Chapter 2: Demons to Some, Angels to Others

A hard breeze blew through the woodland area, combating in volume only against the sound of a Motorcycle engine loudly thundering down a road. The driver was wearing a red Trenchcoat and a red Motorcycle helmet with a black visor to hide his face. His hands adorned fingerless, leather biker gloves and his black combat boots rested on the lower footrests with tight unease. He was running from something. Every now and then he’d turn his head over his shoulder to make sure he wasn’t being chased. He was nearing his next stop… Oakswood, a small town in the middle of a bunch of forestation. A perfect place for a pit-stop.

The rider stopped by a hill overlooking the town, stepping off of his biker and examining his surroundings to make sure he still wasn’t being followed or, if he was, that his pursuers would make themselves known. Satisfied that he was alone or his pursuers were very good at concealing themselves, the rider turned and removed his helmet, revealing a youthful face, slitted sky-blue eyes, and shortly cut white hair. He breathed out a sigh as he stared down at the busy streets of the small town. He stood there for what felt like an hour, just… watching. Not thinking, not worrying, not caring… Just admiring the view. After a while, he sniffed and put his helmet back, returned to his ride, and took off for the town, his Trenchcoat flaps fighting the wind as he drove.

Out of the Frying Pan
Lauren

It had been two weeks since the incident at the school. Police, news reporters, detectives… everyone was baffled. An explosion happened, that was certain. But one that can utterly annihilate every trace of rubble and tables and… everything that was in it? Utterly improbable. Officer Lauren Presburne was unconvinced that they should just drop it. Just because it was a small town, doesn’t mean that strange happenings should be ignored! She sat in the passenger seat of her shared Police cruiser alongside the driver and her partner, William Warreth. Both of them weren’t detectives, nor did they have warrants for searches or arrests. But they- or, at least Lauren, were determined to figure this mystery out.

Will groaned, both in disbelief of her claims and the fact that coffee with too much creamer gave him a stomach ache “Laurie, you’re over-thinking this. Things explode all the time!” Lauren scoffed at his attempt at reasoning “Of course they do, Will… But do said explosions erase all cellular traces of objects other than ash and dirt’s existence? I don’t think so.” Will shrugged “Whatever. I’m sure Matt’s gonna be glad to see us. If he brings up the fact that you’re investigating him without a warrant to our superiors, it’s your ass, not mine.” Lauren rolled her eyes at her “faithful” comrade. “Way to be there when I need ya’, Will…” They pulled up to Arra’s house and got out, Will dragging this on “I’m just making sure I don’t take the heat for your superstitions. The higher ups told us to leave it alone, and that’s what we should do.” Lauren scorned his idea “What? So we can arrest potheads and watch Phillips get heartburn until he dies?” Upon finishing her sentence, Lauren knocked on the door, intent on finding out if her regular street punk knew anything.

Arra

Arra opened her door, her hair a slight mess from just being lazy all day. Today was a Saturday, after all. Her stomach dropped when she saw it was a member of the local law enforcement, but her out shell showed nothing but acceptance and slight curiosity.

“Why hello there!” Arra said cheerfully. “I wasn’t expecting any visitors today- may I ask that you wait right here for a second? I know that you’re here for Matt. I’ll bring him right out.” She said, before quickly closing the door. Cops sometimes showed up at her place, and it was all because of Matt and his drugs. Arra never smoked anything- not even cigarettes, so why was she the one getting all the heat?

“MATT! GET YOUR FILTHY HOBO ASS OUT HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT! Get these damn police off my property!” Arra screamed, knowing that Matt could certainly hear her from the other room. Arra wasn’t happy with Matt- she was content with being lazy and watching TV with her friends all day. But nnooooo Matt always had to be involved with his damned drugs! If there wasn’t police around, she’d be willing to give him a solid piece of her mind....

Matt

A plume of smoke rose throughout the closed room, eminating from Matt and Auby's mouths. Matt took a huge toke out of the joint, taking a deep hit, inhaling it deep into his lungs and held his breath. After about ten seconds, he slowly let the smoke out, stifling a cough as he did so. He then passed the large joint to Auby, leaning his back on the couch in the spare room that Arra had. His mind was numbed and seemed to tingle as his body seemed to melt into the couch. Nyx was sitting atop his shoulder, getting high just from the fumes from the hotbox that was created. Uriel was in the living room with Arra, not wanting anything to do with the trio.

He suddenly heard Arra yelling something about a hobo's ass and police. Matt sighed heavily and got off the cough, stumbling straight into a wall. Shit. He thought that the shit that they smoked wasn't just weed, but laced with something else. Acid? He was hallucinating slightly. Fuck. He was gonna kill Jesus, his dealer. Jesus Christo, was his name. Shady man, but he had some good shit for cheap. Matt slammed into the door and fumbled with the door knob, slipping out and slamming the door behind him, keeping the smoke in the room with Auby. Poor guy...It was his first time smoking, and smoking laced shit? He was either going to die, or trip balls.

Matt gained his composure, clearing his mind and quickly spraying himself with deoderant that he always kept in his cargo pocket of his pants. He was able to pull off not being stoned so well due to the years of smoking. He could fool a lie detector. Matt went to the door, the stench of marijuana being drowned out by the overwhelming smell of the deoderant. He opened the door, preparing for the worst. However, he was greeted by the sight of the two cops with whom he actually didn't mind. Presburne and Warreth. "Whaddup, biznitches?!" Matt said as he saw the duo. He always had a cavalier, devil-may-care attitude around them, usually to hide the fact that he was stoned off his ass every time they came around. Did they have a radar or something?

Earendur

Matt had some song playing on the nearby radio. The host said it was "Good Time" by Leroy. It was his turn to "toke" when Arra called Matt in. Nyx looked "buzzed" pretty well, looking dazed and stumbling about on the top part of the couch that they leaned against. He mimicked Matt's movements and tried to follow his instructions to the letter but ended up having a hard-fought bout with his own lungs afterwards. It was awful! His chest hurt so bad from the smoke and strain of breathing... Tears formed from it as well and he was wondering if he was about to vomit or pass out. And then it happened.

Just as the song picked up, everything became a mixture of bright colours. The radio became akin to a Sci-Fi wall of buttons and dials, the speakers forming a smile and moving like it was singing the song itself. He looked over as his eyes dilated and saw Nyx turn into a bat and fly off into a sea of purple, splashing onto the rug and swirling around like a maelstrom. He looked up at a nearby lamp and it seemed to form... a body... a feminine one, beckoning him closer. His small, Elven ears twitched in curiosity as the whites in his eyes turned exceedingly red.

Lauren

Great. Matt, yet again, was fried out of his mind. She pinched the bridge of her nose as Officer Warranth moved his hand in front of his face to deter the strong stench of the young man's deoderant "Jesus, kid, you smell like my father on Church night!" Pushing the issue aside, Lauren questioned "I was just wondering where you were the day the school blew up."

Arra

The heat of anger filled Arra’s mind, but she forced herself to suppress it. She could deal with Matt’s bitch ass later. She didn't have the time-or the baseball bat- to reinforce the fact that Matt was supposed to be smoking outside, not defiling her nice apartment. And the fact that he didn’t do a good job at hiding that he was a dumb stoner made her even angrier. There were police here, god damnit! Why did they have to come right now, of all times?! They wouldn’t be here if not for Matt and his damn pot.

Drugies... may they rot in the deepest fires of hell for defiling her home and bringing the police here. Perhaps if Matt knew all of what Arra had to go through to “convince” the landlord to let her stay, despite Matt’s drug abuse. She hated herself for it, but hey, whatever it takes to keep her family-Matt included- off the streets. Oh, the things a body can do.... But keeping Matt out of that loop... It’s the best she could do to protect him.

Arra shook her head. “As strange as it was, we don’t know anything more than what the news provided us with. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that you’ll have to take your leave... I do have a household to run, if you don’t mind...” She stated, eager to have the police off her property.

Matt

Oh shit... Arra was pissed. He felt it in the air like a thick, suffocating fog. Her anger, coupled with the duo's question, sobered Matt up fairly quickly. "You heard the lady. We don't know a thing." Matt lied. Why were they asking them? Did they know about Matt, Arra, and Surion being there? Or about the alien elf lady named Tamuril? Matt kept his face unyielding. The sooner both of these cops got out of here, the better.

He had to give the cops credit though. As far as Matt knew, they were the only ones who knew about the death of Matt's parents and his subsequent homelessness. They were the ones who kept him out of the orphanage. He owed them, big time. Sure, he may have also been an informant to them, but he also saw them as friends. They were good people. However, Matt had to keep his facade for now.

Lauren

Officer Lauren gave a suspicious glare at the clearly-high teen “Are you suuure you haven’t seen anything… nooote worthy?” As she said this, the lights in the house dimmed, followed quickly by a loud scream of pain and a zapping noise in the other room. The smell of smoke and the lights returning to normal gave cause for no worries on damage to the apartment, but the guest in the other room was a different story. Both Lauren and Will raised their brows at the pair from this sudden development, curious as to why it sounded like a Chimpanzee was being neutered in the other room.

Earendur

Earendur has had better ideas in his life. Ones that didn’t involve nearly melting off his mas. Comical white tears streaking down his cheeks, he fanned his crotch with his hands and blew wind down at it with his puckered lips, frantically trying to reduce the swelling. It felt tingly but pain jolted through him when he dared to touch it. He needed help. “Matthew! Arra! HELP!” At this, he waddled his way into the other room, not caring of the guests, and began crying frantically in Vaardenvalian, Will immediately shielding his eyes and Lauren’s eyes widening and her jaw dropping. She looked away and shouted at Matt “What the hell are you doing?! Smuggling Chinese sex slaves or something?!”

Tamuríl

Shu! Tamuríl still couldn’t remember anything! It was like a dream; there, but unable to be remembered. At least, until it was too late. She lay in a bedroll in this “Arra” person’s home, conveniently poised to avoid the sun. She stared up at the ceiling, at the spinning fan as she tried to recollect her stolen thoughts and memories when the blue-haired pixie landed on her breast, greeting her with a cheery “Hello~!” Yipping in excitement and terror, Tam recoiled back, knocking the small creature on her blanket-covered lap clumsily. She rubbed her head and groaned “Geez… I’m not that scary, am I?”

Tamuríl has already met both the fairies; the virtuous, ditsy one with a cutesy attitude and the mischievous practical joker whose skin resembled her own. Both were comical little sprites but not worth her time. Neither knew anything of what happened to her, much less could they even understand her or her them. All these people, Earendur included, spoke a language that was not her own. She quizzed the little fairy while picking it up by its wings, examining it “Vel’bol ph’dos xundus, trala klez?” This translated to: “What are you doing, tiny thing?” Unfortunately for both, Uriel couldn’t understand her and merely demanded to be released futilely. Sighing in defeat, Tam let her go and merely flopped back onto the bedroll in confusion and despair, the latter of which was only helped by the comfort of her sheets.

Arra

''Oh my god. No, not now. FUCKING CHRIST NO!''

Arra faced flushed in embarrassment, and she had to act fast. A flailing child with a swollen dick certainly didn’t look good with the police around. She looked back at Matt.

“Go. Fucking. Help him.” She hissed at him, a slightly wild look in her eyes. They were both going to get a good piece of Arra’s mind once the police left. One that most likely involved a strong pimpslap that would be red for a while. ‘Gotta keep the pimphand strong...’

Arra looked back at the police, and awkward smile on her face. “Sex slave? Hardly. Foreign family member how barely speaks any English? Yes. Now if you’ll excuse me, I obviously have some important matters to attend to.” Arra said, her composure cracking under the insanity of it all. This was just too much for her. She needed to have a good vent cry soon, but only if these damned police would get off her property....

“If you don’t have a warrant, then you’re going to have to leave. Now.” She finally said. “Come back at a later time, perhaps?” She asked before practically shoving the cops out the door and closing it behind her.

She turned around to look at the boys, the fury of a thousand suns burning in her eyes. One could practically feel the hate and rage the emanated from her.

Matt and Auby were so fucked.

Matt

The lights dimmed in the apartment which was closely followed by a smell of burnt flesh...Then, the sight of Auby with a red dick and pants on the ground. If not for the utter shock of what he had just seen, he'd have been laughing his ass off. Hearing Arra's command, Matt ran to the fridge and grabbed some ice, putting it in his outstretched shirt. In passing, though, he caught a glimpse of Arra's eyes. They were as a vortex of evil and hatred, a black pit of despair. He felt a lump form in his throat as he pushed Auby into the room.

The first thing Matt noticed was the smell. A mixture of stale weed and burnt flesh and hair. He did his best to ignore it as he took his shirt off, wrapped it around the ice, and shoved it onto Auby's crotch. "Hold this." Matt commanded. He then looked around the room. The first thing he noticed was the lamp on the floor. It had no bulb in it and it had scorch marks. Putting two and two together, Matt asked. "Did... you fuck the lamp...?" The question lingered in the air like the stench did. Matt waited for a reply, hoping the answer was no.

The Angelic Ghost from Outer Space
Shade

A black car, not unlike the one seen during Presidental affairs, rolled through town. It lacked any identifying marks or symbols, and any information one tried to gather on the car itself besides the VIN was concocted, even the identity of the men inside couldn't be trusted. For one of them, it was life or death that this was so. He was known far and wide in the criminal underworld as the King of Death, a monster or savior, if you could afford his prices while outbidding your rival. At least, that was when he was unemployed. His new job paid much more then the standard assassinations. Then again, how much could secure loyalty to a man who seemed to think Demons exist?

A few weeks into the job, he knew well that they were real as well, and more dangerous than any man in history. That's why he was sent to the once quiet town, to find any proof of Demonic activity and recover any evidence, while hunting one man, who's capture took backseat to the current job. There was no conflict of intrests there, both jobs came from the same man, but deep down, the assassin wanted nothing more than to kill two birds with one stone.

The car stopped suddenly at the police station, while the assassin clambered out the back. The moment his boots touched down onto the parking lot, the killer persona vanished, replaced with one of many pseudonyms. His manner of dress indicated that he worked for the FBI or CIA, and he had the clearance to prove it. He walked into the building and flashed his clearance. Only a few moments later, the chief came out and asked why the government sent out one of the higher-ups when everything was under control.

Following the chief to his office, the assassin, operating under the assumed name Andrew Freeman, spoke slowly, not wanting to risk inciting a panic. "The events last night have been re-classified as a terrorist attack. A stupid highschool prank it may have been, but when a school goes up in flames, I step in and take control. Normal kids can't get that many explosive compounds. I've seen plenty of bombs in my day, but a cherry bomb that ain't. I'm sure it wasn't a nuke, but I can't get Hazmat here 'till first thing tomorrow to find out WHAT the hell it is. I want all your evidence and custody forms pertaining to it by the time they arrive. Also, I want to inverview every officer who was on duty twenty four hours before, during and after the bombing. However, we can do all of this tomorrow morning. Tell no one I said anything." he said. "Oh, and if you feel anyone has information I do need before then, send them to the hotel and ask for a fireman."

He walked out as calmly as he had going in, trying to assure people that everything was under control, that they were safe. Deep in his heart, he wished that was true, that these people were safe, but words could only do so much. Discovering what happened was his job, giving closure to the innocent was his bonus.

Metharme

''Securing Data Feed. Reinforcing Firewalls. Pooling Data… 1%... 14%... 50%... 78%... 100%. Data successfully pooled. Analyzing Data. Date: September 6th, 2012. Analyzation Log: Facility broken down by extremely large amounts of plasma energy, though no traces of it or any cellular pre-existence of objects in the facility are left. This is not the work of the contractor. End log.''

