[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/NuqXk9g.png[/img][/center]
[@Hammerman]

Katherine quirked her head to the side, looking at her Christine curiously. "Not gonna lie, that's a lot more standard than what I was expecting." Still, the classics were classic for a reason. She cupped her own chin. "As fun as it'd be to expose someone else for a change I'm pretty sure Andriem would crucify me for even thinking about it. Though maybe if I pull his pants down in front of Lise..."

She tried to imagine both of their reactions to that, and laughed to herself. Oh, she hoped at least one of them passed out. "Oh thank you so much." she said excitedly. "By the way," she asked, switching gears. "Do you do swim?"

This was a question partly because she needed to know if there were some people she had to add to her shit list. Anyone that would go around trying to steal her sisters only piece of modesty was someone that needed a stern talking to and maybe some third degree burns. There was another reason, though, and it was simply that Katherine had no idea that they even had a pool over there. She didn't really know anything about that place, or what Christine's life was like over there. "Like, are you in any extracurricular stuff? You're having fun, right?"

[hr]

[color=red][center][h1]Mephisto's Mending[/h1][/center][/color]


Normally, is a situation much like this, where the students were running rampant, Bak would try and go out to establish order. She could already tell that no student was going to be taking classes seriously with all these fliers covering the school grounds, and the teachers that usually ended up here didn't particularly care to stop them. It would basically be a free day now unless she did something about it.

But she just felt so defeated.

 "This is all well then. Meeting adjourned." She said. Cel and the new girl where already getting ready to leave, Vernon was gone and Rurik was...sleeping, legs kicked up in that chair she'd slid him. At least that was comfortingly reliable.

 In the end she hadn't been able to do much of anything after all and the situation turned out much worse than she'd thought judging from the fact St.Laurel's had helicopters circling them now.

She trudged back over to Luigi, and tried looking at the bright side. "At least now you have privacy to work, da?"

Yuuto crouched at his perch, silent as ever. He was very fortunate that his clan from a young age taught techniques for controlling one's breathing and other aides to prevent detection. While Yuuto didn't care to exactly use these techniques on his supposed allies, he also felt fit to play the role of loyal lackey to Clara until he had more solid evidence to present to Mephisto. And so, as Bak walked over to Luigi again, Yuuto sat and watched. He wasn't sure where his concern for the mechanical girl came from, but it was there. Perhaps it was that Yuuto saw her as too innocent for the darker dealings in the world and wanted to try and protect that as much as possible. Perhaps it was that he had grown to see her as a friend. Either way, he stayed and watched, like a guardian angel of sorts. Y'know, other than the fact that his angel was more like an Angel of Death, willing to kill to accomplish its goals.

uigi sighed deeply, and pulls over a chair for Bak to sit down in. "Please...sit...this will take a bit. The wound.....err......damage, worries me...." Luigi begins, as he starts to reach into his clothing, pulling out spools of wire, bits of metal plating, and other various tools of his trade. "It's disturbingly close to gangrene, how the metal in your launcher reacted to the trauma...liquefying like dead flesh. I'll clean it out and repair it, so healing can properly commence....and..if I may be so nosey, how did this happen?" Luigi asked as he started to clean off a wire brush.

Bak leaned herself gingerly onto the chair, careful to keep most of her weight on her legs so it didn't collapse under her weight. It was weird to hear that anything metal about her had reacted like flesh. Usually it was the other way around: a hurt spot got a little more metal.

"I am not sure." She said, concerned. "It was after to cult people appeared, in arena. The big man was coming to crush Rurik and there was this... What is word? Like an itch, but nice. It crawled up my back, and went into missile I think because when I shot missile to stop bad man instead of exploding there was... Bubble? It was  nice bubble. I thought everything would be all right in bubble. And then missile pod threw up and has been strange ever since." She looked around the room to make sure no one was spying, listening keenly to the anarchy outside, then whispered. "Not as many missiles. Is why I have not been using them. Do not tell."

