The police station was busy on the inside. The hallways were all filled with personnel moving to and from rooms. Orders to evacuate the city due to unusual weather patterns didn't convince the population to evacuate. Most did not have the means to leave their homes or were concerned about what would happen to their homes. A wind storm might do some damage, but any number of criminals would jump at the opportunity to raid an empty home. The police force was stretched too thin to assist with evacuations, causing the general populace to stagnate. Once again, it would be up to Pax Septimus’s espers to contend with the Holy Diver. But before Su contended with the Holy Diver, she needed to contend with Mika. [color=tomato]"The storm is big!"[/color] The teenage girl wasn’t her usual bubbly self. The lights flickered overhead and they might lose power any moment. But Su just flashed her a reassuring smile. [color=peachpuff]“Mommy take care of things soon. Her friends upstairs!”[/color] She pointed over her head. [color=tomato]"Even Jack-O-Line?"[/color] Mika curled her fingers together. [color=peachpuff]“And more!”[/color] She spread her arms so that Mika could hug her. Once Mika’s small hands curled around her body armor, she closed her arms around her child. The world around Su fell away as Mika’s embrace continued. She could feel her breathing, and was in tune enough with her heart beat to feel it through her kevlar. It was a bit faster than normal, and her grip on Su only became tighter as time went on. [color=peachpuff]“Oh Mika.[/color] She looked down at her daughter. [color=peachpuff]“I must go. I protect them so they protect you.”[/color] She moved her hands onto Mika’s shoulders and gently pushed her back. The safest place for Mika was probably not the heart of the city. But the only people Su trusted with Mika were here in the police station. Just knowing she was nearby would make Su fight that much harder anyway. There was a non-esper GEMINI agent nearby to escort Mika to the underground lab, which would be a more secure location if they managed to lose the police station. Once they were apart, Mika dried her eyes. She looked at her mother without saying a word. Su shot her a grin, patted her shoulder, and headed upstairs to join the others. [hr] Mundane equipment wasn’t the most effective thing to use against behemoths, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, mounted machine guns would be useful VS whatever thralls decided to attack during the diver’s descent. Binky sat in the middle of a convoy headed towards the Diver’s drop zone. Meanwhile, Fritzi had entered the esper state and was using a dining room table to bat aside some wargs. They looked like wolves, only bigger and uglier. [color=#bd71e8]"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round!"[/color] Fritzi sung as the table was stained with more and more blood. As cumbersome as the table looked, it looked like a formidable weapon in the hands of Vermillion Veronica. Binky did her best to ignore Fritzi for the moment. This wasn’t even the real conflict. But it would involve her shortly. A giant fireball flew out of the darkness and smashed into the front-most armored truck, turning it into molten scrap. With a sigh, Binky put her head set back on. [color=baddab]”We might be a little late. Engage the Holy Diver at your discretion!”[/color] [hr] Elroy marched out of The Great Escape with a small army of espers behind him. His sister was to his right, and Cthulhya walked just behind the two. The Immortal Volcano’s heat was such that the rain didn’t bother him for long, and that wasn’t even considering the Ruinous Meteor’s presence beside him. [color=c9272c]“Unfortunate Gear Boy isn’t one of us anymore.”[/color] Elroy mused. Regina snorted. [color=Magenta]“Who gives a shit about lover boy? We can can kick plenty of ass without that heart throb getting in the way!”[/color] Danny shrugged. [color=9b83de]"He still hangs with us. And he’s got my brother to watch over him now. "[/color] The group of espers stopped when a vehicle drove out of a side street and obstructed the path. It seemed to be from some landscaping company. Cthulhya raised an eyebrow. [color=1462ba]“Is someone cutting grass here?”[/color] [b]”Not quite.”[/b] A blond man dressed in white stepped out of the driver’s seat. He was holding a tiger plush in one of his hands. [b]”We thought you might want to warm up a bit before you fight the Diver.”[/b] Weretigers began to climb out of the nearby windows and drop onto the street. Regina erupted into laughter. [color=Magenta]“You think I give a fuck about some furballs?”[/color] [b]”Maybe.”[/b] The man shrugged his shoulders. [b]”Though I know at least one tiger you won’t just brush off. Tony?”[/b] That was when the [url=https://i.imgur.com/Wo4lO7U.jpg]largest weretiger anyone had ever seen[/url] burst out of a wall. Freelance espers were thrown about with a shower of brick and mortar. They had been ambushed, and needed to defend themselves. [hr] GEMINI might have outgunned, but Maverick Alternative wasn’t going to stand aside while the Holy Diver cursed Pax Septimus. They just needed to keep their distance. Shouldn’t be too hard with such a massive target. Billy and Luna cruzed down the streets. It didn’t matter what was done to bar Billy’s path, a mecromancer’s ride was a hard thing to stop. Abandoned cars were sent rolling out of the way as Billy cleared a path for his gang of biker espers. [color=lightgray]”I say I say, it’s a fine day to have the hood down!”[/color] The monstrous man laughed as rain pelted his mask. [color=lightgray]”We’ll take to the roofs shortly. Just gotta find a good place to park.”[/color] Luna pointed ahead. [color=75c159]”How about where those guys are parked?”[/color] Sure enough, there were a few more bikers parked ahead of them. But one of the bikers pulled off their helmet and allowed their bright turquoise hair to flow down their back. The Mavericks slowed their approach as both gangs raised weapons at each other. [color=yellow]”You know.”