[h2]The Brawl.[/h2]

[b]A Xoddy and Rtron Collaboration.[/b]


Maeve’s eyes narrowed at the title of ‘Celtic Queens’ but she made no reply. It wouldn’t do any good regardless. He’d just make an annoying quip or remark. The two Banshees changed their course and approached the Ante Mortem. Noticeably, they didn’t approach with the caution or worry other Asylums had. They were used to the mad duo by now, having run on missions with them before. [color=598527]“Nice to see you to Rin.”[/color] Kiara replied, smiling slightly. Maeve merely rolled her eyes, focusing instead on Angel. Her eyebrows rose as he made his offer, Kiara’s mirroring the action perfectly. They were surprised. And suspicious. Angel didn’t do anything like this unless he expected wholesale amusement from it. Usually at the expense of whomever he had just paid. On the other hand, two coins for Ourosboros would be extremely useful, and not just for the entire debauchery spiel. 

[color=ed1c24]“So, you want me to punch a guy through a fishtank. Fair enough. I’m down.” [/color]Maeve moved to go over to the Asylum in question, stopping as Kiara’s hand touched her arm. [color=598527]“Why. What’d he do to offend the mighty Ante Mortem just enough to warrant a beating, but not enough that you go over there and do it yourself?”[/color] She asked, quirking an eyebrow at the tall man. 

Angel casually glanced towards the direction of Kiara, his chin resting upon his arms, a look of complete bewilderment. He had just offered the two a deal, they would probably never get, and even then it was questioned? [i]How typical,[/i] he thought being well aware of Kiara’s saintly personality. “I could pull rank….” Angel replied with a slight smirk, “I am a Lost Number and my Partner is a Chrono, we are not really allowed to cause a scene…..it will result in a political upheaval.” The Reaper finished, finally lifting his head to look upon the two Banshees. “As to why? It is simple…...I do not like his face, it is the face of one who forgets his place and revels under false pretense.” 

Kiara smiled in both amusement and quiet enjoyment. Mad as he was, Angel was always interesting to talk to. [color=598527]“We all know that even with the rank of Chrono you can’t make us beat up someone you just don’t like in Innocence. There are rules, and we don’t all have your protection.”[/color] Her smile grew wider at the reason he wasn’t doing it himself. [color=598527]“My, my. Must be a very dangerous political climate to make the Ante Mortem wary of disturbing it. Fair enough. We’ll do it. You give us the coins and the dubious protection from backlash that Rin can offer, and Maeve will go over and punch him through a fish tank. I’ll stay back and make sure his friends don’t beat her into the ground.”[/color]

Maeve bared her teeth in a vicious grin. [color=ed1c24]“I haven’t had a good fight in ages!”[/color] 

[color=598527]“Literally two days.”[/color]

[color=ed1c24]”[i]Ages.[/i] Hold on to my coat please? I don’t want to ruin it.”[/color]

With that, she tossed her coat to Kiara and sauntered off towards the Asylum in question, humming lightly to herself. 

Kiara rolled her eyes and got up, leaving Maeve’s jacket, and walked towards the lunch line. Maeve stopped as well, scowling at her partner in impatience. The Shadow Queen waved a cheery hand at her partner as she stood in line, smiling cheekly. Maeve responded with a rude gesture.  Still, she waited as Kiara got her hot tea and returned, gently blowing on the boiling hot liquid as she sat across from the Ante Mortem. She looked sideways at Angel, watching her partner approach the unfortunate Asylum. [color=598527]“So. What has he done or is going to do that will piss Maeve and/or myself off? You wouldn’t send her in unless you expected a brutal brawl. And you already know that she’s going to treat this like a game unless pushed to far. What’s going to be the tipping point?”[/color]

“Of course I expect a brawl, little banshee,” the Reaper replied with a kind smile while casually stealing a spoon of Rin’s ice-cream, for which he received a blank stare from the Chrono, possibly disapproval behind the callous demeanour. “Mine,” the Chrono coldly lashed back before pushing her desert to the side and away from the swindling fiend. 

