[center][h1][color=cyan]Kanbaru Otoko[/color] [/h1][img]http://66.media.tumblr.com/51fc61ac770a524e9468f174afa94d7f/tumblr_inline_n1xc79Kcic1rb3m8r.png[/img][/center]


In the wee hours before the day began for the Umbral Games, a flash of light illuminated Kanbaru leaning against her bed, eyes honed in upon the Serei she manifested before her. She'd thought the meeting was overdue given her reckless outburst when they first arrived, the Corpse Collector's actions getting them here in the first place, after all. [color=cyan]"So CC, I think we need to have a little chat before I consider slipping you off the leash. I want to know if I'm going to have an issue using you in the future, because as fun as that ride was, it wasn't what I expected when I pulled on your powers before now."[/color]

Out of the light came the glint of silver as a gun pointed itself point blank to Kanbaru's face. No stranger to having weapons raised at her, it was more greeting than intimidation but both could have well mixed into the same for [url=https://i.imgur.com/HQfqCvK.png]Corpse Collector[/url]. Her entire body manifest now, gun still cocked and very willing to blow the blunette's brains out. [color=fff79a]"How about you go fuck yourself. You should have rolled over and died nicely with that crash instead of wasting my time with negotiation,"[/color] the hacker spat out. [color=fff79a]"Funnily, this is a nice little world you brought us to here. I don't think anyone'd bat an eye if I pulled this trigger. They might even graduate me before you, hah!" [/color]

[color=cyan]"Hmm, testy, aren't you?"[/color] The Bluenette rolled her eyes upon receiving the Corpse Collector's warm greeting. If the hacker shifted her weight even minutely she'd feel the rug under her boots squish with excess moisture and it only took a thought to freeze it, raising barbed cones of ice between her immobilized feet in an overt threat. [color=cyan]"You know, I'd almost sympathize with you. This place is really too good to be true, and if there wasn't a whole Tower still to climb, I'd jump at spending a few years soaking in the classes."[/color]

[color=cyan]"But there is more to see, and you are a Serei. You think you can do anything without me? That what you call an existence doesn't just stop the moment no one is left to release your card? Shoot me right now, and I bet you'll poof back into a card that no one local to this floor will release. Sounds like Hell to me, CC, so let''s be a little more considerate of each other's feelings, 'kay~?"[/color] Kanbaru said brightly, leaning in till the barrel of CC's gun was flush to the skin of her brow. Perspiration from her brow shot down the barrel, freezing the inner mechanism without any outside sign of interference just to be safe from the hacker's spite. 

[color=fff79a]"You think you can do anything without [i]me[/i]? Or did you forget almost splattering into a wall because you can't ride a bike."[/color] CC ignored the clear threat gathered at her boots, no different than any player's abilities in her own world. Idly, she wondered how much this datascape allowed her abilities and idly she moved a foot around- [color=fff79a]"Hah!"[/color] Her hypothesis was correct, leg bristling and moving through the ice like a living glitch. Indeed, that would prove valuable for the future, because that also meant... [color=fff79a]"You know, I don't think you were around when I was big and bashful Kanbaru. Sure, my chances are shot to shit if I get dropped in that card again, but who's to say I won't reset in some other save area?"[/color] She didn't know; no one did, but that didn't mean Kanbaru needed to know the Serei Cards didn't know what was in the know. 

[color=fff79a]"Oh sure, I'd just be given to some other user. Maybe. Point is, you don't seem to remember I have the advantage here so I should be calling the shots."[/color] Even as her gun was blocked by the other girl's body, frezing over near-instantly, she still had another hand, and thus, another gun. With movements of a seasoned gunslinger, she quickdrew another pistol with a grin. [color=fff79a]"I think one bullet's enough to turn this room into shredded wood, huh? So why should I put my cards with someone like you?"[/color]

