"Timekeeper Tuesday, y'know what that means. ...Seriously though, who's bright idea was this?"
Ours.
"Ah."

Days after he had deserted GEMINI, Finn seemed to vanish without a trace.

His account on Shimr was deleted, and no one; not even friends or family, had seen him after the storm that was Peace and Crazy Train passed. No matter the search efforts of those who cared, or the speculation from the esper community, the boy continued to lay low and away from the public eye. That woman from before told him she'd come back around to let him know whether or not any of her superiors agreed to meet with him.

...Well, it definitely wasn't as easy as it sounds. Hell, Penumbra had to even convince her boss not to go with the quick and easy route of just brainwashing him outright. At this point GEMINI would've already caught onto what they did to Binky, so to her, doing it a second time would be a waste.

After all, better to have a willing collaborator than yet another thrall.

But it'd been too long and Finn hadn't heard back at all yet. Maybe he just got his hopes up for nothing? Unfortunately not surprised. He thought to himself as he slipped back into the city through the cover of night time. Even if he grabbed what he could from his home, he still had to leave a lot of his stuff at GEMINI's headquarters behind. He needed to figure out how to get the important ones back. At least.

But before Finn could explore another one of his long, brooding tangents, his phone vibrated. He might have been tempted to let it ring, but this was an E-mail notification. Naturally, he looked to see if it was spam or another desperate attempt from someone he knew to contact him. But neither of those were the case. The sender was “Bookman” and had one of those custom extensions that was only afforded to wealthy individuals who bothered to spend the big money on custom domains. Even his parents used them, even if Finn didn’t know what they were. The E-mail had a single word title.

Offer.

What prevented Finn from writing it off as spam mail was the lack of bold text, excitement marks, and the fact that the E-mail began with:

Penumbra sent me.

What followed was an embedded video that was part of a news report. A pretty blond reporter was standing in front of Torvald's and pointing behind herself at the bookstore.

”Bookman has just entered Torvald's Tomes and Trinkets and is signing his new book ‘Needful Things.’ We’re going to play back the interview I had with him earlier, but you can catch him in the fur anytime between now and midnight.”

There was a brief shot of a tall thing walking into Torvald's before static obscured the image. Then the video looped around and played again.

Subtle and straight to the point, gotta give credit where it's due. The news report had to be recent, and depending on how popular this mysterious author was a crowd may not be avoidable. How grimmly ironic it had to be at Torvald's.

After a moment, he'd sent a short message back.

On my way.

…

…

…

Torvald's was not crowded. It was just as silent as it always was. Aside from the cheerful store owner there were only a few people walking about, and none of them looked even slightly familiar. Two out of shape boys were in one corner talking about the occult, and a frail looking goth girl was looking through a book of spells.

There was no sign of anyone else, though it did look like there was something of a book signing. There was a table set up with a few copies of “needful things” stacked on one side, but there was no “Bookman.” An empty seat was positioned where there would normally be a line of adoring fans, and in front of it was a tiny sign that read “out to lunch” in big bold letters. It was 3:24 PM.

Finn stared down at the sign.

"Huh. That's surprising. Must've pulled a few strings." He mumbled to himself, glancing down to the lone seat most likely left for him. The boy carefully stepped around to sit down, plucking a copy of one of the books to pass the time.

Time would pass swiftly.

At least if his swirling surroundings were any indication. The image of the bookstore seemed to bend and fade into darkness, like paper burning into ash. Everything but the chair, table, and the books and floorboards within the immediate area remained. Finn was floating through a void on a tiny wooden island.

Then he would make his appearance. A chair appeared on the other side of the table, and before long the Bookman himself faded into reality. He was a tall lanky goat demon in fine robes. Though for a goat, he had awfully sharp fangs, and had a nose that belonged to a wolf. His eyes left red neon trails as he swayed his head, but with a blink they turned into black orbs with diamond shaped irises. His elongated limbs seemed to fill the space. Bookman sat down. Even if Finn stood up, he likely wouldn’t have been able to see eye to eye with the creature.

"Finn.” For something so inhuman, it had a very soothing voice. Most would describe it as velvety. "I am Bookman. I’m not sure if you are familiar with my YourPipe channel, but my other job is to help people in positions such as yours.” He pressed the tips of his fingers together. "I understand you’re serious about joining the Hand. What makes someone such as yourself put your lot in with your old foes?”

The boy sharply inhaled through his teeth. Of course he was dealing with a devil. But he steeled himself almost immediately, hopefully things won't go ass-up this time.

"To be frank with you, my real goal isn't to replace the late Justin Von Carnage in the long run." He told the Bookman, taking a deep breath. "Lately I've been becoming more...aware of my circumstances. Patterns in even the most minute of things, and I can't even tell anyone without being disregarded as a lunatic." Finn frowned "Couple that with my recent bad luck streak, and the concerning fact that violence seems to be only thing I can do right...well, one would eventually have little to lose, wouldn't they?"

He slightly leaned forward.

"I need to escape this place. Not even just Pax, I need to escape this reality as it were. Even if I have to scorch this shithole on my way. I know it's possible, but I need help."

"To leave this reality...” Bookman didn’t seem too bothered by Finn’s confession, or the seemingly impossibility of his wish. "It’s possible, maybe, but it’s no easy feat. Most interdimensional travelers tend to be monsters for a reason. There’s no record of a normal human doing it in this world, lest you consider Oros the Mad. Though it might be fair to say that she paid for such powers with her sanity.” He cleared his throat. "I believe I can help with that, but is that really what you yearn for? If it’s your bad luck that’s holding you back, wouldn’t that just follow you to whatever new reality that you decide to visit?”

Finn chuckled. "Perhaps it might, perhaps it might be for the best. But it feels like something here is making my life a living hell, and somehow I doubt I'll be able to kill it as easily as the common man. _{Much less other espers.}"

"It's also why I'm alright with just offering whatever services you may need in exchange for resources, instead of being a member outright. Who's to say I won't end up jinxing you all too? Better to keep a reasonable distance. Don'tcha think?" He shrugged.

"Let me go about this a different way.” Bookman tapped his chin. "I am a broker, Finn. I have many things that I can offer you. Even things that most would not think could be given. I can give skills, experience, and even luck.” He tapped the books beside himself. "And I can get you out of this reality too. We’re just negotiating right now. Once I know what you want, I will determine what I want from you, and then we can work out the particulars. Knowing that, you still wish to leave this world?”

Finn nodded.

