[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/9zU3FKR.png[/img][/center]

[sub][@Ponn][@Crusader Lord][@FamishedPants][@Izurich][@SilverPaw][@OwO][@mantou][@ERode][@Majoras End][/sub]

Fritzi issued her ultimatum, Maverick stood their ground, but most of the freelancers didn’t.

One by one, Billy’s forces dissolved. Finn had an emotional breakdown, Apollo lost interest, and Protector departed out of a sense of camaraderie to enemy forces. 

[color=lightgray]”Ya gotta be five finger [i]fuckin’[/i] me!”[/color] Billy stomped. 

[color=#bd71e8]”Fickle creatures, aren’t they.”[/color] Fritzi’s form blew apart into a hail of rose petals. Beneath it all was a doll-like figure. She wore a large skirt hung like a wilting rose, a corset top as dark as a dried stem, and a crown of thorns atop her platinum blond hair. Fritzi had become [url=https://i.imgur.com/3q6PsXE.jpg]Vermillion Veronica[/url]. It wasn’t often Fritzi dawned her Esper form. This was likely the first time most of her own agents saw her dressed for combat. [color=#bd71e8]”Oh! And Valkyrie.”[/color] She looked over her shoulder at the sniper. There was a faint red glow in her eyes. It had been present ever since she transformed, but it was at this point Silmeria really noticed it. [color=#bd71e8]”Hold your fire.”[/color] She gave the girl a wink before looking back at the opposition. 

Shortly afterwards, the lights went out. The sound of a giant ice “tower” rising into the sky could be heard, along with a half-wall of debris protecting the GEMINI agents. But without Apollo’s light, little of anything could be seen. That was until Ashley’s projectile lit the way, which was the only thing that let Jacqueline or Lilliah see at all. Though even with sight, scoring a hit on Klava was not going to be possible. Before darkness fell, Klava had moved to join the Mavericks at the other side of the room. This put quite a bit of distance between herself and the agents already. Now there was a giant ice sculpture in the way. Even with Lilliah’s assistance, it was going to be difficult to catch up. But they gave chase.

[color=CCBFFF]”Okay, so I’m confused now.”[/color] Kristina ran along with the Mavericks in the dark. Though soon enough, they were running through sunlit halls.  [color=CCBFFF]”You said our thing was a job, sure, but you said that you are on duty. Does that mean we are going to have ice cream? Does that mean-”[/color]

[color=lightgray]”Cork it, Trixy!”[/color] Billy took a single swing at the ceiling, which caused the hallway to fill up with broken timber. If Jacqueline continued to chase, they’d need to do some digging to catch up. 

[color=75c159]”Hey!”[/color] Luna called to Billy. [color=75c159]”Where did Jez go?”[/color] 

[color=lightgray]”Keep runnin’!”[/color] Billy scooped up Luna before following Klava and Kristina into the wine cellar.

It seemed the knight would not be getting retribution today. 

Or would she?

Behind her, one of Veronica’s arms leaned out of a shadow with a hurricane lantern. The light was soft, but it did give some visibility in the otherwise dark hallway. [color=#bd71e8]”Leroux, I like your style.”[/color] More of the doll-like girl’s body became visible when she leaned out of the shadow. [color=#bd71e8]”Some may call it reckless, but I long for the days when I use to do things like that. At some point I went from being a good agent to an essential one, so they keep me on a pretty tight leash now.”[/color] When Veronica stepped totally out of the shadow, she had her arm wrapped around one of the maverick espers. She seemed to be unconscious, or dead. Her arms hung at her sides as Veronica dragged her back into the other room. [color=#bd71e8]”Jezebel here isn’t Billy, but she’s an officer in their organization. A ‘Flightless Angel’ or something? I’ll take her as a consolation prize.”[/color] She lowered the lamp onto the floor and pulled the gauntlets off of Jezebel’s arms. [color=#bd71e8]”But a sever [i]and[/i] a restrain note? That might have been overkill if it connected, Wukong.”[/color] Once they were off, the unconscious jester woke up, but now she was just a woman with raven black hair. Not a threat to anyone, least of all an esper.  [color=#bd71e8]”Does someone want to take this off my hands?”[/color] 

Non-esper agents and soldiers started to flood into the room. Two of them approached Jezebel and pulled her arms behind her back. Once they escorted her outside, she shot a glare that could freeze blood at the suit of armor she had saved earlier. But Protector was preoccupied with other tasks.

[color=#bd71e8]”Well agents, we tried.”[/color] Veronica folded her arms behind her back. [color=#bd71e8]”It’s one hell of a silver lining, but at least most freelancers are against terrorisim. Though the jury is still out on Apollo.”[/color] With a blink, the red glow in her eyes vanished. [color=#bd71e8]”Remember to write up reports when you get back home. You look beat, but that will change when you leave the esper state.”[/color]

Su turned to Binky. [color=PeachPuff]“What happen in there?"[/color]

But when Binky tried to answer, it was just a groan. 

[color=#bd71e8]”Ah!”[/color] Veronica folded her arms with a pout. [color=#bd71e8]”That’s not your esper form, you know? You’re lucky that’s all he did to you. But Billie’s even luckier that I didn’t get a hold of him.”[/color] With a shrug, she shook her head. [color=#bd71e8]”You shouldn’t even be standing right now. Get that checked out with the medics, that’s an order.”[/color] Once Binky walked off, Veronica looked at the remaining agents. [color=#bd71e8]”You are free to leave the mission area. I’m just going to stick around to make sure nothing else happens to our less gifted agents.”[/color]

[hr]

Once the Mavericks and Klava arrived outside the wine cellar, Billy set down Luna. 