“You see my dear, I have this medical condition.” Angel continued, heaving a sarcastic sigh of depression as if plagued by a terminal illness. “I am terribly allergic to human debris, surely you wouldn’t want me to sully my hands and get unwell,” he crowed while maintaining his gentle smile, clearly pleased from the taste of spoonful of chocolate he just had. “Maeve on the other hand is not like you or I,” the Crimson waistcoat wearing Lost Number casually continued while tapping the frame of his spectacles. “She is a warrior at heart and thrives on the battlefield, you usher her in the right direction and she will find conflict where it exists.” As he continued he couldn’t help but stare in the direction of the other Banshee who was making her way to the Asylum. “The personalities of those two are complete opposite, they are like dynamites about to brush against each other…..you wait….and eventually….boom”

[color=598527]“You realize,”[/color] Kiara shrugged off her cape and idly put the long barrel of E.L.G into her hand, taking a drink of her tea. [color=598527]“if he has done something really bad, and she finds out, she’ll kill him. And I won’t stop her.”[/color] She slid two pairs of earplugs across the table to the Ante Mortem. [color=598527]“Here. You might want to put these in. If it's going to be as big of a boom as Angel hopes, you two would like to be able to hear things and not have your eardrums burst.”[/color]

Angel couldn’t help but shrug nonchalantly, the significance of that Asylum’s life was next to dirt, why would the Reaper care if he be killed? “I will be indifferent to his death, however I will not be able to extend the same degree of protection to you both if your partner murders an Asylum within the premises of Innocence.” He finished in a tone that would convey the underlying message, every deal has a clause and even the Devil must obey the laws of the contract. With that said, he accepted the pair of earplugs from Kiara, whereas Rin merely dumped her pair in an empty ice-cream bowl. 

Kiara shrugged at Reri. [color=598527]“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”[/color] She turned her slightly apprehensive gaze back to Maeve as the celtic woman approached her target. 

[color=ed1c24]“I hear you’ve been telling stories!”[/color] Maeve called as she approached. The obnoxious asylum looked up, mildly annoyed  at being interrupted mid story. His annoyed scowl turned into a leer as his eyes roved over her form. Maeve smiled at him. [color=ed1c24]“Mind telling me one?”[/color] “Sure. I always love making beautiful women ache to sleep with me.” Maeve’s smile twitched. “Which one do you want to hear?” [color=ed1c24]“Why don’t we start with the most recent one?”[/color]

The obnoxious asylum grinned, and began repeating his story. 

Maeve’s hand tightened into a fist as he reached the end, repeating what he did to the children.

Kiara sighed, finishing the rest of her tea and standing up. 

Bone spread from the wires around Maeve’s fist, covering it. [color=ed1c24]“Is that so?”[/color] Maeve asked after he finished, words carefully articulated. The eyes of the students around her went wide as they saw what was happening. The obnoxious asylum, oblivious as he continued to eye fuck Maeve, responded flippantly. “That’s right sugar tits. Why? Want me to impale your ass t-” 

He suddenly flew backwards and smashed through the fish tank, slamming into the wall behind it. Water and glass was everywhere, and dead silence reigned. Maeve cracked her knuckles, bone flowing over her body. 

The obnoxious asylum stood up, blood streaming from his shattered nose and various cuts on his body. “WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK  YOU ARE?!” He screamed, taking moving towards the red haired woman. Maeve grinned at him. [color=ed1c24]“Maeve. Of the Bean Sidhes, Banshees if you prefer. Right now though?”[/color] The bone flowed over her head and mouth, making a grinning skull, muffing her next words. [color=ed1c24]“Tá mé do tromluí is measa.”[/color] The man stopped for a moment, recognizing the name. [color=ed1c24]“Leibhéal 3.”[/color] The emerald gem on Maeve’s neck shone a bright green from within. Nine other asylums began to move, heading towards Maeve and her victim. His friends.

Shadows leapt around the students,  and others in the cafeteria, shoving earbuds into their ears, almost impossible to see. The nine asylums were left alone.

The obnoxious asylum tried to move, slipping on water. Maeve leapt through the shattered fish tank, and then screamed at him. 

A solid wall of sound slammed into her victim, lifting him off his feet and pinning him against the wall. The nine asylums screamed in pain, stumbling or falling and covering their ears. Kiara felt sorry for them. Having burst eardrums was an excruciating experience. 

She moved quickly towards them, her cloak flowing down her arm and wrapping tightly around it, hardening into a weapon.  As soon as she was within range, she slammed the barrel of E.L.G into the back of the head of one of the Asylums. She felt sorry. But not that sorry. The man fell to the ground, unconscious. Maeve was still screaming, and Kiara could see bones poking out in various places of her victim’s body. 

She began moving to another downed asylum as Maeve ran out of breath. Her victim fell to the ground, and was on him immediately. She kicked him in the ribs and chest, shouting at him. [color=ed1c24]“Céard atá mícheart? Ní féidir leat troid i gcoinne duine nach bhfuil leanbh!” [/color] More blood sprayed as he cried out in pain, jerking back. 
 