"Fair enough.” Bookman placed a hand on the table, and an old piece of parchment paper rose out of it. "Your karma is on the unfortunate side. I will grant you some luck for the duration of the contract, but only to make you a more effective mercenary.” Without moving his hand, a quill levitated over the parchment and started to write out the details. "You said you wanted materials. What is it that you are seeking?”

"Tools, any sort of metals and electrical parts that are capable of channeling mana, gonna need a power core of sorts for it that won't go out after a single usage too." The boy listed off. "I have the blueprints for this drawn out and can get the shell for everything easily. Perfecting everything to working order's gonna take longer though." He admitted. "I know such a thing sounds farfetched in theory, but isn't it better to try than not at all?"

"I already implied what I would do in your position. A deal can only be struck if both parties accept it. If you really want to build a Syllogismobile, you will have the tools and materials to do so. You have your reasons I’m sure.” With a wave of his hand, the pen started writing faster.



The quill started to slow down as it came to the end of what had been discussed.

"I’m not sure why Penumbra felt you would be a good stand in for Justin. None of us liked him very much, and we only kept him around because of how wealthy he was. As you pointed out yourself, you are good at fighting. That will be why we contract you.” He licked his finger before turning the page of a tome that materialized in his hand. "Before I can discuss the Hand’s plans with you, I need you to agree to two conditions. The first is that you don’t turn coat until your contract is complete. While under contract, you are one of us, and our enemies are your enemies regardless of previous affiliations. If you turn on us, you forfeit your payment and will be forced to relinquish your magic. You will no longer be an esper, just a mundane human after that. One totally unable to leave this world.” He raised two fingers, making sure to show a finger that had a sapphire ring on it. "Your dreams of leaving this world make you a threat to some of the Hand’s interests. Your desire to leave, building a Syllogismobile, and other extra dimensional goals are not your own unique ideas. We believe someone is guiding you, and we need to protect ourselves from them should the need arise. The particulars of which will be discussed later. Like the last condition, you will relinquish your magic if you break contract. Does that sound acceptable to you?”

"Believe it or not I don't hear any downsides to this." If anything, going back to being a normal human would be another form of escaping it all. "I accept your terms!"

"We can discuss the particulars later.” The pen sped up, but Bookman didn’t stop talking. "I have not seen the blueprints you speak of yet, thus I am not aware of exactly what you need. Perhaps it is only fair that your mission is equally nebulous? Your former allies may have acquired details about one of our members. If that is the case, I cannot see them letting this opportunity to cut off another finger slip by them. You will protect Dragon Fruit with every fiber of your being when the assault happens. Regardless of how big or small the assault, you will be granted what you seek in full.” The devil extended his hand for a shake. "Simple enough?”

"I'll have to bring them with me next chance we meet. But yes." Finn admitted, nevertheless reaching over to shake hands with him proper.

The devil’s grip was firm, but not painfully so. "May all your dreams come true.” Once their handshake was done, Bookman leaned forwards and placed his hands together. "Since you’re one of us now, there’s no need to scrounge around with everyone else.” He placed a business card on the table and slid it towards Finn. "A room has been provided for you. It’s safer than anywhere else in the city, for people like yourself. There’s even enough room to build any contraption your heart desires.”

The boy picked up the card and pocketed it after glancing it over. His brows rose when Bookman mentioned they'd give him a place to stay. Admittedly he hadn't expected the extra hospitality, but he felt grateful.

"Thank you, Mister Bookman." Finn lightly smiled. "And extend my thanks to everyone else too."

"Why not take the chance to do it yourself?” He adjusted the ring on his finger. "Either way, I’m not expecting any more book signing for a bit. The world will return as it was as soon as you stand up. Though if you have any questions, I can answer them for you.”

Finn shook his head. "No need, thank you again."

"May your place in the new world be to your liking.” The goat man waved to the boy as he stood up and faded out of the pocket dimension. "I wonder what she sees in him? There’s ample potential, but will he ever reach it?”

This had been the first time in a long time that Bookman had signed a contract with someone who fully understood the consequences of breaking it, but seemed indifferent to how that would affect his own fate. And rarer still were the souls that seemed like they would relish either option. But this had been Penumbra and Dragon Fruit’s idea. He was just the contract maker, and had done his duty as was requested. The boy’s fate was someone else’s problem now.

Down one of Pax’s many alleyways sat one Oros the mad. Her legs were folded as if in meditation, but her eyes were cast on her blade. Who knew what she was looking at. Maybe, probably, she was catching up on all the things happening in Pax Septimus. But with so much at her disposal, she could look at anything. Even things transpiring in other realities.

One that caught her attention was a “battle toyale” in which all the participants were toys in a toy store. It seemed like some of them were not playing by the rules, but that didn’t inhibit Oros’s enjoyment of the free for all. If the contestants insisted on making friends in a free for all deathmatch, Oros figured that the patrons would naturally conspire against the cheaters, and their patron champions would position themselves into a pseudo second team. In the long run, there could only be one victor, but it was too early to tell if such a tactic would even work. If Oros was with the cheating party, she’d play them for fools and attack her own “team” in a critical moment. She wouldn’t even feel bad about it. But the real issue was that things moved so slowly. Weeks would pass by with no change in things, and it was hard to keep her attention with such slow developments. Worse was that it felt like that was starting to happen in Pax Septimus as well. It had only been a few days since the trains departed Pax or that epic fight with Binky, but Oros would swear to you it happened about three weeks ago. And she would also argue that the meeting between Asher and Maverick was still ongoing. Clearly a mad sort, that Oros character.

"Finally! Can we have round three now?" Her eyes widened. "Wait wait, something’s happened. It’s… He’s gay? Really!?" Oros sheathed her sword and placed her hands on her knees. After reflecting on this newly acquired knowledge, she began to laugh hysterically. "A coming out story on April First? now I’ve seen it all!"

“In a good mood, Oros?” Sharr approached the mad esper on foot. She was holding Faith’s hand, who was casting her eyes all over the place.

Oros cleared her throat before turning to the newly arrived. "Something like that. I expected you sooner. Where’s the mech?"

“I donated it to someone who needed it more. If you have any more questions you can look at your sword. But before you do that, how about you thank me for bringing Faith here?”

"Got a plus one huh?" Oros grinned at the adorkable woman. "What made you decide to bail with Aunt Sharr?"