[color=CCBFFF]”W-What the hell happened back there?”[/color] Kristina’s voice cracked. [color=CCBFFF]”They just left us! Almost all of them! And then Jez-”[/color]

Billy threw his fist into a reinforced wall, causing spider-line cracks to shoot out in all directions. [color=lightgray]”Thought the ‘Huntress’ was a one time deal. Didn’t realize the average freelancer’s spine is like spaghetti!”[/color]

[color=CCBFFF]”There were so many wounded on the other side. We could have forced them to back down if we stood together.”[/color]

The two teenagers from earlier looked in their direction. [b]”Where’s the armored guy? Is he coming back?”[/b]

Billy groaned. [color=lightgray]”He’s eatin’ ice cream, if I had to guess.”[/color] He approached them. [color=lightgray]”Suppose you weren’t important enough to come back for.”[/color] Billy scooped the pyromancers upin one arm and hugged them against his chest. [color=lightgray]”Justin fled too, ya might as well come with me.”[/color]

[b]”Ngh!”[/b] A few teenagers didn’t have the power to break out of Billy’s grasp, but they hardly tried. [b]”Why do we keep getting abandoned?”[/b]

[color=lightgray]”I won’t abandon ya.”[/color]

[b]”That’s what they all say…”[/b]

Luna pursed her lips.. She glanced back at the few people who followed them out. [color=75c159]*Looks like you picked a winner, Trixy. She stayed, even if she’s only during working hours.*[/color] She bit her lip before casting her gaze to the wall. [color=75c159]*I’m gunna head back.*[/color] She turned around and walked deeper into the Bastion. 

‘Kristina’ turned back to Klava with a nervous chuckle. [color=CCBFFF]”This really sucks. But uh, I think she’ll be okay.”[/color] She rubbed the back of her head. [color=CCBFFF]”Kristina is just the name I use on Shimr. Trixy is what I’m best known as in Maverick. Since we were on a real operation together, you can call me that if you want. It’s up to you though.”[/color] After glancing around again, Trixy looked to the floor. [color=CCBFFF]”I uh, guess the operation is over. I don’t think anyone else is in the mood for ice cream.”[/color]

[hr]

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4Pzx1NDTtI][img]https://i.imgur.com/OYSa6cT.png[/img][/url]

[sub][@The World][/sub]

Marrie’s fingers were blazing along, sending messages from both her own phone and Pac’s. It was a time consuming process, but without giant snakes or goblins to bother her, it was a trivial task to complete..

Since GEMINI did not put up a bounty for Justin (they wanted to bust him themselves) there was no GEMINI agent to consult regarding the Justin bounty. But Fritzi, Billy, Tetrad, the coin requester, and many others were easy to find. Though there probably wasn’t much point in bothering espers outside of Pax Septimus. Then again, Marrie did want to exploit Pac-A-Fist’s image to bring down Justin. Freelancers were scattered all over the world, and few had the same renown as the Bates twins. But there were others that might be worth contacting.. Though she did message the Bates once they had shown up. 

They pulled out their phones and looked at their messages. Marrie could watch their emotions change as they read along.

[color=magenta]”There’s no coin!?”[/color] Regina bared her teeth like a feral dog. 

[color=c9272c]”First violin girl, now Trisha...”[/color] Elroy half grumbled the words to himself.

[color=magenta]”I find Justin most disgusting!”[/color] Regina folded her phone shut. [color=magenta]”I’ll break his ass if it’s the last thing I do!”[/color] She prepared to bolt after the vampire when Elroy raised his hand.

[color=c9272c]”Regina!”[/color] He turned to look at his sister. [color=c9272c]”Is this the first time Trisha disappeared?”[/color] 

[color=magenta]”Eh?”[/color] She looked over her shoulder. [color=magenta]”I don’t think she makes a habit of getting kidnapped, why?”[/color] 

[color=c9272c]”I’ve been having visions.”[/color] Elroy folded his arms. [color=c9272c]”I was on a beach looking for Trisha. She had been gone for a while. Then I found her and we left.”[/color]

[color=magenta]”Sounds vague.”[/color] 

[color=c9272c]”Memories often are.”[/color]

[color=magenta]”So are dreams.”[/color] 

[color=c9272c]”Trisha remembered it too.”[/color]

[color=magenta]”I’m not sure what that has to do with this. Lots of couples have dreams about each other.”[/color] Regina looked ahead. [color=magenta]”He’s getting away from us. We need to chase him [i]now[/i].”[/color] She didn’t wait. The ruinous meteor blazed a trail through the shadows.

Elroy grumbled to himself before patting Marrie on the head. [color=c9272c]”We didn’t know what the coin was, Fog girl. I would have saved it too.”[/color] He followed after his sister.

Things would not look up for Stacy either. While her head had been returned, attempts to heal it seemed to be ineffectual. This was strange, because regardless if Stacy was an esper or monster, a healing spell should have done [i]something[/i]. Stacy was still alive at least. It was a shame Stacy didn’t have a way of communicating.

Then out of the blue, Marrie received a text on her Shimr app.

[code]:btw I wish you had busted that coin, but I guess there's no point in crying over spilled milk. At least you got paid, right? :golfclap Not like I knew what Sofron was doing with it. :magnum If you wanna do me a big favor, see if you can get a hold of "The Knight of Tomorrow," If you can, I'll make it worth your while. :rock [/code]