amount of light in the room can perpetuate towards where he had dragged himself back in. No sooner than he'd end his slight jog and turned around to rest his back against the pillar did Jin bent forward and erupted into a violent coughing fit. The coat of dust surrounding him on all sides was airily whipped up at the slightest gust of wind, which unfortunately for the young man came in droves as the silhouettes of rescue machines swooshed to and fro inside the cloud of dust outside the Prime Hour Tower, scanning the surfaces for survivors. The jets that allowed the Policus to sail through the air filled the lobby with two things Jin would have to look through to find the last remaining survivor of within the lobby (whom he hoped, as small a hope it was, still managed to keep themselves alive); background noise and ash-to-ash.

Bringing an arm to face level as he finally subdued a raging asthma in the works, Jin looked around the corner of the pillar as the machines outside continued to paint moving shadows on each of the four, barely living walls of the room. He kept his ears and eyes wide open for any trace of life; the latter was harder to do given the impurities in the air combined with the imaginary pain from the coagulating crystal layer in his eyes threatening to force them shut. More quick than careful given the circumstances looming overhead, Jin jogged further into the lobby, towards the devastated entrance. After looking around every step of the way and finding naught but the departed, he stopped and thought for a while as another machine whizzed by in the daylight on the other side of the windows. Suddenly, Jin shouted; "Marco!"

Nothing happened for a few seconds - and then, a faint bluish light grew in one direction. In that same direction, a voice not unlike his own replied, but only in his mind; "...Polo!"

Jin hurried to where the voice had rung from in his head, and picked up the slumped object that shone a blue light in his face - his knapsack.Attached to one of the straps was a talisman that acted as a medium for a spell that allowed him to easily find it in a mess or a pile, or if he'd fallen asleep from hitting too many cans of beer one night and needed to find it after peeling off the piece of pastry stuck to the side of his face. The excessive blue light coming from the runes was apparently a tiny mistake in the inscription, but that sure didn't stop the magician for upping the price a little bit for the 'added feature'. Not that he would regret it, Jin thought, as he plucked the piece of paper from the strap, slung the bag over his shoulders, took off the ID card and re-attached the talisman onto the piece of plastic, fulfilling its requirement of needing to be attached to an object of possession for it to work.

He held the ID card in front of him and spoke again; "Marco!"

In a few seconds, the voice rang again in his head, heeding his call - and with it, the blue light shone forth, illuminating a greater part of the lobby much better than the display of any worn, second-hand vidcube ever could. And there, struggling in the macabre environment, was the reason he'd returned. Jin wasted not a second more to run to the side of the crippled young man, only managing to distinguish the young man's weak calls for help apart from the moans of the building once he was a mere feet away. Throwing the card back around his neck its strap, the runes shed light on the young man's bloodied, bedraggled hands, specks of skin and flesh stripped away from the glass covering his tracks, the wounds sewn in by ash. The fabric on his knees had begun to tear, and the man seemed to be only a few moments away from literally choking on his own tears.

"Just a bit longer - the Policus are finally here. We just need to flag one down after this, so keep it together for just a few more minutes while I carry us out." Jin put his hands on the person's shoulders as a reassuring gesture, and then stood back up to switch his knapsack on to his front, so as to carry the young man better in a piggy-back. Jin moved in front of the young man and knelt back down, scooping him up by the arms and then wrapping them around his own neck. Jin helped the young man to lock his fingers together to hold tight as Jin stood up again, having slid his own arms under the young man's legs, taking care not to let the young man's one crippled leg hung in too terrible a manner.

From there, Jin carried the young man on his back, fighting through the ash and dust trying to force itself into his lungs and the sweat trickling down his face, until they were finally outside. And just as he was about to yell for attention, Jin found himself reeling forward yet again, breaking out into another violent coughing fit. He fell onto the pavement, still coughing, dropping the young man to the side in his fall from grace and hitting his head on the ground. The impact drew blood from between his eyes. Jin's terrible bout of coughing stopped.
 
Seti Kleon - Carnarium, Kell District

A sly smile spread across Ina's face at the mention of 'incident'. She leaned forward slightly, as if eager to pry more into his day. She kept her mouth shut, though her grin clearly reflected a sort of well-intentioned taunt.