She shrugged her shoulders. ”We got into the mech together to save everyone, which I thought was cool. But I realized how little I knew everyone present once it was over.“ She put a hand over her shoulder. ”I really liked everyone, but-“

"I know." Oros said with a laugh. "You liked Finn, platonically, but he didn’t care for you. You weren’t Betty or whatever object he decided to base his life around. Ashley was busy, and while Fritzi made good use of you, Binky took up all of her old responsibilities. You felt kind of useless, didn’t ya?"

Faith nodded. ”I haven’t met anyone else in the city. Maybe there’s someone else out there who feels the same way I do.“

”Doubt it. Honestly, I’m surprised they let the two of you go so easily."

“You have Binky to thank for that.” Sharr said with her typical smile. “They were all tired from the operation, and anyone who could have stopped me from leaving wasn’t in the condition to do so. it likely didn’t register that I had planned on taking the mech and all of its pilots with me. That, and you know how cagy the doctor can be. I doubt any of them fully understand how important I am.”

"Or Faith. " Oros added. "Though for different reasons." She stared off into the distance.

Faith tipped her head. ”Whatcha thinking about?”

"Other than the implication that future Finn is gay? I was just thinking about all the universes out there where it’s April first. It’s all pranks galore, but most of them suck. And then I realized that I’m sitting on the capacity to troll a god."

”A god?”

"Not really." Oros confessed. "But I figured it would be a great way to avoid ‘as you know Bob’ dialog and do a recap of some points that are going to be pretty important in a few seconds."

“But Faith doesn’t know much of what we’ve been up to anyway, so you could just explain it to her normally.”

"But that’s not cool. Hey Faith, you know how Penny is dead?"

It took Faith a moment to process what was being asked. ”The Iron Queen? She’s believed to be dead, yes. But no one knows who killed her.”

"Well you might think I did, if you’re a patron who’s been watching from the beginning. however…"

She drove Endless Eclipse into the chip.

"That’s the name of my sword, as executed here. Though you’ll notice it cuts off right here and it’s not explicitly stated that the chip was destroyed!"

Faith turned her head the other way. Likely a reaction to Oros making air quotes and “hyperlinks” with her fingers. ”Doesn’t it seem a little predictable? Nobody knows what happened to Penny, so any explanation is acceptable.”

"Huh, I guess that’s fair…" Oros groaned. "I thought you’d be easier to impress, but I’m not done yet! Check this out!"

Ah yes, Oros had made good on her promise and took her out of this world to meet a doctor that could ‘restore her old memories’ among other things.

"With further context extracted from a link that I misplaced, you’ll see that I took Sharr ‘off screen’ to meet with someone to restore her memories!"

”She needed to have her memories restored? Amnesia isn’t an uncommon plot device. I mean-”

"Hold up! I wasn’t done yet! The real magic comes later in this next part."

”Between what we were able to scrounge up from Penny, and what you plundered from Bob, I can probably start on something.” She placed a hand on the side of her head.

”Still out of it?”

”Yes, the incense our good doctor had me inhale is strong. I’ve had a mild headache, but it seems to be going away. Nothing to worry about.”

Oros leaned in towards Faith. "Is it all making sense yet? Because I found the link for that third quote and it contains the second one as well. What a deal!"

Again, Faith took her time to answer. ”...No? If you have Penny’s parts, doesn’t that mean she’s dead? But that runs counter to what you just told me?”

"Got that noodle of yours cooking good, don’t I?" Oros’s chest swelled with pride. "To be fair, you’d have to be some sort of multiversal entity to really get the implication." Oros shrugged. "But you can take this to mean we have an ally that works in incense and that Sharr has been hard at work with parts from a robot and a cyborg esper. Simple stuff." Oros stood up and dusted off her pants. "Speaking of, we finished it without you because you took too long. Wanna see the completed project?"

Faith looked to Sharr. When she nodded, Faith tightened her grip on her hand and nodded at the mad esper. Then they walked into an abandoned warehouse. Though as they followed Oros, their guide was swept off of her feet as something rushed past them. It was some sort of cyborg maid against a really ugly yellow background. She had Oros in a tight hug and was wearing the most blissful smile anyone had ever seen.

”You have returned, my love!” Penny had snatched up Oros from behind, allowing everyone to see how annoyed Oros looked while being oblivious to it herself.

"Yea? Like I was gone for ten seconds to ’read the paper.’ I even said I would be right back."

”Oh…” Her grip on Oros loosened a bit. ”I’m sorry, it’s just that we’re both wanted dead or alive, and every time you leave my sight it could be the last time I see you.”

"Truly touching stuff. You might be more gay than Finn is."

”I do not know who you speak of, but I am technically genderbent right now. So me being ‘gay’ is a matter of perspective. B-but aren’t you gay yourself?”

"Why are we talking about my sexuality?" Oros threw Penny’s arms off of herself and turned to look at her. "Will they/won’t they is the entire point of shit like this! Fuck! There are too many sexualities to keep track of and most of them are made up. I like holes! Okay, Penny? I like holes!"

”Why are you mad?”

"It’s my title! I ain’t gotta explain shit!" Oros grinned. "As funny as it is to see you act like a doting maid, I think we need to turn your confidence up and your clingyness down to its normal levels."

”Before you do that, can we make out behind some crates first?”

"If you’re offering..."

Faith bat her eyes at the spectacle that played out before her. ”...I don’t understand what just happened.”

Sharr sighed. ”Right, translating Oros speak for those with logical minds. Oros was the one to ‘slay’ Penny. Though rather than kill her, she just gravely wounded her. Penny’s esper form is that of a robot, so it was easy to render her inoperable without actually killing her. We could have melted down her parts, but I talked her out of it, which was the hardest part of this entire process. Bob, while not an esper, is a robot that was very obedient towards his creator. We scrounged up some of his parts and used them to rebuild Penny in a way that she was more, how shall we say, obedient. Also as part of the deal, some scientist used some incense sticks to bring back some of my memories from a past life, which has given me the ability to manipulate grimoires in ways no one else can.”

Faith pouted. ”Mind control sure is a popular trope around here.”

”Yes, there was that deal when Betty and Pac-A-Fist got turned into pseudo vampires, and of course the whole Binky thing. Technically, you were no different when you came down in the diver. It’s genuinely pretty difficult to take over someone’s mind, but humans make great catalysts for dark arts. Though what we’ve done to Penny isn’t quite mind control. If she wanted to, she could resist its effects. All we did was modify the reward center of her ‘brain.’ She feels better when displaying approved behaviors and worse when displaying bad ones. The ‘Bobinator’ as I call it was a necessary tool to getting the Iron Queen to negotiate with us, as she wouldn’t have given us the time of day otherwise. Oros had planned on destroying her, but it was my genius idea to make her an ally instead. Turns out having the hand run wild isn’t good for Penny either, and she more or less has the same enemies we do. That said, it's still a little unnerving to have her running around in her fully powered up body, so we needed to put some safeguards in place. I'm a little surprised she fired up the newest iteration of the Bobinator without me, but I guess she trusts my workmanship more than I do.”