Metharme’s eyes opened, the stream of code dissipating from them. She blinked once and unplugged her flash drive from the laptop in front of her, the former being connected to one of her mechanical boxes for ears via a cord that retracted back into her head. Metharme was a XL-R8 femdroid produced by an advanced, top-secret robotics research facility in China. Her sophistication and memory are extremely impressive: 400 exabyte. Memory core with two spare 14 Terabyte flash drives cleverly concealed in her ear-like receptor boxes. A hidden scanner system built into her cranium that allows her to see things in different vision modes and spectrums, record them, enhance and zoom, etc. She has downloaded specialty training of almost every kind of form of combat around the globe; most Martial Arts styles, firearms, exotic weaponry… Plus, her body is composed of a reinforced Carbon Steel alloy and covered by a synthetic, realistic skin to hide her true nature as a machine. A white, glue-like lubricant runs through her body to ensure natural functions keep the same, though an acid-based fake digestive system allows her to eat and convert the nutrients in foods to help replenish the lubricant. Thus, Metharme, as she has been dubbed, is the most human-like machine in the world. Her name derives from the Greek legend of the man who carved himself a wife of stone, Galatea, and the daemon of the man’s goddess allowed him to bear children with her: Paphos and Metharme. Of course, there was another Android by the name of Paphos that was a male replica of her, though they’ve never met.

Metharme closed her laptop and set it aside as Shade entered the hotel room. It was rather late, but she personally cared not. She was a machine and, thus, didn’t need to sleep, only recharge. Shade, on the other hand, was human, as much as he’d like to deny it. He’d need sleep, especially since they’ve been travelling for so long. She turned and greeted, her dark, punk-styled hair swaying as her young head swiveled to identify him “Salutations.” Her voice was young and feminine, though mechanized and monotone. It looked like someone was playing a voice recording as her mouth moved.

Shade

"Hello Metharme. I'd love to talk, but I haven't slept since... I don't even know anymore." Shade said with a yawn. He was exhausted to the point of collapse, probably more than he let on. "If anyone comes up her looking for me, wake me up. Otherwise, we can get back to work in the morning." He walked over to the bed and kicked his boots off before passing out, still wearing his government agency suit.

Metharme

Metharme nodded and unfurled a cord connected to a hidden chamber in the back of her head and plugged it into a power outlet in the room, charging her battery. Her eyes widened and she sat, cross-legged, in the corner of the room with her eyes the only light left on in the suite. If any sound was made in the room, Metharme would “reawaken”, and assess what it was. Otherwise, it was time to prepare for the next day.

Mountain Viper

A simple job. Go in, capture or kill the punk, get the body, get out. However, what the contractor has told them about their target is that he is not of their world and is fully capable of firing balls and beams of energy from his body. At first, everyone on the team, Viper included, thought that was a load of crock and some asshole in a suit was pulling their leg. A suicidal move. However, Boss Aki reminded us what he is. A monster. If monsters like him can exist, then she supposed others could too. Hopefully it wasn’t as tough as Aki, though. The entire Phoenix Wing could band together and still not be able to take him down.

However, the entire Phoenix Wing itself was taking on this mission. Mountain Viper was the codename for Mina Wong, an expert martial artist, veteran mercenary, and weapons technician of the Phoenix Wing, a contracted band of Mercenaries and outlaws lead by the white-haired man known as Akihiro. Akihiro Yatsumaru. His hair was naturally spiked and wild, his eyes a bright blue and slitted like a cat staring into light. He wore a black, spiked punk uniform that made him look like a Venus Flytrap. But he also always wore that necklace… that strange, red gem necklace that dangled down his thick neck, a soft contrast to his brutish exterior.

In relation to that, in fact, Aki was just in the middle of choking a security guard at the dock they were in. The Phoenix Wing, rather than make a public appearance and risk alerting their prey, decided to stow away on board the metal crates on a cruise ship headed to Oakswood, which not only was surrounded by forest on one side but nestled next to the ocean on another. The dock worker was lifted off the ground by Aki’s strong grip as he grinned menacingly down at him, demanding in that rough, vicious tone he had “Tell me what I want to know or I’ll rip your throat straight out!” The dock guard managed to choke out “School… gone… explosion… Don’t know… any… Suri-“ At this, Aki either got fed up by the guard’s choking or lack of information. Or he simply wanted to hold up to his threat. A loud crack and gurgling sounds followed along with the slumping sound of the guard hitting the concrete.

Viper spoke up, being Aki’s Leiutenant “Our next move, sir?” Normally, women around Aki were… brutalized in different ways than men. But Viper managed to escape such a fate by proving herself rather useful, both on and off the field. Thus far, its kept her alive and out of Aki’s clutches. Aki looked over his shoulder at her and his soldiers and grinned widely, eyes livid with insane cruelty and excitement “Our next move? What we always do, Viper… HUNT THIS CUNTBAG DOWN AND RIP HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF! KILL HIS FAMILY, HIS FRIENDS, HIS NEIGHBORS, HIS MAILMEN, HIS TEACHERS AND COLLEAGUES, HIS CO-WORKERS, HIS BOSSES, HIS RIVALS AND ENEMIES, EVERYONE WHO HAS EVEN SEEN HIM! HEARD OF HIM! IF THEY SO MUCH AS BREATHE WITHIN A BLOCK OF WHERE HE’S STEPPED FOOT IN, I WANT THEM DEAD- NO, EXECUTED- NO, TORTURED! BURN THIS ENTIRE GODDAMN REGION DOWN IF YOU HAVE TO! JUST ENSURE THAT HE SUFFERS TO HIS LAST BREATH!!!” Laughing maniacally, Aki gave Viper got the chills. This was Akihiro, their Boss. Their leader. A bloodthirsty, homicidal maniac who happened to be unable to die. And if she quit, she’d join their target.

????

Ozzy Osbourne’s “Hellraiser” played as the red biker from before thundered down an empty road, trees as far as the eye could see. He loved Ozzy. In fact, he had to say he was one of his favourite artists. The rider then jolted his head up from his admiration of music and began sniffing the air. Blood. Almost doing a “donut”, as kids called it these days, he halted his bike while turning, causing it to screech and make a black trail with his back tire. Facing a path into the woods, albeit it being dirt-paved and lined with the occasional rock or tree root, he powered up his ride and thundered on, toward the source of the smell. This daylight should make finding it easy. It wouldn’t have been noteworthy if it had been animal blood, but this was Human. And lots of it.

?????

A warm wind blew through the trees, bringing with it various smells and sounds. A pale-skinned man knelt on one knee in the middle of the forest, uncaring of the nice and refreshing breeze. The pale man was skinny and lanky, wearing a gray hoodie and jeans. He had short, black hair that was, at the time, a tangled mess. A prominent scar ran down his face, the story-telling kind of scar. His eyes were closed and his mouth moving, the words coming out in a forgotten language. The voice coming from the man carried an Irish accent, however, not thick. The most prominent thing about the kneeling man, though, was at the end of his outstreched arms, where his sleeves were rolled up, just before his clenched fists, was the blood.

Thick crimson blood poured out of his arms at the wrists. A bloody knife lay beside him, the obvious culprit. The man didn't seem to mind though, as he continued chanting. "Deu fer noakiim pa'tloah, gren fer blant kio." The man repeated over and over. As he chanted, the blood pouring from him began to tremble. Small ripples reverberated from the center of the pool, creating a ripple effect outwards. The blood rose in the air and began spiraling around him. The air became thick and heavy. The trees began bowing as the wind intensified. Dark clouds began forming overhead, spiraling around each other. A large hole opened in the formation. At this, the man looked into the sky, his dark eyes focusing on the hole. "After years of searching... It's almost time, brother."

Rider

The choppy sounds of a motorcycle engine mixed with the crackle of dirt under rubber tires gave evidence to the rider’s arrival. The crimson helmet he wore that blended well with his equally red Trenchcoat protected his face from the strong winds hurdling menacingly in his direction, though it blew his Trenchcoat flaps wildly, which seemed to make the rider be more cautious with his driving. The last thing he needed was one of his flaps catching the back tire and ripping him off his own bike and into the air. Nearing the strong, intoxicating scent that lead him here to begin with, he ramped off a nearby boulder and onto what looked like an Occult ritual, out here in the woods. The maneuver was done out of habit. Used to, the rider did such things just to look impressive. Now, such spontaneous acts of dynamics were second nature to him. He saw the opportunity to take flight and enjoy a good view and took it. Looking around, he noticed quite a few things; Satanic-looking scripture, blood painting the area, mood-assisting weather… He had happened on quite the stereotypical cultist scene. Parking his vehicle by a nearby tree casually, he leaned it against it and turned towards the creepy-looking Edward Cullen-wannabe nearby, not bothering to remove his helmet to show him his face. He stared him down for a moment before greeting calmly in a young yet stern, tactful, and yet somewhat sarcastic voice “Yo.”

?????

The kneeling man ignored the newcomer, looking down at his own blood. The blood continued swirling around him, slowly gaining speed and mass, becoming something solid. The man rose into the air gradually, the blood itself levitating him. The thick clouds swirled faster and the huge hole becoming more prevalent. His eyes closed slowly. The ritual was almost complete.

Upon reaching a certain altitude, higher than any tree in the forest, the man opened his eyes and rose one hand in the air, his fingers casually extended upwards. "Out of Zion shall come forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Nation shall not raise sword against nation, and they shall not learn war anymore, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. And thus heralds the ressurection..." The man called, his voice booming out. He pointed his hand downwards, towards the newcomer. Impudent fool.

As the man lowered his hand, the sky darkened even more. Out of the hole came what appeared to be a giant meteor. It was a huge ovular rock, rivaling the size of four semi trucks stacked. It slowly lowered towards the ground, fire crackling around it from the atmosphere. The newcomer became shadowed by it as it descended upon him.

Rider

The rider looked up to see the man, elevated by a swirling cloud of blood. It was quite the odd sight, but this man was used to them. Not wanting his bike to be crushed, he hefted up the vehicle and flung it into a nearby bush, causing a loud bang. At worst, he caused a dent or scrape against the beautiful red paint. Unclipping his helmet straps, he removed it, revealing his youthful, pale face with white hair and slitted, blue eyes. He chucked the helmet over at the bush as well and looked back up as the burning ball of rock slowly came down upon him, threatening to crush him completely. He didn’t give a look of worry or panic, just calm waiting.

As the meteor descended upon the landscape, tall trees cracked and splintered, being crushed beneath the weight of the burning hunk of rock. Clenching his oddly sharpened teeth in subtle preparation to meet this falling object, the rider knelt down and whispered with hands clasped together in a prayer-like stance “But with righteousness he will judge the needy…” Leaves, grass, and wood burned with the scorching cloud covering the rock, causing the low crackle of fire to be distinctly heard in every which direction. “With justice he will give decisions for the poor of the Earth…” The meteor came crashing down upon the man, crushing him beneath its massive, burning hulk. The rider continued to recite in his mind “He will strike the Earth with the rod of his mouth…” Suddenly, the meteor became black and sick, the flames covering it becoming equally shadowed and deathly. The rock cracked and splintered in several areas, finally giving way and crumbling into blackened boulders, revealing an unharmed man staring up at the figure swirling in the sky through the power of blood. “…and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

Popping his neck from side to side, the white haired rider gave a look of annoyance up at the cultist “Alright, punk… Let’s try this again.”

The Genocide Brothers

The meteor had been destroyed. The man in the air slowly descended, drained of not only blood, but magic as well. He was spent. However, he had enough strength to lift his head as he landed and look at the rider and grin. "You should'a stayed home..." The man said. The blood stopped swirling around him and had gone back into his body. The blood clot the wound, stopping any further bleeding. Suddenly, two blades protruded from the man's chest.

The blades were short daggers, belonging to a white haired, white robed man. His hair was shoulder length and ruffled, obviously unkempt. He was tan with good complexion. He was a good looking man with several similarities to the other man using the blood. The white haired man took a deep breath and exhaled, enjoying the air. When he spoke, he spoke with a deep Irish accent. "It feels so good to be back! Cide, what took s' damn long to bring my ass back? Heaven sucked! For every year on Earth, it's like a hundred up there! You can only do so much, you know. Boooooring! I mean come on!" The white haired man said in one breath. As he talked, he kept a firm grip on the daggers.

Rider

The white-haired rider felt two searing pains impale through his shoulders, rather close to his chest. He clenched his teeth tightly as his eyes lit up in pain, his gaze becoming blurry and head trying to swivel around to face his unseen attacker. Oddly enough, a black liquid coated the blades rather than crimson blood. “Tch… I’m going to need new gloves.” he thought as his right hand’s glove ripped apart in the face of his bare hand’s transformation into a broad, black, shiny double-bladed axe. He turned on his heels quickly, boots crackling against the dirt, and aimed the blade at the assailant’s head. They’d regret fucking around with this guy, whoever they were.

Huh. That was… Wait, what? He noted the attacker’s odd apparel: a white bath-robe, something similar to what an Angel would wear. White hair, similar to his, and a missing tooth? And this guy… came out of the meteor?! But that was to be reflected on later. Currently, the rider was taken aback by the way his axe simply phased through the man’s neck like it didn’t exist. All he managed to let out as his axe passed through him was “What the… hell?”

The Genocide Brothers

The white-haired robed man simply grinned when the axe went through his neck. Apparently he hadn't forgotten his "gifts". Using this moment, the robed man phased through the axe-wielding individual, taking his daggers with him. Upon reaching the front of the man, the robed man jumped into the air, became solid once more, and kicked the assailant with both of his legs in a reverse dropkick manner, propelling the robed man forward. He landed right next to the person wearing the hoodie, named Cide. "Geno, be careful. This guy is... different." Cide said to Geno as he continued kneeling, trying to regain his strength. "Oh, come now! I've fought tougher!" Geno said as he ripped his robe away, revealing his tanned torso and duck pajama pants. "I just hope you know what you're doing." Cide said as he pulled a briefcase toward him. "Second verse, same as the first! Now gimme my blades, so that I can put him in a hearse!" Geno rhymed cheerfully.

Cide handed Geno the briefcase, which he tossed into the air. It popped open, revealing seven blades resembling the two that Geno was carrying. They all fell, however, Geno hopped into the air to meet them. He twisted around them and, when he landed, he was holding all of the blades in his joints. One in each knee, one in each elbow, one in each armpit, and a double-sided blade in his mouth. "Mmf...Mrmf moo mif mit!" Geno said as he lunged towards the assailant, spinning as he did so, resembling a human buzz-saw.

Sadow

The rider reached into his red Trenchcoat and began sliding out of his chest pocket a rather long-barreled, white pistol with Biblical Scripture etched onto it. Geno… and Cide? And they were Irish. The white-haired Immortal known as Sadow Yatsumaru had never faced against Irish before, that he could remember. And he could remember alot, unfortunately… Flashbacks of nightmarish experiments on his body came to mind. Needles filled with a black liquid stabbing into his skin. Pain filled every inch of his body and mind. Tears turning to red blood and, eventually, that same liquid over time.

Poising his gun at the charging Irishman while painfully transforming his hand back to normal, Sadow braced himself for combat. It was a familiar feeling, the excitement of battle. He’s experienced it regularly over the course of his long life. Against Nazis and Italians, Koreans and Vietnamese… Against Cubans. Even… against his own brothers. That adrenaline rush that both excited and appalled him coursed through his body. It didn’t matter, the nationality or intent of his attackers. All that mattered now was that they were his enemies. And Hell-Hunters destroyed their enemies.

