f[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/1G9aah6.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/KNwZBsF.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/q8oihtH.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/ZaQGoxd.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/owYAY37.png[/img] [sub][@Mr Allen J], [@Zombiedude101], [@tsukune], [@FernStone], and [@Dioxide][/sub] [/center][b][code]Stonecliff, Silverhills_[/code][/b][hr][hr] Well, there was one thing Kumiko was wrong about. Her minivan couldn't fit everyone. But, they made it work in the most awkward way possible: by stacking everyone on top of each other! Part of Wendy realized that they should have just taken the bus. Well, they were already here in Stonecliff. Silver Hills was probably the last place a group of Meta-kids wanted to be... and ones with the intention of breaking into someone's house. But, hey. They were going to be swift and silent, and then they'd be gone in no time! They parked around the corner, and Kumiko unlocked the doors. The first thing Wendy did was open the door, and almost ran out. It was beyond awkward for her... sitting on Rowan's lap. She turned herself weightless for most of the ride just to alleviate the awkwardness. She smiled, as she felt relieved! "Uh, yeah," Kumiko said, "I was [i]about[/i] to say get out the car, kids, but Wendy was waaaaay ahead of the rest of ya'll." She chuckled, before she shrugged. Kannix was one of the faster ones to get out of the minivan. [i]What a stupid fucking minivan,[/i] Kannix thought - the whole ride was so goddamn uncomfortable. Like Wendy and dude whose name she either did not pay attention to or already forgot, she also had to sit on a person's lap. [b]That[/b] was fucking weird. Weird, but in a weird way Kannix also really liked it. She won't admit it to herself, but getting to sit on Rein's lap made her almost feel naughty, already crossing out an item on a long list of things she'd like to do with him. It was lower down the list of course, so to be able to skip to that part so early on... She was screaming internally. But she had to act nonchalant about it! She wasn't sure at first, but with every bump on the road Kannix would energize herself as a reactionary reflex, she knew that Rein would feel it; her physics-defying mass was hitting down on Rein's lap like a full-weight microwave-oven, if not a little heavier, and with every groan of pain, Kannix would smile just a little bit. "Sorry," was a very common word. When they finally stopped, Kannix could not have gotten out of there faster. She turned to Rein and flicked her head, donning a smile of forced comfort and reassurance after the travel. Crossed arms, legs ready to pounce, and eyes ready to roll at every stupid statement, the familiar reverb of power passed through all of her body. Rein was the last to pile out of the [i]mini[/i]-van, wincing a little at the soreness from the combined effect of Kannix's weight with her force-repelling ability. He sucked in the cold air of the night, grateful that the uncomfortable, awkward ride was over... For now. Glancing around, they had arrived in a rather dim, deserted area save for the odd group he was with. "Alright," Wendy said, as she raised her arm above her head, and grabbed it. "Where's her house?" Kumiko pointed at a nice, three story, house around the corner. They were angled well enough to get a clear view of it. It was surrounded by a tall, brick fence, and there were cameras with coverage all over the place. They couldn't get a good view of the house from this angle. Wendy turned towards Rori, and said, "Want to get a closer look for us, Rori?" She asked. All they needed to do was get Rowan in close, and all those cameras and fancy security systems would be rendered useless. "Sure can do," Rori smiled, narrowing their eyes at the house first. Their vision was better than most and they figured they might as well check to see if there were any decent spots to land, or look into. They could get over the fence easily enough at least. "I'll be back in a few moments." They swiftly turned into a bird, sticking to their typical form as an american robin, and flapped off towards the house. "I got your back," Wendy said, as she quickly looked around. Before she slowly moved towards the house, with Rowan in tow. She couldn't do anything until those cameras were out. Tugging at his hood, Rowan was quick to pick out the cameras with direct coverage of where they were moving. Concentrating, he subtly raised a hand, then clenched it into a fist as though to cover his mouth when he coughed, only instead of coughing... whatever display those cameras fed into, they'd have found nothing but a distorted image at the other side. Then, as they crossed the street, he picked out other cameras and did the same with varying, subtle gestures, until he was certain that they were under the cover of (electronic) darkness. "C'mon, Wen'." He said, gesturing towards the house. Wendy nodded her head and stopped just at the wall. Part of her wanted to turn into paper, but that would've been far too obvious. Then, she got another idea. She turned her whole body weightless, hopped, and pulled herself over the wall, then heard