It was surprising to see CC could actually phase through her ice, seeming to put herself out of phase like her leg was nothing more than an optical illusion. One that still had another gun and wasted no time in raising it to keep the threat alive, so Kanbaru responded in kind and absorbed her first Serei card. There was a rush as the color bled from her hair and she found her back growing straight as she sneered with renewed arrogance at the gunslinger. [color=cyan]"You seem to forget I already have one card, one both more powerful and more cooperative then you. I'd wager, glitch or not, that a demon's constitution surpasses your bullet's penetrating power."[/color]

Her expression was clear to see under the light of portals now ringing  the hacker, barrels belonging to guns of a far higher caliber now aimed squarely at her person while Kanbaru almost lazily reached up and grasped CC by the wrist. [color=cyan]"If threats don't work, how about the carrot to the stick, hmm? I'm fond of your weapons and your style, so I want us to get along. To extend an olive branch, I want you to go so far as to walk a day in my shoes. More specifically, I want to let you crush the Umbral Games for me. Go nuts, burn down the city and hitch the Hentai Tenshi's panties to the back of your motorcycle. Just make sure to keep on the coat and mask when I wear your card to make a token effort at pretending to be me, and don't try too hard to kill my party members, and you'll be free to ravage an entire city. Play nice, and I'll let you out on another floor to have some fun."[/color]

[color=cyan]"I just need a big distraction for the real crime to take place. Something so big, this school will memoralize my- Our names, for the rest of it's days. Assuming, of course, you have the drive to do more then bite the hand that feeds you."[/color]

[color=fff79a]"Tch, and you call me a cheater."[/color] CC didn't enjoy the idea of several other guns pointed at her face, especially when Kanbaru was flaunting a power that far exceeded her own. Her grin shirked into stubborn annoyance across her features, knowing when to back down when she needed to. [color=fff79a]"I don't remember you having those parts in-game. If I didn't know any better, I'd label you just as bad as any hacker. Whatever."[/color] She allowed the renewed girl to snatch her wrist and state her business; though for something she claimed wasn't negotiation, there was interest in what had to be said. CC raised an eye at what Kanbaru proposed and second by second her smirk returned. [color=fff79a]"Now that sounds more like worth my time. You sure you weren't just going to set me loose regardless of what I said?"[/color] Yes, the idea of running amok in these Umbral Games sounded almost too perfect for her. 

But there's a catch. [color=fff79a]"There's always a catch. What, took soft-skinned to participate yourself? I didn't take you as anything less of the pragmatic kind, but if you're having me run around pretending I'm you, then clearly you have a plan. While I love the idea of tearing this city apart, common sense demands I ask what are [i]you[/i] gonna be doing?"[/color] CC thought better of her words then before shrugging. [color=fff79a]"Not that I care since I get what I want in a short burst, but if I'm going around wearing your skin, the least I want is a reason why. The hell's this so called big scheme of yours, eh?"[/color]

Winning over CC's interest dispelled the ice and water, each portals winking out while Kanbaru tugged CC forward. With an arm sliding behind the hacker's back, she twirled the Serei towards and laughed with excitement to get what she needed. Eyes that shined liked chipped ice descended, terribly close to the Corpse Collector's own. [color=cyan]"Oh that's the best part. While everyone struggles to earn recognition, I'm going to steal the very prize they clamor for."

"That's right. I'm goingt to steal everyone's graduation by taking the school registry. No one can pass if there are no students on record."[/color]

CC stared blankly up at the other girl. None of what Kanbaru said included maiming, violence, or anything of the sort. [color=fff79a]"Whatever strokes you off then. Nerd,"[/color] was her instant reply, matching Kanbaru smirk for smirk. [color=fff79a]"Like I give a shit about some registry. I just wanna blow up stuff and shoot people that look like that hack Moon Rider. Let me do that, and sure, you can have all the fucking time you can have stealing some dumb shit paper, hah!"[/color]

[color=cyan]"Tch."[/color]  The name she mentioned caused a spike of something to throb painfully in her head. She couldn't place it and the moment she focused on it, the sensation slipped away like sand between her fingers. In only a second the pain was gone, along with the memory she was in pain in the first place. Instead she was caught up in CC's laughter and she took the Serei for another whirl through the room, reveling in the chaos that was to come over the horizon soon enough.