The sound of hurried footsteps coming from above, and between Brucie’s jumps, stopped Lily from taking her third jump before the awkward voice did. Above her, Brucie was seconds from taking his second leap when someone called out to them, prompting him to turn and come nearly face-to-face with a… man. 

In the time it took Brucie to tilt his head in mild confusion the air had become balls of fire, each cobalt orb as dangerous as the next. “Who are you?” Lily said with dangerous calm. “James Teller, or Smiley?” The blue, inhuman eyes of Lily met the green of the newcomer. Behind her, covering for Mouse who was now on the ground, her tails moved rapidly; twisting and churning. 

Samuel stopped in his tracks, though he made sure to keep trembling. He had to sell the act. It certainly helped that there were glowing orbs in the air now, ones which probably threatened his life for real if he pissed this woman off. [i]Threatening someone unprovoked. Punish her. Terrorize.[/i] His soul called out in hunger, demanding action. No, he would resist. Even if the horror within him could justify the action, he had no intention of starting a fight. As fulfilling as it would be to terrify the bizarre duo below, it would be just as wrong. [i]Not wrong. Teach her a lesson. Knock her into the hole. Sweet, delicious fear.[/i] [b]No.[/b]

“T-teller? Smiley? W-who?” he stuttered out, looking between the energy orbs, forcing himself to sweat. “I don’t understand. Who are they? And who are you? M-my name is Justin. I just want to know how I got here. Why do you have tails? Why are you a robot shark? Please don’t hurt me!”

Lily’s eyes narrowed, suspicion clear as day on her face. “Justin, then,” she said, speaking slowly, and making it clear just how little she believed him with just those words. “Let me be clear that the only reason I am not in the process of burning you to cinders, is because that prick of an announcer has not signalled the beginning of yet another round.” The tension in her body loosened, and she adopted a less threatening posture, though her tails still moved behind her like the currents of an ocean. Her fire, however, remained. “That means that you are not a contestant. Or, at the very least, not my current opponent.” Her eyes didn’t move from Justin as she added, “Brucie, would you kindly see if he has a phylactery?” 

The shark in question grinned as only a shark could, rows of razor teeth suddenly becoming much more prominent. “Aye sir,” he said and reached out with one, large claw. While not gentle, he was definitely not rough either, as he grabbed hold of an apprehensive Justin and pulled him down beside him, holding him fast with a hand around his shoulders and neck. With the other he poked around his torso, pulled open pockets and the like. 

After a few minutes, Brucie was left with nothing, and Justin had acquired a few new pricks and bruises, where the metallic fingers had accidentally broken his skin. 

“Nothing?” Lily asked, one eyebrow raised. 

“Nothing,” Brucie echoed, then hesitated. “Well, except for a bunch of random junk. And playing cards. No rubber-heart.” 

Lips pressed together in thought, Lily looked over this Justin as he nervously stood before them. “So you’re not a contestant,” she finally said, the number of flaming orbs gradually decreasing as the movement of her tails lessened. A dozen, however, still remained afloat around them. “Then how did you arrive here?” She added, even as a thought occurred to her. [i]He’s not a contestant, nor a college member. Is he from the third faction? If he is, then he must know of the things happening in and around the city.[/i] Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly, one ear flicking in irritation. [i]It doesn’t make sense for one of them to act so afraid at the sight of Brucie and I, not with the level of backup he must have. Let’s try to see what’s behind the facade.[/i] “And for the love of Inari, drop the act. I’ve [i]seen[/i] proper fear. Yours is not it.”

Samuel trembled and recoiled as Brucie reached out for him, but he allowed the shark man to grab him and search his person. He put up only the minimal struggle one should expect from a frightened man being restrained by a hulking creature from the depths, confident that his more dangerous items were well enough hidden. After a couple minutes of being poked and prodded, Samuel was proven correct, though he found himself highly agitated that half a deck of cards had spilled out onto the rocky outcropping. [i]Phylactery, huh? That’s an object liches use to trap and feed on souls. Do these two hunt liches?[/i]

Samuel listened to the kitsune’s questions, hiding behind wide eyes and a slack jaw. He had fully committed himself to the act. That’s when she brought his behavior into question, and a fire lit within his mind. [i]Seen fear? You have seen fear? I[/i] am [i]fear![/i] No, keep it in. Do not act on impulse. Just act.

“I don’t-I don’t know where I a-a-aaaam!” Samuel forced himself to cry. This woman was sly, so he’d have to make this an experience unforgettable to sell it. Show business required sacrifices, so that is what he’d have to do for this particular piece of art. The magician moved his body around, struggling against Brucie’s grip until he got what he wanted. Samuel’s movements caused one of his many hidden knives to stab lightly into his side, piercing the skin and coming to a rest against a rib. He was thankful for the thick clothing he always wore.

“P-p-pleeease! Don’t hurt meeee! I j-just w-want to know w-w-what’s happening!” Use that pain. Force it through your emotions. He winced as the blade scraped along the bone, and used that to express a large sob.

Something… changed. Lily couldn’t quite tell what it was, but something had definitely changed. He was still acting, of that she was certain—nothing else made sense—but parts of it had taken on a more realistic quality. Can’t see well enough from here, she thought, then gave Mouse a quick command to stay where he was. Five metres was a tall order for a normal human. Most could hardly jump two. However, Lily was no normal human. Running at the speeds she could required, not only fast reaction speeds, but stronger muscles than normal. And though she could not jump five metres straight, she could take the less impressive approach of jumping from foothold to foothold, never staying in the same place for more than a moment before jumping for the next. 