[/color] Afterglow started. [color=yellow]”If you don’t want to press on any further, there’s no reason for us to fight.”[/color] [color=75c159]”And if we do?”[/color] Luna stepped off of her bike and aimed Pit Boss at the dark net espers. [color=yellow]”Then we’re going to get wet with a lot more than just rain.”[/color] [hr] Sharr cracked her knuckles. [color=e3bbc6]”Should we join in?”[/color] Oros sighed. [color=tomato]"Judging by the last few scenes, I don’t think we’ll get a chance. "[/color] [color=e3bbc6]”And that is, why, in English?”[/color] [color=ffd323]"She’s probably talking about me!"[/color] Sharr and Oros turned their heads to see that they were not all alone on top of Axis Mundi Enterprises. Standing nearby was a blond woman wearing… [url=https://i.imgur.com/vFJp4zw.jpg] Hands.[/url] Just hands as black as night with vibrantly colored nails. They seemed to be coming directly out of her back, but it was hard to tell. The amazing part was that she wasn’t overexposed anywhere. Her torso was sparsely covered, but rows and rows of hands locked together from her waist down to make a skirt that reached her ankles. There were also arms coming out of her back that reached out to nothing, almost looking like a pair of black wings. Oros took a step in front of Sharr and pushed the pink haired girl behind herself. [color=tomato]"Glex… I was wondering when you’d show that ugly mug of yours."[/color] Oros raised her sword. [color=ffd323]"Ugly? Have you seen your sprite work?"[/color] Glex’s grin only widened as they spoke. [color=ffd323]"Like anyone would pick [i]that[/i] on character select! "[/color] [color=tomato]"The Grand Magistrate-"[/color] [color=ffd323]"The Programmers did what? "[/color] Even more hands came to Glex’s defense. [color=ffd323]"I know you’d just love to spend the next few rounds tossing banter around, but Holy Diver is going to spawn soon!"[/color] She closed her eyes. [color=ffd323]"Wanna see which player is stronger? It’s been a while since Aigorost and Glexaroth played a game together, we should probably have a fight right now!"[/color] [color=tomato]"Sharr."[/color] Oros kept her eyes on the newly arrived, but spoke to the girl behind herself. [color=tomato]"It’s impossible to under buff me for this fight. Don’t save anything for later."[/color] [color=ffd323]"We’re fighting then?"[/color] Two massive fists hovered over Glex’s shoulders. [color=ffd323]"Round one: Start!"[/color] [hr] [sub][@SilverPaw][@Majoras End][@Ponn][@FamishedPants][/sub] [color=peachpuff]“I am!”[/color] Su answered Jacqueline as she joined everyone on the roof. She didn’t have an umbrella, but she was using her shield as one. That was until she had gathered with the others. It would be a bit sad if they got taken out because Su had her shield pointed towards rainwater instead of projectiles. Besides, once the blood started to fall, they’d be glad the water had soaked into their clothes first. And so they waited. Minutes ticked by like hours as the sky continued to darken. But it would not be the Holy Diver that showed up to greet the Gemini agents. It would be someone else. Just across the street was aresidential building that towered over the police station. There was a long balcony that ran the length of the apartment complex. Though less interesting than the balcony itself was the people who were on it. Justin Von Carnage being the most notable person there. [color=662d91]”Well look at the lot of you!”[/color] Justin waved his hand over the Gemini espers. His eyes were shut, but there was a crude smile on his face. [color=662d91]”I’d have loved to meet you all at my mansion, but Binky and Billy are horrible house guests. They just destroy everything, and I’m told they turned on each other after I departed. About what I expected from that rabble.”[/color] [color=peachpuff]“You!”[/color] Su pointed her gun at Justin. [color=662d91]”Not ‘just’ me, of course.”[/color] Justen extended his arms and put them around the two girls that were standing beside him. Betty stood to his right, and Pac-A-Fist stood to his left. They didn’t say anything and just glared back at the Gemini espers. But Finn could feel a bit more of that stare from Betty. [color=662d91]”A little bird told me that neither of them were going to make it here. You have no backup. It’s just going to be the lot of you, against me, my woman, and the Holy Diver. I don’t think your odds are very good.”[/color] His fingers curled around the girls hips as he pulled them closer. [color=662d91]”It’s not too late to change sides. These two certainly haven’t regretted it.”[/color] And no one could be sure, but it seemed like some of the rain drops were turning red in color. [sub][@The World][/sub] Marrie was only one girl, but she was tech savvy enough to follow the trail that Justin's offshore silk plants had for her. The silk was primarily sold to a processing factory/dye house in the USA. From there, the dyed silk parts were stitched together [s]in sweat shops to save costs[/s] by artisans before being sent out for distribution. The interesting part about this was that a single company called "Apex" handled the entire process and did not sell to most retailers. They produced apparel for high end shops that didn't demand large quantities or were too specialized to be mass produced. Despite this, it seemed that Apex was sending a tractor trailer filled with their clothes to Pax Septimus, despite there being no retailers there to sell them. Just the other day it was spotted being unloaded at an apartment complex right by the precinct #11 police station. Which was where Marrie was now. Maybe Marrie was in the streets, maybe she had entered the apartment complex, but she hadn't been spotted by anyone yet. Most were too concerned with the storm to pay a young woman much mind.