The Genocide Brothers

Geno bounced sporadically towards Sadow, flipping and twisting as he did so. There was no discernable pattern from his movements, perfect for his type of fighting style. As he neared Sadow, Geno heard a shout from behind him. "Geno, now!" The shout came from Cide, who was holding an assault rifle. It was an M-16A4, heavily customized for Cide's specific needs. He held it at an awkward angle, his pointer finger and thumb near the barrell, the tips slightly over the opening of it. Cide fired a single round, the bullet exiting the barrell, passing past his fingers, drawing the slightest bit of blood on both sides of the bullet. Time seemed to slow for Cide as his blood flow increased, activating his adrenaline and increasing it to the max.

The bullet soared through the air, spinning, being guided by Cide via the blood. Just as it neared Geno, Geno went into his "Ghost" form, the bullet passing harmlessly through him. Cide angled the bullet to hit Sadow's hand that held the gun, aiming to disarm him. Sadow was tough, Cide noted. He wasn't normal. Was he a product of "them"? He'd find out soon enough, Cide surmised. As soon as the bullet hit Sadow's hand, Geno exited his Ghost form and flailed through the air towards Sadow, now a few feet from him. In half a second, Geno would be ripping through Sadow like a wet tissue.

Sadow

Sadow’s eyes lit up in searing pain as the blood-covered bullet blew his hand off, his own black blood splattering out of the chunk of hanging flesh and leather from the black glove. The pain was unimaginably great. But he had to attend to the immediate threat; Geno. Eyes lighting up red and teeth clenching hard, Sadow aimed his now-stump of a hand at his assailant, the dripping black liquid hardening upward into a drill-like spike intent on impaling the approaching fool.

The Phoenix and the Dragon
Akihiro

Everything was in place. As he stared off the balcony, down at the East Oakwood Bridge, Aki’s necklace blew forth from the wind, still hanging only from the strength of his beefy yet youthful neck. His blue, slitted eyes scanned the busy bridge as his men took their positions at each end of the road, their weapons neatly packed in their cars and ready to form the blockade once the targets were in position. Mountain Viper had done her job well. She was the one who informed them of the target’s location. Rather than simply go in and kill the punk, however… Aki wanted this rather gruesome execution to be broadcast. What better way to show off one’s power than on a stage, afterall?

Nearby stood several of his men, each armed with fully-loaded RPG-7’s and spare rockets. His professional sniper, Irons, is positioned in a nearby clock tower with his custom AW50F Sniper Rifle. One of the most elite combat experts New Zealand has to offer, Irons has one of his eyes replaced by a cybernetic one that can aid him in aim and adjusting to various conditions and settings when in combat, a useful tool.

Finally was the man who was going to be hunting the target down personally alongside Mountain Viper; M.A.R.S. (Master Assassin Relentless Slayer), a bit of a childish name Aki had to say but the man lived up to his boasts. Armed with advanced tech supplied by the Gentleman and well-trained by Aki himself, M.A.R.S. has been engineered into a lethal machine of wanton destruction. Originally a hardened manhunter, the man now served the Phoenix Wing’s goals. Aki’s goals. He should be more than a match for a “Magically” gifted brat.

Earendur

Earendur felt awful. The scolding Arra had gave was furious. Of course, Tamuríl was completely oblivious to what was going on and Earu didn’t have the heart to explain it to her. Instead, he simply told her that they broke house rules and were scolded for it. In an effort to win back Arra’s good graces, both Earu and Matt had devised an earlier plan as the effects of the weed began to die back down once more to get Arra an apology gift. Something meaningful that would make her hug them rather than want to beat them with a broom. Perhaps a pardol? Regardless, Matt had a friend of his loan him his car every now and then with promises to pay him back for gas. Now was one such an occasion. This “Jimmy” person advised Matt with caution “Now be careful, Matt. I dunno if your weed wore off yet and I don’t want you bumping my baby into another car again…”

Matt

Fuckin' Arra... Matt grabbed the keys away from Jimmy and limped towards the car. "Don't worry, Jim-Jim. However stoned I was is now worn off, thanks to a swift ass-kicking I just endured..." Matt muttered as he unlocked his door, slid into the driver's seat, and unlocked the door for Auby. He turned on the car, put it in drive, and slowly drove out of Jimmy's driveway. Through studying and a bit of drug money, Matt had managed to get his license. That was one of his greatest accomplishments, something he was incredibly proud of. Albeit, he had no car, he could always bum one off of his drug dealer. He just had to be careful. After all, it wasn't his fault some idiot was driving a van that swirved all over the road.

As soon as Matt and Auby were out of eyesight and earshot of Jimmy, Matt floored it, hitting the accelerator and peeling out on the road. Jimmy's "baby" was about to be road hard and put up wet. As Matt weaved in and out of traffic, coming to the bridge that led to town, he talked to Auby. "Now you've seen Arra's bad side. Christ on a motherfuckin' crutch, she can be mean... But, we'll make it up to her. I was thinkin' a 10-foot purple dildo, what do you think?" Matt said as he laughed, narrowly missing a Mustang's bumper as he swirved through traffic.

Earendur

Earendur did not know what a dildo was, but if Arra liked it they should get it! “Certainly! I’m sure she’d love this… dil-doe.” As they sped on, Earendur turned on the radio to a song called “Love Is What I Got” by Sublime. It had just started. Earu liked the beat it had and began patting the leather covering of where the window slid up with his right hand to the rhythm. Before either of them knew it, both were singing along with the song, Earu trying hard to match Matt’s knowing of the lyrics.

The Genocide Brothers

The tactic was successful. As Geno neared Sadow, he became ethereal again, phasing right through him and avoiding the attack. As he passed through him, he phased back into existance, then did a backflip, slamming into Sadow. As contact was made, Geno spun furiously, ripping against Sadow's flesh. Suddenly, Geno disappeared, then reappeared next to Cide. "Woohoo!!! I missed this shit!" Geno said, dropping the blade out of his mouth to talk. "Don't get cocky, Geno." Cide said as he leveled the rifle at Sadow and began firing controlled bursts at him, keeping him at bay. "D'aww, what'cha worryin' for? I mean come on! You shot his gun out of his hand! That's just cool. And what, he can make his body parts into weapons? Psh. Big deal. That white haired dude ain't got nothin'! There's only room for one white haired man in this story, so time to make him a woman!!" Geno said as he popped the blade into his mouth and began spinning towards Sadow again.

Matt

The car ride was boring, however, it was made better by Auby's presence. He was a cool little fucker, Matt would give him that. They sang together, however, the next song on the radio was where it was at. Matt knew it as soon as it came on. The familiar beat, the retro sound. It was an 80's power ballad, one of Matt's favorites. Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Matt sang loudly with the words, throwing his arm around Auby's shoulders playfully as he sang horribly. "Once upon a time there was light in my life! Now there's only love in the daaaaaaaark..."

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow heard it. That faint... call. Regardless of his pain, of his enemies, of his agonizing attempts to regenerate all this damage. He could hear that faint whistle. The call he made. His head jolting to the side as he clenched his teeth and regenerated, he turned back to his combatants “Luckily for you assholes, I’ve just found a bigger fish to fry… I’ll be back for you later!” At this, he bent down and retrieved his empty pistol, holstering it in a concealed strap hidden in his Trenchcoat.

He turned to leave but was confronted with a further delaying situation. His motorcycle was smashed by a nearby tree that had been flattened by the crater. Fuck. He gritted his teeth angrily. Those bastards would pay for that too. Turning, he yelled “Spot me a ride and I’ll forgive you for cutting me up!” He hated having to resort to this but he needed to get there quickly. If he was here, no doubt lives were at stake.

Earendur

Once more, Earendur merely followed Matt’s steps with the song but enjoyed the revelry of the situation. However, something felt off as they entered the bridge. Perhaps it was the Earthen air? No… something felt off about the situation itself. Then… Earu heard it. A loud bang, followed by several of them along with Matt cussing loudly and hissing prods guided by fire soaring toward them. Bollocks.

Akihiro

Staring below at the bridge, the car designated by Mountain Viper was attempting to cross the bridge. Raising his hand for his men to prepare and take aim, he lowered it once they crossed halfway. It was a long bridge and the other end was blocked off thanks to his men. It was time to begin the fun~ He had also whistled for his friend to join in. Oh, the merriment they would have in the destruction of this worthless city. Aki missed grinding the man’s face into concrete. The missiles all launched down toward the bridge, carefully and precisely aimed to where the car was heading to be able to, if not hit it, shake it up a bit.

The Genocide Brothers

The brothers heard Sadow's words just as Cide was levelling the rifle to take another shot, this one aiming to blow Sadow's head off. Cide simply blinked, then said in a cool voice. "Are you high? Hell no." Suddenly, Geno popped in, leaning close to Cide. "Waaaiiit, wait wait. I think we should give him a ride." Cide looked at Geno, a look of shock clear on his face. "What?! Geno, you were just about to neuter him, and now you want to help him?! That's fucked up, even for you!" Geno simply patted Cide's shoulder. "Bro, we need to advance the story. If we don't take this old boy, then Matt and Surion will surely be killed by Akihiro. Then what'll happen? This story will lose two of it's most important characters!" Cide blinked several times, then asked. "Geno...What the fuck are you talking about?" Geno simply leaned in close to Cide and whispered. "You don't wanna know." After that, Geno turned to Sadow and bounced over towards him, hopping instead of walking. Once he got a couple of feet from Sadow, Geno stopped and raised his hand in a form of a handshake. "The name's Geno, and that's my brother, Cide! Pleased to meet'cha!"

Matt

"FUCK ME UP THE ASS!!!" Matt spurted, the words just coming out of his mouth. One second, he was driving along, then the next, cars were flying and there were explosions everywhere. Matt saw a trail of smoke, then an explosion. Was that a...Fucking rocket?! Several more of the bright flares were racing towards them, which Matt did his best to dodge and weave. He slammed on the gas and raced through traffic, however, this wasn't enough. So, he did the only thing he could do. Matt stuck his arm out the window and charged up a Mana Cannon shot, yelling as it left his hands. "Uriel, Nyx! Guide the shots!" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Uriel and Nyx shot out of the window and helped guide the shots towards the rockets. They repeated the process several times, destroying several rockets and creating chained explosions. Matt drove like a mad-man, hoping to outrun these terrorists or whoever the fuck they were. "Fuckin' assholes!! I don't wanna die to Bonnie Tyler!!!"

Shade

Explosions. The very sound that defines war, moreso than gunfire and the swear-ridden screams of dying men. That sound is what awoke Shade. "What in God's holy name was that?!" he shouted. ''Did someone set off a bomb? Rockets? ''Whatever it was, one thing's for sure, it didn't bode well for him or his cybernetic companion. "Metharme, rise and shine. And please tell me you heard than blast go off. I need you to give me some directions." Inadvertantly, he spoke louder than he had meant to, his ears were ringing in the wake of the noisy explosion.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow gave a comically awkward look at the equally-white haired Irishman close to him. His sudden bouncy, bubbly personality unnerved the Hell-Hunter. He stretched his leg behind him and, reaching a foothold of ground, scooted away from the strange man while looking away “Uhhh… Yeah. Anyway, where’d you park your car? We need to head to the East Bridge.” Sadow knew the layout of the town thanks to a trained photographic memory and studying the town from afar.

Earendur

Earendur’s hearing was gone and replaced by a faint, high-pitched ringing thanks to his sensitive ears. He let out a scream and cursed in Vaardenvalian as the rockets pounded the bridge they were on, testing its foundation and durability. The massive, metal bridge held together though concrete was strewn about and large holes had formed in the road because of the explosions. Next to it, a cloud of dark grey smoke shrouded the city. He looked ahead, his Elvish ears lowered in fright as an oncoming rocket shattered through their windshield and blew past them, scraping narrowly against the back and coming to a smoky halt.

The Prince looked over at Matt and both started laughing hysterically at the dud just before it prematurely detonated, sending them rocking out of a smoking, fire-covered hull of metal. Magic protection on Earendur’s behalf protected them from the blast, but a road block could be the seen in the distance with an oncoming, armoured giant of a man marching towards them. “…Bollocks.”

Tamuríl

Tamuríl's head jolted up at the sound of several loud explosions. The sound of battle. She stood up and shouted something in Drow to Arra, trying to alert her to what was going on. Not a week after those events that made her lose her memory, and she was already thrust into action yet again. Hopefully she could attain some answers as to what happened.

Metharme

Metharme's glowing eyes turned back to normal and she unplugged the cord from her body at Shade's command. She stood up and headed towards the door, speaking without looking at him in haste “The sound came from the East Bridge. It sounded like rockets. I shall prepare your vehicle. Should I bother notifying the authorities?” She ran a plan of action in her head for preparing Shade for investigation and, possibly, battle; program his slick, black Sedan with the coordinates to reach the bridge, which is where she narrowed the source of the sound and vibrations to. The sound of RPG-7’s being fired followed by loud sounds of explosions lead her to conclude a terrorist strike was in the city, close to the bridge.

She also began loading a stockpile of advanced firearms, ammunition, and grenades into the Sedan’s trunk for extra firepower if need-be. All of the weapons were already loaded and ready to fire with each bit of ammunition carefully assorted to the right gun in which to reload with. Her advanced laptop, a small kit of detective utensils and tools, Shade’s custom rifle “The Black Wing”, and Metharme’s hacker pad were stored in the backseat as she sat next to Shade in the passenger seat, ready for action.

Akihiro

“Tch.” Aki grunted, upset that a good majority of his rockets were wasted like that. Thanks to an enhanced sense of sight, he noticed the driver who used those balls of energy wasn’t their target. There’s more of these freaks? That wasn’t in their briefing file. Still, that made little difference. M.A.R.S. was now going to kill them, and all Aki had to do was sit back and enjoy the show.

Shade

Shade followed Metharme out the door, lost in his own thoughts. "Notify them, but have them remain on standby until I ask for backup. The fewer people who see us work the better." he answered, sliding into the driver seat. The Sedan roared to life as he floored the gas pedal. Except for the noise generated by the car in motion, the high speed run to the bridge was quiet, just how Shade liked it when mentally preparing himself.

In the back of his mind, he was asking himself questions that sane person should ask. ''Why this small town? Two attacks in just a week...why? Is there a connection between both the bombing last week and the explosion just now?'' Until he could see the damage done and talk to anyone linked to both attacks, not one of those questions had a logical answer, except for a massive case of bad luck, something that he honestly couldn't believe. "When you make the call to the authorities, tell them I need the bridge blocked off, fire trucks and rescue squads on site, the whole nine yards, if they aren't en route already." He cursed himself for not thinking of that a few minutes ago. In his personal experience, even those few minutes could be the difference between life and death.

The trip was relatively short, probably thanks to Shade's lead foot. Once he saw the bridge he was in a state of amused shock. Whoever was using the rockets was a total dimwit. Using such weapons on a single car? Understandable, but instead of aiming for it, why not blow the bridge up and let the car fall to it's destruction? Wait...that car was blown to bits, yet a bunch of what he assumed were teenagers had survived. He might have to recind his disbelief in luck at this rate. "We might need a SWAT team to go to the other side of the bridge. Just in case things head any further south." After he spoke, he crawled out of the Sedan and opened the back door to retrieve his rifle before the thought dawned on him that maybe he should stay back and see just what those kids were capable of, after all, they survived a rocket, they obviously had something up their sleeves.

The Genocide Brothers

Geno raised his finger triumphantly in the air, getting ready to state where the vehicle was. He then blinked and looked to Cide. "Bro...Where IS the car?" Cide sighed and led the duo to a large bush and shoved it out of the way, revealing an old, beat up gray van. There were splotches of orange rust where the paint had been chipped and scraped off. The van had obviously seen better days. "Right here...Let's just get out of here." Cide said through grit teeth. Geno bounced happily into the passenger's seat, turning the key in the ignition and blasting the radio. Blue October came through the speakers, which Geno quickly turned. "Cide and his emo music..." He mumbled. Just before Cide entered the van, he looked at Sadow sternly. "Listen. We'll take you to the bridge, but that's it. Try anything stupid, and I'll kill you. Understand?" However, Cide didn't wait for an answer. He simply got into the driver's seat and threw the gear into drive, half waiting on Sadow.

