It took Fritzi a moment to return to the convoy of assault vehicles. By this time, the second behemoth had fled and the remaining agents were recovering from the battle. The damage that had been dealt to the convoy was minimal, but this was unsurprising given she had only been away for a moment. Yet there was something off. Something [i]wrong[/i], even more so than the dark sky. 

[color=#bd71e8]"You were able to hold out."[/color] Fritzi approached one of the drivers.

[b]”Barely.“[/b] He said between breaths. 

She looked around. [color=#bd71e8]"Where did Binky go?"[/color] 

[b]”Last I saw her, she was on one of the vans. It suddenly sped up and drove into a wall. Then the sky got dark, and…“[/b]

Fritzi turned to look down the street. Sure enough, one of the vans had crashed into a wall. She stepped over to it and inspected the wreckage. The wall above the van had been smashed in, which could have been caused by Binky if she was riding on top of it. But that was the thing. But with all the damage there were no bodies. There wasn't even any blood at the sight of the crash. This entire operation had been going for several minutes now. With Binky’s transformation lasting seconds at best...

[color=#bd71e8]"We need to find them."[/color] 

[b]”What if that thing shows up again? We're not a match for that thing.“[/b]

Fritzi pinched the bridge of her nose. Though once she lowered her hand, she had a subtle grin on her face. [color=#bd71e8]"Alright, we’ll withdraw for now."[/color]

[b]”I’ll radio the others.“[/b]

[hr]

Jacqueline watched over a daughter as she grieved.

Gemini agents withdrew from a massacre, thralls in tow.

A mad esper moved to avenge a friend with an agent hot on her trails.

But where did this leave Sharr?

The former Gemini researcher had approached the straight jacketed woman. She was keeping her distance though. Jacqueline was in the vicinity and would likely take notice of her doing anything to the girl. Moreover, she didn’t think Veronica would be gone for long. In all the years they had worked together, she had always been insistent on handling things like this herself. Since they last spoke, at least. Unless one of the agents were supposed to be watching her, in which case they were doing a pretty shit job. 

The bald, restrained woman was starting to wake up. In truth, Sharr had little interest in her. She had mostly shown up to speak with Fritzi, but a curiosity like this could at least pass the time until the aforementioned came back.

[color=e3bbc6]”Hey there, sleepy head.”[/color] Sharr kept her distance from the woman. [color=e3bbc6]”Care to explain what just happened?”[/color] The woman only looked up at Sharr from her position on the floor and blinked. [color=e3bbc6]”Please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten how to talk?”[/color]

[b]”I can talk just fine.“[/b] She pulled the harp closer to herself and winced. [b]”Nnngh! I feel like I just woke up, and maybe fell down a flight of stairs.“[/b]

[color=e3bbc6]”Not too off the mark, actually.”[/color] With a huff, Sharr placed her hands on her hips. [color=e3bbc6]”But alright, lets start with something easy.”[/color] She placed a hand on her chest. [color=e3bbc6]”I’m Sharr. Who might you be?”[/color]

[b]”I’m Faith.“[/b]

[hr]

Ashley did her best to keep up with Oros. Fortunately neither of them had much mana left, but the mad esper’s raw speed was above and beyond most other espers. Still soaked in blood, black blade drawn, she blazed a trail towards her target.

Ashley was slower, but not stupid. Even if she couldn’t catch up to Oros, she probably contacted them and let them know she was coming. It didn’t matter though. More than power, she had experience. Their years of training were nothing to her [i]decades[/i] of experience. It would take a miracle to save that little bastard from her.

She could hear them coming. Oros waited behind the corner of the building, and then she struck! The blood soaked esper leapt out of the darkness with her sword drawn.

[color=tomato]”Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!"[/color]

That last part was a joke. We'll pick this up again next year. Maybe. Sometime.