[center][h2][u][b]The Stage is Set
Jailbreak - Part 2 [/b][/u][/h2][hr][i]Charles and Mairyell[/i]
[i][u]Location: Ominar Private Prison[/u][/i]
[@Fallenreaper] and [@yoshua171][/center][hr]
A long hallway spread out before them, fairly narrow, with plain walls and the occasional cameras which Mairyell had decided to leave alone as breaking them would only arouse more suspicion. Still, he knew that someone would notice the cameras screwing up pretty soon. So the best they could do is move as quickly as they could and hope that Zeki and co would disable the alarms soon. “We should be arriving to the first cell block soon if I’m remembering your little map correctly,” he said, turning to Charles.
 
[color=#7BCDC8] “If not, I’ll see if I can create another golem, likely ferret sized, to scout ahead and locate them. Also keep in mind, my map is based on Mr. Gladewine’s information so if it is wrong so was his intel and this could complicate the whole mission,”[/color] Charles stated calmly as he stared ahead, his eyes peeled for any guards or checkpoints ahead of them. He didn’t want to catch direct attention or someone was bound to notice the distort spell. Then things would shortly go to hell before they finished up their original goal and put a number of innocent prisoners into harm's way. This was something Charles wanted to avoid, even when they were mostly Licentia, because life was precious no matter the race and the main reason he was against arming the prisoners.
 
Mentally he kept tabs on his golem outside. It was rounding to the front of the prison building, farthest away from both team’s location, causing the professor to relax some. The thing hadn’t been destroyed yet as it continued to move at a steady pace and keep within range.    
 
Nodding in response, Mairyell continued forwards until suddenly he heard something.
 
Footsteps.
 
Narrowing his eyes he sucked in a breath and slowed down, acting casual. Quietly he addressed Charles, “There are guards ahead. Act natural and we should be fine. They’re probably the reinforcements that other guard called for outside.”
 
[color=#7BCDC8] “Alright, but easier said than done for me. I’m rather rusty on all my skills so use your best judgement to disarm the situation when it looks like it’s taking a wrong turn,”[/color] Charles requested as he tried to act as natural as possible. His mind trying to believe he belonged here and merely doing his job patrolling the corridors. 
 
The Hunter nodded and then went back to the act, falling into it rather naturally, he’d done things like this before so it was somewhat familiar, though he was admittedly a bit rusty himself. Still, his rusty was likely not the same as his companions.
 
After about a minute a group of five guards turned the corner of an intersection and approached them, continuing through the hallway. Most of them glanced at them and then kept walking, but one, after he’d passed them, frowned. They were about ten feet down the hallway behind the duo when one of them whispered “Hey, any of you recognize those two?”
 
There was a brief pause and Mairyell, still walking forwards, increasing their distance, narrowed his eyes. Their scents changed and he heard them moving before they had even fully turned around. His senses far keener than those of a human, and his reflexes sharper, he spun in a whirl of motion and in the same motion blue light exuded from his form, manifesting into a wall, and then solidified, just as one of the men fired his pistol--which appeared to be armed with rubber bullets.
 
The wall blocked the shot, but then something else struck it, and it crumbled. “Shit,” the vampire swore, “One of them has counter magic. Looks like we’ll have to take care of them Charles, before they alert someone else. Heh, on that note,” he smirked, and flicked his finger. Instantly tiny droplets of solid blood shot out and pierced the walkie-talkies of all but one of the guards--as one of them was behind his compatriots.
 
“Get your shit in gear,” he said as he pushed forwards into a dash to reach the other two men. It appeared that shit was about to hit the proverbial fan.
 
Charles couldn’t help but sigh when, as predicted, everything crumbled in the moment. He naturally flinched when he heard the shot go off and expected to feel the sting of the bullet penetrated his skin, followed by the wetness of his own blood. That thankfully didn’t happen causing his attention to shift to the three men who had now become an issue and threat to their mission. 
 
Unlike Mairyell, there wasn’t any way Charles could cover the distance between them before someone got off a shot. And with a magical counter, his barriers with his construct magic wasn’t going to be useful in protecting him. 
 
While Mairyell rushed the two men, Charles’ magic activated casting his hands into a slight silver color and eyes in a light purple. Quickly his Vis pooled upon the ground then shot forward along the wall where it came to a halt beside the third guard around his upper torso area. 
 
From the wall, a metal see-through arm with a hand suddenly jerked from it and made to seize the last walkie-talkie. Not likely expecting the surprise attack since Mairyell was charging them directly, it should come as a surprise to the man. When the walkie talkie was in its grip, the fingers and hand would increase its power and crush it beyond use.
 
Smelling vis Mairyell glanced to the side as he ran, and noticed some moving. He smiled, noting that it was Charles from its scent. Grinning a bit he lunged forwards, taking three shots from rubber bullets, which he shrugged off with no trouble. As he closed the distance one of the guards reacted, drawing his baton. The smell of a new vis signature appearing as he did so. Mairyell brought his arm up and blocked even as a metallic hand reached from the wall, snatched the last walkie-talkie, and crushed it he took a hit. The baton sent a shock through his body, and he gritted his teeth, slamming his fist into the stomach of another guard, who crumpled forwards on his arm, weighing him down. He dashed back in response, but much to his chagrin two guards got past him and began running towards Charles.
 