Matt

Matt had just been blown up...At least he could say that now. He picked himself off the concrete, holding his aching head. With ears still ringing, he stumbled over to Auby and helped him up. "You alright, bro?" He asked. However, his questions were cut short when he saw a hulking guy in armor walking towards them. "The fuck is THAT?!" However, he didn't wait around for a response. He had used quite a bit of mana destroying the rockets. Matt wouldn't be defeated so easily, however. He grabbed Auby and dove behind the cover of a flaming car, thinking of escape routes. There were two: go through the behemoth, or... "So, um...Can you swim?" Matt asked as he looked over the side railing of the bridge. Maybe if they used mana, it could break their fall? Otherwise, it would surely kill them. "Fuck..."

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow climbed into the back of the van and, upon hearing Cide’s worthless threat, he replied with a careless “Whatever. Just burn rubber already.” He was in no mood for snarky remarks at the moment. Not when Aki was here… Making that son of a bitch pay was all that mattered…

Earendur

Earu shook his head frantically to try and dissuade Matt from attempting that maneuver “I’m afraid of heights! And deep water! And… dying! Besides, how tough can this one guy be anyw-“ Before he could even finish, the new assailant sliced clean through the burning hunk of metal they were hiding behind via a rather large sword with some sort of energy beam that burned clean through even dense materials surrounding the blade. “Like a Lightsaber!” Earu thought.

Shade

Shade pulled the action on the Black Wing to make double sure there was a round loaded. That's when he saw the hulk with the glowing sword. He knew it was only a matter of time before those kids were shish-kababs on a pointy energy blade. Carefully, he took aim, lining up the cross-hair and adjusted, or in the professional terms doped, his scope. When he was satisfied the shot was more likely to hit, possibly missing only by a hair if at all. In one motion, he could feel his chest tighten as he held his breath, the resistance of the trigger as he pulled, and the compressed air as the bullet sparked to life, scrambling from the barrel of the gun. The sudden crack of air snapped him out of the pseudo-trance he entered only a second before.

The Genocide Brothers

"WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!" Geno screamed out the window as they tore through the woods, ramping over several logs in the beat-up minivan. Cide focused on driving, his eyes intent on the path he had previously set when he came into the woods. He had hoped coming so far out would isolate him and cause no damage from the meteor, but he was obviously mistaken. As soon as he hit the road, he drifted and raced toward the bridge. He had heard explosions, so the party was apparently that way. As he approached the bridge, he could see a barricade of cars, something that was going to be a problem. He rolled down his own window. "Geno...Take the wheel and lean back. Then, get ready. You know what to do." Cide said, cutting deep into the palm of his hands at the same time. He pushed his left arm out of the window and pointed his right arm toward the passenger's side window. At the same time that Geno took the wheel, Cide shot out two columns of blood from his palms. They angled downward once outside, and pushed the van high into the air, well over the bridge. Cide retracted the columns and scanned the bridge quickly, immediately noting two youngsters and a huge metal man. He jumped out of the driver's side window lithely and twisted, facing the underside of the van. Using his already cut hands, he shot out two tendrils from the wounds, wrapping them around the undercarriage. He brought his arms down, hard, and flung the van toward the metal man.

As the 2-ton bullet neared the metal man, Geno grinned from ear to ear. He had already had one of his blades between his feet, knowing just about what Cide would do. He readied himself and, at the last possible moment, went incorporeal as the van smashed into the armored goliath. Geno simply kept going, unscathed, through the metal man and the bridge. He phased back into reality in enough time to grab hold of a loose support beam and count in his head. 1... That was all he needed. He phased back out of reality as he swung himself back upward and through the bridge once more. The blade pointed upward, Geno tore a huge gash into the armored man's torso, starting at the groin and ending at the face as he became corporeal once more. He flipped end over end and landed on the ground, balancing perfectly on the blade. "Now, I gotta say...That was puuuuurdy cool." Geno said with a smirk, admiring he and his brother's work. As the words exited his mouth, Cide floated to the ground, using the blood column to ease himself back down.

Matt

It had all happened so fast...The huge metal dude cutting through the car he and Auby were using as cover, the metal dude getting shot, then, a flying fucking minivan. "WHAT THE FUCK IS EVEN GOING ON?!" Matt screamed as he scuttled backward, trying like hell to move away from the madness that was engulfing the surrounding area. He was used to odd things happening, but this? This was too much. He had grabbed Auby's arm and drug him back as he scurried, but that was mostly to help him grip something that he was familar with, something tangible. Matt felt like breaking down, going into the fetal position and sucking his thumb. But he didn't. Somehow he maintained his sanity to assess what was going on. First of all, someone shot the metal dickhole. Secondly, someone THREW a minivan at it...With blood? Thirdly, someone jumped out of the ground and was now balancing on a dagger he had used to damn near chop the metal bitch in half. Were these guys human? Or were they sent to retrieve Auby? Alien guards or some shit? Matt looked at Auby questioningly, the question evident on his face before he even asked it. "You know these guys?"

ARES

ARES had little time to think. First, he was shot; a bullet rattled his body and made him uneasy but otherwise didn’t injure him, apart from a bruise that could heal within a week. Then… came the van. A massive weight buried itself into his back, nearly crushing him. Had ARES not been enhanced cybernetically, he would most certainly be dead. He struggled up from the massive, burning heap of metal with a staggering strength given to him by years of scientific study and months of rigorous training and conditioning. His back ached and his body felt like it could give at any moment. All he needed to do was to call in reinf-

A loud ‘shink!’ was heard as a blade traveled up ARES’ mid-section, nearly slicing him clean in half. His protective armour, however, made sure he suffered nothing apart from damage to his suit. He staggered back from the force of the hit and groaned in pain “Who… are-“ A strong grip lifted him up by the neck before he could finish, being owned by a tall man who looked remarkably like his boss, Aki. A pair of bright blue, slitted eyes glared up at him as he climbed out of the junk heap and asked darkly “Tell me where he is…” ARES merely choked out gurgled curses at him, barely able to so much as breathe from his injury and from this new assailant choking him.

Akihiro

''“So the guest of honour has arrived. Time to make an appearance.”'' Aki thought to himself with a smirk. At this, he began stepping down a ramp from the nearby building he was on to head to the bridge. Irons, in the meantime, began setting up all of his equipment and readying his Sniper Rifle to begin picking off targets on Aki’s command. Let the game begin~

Metharme

A clean shot, but to no effect. It merely seemed to rattle the behemoth a bit. Metharme did a distant scan of the mercenaries’ armour and found it made of dense, reinforced titanium plates bonded with Kevlar in a very precise fashion. Some minerals were also noted to be In it that were only located in a RESTRICTED section in Metharme’s database, a section designed by her engineers but kept a secret even from her for reasons she didn’t know. But when the van came crashing down on the man, her focus was diverted to the new members of the battle; a white-haired Irishman who seemed to phase through the bridge… Impossible.

Along with him was a dark-haired man who appeared to throw the van at the mercenary via blood pillars out of his palms. The blood was rich with another item found in the RESTRICTED section. It seemed this battle fit a Class A Imperative. Lastly was a tall man in a red Trenchcoat with white hair, lifting the other, equally-tall merc with a profound level of strength. Who were these people? And what was their objective?

Earendur Surion

Earendur merely shook his head “No… but that was Blood Magic, a forbidden art on my world. Something isn’t right here.” Whatever the case, these people saved them and were seemingly on their side for now. He would trust them.

Shade

Shade glanced back and forth from his target to his gun and back. He was sure that was a dead ringer, but when compared to the fact that the giant stood, he knew something was wrong. "Meth, can you tell me what that armor is mad." His question was cut short as he watched a van slam on top of the target using what appeared to be blood. Just when the assassin thought that all the weirdness was over, he saw someone in a red coat lifting the huge merc. ''Red coat? Don't tell me that's the guy my employer wants be to bring in. He just carved the brute like a holiday ham. Wait a sec, why am I afraid of this guy? I got guns and tools that were designed to kill him, and others just like him.''

"On second thought. Did we remember to grab anything that can injure a demon? Looks like our original target just came to us." he said, walking back to the car to find anything that could kill or simply maim a demonic opponent. He wasn't about to let this chance slip by, not after the months of searching high and low for any trace of the red coat-wearing man with white hair.

The Genocide Brothers

The plan had worked, just as Cide had hoped. He realized that he had went back on his word about helping Sadow, and he destroyed his van in the process, but something about these two kids made him question things. However, he would figure that out later. At the present moment, he had to scan the battlefield. There were pocket marks in the pavement from rockets, several vehicles that were destroyed, and the goliath in the armor. Upon searching further, he saw a glint. Something shiny. He wanted to simply write it off as the sun glinting off metal or broken glass, but his instincts told him otherwise. He had seen far too many sniper scopes in his lifetime to simply ignore it. The fact that the glint also swayed just reassured his suspicions. He quickly slapped his palms together, then touched the ground with each hand. The blood shot out in all directions on the pavement, circling the small group. As soon as it was wide enough, the blood shot into the air, forming a circular wall of blood. The blood then became opaque and hard as steel, which the latter was unable to be seen by human eyes. Geno looked around, still balancing on the blade, then looked at Cide. "We got ourselves a few prying eyes, Broseidon?" Geno asked quizzically. "Seems that way. At any rate, better safe than sorry." Cide replied, keeping his hands on the ground to keep the blood wall up and secure.

Matt

Matt had never been more confused or scared in his life. The guy that used 'blood magic', as Auby had put it, made a blood wall around them. Why? Was he planning on killing them? Protecting them? Matt huddled close to Auby and appeared calm and cool, however, he was trying to plan a means of escape. Uriel and Nyx were on each of his shoulder, staring at the one balanced on the blade. They whispered to each other in hushed tones, too quiet for anyone to hear. They were also trying to be a support to Matt and Surion.

Shade

Shade groaned as he realized that he hadn't braced himself for the recoil properly before he fired his rifle. He pulled out a box of grenades that he could fire out of the grenade launcher attached to the rifle. His trigger hand still clutched the gun until he noticed the blood barrier spring up out of nowhere. To add insult to literal injury, he was just outside the dome's wall, preventing him from seeing inside unless he used it, the Gold Eye, a trump card of sorts, as well as his personal gimmick. Brushing his hair away from his face, he unveiled the eye, a robotic replacement for the actual organ he lost years prior in a raid gone wrong. With no more than a thought, Shade activated one of the many features the eye gave him, a form of x-ray vision that could see in color rather than in negative.

"Clever, smart, intelligent, but not enough." he whispered as he watched the battle from the outside. "Next question, did we remember the C4?"

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow raised a fist and smashed the steel helm of the merc off of his head, blood trickling down the side as a result “Tell me where he is, you son of a bitch!” Sadow could smell it with his enhanced senses… the metal inside the man. This was some sort of cyborg experiment created for the sole purpose of waging war. But why was it in this small town? Was it to hunt him? Or was it… to hunt these punks? He looked over with a raised brow at Matt and Earendur before ARES managed to choke out in Russian “Вы проиграете, Sariel.” which translated to “You lose, Sariel.”

Just as he said this, the hulking merc revealed a rather peculiar and advanced looking hand grenade. It looked like a honey comb but shaped like ones average Fragmentation grenade, with what looking like a turn cap on the top for detonation but was actually a button. A button of which his thumb was pressed down on. Upon releasing it, the lines in the grenade glowed a bright yellow as it erupted in a shining, burning ball of white and gold. Sadow’s eyes lit up as he found his arms burning and incinerated. He let out a feral cry of pain as his entire arms, down to the bones, were vaporized before his very eyes along with the merc he had just been holding.

Akihiro Yatsumaru

It was fantastic. The explosions, the mayhem, the terror! This was what war truly was! Akihiro marched down the bridge with a wide grin on his face as a news helicopter flew overhead, far away from the battle but close enough to get a shot of what’s going on. Worms. Aki would crush them as well as all this petty resistance. According to Mountain Viper over the radio, ARES was dead after being consumed in an explosion inside a swirling sphere of blood. No matter. No doubt all of this was orchestrated by him. Despite being manipulated, despite being no more than a puppet for his devices, Aki could be happy. He’d be happy knowing he was about to engage in one of the most glorious duels to ever shake the foundation of their planet; a duel of immortals.

Metharme

When the sphere of what Metharme’s sensors indicated was actual Human blood appeared around the assailants, Metharme interjected “We’ve been spotted.” Shade had been preparing to use propelled grenades to capture the target. Costly, considering there were unarmed civis in the blast radius, but probably necessary. Metharme wasn’t against taking casualties if it got the objective completed, and the little information they had on the target labeled him a threat worthy of any forms of restraining. As Shade used his Golden Eye to see through the barrier, he asked if they had any C4 on them. “As a matter of fact, we do.” Turning around, she retrieved a locked box that she unlocked with a few quick taps on the keypad. Inside lay a couple of square C4 charges. She handed one to him along with a detonator after linking the two together cybernetically.

Arra Sans

Arra couldn’t understand a damn thing this elf was prattering about. “Say… wha?” she asked as she tilted her head. Did Tami still think after a week of trying to communicate with them in her native language that now she would suddenly understand her? She looked rather panicked, though… Looking annoyed, Tami turned on the television and flipped the channel to what she had memorized in the past week thanks to Arra and Matt watching it was the News channel, having a breaking story about an explosive “Battle on the Bridge”. Squinting her eyes while looking up from the screen, she muttered “Matthew… Be right back, Tami. I’ve got asses to kick-“ As she was throwing her father’s old jacket over her shirt, Tami gripped her sleeve with a stare that could pierce the nerve of a British Royal guard. Now that didn’t need translating. Apparently, Tami was coming too.

After dressing Tami in apparel that would block her from the sun; her mother’s old funeral clothes, which made her look like a complete shadow, Arra stepped outside with her. They’d have to take a taxi since she and her late father never finished their old hot rod that still lay in their garage and her stepmother was in Africa, with her car being lent to her grandmother out of town. Fucking coincidences… Upon reaching a place with a notable Taxi driver, the man eyed Tami up and down suspiciously before Arra gave the explanation that she was from the Middle-East and it was her grandmother from Iraq. The man shrugged and accepted their money, driving them within walking-distance to the bridge, apparently unaware of what all was going on. Arra was certain that if he knew, he’d get the hell out of dodge.

Lauren Presburne

Lauren sipped her coffee while reviewing the backside of a conspiracy novel about how the U.S. government controls the world with microscopic mind bugs as Will bitched on and on about how they were in a small town by the sea that experienced little more than a few potheads and the occasional drunkard. Just as he was finishing his rant, however, a new order buzzed in through their police radio “Dispatch! All units converge on the Northern Bridge by T street! Be ready for hostiles; many armed and deadly terrorists are on foot!” Lauren gasped at the order along with Will before smirking at him. He grimaced and muttered “…Not a fucking word.” before turning on the cars’ sirens and lights. Terrorists! In Oakswood! Lauren would probably regret this, but: Hurrah!