"What's been going on?" she thought to herself, "Well, pretty crazy stuff. You haven't heard yet?" She figured he wouldn't have had much details if he were asking, and continued. "A building in Central Babylon collapsed about an hour ago, not sure what did it. Some people've been saying it was just a regular old bomb, others say it was a spell of some sort." She shrugged.

"Can't be sure right now. Lot of people died though," her voice became sullen and her eyes trailed to the ground. "Oh well," she perked up again, "So, Seti. You're a courier right? What did you transfer this time around? Take a peek?" The hospital doors were automatic, and as Seti and Ina approached, they slid open with a ding, opening into a small lobby room already heavily filled with a variety of injured folks, some much, much worse off than Seti. It would probably be awhile till he got the attention he wanted. A few eyes turned to him and looked him up and down, as if checking out his health; entering these sorts of place often had an unspoken 'game' of deducing who was most likely to die.

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Sparkle Bell Lovejoy - Field Hospital, Central Babylon

Barenna took a moment to notice Sparkle, her eyes watered and lowered to the ground. As soon as her junior called out, though, her head shot up. Ren? Since when did she call her that? Barenna rose an eyebrow briefly until Sparkle decided to sit next to her. When her hand was held, her expression turned to one of surprise rather than confusion. It was strange, but she didn't pull her hand away. Pulling the plastic breathing apparatus from her face, she made room to speak into open air.

"I've been much better, thanks," she said weakly, "You're not hurt at all?" she asked, seeming more surprised than concerned. Letting go, the mask returned to its snug place, and she turned away for a moment, and retracted her hand. There was silence for a good amount of time, but she finally spoke up again.

"Hey uh, Sparkle..." she paused, "Sorry for those death glares during the show. It... wasn't right." There was a clear difficulty in finding words for her, Sparkle could tell. More than likely, she was coming to realize her treatment of the junior star, but wasn't quite ready to full on admit her personality was so sour. From beneath the mask, Barenna smiled lightly at Sparkle. "How's your manager?" she asked.

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Kheda - 99 Ramp, Occam-Central Babylon District Border

As Kheda descended towards the lower floors, a low hum behind her became a near-deafening roar. In a burst of wind, a massive vehicle soared right by her in the air, quickly banking and stopping several yards in front of her. The VTOL that hovered before her blocked her path, and for a moment it seemed as if the Policus had caught up, but as the bay doors slid open, she was pleasantly surprised.

Standing on the deck of the airship, a woman stood, hand gripping the bars along the edges of the bay. With a flourish, she removed the sunglasses from her eyes and gestured at Kheda with her chin. "Kheda'Ahn Garuda, good to see you're bold and capable." Kheda had nary a clue who the woman speaking to her was, but she instantly recognized her voice as the very same that had communicated to her telepathically on the ninety-nine ramp.

"We could use your help, as fellow Cleaners," she shouted over the engines. She knew, then, what was going on. Kheda was a Cleaner, but she was far from a notable member of the lose organization and could recite few names. On the flipside, it was obvious the greater names were well-aware of her presence. Whoever this woman was, she knew Kheda, and likely her ventures just as well.

"Hop on in, it's much faster on this thing," she patted the metal frame of the bar door. As Kheda entered, the woman pressed a pad on the interior of the ship and the door slid closed as it took off. "You know who I am, Kheda?" she asked, still standing amidst the angled flight.

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Evenrue Seele - Central Babylon

Even without Evenrue's direction, the crowds of individuals at her level were already well aware of the direction they needed to go, and while not quite as organized as she intended, they were willingly going. In a slowly diminishing sea of hurried individuals, Evenrue caught sight of one in particular she could easily recognize; he obvious both for his attire and his slow, deliberate walk, not to mention his extreme height amidst the crowd. Stopping before Evenrue, he ruffled his jacket and cleared his throat before speaking in a particularly deep voice.