”Her feelings for Oros aren't genuine?”

”Likely not.” Sharr giggled. ”I’m sure Oros tampered with the Bobinator to make her enjoy acting timid and affectionate. But she does enjoy it, so she performs them. Maybe the real her even likes it to some degree.”

”Why would Oros do something like that?”

Sharr sighed. ”The short answer is that it pleases her. Though it’s entirely possible that Penny reminds Oros of someone she’s encountered in another reality, and seeing Penny act like this is an extremely petty way of getting revenge on them.”

Faith, again, just batted her eyes like the total cinnamon bun she was. ”Oh.”

”It’s all coming together now, Faith. The hand is setting itself up to wipe out all of its enemies, as are the other factions. We’re in a rare position where we can see everyone’s hand for what it is. If everyone is going to make their move, then we should make sure we come to the table with something respectable.” Sharr turned to look at Faith. ”Was Oros right? Do you want to feel useful?”

”Oh yes! Definitely!”

”Is there something in your life that you want?”

”Yes!”

”Will you do anything to get it?”

Before blurting out an answer, Faith stopped to think. But as soon as Sharr started to turn away, she spoke up. ”Yes! As long as it doesn’t go against my beliefs.”

”Beliefs? Who do you believe in?”

”Everyone!”

”But who do you trust?” Faith was silent. ”Do you trust me?”

”Yes!”

”Then come, there is much to be done.”

Strange. Marrie felt like she was being watched. Which was weird since she was the one watching something. A year ago, she would have thought that people can't actually feel themselves being watched. A few months ago, she would have assumed it was something unrelated. But nowadays she couldn't rule out the possibility of magical scrying, so she instantly closed out of her project, it thankfully being set to auto-save on closing.

She hadn't gotten, given herself, a break since the church incident. But she decided that after the Walking Church team-up went well, and Oliver was in the process of getting his problem sorted out, that she should take one and finalize the "secret weapon" that she both expected and hoped to never need to use. After all, she started it back when-

--- Sofron was cut off when Marrie took hold of his head. He tried to take a swing at her arm, but by that point she had already let go of him. The burning, internally bleeding, angry man tumbled through the air before falling into the ocean. A few seconds later, all Marrie could see was the waves washing to and fro, with neither Klava nor Sofron in sight. ---

That bastard only proved that she needed to prepare more and better. It was horribly unfortunate that she hadn't known what she needed to in order to finish this project sooner, back when she could have used it against Justin. But she'd learned a lot since then, in many ways from many sources, so she had managed good progress since his death. She didn't know what the point was; now that he was gone, who or what would she even use this against? She knew that the defenses she put in place would keep it from being used by anyone who found or stole it, but she wasn't so confident to let anyone watching her see the code.

Still, she'd been as careful as she could be and now it was finally about to bear its fruit. Soon she'd be able to go back to working on her passion project. But as soon as that thought hit, she shook her head. No, she couldn't. Not until she was stronger. This break was good for her stamina, but she'd just pour it all into more training the day after tomorrow when her break ended.

Marrie stood, removed the usb drive from her machine, and did a sweep of her apartment to check for bugs. Not finding any, she grabbed the essentials and headed out, making sure to lock the door as usual. A bike trip later and she was at a public computer. Having lost the sense of someone watching her, she typed out the last bit of code she needed in a text file, saved it to her usb drive, and logged out. Everything was ready, and she'd stitch it with the rest some other day.

With a stretch and a yawn, the black-haired girl stood. Having earned it, she went to find somewhere good to eat at.

---

Miss Vanhorn was not the only one who had to worry about political assassins.

Davis Gallo was a somewhat controversial figure. He had inherited a mess of a city and made some big plays to get things back on track. Some of them worked, some of them didn’t, but it left him with a lot of enemies. Some of those enemies even wanted to kill him. Gemini had been monitoring him for a while, and the chances of an attack went up day after day. It wasn’t just humans that wanted him out, there were quite a few monsters as well.

The mayor’s office was near the top floor of a substantially sized building. It wasn’t tall, but it was so grandiose that Ashley might find it dwarfed Von Carnage’s mansion that she had assaulted months ago. But she wouldn’t have her team this time. She would only have Sokaiya, a new recruit. At least new as far as her employ in Gemini was concerned. She was old enough to be someone’s grandma. Though she was just as quick as other espers despite her apparent age.

There wasn’t much time to talk. Apparently Davis’s body guards were doing their best to hold them back, but they wouldn’t last long against monsters. Reports also said there were a few espers assisting them, and there was speculation of this being done by Maverick Alternative.

They had a hallway to cross, then the mayor’s office should be in sight. The sound of gunfire was already filling the halls.

Lately, it seemed to Ashley that no sooner did one crisis end than another began. So it was that only a few short days after dealing with the two monster trains and Binky’s forced betrayal, the Knight of Tomorrow was working to protect the city’s mayor from a less-than-mundane attempt on his life. But that wasn’t all. Instead of her usual team, her only support came in the form of an untested freelancer who had recently decided to join up with G.E.M.I.N.I. Although the high-tech heroine had hoped that if any freelancer decided to become an official agent, it would be one she’d already worked with in the field, at this point, she would take whatever help she could get.

Based on her partner’s hastily skimmed dossier, Ashley had learned that “Tempest” was a melee-oriented esper, with considerable fire-based abilities. Her weapon, in particular, was far better suited to dispatch hostile espers than anything Ashley wielded, but only if they could ascertain the location of said enemies. The last thing Ashley wanted to do was to rush blindly into what sounded like a fairly intense firefight, and while the Knight of Tomorrow had tried to keep from making any judgments based on her partner’s elderly appearance, she only hoped that Tempest’s advanced age was an indication of greater experience and not senility…

“I’ll take point, Tempest,” Ashley informed her partner in a low voice as she crept forward, her energy shield raised and techno-wand at the ready. “I’m going to fire off a spy ray pulse to see what we’re dealing with,” she added, pointing the tip of her wand around the corner of the hall from which the sounds of battle were emanating and discharging a glowing bolt of green energy.