Earendur Surion

Initially, Earendur didn’t trust this Blood-Mage, but when the mercenary suddenly committed Cylysardi Melodi, he was thankful that the man shielded them all from the blast. All but the red-coated warrior, whose arms had been blown off from the blast. Despite being shielded by Blood-Magic, the shockwave was powerful enough to shatter it even in its hardened state. What form of Human technology could shatter a Blood Shield?! Earu found himself on his back, and could faintly hear the white-haired man’s cries of pain and see him step back a bit as his arms oozed a hot, steaming black substance… It looked… Faintly familiar. His eyes shut tight suddenly as a throbbing pain jolted through his head as a sudden memory of his past was rekindled. The hull of the escape ship he was on being torn when Vaardenvale was being made under siege… It was that… same black substance…

The Genocide Brothers

Cide was amazed. Somehow that grenade had destroyed his blood barrier, something that hadn't happened in a long, long time. It mattered little, however. The blood that wasn't evaporated by the blast simply shivered, and formed once more, creating another, albeit smaller wall. However, it appeared Sadow was now armless, thanks to the said grenade. But there was something interesting about him. Cide was sure that that wasn't enough to kill him. Whilst contemplating this, Geno, who was knocked off balance by the blast, stood upright and huffed. He gathered his daggers and phased through the blood wall and looked around. Chaos! Just the way Geno liked it. He bounced over to Sadow and looked at the stubs carefully. "Hey... Need a hand?" Geno asked, a cheshire grin on his face.

Matt

"Holy fucking dog shit!" Matt yelled as the blood shield was broken and he was blown back. That big metal guy just blew himself up! Matt was taken aback by this. Suicide bombing? What the fuck was going on? Matt found his footing and shakily stood, helping Auby to his feet as well. He looked... dazed. Like he was in a trance or something. Matt tapped him on the shoulder a few times, but was cut short of asking him a question when he saw the two white haired guys through the blood barrier. One was shirtless and seemed a bit retarded, and the other didn't have any arms. This was too much shit for Matt to handle at one time. He just wanted to curl into a ball and be back at Arra's apartment. Which reminded him of her. She was going to KILL them, provided these guys didn't succeed first...

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow clenched his teeth in sheer agony as the white-haired Irish bastard mocked him. He could do nothing about it at the immediate moment… Besides, he had far bigger fish to fry. Turning, his blue, slitted eyes widened in shock and realization as his “brother” approached. Akihiro… A former Hell-Hunter, just like he. Elite soldiers turned into Demonic ministers of death, pain and devastation following them everywhere they went. And now, two of them were going to fight each other.

The tall figure, clad in spikey, black leather, stood atop a burning heap of metal that used to be a vehicle, his right hand lady of war standing below with her Pump-Action Shotgun in both hands, loaded and ready. Far off, police were doing battle with the rest of the Phoenix Wing relentlessly. Such impressive bravery and bravado, coming from a small town’s Police force. Aki, himself, smirked down at the group “How very cute, Sadow~ You made some friends~” Sadow grunted in response to both the Irishman’s statement and Aki’s “Hate you… Hate you both…”

Oakswood County Police vs the Phoenix Wng

Irons reached for his radio after receiving a distress call and, upon turning it on, was bombarded with the most ear-piercing explosion sounds he could’ve imagined. He shouted into it “What the hell is going on down there?!” The radio replied with a nervous voice from one of the mercenaries “The cops are here! They’re really kicking our asses, sir!” He yelled back in frustration “You’re heavily armed and trained mercenaries! These are cops from a small, back-hills town! How the fuck are you getting your asses kicked?!”

Down, across the bridge, the Phoenix Wing mercenaries were using their vans and vehicle blockade as cover for the hailstorm of bullets raining on them. One of them shouted “How the hell do they have so many bullets?!” Suddenly, a horse galloped over one of their cars while neighing loudly in command. Its rider, a Police woman armed in a SWAT jacket and helmet, wielded a Nightstick as she reared the beast’s legs back to kick one of the mercs square in the chest, causing them to fly back in a daze. With a roar of fury, she raised the baton and struck it clean down on a merc’s masked head, knocking him unconscious with a stupefied look.

The merc on the radio quickly dropped it in place of trying to defend himself from the SWAT captain’s assault, though it was to no avail. Before long, she had disarmed his bayonet-toting rifle out of his grip and pinned him against his own van, her comrades doing the same. Lauren and William were among them that were cuffing the mercs’ wrists, Lauren smirking down at her captured prize. The Police Chief was a war hero among Police Chiefs. Her name was Juliana Robertson, but most just simply referred to her as “Chief” or “the Chief”. Passionate about defending her city, and a record of military service throughout her family line and her life, Chief Robertson was a shining example of an Officer. She slammed the merc against the van hard and demanded “Where’s the rest of you bastards?!” The merc smirked back at her and taunted “Piss off, you old scar-faced bitch!” It was true. Chief Robertson had a vicious-looking jagged scar running down her eye and cheek and was both proud and ashamed of it because of how distinct and characterizing it was. Which was why anyone who dared to call her “Scarface” tended to receive extra-attention. As would this merc. Gritting her teeth in anger, she pulled his mask off to grip his short, dark brown hair and slam it hard into the van, breaking his nose “Next go your kneecaps if I don’t find out where the rest of your buddies are!” The Chief wouldn’t take a terrorist attack on her hometown that she prized almost as much as her decorated family history lightly.

Earendur Surion

Earendur stood next to Matt, shaking and almost deaf because of his sensitive, half-Elven ears being rocked by the sound of the explosion. He saw the dark-clothed woman and the white-haired man across the bridge, the other looking… devious. That’s the best English word Earendur could use to describe a man with a smirk so sinister as he. He looked similar to their red-coat wearing companion, but different. Longer, more spikey hair… Black clothes… A trenchcoat with back flaps that were hard and straightened out in diverting angles… And a red, crystalline necklace dangling from his chest. Earendur spoke aloud, confused “Who are you people?! What do you want?!” He could hear himself so his hearing was returning, though a still sharp ringing persisted… He’d have a headache later, for certain.

Arra Sans

Upon arriving at the bridge’s entrance, the man in the Taxi flipped the fuck out upon seeing a dark-haired guy and his black Trenchcoat-wearing female companion with guns, C4, and all sorts of other crazy military-grade shit parked in front of it. Hurrying out, Arra and Tami waved a thanks to the driver just before he peeled out of the area. Probably a pothead worried that the guy was a CIA agent or something. Regardless, Tami immediately attempted to rush the both of them, Arra being more sensible and restraining her, whispering “No! You can’t just walk up to them like that! You have to be tactful!” Tami tilted her head with a quizzical look at her Human companion, attempting to annunciate the word out for herself “Tah-koo-tuh-fool.” Arra repeated the incorrect version back to her with a nod “Yeah. That. Now quick, find me something blunt and hard.”

Shade

If he were a religious man, the King of Death would be thanking God, Buddha, Allah or whoever was out there. That blast was ear-shattering, and by the looks of it, unnaturally powerful. However, that wasn't the worst of it. His eye, as useful as it was, rendered the bright flash of light in perfect detail. He saw it as if he were right there, up against the dome of blood, or rather, inside it. The optic nerve connected to the marvelous piece of technology was still rapid-firing signals of pain, causing him to instictively shield his eye and disable the x-ray vision. "I don't think we'll be needing this anymore." he remarked, looking at the C4 as if it were garbage.

"Watch the car. I'm going to get our target." If anything, Shade knew he would never get a better chance at getting his mark. It had to be now. Right there, no arms, and entirely vulnerable. His only regret would be the back of his new car would be soaked in that oily blood-like substance.

With all the confidence one could expect of a professional, he calmly set the C4 down and pressed a red button on the remote, rendering the explosive device nothing but a volatile hunk of plastic. Everyone mocked him for putting a cutoff switch to something that should never be shut down, but it saved innocent lives.

Shade walked right into the thick of matters. "Oi, guy in black. Back off. Your armless friend here is mine now. How about we work out a deal? I take him back to my employer, and you can have his dried up remains? I don't care what you do to him after I'm done."

The Genocide Brothers

Geno watched the man in black approach. He grinned and bounced happily, raising his arm in a hand-shaking gesture. "Hiya! Yoooouuuuu're right! We ARE Sadow's friend! Are you his friend toooo?" But before there was time for a response, another stranger approached. After the stranger made the bargain, Geno tapped his chin a few times. "Hmm...'Tis an offer to consider! You don't even wanna imagine the things I could do to dried up remains! However..." And at the lilt of the last word, Geno grabbed onto Sadow's coat and disappeared, causing Sadow to disappear as well. A few seconds later, they appeared right next to Cide and the rest of the group. "Ya can't have 'im! He's an important character, y'know? And I mean, pfft, he can't die! Watch!" And at that, Geno thrust one of his daggers into Sadow's stomach. "See? Not dead. And I doubt he feels pain, too. Check it!" After those words, Geno turned on his heel, faced Sadow, and delivered a swift yet brutal kick to the crotch. Cide, ignoring Geno's shenanigans, was busy assessing the situation. Three newcomers, one of which incredibly similar to Sadow, had shown. He already had a plan of action, however, he was simply waiting for the right time to execute it. Small tendrils of blood snaked from his hand and when they hit the pavement, they slithered under wrecked cars. He hoped this action wasn't noticed by the others, but he would just have to wait and see. In the meantime, he looked over his shoulder at the two kids. "We're here to help. Just get to safety. Now."

Matt

Matt didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed Auby by the arm and half drug him towards the opposite way of where the conflict would surely happen. "C'mon, Aubs. These guys obviously know what they're doin'. Let's just... scope out from behind these cars." Matt hopped over the wreckage of one car, still flaming. He smelled something, like hamburger being on the stove for too long. Daring to look into the wreckage against his better intuition, he saw a body, charred from the flames. Matt let out a slight groan and resisted the urge to puke. Instead, he focused on the different guys. "Can today just be over with?" He muttered to himself.

Sadow Yatsumaru

With a crack and a grunt, Sadow fell to his knees, coughing while his black stumps oozed the substance onto the cracked pavement. “You… jackass…!” But with seriousness in his mind, he glared over at the man in the black suit. Another agent? Perhaps this bastard was the one he’d been eluding for the past month and a half. Sadow stood shakily, shrugging off the aching pain in his groin, and bellowed in agony as his arms slowly began to regenerate. A black form of muscles, bones, and ligaments pulled together from the dripping liquid with red static occasionally discharging from them and, eventually, formed skin until his arms looked completely fine. Sadow, however, about fainted from the experience and the agony it brought on.

Akihiro Yatsumaru

---

Aki smirked at the gull of the young agent, as well as their mutual employer. Such a fool… to hire another hand to secretly carry Sadow out while Aki and his Mercs wipe out the entire city. If he wanted an entire population wiped off the face of the map, all he’d need to do is send in a few drones or, perhaps, a nuke. Not one simple agent. That and Sadow’s agony over his groin hit as well as his regeneration amused him thoroughly. “Sorry, kid. No deal!” he bellowed before retrieving a Submachine gun concealed inside his coat, opening fire on the entire group. His true target has taken cover with the other Magic guy. He’ll have Irons take him out. As he opened fire, he ordered Irons through a hidden earpiece Mic to make a bloody kill on the muscular guy behind the car with the target.

Irons, upon hearing the word, looked through his scoped rifle with his electronic eye to locate the given target. Upon locating him, he murmured “Adieu, kiddo.” However, just before he could fire, another sniper round came up and shot his scope in half, glass puncturing his mechanical prosthetic and sending him into a whole new world of suffering. He fell back, screaming in agony, as Metharme cocked a scope-less rifle down below, sending a smoking shell out and onto the ground next to her with an emotionless stare of success.

Arra Sans

Arra stared down at the dark-Trench-wearing lady she was about to hit with a comically confused look. Did she just shoot at that building…? The girl turned to look at her with an emotionless stare but wide awake, like a person on cocaine. It startled her a bit. The lady spoke in an equally monotone voice, eyes becoming more laxed and less-startled “I am not your enemy. If you call the two Humans behind the wreckage your friends, you can be grateful. I just saved their lives.” Arra lowed the pipe she was planning on bringing down on the girl’s light frame and replied simply “Oh. Thanks.” She looked up at the ensuing chaos; a man in a red Trenchcoat who bled black and could regenerate, a guy in a black spikey, and quite frankly overly flamboyant, outfit with an Uzi spraying bullets everywhere, a guy in a suit trying to negotiate with him, Matt and Auby, another white haired lunatic who happened to be shirtless, and a guy who was… manipulating his own… blood… Why couldn’t she be born in a world more normal? With fun things like kites and chickens instead of bullets and maniacs?

Earendur Surion

Earendur felt it was wrong that he and Matt were hiding like cowards. They had the ability to help! They could fight! Support! Something! But even so, he watched on as the events unfolded. They hid behind the car when the dark-spikey man began firing, but a gunshot rang nearby which startled Earu. His half-Elven ears weren’t used to these loud noises.

Shade

Shade's mind went into overdrive the moment he saw the SMG. No sooner had he registered what it was, he started for his side arm, a revolver, hand made and improved to better control a situation where the Black Wing was worthless. Part of him wished he did bring the rifle with him before the negotiations began, but that was a tactical choice. He wanted to appear unarmed to gain trust.

A bullet fired before the man in black had turned grazed over his left shoulder. Shade let out a hiss of pain as he lightly gripped his injury to steady his arm as his fingers found the grip of the pistol. A quick glance at his target showed him that he wasn't about to bother with paying much more attention to him.

Quickly, he lowered his right hand and passed the pistol to allow him to raise it. His left arm would have just exploded in pain if he tried at that point. ''The King, brought low by a grazing wound. That's one for the record books.'' he mused before taking aim.

He pulled the trigger, hoping the guy was human, not a Demon. He didn't load the pistol to kill anything stronger than a human, something he feared he might come to regret.

The Genocide Brothers

Upon seeing the SMG, both Geno and Cide reacted instantly and instinctively. Geno dove behind Sadow, clutching onto his back, completely protecting him from the spray of bullets. "Protect me, squire!" He yelled as he clutched tightly, hoping his weight wouldn't throw Sadow off-balance. Cide, meanwhile, brought both of his hands together in a sort of clapping motion. The two tendrils of blood that had disappeared underneath the cars sprang to life, quickly forming a shield of metal. As soon as the gunfire ceased, Cide pulled the cars apart, then flung them towards the assailant. He had used this tactic dozens of times before, and each time met with success. It usually left only a bloody smear on the concrete where the victim once stood, however, if this guy was anything like Sadow, Cide worried that it may not be enough. If that were the case, a tactical retreat may be in order...Suddenly, his plans were cut short by the sound of gunfire behind him. He turned just in time to see three more of the metal behemoths that appeared to be androids or machines of some sort. They opened fire on where the two kids had been hiding. "Shit..." Cide cursed under his breath.

Matt

There was gunfire on the other side of the car, and Matt was suddenly very grateful to be behind cover. However, before he could celebrate too much, a glimmer of light caught his attention. He turned his head to see three of the big metal fuckers walking toward them, each brandishing a rather large gun. Matt unconsciously backed against the car, however, he had nowhere to go. Their cover of the car had become their trap. Matt shoved Auby downwards and easily rolled him under the car and tried to fit himself, but his shoulders and chest were too wide. Auby was a skinny little alien, but Matt wasn't so lucky. He faced the giants and began shaking, seeing them raise their weapons and level them at Matt.

The next few seconds were filled with terror for Matt and seemed to last a lifetime. The metal men opened fire, and Matt could feel what felt like bee stings amplified by a thousand hitting him. He was reminded of the time when he was shot, and he had thought that was the worst thing in the world. But this...This tremendous pain. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced, and, he feared, it would be the last thing he experienced. He could smell the gunsmoke in the air and taste the blood as it began to fill his mouth. Suddenly, as quickly as they started shooting, it ended.