"Miss Seele, you remember me, no?" Indeed she did. Crux Samul was his supposed name, though he overtly stated several times he shed his true birth name. A Cleaner of huge height and equally massive strength, whom Evenrue had met in the past if only by coincidence. Dissociated as they technically were, Cleaners rarely got by without knowing a few names. Crux rolled his shoulders and continued before she could answer, as if deciding for her.

"A few associates and I need as many fellow Cleaners as we can get," he was silent for a moment, "I assume you know what I'm going to ask." He turned his head to the smoke cloud still persisted in Central Babylon and spoke in a hushed but still clear voice. "This wasn't a mundane bombing. Soem of us have already caught wind, a literal smell, of something far fouler than explosive material in the city. Have you not sensed it as well?"

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Elizia - Home

As soon as Elizia had spoken back, the man seemed much more keen on becoming even more care-free in his movement around the house, as if it were his ticket in. Stepping to the side and further into the home, he clapped his hands together at his waist level and rubbed them briefly.

"I got a call from someone awhile ago," he sounded enthusiastic, almost like a teacher about to start a lesson, "saying a certain Elizia was interested in Cleaner activity. Raising his eyebrows and smiling, he looked as if he were trying to sell a product to an uncertain customer. "If you want in, it's better now or never!" He looked to the other parties within the room briefly before turning back to Elizia. "What do you say?"

The lack of introduction was almost laughable. A heavy wind was kicked up outside the house, and from the windows Elizia could see an airship of some sort hovering at her floor level. The man inside turned to the vehicle and back to her before pointing with a thumb. "If you want in, there's our ride. Would appreciate it if you decided quickly." He looked a tad bit nervous.

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Nechronica - Ruruen District, at the site of the Arcane Anomaly

For a time, things were quiet, despite there being an occasional shard of building debris being shredded off of the structures around her; the arcane anomaly, yet still, did not seem to be keen on stopping its growth. As the fence line was finished, and the civilian world outside was shut off, Nechronica was simply told to remain there for guarding's sake. Her superior officer didn't sound to pleased with her prior loose-cannon actions, likely briefed on them by the Warden who spoke on the comms to her before.

Progress was clearly slow, but the danger wasn't all too evident at the time. It would be awhile before they had to move another floor lower to escape the anomalies growth downward. She looked up at its glowing form before the sky suddenly became dark. At the height of the city above her, a massive ship had blocked out the light, casting a shadow upon the study site. Confused mumbles filled the scene as the ship came to a halt.

In a flash, everything had gone to shit. Within the fence-line, countless armored figures had suddenly appeared and summarily attacked the Policus stationed there. Lithe forms and red blades dashed about, butchering the unwary officers into heaps of limbs. Reacting, some of them immediately called for backup, though nothing in the world at the time seemed like it would save them.

Nechronica, too, was eventually targeted. A faceless, armored individual -clearly female due to the shaped bust of her chestplate- dashed for her with a red dagger in hand. Mid way, the woman seemingly disappeared into thin air.

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Koi Ross - Ground Floor

A growing crowd looked over her crumpled body as she tried to untangle herself, some of them mumbling suggestions of aid or calling the Policus. The net was heavy but far from impossible to solve. Were it to hit her body perfectly, she'd have been bound totally, but as it was her legs could slip through the holes present. It only took a minute, but it seemed to be just in time; what were undoubtedly her pursuers had already made it to the ground as well in a crash of metal.

Men in power armor, bearing a large gun packed with nets, she would assume, had made it down to the Ground Level and were already motioning to try and snag her again. Their appearances were unfamiliar, but it didn't take recognition to realize she was in deep shit with them, one way or another. Recalling mistakes she might have made with powerful people in the past would have to wait.

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Armel Lienstrug - Central Babylon

Armel's ground pursuit was unhindered for a majority of the time, and while the girl he was attempting to follow had already disappeared from sight, the radar on his trike did clearly point out a non-Policus vehicle he didn't notice earlier, headed in the same direction as his target initially took.

Set on following the new lead, he continued onwards through a Ground Level street. The sound of a sort of metallic screech cried out several times in quick succession, and then his tires gave out. The trike's forward motion became hampered until it stopped entirely, sliding to a stop on the street. Surveying the vehicle, Armel noticed three crystals, one for each tire, embedded in the now-deflated rubber.

