[center][color=red][h1]Shade[/h1][/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/MT7dudz.jpg[/img] [color=red]"1v1 me bro, tee hee~"[/color] [/center] Shade simply had no reason to attempt to evade the portal that opened, and so she wound up aboard the vessel alongside the other injured girl. Having experienced similar situations like this, Shade brilliantly smiled like her disguise suggest she would. The fact that she was surrounded by potential enemies was not lost on her, but she understood that in order to keep this rather weak, stretched persona viable, she could not afford to give any true indicators that she was not who she claimed to be. Thankfully, in a non-combat scenario, suppressing her emotions was as easy as breathing for her. With nothing forcing her to the ground, the magical girl stood up, though she favored the uninjured leg. [color=red]"Ah, I'm so dirty now!"[/color] she complained with a cute pout while inspecting the bloodied clothes she now wore. Given that they were black along with the blood, it wasn't actually that noticeable in most areas. Her skin, however... [color=red]"But thanks to whoever helped me, I really was in a bit of a bind."[/color] Shade noticed there was just a puddle that once was the girl that had fired herself out of a cannon for the assist. How comedic. [color=red][i]There are only two people who should really pose a risk to blowing my cover. I should just avoid them.[/i][/color] By the time they arrived at what apparently was the group's destination, Shade had healed the damage sustained in the last fight. The situation on the boat...thing seemed tense, and even though she was a stranger aboard, nobody had come to really interact with her, which was a little bit disappointing given her effort into the character she had built. But the less amount of story building she had to do, the better. By the way they interacted with each other, Shade determined that this ragtag bunch wasn't the most trusting lot, even with each other. Would they be able to achieve their goal, this way? Shade owned no interest in the matter herself. If these people lived or died, it did not bother her now that Veronica had confirmed she could return to her own world. But she did find it strange that she couldn't figure the exact relationship these people held to Veronica's, no, The Ebon Mint's goals. The earlier sabotage made it seem as though the Ebon Mint would benefit from their destruction, however, Shade was advised against killing the captain. The captain must have had some kind of usefulness to the Ebon Mint. Especially, Shade thought, if she was being asked to trail the ship even going into this Overcity place. [color=red][i]Is the Captain perhaps a member of the Ebon Mint?[/i] [/color] This question popped into Shade's mind. For the Ebon Mint to desire somebody to live enough to protect it, it needed to have its use. A common 'use' one might have to the Ebon Mint would be servitude. Shade knew that better than anybody else. They valued their pawns enough to threaten those who accidentally dispose of them, so long as the pawn still had its use, that is. Assuming the deduction is fact, Shade imagined the very horrible and awkward possible outcome to the sabotage where she eliminated the pirate. That perhaps would not have been a debt she would get the chance to repay. [color=red]"Ha..."[/color] Shade sighed, as if bored. She hated not knowing the exact situation during prolonged operations like this. The fact that she did not have intel on every living person aboard this ship irritated her, but they apparently wanted to engage in a very serious fight with another being who was not going to be a walk in the park, supposedly. Any mistakes here could be her last. Though that was par for the course with her occupation, dying in a place that wasn't even Earth... weighed just a bit more heavily on her. Eventually, the crew had bunched together to discuss their plan of attack. Though she paid mind to the plan itself, she was far more interested in something else. Shade had limited knowledge on what each girl's capabilities were, but any mention of them was instantly remembered on the off chance she drew their aggression in the future, even if it was merely a small bit of information. She understood Information was important against a potential opponent. Knowing how your opponent works and when to engage was a potential game-changer for certain foes. You are never really thrown into an arena with somebody and made to fight straight-on, at full strength. That kind of stuff generally only happened in fiction. In reality, there were always modifies that could shift a battle in one direction, heavy or softly. A man with a gun did not beat the man with a knife 100 percent of the time, but he did have an advantage that was difficult to overcome. In her human life, Shade had overcome this through stealth and clever use of cover. But Shade had never found herself in those scenarios willingly. A gun was preferable to a blade, at least when you were a human. Now... well, things were a bit different. The important aspect is to know that, no matter what, if there's a single percent chance of one side winning, they CAN win. So theorizing can only go so far. Still, Shade bothered to do it if only to mentally prepare for the general outcome. And she currently did so now. The best candidate, right now, was Mariette. Shade could only go off of what she had personally seen, but it appeared as though she had a good control over the size of her portals as her main power. Shade was able to observe this during the ride, spotting the eyes the girl had created along the way through her own special eyes. Given that kind of ability... Shade would have absolutely no problem dealing with her were they in close proximity when starting the fight if the scenario had them both at full strength and no interference. In a ranged fight where Mariette had no proper knowledge of Shade's own abilities, Shade could still claim victory with relative ease if Mariette made one very critical mistake. But it would be nowhere near as "guaranteed" as close-range. And if Mariette started the fight at a range and with information pertaining to Shade's actual capabilities, that wasn't something Shade desired. It would not likely go well for her unless Mariette was a fool and unable to realize the proper precautions she could take to prevent retaliation. It was to be expected, but any situation where she could easily see herself not "winning" was always upsetting. She might be a sore loser at heart. But she had not too long to dwell on such thoughts. People were getting excited in various ways involving the plan that had been laid before them. Shade had her own qualms about the plan, particularly with whom she was to be paired with, but she also did not want to draw very much attention to herself. She was not, after all, a true member of this bunch. Merely a random girl who appeared and offered help. It might be more in character to do as instructed, but if most of the crew seemed to be against the initial plan, then she supposed she could get away with voicing concerns. [color=red]"Eheh~ I'm glad that you find me dazzling, but"[/color] Shade giggled like she was embarrassed and placed a finger to her lips. [color=red]"My ideal stage lets me get a bit closer to my fans! Being out in the open isn't personal enough!"[/color] she claimed. [color=red]"I give a mean autograph, after all~"[/color] she punched the inside of her hand to emphasize her point. Out of the two plans laid before them, Shade favored Makoto's just a bit more. Had she more influence in this group, she'd ask everybody to give a general idea of their capabilities and then formulate a plan around that. It would serve her own goals, of course, but also allow her to identify which people should go where. A plan needed absolutes. Leaders were supposed to give this. A group without an actual leader was bound to fail somewhere along the line. Shade was not confident in either plan, even if they had been the most brilliant thing she'd ever heard. Because a plan was only good if people listened to it. Could this group settle on one thing and go with it? The assumption was that this was unlikely. With nobody to say "You will" rather than "You should" with enough legitimacy that people would listen, they may as well be going in with no plan. But this was merely her opinion as someone who once called themselves a part of a military. What did she know? [color=red]"What if we---"[/color] A very loud shriek erupted from a nearby location, cutting Shade off from what she was about to say. Were they already under attack? It was probably a smart move by whomever their foe was to take the initiative against such a force. What little formation they had could easily be undone. Shade, like the others, quickly sought out the source of the scream due to her own unfamiliarity with the crew and unwillingness to be the first into the fray, Shade's immediate reaction to this was to prepare for a fight by clenching her fists and, unlike last time, utilizing stasis on her hands as well so that she didn't break her hands each and every time she smacked against something hard. A nice touch that was missing earlier, but she chalked that up to inexperience with this style of fighting. It was certainly a bold thing to do earlier, but it so far had worked.