[h2]Zone 2[/h2]
[@Animal][@AdmrlStalfos19]
The haul was a big one, and Shiki’s shirt certainly had seen better days as the beanie-wearing youth dragged his heavy load over rubble and busted roads. Sweat poured from his pores, while fatigue had already began showing on his expression; being a gamer boy certainly hadn’t done him much favors in regards to the endurance grind of rescue work, no matter how many corners he could cut with a non-human rescue target. Still, the young man could pride himself in being the ‘first’ to complete a circuit, the last steps up the bus taken with gusto. Outside of the baby the small proctor of the exam had tossed in, there were no other dummies retrieved yet, and he could have sworn the girl with the Chinese buns gave his sweat-laden form a ghost of a smile before turning back to her tablet.

Eventually, he left, and the child-proctor turned back to her own work, flicking through a mosaic of imagery that showed all the incidents that had occurred previously. The cat girl’s construction of a makeshift stretcher was a clean, admirable move. Her head was certainly in the right place, but considering her own abilities, allocating the task to someone else would have been a wiser choice. As expected, Aritage definitely must have enjoyed playing up on the whole ‘fear mongering monster’ deal, but even though turbine boy was rash and reckless, the marble trick was an interesting one. Not effective, but his commitment to striving for victory in the face of retreat may have stirred the hearts of a different judging panel. Only question was whether or not he planned to be bait to begin with, wasn’t it?

In the residential area, the trio there moved cleanly as well, but had yet to recede completely. If Jigokuraku Academy’s entrance exam had hired workers from the ‘Help Us Company’, their method of extraction would probably have been more merit than demerit but hey. It was better than amputating the legs completely or something like that. She scratched her chin as a bright light temporarily blinded that screen, before their female companion joined them.

[b]“Should I…”[/b] Well, it never hurt to give people a head start. [b]“Guess I will.”[/b] Bringing up a different screen, she typed in a couple of commands, pressed the enter key, and rewarded her kindness with another bite of fried noodles.

Still chewing, she monitored the screen for Zone 8, pulling out her phone at the same time. It connected to a speaker rather than any other phone and soon, her voice rang out clear and disinterested within the Dragon’s lair. [b]“Heyo,”[/b] the child-proctor said, [b]“I know you know this, but it’s a bit nerve-wracking anyways. Don’t go too hard on them, alright? Thanksies.”[/b]

Yup, two good deeds within the span of ten minutes. She really was too nice for her own good.

[h2]Zone 1[/h2]
[@follycle][@ShwiggityShwah][@Delta44]
Hiroki’s defiance rang clearly through the misted streets, and no matter the wounds on his body, the scratches on his prized turbines, the sheer incompatibility of the match-up in front of him, the cold truth that this confrontation was hardly necessary, he stood his ground. How much of it was prideful recklessness? How much of it was genuine bravery? In that moment, no one knew but the youth himself, but no matter the origin of his ferocity, aggression must be answered in kind. Coiling its reptilian limbs and crouching down once more, the feral eyes of the Beast narrowed, before bursting forward, the pavement cracking underneath its diamond-hard claws.

An unstoppable force to match the unwavering will of the [i]man[/i] that stood before it. Was there another trick up Hiroki’s sleeve, or was he going to go all in, all out? It mattered not. Upon its namesake, the Beast would smash through everything and devour what scraps remained of human valor.

[h2]Zone 3[/h2]
[@AdmrlStalfos19][@vFear][@Lugubrious]
Before any clear consensus could be arrived at as to what their next step would be, Goro, Umi, and Taro could all hear the distinct scritch-whirrr of a record scratch as the child-sized dummy’s vocalizations suddenly changed, their cries and whimpers and sobs turning into…

[i]“TheytookmommyanddaddybutIdon’tknowwheretheytoldmetohidebuttheygotcaughttheytookmommyanddaddybutIdon’tknowwheretheytoldmetohidebuttheygotcaughttheytookmommyanddaddybutIdon’tknowwheretheytoldmetohidebuttheygotcaughttheytookmommyanddaddybutIdon’tknowwheretheytoldmetohidebuttheygotcaughttheytookmommyanddaddybutIdon’tknowwheretheytoldmetohidebuttheygotcaughttheytookmommyanddasomanysomanysomanysomanysomanytakentakentakentakentakentakentakentakentakentak-”[/i]

And, just like that, the dummy turned silent but for the sound of heavy hyperventilation.

They had something else to look for now, didn’t they? A whole treasure trove of dummies, even. But if the misted streets reeked of possible ambushes, this was certainly the prelude to an even greater trap.

[h2]Zone ???[/h2]
She looked outside, and it still didn’t look like anyone was coming. Rubbing the back of her neck, the woman cast a glance back towards the dreary interiors that she was supposed to make her dramatic entrance from, before shrugging.

The Beast and the Dragon might enjoy being able to play their incredibly unrealistic depiction of villainy, while the Shadow and the Mastermind no doubt had planned ahead of time for moments of quiet despite the exams, but for her poor [s]old[/s] self, there looked to be no such relief. Early mornings in Kirisama were bad enough, but to have all the donuts eaten before she even got to the site?

Wholly insufferable. Not like it was her fault her clock didn’t go off.

Stifling a grimace (for that would cause more lines on her face) and a yawn (because that was an unmaidenly expression to begin with), the Ruler stepped out of her concrete palace and decided that a quiet stroll would take the edge off her boredom.