The street was otherwise empty, save for a single figure that quickly disappeared into an alleyway as Armel caught their eyes.

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Jhanuis Bedniv - Prime Hour Tower

Just as weak as before, the man's incessant mutterings of thanks were barely heard to Jhanuis, especially as they made their way further outside. Sirens and the shouts of an entire city at the scene made for a near-deafening orchestra of terror. With a single good leg, the man hobbled around Jhanuis' arm, barely hanging on as his entire body slumped low. His whole form was on the verge of becoming dead weight, almost literally it seemed.

Fortunately the two had made it out, and just as the hope of finally retreating from the mess had reached them, Jhanuis collapsed upon the ground, his rescued hobble-partner falling all the same. A dizzy spell overcame Jhanuis as his consciousness slipped, the sight of barely-lit concrete swaying and spinning until it was lights out.

---

The barest memories could be recalled in his injured stupor, but Jhanuis answered them it seemed, regardless of his hazy waking status. "Are you okay? Where does it hurt? How is your breathing? Do you have anyone we can call?" Eventually he slipped once again, the distinct memory of painful coughing reminding him he had indeed woken up temporarily.

When he finally came to, he found himself in a hospital. Tucked away in a medical bed, he was in full view of a large number of others in the same situation. Nurses and doctors walked about, not too hurried. How much time had passed? He turned to the side to find his friend, Jin, miraculously present and seated. He must have answered at least a few of those questions, it seemed.

==============================================================================​

Felicia Bell - Home

"Probably a good idea, Miss Bell," the officer responded to her plan of calling the manager, "With this drone around, though, you won't have to fear too much. We'll be on ready if the drone detects any sort of disturbance again. Thanks for your time." The two officers nodded and waved goodbye before stepping outside, their menagerie of little drones following in tandem. Shutting the door behind them, they left Felicia with the 'protection' of a torso-sized hunk of metal. Policus wasn't known for being a pushover in terms of technology, so she didn't doubt the lethality of the drone, but being given such a small thing after getting a threat... just didn't seem proper.

In any case, the drone was well out of sight by then, having crawled off to some location outside her home to wait for trouble, which hopefully wouldn't actually come.
 
Surprised by Katergi's sudden departure, Eden almost felt tempted to follow him. However, with how the day was going, she just wanted to get home, hunker down in her bed and forget everything over a nice cup of tea. Leaving the campus grounds, Eden hastily made her way down the Stret Col sidewalk, arms folded and her bluish-black backpack rising and falling with her quick steps. Stella, by now, was probably fuming. Things were getting worse in the city, and the motherly manager was the closest thing to family Eden had. All of this terror and death had to be working on her mind.

With almost fear, Eden took out her phone and tabbed onto her contact info. The smiling face of the copper-skinned woman was beaming at her, long black hair tied up in a bun, making her somewhat matronly features all the more comforting. But Stella had just as much fire in her as she had tenderness. That was what Eden liked about her. She was a fighter.

Her finger tapped "Call" and she braced herself.

A click. And then a chilly whisper that still managed to burn.

"Eden. I swear if you do not get your ass back here, I will stick you on machine cleaning duty for the month. You know how much coffee muck is in those things after a busy day. And I know you hate it. So if you don't want to ruin those porcelain nails of yours, I suggest getting here. Now."

"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am. Just left the Academy. See you soon." Eden hurriedly responded, before the line went dead. Stella had to mask her threats in work, but she probably meant "I'm going to leave your hands as red as the sunset and twice as blazing."

Her pace quickened.
 
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For the short time they were there, Nechronica and the Policus continued to work undisturbed. A few foolish citizens who kept insisting that the Policus tell them things they simply didn't know, or stupider still, some who wanted to get a closer look at the anomaly. They dealt with them in their traditional fashion, and eventually the site was more or less cleared out for the Policus and the Magnus. Nechronica tried to slip away, but the Warden must have really had it out for her since they sought her out and told her to stay and guard the anomaly. She reluctantly agreed, even though she wanted to head back to the Prime Hour Tower for reasons that should be obvious to the reader.