Matt lay limp against the car, feeling a dozen little holes in his torso, legs, and arms begin to bleed. He was going to die, he was sure. ''Not like this... ''Matt thought as he grit his teeth against the pain. His head lolled to one side and he was staring at an SUV, the back end ripped off and smouldering. Beyond the flames, however, he saw a tiny face staring at him. The face of a child. The eyes were cold and dead, and a slight trail of blood trickled from one corner of her little mouth. Matt suddenly forgot all about the pain. Anger, hatred, a white-hot intensity to kill every last motherfucker that caused this instead filled him. He grit his teeth harder, slowly swiveling his head toward the attackers. One of them pushed a car to the side like it was nothing, and that must have triggered something in the car. Scream by Avenged Sevenfold suddenly began blaring over it's speakers, and that somehow made Matt even angrier.

Meanwhile, after Matt had been riddled with bullets, Uriel and Nyx were stunned. Uriel was simply floating there, almost unable to comprehend what had happened. Nyx, however, had her hands hovering over Matt's head. She couldn't lose him, Nyx realized. Despite being a demon, however, she had a love for Matt. A deep, passionate love that was more than human. She touched his head and suddenly felt at peace. Everything would be fine. She felt Matt's hatred and found an opening. Using it as a conduit, Nyx seemed to melt into Matt, creating a dark purple light as she did so.

To an onlooker of the scene, they would see a bright flash of purple light, then feel a burst of hot, dry air. The boy who had been nearly torn in half by bullets would stand, enshrouded by the dark light. A feeling of terror would fill them, however the boy wasn't aware he was causing it. The light would fade, and they would see the boy anew, his skin dark and ashen, his clothes replaced by a black, spiked armor. But what would stand out the most is the boy's eyes. They would be red and slitted, and staring straight at the three armored men. His hand would clench, and a dark ball of energy would surround his hand. The final thing a human eye could see is the boy take a step toward the hulking machines.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Idiot tried to reason with Aki. No one reasons with Aki. Him opening fire in response to the suit-wearing bastard’s futile efforts wasn’t a surprise to Sadow. However, the goofy dumbasses’ grabbing him and using him as a Human Shield was. Quickly reacting with a wave of shocking pain, Sadow grunted in agony as he formed a black, sleek armour over himself that seemed to rip through his flesh to cover him, the bullets repelling off and, upon hitting the concrete, revealed themselves to be flattened from the direct impact with the armour.

He continued, from behind the sleek helmet of his, to clench his teeth in pain from using his accursed power as the Irish blood-user known as “Cide” used his power to chuck a pair of cars at Aki. Using this distraction, he charged forth. His body started to numb as the pain began to fade from his muscles and bones. He knew the cars wouldn’t work, but they’d be good cover for what he was about to pull.

Akihiro Yatsumaru

Aki soon ran out of ammunition after spraying bullets everywhere with the gun. It mattered not. Besides, Aki had other problems to worry about. As his gun ran dry, he found a quick counter attack awaiting him in the form of a bullet plunging deep into his chest, ripping through his heart and blowing hard out of his back, splattering black liquid all over the pavement. Grunting in pain at this and starting to stumble back, he looked up to see two oncoming cars being hurdled at his position as well. “YOU’RE PISSING ME OFF!” he bellowed as large, black claws formed on his hands, ripping out of his flesh and being extended forward to grip the metal, sending him grinding back but to a stop. He supposed someone was listening to Avenged Sevenfold because the music began blaring as he halted.

The black spray crept back up his pant leg like an intelligent lifeform and up his back, through his clothes until reaching his wound and seeping back inside of it, regrowing the lost tissue and healing the wound like it had never been made. With a pop, the hot bullet plopped out of his regenerating wound and hit the ground with a tiny ‘clink’. He smirked at their efforts before standing back ontop of the cars he had just stopped and gave a cry of war at them, pounding his clawed fist against his completely healed chest.

Earendur Surion

Earendur was both amazed and frightened by all that was going on. Matt had flung him underneath a car to escape from a trio of menacing machinoids but was too big to escape himself before being… before… Earendur heard a series of gunshots and tears began to form on his eyes. His first true friend on this planet, who had, on multiple occasions today, saved his life… Was just killed… He sacrificed himself to save Earu. He cried out as Matt’s body slumped against the beaten metal wreckage “MAAAAATT!!!” Almost like his cry had spawned some sort of unknown Magic, Matt got back up but was glowing a menacing purple, with darker skin and adorning a sleek, black suit of armour. “M-Matt…?” he beckoned, wondering if the figure above was truly his friend or some form of… Demon…

Mountain Viper

Mountain Viper looked behind her and saw the battle from afar coming to an end. The Police would soon engage in this assault as well. Luckily, the flanking androids provided by their employer were finally doing their jobs. As expected of Akihiro, things were getting loud and violent extremely fast, but these kids… they were putting up a fight. Viper fought alongside Aki for quite some time and has seen him literally get mowed down by gunfire and still charge forth, psychotic grin and all, to slaughter everyone opposing him. That was a likely scenario for this scene as well, but still… None of her previous enemies managed to hurdle entire cars at him. And then there’s that guy in the red trenchcoat. He looked like Aki and had similar powers as him… Who was he? A relative? An old friend? An old enemy, maybe? Whoever he was, he was making quite a charge. Daring to attack Aki head-on was suicide. She readied her pump-action shotgun to join in the fight when given the chance.

Metharme

Metharme turned to Shade and spoke in monotone, as usual, but with a readied expression for battle “Shade, I am going to assault the female over by the main attacker. Try to keep me covered in case-“ She was cutoff as a hulking mech towered behind her, managing to unfold from a small form and burst out of a nearby garage down the street, unnoticed due to all the tension. The Phoenix Wing were prepared. It set its sights for the android as well as Shade, Arra, and Tami, folding out a set of multiple missile launchers as its targeting computer locked onto them. Joining it was a team of commando-like androids, similar to Arra but created for the sole purpose of combat. Programmed with the training in use of multiple firearms and martial arts, these expensive machinations of war stared coldly and calculatingly at the four, taking aim with their scoped rifles.

BV-107

The commanding android scanned the somehow still alive Human with curiosity, but resumed its indifference by aiming its rifle at the head of the Human, taking note of the high levels of energy being produced by him as a whole, but being concentrated on his fist. Its compatriots followed suit and aimed their rifles at him, each preparing to release another volley of rounds into this being to bring him down. Their creator would be most interested in him. Gloved finger pulling against the trigger, the lead android let loose a hard stream of bullets at the young, armoured man, computerized certainty that he would die bleeping through its processors.

Shade

Shade saw the droids apparently bust out of nowhere. Just looking at the mechanical monsters sent shivers down his spine. Not many people in this world could afford the technology for one, let alone a whole squadron of them. In fact, nobody outside of one man could put this all together, his employer. ''He's... betraying us. I had this under control, so why did he bring out plan B?'' "Metharme! Get those humans out of the---"

The last part of his sentence was cut of by a sudden explosion, distracting Shade as he turned to see what was happening. Purple energy rose to the heavens, right where he was sure two kids were. Whatever was going on over there, he'd have to butt in, but first, he had to carve his way through the robotic army bearing down on his partner and a few innocents.

Shade reactivated his Gold Eye to better gauge the situation. Even with the enhanced clarity the eye provided mixed with his talent, there was no way he'd take out the targets without posing a risk to the innocent people in between.

Shade finally decided on a plan of action and made a running start. For what he planned, he'd need speed, and a steady frame of mind. Talk about my most suicidal idea ever. The thought amused him for some reason, the thought he might actually die if his plan hit a snag. When he was just a few inches away from Metharme he jumped over her and the humans, landing only for a second before taking another leap, this time digging his heel not into solid ground but the head of one of the droids. Even decked out in all metal like they were meant nothing to the laws of force and gravity, helped along by a generous donation by a boot to the head.

One.

The next droid didn't fair well either, a well placed round lodged itself right between it's eyes, frying the circuits in it's head.

Two.

The larger mech was next on Shade's list. It's armor was impossibly thick sheets of Kevlar and metal, making anything short of leading it off an edge pretty much pointless. There was also the option of an explosive charge, but shrapnel wasn't very trustworthy when it came to accuracy.

While he debated how best to dispose of the giant of steel, a third commando ran behind him and tried to wrap its arms around his neck. Shade could hear it coming, and ducked low before landing a solid kick into the android's abdomen region, knocking it off balance, before squeezing off two more shots, one in each eye.

Three

Two more androids and the larger mech still remained standing, not to mention whatever caused that burst of light. Wanting to conserve ammo, Shade pulled out a knife, a standard military grade Ka-bar. One of the commandos pulled out his own knife, obviously one superior to what Shade had. Shade ran in the opposite direction of the slowly advancing killing machine. The other one started opening fire with its gun, forcing Shade to dodge in awkward ways. By this point, he was trapped on three sides, never good odds for a human.

The Goliath-like machine primed the missiles for launch, but had enough intellect to wait for the commandos to get out of the way, a flaw it the programming that would soon be its undoing

The bullets stopped whizzing by, the lull was most likely the shooter having to reload, and that made this the perfect chance to land a good hit. In his head, he planned out two ideas, one of which was attempt to run over and make the kill before that thing finished reloading. Highly unlikely to succeed. The other, to throw his knife and hope for the best. That's the choice he took, cause even if he failed, it was a good distraction.

The knife twisted through the air as Shade flung it, and it sliced through the reloading droid's arm, disabling its ability to reload.

The advancing knife wielding unit broke into a run after seeing its target willingly disarm himself. Naturally, its heavy steps didn't go unnoticed, as once it got closer, Shade slammed the heel of his hand right into its face, letting momentum again do the work. the impact likely broke something important, but this time, it wasn't a good enough hit to completely disable something so advanced, but for now, it was offline, quite possibly trying to reboot the internal system, and that instant was all that mattered. It crumpled to the ground in a heap, nothing preventing the fall. The trauma of the impact with the ground shattered other vital components, including the drive containing the A.I protocols, rendering a mostly intact frame just that, a worthless but intact frame.

Four

Two more targets remained, much better odds than a three on one. That's when the whoosh of air that typically accompanies the launching of a missile could be heard.

If Shade's guess was right, those missiles were designed with homing capabilities. In fact, he was banking on that being the case, cause it was the only way to properly take out the giant. A swarm of rockets were heading right for him. Chances are they are a new experimental type that rather than exploding on impact, they explode wherever they stop.

Shade tried to flee from the onslaught bearing down on him, but was rather amused to see he was right, homing capable missiles. Although the idea itself was cliched, there was little else to do, so he made a break for the behemoth, all the while keeping aware of the ever-closer salvo behind him. At the last instant, he ducked and managed to slide under the mech's body, which the missiles couldn't adjust for quick enough. Needless to say, the explosions were more than adequate at permanently disabling the monstrosity that fired them.

However, in probably the most cliched manner of things, it appeared to teeter for a moment, and fell backwards, giving Shade only milliseconds to actually escape. He ran to the left of the giant, which had taken the most damage. There was no time for thoughts other than how to survive. Barely he avoided disaster, not that he'd ever complain about such a close call, he pulled it off.

Five

To finish off the now one-armed unit, Shade took his time. There was no danger from it after all, its gun was absolutely empty and if it got too close, it posed only slightly more danger with three working limbs compared to four. He pulled out a custom jamming grenade that could be set to a short range data scramble rather than an entire system freeze. Setting it to scramble, he lobbed it at the last drone, who couldn't react in time to avoid being completely wiped out, all of its storage locations no longer matched up with the paths assigned to it. In layman's terms, the system didn't know where anything was anymore, causing it to shut down.

Six

Shade did a mental count of the strike force, realizing one of them was missing. ''Six commandos always accompanied one mech, or at least that would be true of a standard platoon of them, so unless somebody wanted to save a pretty penny, he'd shoot for the full squad. So, where's the last...Oh you've gotta be kidding!'' It was painfully obvious where the last one was, right where that strange light appeared. Bad time for getting tired he thought as his legs became weak, his fight or flight response was wearing off.

The Genocide Brothers

Cide's plan had worked, however to only a certain extent. It gave way to an opening for Sadow, at least, who was in the process of charging at the assailant. Cide instantly caused the two blood tendrils that were on the cars to detach from the cars and slither their way to the one who had formed claws out of his own hands. The tendrils rapidly snaked their way around the attacker's ankles, then sprang upwards and wrapped around his wrists as well. They then hooked around each other and hardened, becoming as dense and strong as concrete. Cide figured this would only detain the hostile for a moment, however it was a moment Sadow could use to his favor. Geno, on the other hand, was too enraptured by the huge column of purple light to really pay attention to the fight at hand. They had been in worse situations, Geno figured, so he wasn't worried. In fact, he had taken the liberty of seizing a old-styled boombox out of a wrecked car. He was thumbing through the stations until he found a hard-driving rock song. A look of pure delight ran across his face as he twisted the volume dial all the way up. "E'rry good fight needs a good fightin' song!" Geno yelled over the music. He then returned his attention to the pretty purple light. He peeked his head over the car the kids were using as cover and watched as the more muscle-y kid turned into a badass looking guy in an equally badass looking suit of black, spiked armor. "Ooooh, what a twist!" Geno muttered to himself as he watched with great anticipation.

Matt

Matt had never felt this way before...It was pure euphoria. A feeling of ecstacy that no drug could ever offer him. His muscles expanded and his skin formed this sort of spiked black armor. It wasn't his clothes or anything, but his actual skin. This would have kind of freaked Matt out, if not for the feeling of a malicious joy within him. But he didn't feel alone in his body. There was someone in there with him. Nyx? Was it her? He didn't know, and didn't quite care. A purple ball of energy formed around his hand and he walked towards the three mechs that had turned him into swiss cheese not thirty seconds prior. Hatred, anger, malice, all of these emotions clouded his mind, causing him to begin jogging, then sprinting towards the three machines. He closed the distance incredibly fast, too fast for any human to ever do. The first one on his list was ripped in half as Matt brought his one clawed hand down, starting from the mech's head and going downward, leaving a trail of purple light.

The second mech reacted fast enough to see it's buddy be ripped asunder, taking the liberty of bringing the stock of it's rifle against Matt's face, then planting a foot against his abdomen, sending Matt flying off the bridge. Matt flipped through the air, orienting himself with the ground. All of that, just to be kicked off the bridge and plummet into the water below? Hell no. He would NOT allow that to happen. Suddenly, instead of the bridge becoming smaller in his vision, it became larger. Matt was...Flying? "HELL FUCKIN' YEAH!" Matt screamed, looking at his own feet and realizing that he was indeed flying. But as Matt spoke, it wasn't his voice, but his mixed with Nyx's. This startled him, but he didn't falter. He flew straight toward the bottom of the bridge and broke through it, right in front of the mech who had kicked him off. It looked startled, and Matt grabbed it by it's head with both of his hands. He squeezed tightly, and the mech's head caved inward quite easily.