She landed in front of Justin seconds later, finding that though he looked small compared to Brucie, he was ever so slightly taller than she was, if one did not count the few centimetres her ears added to her. “Provided that you are telling the truth,” she said slowly, eyes never leaving his, “then I can tell you this: You are in the city of Echoes. You do not have a phylactery, so you are not a contestant in the tournament.” She clicked her tongue, and started slowly circling him, her movements sleek and graceful like a predator stalking its prey. “And if you are not a contestant, that means that you are with them—” with one hand she points towards the sky, and the black helicopters occasionally passing by “—and that is why I don’t believe that you are this wimpy little pile of tears and snot.” 

City of Echoes. That sounded rather ominous. Ok, so something supernatural was definitely happening, then. Some kind of tournament was going on, and the contestants had phylacteries. So this was a tournament for liches? He could believe the kitsune was a lich, but doubted the cybernetic shark could possibly be one. Perhaps her thrall? Fascinating. So it was likely a tournament that involved taking the souls of your opponents, Sam concluded. Such an event was ripe with sin to punish. His soul cried out in legion, hundreds of individual and distinct voices singing in a choir of the hungry. She had committed this crime. He could see it within her, see the sin of soul stealing. Maybe this kitsune was worth the effort then. Still, he’d have to be certain. Just because the Murder within saw her as punishable, didn’t mean that he couldn’t justify her actions rationally. That thought aside, he didn’t care for how she was circling around him. [i]Raven[/i] was predator. Ugallu are the ultimate predators. Maybe she’ll learn that. Time would tell.

“I h-have no idea who th-they are, I swear! I don’t know how I got here! I had a show last night in New York, went to bed, and then I I I woke up in this place!” Samuel took a moment to open the blazer jacket of his suit and produced a deck of playing cards, then held it up for the other two to see. “I’m a magician, not a… Soldier or someone that’d be in a helicopter! Let me show you.”

He spread the cards out, showing off the different suits and numbers of the full deck. Grabbing one at random, he made sure that he never saw which card it was, showing off the six of clubs to Brucie and his fox-like companion. Then Samuel crumpled the card in his hand, making sure to ball it up real good. Next he tossed it aside, into the massive hole. It clearly fell beyond line of sight. A moment later and the magician placed his hand behind Brucie’s back, then pulled from it a single playing card. The six of clubs. He held it up for Lily to inspect, and sure enough it was folded and creased randomly, as though it had been crumpled.

Unimpressed was about the only word to describe the expression on Lily’s face. To Samuel’s credit, however, Brucie did seem somewhat impressed. Even then, he was the only one. “A card trick?” She asked, stopping in her track in front of him, watching him with as deadpan a stare as she could. 

She sighed and turned her back to him, ears still twisted backwards to hear him. “I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t believe you for a second. You don’t arrive here without a reason. But in the off chance that you’re telling the truth, then I have no need for you.” She took a step towards the edge of the small platform, “let’s go, Brucie,” she added and let herself fall down to where Mouse waited. 

“I, uh, heh, I admit it’s not my best trick, but I don’t, uh, you know, have much prepared since I just sorta appeared here…” Sam feigned sheepishness at the criticism. It was something he could expect. A kitsune should be, according to the legends, a very powerful magical creature. If she were also a lich participating in a tournament to steal souls, then it was only natural that she’d be unimpressed by simple sleight of hand and basic tricks. He briefly wondered how she’d react if she knew the full extent of his real magic, but focused on the task at hand.

The kitsune deigned to release him and carry forward with Brucie, down into the hole. That, he thought, was probably that. Following would be pointless and make no sense if he wanted to keep up the charade, and there was no way in hell he’d be revealing his true nature. “Oh, ok. Uh, well then I uh… I hope someone can tell me what’s going on…” he trailed off, mumbling the last few words. With both Brucie and the fox woman gone, he shed the persona of cold, scared, confused Justin. His entire body language shifted into a more comfortable, contemplative one.

[i]You don’t arrive here without a reason. Those were her words. Then something chooses to take people here. Interesting.[/i] He spared a glance upward at the helicopters. [i]And these people are apparently uninvited, meaning they are not part of this contest. A separate group with a stake in this city. But what is the goal? A contest has a prize, so what does that lich want?[/i]

Samuel Raven grinned to himself, adjusted his top hat, and began to slowly walk away from the massive hole. He held a single lump of bread up to his face, nicked from Brucie’s backpack while he was performing that simple card trick, and ate it. He would have preferred something more enlightening, but it’d do. [i]If I choose, we will meet again, kitsune. For now, I had better see if there are any other “contestants” out there. I’m getting… Hungry.[/i]

[hr]

Below, Lily had stopped briefly when she knew a normal human could not pierce the darkness. She looked up, watching the man that had claimed to be named Justin. She did not need supernatural senses to see the change in his posture and expression; to see the lie unravel at the seams, whether intentional or not. 

A slow, self-satisfied smile spread across her lips. Never try to trick a Trickster, “Justin”. The piece of bread he’d snatched, she decided, was inconsequential. His primary trick she had seen through.