Rowan pull his weight over the wall just afterwards. She knelt down, as she looked up at Rori. Waiting for that signal. While several of the rooms had lights on, there was actually nobody home. The house was desolated. "Can't make anyone out," Rowan whispered, in a low tone, "You see anyone?" "I don't know, we'd have to wait for Rori to get back," Wendy answered. Rori had made sure to go round the house a few times, checking each of three floors carefully to make sure the coast was actually clear. They got back to Wendy and Rowan when finished, changing back and taking a moment to catch their breath before speaking (changing twice in a short space of time wasn't particularly pleasant). "All clear, couldn't see anything while up there," Rori spoke quietly, panting slightly. "Want me like this, or back to a bird? Cause if I change again I'm going to have to stay like that." Otherwise they'd probably end up fainting. ...And here was where Rein could shine to this group of misfits in such an impulsive raid. Both him and Kannix had followed the group to the perimeter of the house. He chose to stay behind rather than jumping over the wall (or [i]flying[/i]) like Wendy and co.; even so, he could hear their conversation from the other side, their whispers sounded louder than intended in the dead silence around them. He decided to speak up, "Um, I don't think you should overexert yourself. Let's go back to the minivan - I can help to keep watch with my power while you take a rest." "Thanks, that would probably be better idea," Rori responded to Rein. "I can't really talk when I'm a bird anyway, so it's not as useful!" They were [i]really[/i] tired and hungry, so it would be more sensible for him to keep watch. "Yeah, just stay behind while we look around," Wendy nodded her head. "If anything goes wrong... uh..." She probably didn't think this far ahead, and come to think of it, it was stupid and risky. Then again, the same argument could be made for half her actions for the last three years. "Turn the hi-beams on!" Wendy said, suggesting something that [i]totally[/i] wasn't inconspicuous [i]at all[/i]. "We'll work something out... just go back in the van before someone gets suspicious." She ordered. Kannix rolled her eyes so far back she swore she could see her brain. Her crossed arms were still crossed. She turned to Rein and again looked to seek comfort in him. If he was really in this, then she was too. Kannix's sour reaction didn't go unnoticed in Rein's eyes, but he chose not to comment on it, and merely replied to Wendy in a quiet tone, "Yeah, Kannix and I can help Rori back to the van. I'll keep you posted." With that, he gestured at the two girls, and turned to head back towards where Kumiko was waiting for them. She turned to face the house, the alarm, and cameras should've been off so long as Rowan focuses. She wondered which way would be the best for entering. Perhaps the windows? She pointed at the window, and said to Rowan, "Can you pop the lock on that window?" It probably wouldn't have mattered which window they entered, since they didn't know the layout of the house. Worst case, they could have just popped a window in the back, and Wendy just paper the two of them out of there. "Think so, just uh... lemme get up close." Rowan nodded, still speaking with a low hush - he made his way across the garden, accidentally treading on a few of the flower patches dotted across in the process, though his footsteps were light enough that it would've taken a microphone to make anything of it out here. Eventually, he was hunched low against the wall, besides an unlit, frosted-glass window which was probably just above his chest height. After taking a moment just to concentrate, he placed a palm against where the lock would've been and slightly tilted it sideways, before using his ability to prop the window open, wide enough for him to crawl through - he wasn't exactly the scrawny teen he was jut a few years back, but he was still of small frame. Once he'd slipped in, he reached back out through the opened window and gestured for the others to enter, and Wendy seamlessly passed through the window with the ease of her paper manipulation (even though she'd wanted to say something about stepping on those flowers). Okay, they weren't here to steal anything - except for the books. She pulled out her cellphone, and turned on the flashlight - as she knew turning on lights that weren't already on would be suspicious from an outside perspective - and revealed... the bathroom. Not that it had been much of a surprise - why else had the glass been frosted? "Let's give the study a look, and let's go." Wendy said. "Let's not overstay our welcome..." [hr] "...Okay, so!" The girl with the artificially red hair said as she stormed down the street arms swinging. "We have a lead on those stupid cultists..." She waved the cellphone that belonged to the very same woman the Valos was after in another part of Baybridge as they spoke. "What kind of fuckin' moron has a phone [i]full[/i] of incriminating evidence?" "Trust me, she's apart of the Family," Daniel walked alongside Penny. "It's arrogance and stupidity combined." "Either way, we just have to track down what's left of those dipshits," Penny