This was the first time she'd revisited this memory since it happened. It had been a weird incident. She wasn't sure exactly what the bubble had done even, but for all the world it felt like it had saved their lives. "Why did it hurt me then?" She wondered aloud. "It did not feel like it."

".......You've must of adapted a new ammo type for the situation, or maybe your blessing mutated under the stress. Either way, an exceptionally interesting thing." Luigi whispers as he worked. Slowly he begins to repair the launcher, patches of metal, wires, sparks move in a blur as his robotic tendrils worked in tandem to make this a quick procedure. "I do apologize my dear, I had tried to get to the arena when I smelled the insanity going on. I was delayed by a group of cultists, luckily a demonic woman came to my rescue after I had received a lethal wound. I managed to reduce one of the cultists to a pile of ground beef with a well placed grenade, but by that time the cultists were sent into a mass retreat. The demon girl, Mer, I believe her name was, took one of the cultists off like a hawk having snatched a mouse. Next time, I'll be prepared for such an event. Next time, I will be ready to cut a swath." Luigi grumbles, obviously unhappy.

"You what!?!" Bak said, craning her neck to see if she could spot where the machinist might have taken such a wound. "Where? Are you okay?|

Luigi sees Bak trying to twist her neck to see, and with a sigh he gently tugs on the collar of his shirt and leans, letting her see where a series of deep claw marks could be seen on his chest, intersecting right over where one would expect his heart to be. "The wound would of killed me in sixty seconds after the fight ended, as one of my blessing's powers allow my gear to function after critical damage, including me. However, she managed to use healing magic to restore me to working order before then. Had she not, my initial plan was to barrel through the arena towards where I thought the fighting was most intense." He explains, before he registers the last question. "........I'm ok."

"I had no idea." Bak said, her face visibly hardening as her eyes traced the marked left by some other cult monster. She hadn't even known that Luigi had been in danger. She tuned away regretfully. "We owe a lot to demon girl. If I had known I would have thanked her more."

She was silent for  a bit, watching the tendrils go about their busy work, before she said, "My shoulder cameras are burnt out too. Brutus got me with a big zap, like last time. Knocked them out." She fidgeted uncomfortable for a bit, knocking her head slowly back and forth as though literally rolling what she was about to ask in her head. Finally some internal debate seemed to settle. "Luigi, how much of...this....," she waved her hand in a general way over her head, over the backpack, careful not to bump Luigi with one of her guns while he was working.  "Could you make better? Better than it is?"

Luigi was a bit set back at Bak's request for upgrades, eyebrows raising in surprise. "Bak, you're a wonder. A perfect fusion of mechanical power and the human form. The only thing I could really do is help bypass your lethality curse." Luigi says, as he works on repairing the cameras now that their damages were made apparent. ".....Brutus needs to be more gentle with you. Seeing you in such disrepair pains me. You don't deserve this." Luigi says, in his exhaustion and stress forgetting to think rather than speak.

"Brutus should be hitting harder if he is wanting to keep monster like me down. You should have seen how I paid him back." Bak said, confidence briefly flaring up in an attempt to banish Luigi's worry while pointedly ignoring any notion of her being a wonder. "I was very mean to vigilantes. Monster can not complain about how sharp the heroes sword is, especially when monster is winner of battle. If I am not worrying so much about it you should not let it trouble you like that."

"....Monster, I never got why you called yourself that." Luigi mutters, more than loud enough for Bak to hear. He began to polish up his work, nearing the end of his repairs on Bak's damaged systems.  "You're possibly the nicest person in this whole damned school. A lot nicer than me, by any stretch. Could you try moving this arm up?" Luigi asks, gently poking Bak's right arm. "I need to make sure I haven't buggered your range of movement with one of the repairs. If it starts to hurt, lower it slowly, don't jerk your arm down, it'll make it worse." He says, worried that some wiring might get pinched.