Before the Policus cruisers left Nechronica rearmed herself. They didn't have much to give her, but she at least managed to get an Electroshock Pistol and a Riot Shotgun. She also managed to swipe a chemical gas grenade, though unfortunately it was a different type than the one she had at the previous riot. It was less effective than the one that she brought to the riot, being a mere tear-gas bomb than a blistering agent. But at least her shot would work on this too. She also had to turn over her Grav-Pack, but at least she wasn't carrying too heavy of equipment.

There was about 15 Policus officers at the site of the anomaly, including Nechronica. The rest were the scientist and investigators trying to figure out what the Anomaly was and how to stop it. Though Nechronica had a riot shotgun, she chose to take up a sniping position where she could get a good survey of the area. Before too long she received a message from Armel asking her to spot for him while he chased down his own suspect on the recent bombings. Nechronica radioed back to the Warden Jerces and asked him if she could go, but she was given a resounding no. She messaged back to Armel about the bad news.

"No can do Armel. Warden Jerces has me sitting pretty at the site of the anomaly. Oh! But I did get an image of the prep I was pursuing a while back. I'll send it over to you. He claims to be a courier, but has access to some fairly powerful magics, including some sort of matter manipulation and sonic abilities."

It was just than that the skies darken. Not good, and Nechronica knew this. "... Armel there's trouble here at the magical anomaly site. If you got time, see if you can bring the calvary over. Nechronica out." She said solemnly as things quickly took a turn for the worse. "You know, this does not surprise me one bit..."

It only took about a minute before the Policus quickly found themselves getting butchered. The first to go where the scientist; whoever these people were, they didn't want the Policus to know what the secret of the anomaly was. Most of the officers fought back as soon as it became apparent they were under fire, but between the surprise attack and the invisible opponents, they quickly lost five officers. Some had the smarts to group together to form a sort of firing squad, but they were out in the open against opponents they had no idea what their capability was. Many figured it was Pain Takers, but that didn't make things any better. Pain Takers were hardly uniform in their methods. The Policus radioed for backup which would arrive in ten minutes. But they'd have to last for ten minutes first, and considering that they've already down to ten bodies in less than one minute, things weren't looking good for the officers.

Nechronica wasn't safe either. She immediately activated her Radar and detected someone sneaking up on her. Calculating her speed and angle of attack, Nechronica was able to avoid the assailant even after she went invisible. The attacker didn't even get a chance to turn around before Nechronica shot her in the back at close range with the shotgun, sending her body off the rooftop and onto the pavement below. Expanding her Radar Nechronica knew that they were outnumbered greatly, with at least thirty non-Policus opponents on the ground and many more coming from the ship. Nechronica would have no hopes in taking them all out, but there was one thing she could do.

First she Marked the ship and all Non-Policus bodies that she could see or pick up on her Radar. Than Nechronica had to fight her way to the only Polcius convoy on sight; if she could get herself the Lancer VS22. An Anti-Vehicle EMP Shoulder-Mounted Launcher, typically used against the rioters who were armed with mech suits or vehicles. But given the size of the ship, Nechronica was going to need to hit a sweet spot if she wants any hopes of taking that thing down. Nechronica began to descend from her position and took notice of two assailants converging on her position. She covered her climb down the ladder but firing her pistol in their general direction but with a miniscule output; this way she could rapid fire without really worry about ammo consumption. She continued to fire at them even after she hit ground, at least until one of them vaulted themselves over the gunfire and tried to land on Nechronica. Tried.

In the short time it took for the attacker to get into the air Nechronica switched the output to twenty percent, enough to temporarily paralyze anyone hit. All Nechronica had to do was guess the attacker's trajectory, which is what she had an Error power for. She shot him out of the air as the other one took the chance to close the distance, coming a bit faster than Nechronica thought was possible. He slashed his knife towards her shoulder, but Nechronica shifted her body so that her armor caught the blade. The knife made a nasty cut, but didn't break through the armor. At this range Nechronica had no problems shooting the attacker in the chest, burning a hole clean through his armor and torso by maxing out a shot on her pistol. A lethal shot at any range, but more so at point blank range.