Charles merely stood there. His head shook in disappointment that the guards assumed he was the easier target causing him to glare. Suddenly the Vis arm retracted back, following its path back to him like a rubber band snapping back and settled under his figure. Meanwhile there was another mumble, his eyes become brighter purple and four strips of vis extended outward toward the guards coming at him. They divided into two groups, each individual line assigned to one of the guards’ feet, and the moment they darted past the two odd colored spots two arms and hands snapped from the floor to seize the ankles causing them to stop in their tracks. The moment one of them tried to counter magic the spell, appeared to be casting a spell or even attacking with their weapons, Charles would quickly cut the now short distance between him and them. 
 
He had made sure they were just out of arm’s reach when he tangled up their legs, allowing them to be close enough for close range combat but not able to lay a hand upon him unless he closed the gap.
 
One of the two guards stopped just shy of the point, noting the vis, but his companion--before he could call out--rushed forwards and was grabbed by the ankles causing him to teeter over and fall. He caught himself with his hands and managed to push himself back up.
 
His companion on the hand, raised an arm and weaved his fingers, then around twenty tendrils of vis shot out from his hand, ten of them striking the hand, whilst four more targeted the strips of colored vis on the ground. In a flash, the energies all dispersed, using up 14 out of twenty of the thin strands of energy. The remaining 6 wrapped around his comrade and then shimmered before seeming to vanish. “Go Jaq!” He called out, and the man nodded, having gotten his bearings, and rushed Charles, having already drawn his baton into one hand.
 
Meanwhile, Mairyell had managed to knock out one of the guards and was dealing with the other two, who were giving him an inordinate amount of trouble--it appeared both of them were mages of some caliber.
 
Charles had been about to react but his speed was slower than he had hoped it would’ve been. It appeared he found the one who had the counter magic, at least it seemed so, and that made it easier who was best for Mairyell to take out. The earlier guard seemed to have a slower reaction when it came to stopping himself in mid attack, but the 6 thin strands of energy that wrapped about him made the professor wary. 
 
It was time to test another theory.
 
When the baton raised then followed with a strike, his right shoulder tensed. Charles then jerked his left shoulder back aided by his left foot stepping in the same direction and pulling him to his opponent’s side as the guard would likely continue forward. Charles’ left arm slapped the man’s forearm hard which should’ve made it redirect to the professor’s torso, at the lower left, and miss directly hitting him. 
 
This should’ve opened the guard’s face side up for an abrupt jab into the ear with Charles’ right fist and possibly daze the target for a moment, allowing Charles two addition strikes: one to the ribs and another to a pressure point on the jawline which disable him quickly. Meanwhile, if any of the strikes failed than Charles was ready for a counter, namely a magical one.
 
The first strike was a success, and so was the strike to his head, except...the man didn’t react as if in pain, instead his free hand reached out to grab Charles by the shoulder. The mage continued weaving with his hands, patterns of vis beginning to become visible as he did so.
 
Mairyell slipped out of the way as a baton was thrust at his abdomen. He then grabbed the weapon, pulling the guard to him, before kneeing him roughly in the stomach, immediately flooring the fellow. That left one guy, whose form was wreathed in a writhing mass of black and silver vis. The figure glanced at his comrade and scowled, before walking towards Mairyell. “Heh, any chance you just let me knock you out so we can be done with this?” The vampire quipped, which sadly elicited no response from the approaching guard.
 
“A shame,” he said, eyes narrowing, his expression growing serious as he crouched down somewhat. The man stopped just out of range and stood watching him. “Think fast,” the vampire said, and then he was a flash of movement.
 
Charles’ attacks impacted but he noted the reaction was off. The last one, namely on a pressure point, should’ve knocked the man unconscious causing his attention to slip to his peripheral vision and notice the mage still casting. He partly wondered if the spell was affecting the physical condition of his current target like a support spell. 
 
If that was the case, Charles was targeting the wrong individual. 
 
Briefly distracted, Charles hadn’t counted on the lack of muscle memory to be his weakness. In this moment it gave him tunnel vision which when turned away, made him vulnerable to attack and no way to quickly react to an incoming threat fast enough. When the guard's hand made the grab at his shoulder his attention returned to the battle at hand. This was going to hurt. He mumbled quickly under his breath just as he felt the contact of the grip, his construct magic prepared against whatever the guard did next. 
 
Having gotten a hold of Charles, the guard stepped forwards and reeled back his baton in an attempt to strike Charles across the head at an angle. He tightened his grip. The mage had conjured what appeared a ball of writhing bluish energy and was getting ready to aim it in their direction.
 
Charles did two things. He tilted his head tilted downward and hunched to use his lowered posture to interfere with the angling of the swing at the back of his skull. A transparent vis helmet formed quickly, starting with the back, and fixed itself on his face to protect from additional damage. Meanwhile, through the see through material he could easily spot the mage that had conjured the next spell causing an idea to spring into his mind. 
 