Bak obeyed, slowly raising up her arm just in case he felt anything hurt while looking questioningly at Luigi? Nicest person in the school? Her? Did he see what she did all day? "That is just not at all true. I have seen the way people will approach you. Students hate me. That is proof enough which of us is nicer."

"...Have you ever heard of Baba Yaga?" she asked thoughtfully.  "Is legendary monster in my country. Ugly old woman, with bony legs and giant beak nose, bird talon hands and iron teeth. She flies around at night in the forest on mortar, pushing herself along with giant pestle and laughing." She tilted her head to the ceiling and cupped a hand around her mouth before letting out a quiet witchy cackle that quickly devolved into immature giggling. This was a subject she clearly enjoyed. "My Papa would tell me stories of her, how if you heard this laughing in the woods you hould stay inside for the night, because she was capricious and if you met her there was no telling what would happen. Sometimes she would whisk you away to boil your bones for broth, or throw flaming skull at you so all that would be left in morning was pile of ash. But other times she would help you, give you a cow skull that would do your housework in the night or tell you a secret that would destroy your enemies or make you rich. One time one of Papa's friends from revolution came to visit, and I heard him tell Papa that during the worst of the fighting he had met Baba Yaga while trapped in blown out building. In exchange for his left arm and three of his toes Baba Yaga gave him egg that made him invincible so long as it did not break."

"Is difficult to explain how the people think about her. She is strongest of all monsters. Everyone hates her, everyone is afraid of her, but you can not help but respect her. You can not help telling story about her. Children play games where one pretends to be her a and tries to get all the others. People sing songs about her. There is entire ballet dedicated to her, and I have seen it, and it is beautiful! You can hate her all you wish, but you can not just... just ignore her. To live in Yekateria is to live with Baba Yaga, and she does not even care! Nothing you do will ever hurt her. No matter how you feel about her she will always be there, grinning back at you!"

She suddenly realized just how loud she'd gotten in her excitement and clapped her free hand over her jaw, silencing herself with a metallic clang and looking down at Rurik to make sure she hadn't woken him up. Sighing with relief at him still apparently snoring away, she relaxed a little and continued more quietly, lowering her arm. "When I heard stories about Baba Yaga, with her bird hands and iron teeth, I could not help but think that once upon a time she was just village girl. Like me. It made me feel...better?"

Yuuto, at first, hadn't planned on staying this long. However, getting to see an interaction like this... well, he certainly had gained a new perspective on Bak Tsarevna, that was for sure. It was certainly not to be expected, nor was Luigi's protectiveness. Huh. Yuuto guessed that it was behind locked doors that people showed their weaker sides. Oh, sure, the seeming sadness of her story tugged at Yuuto's heart strings, but he shoved those feelings aside with practiced ease. Ninja like him weren't humans. They were tools, to be used by their superiors and tossed aside when they could no longer serve their purpose. And, unlike Bak, Yuuto had no fairy tale to make himself feel better.

Luigi went to speak, to rebuke the notion just because people went to Luigi for help, made him the nicer person. He wanted to tell her about what he did, that what he did no one else wanted to do. That he did horrible things that people paid for with money, metal, favors, weapons, or worse. He wanted to recount how he kidnapped a girl so their stoner alchemy teacher would give him something special, something hard to come across. However, he was silenced as Bak asked a question. Baba Yaga? Luigi had heard she was a witch, and hadn't given it more thought than that. Bak began to explain, even giving an example of the witch's cackle, but then she started to giggle. She was having fun with this explanation, and hearing Bak laugh, seeing someone delve into something they really care about, Luigi had to hold back a smile, and partially, tears. 