Matt set his sights on the third Mech in the trio, who was aiming a three-barrelled tube at him. It fired, and three rockets came spiralling out of the barrells. Matt simply stood his ground and when the rockets reached him, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Was he doing this? Was it adrenaline? Reaction time? Or a new ability due to whatever had happened to him? At any rate, he didn't care. Using his clawed and glowing hands, he cleanly ripped the three rockets in half, sending them flinging behind him and harmlessly landing in the water. He walked toward the Mech, who was busy reloading the rocket launcher. It leveled the launcher again and before it could fire, Matt brought both of his hands together, palms facing the Mech. The purple light swirled from his hands and appeared in the palms of his hands. The light seemed to diminish, then grow exponentially, and finally burst out of his hands in a huge, roaring beam. The size of the beam was roughly comparable to the size of a train, and it destroyed the Mech, leaving no trace of it's existance. As soon as Matt let loose of the beam, he stopped, closing his hands and cracking his neck. He turned to face where he had left Auby and saw one final Mech, reaching under the car towards Auby. "Leave him alone, fucker!!" Matt screamed as he flew towards the Mech, his hand glowing once more.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow smirked before pulling out his signature, massive pistol. A white Desert Eagle with an elongated barrel and enhanced casing size, Latin scripture of Biblical origin etched on the side. He took aim and fired a single shot, a massive hole blowing clean through Aki’s chest, leaving a circular hole straight through him with his black insides clearly visible. He vomited black ooze at this, eyes widening and reeling back in pain. He fired a second, ripping through Aki’s shoulder and sending the bone clattering against the street along with several spurts of black fluid. He gave a loud groan of pain as Sadow fired another round, blowing through his knee cap and sending him falling backwards and onto his back. Sadow fired one last time, though the man’s head, a tiny hole drilling through his forehead and exiting in a wide, expansive blast through the back. Tiny droplets of black liquid dripped from the entry hole as the entirety of the pavement behind his head was covered. The terroristic leader stared up at the sky, motionless and cold. Mountain Viper stood by in astonishment before leveling her shotgun towards Sadow, but was deterred by the Hell-Hunter shooting her shotgun and shattering it in her grip completely, narrowly missing the chamber which would have resulted in its explosion, thus saving her life. The kick, however, knocked her on her back and released the air out of her lungs.

Sadow turned back to Cide from over his shoulder and gave a smirk of gratitude, giving him a thumbs up just before being impaled by a set of black claws. These claws proceeded to lift him up into the air and throw him into a nearby car’s wreckage, demolishing it. Aki stood there, regenerating his wounds still with a look of pained rage on his face.

Earendur Surion

Earendur watched on from beneath the car as some sort of robot like from the Star Wars movies his mother showed him when he first got here was blown apart from a single punch from this new Matt. Parts and white, glue-like substance flew every which direction as the machine was torn apart. He stuck his head out from underneath the car and asked “Matt… is that you?” He looked like… a Demon. Something Earendur was familiar with, but wished he wasn’t.

Metharme

---

Metharme nodded to Shade and turned, her pupils becoming smaller as she zoomed in on the battle. The two “immortal” anomalies were still engaging in battle, but it seemed as though the local police were merely watching on from afar as well, apparently getting wind of the two beings’ destructive capabilities. A smart decision. Suddenly, however, her head swiveled as her eyes lit up. A new directive straight from their employer. Detain and capture both targets or, at the very least, samples of them. She’d have to warn Shade, but for now she continued to observe and document their battle for future reference.

Burnout
Shade

Shade mustered up every ounce of his remaining energy and sprinted over to where the purple light came from, hoping that he wasn't too late. What he saw made his little display look tame. Shreds of android parts strewn about like they were shoved into a wood chipper, some mechanical fluids collected into little puddles. And the icing on the cake was the fact the thing responsible was right in front of him.

He unloaded the remains of his clip into the demonic entity without hesitation, unaware of what it really was.

The Genocide Brothers

Cide grinned a little smirk. The small distraction had worked, just like he had hoped. Sadow succeeded in blowing the assailant away. Cide made a mental note to ask Sadow what the caliber of the firearm he was using was. To literally blow a man's arm and leg off with just a well-aimed shot... He had only seen that with a huge weapon, like a .50 calibur or a cannon. Cide had seen quite a few... unique... weapons though. His train of thought was quickly interrupted, however, whenever he saw Sadow be impaled by a trio of black claws. Cide had to react quickly. He sent a mental wavelength to the tendrils of blood to slither around the assailant's arm and spike out, digging into his arm. The tendrils formed together and began spinning like a circular saw, then becoming smaller and smaller, until they managed to rip the bone off. The tendrils then fell to the ground, the blood becoming a very dark red color and useless. Cide silently cursed and watched on, his mind racing over the next plan of action. Geno, meanwhile, ducked as the Mech jumped over him and on top of the car, nearly stepping on his head. "Muthafucka!" Geno muttered. He was just about to pull out one of his daggers when he saw the Shadey guy and the purpley guy converge. Geno ducked his head and crawled under the car with the elf-dude. He nodded his head toward him. "'Suuuup? So, you're a main character, huh? So you know you're gonna survive this encounter. Me? I'm a side character right now. That means that I could die at any time! But I CAN break the fourth wall...Fuck the fourth wall, that bastard...That oppressive wall! Knock it down! Deadpool and Pinkie Pie has the right idea! KNOCK IT DOOOOOOOWN!!!" Geno ranted on, his face becoming redder and redder and his Irish accent becoming thicker as he was becoming angrier.

Matt

Matt had just gotten done ripping apart the last Mech when he spotted the hat-wearing newcomer. He posed no threat, so he turned his back and looked down at Auby, talking in the gentlest tone possible, however it only came out as a growl. "Yeah, it's me. Like the new loo- FUUUUUUCK!!!" Matt was interrupted. A shot ripped through his chest, fired from behind. He slowly turned his head, twitching slightly and anger playing across his face. Hatred and a murderous intent burned in his eyes as he slowly turned, already coagulated blood seeping from the wound. The large hole in his chest began closing slowly, then fully healed. Matt stepped off the car and walked toward the hat-wearing man, his form twitching slightly. "You shot me... Too bad you didn't kill me." As he said the words he cracked his knuckles by clenching his fists. He may not kill this guy, but he had to be punished at the very least.

Akihiro Yatsumaru

Akihiro screamed in pain as his arm was literally sawn off by a tendril of blood. Blasting his free fist into Sadow’s gut, he grabbed his gun quickly and took aim at Cide, eyes glowing red with Hellish fury as he fired a single shot, the only one remaining in the magazine. The bullet seemed to rip through the air as it raced to meet Cide’s body.

Earendur Surion

Earendur was confused by the white-haired, shirtless man’s words and his accent sounded… amazing. But he ignored him in the face of Matt’s response, eyes widening when he was shot and immediately regenerated. He looked on and saw a dark haired man with a gun poised at Matt. Another of that guy’s thugs?!

Shade

Shade smirked. He knew the bullet wouldn't be enough to fell something as powerful as the demonic being in front of his eyes. "Yes, I shot you. Glad to see your brain is functional at least. I was expecting pure dumb muscle from a creature like you. This just might be entertaining."

In order to deal with the looming threat, he knew making the first move in the fight would be utter suicide. He simply wasn't ready to tackle a threat like this, at least not head on. Patience would now become his best friend while he waited for a good opening.

The Genocide Brothers

Cide had only a moment to react. Upon seeing Aki pull the gun and point it toward him, blood poured out from both of his hands and instantly covered his entire body. The blood hardened until it was thick as concrete just as the bullet punched him in the chest. It knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying back, slamming into the side of the bridge. He managed to shakily stand as the blood seeped back into his hands. He wasn't out of this fight, but he needed a breather. All of the energy he had expended for the ritual to bring his brother back was starting to take it's toll on his body. He took cover behind a car and closed his eyes, meditating for a moment and catching his breath.

Geno heard the gunshot and looked over his shoulder just in time to see Cide get shot. Gasping loudly, he scrambled out from underneath the car and raced over to his brother. However, during the scramble out from the car, his pajama pants had gotten snagged on a loose piece of metal and came off, unbeknownst to him. Nude as can be, he raced over to Cide and crouched next to him. "Bro! Bro! Bro! You okay? Yeah, you okay. Good. Whew. Scared me there for a sec." Geno said as he looked around. This had gone on long enough. He jumped on top of a car and made an announcement, legs slightly spread. "Listen up! This has gone on long enough! Can't we just be friends? Free hugs? I'll be the first to give one! C'mon!"

Matt

The guy who shot him was now MOCKING him. Matt couldn't let this go. Purple light radiated around his hands. He raised his right one and aimed it right at Shade. Letting loose a small, not lethal blast, Matt aimed it dead-center for Shade. He was hoping that this would be enough to end the skirmish, but he had a feeling that this guy was more than he seemed. But who in their right mind would go up against a guy who just took down those Mechs with such ferocity? Nyx chimed in inside of his mind. ''Y'know, we could kill him, loot his corpse, and throw him over the bridge! Could be fun!''

Metharme

The android sent the video feed directly to their employer, as instructed. In a dark room, a bright darkish-yellow holo-screen displayed the battle between Matt and Shade through her eyes. A man in a stylish tuxedo sat in a mechanized rotating chair, bringing up an expensive cigarette from France up to his lips to take a quick drag as he watched on with interest. ''An exceptionally talented individual. He needed exceptional talent. What would be this boys’ price, he wondered…''

Meanwhile, Metharme received orders to engage; take the hostile alive, like the others. Flipping a high-powered taser out of her sleeve from the wrist and gripping it, she silently ran behind the assailant and drove the taser into his side, sending high volts of electricity throughout his body. Enough to numb an elephant.

Juliana Robertson

The Chief slammed her fist repeatedly into the face of the female terrorist, relishing in the expression of her passionate rage at these bastards’ horrific disregard for the people of her cities’ lives. She asked once more “How do we stop him, you bitch!? Tell me!” The trenchcoat-wearing bitch smirked up at her, blood trickling down from her nostrils and the sides of her mouth “You can’t… Our Commander, Akihiro, is invincible. I’ve seen him take sniper rounds to the head… Tank shells to the center… Nothing phases him. Sure, he’ll ooze that black shit… But he just keeps on truckin’. If you wanna save these people, officer? …Get them the hell outta’ Dodge.” Gritting her teeth, Chief Robertson aimed a punch at the woman once last time but Lauren grabbed her arm and interrupted “Uhhh… Chief?” The Chief turned her head as Lauren pointed toward the battle between the two “immortals”. Things were getting fucking crazy.

Sadow and Akihiro Yatsumaru

Slamming his gloved fist into Aki’s face, Sadow’s eyes glowed a bright red as he clenched his teeth and bellowed “You fucking BASTARD!” The weapon dropped across the ground and the two monsters began to violently transform into black Demon-spawns; Akihiro with black, clawed hands, black schlera with glowing red eyes, hair becoming sharp, white bristles, and teeth becoming more fang-like in rows. Whereas Sadow, who also, grew black schlera with red eyes, transformed his hands into axes that ripped through his gloves. The two charged at one another, slicing each other apart and regenerating rapidly. They both roared with feral animosity and almost biblical hatred of one another, hacking away without any regard to their own defense.

Charging at each other, they both brought their legs up to kick the other’s center but ended up successfully hitting and knocking each other down. Both quickly got up and resumed their fight after that clumsy mishap, Sadow whirling around and aiming a hard, chopping kick into Aki’s gut and sending him into a nearby tanker, causing it to explode with tremendous volume and force. Knowing the fight hadn’t been won, Sadow grabbed his gun and began reloading it while marching toward the burning wreckage, his wounds regenerating as he calmed down. He was now shirtless and wearing torn pants, his custom utility belt of varying pockets of ammunition, a grenade, and a bottle of whiskey. Suddenly, however, a black, spiked tendril shot out from the flames and stabbed the warrior in the chest, pulling out and retracting back to Aki’s side. Sadow fell to his knees, staring wide-eyed down at his leaking wound as Aki marched out of the fire, fully nude and smirking “You know, Sadow… I chase after fights like this. But I can never truly find an opponent worth the stuff as much as you.” Smirking darkly, he carried a chain with him as Sadow fell on all fours, coughing as he struggled to regenerate painfully.

Aki wrapped the chain around the man’s neck and pulled tightly, with enough force to break a normal man’s neck. He taunted as Sadow closed his eyes while choking “Well don’t tell me you’re going to fall asleep before the big finish?! You’ve really gotten old, haven’t you~?” At this, however, a blue sphere of light burned its way through Aki’s shoulder, pushing him a bit before he quickly started regenerating it. A slight burning sensation… like a bullet. He turned and bellowed “Alright, who has the balls-“ before his eyes lit up in surprise to see his target, the young elf, standing bravely before him with a look of vexed courage on his face. Looking visibly surprised, Aki smirked while gesturing to Earu, Cide, and the oddly nude Geno “Well, well… Ain’t that cute. Look at that, Sadow, you managed to make some friends.” Sadow merely choked out “Hate you… Hate you all…”

Earendur Surion

Earendur stood firm against the monster “Leave him alone!” He felt like the archetypical hero, coming to save the day. Like Matthew~ Aki chuckled at this before giving an intimidating glare “Or what?” Earendur’s eyes narrowed before he ran up with quick speed, aiming a high punch at the man’s face “Or this-!” But the terrorist leader was quicker and grabbed the elf’s wrist before slamming his knee into his gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to choke on some spit. He smirked before tossing Sadow aside like a ragdoll and blasting a few hard punches into the boy, mocking “Or this?! What do you think you are, kid?! A hero?! Pussies like you make me sick with their futile efforts!” Finally, a fifth punch was dodged by the Elven “hero”, who aimed a successful and surprisingly hard haymaker into the Hell-Hunter’s jaw, sending him reeling back. The police, Sadow, Arra, and anyone else watching looked utterly shocked. Even Aki, while starting to get up, looked at the elf with wide eyes at the event. He… felt that.

Earendur took a stance, retorting “I am a hero.” before returning the favor of the knee to the gut but with Aki’s face, cracking his nose. “I am not a pussy.” he followed, bringing his fist up and beneath Aki’s chin, flipping him high into the air. “And my efforts…” he said as he took aim with his hand. “…are not…” his hand began to glow a bright blue. “…FUTILE!” he bellowed before firing a successive stream of blue spheres, burning several holes through the man before his smoldering carcass hit the pavement with a thud. Sadow’s eyes widened as high as they could go as his jaw dropped completely. Tami gave a similar expression as Arra cheered him on, jumping high while exclaiming “Holy shit! Holy dick! He got him! He got him!”

Shade

Shade had prepared himself for anything except for what happened. The Demon just dropped to the ground without warning. He couldn't help but laugh when he realized what Metharme did to drop the monster so easily. Never did he expect a non-lethal approach would have any noticeable effect on anything more than a human. "Think this will be enough to keep the boss off our backs for a few weeks?" he asked, semi-joking. He was already overdue on getting the man in red, which was a huge blow to his ego and his reputation as a mercenary.

The Genocide Brothers

Geno had managed to bring Cide back to consciousness, albeit Cide wished he wasn't. He had seen his brother nude before and it never bothered him, but acts of public nudity were just too much. Cide groaned and rubbed his temples, then looked around quickly. Sadow was getting his ass kicked... again. The tiny boy that was hiding under the car was now beating down the assailant, ACTUALLY landing blows and kicking the shit out of him. Cide made a mental note to later talk to him about that. The buff kid was now wearing a black armor and on the ground, twitching and convulsing. And Geno was... being Geno. Geno had stepped off of the car and was standing in front of Matt. "'Ey now, that'll be enough of that! I'm sure if he could say words, he'd be yellin' 'Don't taze me, bro!'. But... Y'er tazin' him. So, I'll offer a trade. Stop tazin' this kid, and I won't hafta tea-bag ya! Deal? C'mon, we can be friends! And fight evil together and play Scrabble and stuff! How can you say no to meeee?" At that, Geno put both of his hands behind his head, slightly bent at the knees, and moved his hips side-to-side. The large boombox safely tucked away next to Cide began playing "Sexy and I Know It". Cide grumbled and shook his head at Geno's shenanigans. "How could we have come from the same womb...?" Cide muttered to himself.

Matt

Matt was being racked with electricity. He convulsed. ''How?! I'm a badass! A Demon now! How the FUCK is this fucking happening?! WHO THE FUCK IS FUCKING DOING THIS?! THESE FUCKING FUCKS ARE GOING TO FUCKING DIE!! ''Matt and Nyx both screamed in his mind. The last thing he remembered was the showdown between he and the other guy. But Matt hadn't seen a tazer. Did it come from somewhere else? Where? Matt had no idea, but he would eventually find out, he was sure. But for now, the only thing he could do was convulse and feel the pain... No... Feed on it. Become fueled by it. He just needed to bide his time...

