[center]
[h1][color=red]S[/color] [i]a m u e l[/i][/h1]  
[img]https://i.imgur.com/YAOdhnj.png[/img]

[color=red]"Good luck with the 1v1 Valkyrie, and try to nail the landing."[/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

[Silver Touch (6)][Pull (2)] = 24 Mana

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 630[/hider][/center]


There is no currency more valuable than time. 

This is common advice everyone has probably heard before, but the disappointing truth is that not enough people take it to heart and they pay for it in some way: a teenager neglecting his study to play games will often score low on a sudden test, a criminal too invested in grabbing everything they can have a higher chance of running into the police, and a fighter thinking too hard on how to defend may just eat the punch entirely. 

It is not as though Samuel wanted to try to parry solely with his dagger in this circumstance. He knew the woman would have the momentum and weight advantage. But he did have to properly position himself in front of Valkyrie, and he wasn't confident he could get his sword into a position any more stable than that with what remained. It was more that this was all he thought he could afford to do. 

But even then, his budgeting was not entirely perfect. He had blown a portion of his funds on the parry but was convinced he had enough leftover to purchase the stab to her leg. He got as far as to put that action in his cart before he realized his math was wrong and that wouldn't be happening. In a quiet panic, he backed out of that deal and hurriedly bought a meager defense against the Nun instead. 

[color=red][s][i]God damned sales tax gets me every time.[/i][/s][/color]

[color=red][i]S-she's quite fast! Or maybe I'm just too slow?[/i][/color]

Yeah, she was much faster than he anticipated, able to edge him out even when he'd started his attack before her. Worse yet, his melody found no purchase before the nun purified the attempted restraint. To be neutered so thoroughly in a second was disheartening... but Samuel wasn't going to cave and crumble just from that. It wasn't like he was alone. 

[color=red][i]Valkyrie should be lining up a shot.[/i][/color]

That's why he went for a restraint melody in the first place. He was fine just making the opening his ally needed to land a decisive shot with her railgun. The only problem was... it was taking far longer than he expected, and he felt he wouldn't be able to keep up these trades with her for an extended period of time. But he knew she was still there since he still felt her right behind him. 

[color=red][i]Wait, she hasn't moved...[/i][/color]

She had some room to move around behind her yet she hadn't taken it. What was the deal? In the nun's eyes laid the answer. The quite real potential of being killed in that exchange did shake him just enough that he didn't catch what he otherwise would have: that this woman's eyes had yet to leave his ally. 

[color=red][i]Is it sight-based, then? If she's the reason I'm not getting any backup, then if I can just plac---[/i][/color]

There wasn't even truly a pause. Samuel hadn't decided to daydream mid-combat, she was just that quick with her kick. 

With a loud grunt, Samuel was sent crashing into Valkyrie and they both collided with a statue that crumbled with them, covering them in a black substance he instantly identified as something he didn't want to be drenched in.

Despite the pain and embarrassment, Samuel jumped to his feet as soon as he could, but he was presented with a multitude of problems.  

[color=red][i]What should I do? What can I do?[/i][/color]

There were so many expenses and yet he simply could not afford the costs to cover all of them. But none of these threats could be ignored, as they would be collected by gruesome ends. A terribly painful death by burns if he ignored the embers, he didn't want to imagine what kind of unpleasant surprise those fumes held, and he somehow knew the nun wasn't about to have any change of heart. At best, she'd decapitate them for a swift end. 

...but the bodies in the room suggested that given the chance, nobody would be so lucky. 

No, he only had two problems. He could not think of a third. Dealing with three problems when one of them was proving too much for him simply was impossible. He had the nun and the flames, the toxic fumes were up to someone who wasn't about to burn alive. 

And as for the burning alive... 

There wasn't enough time for him to simply run out of the pooled petroleum, and he had to admit he wasn't confident he could perfectly time and nail every ember there was with a single intangible note at the exact moment he would need to in order for that to even work out. 

[color=red][i]If I only had a push note, this might be easier to deal with. Ah! That's right! I vaguely recall Valkyrie having access to that? Maybe she'll hand--[/i][/color]

The only reason sheer terror didn't appear on Silhouette's face was that his altered form simply did not allow it. 

[color=red][i]She's shooting? Right now? I'm not equipped to...! Uh, well here goes nothing![/i][/color]

Agent Silhouette of G.E.M.I.N.I had few options he could take at the present, but he took one. Valkyrie had given the nun her attention and left him to deal with the imminent threat of the embers, and he simply wasn't given enough of an allowance to confirm everyone's positions and their ability to help, not while he had this much stuff to ponder. Under the assumption that the others would be busy and he could only rely on Valkyrie and himself, he went ahead with the only action he could think of to avoid the flame. 

[color=red][i]No... I'm not confident it'd get us both far enough away like that. Only one.

...only one. [/i][/color]

[color=red]"Brace yourself, Valkyrie."[/color]

At the very least, he managed to sound calm when he notified the agent. But that was all the warning she would get before she felt his hand on her chest. Though the sensation lasted a mere moment as in the next, she would find herself taken by a strong pulling force courtesy of a melody he provided. He imagined the petroleum on the floor hadn't managed to cover that far. 

Samuel didn't have a way to escape himself, however. He'd spent the time casting his melody and used it on Valkyrie. What time there was left, if any, wouldn't amount to much. He had spent what he had, but perhaps someone would be willing to spot him theirs? That's the best he could hope for.