[center][b]Minutes ago, but not many…[/b][/center] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXjuDwBKZ6g]The sound of punished tires howled through the air as a motorcycle blazed between the gridlocked Penrose traffic.[/url] It had hardly slowed down since its riders embarked from Pope Layton sandwich shop, roughly halfway across the city from their destination. The driver of the motorcycle, a blonde girl with flowing locks and a striking bowler hat, spotted their next turn. [color=silver]“Hang on!”[/color] She expertly maneuvered the vehicle through a gap in the cars, and begun to drift into a full-speed turn. Suddenly, a car swerved into view, moving much faster and erratically than even the motorcycle. [color=silver]“Bloody hell, plastered at this hour?!”[/color] It was too late to pull out without losing control, and the blonde knew it. That car was going to hit them mid-drift! [color=fff200]“I’ve got us,”[/color] the passenger said, already locking her left arm around the driver and her legs around the motorbike. [color=fff200]“Zoom Punch!”[/color] The passenger’s right arm glowed with power, before all of the joints from the wrist to the shoulder dislocated and loosened, stretching with astonishing speed towards a streetlight. The hand grasped the metal pole, and the arm it was attached to contracted back to its normal size and shape, slingshotting the motorcycle out of danger! The drunk driver screeched to a halt, inches away from a fire hydrant. She blinked several times, processing what she had seen. “I definitely need help.” And then she let unconsciousness take her, retiring until the police arrived. [hr] [center][img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/415785156096557058/485936039769145345/jobros.jpg?width=800&height=416[/img][/center] Meanwhile on the motorcycle, the driver let out a breath of relief. [color=silver]“That was brilliant, Miss Jo-star.”[/color] ‘Miss Jo-star’ let out a steadier breath, her blue hair whipping in the wind. [color=fff200]“You’re welcome.”[/color] That said, Joanna Fujo let herself relax, and the glow of her artifact-bolstered magic subsided. [color=fff200]“Speedwagon, how much farther until we reach that intersection?”[/color] [color=silver]“Not much, just a few blocks. We just have to pass the Pitstop, and we’re golden.”[/color] The roads were clear from that point onwards, both of drunk drivers and of traffic in general. It made Speedwagon’s drifting less terrifying and more exhilarating, but Joanna wasn’t sure whether admitting this would encourage even more reckless maneuvers. Or, for that matter, how she would feel about that. Though she had to admit, barring the drunk driver incident, Speedwagon was really good at driving through Penrose at high speeds. After another moment, they stopped the motorcycle at a corner of the intersection. [color=fff200]“Hey, where is Father Grundelson? Didn’t he say that he’d meet us around here?”[/color] The good Father had called them minutes ago, in the middle of a magical attack on the civilians. He had just enough time to tell them what was happening and where he was before hanging up abruptly. Needless to say, the girls had gotten worried for the man. [color=silver]“That he did, Miss Jo-star. But it’s possible that old Tattoo rabbited. Take a look over there. Those girls over there are Beacon types.”[/color] [color=fff200]“Beacon?”[/color] [color=silver]“Think of them like a church, but with a clergy filled with fluffy little creatures, and a congregation of chaste, knight-in-shining-armor types that get cushy lives for perfect attendance. They claim to be protecting magical girls and the rest of humanity. They’re also infamous throughout the underworld as unyielding, like the concrete beneath your feet. Or, more accurately, a man’s upper jaw.”[/color] Joanna stared at Speedwagon. [color=fff200]“So why would Father Grundelson stay away from them? Theological differences?”[/color] Speedwagon sighed, and her eyes scanned the intersection for any sign of him. [color=silver]“…I never told you what happened to the rest of the Grundelsons, did I?”[/color] Joanna racked her memory. Speedwagon had mentioned them in passing, back when she was explaining that ‘monsters’ weren’t always chaotic and evil. [color=fff200]“They opened a bakery several neighborhoods away from Ogre Street, didn’t they?”