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[@Ponn][@Majoraa][@ERode]

Dante continued to stare in Finn’s direction. His eyes only moved to the others when they took turns looking through the window at him before consulting each other… right out in front of the diner. It was difficult to discern what they were doing, but given what happened the last time that boy showed up, it wasn’t hard to imagine what was coming next. 

[b]”Something the matter, handsome?”[/b] The dryad at the counter turned her mug in her hands. 

[b]”Just some tough customers.”[/b] He pointed at her glass. [b]”Want a refill?”[/b]

[b]”Would you?”[/b] As soon as Dante took her cup, her sister elbowed her.

[b]”Verna! That’s your fourth one! How much more mead could you possibly drink?”[/b] 

Verna rolled her eyes and nearly fell out of her seat.  [b]”Well, I’m not going to let those fat boys in funny hats drink all the mead.”[/b] 

[b]”Well if that’s how you feel, how about you pour me Two, Dante.”[/b] 

[b]”Of course.”[/b] He kept glancing up at the window as he filled more glasses.

Pax Septimus was a depressing city, but some areas were worse off than others. Most wouldn’t picture a vintage diner as a place that served alcohol. But mead didn’t require a chef, and the markup was higher for that than anything else Dante could serve. Not only that, but it was only the odd sorts that ever stopped by here anyway. Families had long stopped coming to Dantes, and it was pointless to continue to try and appeal to them. No amount of renovating would bring them into the darkest corners of the city.

Which made it weird that there were a few [i]teenagers[/i] sitting in the corner. But Dante didn’t didn’t care. So long as you didn’t murder a waitress or something extreme, he’d serve you as long as you had the cash. 

And speaking of murderers, The door rang when Finn pushed the door open and stepped inside. None of the patrons looked up from their glasses. They were too busy talking amongst themselves or trying to yell “Yehaw!” louder than any of the other cowboys in the joint. Any eye contact that Finn got could be chalked up to being purely coincidental. 

Save for the glare that Dante was giving him.

[b]”We’re at full capacity.”[/b] He said with a growl. Then he looked out the door at Estelle.  [b]”And we serve alcohol on the premises. You should find some other place for these children to eat.”[/b] 

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[@The World][@Nakushita][@TaintedMushroom][@FamishedPants]

If you were to jump into a chat room on Shimr and ask the freelancers why they chose to work alone, you’d get all kinds of answers. Some would say GEMINI and Maverick Alternative have oversimplified the monster problem. Others would go on and on about the perks of being an “entrepreneur.” A few more might say they really liked the freelance community and wouldn’t want it any other way. This might paint the picture of a group of conscientious, intelligent espers who would go on to solve the world’s problems one mission at a time.

That did not carry offline. 

Not one bit.

They had been given a diplomatic escort mission that involved coming in contact with one of the strongest espers [i]in the world[/i]. But with few exceptions, Freelancers were among some of the most thoughtless, confused espers in Pax Septimus. The mission itself was just a suggestion, and the mission area, even if it was a hundred year old church, was merely a playground. 

The VIP and their one GEMINI escort went through the side, but Asher decided he wanted to enter through the front door. There were people around that could have tried to talk him out of it, but they either realized the futility of their actions, or were more interested in seeing what happened next. You could never be sure with freelancers. 

The metal door held strong, but the wooden barricade couldn’t take the heat. The doors swung open and slammed against the walls of the lobby. Bits of burnt timber littered the stone floor. If Oros didn’t know they were here, she did now. 

The lobby itself was a small space, with two more sets of double doors at either side of the room, and another pair of doors at the far end of the room. The freelancers could hear some shuffling on the other side before those doors were kicked open. Angel stepped into the room with her gun drawn.

[color=ff3838][b]"Thought you could-"[/b][/color] Angel look at all the freelancers before lowering her gun.. [color=ff3838][b]"Oh! It’s just you guys. I thought for sure a fight had started."[/b][/color] 

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[color=tomato]"I’m so upset with Ashley ima post a day before her. Mika Sunday, booyah!"[/color]

[color=888888]— Mika Fang[/color][/center]

Mika wasn’t sure what she thought about the Freelancers. She had heard Fritzi talking about them, but it didn’t sound very good. Then again, she was thinking about appointing Ashley as the head of the unit, so maybe Fritzi’s judgment wasn’t as iron clad as Mika initially thought. But this was not a good sign. There was no sign of the freelancers following them in. They had to know this was an escort mission. Were they patrolling the outside? Looking for traps around the perimeter? 

Was that explosion a trap going off?

Before Mika could say anything, Angelie was already soaring ahead, gun in hand. It was pointless to try and stop her. She’d just be wasting her breath. Instead, she just ran after her. 

As soon as Angilie got to the front most doors, she kicked them open and aimed her gun at whoever was on the other side. Only to lower it moments later. When Mika arrived by her side, it was apparent what had happened. She suppressed the urge to groan.She was familiar with Sovereign, and had seen Marie the day the Diver attacked, but was mostly unfamiliar with everyone. Mika had her concerns about the freelancers, but in the back of her mind, she had hoped that being paid to do a good job might entice a more professional behavior. But it seemed like Fritzi was right again. Begrudgingly, Mika needed to internally note that Angelie thus far was handling the situation the best. 

[color=tomato]"Did the door look at you funny?"[/color] Mika had already been introduced to everyone as “Cerberus,” so there was no reason to do it again here. It wasn’t like any of these Freelancers respected authority anyway. They probably chose this life because they didn’t want to be told what to do, were antisocial, and couldn’t fit in with a faction even if they wanted to. Perhaps she [i]had[/i] been too hard on Ashley, or maybe it was just in an esper’s nature to be selfish all the time. [color=tomato]"Oros hasn’t shown herself yet. If I trusted her, I’d say she was waiting for us upstairs. But I don’t, and she could be trying to ambush us."[/color] she pointed over her shoulder with her head. [color=tomato]"We should check out the area before pushing ahead. Unless you were told to take me to some place in particular, soh-vern?”[/color]