At this point what was left of the Policus Officers, seven including Nechronica, were bunkered down and might be able to hold off the attackers for the next ten minutes. However if the attackers brought out anything heavier than knives and guns, like an actual hand bomb, than the Policus didn't have much means to fight back aside from killing as many as they can before they get killed themselves. The area was slowly starting to fill with more of the attackers. If she waited too long, she wouldn't be able to get to the Policus cruiser and she'd have to flee the scene. And than she remembered something. "Oh! Right."

Nechronica took out that tear-gas grenade that she swiped from before. Most of her attackers were faceless, but that didn't mean they were completely sealed in. Before she threw it out she called to the other Policus officers. "Gas out!" And she chucked the gas bomb into the crowd of the attackers.

It wasn't long before Nechronica's bomb filled the area with a thick, choking chemical cloud. It didn't seem to affect the attackers as much as she'd like, but it at least gave her cover from their line of sight. Using her Radar Nechronica maneuvered past any obstacle that she couldn't normally see. When she ran across one of the assailants, she smashed his head with her Sword Breaker. She than took his knife and plunged it under his chin, beneath his mask and through his mouth to get to his brain. She didn't check to see if this killed him and she continued towards the convoy.

And not a moment too soon. There was already some assailants at the convoy looking to loot the weapons. She gunned them down, unloading her shotgun into them. She killed all but one, who managed to jump out of the window. Nechronica noticed that he was running off, likely to get reinforcements. She'll need to be fast or else she'll end up swarmed. She tossed away her shotgun for a RCW and grabbed the Lancer, along with a few batteries. Unfortunately there was already more assailants coming back now.

Nechronica had to think fast. There wasn't anything in the convoy she could use and she wanted to save ammunition in the RCW for a future firefight. So instead she grabbed a few more canisters. She doubt the chemical gas was really bothering her enemies, but at least she could use them to keep her visual cover. She hurled two of them at the oncoming group as they hissed through the air and continued to fill the area with smoke.

By the time they would get to the convoy Nechronica was gone. There was still a few Policus holding their position, who also took the chemical injections to survive the gas. In a few more minutes the Policus would come in with their heavy cruisers, but that didn't really make Nechronica feel any better. They'd likely blow the place skyhigh if it was too much trouble, and Nechronica wasn't about to let herself be a casualty to friendly fire. The Lancer was heavy, and she only had three batteries worth of shots before she'd toss it away. She'll have to make them count.

As Nechronica ran to safer places, she wondered about Sparkle Belle Lovejoy. "I wonder if she's thinking about me..."
 
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Seti took in the information on what was going around right now, thankful so far that it seemed little info on suspects or outright accused was floating out and about yet. That gave him time to get underground and wait for this to blow over. The way he had been paid and hired was pretty much untraceable for one in his position, so that was a no go for now. The money was upfront though, so he would be able to get along for awhile without much trouble. And no one knew where his hideout was, so he wasn't worried in that regard. The death toll didn't sit well with him though, not at all, and his face grew solemn at the mention of the death toll being rather high. Not surprising, doesn't mean he liked it. Some jobs got dirty, more so than others, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take em. He just had to worry about his hide a bit more now for the time being.

Seti smirked over at Ina, suppressing the overall pain he was in. It wasn't bad enough to cripple him, and he could see well enough, so it wasn't a extreme priority. He needed checked though, and when he saw the clinic, he knew they were going to be there awhile. Finding a spot with two seats available, he sat down before answering Ina's questions. "Nailed it lass, I am a courier. And I take pride in not peeking, run a discrete, no questions asked service. Not my business whats in the box, long as it gets where its going. It was an out of country job, which is why I ain't in touch with recent events." That's all there was really to say about that, he wasn't blatantly lying, as always, but he was not really telling her anything useful, just enough to make pleasant conversation.

"What about yourself lass, last I heard you were doing well for yourself, how's things been recent?" Seti didn't blow any covers she might have had going, just making idle conversation until a doc could see him, get him cleaned up and eyes squared away, and send him on his way. Sooner he got his head down, the better. Folks were probably looking to ask him a question or two he had no interest in answering.
 