[Gold Projectile][Powerful][AoE][Reveal] = -84 mana

The cool thing about blind firing like this was that Ashley was able to stay out of harm's way and get off an attack. The not so good thing was that Ashley wasn’t targeting anything, and could whiff the whole thing.

And then there was all the noise and light.

”Look out!”

The green ball of energy slammed into something and activated the spy ray pulse. As to be expected, the target that Ashley hit was quite large. In fact, it was the biggest frog man Ashley had ever seen. While the view through the wall couldn’t do it complete justice, it definitely had a sort of aura about it. He had a physique that would put a young Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame. His muscles had muscles, and his bubble butt was trying to swallow the thong he was wearing. Though as toned as his back was, his front was not so. He had a big round belly that, according to Ashley’s spy ray pulse, was filled with several large insects, plastic explosives, and at least two security guards. Her HUD fed her additional information about the monster, such as its great strength but low magic capability, its reliance on physical combat and its tongue, as well as the ability to swallow and regurgitate almost anything it cared to. Otherwise, most of the readout was in line with what Ashley would expect from an elite monster.

”Oh, I see how it is!” The frog pointed down the hall. ”You think it’s okay to attack me because I don’t look like everyone else? Is that it?”

Sokaiya had been following Ashleys lead, waiting for her to take point so they could get to the source of all the fighting.It wasn’t long after Ashley had fired off her spy ray that Sokaiya could make out the form of the angry frog man at the end of the hall that the Knight of Tomorrow had agitated through squinted eyes. “I think you went and made that fellow down there hopping mad, I might have to give him a good whack now deary to get him to calm down” tapping her cane on the floor with a dull thud. It looked like she was going to get into some action far sooner than the old timer had been expecting. But it would beat being stuck playing bingo.

Turning her head as she tried to get a better look at him and to hear what he was angry about. “You should put on some clothes, you kids these days and your scandalous outfits, back in my day if you showed even a little bit of ankle you’d be a real floozy…I already need to get this Gemini girl some proper attire…” giving a disapproving shake of her head at the both of them.

”This is what’s wrong with Pax Septimus!” This time it was a woman’s voice. ”You have a bunch of white, hetronormative, cisgendered asswipes that take offense when something doesn’t look exactly like them!”

”I guess they support killing and eating plants. Maybe we should kill and eat them and see how they like it?”

”Not yet.” A calmer, yet still clearly agitated voice, commanded the others. ”Let me just take stock of what we’re up against.” Without any other warning, blue and pink flames crackled through the air, and a small portal the size of a cell phone opened in front of Ashley and Sokaiya. Through the portal, they could see a heart-irised girl with a puppet looking back at them. ”Ugh, Gemini. Fable isn’t even with them.”

“Huh? What was that?” Sokaiya grumbled as she squinted her old eyes trying to get a better look at the individual within the portal.

“ You know you look familiar…like I’ve seen you somewhere before ... .now where was that again….” scratching her chin as she tried to reminisce and recall where she thought she had seen the individual before. After a brief moment something finally clicked and she pulled an answer from her old memory. “Oh that's right, you showed up at that birthday party now didn’t you, I couldn’t forget you, best clown I ever saw if you ask me, it's good to see you are still hard at work, they don’t make clowns like they use to!”

”We’ll see who the clown is shortly, old maid!”

At first, Ashley had been taken aback when the portal opened in front of them, but she soon found herself trying to suppress a groan of annoyance when Tempest began her less than flattering ramble. That, coupled with said new arrival’s words, almost made the Knight of Tomorrow forget the comment made about her own outfit. While the sci-fi style bodysuit was somewhat revealing, it didn’t show any more skin than a gymnastics leotard or one-piece swimsuit, and Ashley hadn’t really thought much of it until the elderly agent made her disparaging remarks. Still, that slight feeling of embarrassment wasn’t nearly as important as the situation playing out before her, a situation she was still going to do her best to resolve diplomatically, even if the chance of that actually happening was nearly zero…

“I don’t think they’re a clown,” Ashley told her partner, more than a hint of annoyance coloring her voice. “You’re Mary, right?” she asked the newcomer.

”No!” Mary spoke quickly. ”It’s Cthulhya.” xe blushed slightly and ran a hand through xer hair.

“Oh, uh, m-my apologies,” Ashley replied with an awkward frown. “Fable’s mentioned you a few times, but he never told me your esper name.” However, he had explained how they hated to be referred to by gender-specific pronouns, something the high-tech heroine hoped, but doubted, her partner would pick up on. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but he left G.E.M.I.N.I. a short while ago and no one seems to have any idea where he is,” she explained, even as she reflected on how everything seemed to lead back to Finn these days.

”So the rumors are true then. We weren’t going to meet again after all.” Briefly, Mary’s eyes lost focus and xer lower lip quivered. ”It’s not like he wanted to see me again anyway…”

Ashley took a deep breath. Clearly Mary, or rather, Cthulhya had feelings for the young agent, feelings Finn obviously hadn’t reciprocated, but this was neither the time nor place to be getting into any of that. “As for the point at hand, we don’t want to fight you if we can help it, but we can’t just let you kill Mayor Gallo. Look,” she added after a moment. “I don’t exactly agree with a lot of his policies either, but that doesn’t give me or anyone else the right to murder him because of it.”

”Oh yea?” Mary lifted xer head back up. ”Then what gives that guy the right to kill my friends with his disgusting policies? I get that Pax Septimus is a sewer right now, but it’s going to stay a sewer if we don’t take care of the environment. If we have clean air, ethically sourced energy, gender neutral change rooms, and access to free gender affirming surgery!”

Eyes still squinted, Sokaiya turned her fuzzy gaze towards Ashley with a frown. “Are you sure about that deary?” Lifting her cane off the floor as she pointed it towards the portal. “I suppose they haven’t done anything funny yet, but they got those little hearts and everything…I could have sworn I recognized them…don’t think they were named Mary either…” Searching her old memory for further details but drawing a blank. She turned her fuzzy stare back upon the individual in the portal with a doubtful frown.

“Besides what is that thing, some new fangled speaking telegraph?” Her cane pointed at the portal as she thrust it in the air with emphasis towards the portal's direction.

”Shut up!” xe turned to Ashley. Xe seemed to be on the verge of tears. ”You don’t want to fight me? I don’t want to fight you. It’s clear that he liked you enough to talk to you about me.” Xe wiped xer nose. ”So make this right. What can you guys do?”

