[h1][color=9e0039]𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔[/color][/h1]
[sub][hr]🇹🇮🇲🇪: Present time
🇱🇴🇨🇦🇹🇮🇴🇳: Inside the cafeteria
In collaboration with [@Rtron][hr][/sub]

A short time after the duo of Predators had entered the cafeteria, a fight broke out. Instincts boiled deep down in Jonathan’s veins as he abruptly rose from his chair, clenched fists shaking and a wide grin drawn on his face. For Maximillian, he had observed the situation as he was eating, and found the situation quite ridiculous. He noticed just how much his brother craved for a fight. 
 
[color=39b54a][i]Sit down John, and bide your time. They are outnumbered right now. If you do anything stupid, you’ll just join them in the infirmary.[/i][/color]
 
On the other side of the cafeteria, the imposing Bloodhound reluctantly sat back onto his chair. As he crossed his arms, if one was paying close attention to details, they would notice the big man’s thumb trailing onto his skin in a pattern that wasn’t suggesting he was scratching himself. 
 
Throughout the fight, Maximillian watched how the Banshees were handling themselves. They were strong, that much was a given, but it meant little when outnumbered one to five against other alchemists. He’d seen the shadows flicker, signs of Alchemy he had recognized from his read earlier.
 
Indeed, before coming to grab a meal, Maximillian had been inside the Library for a hour, studying the profiles of his assigned teammates for the mission they were about to be briefed for later today. The Snake always preferred to be prepared as soon as he would be hearing he and his brother were assigned for duties, especially when paired with other people.
 
Thinking about it more thoroughly, maybe helping the Banshees through this predicament would be the better thing to do. Have them on their good side before even getting to the meeting would probably be most beneficial later on in the mission. If they were lucky, they may even go beyond simple recognition and be morally indebted to the brothers. Now that was something worth considering. 
 
Just when the shadow-manipulating Banshee staggered onto a wall by her assailants, Jonathan rose from his chair once more and let out a howling laugh of glee.
 
[color=f7941d]“A fight! This day is turning out to be better by the hour!” [/color]
 
Taken by surprise at the appearance of the large Predator, one of the men assaulting Maeve got punched squared in the jaw, sending the man fumbling across the cafeteria and crashed into a table. At this sight, the grinning wolf of the two Predators burst in laughter.
 
[color=f7941d]“Five to one ain’t a reasonable fight, boys! C’mon, give me your best shot!”[/color]
 
Maximillian obviously knew what his brother intentions were from the start. The bond they shared not only as Asylums, but as blood brothers, made the two linked in ways that border-lined reading one another’s mind. Plus, it’s not as if Jonathan was a guy hard to read, after all. The Snake turned his gaze to the Shadow Queen, surrounded by three remaining Asylums. Rules dictated that one should not use his Alchemy to fight another Asylum inside Innocence, but the same couldn’t be said about weapons and the like. As long as it didn’t outright kill someone, that is. 
 
Fidgeting with the syringe still inside his lab coat, Maximillian took it out and put it on the table in front of him. Apparently, there was still a small leftover of the liquid he had used earlier. A wicked grin flashed on the pale man’s face as he took out one vial, plunged the needle into the cork and withdrew the blue liquid from the vial. 
 
Setting the syringe onto the table nonchalantly, Maximillian returned to his plate, as if he was the least concerned about this whole encounter. However, he perked up a glance towards Kiara, reaching out to her mentally. Out of the two, the Shadow Queen was apparently the most reasonable of the Banshees, willing to go to certain lengths to ensure their survival and getting out from encounters on top.
 
[color=39b54a][i]If you are willing for a little bit of toxic delivery, I just happen to have a gift to help you guys out, set on my table. If not, could you give it to my brother instead?[/i][/color]
 
Maeve glanced only briefly at the Bloodhound, her face hidden behind the skull mask. [color=ed1c24]"Lad a choinneáil as mo chúl."[/color] She said, launching herself at Gloves. The man skirted backwards, hands going up defensively as Maeve threw a punch at his face.

Kiara dodged a kendo stick and the baseball bat, catching the police baton on her cloak. Almost immediately she lashed out with the same cloak, forcing her assailants to leap back. She lashed out quickly again, trying to avoid them from closing in on her once more. 

Her response to Maximillian was slightly sarcastic. 

[color=598527][i]Gee, thanks. I'll just hop over there and grab it! Or, even better, I'll waste the time needed to protect myself as best I'm able by focusing on making a shadow extend all the way across the cafeteria without attracting attention and return just as stealthily! Brilliant![/i][/color]

She ducked the baseball bat and slammed the barrel of E.L.G into his leg, as he cursed and instinctively jerked his leg back, her cloak formed a fist and smashed into his stomach, knocking the air out of him as he stumbled backwards. The other two were on her in a second, forcing her back on the defensive.

[color=598527][i]If you want to help, you're going to have to come closer.[/i][/color]

Maximillian offered no response to Kiara's sarcastic reply. He didn't plan on getting his own hands directly dirtied by this pointless fight the Banshees instigated. Instead, the reply came from an enlarged hand that slapped two of the shadow-manipulating Asylum's opponents into the wall.

"Ye boys and girls jus' quite fucked up me drinkin' time. Couldn't ye just take yer fuckin' squabbles down the trainin' grounds?" The hardened dwarven-sized woman who had been drinking with Jonathan grumbled, her size having changed to a more gigantic proportion, far more imposing than the taller of the two Predators.

As Maeve launched herself onto the gloves' wearing guy, it was expected the others would try to jump at her and use this opportunity to batter her up from behind. But as weapons came down, they clashed against what sounded like rock with a loud thud. Jonathan was standing in front of the assailants, between them and Maeve. Grinning devilishly, he seized one guy by the collar of his shirt and rammed him into the other, throwing the two of them to the side. Weapons continued bouncing against his skin as they tried to retaliate, but the Bloodhound's skin had become so hardened it felt as if they were simply swinging against a metal wall.

Rules be damned, this fight was starting to take the allure of an Alchemist battle with the shadows coiling around, the gigantic woman pummeling down on people and the large man passively using his body-alteration Alchemy to take hits. Soon, even the assaulting group of disgruntled Alchemists started using their arts.

Maximillian remained still on his seat and watched, his gaze going back and forth from the fight to his watch. Authority should be there to put a stop to this stupidity any moment now. If things would degenerate at an alarming rate, he'd just go into Overdrive and knock everyone unconscious with a poisonous fog. But that would be overkill and be quite troublesome. Instead, he simply settled with nudging the syringe he had left onto the table with a bit of kinesis Alchemy, making the poisonous dart fly a few tables before landing onto a new one, much nearer to the main attraction.