[center][color=Gold][h1]M a n t r A[/h1][/color][/center]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/J6PeZuq.jpg?2[/img][/center]
[sub][hr][/sub][COLOR=Gold][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=Gold][I]Los Angeles, California
[/I] - [I]Late Evening[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]Issue #1.03:[/b] [COLOR=Gold][I]A Way to Vent[/I][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][/color][sub][hr][/sub]

[indent]The world was a very different place than Lukasz remembered it.  Now that he was actually forced to live as a part of the world, he realized just how much things had changed.  Even 50 years ago was an entirely different world from the world of today.  Technology and society was entirely different from how it used to be.  Now the technology bit he had been forced to grow up with as it had been essentially in the war against Boneyard, every decade had brought technological warfare more on par with the sorcery at Boneyard's command, a half century more and Archimage's knights might have secured the advantage in their war, but now Lukasz had been forced to change tactics and use sorcery like Archimage himself.

The advancements in technology were amazing but he was used to rapidly changing tech, it was the drastic changes in society that was throwing him for a loop.  As a member of Archimage’s knights, Lukasz had always grouped up with the others in order to fight Boneyard.  In order to be effect they had always tried to distance themselves as much from their host's lives as well as society itself.  Sure they would go have fun from time to time and certain jobs needed to be done, but usually Lukasz was more of a grunt man on the front lines than anything else.  As Eden Blake, he was forced to work a job, go grocery shopping, do laundry, and all sorts of things that came with the territory of being a mother, as a result he got a good look at society from the inside.

Women were everywhere in the workforce for one, something that was just so, weird for a man 1500 years old.  Women had generally been the household takers, the lovers, wives, even 50 years ago things were still a lot more [i]traditional[/i].  Now a days, women were everything and anything, heck he had even seen a female garbage truck driver which had nearly blew his mind.

One of the strangest things though was despite Eden Blake being quite the looker, unless he was in certain parts of town men even seemed to [i]avoid[/i] Eden at times, like they were scared of associating with her.  Even in the office, while some did give Eden looks usually they were very quick and few made any attempts to chat with her.  Just from looking in the mirror, Lukasz knew he would certainly want to talk to a woman like her and yet it was almost like men had lost their...manliness.  On one hand he was thankful that so few men were bothering Eden but on the other he was just confused as to why a woman like her was getting so little attention.

The world was getting crazier by the decade it seemed.

Frustrated with a lack of progress, Mantra decided that she needed to get in some magic practice and what better way to get magic practice than to try it out on some of the more disreputable members of the Los Angeles community.  The first time Mantra had used her magic was by accident, confused after being sent into Eden Blake's body he wandered the streets and was assaulted by a mugger with a lit cigarette in his mouth.  The first thought to enter Lukasz's mind was [i]FIRE[/i] thinking about firing a gun but instead of that Eden's magic made the cigarette explode and burst into flames, setting the man completely on fire.

After that Mantra had been able to determine that she had command over the four elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.  While Mantra knew about what the magic could do, the fact was her control was terrible and all over the place.  It was a good thing the mask helped channel and control her magical powers or Mantra might be better off not using her sorcery.  Mantra needed to practice her control of magic and what better way than to help crack down on some gang violence.  It would be a fun way to vent too.

Using air magic, Mantra was able to fly by using her cape, though it wasn't with any great finesse, so instead Mantra was just using it as a way to get from rooftop to rooftop, which would help keep her from being spotted as well.  Mantra made her way to the seedier parts of the city and soon enough found there was a bit of a territory squabble happening between two rival gangs.  They had mostly blades and blunt weaponry but there were some handguns as well so it could quickly escalate into a deadly situation.

They had congregated on two sides of a basketball court and were trying to provoke the other into action; Mantra took up position on top of the chain-link fence between the two as she wasn't stupid enough to jump right in the middle of all that.  Hearing the rattle of the chain-link fence, several of the gang members looked up at Mantra poised above; some looked confused while others leered at the sight.

[color=Gold]"I'd appreciate it boys if you didn't dirty the basketball court.  I might want to shoot some hoops here later."[/color]  Mantra coldly told them from up above.

"Why don't you just butt out of this hooker!  This is none of your concern!"  One of the front crowd members spat, leaving a stain on the court.  A few chuckles could be heard, and a few eyes averted from the more 'innocent' of youths.

Mantra glared down at him, Lukasz hated being reminded of Mantra's rather skimpy attire.  It was really annoying, especially since he couldn't exactly disagree with what the man said.  Seriously, just why in the world did this magic armor have to be so skimpy and utterly useless as armor?  The dang thing barely covered anything!  It was a good thing it came with a really handy mantle to help cover up and was magical as well.  If he could go back in time and give the makers of this armor a piece of his mind he certainly would have liked to do that, alas this was the form the armor had chosen, [i]freaken[/i] bikini armor.