Old eyes widened in surprise at the rude response from Mary, Sokaiya let out a cranky grumble “They don’t teach manners to these young whippersnappers these days, I ought to tan yer hide…”

What indeed, the Knight of Tomorrow wondered. While Mary was certainly agitated, they made some valid points, and their concern for their friends was entirely understandable. While Ashley wasn’t exactly a certified negotiator, she had settled several disputes back in high school, and she very much wanted to see a peaceful resolution to this current crisis. Unfortunately, her partner seemed likely to be more of a hindrance to that goal than an asset, with the high-tech heroine’s concerns about the elderly agent’s possible senility proving to be terrifyingly valid. Speaking telegraph? How old even is this woman? Sighing, she closed her eyes and did her best to compose herself.

“Well, we can attempt to serve as mediators while you bring your concerns to the mayor,” Ashley began. “You have my condolences on the loss of your friends, but starting a war over it will only make things worse and lead to even more death on both sides. I know it’s not the easiest thing to do,” she continued. “But we need to put faith in democracy and work out our issues via peaceful protests and diplomacy. If you and your friends are willing to stand down, and… uh… regurgitate those two swallowed guards, I’ll try to get the rest of the security team to stand down so that we can have a civilized discussion with Mayor Gallo.”

Some of the crankiness she had felt at being told to shut up had faded.If they wanted to smooth things out without any violence, she had a solution that may solve Mary’s request of what they could do.. “How about this, despite your rudeness, how about I give you a little treat, it is clear you don’t have a proper grandma or else your manners would be much better…and don’t you worry now my deary I haven’t forgotten about you either…” reaching her hand into a pocket scrummaging around in it. Digging deep inside of it for a minute before finding what she was searching for, slowly pulling it free as she held out her right hand palm up with a couple pieces of butterscotch and peppermint hard candies resting in her hand.

“Now if you all want to get along, how about some candy, would you like a butterscotch or a peppermint? Maybe it will even cheer you up sweetie” Offering up first choice towards Mary before she intended to offer second choice to Ashley. Candy usually solved most youngins sadness and cheered them right up, it was a good thing she always carried some around with her at all times just for occasions like these.

“Um… Thanks…?” Ashley told the elderly agent as she slowly took the offered treat and slipped it into a pouch on her utility belt. While a kind gesture, to be sure, this really wasn’t the time for a snack. Yes, the Knight of Tomorrow reflected, Tempest was seeming increasingly senile with each passing second, which was making the high-tech heroine herself increasingly concerned.

Mary’s eyes darted between the treats in “grandma” Sokaiya’s hand and her face. ”If you’re going to offer us anything, could it not be made with child labor or wrapped in something that’s just going to turn up at a landfill?” She closed her eyes and groaned. ”Come around the corner. I’ll see about having Maxwell release his prey.” The portal closed. Sure enough, Ashley could see the security detail getting squeezed out of Maxwell just as her melody wore off. Both Gemini espers could hear the sound of something wet slapping against the floor.

”You guys didn’t taste any better coming back up.”

Sokaiya muttered as she tapped her cane on the floor, pocketing the remaining candy with slight disappointment. “Neither of you grew up with a proper granny, if you did you both would have been excited and wanting to snatch this candy up as fast as you could, I will have to change that..even if that means being your granny myself” hobbling over towards the security guards that had just been spit out by Maxwell. Taking her cane as she gave them each a good poke of her walking stick. “They are still breathing, resting on the job, youngins these days just aren’t built like they use to be…” giving them each a few more taps until she was satisfied they would survive the ordeal of being inside of Maxwell's stomach. They didn’t seem to appreciate that too much.

At least the fighting had stopped. Tensions were still high, obviously. Four security guards had their weapons trained on Maxwell, who was standing in front of some boys holding plants, a mermaid that seemed to float in the air, and a girl whose hair looked like dandelion seeds. Mary was standing at the very back, and was the shortest one present. Then a top-hat wearing puppet on Mary’s hand rose above the crowd.

"Alright guys! It’s all up to you now. Hopefully we can get through this without hurting anyone else!"

“Uh, yeah…” Ashley replied warily. While the strange puppet was somewhat unnerving, the Knight of Tomorrow was still glad the fighting had been deescalated, at least for the moment. The challenge now was getting it to stay that way. “Please hold you fire everyone!” she called as she slowly rounded the corner with her open hands raised, having clipped her techno-wand to her belt. “I’m G.E.M.I.N.I. agent Orion, the Knight of Tomorrow. These… um… people would like to have an audience with the mayor, and I’ve agreed to serve as a mediator. I promise to ensure no harm comes to him, so would you please allow us to pass?”

Before the security detail could speak, Sokaiya interjected. “Who is that top hat wearing fella, I like his style, but he rubs me the wrong way, he could be trouble….” questioning Ashley about the puppet with the good sense of old fashion clothing. But soon after her eyes focused on the puppet with great suspicion as she followed behind Ashley, hobbling her way to her side.

“If any of you stir up trouble now, I’ll have to give ya’ll a good thrashing then give you a good whack over the the head with ole hickory so play nice now and maybe I’ll give you all a little treat” adding to Ashleys remarks to the group before them, still warily side eyeing the top hat wearing puppet. Something about that fellow seemed untrustworthy, and if he tried anything Sokaiya would be prepared to deal with him at a moment's notice.

One of the guards smiled. ”We’ll I wouldn’t mind being treated, but if you want to punish me, that could be even better.”

“Huh? You're going to have to speak up over there, doesn’t anyone talk with some gusto anymore…” Sokaiya’s eyes never left the puppet as she spoke.

The remaining security detail did their best to pretend they hadn’t heard that. ”Right, Gemini...” Naturally, most of the mundane world, and even branches of the government, weren’t entirely clued in about the Government Esper and Monster Intelligence and Neutralization Initiative. Though paranormal aware agents were often stationed where they were needed. Protecting a mayor in a dangerous monster infected location was indeed a place they were needed. Thus, the espers could expect to be taken seriously by the security detail. The mayor elect was another story. ”We’re not exactly dealing with peaceful protesters here. That frog’s tongue is pretty fast, and I’d just as soon not give everyone a clear shot at Mr Gallo. ”

Mary’s little feet scuffed across the floor until she was at the front of the protesters. ”We wouldn’t need to protest if he just met our demands!”

The guard groaned and pointed. ”She-”

”Xe!”

”...Xe was disguised as a little girl and wandered as deep into town hall as they could. Once they were in deep enough, they opened a portal and started their assault from the inside. These are underhanded guerrilla tactics, and not to doubt your skills, but I do not feel confident two espers could shield the mayor from two monsters, two druids, and an esper.”