Sadow Yatsumaru

Getting up from his beatdown, Sadow grabbed the smoldering remains of Aki as his regeneration was starting and flung him into a nearby metal support beam hard, beginning a long, furious serious of facial punches that left cracking sounds like thunder in their wake. Black blood trickled down Aki’s nose, his body now mostly regenerated. He attempted to guard another swing but was knocked over to the side of the bridge, dangling precariously over the side and about to fall on a passing boat with drums of gas on the deck due to a filled cargo. Sadow quickly reached forward, clutching the red crystal necklace dangling from Aki’s chest and ripping it off of him, before the opponent fell to the boat below.

Crashing down onto the boat below, Aki groaned in pain as he started to stand up. He was beyond pissed. Beaten down by that scrawny little punk and the runt… The two drivers of the boat jumped out into the water and began swimming away at the sight of the mutating freak who was growing spikes out of his back and fangs protruding from his mouth. Sadow took aim with his pistol at the drums of gas and spoke “Burnout.” At this, he fired and the bullet punctured into one of the gas barrels, causing it to explode along with the others in a chain wave of explosions leading to the boats destruction. Dropping into the dark depths below, Aki’s regeneration was slowed due to the water mixing with his black blood. Dangerously slowed. Sadow snickered “Tch… cocksucker.” At this, he holstered his gun in his pocket and turned, a prevalent limp being cured by a simple turn and cracking of his hips.

Earendur Surion

Earendur smiled to Sadow in a friendly manner, holding out his hand to greet with a Human handshake “Hello. My name is Auby! What’s yours?” Sadow merely looked down at him with an uncaring stare “…You’re small to be taking on big fish like him.” Earu smirked gingerly at this “I may be small, but my heart is big!” Sadow raised a brow “Why’d you help me?” Earendur replied while rubbing his arm “You saved me first…” Sadow remembered how he came to circumstantial defense of this little man.

Metharme

Metharme pulled her taser away from him while scanning him. Demonic work. Their employer would be pleased. Turning, she looked up just in time to receive a hard punch to the face delivered by Sadow, who immediately aimed his gun down at her, eyes glowing red once more with passionate hatred at what she was sent by and what she represented.

Arra Sans

Arra watched on as all this unfolded. Earu being… so suddenly masculine, as well as Matt’s attractively dark new look. She felt like she was in a harem. But, thankfully, the battle seemed won. Apart from these new people trying to kill each other, at least the crazy guy spraying bullets everywhere was gone. Hopefully.

Shade

Shade jumped a little when he heard the sick thud that was Metharme getting knocked down. "Didn't expect you to regenerate so quickly, scumbag. I knew leaving you for later was a mistake. I know your kind can heal, and I knew you were quick about it. Even if we fail to capture you here though, this is valuable intel. But, before I deal with you professionally, there's the small matter of you knocking my partner upside the head." he growled, stepping so that he was to his target's right.

"Put the gun away. She's no threat to you. Well, not as much as I am." Shade's voice was suddenly like ice. Some would say he was going insane for drawing the enemy away from a robot like he was doing, but after all the countless hours on the road, a man would connect with any sentient being, especially one crafted to adapt and learn like a human.

The Genocide Brothers

Cide noticed that Aki was gone. Sadow had prevailed, effectively blowing him up. Shrugging inwardly, Cide stood up shakily, the ache in his chest pounding with each beat of his heart. No permanent damage that he could tell, at least no immediate damage. Everything seemed to be in order, except for the police in the distance and Shade and the lady. Other than that, nothing. He began looking from car to car, checking each for damage. After a few moments of searching, he found one that wasn't completely destroyed. It was a van, too. He pulled the previous occupant out, who had been shot in the head. Must've been from a stray bullet. Cide had been around enough dead bodies to not have it bother him too much. He climbed into the driver's seat and turned over the key, the engine purring to life. Perfect. Geno was busy trying to keep the violence down. "C'mon, all! We's 'sposed to work together! Pleeaase?"

Matt

The current was stopped. Matt lay there, his muscles still spasming. He slowly moved his arm and got up, nursing the burning sensation where the tazer was. The bitch who had done it was on the ground, apparently beaten down by that Sadow guy. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Taking a look at Shade, he took a step toward him, then stopped. Something felt...Wrong. He doubled over, nearly vomitting. He felt something leaving him. A moment later, Nyx was lying on the ground in front of him, panting from exhaustion. He was himself again. Bringing his left arm up to rub his pounding head, he noticed a mark on his forearm. It looked like a circle with several spikes coming out from around it. At the end of each spike was a small ball. It looked like a tattoo, and when Matt touched it, it stung like a bee sting. The skin around it was red and swollen. Matt ignored it for now, backing up slowly, trying to regain his ground.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow didn’t look at Shade and merely stared down at the machine coldly “Why? She’s nothing but a walking toaster with a few extra gadgets. Blowing her artificial brains out would be nothing…” He changed his aim toward the man in the suit, continuing with a cold stare toward him “…You, on the other hand, would bring me great satisfaction in killing.”

Metharme

Metharme looked nervously up at Sadow, scanning him. He held a lot of Demonic traces in him. Full of a- CLASSIFIED SUBSTANCE. Another firewall. Their target was secretive indeed. She trusted in Shade’s skill to put an end to the volatile situation, though was wary in case he decided to make an appearance.

Shade

Shade cracked his knuckles in anticipation. He was going to enjoy the fight more than he wanted to. "Then get away from my fancy toaster. Just you and me. That's it. That way, we can duke it out, no interference from anybody." Part of him wanted to start right away, but he repressed that voice, not willing to put lives in danger.

The Genocide Brothers

Cide rummaged through the van and found a granola bar still in it's wrapper. He ripped the foil off and bit it in half with one bite. The ritual plus the fight had left him famished. Geno, upon seeing that no peace could be established, backed his way out of the conflict. On the way, he had found his pajama pants and slid back into them. Geno tip-toed back to Cide and stood next to the open driver's side door, watching the conflict that was about to happen. Cide tossed him the other half of the granola bar, which Geno caught in midair by his mouth. "Oooh, chocolate chip!" Geno said as he chewed. Cide had already swallowed his half, and was assessing everything closely. "Geno, I'm not concerned about it too much, but what's your take on the situation?" Geno thought for a moment. "Well... one guy who can just regenerate lost limbs, one guy who's a badass with a gun and probably otherwise, a lady who was just knocked out by the regenerate-y guy, two teens, one of which can turn into a Demon and other who closely resembles someone out of a Tolkien book. I thought these situations didn't scare you?" Geno said as continued looking at Shade and Sadow. "They don't, but there's obviously something unnatural going on here. And that usually doesn't lead to hugs and puppies." Cide said. There was one thing for sure... This was going to be an interesting fight.

Matt

Matt leaned against a metal support beam of the bridge, the ache in his head starting to diminish. Uriel was busy picking up Nyx and carrying her to Matt. Uriel lay her down next to him, then stood up straight, taking on her more human form. After a moment, she spoke. "Nyx... just possessed you. I... I didn't think that was possible. I mean, we've tried before, but it never worked." Matt looked at her, then to Nyx. "So, will she be okay?" Matt asked, trying to keep his voice steady. "She should be, but she just needs time to rest. A possession takes a lot out of us." Uriel said. Matt suddenly remembered what had happened before the possession. He lifted up his tank top and looked at his torso. No bullet holes. Not even any scars. He wasn't complaining, though. Matt simply stood there, watching the upcoming battle. This should be interesting.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow smirked and aimed the gun at the fool, taunting “You’d risk your life for scrap parts? So be it. Die for circuits and bolts, dumbass.” At this, he took three Keshots at the man, the long, white gun recoiling hard but hardly flinching the determined warrior.

Shade

The three bullets crashed into Shade's torso, which was thankfully covered by Kevlar. "Today is NOT your lucky day." he said. Not waiting to give his prey a second volly, he pulled a second knife, this one hidden in his right sleeve, and charged forward, aiming the sharp tip at what he could assume was a possible weakpoint in Sadow's chest, just below the sternum, one of the softest spots of the chest region.

The Genocide Brothers

Cide watched closely at the two as they traded blows. He watched and learned the two's fighting styles, noting it in his mind for future use. If he ever needed it, that is. "Hey, Geno, let's get out of... Geno?" Cide said. He looked to where Geno was standing, but he was no longer there. That was the trick with Geno... He was always so crafty, and his abilities made him the perfect prankster. However, this time, Geno was not pulling a prank. He reappeared behind Shade with a white rag, much to Cide's surprise. Geno wrapped one arm around Shade's torso, pinning his arms to his sides, and the hand that held the rag went straight to Shade's mouth and nose, covering them both. A pungent smell came from the rag. Geno knew that that chloroform on the rag would take effect in a matter of moments. Cide silently wondered where Geno got it from, but he knew better than to question such things. Geno simply strong-armed Shade, whispering "Shhhh, sh sh sh...Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little Shady... Go to sleep so we can go to chapter three..."

Matt

"What...?" Matt muttered as the long-haired Irishman put the rag over Shade's mouth. Chapter three? Dafuq? Matt managed to limp his way over to where Auby was and put his arm around him. "Hey man, I think we survived... Can, uh... Can we leave now?" Matt was exhausted. He just wanted to go to Arra's apartment and crash on the couch for a few days straight. Suddenly, he heard a loud whirring sound. He looked around, then looked up and saw a helicopter quickly approaching. Matt cursed under his breath and put his hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the sun the best he could. Squinting his eyes, he could barely make out the letters 'WRHZ'. Matt thought for a moment, then it hit him. That was the local TV station. Fuckin' hell.

Sadow Yatsumaru

Sadow felt the bullets rip through his lungs, coughing up droplets of black liquid and choking. Slowly his bullet wounds closed up as his internal organs regenerate, the droplets slithering up his clothes and into the bullet hole before it closed. Red static circled it as it closed, causing Sadow to clench his teeth in intense pain. He looked up with feral, red, glowing eyes and teeth gnashing in hot fury but they all dissipated in place of a comically stupefied look, tilting his head to the side as his enemy was knocked out by the chloroform-wielding Irishman. What… the hell…?

Earendur Surion

Earendur smiled at Matt as he spoke and looked up when the helicopter arrived. They were on TV! Realizing the implications of this, he quickly used the Illusionary spell he kept up in front of others to appear Human and turned back into simple, ol’ Auby once more.

Oakswood County Police

Lauren and Will pulled up in their car across the bridge carefully but hurriedly, getting out quickly enough for Lauren to send a barrage of questions Matt’s way “MATT. YOU’VEGOTSOMEEXPLAININGTODO, WHOARETHESEPEOPLEANDWHATJUSTHAPPENEDDIDISEEYOUASADEMONEARLIER?! WHAT THE FUCK?!” They all became still and silent, however, as Police Chief Robertson pulled up on her steed, staring down coldly at them “I want a full report from all of you. Complete and total honesty. I, personally, want to know just what the fuck happened.” Her cold eyes pierced Earu’s very soul. Such a brutal appearance in a woman…

Arra Sans

Arra groaned helplessly as the media swarmed them, along with the local authorities. Seemed they caught the other bad guys, though, which was a relief… Still, they were going to have a fun time explaining how they were innocent, regardless of Matt and Auby’s superpowers. But who were these other guys? The two Irish guys, the immortal, the Fed and his robot compatriot? Things were getting a little weird around their little small town…

Shade

Shade struggled against his assailant. Then a familiar scent caught his attention, the smell of chloroform. Then he heard somebody singing a lullaby and referring to something about a chapter. That's when his mind simply shut down, unable to resist the toxin that now invaded his body along with the stresses of combat taking their exhausting toll. His eyes drooped and in no time, he was snoring softly.

Matt

''Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck... '' Matt had no idea who to answer first. His first instinct was to answer Lauren, the only motherly figure he's had since his parents died, but the woman on the horse... She was terrifying. More than Arra, more than principal Schumeister, even more than that immortal guy they fought earlier. He opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he began speaking. "They... Uh... Terrorists... And, uh... rockets and cocaine and stuff... Um... I'm pretty sure one of them wasn't yelling anti-semitic slurs..." Matt mumbled like a damned fool. This was going to be a long night...

The Genocide Brothers

Upon the arrival of the police, Cide ducked down in the van. Cursing quietly, he decided to pull a maneuver that he had only done a few times before. It was dangerous and exhausting, but it needed to be done. Geno knew what to do. Cide took a deep breath and cut into both of his wrists, the blood spewing out. It covered the inside of the van, however quickly retracted and covered Cide instead. Cide seemed to melt into the blood until he was nothing but a puddle. The puddle slid out of the van and worked it's way over to Geno. Once it reached him, a small tendril shot out and cut Geno's leg. The tendril slid it's way into the cut, invading Geno's body. Cide knew it was painful to Geno, but it was equally as painful for Cide. Plus, unsanitary...

Geno, meanwhile, had successfully subdued Shade. He barely even noticed Cide's forcible entry. He had gotten used to pain, so he just decided to outright ignore it half the time. Geno slung Shade over his shoulder, then looked at Sadow. Taking a look of surprise on his face, he pointed with his free hand to the side of the bridge. "OH MY GOD, LOOK!! IT'S AAAAAKIIIII!!!!!" As soon as Sadow turned, saw nothing, then turned back to Geno, Geno cold-cocked him right in the jaw, hard enough to knock him out. He then caught Sadow as he fell and slung him over the over shoulder. Smiling a little to himself, he began walking. Straight past the police, turning invisible and ethereal every once in a while, just so much to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

The sun began to set over the horizon, casting an orangish glow over everything. The lapping flames slowly began to die, the remainder of their lives being extinguished just as the souls of 87 people had a little over an hour prior. The white-haired Irishman walked with two bodies slung over his shoulder walked silently off of the bridge and into the grass. Entering the forest, the Irishman eventually came into a clearing. He repositioned the two men over his shoulder, then slowly walked toward the sunset, a boombox being drug on a string behind him. It flickered to life, then began playing a slow, wordless song. Several bagpipes and drums played in unison as he walked slowly, disappearing into the forest.

Bitter Memory
Patting the end of his cigarette against the ash tray built into his rotating chair’s arm rest, a man in a suit with the ominous darkness of the room mixed with the smoke hiding his face spoke in an aged, yet suave voice “What an explosive outcome.” A blonde, facially-scarred lady similar to the Chief spoke next to him whilst wearing a suit as well and with a cold expression on her youthful face “It would seem that Akihiro has failed.” The man in the chair folded his hands together while leaning forward and replied “Not exactly. All the pieces are now boxed in together. Project V-18 and V-17 are both in the same town, along with the most talented Human Magic user since Leonardo da Vinci, two extraterrestrial bipedal lifeforms with advanced technological capabilities, and Project Ragnarok has been restored to full. All of these investments are, thus far, safe and sound in this remote little town. I’d say this is quite the success, wouldn’t you?” Lady Kanpu, as she was called, grimaced in doubt “How will you be able to detain and hold them all? And there is also the Shichinan to worry about.” The man in the chair took another drag of his cigarette before breathing a trail of grey smoke out of his pursed lips “They will be dealt with as well, rest assured. Everything is going according to plan.”

...

A small girl in a wheel chair, with a missing leg and eye as well as black hair with a white streak through it, stared up at the night sky on a rooftop as if waiting for something. Reaching up at one of the brighter ones, she sung low as to not wake up her sleeping compatriots inside the house “Twinkle, twinkle little star~ How I wonder what you are~”