As Bak continued to explain, Luigi understood better and better why she called herself a monster. Luigi's inward smile turned to a frown, and the warmth he felt from seeing someone he considered a friend so happy, turned cold and bitter. He looked down at Bak, and in her explanation he saw something he hated, something he despised. He gripped a robotic hand onto the back of the chair Bak was sitting in, and the more she explained the tighter his grip got, the harder he squeezed the wood until it began to bend, creak silently, until Bak clasped her hand over his own mouth to silent herself. Luigi slowly released his grasp, and felt pulped wood slip through his fingers. "I see...Your definition of a monster, and mine, is far different...But I do like that you find comfort in yours. I guess one day, there will be a Rhean legend of a mechanical knight who beats up evil witches, and blasts lazy louts who don't do their chores....."

"...But, as you've asked your question, and explained something, would you allow me to do the same?" Luigi asks, quietly.

Bak stretched out, rolling her neck from side to side and switching her vision modes on and off.  "Nyet, perfect work as always." 

She stood to her not so impressive full height, a gave Luigi a concerned look. It wasn't a look of judgement, more like a look you'd get if you told a coworker another employess was having you run drugs out of the mail room like that wasn't odd.  "Luigi, you are member of St. Mephisto's student council. Our benefactor is most powerful man in all Rhea. You are [i]genius[/i].  You should not have to do the nasty work if you do not wish too. If you are in need of resources you should make your desires known to Mr. Mephisto. If you should work under someone it should be a man smart enough to see your worth." 

Kidnapping someone? The nerve! That was a Bak job. Someone like Luigi was wasted doing things like that when he could be creating marvels from e safety of a fully stocked laboratory. The thought of it was offensive, not the least because she couldn't remember the student council approving any kidnapping plots. 

"I will never need to look for you under bridge." She said, leaning forward emphatically. "Because you are destined for something so much greater than being stupid stinking troll."

"....If I have to ask him for help, I'm not the genius you claim me to be. I...do this whole thing so I can protect people on my own. Get things on my own. Doing those jobs for people? That's me gathering. Talking to the benefactor, it's like getting a handout one way or another. It disgusts me deep inside to be reliant on someone like that, never again." Luigi began, before remembering just how he groveled for Cel's help earlier in the week. His own hypocracy made him feel disgust, and then he realized just how much of an edgy fuckwad he was being. He sighed, deeply, drawn out, exaggerated, before he starts to walk off. He takes a moment, noticing the sleeping slacker, and reaching into his pocket manages to produce a blanket for Rurik. He gently drapes the blanket onto the guy, figuring if he could sleep through all that, he needed the rest, before he walks out of the room.

"...If you need anything else, or even if it's just to talk, you know how to find me, Bak."

"Same to you." Bak said as he disappeared out the door. "If you ever need anything I am here." Oh they would be having that talk all right. Right after she had a little talk with Mr. Kanzeal about overstepping his authority.  She didn't get Luigi. Why would they be a group if they weren't supposed to rely on one another? Why have a benefactor if you never went to him for help? 

At this point, Yuuto felt he had seen enough. Besides, his Void Energy was nearing half capacity. So, he steadily made his way over to one of the walls of the room, carefully making his way down. Soon, he was on the floor once more. He righted himself and stepped back into the real world, as it were. [color=lavender]"Greetings, Bak-[i]san[/i]."[/color] Yuuto greeted her, as if he hadn't just appeared out of nowhere.

She was shaken from her train of thought by the sudden greeting from a familiar voice. "Yuuto!" She said, turning to find the ninja in the room. It wasn't surprising he'd come in without her seeing him, she'd seen enough movies to know he could do that. "Is better late than never." If anyone else had said that it would have sounded like a passive aggressive put down, but Back somehow did the impossible and used the phrase entirely genuinely. Based on what he had said about his punishment Bak had assumed the worst, but seeing as the boy wasn't a walking ball of scabs and calluses  he was doing much better than he had in her imagination. "Is just as well, meeting did not go so well. I did not even have the chance to ask Miss Celestine if she could take look at you. Are you doing well?