"Just butt out of our business!"  A particularly rash young woman with a gun opened fire on Mantra, which instantly raised everyone's tensions as they all raised their weapons in response, but were too scared to take the next step and start a bloodbath.  With a flick of her cape, the one bullet that would have actually hit her, entered the blue cloth and exited out into the side of a nearby building.  The magical mantle had a pocket dimension inside from which anything that entered could be spit out in a different direction.  Everyone watched the results of the shot with confusion.

Mantra had considered trying to use a wind wall but, frankly, wasn't confident enough to stop something as small and fast as a bullet.  Not wanting to get shot at again, mantra pointed at the gun with her fingers, and a stream of fire erupted from them, consuming the firearm, making the girl drop the gun in alarm.  She cursed as she nursed her burnt hand and quite a few others cursed as well upon seeing Mantra's power, but no one seemed willing to budge yet.

[color=Gold]"Tell you what fellas.  I'll come down for a spell and why don't you send some of your best to try and take me on?  If I win then you guys can call it a night."[/color]  With the challenge set, Mantra descended down onto the court, while a few stepped up to take her on.

"Let's deck this crazy chick quickly and then get on with our fight!"  One of the leaders shouted, causing a bunch of nods from both camps who then proceeded to rush Mantra with their pipes, bats, and knives.  Mantra was conventionally unarmed, but with her magic and cape she had more than enough tools at her disposal.  It would be decent practice, though Mantra decided to try and limit her fire usage as she was afraid a fire could quickly get out of control in such close quarters.

With an air blast she knocked a bat out of the quickest guy's hand and slugged him in his surprised face, it hurt a bit more than he was used to.  Quickly mantra than kicked him into the guys approaching from the left, while another assailant managed to get up behind her and smashed a pipe into her shoulder.  To his astonishment, the pipe reemerged from her cape to strike him in the shin, making him hobble in pain.  At this point the ones on her right side and closed in with their blades, without really thinking she opened her hands and blasted them with some kind of magical energy, knocking them to the ground, their knives spinning out of their hands.

Mantra closed her hands and looked at them in confusion, as a pure magic blast had not been something Lukasz had realized Eden could do.  It would take a while yet to get used to all her crazy powers.  The magical blast did not seem very strong however, as the two chums quickly recovered and were back on their feet, it seemed that the elemental powers were stronger for Mantra at the moment, probably because it was something Lukasz could more easily identify with than just plain magic.  At this point though, the gangs decided to stop playing around and with a yell decided to rush her all at once.

Mantra looked around in a panic; if they managed to get a hold of her she would be dead for sure.  One lucky stab and it would be all over, adrenaline pumped through her body and in a panic she let out as much power as she could in all directions in an effort to push the masses away, and [i]push[/i] she did.  High powered winds blasted in every direction, almost ripping the chain-link fence off its foundations.  Everyone was thrown back by the blast and the mass of people started to groan from the ground as they inevitably hit themselves with their own weapons and their own bodies.

Mantra breathed heavily as she tried to calm down, the imminent danger of the situation forced her body to expel such a large amount of magic in defense.  She could feel beads of sweat forming on her brow as her body was not prepared to unleash such an explosive amount of magical force.  With a few more deep breathes, she steadied herself, stood as tall as she could and produced a rather small flame in an open palm.

[color=Gold]"Anyone else feel like fighting tonight?"[/color]  The gangs took one last look at the flame before scrambling away into the streets of Los Angeles.  Mantra watched as they all disappeared before snuffing out the flame any sighing in relief.

[color=Gold]"Ok, that was way too close; if they still had some fight in them I would have been killed for sure.  I let the power get to my head and put myself in danger by jumping down there, and after I thought to myself it was stupid to put myself between two dangerous groups.  Better find something or someone easier to practice with.  Man I'm tired, I'll just go home and collapse...ugh guess I'll have to check on the kids first."[/color]  Mantra groaned as she forced herself into the air to sail on back home.

As Mantra was nearing home however, a bright light suddenly appeared that flashed with all sorts of colors, blinding Mantra.  

[color=Gold]"What the hell is that!?  A pulsing rainbow!?"[/color]  Mantra covered her eyes as a humanoid shape appeared in the blinking light.

"Hello [color=f9ad81]Sister[/color]!  I [color=fff79a]see[/color] you've [color=a2d39c]been[/color] developing [color=6ecff6]your[/color] powers!  [color=8882be]I'll[/color] show [color=bc8dbf]you[/color] what [color=f49ac2]a[/color] real [color=f6989d]magic[/color] [i][b][color=fff200]t[/color][color=ec008c]r[/color][color=39b54a]i[/color][color=8493ca]p[/color][/b][/i] [color=f7976a]is[/color] like!"

[color=Gold]"Well you're certainly trying to give me a headache if nothing else!"[/color]  Seriously, could this person at least turn down those annoying lights!?  She was going to have a seizure at this rate![/indent]