"How're you feeling?" Kano asked his bedridden friend, forcing a weak smile to hide the boiling emotions beneath and hopefully lighten the already terrible mood about. Jin slowly turned his head to the left and then the right multiple times, taking in the scale of the damage and then trying to find any other familiar faces beside the person seated at his side. He only saw the bloodied and bandaged masses, however, a sight that only made his own negligible injuries hurt more than they should. Add to that were the dutiful automata, slinging questions and directives about, and the figures of authority present, filling in the roles that were given to them. There was no sign of the others he'd run into, but seeing as the tower itself couldn't have had too long to live, he figured it must've been at most a few minutes before they were picked up, although the current time escaped him. With everything else that wasn't his dust-washed body, Jin thought to come to terms with it once he could get out of bed later. He turned back towards Kano once he felt the needle being pushed into his forehead sap away any needless strength.

"...Felt like somebody nearly dropped a building on me." he joked, churning out a smile of his own, and the two men exchanged reassurances without expending any more than the words already spoken. Kano seemed to stare at him for a bit until his own smile picked up, and he settled back into his chair, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Job interviews tend to do that." Kano tucked his cell device back into a pocket, already done with the contents of the message rendered across its screen before Jin even awoke. "At least you got the wound on your chest properly looked at."

"Oh, I did? ...That's right, my head feels much more messed up than my body for a change." he tried poking at the bandage tacked onto the wound on his forehead when he noticed another man approach the two of them, dressed in a dark brown trench coat, and wearing a cap to keep his cropping brown hair in check. The man put a hand on Kano's shoulder, head dipping to look at the purple-haired young man for one second and then at Jin the next.

"You must be Jin." the man spoke, the way his eyes moved seemingly sizing up the young man who's been living in the same apartment with his junior all these months. "Rest assured, they've found trails to whoever did this. Yours and the work of everyone else that found themselves in the middle of all this... dead or alive... won't be in vain." he continued before Jin could open his mouth to say a word in response. He sees the man lean in closer to Kano. "It's time to go, Khan. You're free to say no to coming along, however. You might want to keep an eye on him, especially with what could be coming ahead." he half-whispered, putting on no airs lest they draw suspicion instead. There was not much surveillance in the form of vocal monitoring in the light of the current troubles overwhelming the city, and he needed to move straight to the point before the situation could worsen. Kano's eyes moved to the floors as he contemplated the choice to make, but Jin intervened before he could reveal it to the man.

"...If you've got a job to do, you should get a move on already. Everyone's doing all they can, and that goes for both of us. Right, man?" Jin reached out and put his left hand on Kano's other shoulder, to which Kano thought for a bit and then sighed again. "Just be careful out there, alright?" Jin watched Kano wave him a smile before leaving with the man afterwards.

The man said nothing through it all, or on Khan's choices even as they entered the vehicle waiting for them. He was only glad the only brother he's had died nearly a decade ago. The burn eventually steeled his mind and body for everything that came after him next - and now, years later, he'd need every fiber of his body. "Go." he simply said to the driver, eyes hidden beneath a featureless metal plate. The vehicle snaked through the buildings and under Policus detection, headed for the rendezvous spot behind the horizon littered with countless towers.

------
Jin took heed of his own agendas the moment Kano and the other man had left the hospital, and decided to get off his bed in order to find the other survivors of the explosion, and to keep to a small bit of promise he made earlier. He should probably find his clothes first.

"Nurse?"​
 

  • Sparkle Belle Lovejoy
    B0pP2ku.jpg

  • Sparkle was super caught off guard at Barenna's apology. She didn't ever expect her to ever say sorry to her. She patted Barenna's hand, making sure not to pat too hard. "I except your apology and I apologize for anything I ever done for you to feel that way about me." Sparkle smiled at Barenna, she didn't want to make this the Sparkle Show or anything; right now it was about Barenna and Barry her manager. "Well you can see that he's so shakened up that he can't even talk. For now I think it's better that he's here. Well I'll see you later. I made a promise to a new friend, that I would help her with the other injured victims." Sparkle waved a see you later to Barenna as she walked down the hospital hallway.