said, "And see who the hell is their leader, and what the hell does he or she know... and if they know about [i]him[/i]." That was what made Daniel stop, as he reached over and grabbed onto Penny's shoulder to stop her. "Heey, what the fu-" "Penny, don't get ahead of yourself," Daniel said, "Even if they're not as strong as they used to be... they're still dangerous." "Yeah, yeah, I thought [i]that[/i] far ahead," Penny answered, "What do you think I am? Some dumbfuck that charges dick first into danger?" She scoffed. Daniel crossed his arms, and asked. "Then what's your plan then?" Penny's brows furrowed, as she put her arms out. "Um, Earth to Daniel," Penny said, "Did ya' fall on your head, or forget what city we live in?" Daniel remained quiet, as she continued. "There's a goddamn army of knuckleheads willing to do stupid shit for like five dollars," Penny first said, then continued. "Or, if that doesn't work. Aren't you cool with Maximilian? Maybe we can sic his RAVEN shitheads on them, and see where we can go from there... I'm sure they'd have a [i]giant[/i] hard on for the Family." Daniel shook his head, as what Penny said was pure idealism. "...And even if we do all that, and it goes well for us..." He trailed off as he reached into his pocket for a cigarette, and lit it with his fire powers. "...Who's to say that they even know anything?" Penny narrowed her eyes at Daniel, as she put her hands on her hips. "The Blessed Three are dead," Daniel said, blankly. "It's unlikely anyone knows anything about what happened to Sean except for them... and they took a [i]lot[/i] of secrets to the grave." Penny shook her head and sighed. "...Look, Daniel," Penny said in a low tone. "I know all of this shit is wishful thinking. I understand that I should just go home, and stop giving a shit. But, I'm going to [i]try.[/i] I [i]want[/i] an answer, I'm going to [i]get[/i] an answer. And hell if any faggot from that cult is going to get in my way." Daniel smiled, as he shrugged. "I guess nobody can stop you then?" Daniel turned sideways, with his hands in his pockets, and glanced at her. "...But, I guess I'll stick around to make sure you don't do anything stupid." He joked, before he chuckled. "Haha... knew you'd come around," Penny said as she started walking. "Let's go, we got much to talk about!" [hr] Meanwhile, back in the van... Without Wendy and Rowan around, Rein finally had a seat to himself. He needed the personal space to use his power; while he wasn't as opinionated about Kannix as the rest, she would be more of a nuisance than assistance if she sat on his lap [i]again[/i]. Reclining back into his seat, he closed his eyes; his consciousness withdrew from the reality around him, sinking deeper into the fluid, surreal world of dreams. The sorry state of the minivan disappeared from his vision, replaced by the silhouettes of the people around him in a sea of darkness. Rori. Kannix. Kumiko. They were the nearest - and the brightest in his mind's eye. Then he expanded his sensory reception beyond the vehicle, picking up the location of Wendy and Rowan moving around in the house. ...So far so good. He continued to expand his power outwards, picking up more people from the other properties nearby, even some scattered strangers strolling down the streets... Until a certain someone piqued his interest. It was that guy he was asked to find back at the DOVE rally. 'Daniel Forsythe' was the name. [i]It's a wonder how fate works.[/i] Rein couldn't help focusing on this teen, following him and his companion (seemed like a redhead girl through Daniel's perception) and wondering where he was going. Then a bad feeling began to gnaw at his paranoia. ...They appeared to be heading towards the house that Wendy and Rowan had broken into. Pulling himself out of his trance state, he woke up with a start, shaking his head to clear the dizzy feeling from suddenly sitting upright after a period of stillness. "This is bad," his voice sounded a little raspy from the anxiousness as he leaned forward, his attention on Kumiko in the driver's seat. "They're coming back. Two people; one of them looks like my age." "Aw, shit!" Kumiko said, and didn't waste a second in climbing forward to look. The two teens were [i]clearly[/i] walking towards the house. Oh boy. This wasn't apart of the plan. She had to think quickly to warn Wendy... wait, she had to buy some time, first. Thankfully, Kumiko had the perfect plan! She reached into the glove compartment, and pulled out a heavy holy bible. She threw it at the kids, and ordered, "Okay, stall them. You all are a group of Bible thumpers that want to inform people of our lord and savior, got it? Go." Rori caught the bible, just about, and shrugged. "Sure thing, I can do this." Their family had been just about part of a religious cult, so they knew a bit about religion. Said cult had done the whole stalking the streets to get people to join, so Rori was sure they could copy that. "I sort of know what I'm doing with this, I've been part of a Christian group before... anyway, let's go do this." "...Maybe you should stop talking about, [i]AND JUST DO IT![/i]" Kumiko shouted, not in an annoyed manner, but more of a cheesy, pumping up, style. As she gestured towards the two heading straight for the house. Rori realised they were rambling (as always) and went to open one of the van doors and hopped out. "I'll go with you," Rein volunteered. Not out of impulse, but he felt that it might be less suspicious if they tried to preach about religion as a group than letting Rori to do that alone. Though, he hoped that Kannix would stay quietly in the car instead - he had enough drama to last for tonight. Kannix had been on her phone. It was getting late and she was expecting her mom's message - just the one, for she wasn't the type to barrage Kannix with many senseless questions; just the one statement, along the lines of: [i]"...You're still not home."