He mumbled another set of words causing another strip of Vis to pool underneath his feet, waiting for the next move. Hoping to keep his next attack from being noticed, Charles allowed the attack to skirt upward (only bruising his head) and the arm to carry on with its momentum on the back lash’s angle. It ultimately opened the guard’s face up for another strike. 
 
The professor’s right hand lashed out at the side of the man’s exposed face, then neck and finally collarbone in three rapid attacks. The whole time his peripheral vision was timing the mage currently holding the writhing sphere of energy and watching for when the mage would release it. He would alter his actions based purely on that. 
 
Charles succeeded, the man’s baton glancing off the vis helm, though it would still knock his head to the side somewhat, disorienting a little due to the strength behind the blow. Of course, the guard wouldn’t be doing much else as the professor managed to hit him again, this time a flicker occurring before the shield of vis faltered. His second strike landed and the guard began to fall back, barely able to breath, before the third strike pushed him away from Charles. The mage fired his sphere of energy directly at Charles, his expression one of intense concentration.
 
Just when the first guard pushed away, the Vis at Charles’ feet jerked out and promptly snagged the guard’s shirt in the chest area. It jerked with surprising strength putting the man between the professor and the attacking mage. The arm of vis held firmly to ensure the dazed guard didn’t move from the spot he was now tossed into.
 
“Shit” the mage swore, but he couldn’t stop the projectile, and so it struck his ally. Immediately the blue sphere exploded into a flurry of energetic threads, that swiftly wrapped the guard up, immobilizing him, and then binding him to the ground. Annoyed and somewhat distressed, the mage began gathering vis again.
 
[color=#7BCDC8][i]“Interesting trick.”[/i][/color] Charles said, his eyes narrowed on the mage once more casting his spell again. Recalling the time it took to collect Vis and set loose, he started to rush toward the individual to hopefully cut it off before completion. As an added security measure, his outline seemed to glow from his Vis coating him using his impression magic. 
 
His lips mumbled and once more, another strip of Vis darted from underneath him and shot toward the mage. Enroute, the line divided into two then shot at an angle from about a meter from the Mage’s position. They weren’t hands this time but large battering ram like spikes with flat ends aimed at the man’s diaphragm first then his chest. When they hit, they should knock the wind from him and then knock him on his rear.
 
The mage managed to get a spell off, but not the one he’d used just a moment before. It was a small tangle of vis threads, that suddenly burst outwards as they neared the splitting lines of Charles spell. The threads struck the lines and weakened both, but were not strong enough to outright stop the professor’s attack. So it was that the mage, eyes widening, was struck--the air nearly knocked out of him--and then pushed back by the second strike. He stumbled and, due to the two consecutive strikes, fell back on his ass, barely  catching himself. He tried to raise his hands to initiate spellwork, but he would likely be too late--as Charles would have almost entirely closed the distance by that point.
 
Standing within close proximity to his target, another collection of Vis had skirted along his arm and extended into his hand as an exact replica of a long sword. The blade’s edge was pressed onto the guard’s neck enough that it could’ve drawn blood if pressed harder. His face an intimidating blur with his distort spell, his voice spoke in a commanding and serious manner beyond that of a teacher. 
 
[color=#7BCDC8]“Suggest you keep your lips firmly shut and your hands held where I can see them, then slowly present them straight out in front of you. Any attempt otherwise… I won’t hesitate to kill you,”[/color] Bluff or not, the professor’s tone made it very clear the guard would fall short of alerting his fellow guards or getting another shot in at this range.
 
The mage nodded slightly, not even bothering to open his mouth, though he swallowed hard and complied with Charles’ requests. Down the hall, Mairyell was dusting his hands off and shaking his head, looking slightly annoyed as he stepped over the many unconscious--and tied up--bodies of the guards he’d been dealing with.
 
He made his way over to Charles, [color=#2E6A95][b]“I suggest you knock him out and tie him up so we can get on our way. Someone’s going to come down this hall eventually and they’re going to find them so we ought to make this as quick as we can."[/b][/color]
 
Charles had already been intended on it even before Mairyell spoke, but needed to ensure there was no spell coming his direction. His blade slowly removed itself just when his other hand balled into a fist and whipped out in a rapid punch to the side of the head causing the guard to crumple into unconsciousness. After that was done, Charles dismissed the sword completely then used the guard’s own overshirt and belt to tie the guard’s arms and hands behind his back. Naturally he repeated the same method with the earlier put down guard should wake up before they completed their task. 
 
Afterwards, he decided to comment on Mairyell’s suggestion,[color=#7BCDC8] “It was already on my to do list, but first I didn’t want him discreetly casting a spell during my attempts. Now, time to get this done before the whole prison is breathing down our necks.”[/color] 
 
With those last words, Charles moved quickly down the corridor toward the prison cells.
 
Mairyell followed close behind, keeping himself vigilant so that he’d know before they encountered anyone.