    As Sparkle walked down the hall she heard a man call out for a nurse. "Hi, I'm not a nurse but I do know some forms of medical healing." Sparkle was always the helper type, she didn't know a lot of medical things but she was a fast learner. She didn't know what the guy needed but she would see if she could help him.

 
Seti Kleon - Carnarium, Kell District

Ina kicked her heels on the vinyl floors a few times, mulling over her own recent forays. She bobbed her head to the side as if to say 'nothing much', but spoke up anyways. "Tried working a gig with some dude named Clover, it didn't work out. I've been going around here and there picking up random mundane jobs. Barely scrounging up a living and all." Despite her seemingly pitiful situation, she didn't sound particularly distraught about it. Judging by the dirt spots on her white shirt, Seti could have guessed she was used to a street life.

"Don't suppose you have anything that needs doing, huh?" she turned to Seti with a hopeful expression, "I can do anything short of break into the Prohibitum HQ!" she nudged him lightly with her elbow, careful not to disrupt his injuries any further. "Just name it," she rose her eyebrows playfully and broke a grin at the side of her mouth. The workers at the shantytown hospital were diligent but likely less thorough than their legal counterparts; Seti would get his turn soon enough, as more and more patients were taken out of the waiting room. "How long you think you'll be in there?" Ina asked, nodding towards one of the double doors leading further inside.

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Eden - Stret Col District

The exterior of Thremont Academy in Stret Col was scenic, testament to the budget available to its owners and caretakers. A gray gradient began to take shape over the grassy patches surrounding its grounds, eventually replaced by the naturally concrete and unimpressive structures that tended to dominate Neo Babylon. A good deal of the populace was outside their homes, being a residential district, looking into the distance as a ominously large ash cloud rose into the sky.

A street car passed by Eden on the street before screeching to a halt behind her, drawing the attention of a few individuals nearby. While most of them turned around and ran back inside, a couple let loose yells of fear before doing the same. The car backed up before spinning, returning the way it came at top speed.

Behind Eden, from around a corner, a familiar mechanical entity made itself readily apparent, walking down the street towards her. A large bullet hole in its shoulder crackled with energy and spat out occasional globs of viscous fluid. Its chassis rippled with a frantic colorful energy, no doubt still heavily damaged from Katergi's shot. It's walk soon broke into a sprint, clearing the hundreds of feet in but a few seconds.

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Sparkle Bell Lovejoy - Central District

Barenna gave a weak wave to Sparkle, barely lifting her hand from her lap. The doctor that Sparkle had approached was clearly quite riled up, his movements and words quick and filled with a forced energy; he was clearly already exhausted. Still, he took a moment to speak to Sparkle, if only to try and get back to work as quickly as possible. Lowering his clipboard he spoke,

"Volunteering huh? You sure you're in good enough condition yourself?" She was, of course, practically unharmed, but there was no way to be absolutely sure. There was always the issue of sanity in such a situation as well. "We could certainly use more help with the littler things." A certified nurse approached the doctor as well, answering the call for help upon seeing Sparkle was clearly not a professional. "This young woman here would like to help us out, think you could give her a few tasks?" The nurse nodded in accommodation and patted Sparkle on the shoulder tenderly.

"Really appreciate it," the nurse said, bursting into a speed walk, she beckoned the popstar to follow, "Here let me give you some things." Passing along other tents and open ambulance vehicles, she picked up an armful of items and led her along, placing them in her hands. "I just need you to help me carry as much stuff as possible, so I can go around the injured without needing to go back and forth," she explained.

The two walked alongside rows of injured citizens, with the nurse asking for specific items from Sparkle's stock. Eventually they came upon a rather peculiar individual donned in what looked like military gear, though it was entirely black and sported a few ornate designs to it. A helmet with a single red eye rested beside him. His face was mildly burned, though judging by his expression the pain was anything but. Looking up through squinting eyes he met with Sparkle's.

"Hey, you're that pop idol or whatever aren't you? The hell you doing here?" he asked with a pained voice. The nurse grabbed an ice pack from Sparkle's pile of miscellaneous items and tossed it to the man, clearly figuring him for being tough enough to apply it himself. He was sitting up and didn't look to out of touch with his consciousness, so it couldn't have been too bad.

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