[/i] She was now distracted, but that would actually be implying that Kannix wanted to be here in this escapade. She did [b]not[/b]. But here she was, for Rein. "I'm coming too." She wasn't exactly the biggest threat; she was small and was wearing a white dress with a pimp's hat hung by the string on her neck. But two people, she knew she could take them on without a doubt. Kannix gave a 'pre-game motivation slap' on Rein's shoulder, a little too hard at that, before getting out of the van. Rori approached the two teenagers, adopting a calm and (hopefully) confident walk. They stopped the two by standing in their path, holding the bible so it was visible. "Hello! Would you like to hear about the word of our Lord and saviour?" Not that they were going to give them a choice about hearing about it. Behind her, Rein nodded, trying his best to look eager to go along with the act better. Right next to, and very close to, Rein, Kannix had her arms on her hips like Superman, and held her grimace - if not, a look of defeat and laxness. Her phone vibrated right then and there. Just the one moment. [i]Shit.[/i] "Sorry, sugar tits," Penny rudely said as she gave Rori a glance, and put her hands on her hips. "But, we don't have time for this." Daniel jerked his head back, and looked at them, then back to Penny. Before he raised a finger. "What my crass friend here means is that we're in a rush, sorry about her tone." Rori spread out their wings to further block both of them from moving forward, giving them something of a sickly sweet grin. "Oh it's fine, I understand that you may be annoyed at being stopped. But time is nothing in the eyes of the lord, and you should really spare a few minutes to hear his word." For once Rori's ability to talk about anything was coming in handy. Kannix inhaled deeply, looking down at the ground, kicking her combat boots at the hard concrete slab of the pavement. Her look of disgust and disapproval at the cheesiness of this all betrayed her supposed collaboration with the other two. Thankfully, her hair just about covered her demeanour, and just kept silent. "What the fuck?" Penny asked, with a raised eyebrow. "Did Jesus give you wings or some weird shit?" "Yes," Rori responded, trying to not let their internal discomfort at what they were saying show. "I am made in the image of the angels in heaven. If you considering joining the church we are part of them then maybe you will get a similarly god-given power." Yeah, like their own power was God-given. Rein cringed at the insults the redhead had thrown at Rori, refraining himself from shaking his head at the mindless rudeness Penny had sprouted from her boorish mouth. [i]What's with people nowadays, who think that being vulgar would make them look remotely 'cool'?[/i] Not like Kannix was any better, or maybe he just couldn't comprehend this terrible culture in America. Penny just gave her a flat look, tilted her head back, and had her eyes wide open. "Okay, okay, sweetheart," Penny said as she reached into her bag, and pulled out a large canister of pepper spray. "If you don't get the hell away from me right now, you're going to get a faceful of mace, got it? And don't test me, this shit will have you on the floo-" Penny was cut off by Daniel just putting his hands on her shoulders, and just carefully leading her around them. "...Sorry, we're not interested. Thank you for your time." Rori froze, eyes moving to the canister of pepper spray. Well, that was not nice at all. The last thing they wanted was to be knocked out. They could only hope they'd bought enough time for Wendy and Rowan. "Uh, I'm so sorry for wasting your time. I can only hope that one day you see the light, but I understand that is not today." They turned so they could still look at the two, wings completely unfurled so that it still made it awkward for both to get past Rori. "I wish you the best for the rest of your day." "Jesus... what a freak," Penny said to Daniel, not caring about her own volume, as they powered past the three. "At least they're happy, I guess," Daniel shrugged. "Let's just forget about them, and move on." "You tellin' me, right?" "...You need to work on your diplomacy," Daniel said, and Penny said nothing in return. Rori tried not to let the very loud comment get to them - after all they were being called a freak for pushing Jesus onto people; not their appearance, right? Sighing softly, and with nothing more to do to stop the two, they made their way back to the van. Rein gave Rori a tap on their shoulder - a