[center] [h1][color=red]S[/color] [i]a m u e l[/i][/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/YAOdhnj.png[/img] [color=red]"Teamwork makes the dream work."[/color] [color=888888]— Sam[/color] [hider=Status]30 | Male | G.E.M.I.N.I | Creeping Anxiety Stab, Slash | Dagger, Sword | Arcane | Fade Paranoia | Hallucinate Malice | Darkness | Devious Intent [Obfuscate (4)] [Intangible (4)], Damage X (6), Pull (2), Dispel (6), Mana Burn (6), Restrain (4), Extend (2), Trap (0), Piercing (2), Full Enhance (4) DAMAGE: D | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 750 [Bronze Projectile][Pull (2)] = -20 Mana PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 510[/hider][/center] The panicked reaction exhibited by the gangsters in response to their friend suffering a gruesome end was excellent and the desired outcome. Samuel hoped to make the most use of their foes' inexperience with Espers, though this much could likely be gathered by his approach up to this point. But he couldn't blame these men for wanting to flee from the unknown, not when he did very much the same that fateful night. He didn't consider fighting that monster until there was nowhere left for him to run. So the fact that two goons and what appeared to be a butler were able to regain their composure and stand firm against their advance was, well, somewhat admirable by Samuel's standards. At least, it would be if it wasn't simply a suicide option. Because this merely meant they were still obstacles in the way of Samuel's objective, and they weren't likely to be very hard to mov--- [i][color=red]A butler?[/color][/i] A mistake. Samuel made a stupid, dumb, arrogant mistake. Obstacle? Obstacle? This butler? No, unless they happened to take a detour by an asylum before conquering this station, this gang was unlikely to be attended by a willing butler. And an unwilling one would've fled the moment they had the chance! [color=red]"This is Silhouette,"[/color] he spoke through comms to the other G.E.M.I.N.I agents while keeping an eye on the strange butler before them. [color=red]"I have eyes on a potent--"[/color] [color=0099a6]"Servant Sofron, at your services!"[/color] As a consequence of his incompetence, Samuel and the rest of them received a melody in the form of a flaming skull that rocketed at them, leaving little room for them to avoid its effects. [color=red]"CONFIRMED Esper sighting! We are engaged!"[/color] he alerted the rest of G.E.M.I.N.I agents mainly to reduce the risk of them getting blindsided if there were more Esper surprises, but that was all the attention he could afford to give the other team. Samuel's arcane resistance gave him room to work with, although it wasn't very much, and it felt like even less since the remaining two thugs began suppressing fire. That wasn't even mentioning the dampening effect he was subject to the courtesy of this butler's tainted melody. It felt less like his mana was being stolen from him and more like the connection between Samuel and his mana had become vague, like a magical haze. It was still there, it was just much harder to grasp. He wondered if this was what it felt like to people suffering from his own magics. Although such a question would have to wait for another time, as the situation went from bad to worse. They were now being confronted by the people who had been above them. Well, the singular man, 'Mamba', who rushed Apollo. If that wasn't enough, they were now being pincered by what seemed to be the very same men from before, judging by their words. Their retreat was now cut off, and Samuel wasn't able to utilize the entirety of his mana to do anything about it. He felt a hand grip his heart and attempt to crush it with hopelessness and despair. [i][color=red]Such irony... I'm not a fan of it.[/color][/i] Sam didn't let it smother him. [i][color=red]Calm in heart and mind.[/color][/i] The increasing heat told Samuel he only had a couple of seconds remaining before the butler's spell would engulf him, so he stood tall and whipped his arm out towards one of the grunts shooting at them, and let loose a melody, aimed at one of his arms as he retreated just enough to not be burnt to a crisp. The intent was to potentially cause the man to twist and maybe even spray the butler or other gangster by accident with his gun. Or at the very least, if he missed the arm but still hit the thug, he might just pull the man into this magical fire the butler started. Either way, Samuel paid the price for becoming a bigger target while people were spraying bullets. One nailed him just below the shoulder on his right side, sending a jolt of pain throughout his demonic body, nearly sending him tumbling down the stairs, which likely would've been fatal given the blind fire being thrown into it. He managed to avoid that much, though. Samuel hoped his allies could get them out of this mess they were in. He simply wasn't strong enough to do it himself.