Mary noisily tapped her foot while turning to Ashley.

​​“What if only you accompany me to see the mayor?” the Knight of Tomorrow asked Mary, while doing her best to push Sokaiya’s concerns about the girl’s puppet, not to mention that one guard’s apparent BDSM fetish, out of her mind. “It’s pretty clear you’re already the spokesperson for this group, so I’m sure you’d be able to convey their various concerns. Everyone else can remain out here until the meeting’s over, and Agent Tempest can ensure that things remain civil,” she added, gesturing to the elderly esper. “Would that be agreeable?”

Tapping her cane on the floor as she turned towards the guard briefly. “I find your lack of faith disturbing, ole Hickory is more than enough to deal with any gorilla’s that may appear, I will hold down the fort out here deary while you give that mayor the whats for, I’ll make sure if rabble-rouser starts stirring up trouble I’ll tan their hides.” Her attention slowly shifting back towards the puppet as she finished speaking, eyes squinting and her grip on her cane tightening.

Leaning closer towards Ashley she whispered “Keep your eyes on him my granddaughter…that one looks like a tricky fella don’t let that top hat fool you….” warily gesturing towards her mortal rival the puppet.

“Uh… R-Right,” Ashley whispered back. Granddaughter? Although she hoped the elderly agent was simply calling her that as a term of endearment, the high-tech heroine had a worrying feeling that probably wasn’t the case…

Mary groaned. ”I think leaving her out here in exchange for me entering with you myself is a great compromise.”

”If you say so.” The guard was about to open the door when Mary stopped him.

”I’d rather not give her any chance to follow us.” With a wave of her hand, a portal leading to the other side of the door opened up before them. Mary allowed Ashly to enter the portal and they both appeared on the other side. There inside was a lavish office with two more security guards flanking Davis.

”Wha-? What’s-” Davis’s eyes passed over Ashley’s Gemini insignia and he calmed down. ”Ah! You’re part of that new anti terrorism unit. I’m not really used to those outfits. They look ridiculous honestly, but it looks like you managed to capture their leader, so it must work!”

Ashley cringed inwardly at Gallo’s comments about her appearance, but she knew that this was neither the time nor place to try and rationalize the seeming impracticality of her esper outfit. “Um, not exactly, your honor,” the Knight of Tomorrow corrected. “We managed to negotiate a ceasefire under the condition that I mediate a discussion between you and Cthulhya, here, regarding their concerns. It is my sincere hope that a peaceful compromise can be reached, and you have my word that I will put forth my best efforts to assist in attaining it,” she added, her voice filled with conviction as she emphatically placed a hand over her chest.

The mayor, slowly, placed his hands on the corner of his desk and pushed himself to his feet. His smile didn’t falter. For a politician he looked a little rough. He had a nine-o'clock shadow and bags under his eyes. ”I’m sorry, I don’t see a name tag. What should I call you?” Once Ashley gave Davis his name, he nodded. ”Orion? Hah, okay. Orion, during my campaign I visited several areas of Pax Septimus. Everywhere from the most exclusive swanky joints, to the poorest slum. I understand not everyone follows the news, who could blame them really? But the one thing that the public is crying out for is safety. They are tired of the violence and tired of being scared. They feel the police are inadequate at their job or corrupt, but I know they are underfunded and overworked. I based my campaign off of that. This is all to say that I don’t mind having an open dialog with anyone.” He waved his hand through the air. ”But I don’t feel like I should be rewarding some cunt who use guerrilla tactics to invade a government office, harm or kill the people protecting it, to pressure a sitting mayor into changing their policies. Ah-hah!” He inhaled sharply. Davis’s smile vanished. ”What am I supposed to tell the families who have been affected by all this violence when I cave as soon as my life is threatened?”

Mary groaned. ”We didn’t kill anyone. And we even gave up two hostages to get this meeting.”

”How considerate of you.”

For her part, Ashley had listened patiently to Gallo’s little speech, but her fists and teeth still clenched upon hearing the Mayor’s excessively vulgar insult towards Mary. Even so, she still managed to otherwise maintain her composure. “Your honor, I feel confident in saying that the safety of everyone in Pax Septimus is G.E.M.I.N.I.’s top priority as well,” the Knight of Tomorrow told the politician in an even tone. “And I agree, negotiating with terrorists who are threatening your life isn’t something that can be condoned. However,” she added, her eyes narrowing behind her glowing visor. “Your life is no longer being threatened. As it stands, your… opponents simply wish to bring their concerns to your attention. The least you can do is hear them out.”

”When dealing with cunning rogues, one’s life is in danger just by being in their presence.” He leaned against his desk and thrust his chin at Mary. ”But go ahead, talk. Maybe you’ll surprise me.”

Mary stepped forward. Xe turned to gaze through Ashley’s emerald visor into her eyes. With a knowing nod, the smallest hint of a smile crossed xer face before xe looked forward. Denny moved in front of her and placed a paw on xer shoulder. "You got this kid, moment of truth!" They nodded at their friend, who moved to xer side before xe spoke.

”Okay, so to start, I think that less money should be allocated to funding the police force. I get that crime happens, but they arrest a disproportionately large number of minorities and marginalized individuals. I think they’re letting their prejudice affect their job. White people have no tact, and they’re everywhere.”

”It differs a bit from precinct to precinct, but whites are the third most common type of officer. Most police officers are Hispanic or black, and do most of the arresting.”

”Yea but they’ve practically been indoctrinated by the whites at that point. Anyway, I think we should defund the police and instead put that money to other ventures. I told Orion here about a few of them, but I think we need to invest in maintaining our parks, building new parks, preserving the forests around the city, moving towards zero emissions by requiring the use of electric cars and non-petroleum power sources with regulations, creating programs to benefit everyone that isn’t a cis white male, use even more regulations to make sure there are gender neutral bathrooms, but also that other bathrooms are accessible to whichever gender someone identifies as, and set aside a fund for assisting those that need gender affirming surgery.”

”Is that it?”

Mary thought. ”It’s a start.”

Davis nodded. Then he turned to Ashley. ”Well, I heard them out. You can escort them outside now, unless you see any common ground between us.”

