Out of everything that Lily would have expected to be the prize for her victory, she had expected something that was a little more exciting than a bottle. Upon inspection it was obvious that it was craftsman with no small degree of skill, who had crafted it, but at the end of the day it was still a bottle, made from a sort of semi-transparent, crystalline stone rather than glass, as one might have otherwise expected. It wasn't giving an obviously magical item. It was just... A bottle? And not only that but it was also empty. She had received empty stone flask as a reward for surviving a fight against a mecha-shark? To say that she was not impressed would have been an understatement. After a life or death fight she expected something... More. Armour, a weapon, a one-time-use spell convert form of the scroll, or something. 

But she had won a bottle. 

"Ya don't look very satisfied," Brucie pointed out. Simple minded him might be, but stupid he was not. 

"No, I'm not," Lily said, standing up. She held the bottle up against the distant, yellow light that lit up this area in the hopes of finding out more about it by looking at it, in a new light. "I only just managed to defeat you, and all I get for the trouble if this empty flask." Upon finding nothing of interest she lowered her arm and reached behind her, where one of her tails wrapped around the flask and held it secure. She then turned her attention to Brucie, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "So what are you going to do?"

The shark shrugged with his mechanical limbs. "Dunno. Figure I might as well stick with you for the time being. Ain't got nothin' better to do." He stood up, spending a brief moment to look down upon his destroyed water cannon. "So where to?" He asked. "You're the boss, fluffbutt, as far as I'm concerned." 

The glare that Lily aimed at Brucie could have curdled milk, but to him it did little more than make him laugh; a guttural sound that still grated on Lily's nerves. Not because it annoyed her, but because it was unpleasant - especially to one with ears as sensitive as hers. If he noticed her wince he did not show it. 

When finally his laughter died down, and he had enough self control to not break his composure, he fixed Lily with a stare caught somewhere between mocking and pitying. "I take it you don't like puns?" He hazarded. 

"You're right, I don't. Especially not poor ones mocking my tails." 

"Protective of them, are we?" 

Lily bristled, visibly annoyed at this point. "I would appreciated if you ceased your jokes. I do not find them entertaining." She turned and left, looking for the nearest door out of this room. Based on her estimations what they were on now must be the ground floor, and so where she would likely find the offices that Oren had mentioned earlier, before flying off. If she were lucky she would be able to find some wood and papers, with which she could build a small fire and dry herself. To others it may have just been a matter of convenience, but to Lily beam dry was imperative. Were she not, her ability to produce lightning and fire would be incredibly diminished at best or - more realistically - completely gone at worst. 

"Want me to come along?" She heard Brucie ask behind her. 

She saw no reason to deny him. It seemed to her that, whatever it meant to take someone's soul, it came with a dose of docility. Not that he was docile per se, just that any hostility that had been there before, was now utterly gone. "If you want," she said, looking down along one wall for a door. [i]There.[/i] She headed for it, calling over her shoulder to Brucie, "So long as you don't try to attack me, I suppose it won't hurt to let you tag along." She needn't mention that there was a door near her, as the sound of metallic feet upon concrete accompanied the far more muffled sound of her own. 

The door led to a mostly empty hallway, a single door at the far end for which Lily immediately headed, Brucie dutifully following. The door was unadorned; constructed of featureless metal and, much to Lily's annoyance, locked. "Just a moment," she said quietly placing the palm of her hand a few scant centimetres from where the lock would be. The sound of bending metal echoed down the hallway a second later, the lock having been blown apart by a single powerful blow of raw kinetic energy. Lily need not do anymore than push it open after this, revealing what looked like a changing room of sorts. It was filled with rows of working boots, boxes with gloves, and the like, as well as small lockers and racks for clothing. 

[i]This must be where they changed from everyday clothes to whatever uniforms they used before working the machines?[/i] She walked over to the nearest locker and pried it open. Inside was not much. A spiderweb bereft of any spider and a small piece of plastic - wrapping from a piece of candy, probably. "Brucie, go look through the lockers," Lily instructed, opening the next. Behind her, Brucie went about looking through the ones on the opposite side of the room. "Tell me if you find anything more interesting than empty candy wrappers or spiderwebs," she continued. "This place has looked abandoned from the very get-go, but there's no sense in not looking." 

The next few minutes were spent in silence, aside from the opening and closing of various lockers, and the occasional tearing sound as Brucie tore a locked one off of its hinges. Mostly Lily found herself disappointed, finding nothing but spiderwebs and useless pieces of plastic - though she did come across one identification badge of a raven-haired woman called Salem - and an assortment of other useless pieces of junk. Brucie, however, was more lucky. 

"Found something!" He announced jubilantly. 

"What is it?" Lily inquired, turning around to face him. Her anticipatory expression fell the instant she laid eyes upon him, along with her ears pressing flat against her skull. "Really?"

"What? It's good!" Brucie, with all of the glee a shark face could show, took another bite from the candy bar he had procured. 

A wave of disbelief washed over her face, transforming her annoyed to expression into that of someone who couldn't quite believe what they were witnessing. It fell away moments later, however, replaced by a far more controlled look upon her face. "I had... expected something a bit more useful than a decade-old candy bar. Did you find anything else? Something that might have been useful?"

Brucie shook his head. "Nah. Just this," he announced, then shoved the rest of the candy in his maw. 

"Right... Well, we're done here. Nothing to just for this except broken lockers." She started towards the exit, giving Brucie a single look over her shoulder. "Coming?" Then she was gone, through the other door and out into whatever lay beyond. 

