[img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/59130ec9-ed14-4987-990a-43bfc6f37c8a.png[/img] [@Ponn][@Majoraa][@ERode] Perhaps it was inevitable that the two biker gangs would get into a tussle. But what happened next would be on the Gemini agents. The Knight of Tomorrow sent a crackling blast of green energy towards a group of cowboys. The burst knocked a few cowboys on their ass. One fell backwards onto a table, only for it to tip over and drop him on his head. Their outfits had been lightly scorched, and the hair on their arms had been burned off where it was exposed to the emerald energy beam. [b]”Wut n’ tarnation?”[/b] One of the cowboys said as she stood back up. Though far less impressed were the dryads that witnessed the attack. [b]”Esperssssss…”[/b] The humanity left their voice as they hissed the word. The once lively drinking fae creatures started to grow out vines and extra fingers. Dante just seethed as things grew more chaotic. Estelle jumped right past him and knocked over a few drinks on her way to the teenagers. It seemed Ashley’s attempt to clear out a path hadn’t been entirely necessary. Once Estelle arrived, she tried to convince the girls to leave. It didn’t seem like she was going to get any complaints. However… [b]”B-but there’s no way out!”[/b] Estelle might have been able to nimbly jump the length of the room, but these were just highschool girls. Something Estelle could confirm with her ability to sense things of a chaotic nature. [b]”They’re everywhere!”[/b] Despite their protests, most of the girls were getting ready to leave their seats. Most, because one was standing next to the jukebox with her arms folded. [b]”I’m not leaving without seeing Amanda.”[/b] She pouted. [b]”That’s like, the only reason we came here.”[/b] Estelle’s presence may have given the teenagers some relief, but a nearby dryad was not as pleased. She hissed when they noticed the insignia on Estelle’s uniform. [b]”Gemini!”[/b] The word caused the dryads to convulse. The bark on their bodies snapped and crackled as new forms tried to emerge. Their faces split open to reveal they were only masks. What lay behind was woodland-like creatures. Fae with the faces of bunnies, weasels, a skunk, all piloting trees that tried to imitate humans. The duel between the Cowboy Gang and Dryad Gang would go on, but now they had bigger fish to fry. The dryad that spotted Estelle stomped on the ground. The weak tile floor gave way under her foot roots enveloped her foot. Sensing a potential easy target, many of the cowboys rushed Estelle with chairs and beer steins in hand. One of them decided to take a swing and hit the girl by the jukebox. To both their surprise, the attack had no effect on her. She swiftly countered by driving her foot into the man’s crotch, which dropped him immediately. [b]”Debbi!”[/b] He wined before rolling over. Back at the front of the diner, things weren’t looking any less frantic. The dryads and cowboys near Ashley and Finn had pretty much witnessed everything they did. Even in their drunken state, they knew who the biggest threat was. The nearby druids called roots up to ensnare Ashley while the nearby cowboys rushed her. Most of them were armed with beer bottles or a stein, but one towards the back had pulled a swag light off the ceiling to use as a flail. He spun it like a lasso while yelling [b]”Yeeeeeeeehawwwwwwww!”[/b] And as all this happened around Dante, he kept his eyes fixed on the source of it all. The boy that was first to enter, the first to transform, and the one giving out orders. The one that caused all of this to start in the first place. [hider=Enough] [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q8SxnbL1ms[/youtube] [/hider] [b]”Tell me, Finn.“[/b] Dante reached inside his chest and took hold of something inside his body. With a tug, his shirt started to tear as a long steel handle was pulled out of his stomach. Not only did his shirt fall off, but the massive gut he had started to grow smaller. Where there was once heaps of lard was now rippling muscle. With one final tug, a warhammer sprung free. [b]”Do you try to fuck things up this bad, or does it come naturally to you?“[/b] Finn’s eyes widened in fear once he realized Dante was pulling out a weapon of his own, and instinctively began to step backwards, away from the sandman. Though the question struck a different nerve than the inevitability of a fight. How many times did something like this happen, to the point where the boy was growing further jaded by his streak of bad luck? How many times was he the one painted at fault for what he couldn’t help, and demonized as a result of his actions? A monster in his own right? [color=goldenrod]”Even [i]if[/i] I said it’s just shitty luck, my answer won’t make a difference, [i]right!?