[/color] [color=silver]“Peaceful folk, they were. Wanted to raise their kids away from the slums, so they saved up for a while. They pawned every mundane and magical bauble they could afford to sell off, got ahold of some ‘guises, and sunk the rest of their money into the building. Sent the eldest ones to school, and he and his little sister did pretty well. They were happy for a few years. “One night, I invited him for a night out on the town, for old time’s sake. His mum and dad wanted him back by midnight, on account of it being a Sunday. We had a grand old time catching up. We came back about ten minutes after midnight, and...”[/color] Speedwagon sighed, reminding Joanna that the girl in front of her was older than she looked. [color=silver]“Turns out a Beacon girl with the Sight went in for a few loaves that morning. And while we were gone that night, her cell came and slaughtered them all in the dead of night. His mum tried to stop them from killing the babes in their cribs, but she just shared their fate. They probably didn’t hesitate, thinking a human willing to lay with a monster was no better than a full-blooded one.”[/color] Speedwagon trailed off, pushing her hat down so the brim obscured her eyes. [color=silver]“They brought guns with them, enough mortal lead to throw the coppers off the scent. Blamed it on gang violence, closed the case with a neat little bow on it. He blames himself for not being there, for being out with me at the time.”[/color] Joanna gazed over the remnants of the rescue efforts. [color=fff200]"So some of those girls over there could have been the same ones who killed his family."[/color] Speedwagon nodded. [color=silver]“But ever since Justine tried to destroy the local Beacon hidey-hole, the local Beacon's been trying to turn themselves around. Trying to purify monsters instead of slaughtering them. I don’t rightly know how many of them are sincere about it, but I’ve heard enough to know they don’t hold trials anymore. So the fundamentalist types don’t get the chance to shoot their reforms straight back to hell.”[/color] [color=silver]“Even if he did stick around, there’s the chance one of them has the Sight too. Purification of scions doesn’t always have a happy ending. It could have made him fully human… or torn him in half.”[/color] On that note, they were silent for a moment. [color=silver]“No, he would have also stayed behind to try and help with the relief efforts, regardless of the risks. A real bleeding heart, that one. I can’t spot him, though…”[/color] [color=fff200]“I’m going to try calling him,”[/color] Joanna said. She tapped in his number on her phone, and held it to her ear. It began to ring on Joanna’s end… [url=https://youtu.be/fPO76Jlnz6c?t=182]A wordless chorus rang out faintly over the intersection.[/url] “He *is* here,” Speedwagon sighed, looking slightly relieved. She started jogging off in the direction of the ringtone, and Joanna trailed behind, taking the motorcycle’s key out of the ignition. [right][i]We've been spending most our lives, living in a gangsta’s paradise.[/i][/right] Speedwagon kept walking, the smell of blood hanging heavy over the air. [right][i]We've been spending most our lives, living in a gangsta’s paradise.[/i][/right] Joanna caught up to the increasingly concerned Speedwagon. [right][i]We keep spending most our lives, living in a gangsta’s paradise[/i][/right] Joanna’s eyes widened as she clocked where the ringtone was coming from. “Oh god…” [right][i]We keep spending most our lives, living in a gangsta’s paradise[/i][/right] Sprinting now, Speedwagon reached what was once a white sheet, drenched in an unholy amount of blood. [right][i]Tell me why are we, so blind to see[/i][/right] Speedwagon grasped the edge of the sheet, her hands trembling, and practically threw the fabric upwards. [right][i]That the ones we hurt, are you and me?[/i][/right] The screen on the phone read “Incoming call from Joanna Fujo,” still visible through the cracks, the fingers of the hand it was clasped in, and all of that horrible blood. [right][i]Tell me why are we, so blind to see[/i][/right] As the body became fully uncovered, Joanna could see the face of Father “Tattoo” Grendelson, and the massive hole in his chest. [right][i]That the ones we hurt, are you and me?[/i][/right] [center][b]Father Tate “Tattoo” Grendelson Age 23 『Deceased』 [/b][/center] [img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/415785156096557058/487780721419616287/med.png?width=200&height=45[/img]