They arrived in what looked like a sort of reception area, with a set of large doors to the left, presumably leading outside, and what could have looked like an automated check-in service for the workers here. Whether on not it was, however, was difficult to see and of little consequence. Lily continued the head, crossing the foyer - if that was what it was - and down the opposite hall. Finally it seemed like luck was on their side, as doors flanked them on either side. And to make matters even better, they which made of thick and sturdy wood. Those some showed obvious signs of disrepair, there were yet many that seemed whole and dry. 

"So... what're we doin' here, exactly?" Brucie asked at length, breaking the silence that had formed between them. 

Lily, deciding that it was not worth the effort of getting annoyed, informed him of her need to stay dry, or she wouldn't able to do much of anything. She had figured that, for whatever reason, taking Brucie's soul had made him friendly towards her, I am so telling him how her powers worked wouldn't be a risk. "Furthermore," she added as she stepped up to a locked door and placed both palms against it, "I'm looking for a pen and a piece of paper." The door buckled and shattered from twin lancers of force. Lily steps through the resulting hole, already picking up the larger pieces of wood and instructed Brucie to do the same, as well as construct what would essentially amount to a bonfire. 

As he did so - and after she had discarded her pieces of wood where she wanted the bonfire to be - she began looking for a paper and pen. As she had hoped and expected, the door she had blasted through led to an office, complete with a computer desk and a bookcase full of binders. Paper was easy enough to find, having to just tear out a page from the binders, but a pen eluded her. Who ever had worked in this office must have been particularly fun of their pens. The cup where there are usually was a dozen or so in any given office, was strangely absent from this one. She had little luck with the drawers, too, finding naught but old paper clips. 

"Bonfire's done," Brucie announced just as Lily open the last drawer and, thankfully, finally came upon an old, short pencil. 

"Good. Just a moment." She looked the pencil over. The tip was broken, but it was serviceable. She then took the piece of paper and wrote down a short message, finishing it's by signing her full name. 

[quote][i]To Whom it May Concern

The holder of this missive was defeated in the tournament, but left alive, and later divulged his wish to me. I write this as a request,
 and ask that you help bring the holder of this missive to my World, giving him the means to return as well. I know you have the means to do so. Once there you are to bring him to one of the facilities known simply as Academies, and hand this missive to whomsoever you meet upon entering. 

The Holder of this missive wishes to become human, and doing as described above will accomplish that. Your announcer, Oren, mentions that the College is not a wish-granding  service, but something that can be accomplished through science is not a wish, but a goal. 

Help this individual accomplish his goal.

       Signed
         Lily Strider - One of the Nine Tails.[/i][/quote]

Once finished she folded the paper and walked over to where Brucie sat, a stack of wood in front of him. 

"Ya done?" He asked, sounding impatient. 

She sat down, her right side to what would become the bonfire. "I'm done," she said, letting her tails grind against each other behind her, creating some friction despite how wet they were. It was just enough to create a small ball of fire in her hand, which should gently sets down to the fire where it caught on quickly. She lets her tails fall around the bonfire, encircling it so that each and every one of them had the chance to dry up. 

"I was writing this," she said after a few moments of making sure that the fire would continue to burn, and not catch on to her tails, and handed the piece of paper to Brucie. "I destroyed your weapon, and you don't have any more rockets, so I don't think you will be of much help to me in future battles. You might even be a detriment, if I were to be honest. What it says is basically that I want them to take you to visit my world, and have the people there help you get what you want, and then take your back so you can get home. I want you to go back to the college, and find someone important to give it to. Try to look for some of the people that were in the announcement room with us." 

Brucie the paper in his metallic fingers, looking down at it. His eyes flicked to the fire, then back to the paper, them to the fire again, and finally back at Lily whose expression told him that she knew exactly what he had been thinking. 

He sighed stuffed the paper into the compartments on his left leg. "'Kay, I'll keep it. If only to make sure you don't get wrinkles early from frowning like that." Lily's frown only deepened, causing Brucie ot let out a brief peal of laughter. "But no. I appreciate the offer, but t'aint for me. A Freakshow's who I am, and I'd much rather be a freakshow that tags along with you, an' gets into all sorts of interesting stuff." He chuckled again, seeming pleased with himself. "If ya'll have me. You say I'll be a detriment or whatever, but ere's the other side of the coin: I'm big, I'm strong, and even without my supersoaker and shoulder-mounted nerfgun, I can still beat the everliving snot outta most anyone. You might be a quick thing, but you're fragile and not very strong - oh, don't gimme that look, it's true! 'Sides, I owe ya one as I mentioned. I'll keep the paper, maybe think about it later, but for now I wanna stick around unless you really want me gone." Having said his piece, Brucie crossed his arms, awaiting Lily's judgement. 

He wouldn't have to wait long. Lily sighed, bangs covering her eyes as she hung her head. [i]If he feels like he owes it to me, what right do I have to stop him? And he is right. A front-line bruiser would be useful - someone similar to Alice.[/i] She straightened up, ears erect atop her head. "Alright," she said, offering him a wry smile, "if you insist, I'll let you stick around. Just don't soak me through like this again. It takes away at least half of my strength."

Brucie laughed. Again. "Can't promise I won't make ya wet." 

Lily groaned, pulling her knees up against her chest and hiding her face. Even muffled as it was, Brucie could have sworn he heard her mention something about sushi.