Kiara moved quickly,  trying to take down another Asylum before they healed their eardrums. Just as she swung her barrel at the head of another, he rolled out of the way. Kiara cursed, launching her cloak at him. It hardened into a fist, sweeping towards him. Kiara was suddenly knocked  to the side as another asylum kicked her in the ribs. Crying out in pain, she rolled back to her feet, her cloak returning to her in an instant. Three more Asylums had gotten up, rolling their shoulders and looking at Kiara in irritation. They were all bringing out their own weapons. One was pulling on a pair of gloves, another sliding brass knuckles, the third holding a baton, and the fourth had a baseball bat. [color=598527][i]Lovely. This is going to hurt.[/i][/color]

The other five were still recovering. Perhaps stunned, perhaps still trying to cling to the rules of the parley. Not important right now. What was important was the four Asylums rapidly closing in on her.

Kiara lashed out with her cloak again, clipping the one with brass knuckles.  The other three leapt at her in an instant. [color=598527]“Level 1!”[/color] Kiara dodged a baseball bat, kicking him in the stomach, and blocked the baton with her cloak. She drew in a breath to scream, only to have a gloved hand close around her neck. A shock of lightning later, and she flew backwards, slamming into the wall. She lay there for a moment, stunned. She tried to scream, but all she did was normally shout, drawing chuckles. Gloves had disabled her B.S.C. Strong hands closed around her arms, holding her up. She was dragged forward, vaguely noticing gold glinting on knuckles. “This is going to hurt you more than it’s going to hurt us ‘Shadow Queen.’” A rough voice mocked. She saw a flash of gold as someone lifted their fist. [color=598527][i]”Maeve!”[/i][/color] Her cry was both mental and vocal, desperation and confusion making her incautious. 

Maeve whirled around, dropping the obnoxious asylum from the death grip she had on him. Her knuckles were even bloodier than her feet, and blood covered the rest of her in splatters. The obnoxious Asylum was both silent and unmoving. Maeve snarled as she saw the situation Kiara was in, leaping through the fish tank again. [color=ed1c24]“Hey! Catch seo tú bastards!”[/color] She picked up the table next to her, and slung it like a frisbee towards the Asylums. The two asylums holding her up leapt out of the way. The brass knuckled asylum wasn’t so quick. The table smashed into his back, flinging him forward and trapping him against the wall. He went limp, eyes rolling in the back of his head. Kiara thought she could see bone poking out of his spine. 

The gloved asylum moved quickly, lunging for Maeve’s own collar. The Celtic woman jerked away, but not fast enough. Lightning sparked through her neck, and she snarled in pain as she slid backwards. He came at her again, perhaps trying to give her a stronger volt this time. Foolish. Grabbing Gloves’ extended arm, she threw him into the wall behind her. In an instant, four more asylums were on her. The other five had recovered. 

Maeve spewed curses in Irish, her armor taking the brunt of the blows, and started swinging. The smarter ones leapt back. Those that didn’t were thrown back with broken noses or jaws. Maeve stood tall, breathing heavy and snarling at the asylums around her. They stared at her for a moment, unsure of what to do about the armor. Then all five of them started circling her, like a pack of hyenas. [color=ed1c24]“Cladhaire fucking. An comhrac agus a bhfuil tú roinnt liathróidí!”[/color] They didn’t.  Every time she tried to attack one, the others would leap in and force her to defend herself, striking hard against her armor. Cracks were beginning to show in her armor. 

Kiara was in no better position. Mindful of the rules of Innocence, she could only quickly and barely use her alchemy. A shadow tugging a swinging arm for a millisecond, giving her time to run. Another shadow wrapping around a leg for the briefest of times, tripping the victim. So on so forth. Despite all this, the three remaining asylum were hard pressing her. She dodged what she could and took the brunt of what she couldn’t. Her ribs hurt, probably cracked, and she was already blooming new bruises across her face and arms. The Shadow Queen stumbled backwards as a baton cracked across her face. [color=598527][i]God I hope that didn’t knock a tooth out.[/i][/color] She thought inanely, righting herself into a defensive position as fast as possible.  Spitting blood, she grimaced at the baseball bat, baton, and the kendo stick wielding asylums. [color=598527]“Is that all you’ve got? I’ve took worse beatings from my grandma when I was five.”[/color]