gesture of encouragement that they had tried their best, and shouldn't take the coarse language from the redhead just now to heart. "It's okay, Rori," Kumiko said, "You did your best!" She gave the bird-girl the thumbs up. "I'm certain Wendy will love you for trying!" Rori brightened up considerably at that, grinning slightly. "Hopefully! It would've worked better if I hadn't been threatened. So, uh, what's plan B?" "Don't worry, I am the most cunning woman in the world... I [i]always[/i] have a plan." Kumiko said, as she had the perfect plan. She focused on the girl pulling out the keys to unlock the gate, and since good old Kumiko had her metal manipulation ready, she extended a hand and... made her drop her keys. "What happens when she picks up the keys? Are you going to make her drop them again?" Rori looked slightly amused - though they guessed it was a sound enough plan to keep them distracted for a while. Just a little suspicious. "Butterfingers." Kumiko said with a grin as she made the keys slip out of Penny's hand while she was scrambling to pick them back. But, Kumiko couldn't do this for long. "One of you go warn Wendy." [hr] The two moved through the house very carefully... while Wendy knew it was a little wrong, there was a certain layer of [i]excitement[/i] to it. Maybe she was just sheltered for far too damn long, but Wendy thought it was exciting to be doing this. Especially the danger. Okay, maybe she should just keep this to herself. They slowly stepped down a hallway, and they ended up in a large living room, with two lengthy couches, a large TV practically embedded in the wall, and... a bookshelf! Wendy's inner bibliophile made her gravitate towards it. She quickly shifted through it, and searched it [i]thoroughly[/i]. She briefly looked over her shoulder at her loyal friend, and said, "Keep an eye out for me," Wendy ordered as she continued to go through the books, as this was literally the only place she had in mind. Nodding wordlessly, Rowan took a few silent steps back and turned his focus towards the direction of the hallway, just in case anyone else came upon them - it was strange, after all, how the lights had been left on in parts of the house and the last thing they wanted was for someone to be getting the drop on them. Wendy kept going through the books, until her fingers rested on one. She used her paper manipulation to pull the book out of it's place, and levitated it in midair. She shifted through the contents, the pages seemingly turning by themselves as Wendy's hand was raised above it. Wendy reached into her satchel for the other book. The first edition of Sean Rosier's notes. She quickly compared them, and looked at Rowan, with a dumb smile on her face. "... This is it, Rowan!" Wendy tried to contain her excitement. "This is the second edition! We have it!" Her panties were soooooaked. "Yeah?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder with a raised brow. But, while she was excited to have the next step at long last, she didn't want to leave any obvious evidence they were here. She opened up her satchel yet again, and pulled out a large block of paper. It was stuck together like a block. She sliced it into pieces with just a thought, thin paper sheets. Before she [i]carefully[/i] pulled the paper out of Sean Rosier's notes, while replacing them with blank sheets of paper. Wendy was a genius! Everything was looking up for her. Though, she just thought about taking the book, and leaving, she didn't want to leave one obvious trace that they were here behind. She wanted to make it look like the cameras were just malfunctioning for a moment. However, down the hall, the sound of the door unlocking pierced the air, and Wendy [i]panicked[/i]. Everything was going so well! She just grabbed both books, and pointed at the window. "Rowan!" She whispered even though she wanted to shout, and hoped he got the message. Wasting no time, Rowan hastily gesticulated with his arm towards the window, prying it open for them to make a hasty escape. Wendy fluttered down first, near enough weightlessly and once he was certain that she was out, Rowan quickly followed, clambering through the open window space and scrabbling down the wall behind them, making sure to pull the window back shut on his way down. Wendy hauled ass out of there the very moment she got out... but in her panic, and rush, she didn't notice the stone that bordered the edge of the garden. She didn't even realize that she had tripped. Her vision just went from being parallel to the ground, to being facedown in it. She yelped - but caught herself. Her glasses were on the ground, and the books had fallen out. Rowan had near enough made it to the wall when he'd realised she'd taken a tumble, and near enough bolted back towards her, hoping to hastily pull her up. "Shit, shit, c'mon!" "...Hey, what the fuck?" They heard as the window was opened, and they saw a curious looking girl with pigtails dyed a bright red color. Wendy was frozen, a mixture of being stunned and shock tended to do that. But, the girl's eyes narrowed, her lips tightened, and she shouted, "...Daniel! Get your ass outside!" Her eyes were on the books, and she pointed at them. "They're stealing the books!"