Yuuto nodded, as if in understanding as Bak mentioned the meeting. [color=lavender]"Am well. Still sore, but is nothing I cannot handle. [i]Tousan[/i] would not permit me to see any medic, anyway."[/color] What he didn't mention was that he still had a hairline fracture in his left ulna from the training, nor the cracked ribs that had only recently healed. No, Bak didn't need to be exposed to the evils and harsh realities of the world. [color=lavender]"What was meeting for? Am sorry I was busy with... other business."[/color] He had to keep appearances up., after all. Besides, Bak might know more than was mentioned at the meeting.

Bak frowned at what Yuuto's Father would and would not allow.  They were bad guys anyway, they had their own rules.  "I made agenda." She said, reaching over and handing the crudely penned agenda to him. "We did not make very much progress. If Mr. Kanzeal has been doing kidnappings without our approval that may be how our location was leaked, but many people are still missing. If Tovarisch were around she could find them but..."

She suddenly pulled out the cell phone the Ward boy had found for them. "You are like spy, da? Expert at gathering information." She turned the phone toward him. "Do you think you could get information from this?"

Yuuto eyed the poorly-penned agenda that Bak had handed over to him. To be honest, he could barely make out what it said. However, he pocketed it. [color=lavender]"[i]Arigatou[/i], Bak-[i]san[/i]. As for location, am sure that Clara-[i]dono[/i] return soon."[/color] However, it was then that she asked him a question he hadn't been expecting. He eyed the cell phone, taking in the details. [color=lavender]"[i]Hai[/i], I specialize in gathering intel. However, I am not knowing how long it might take. Give me couple days, should be able to get you basic information."[/color]

"You do not need to if you are feeling unwell, but thank you. The sooner we find her the better." She said, gratitude radiating off her. "And if..." She hesitated, as though speaking sacrilege in church. "I do not need to know everything, but...if you find anything that could help me understand her, please let me know."

Yuuto nodded. [color=lavender]"No worry, Bak-[i]san[/i]. Will do job."[/color] As Bak continued, Yuuto frowned beneath his face mask. Hesitation? From Bak? [color=lavender]"Bak-[i]san? Daijōbu?[/i]

Bak tilted her head at the new word. It was obviously a question. Was he asking if she wanted him to kill something? "What does that one mean?" She asked curiously.

Yuuto shook his head. [color=lavender]"Apologies, Bak-[i]san[/i]. I forget you not know Jubanese. I asked if you are okay."[/color]

Bak's eyes shifted nervously, as though expecting the commissars bullet for even entertaining such heresy. "It just feels as though I am doing something wrong. I do not enjoy looking in on Tovarisch without her permission. I owe so much to her. I have always put my trust in her.  But she is student like rest of us, da? She can make mistake. Maybe if I knew more about her I could steer her away from making such mistakes in the future."

Yuuto had to suppress a chuckle. [color=lavender][i]"Hai[/i], Clara-[i]dono[/i] is indeed capable of making mistake. Is human thing to do. Do not worry, Bak-[i]san[/i], I am sure Clara-[i]dono[/i] is fine."[/color] Yuuto fully believed that, too. Say what he would about her, she was the daughter of Mephisto. She had shown herself to be capable of handling herself.

"I hope so." Bak said. "Thank you very much. Take this time to rest, please. Class will not be resuming today I think. Use teachers lounge, or my room if you would like privacy. If you need anything at all," she raised up her chaingun and spun the barrel.  "I will be doing stress testing, so follow booms." With that, she turned and stomped her way out the door, toward the alchemical lab.

After she left, Yuuto couldn't help but chuckle. Truly, despite how monstrous Bak saw herself, she was too kind and innocent for the world. Well, if Clara wouldn't be resuming her duties today... Yuuto mentally went through what the possibilities were. Perhaps a report to Mephisto was in order. His mind made up, Yuuto discretely left the school, using his training and his powers to evade notice.