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[h1]Celestine Lightbringer[/h1]

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The day had come. The muffled noise of crowds could be heard outside the dressing room. Very much like a stage performance. Celestine eyed his own self in the mirror. He was a man... yet his face, bone structure were delicate, much closer to a woman. He would never be a dashing stud. He would be always be tiny and unintimidating. A girly boy. Perhaps if things had been different, he could have lived his life with the cheers of crowds as he danced. He reviewed his mental images. Both him and mother... dancing together, making dreams... Those days were long past.

Half-dressed, he pressed a button in one of his many cheap cellphones. A tool of the trade for shady deals, as he kept dressing up. He knew it, the body of his was more apt to wear feminine clothes than male ones. Female Mephisto uniforms were accomodating of his small shoulders, and tasteful legs and hips. He had decided to wear the colors of the school, albeit with a few modifications. Black underwear to hide his recognizable man features. Fishnet stockings with a garter. Boots. Fingerless gloves. Besides himself, an ornate brass mask with womanly features as well a long black-hair wig were the final pieces of his getup. He eyed the lipstick and miscellanous make-up he had at his disposition, and began to apply it liberally as the phone called.

"Big Man? How are you doing on the vacation trip? Listen, I have some sort of dilemma here. Do you prefer nice or spicy?"

"Aha"

"Okay, I will see to it." Celestine cut the connection. That...patron of his was working in such mysterious ways. Wouldn't it hurt for Mephisto to share with Celestine his thoughts sometimes? Maybe he wouldn't have to improvise as much. He finished applying the makeup and applied black lipstick as a finisher. It wasn't going to be readily evident with the bronze mask on, but... he figured the mask would fall off at some point.

He eyed the watch in his wrist. About time. He made a mental reminder of the things that were yet about to happen. He also reviewed his plan. He was the ever subtle individual, just like some of his powers. Sometimes, a nudge was needed. And he would provided it this time for the Mephisto team. He knew that for example, one of the most annoying consequences of extreme exercise were cramps. More than often caused by electrolyte depletion.

But what would happen if someone were to [i]weaponize[/i] it? It would not be very effective, as it would produce headaches and minor disruption to physical abilities after some time. Safety and anti-cheating systems were designed to detect additions of substances, not [i]subtractions.[/i] Granted, tampering with the water of other teams and switching them for distilled water (whose only difference was being even more tasteless than common water), as well as arranging so the energy packs and food were lesser quality counterfeits for other teams would probably do a very minor dent in their performance. But when stakes ran ever so high, even a 1% or a 2% would tip the scales towards Mephisto side. The best part? It wasn't even illegal. Since people could just compensate by eating more if they ever found out. But... he figured out no one would have both the nutritional knowledge and at the same time, the keen senses to pick up the change.

With a final adjustment, he placed the wig on his head, affixxing it so it wouldn't fall out easily, and he run a hand through his fake, but luxurious black hair. "Let's dance to the cheering of crowds. Let's pretend the days of glory were never gone, that the world is a beautiful place to live." He paused, as his finger drew closer to the mirror, a stream of information in his mind as he circled over the design of the surface. Apparently faultless, but full of cracks and impurities under his eye. He poked it lightly, just once. The right way.

Huge cracks shattered the image in a dozen of so fragments of Celestine.

"Let's see how much until the cracks appear and this filthy existence is revealed in all its ugliness. The show... must go on." He let a little chuckle as he affixed his brass mask, and picked up his designated tools for this fight. Blunt tonfas. He probably wouldn't be able to justify bringing a blade. Also a waistpack with medical supplies offered by the organization. He exited into the hub with elegance and pride, his steps firm and swaying like in a catwalk.

"Let's have fun, shall we?" He said, and giggled in a girlish voice to his teammates.

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[h1][color=f6989d]Meredith[/color][/h1][/center]

Meredith twiddled her fingers as she bit her lip, trying to squeeze past other students. The few last past days have had... major changes in her. She almost considered not coming to the tournament, and instead just take Wolfie for herself, elope to somewhere and never look back. And yet... The tournament was where Wolfie would ever be. She had to look everywhere for new clothes, as her body shape had changed drastically (except in a couple of places), which made very hard to find an uniform that fit her in time. She had achieved a compromise, but the shirt of her new uniform was awfully tight. She almost gave up trying to button it up. However, this would have raised a lot of questions, so she had to enchant herself with illusion.

So that she looked the same, and nothing ever happened. She had even visited Wolfie in his dreams, once, when everyone was asleep. He had been worried. She had written it off as wanting to train, after Galbrek escaping and that both would meet in the tournament. She added that she gave the other halfbreed a good few wounds. Technically this much was true. She skipped the part about beating a guy in armour and blowing up an airship.

Still, she never had accounted for ... the other consequences of her absence. The students were all the same, there was that Andreim giving a spiel. She slipped back in her old persona. [color=f6989d]"Hiiii. Andy Rum is up to the usual, I see![/color] She smiled in her best impersonation of her past self. Something made her stop in her tracks. 

[color=f6989d]"Wait...where is my team?[/color] She said both in genuine and fake confusion. Surely they wouldn't skip her over just because a little more than two days had passed...

Oh.

Oh Bugger.

They just did. She needed a new team.