[/i]”[/color] The Witch Hunter was busy protecting the highschoolers on one end, and Orion was swarmed on the other. He was stuck facing Dante himself. His grip on Atropos tightened with a dry laugh. [color=goldenrod]”Everything I try to do to be a good person [i]backfires[/i] on me and it’s never going to stop, is it!?”[/color] [b]”It’s those attempts to better yourself that endeared me to you, boy.“[/b] Dante bared his teeth. [b]”But now you’ve made it personal, and you’re so much more dangerous than you are interesting.“[/b] In a flash, Dante’s form turned to sand, and he sifted straight through the counter to appear before Finn. His hammer was already raised high above his head, and it came down without a moment’s notice. [color=goldenrod][i][b]So be it.[/b][/i][/color] The hammer collided with the roaring teeth of the Timekeeper’s chainsaw, the smaller boy pushing back against it to keep himself from getting struck. Then Fritzi’s voice poured into everyone’s earpiece. [color=bd71e8]”Good news everyone! I got some last minute backup if you need it.”[/color] Just by her tone of voice, everyone could tell she was tickled by this. [color=bd71e8]”We had a dream shaping esper named Violet help with a test program a while back. She won’t be of much use if a fight breaks out, but if Finn starts to doze off, she should be able to jump into his dreams if a succubus tries to mess with him. Or any of you, really. He just seems the most likely to fall asleep on the job. So! Did you find anything yet?”[/color] [hr] [img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/96bf4041-5946-4c70-b1bc-768490163963.png[/img] [@Vertigo] There were a lot of things that made dealing with monsters difficult. They didn’t think like humans, they didn’t want what humans wanted, and their abilities were often more varied than an esper’s. It made it difficult to predict how a new monster would behave in a given situation, or even what that behavior ment. Other times, it was pretty cut and dry. Not a lot was known about the golden dragon, other than he was very flighty and could transform into a full dragon. Ciri would need to be careful if she wanted to avoid spooking it. And she was. She made sure to call her summon in a shadow where it would be the least visible. She even did the hard thing and indirectly cast her melody to reduce the chance of the dragon noticing anything. Yet he did. The dragon man was looking straight at where the gorilla minion had been summoned. Perhaps his ability to work with alchemy allowed him to detect the presence of magic? No one could say. He didn’t move a muscle. One might mistaken him for a dress mannequin rather than a living breathing creature. But he was only still until Ciri revealed her location. He spun around and ducked as if Ciri’s voice sent shrapnel flying over his head. And then he froze. Again. He gave the purple oni girl a long hard stare. [color=gold]”Imp Scare!”[/color] The words came out of his mouth in a hushed whisper. The dragon man turned around to run. That was when the freaky featureless gorilla stepped out of the shadow to block his way. They were in a narrow back ally and had him surrounded. The space above the dragon was open, but there was no way he could transform in such a narrow space. If one were to think about it logically, the dragon only had three options. #1: Confront Ciri, who just gave a line that could oddly serve as an intimidating greeting or a really bad pick up line. #2: Try to force his way past a shadow creature. #3: scale the walls to reach the roof or climb above the ones that had surrounded him. Those were the logical choices. The problem was that they were dealing with a monster. A scared monster at that. They weren’t logical creatures on their best day. The dragon man charged into one of the walls,crashing through the brick and mortar wall like the kool aid man. That was the issue with trying to trap monsters. Physical structures were more like a suggestion to a monster, and short of the sturdiest materials on earth or something of suitable thickness, they could just brute force their way through it. The dragon tumbled through the debris and landed in a hallway. It was nothing fancy, just a shortcut to let the hotel staff move between rooms without disturbing guests. One end led to the lobby, and the other went to a staircase, which was where the dragon was heading to. Ciri could feel her partner’s presence stir at her side, waiting for orders.