“Actually, I do,” Ashley replied. “You both seem to want to see the city become a safer and more pleasant place to live, even if you have different ideas for attaining that goal. I understand we need a police force to maintain law and order,” she continued. “But perhaps instead of defunding them, you can reform them by working towards locating and removing any systemic discrimination and corruption that might be present? As for the environmental concerns, while I realize that completely eradicating pollution, and the various other detrimental side effects of industrialization, will be impossible until viable alternative energy sources are fully developed, I still think an effort can be made to maintain at least some of the woodlands on the city’s periphery, while also revitalizing its existing parks. After all, what use is saving the city if it becomes a place no one actually wants to live in?”

Davis chuckled. ”I don’t think there’s that much racism, especially when you consider the arrest statistics. Though that’s certainly something we can, and are, constantly on the lookout for. If we wanted to scale that up we could designate a group to monitor for discrimination and corruption, but that adds a layer of bureaucracy and funnels more into the police sector, which runs counter to bunny ears’s wishes.” He pulled a bottle of jack daniels out of his desk and started to fill a shot glass with it. ”Most of the parks are maintained by charity and volunteer organisations. From what I understand, it works for most parks and at a fraction of what it would cost Pax tax payers. We could do more for the parks in communities where the people are poor or old, or even assist volunteer efforts in those places. So why not? We could do more there. Pax is beautiful and it should stay that way.”

Mary smiled at Ashley, but zer eyes looked bitter. ”You got him to concede a little bit!” Then zee put on zer most scornful face when ze looked at Davis. ”And what about the comfort of all citizens that were born in the wrong body?”

”While that may be an important issue for you, it’s not for an overwhelming majority of people in Pax. Less than a fraction of a percent identify as anything other than their birth gender, and most of them haven’t entered the workforce yet.” His brow furrowed as he spoke. ”I think giving young people money for surgery when they’re going through the most confusing moments of their lives is a mistake. Funding for niche programs like that should be handled at the state or federal level anyway. There’s more than just a few people who can benefit from it then.”

Mary’s tiny body trembled in place. ”So, this is really as far as you’re willing to go? There really is no talking to you?”

”It’s simple.” Davis put away his bottle of jack and swirled his glass. ”Tax payers aren’t leaving Pax because of our gender affirmation programs, lack of trash pickup in parks, or police discrimination. They’re leaving Pax in body bags. In order to stop that, we need to keep the money in the hands of the police. If we move more funding to other projects, we’ll lose more tax payers and the money getting distributed to those projects will shrink too. You want to change my mind? Sell me on it. Tell me how funding anything that you’re suggesting is going to save lives and lower crime.” He downed his shot glass before folding his arms.

Ashley frowned slightly. “He does make a good point,” she told Mary. “And there has to be at least some compromise on your part, or else you won’t be able to accomplish anything at all.”

”Wha?” Mary turned to Ashley and pointed at Davis. ”He’s the mayor! He’s got all the power, decides where the money goes, all I have is a bunch of disgruntled folk creatures that are tired of being neglected!” Ze pouted. ”What could I possibly offer him?”

“Well, he says he wants to make the city safer, so perhaps you and your friends could assist with that?” Ashley suggested. “Also, if you were able to organize this protest, then I’m sure you could organize a volunteer cleanup effort to restore some of the city’s parks and rural areas without having to rely on taxpayer funding,” she added with a hopeful smile.

Mary hung on every word Ashley spoke, as if she was a mystic giving life changing advice. ”Yea…” The corners of zer lips curled into a smile. ”Yea! I think we could make that work! I mean, I can’t leave here empty handed, but if I can get him to put more money to what actually matters, maybe-” Zer hopeful look was suddenly dashed by a realization. But while Ashley could read faces, she needed a melody to read minds. ”Thanks. Let’s try this again.” Ze walked up to Davis’s desk with a look of determination on zir face. ”What if I can get your opponents working for you? I can get way more people prettying up the parks, the best ‘crime watch’ you could ever think of, and best of all, they’ll all vote for you! What do you think about that?”

Then the gunshots started.

---

Once Ashley and Mary had taken their leave, Sokaiya started to walk around the area, looking at various decorations and details that she tapped with her cane. “He could use a better taste in decor, doesn’t anyone have an eye for art anymore” Complaining as she went over to a vase and peered down inside of it, even putting a hand around its rim as she tested its quality. Finding it a little disappointing as she let out a sigh, she finally turned to Mary’s companions now that her tour of the room was completed. Having been in every corner of the room and surveyed it from top to bottom.

“Hey you hippie girl, fishy lady and you other hippie friends, you’ve not said a word since you have gotten here, do you all work for that Vanhorn lady or sumthin? Or are you some other independent group?” Hobbling over to them as she came to a stop right before them, leaning her head and ear as she tilted her head to better hear any response. “If you youngins do know or work for her, I have something I would like her to have, otherwise I’ll just have to go find her myself.”

The dandelion-haired girl smiled brightly. ”I’m a hippy girl!” She giggled in delight at her new nickname. ”She’s definitely who we want to win the election. I think most of us have met her in person, and I even got her to autograph my chest!” She pulled down her shirt just enough to show a signature. It was smudged slightly, and the ink looked old. ”I’m never washing it! But maybe I should go to a tattoo parlor and make it permanent? Then I could take showers again.”

”I also know her well.” The mermaid held out a tiny scrap of cloth. ”This tore off her dress when she was fleeing those nazis a few weeks ago. I plan on returning it to her after she wins the election. I’ve made all of her public appearances.”

”I write to her non-stop, and she writes back to me!” Maxwell pumped his fist in the air.

The two druids looked at each other, then at the old woman. ”We like her policies.”

Squinted eyes moved from speaker to speaker until they came to rest on the two druids. “I see, very well then, that Gallo is a real rapscallion, but you are going about this all wrong, there are other ways to get what you want beyond just violence….now how about a treat for everyone from granny?” digging around in her pocket for a moment as she searched for her sweet treats that had pocketed amongst the various other knickknacks she carried around with her. Once she found what she was after she pulled out a big handful of them as she held out her right hand, once again full with butterscotch and peppermint hard candies. This time however, there was something else amongst the assorted hard candies. A small electronic recording device which sat in the middle of her usual offerings.

The mermaid and seed head recoiled at the sight of candies wrapped in plastic, but the druid boys hopped over to the old woman’s side and picked through her candies. One took a butterscotch, and the other took a peppermint.

”Maybe if he didn’t take money that was rightfully allocated to green energy initiatives and redistributed among donut eaters, we wouldn’t be so quick to try and kill him. Violence begets more violence after all.”

“Now if you really wish to help that Vanhorn lady, you should take this to her, information is just as important if not more important than physical strength, besides she might have a sweet tooth” Gesturing for them to come take the treats from her along with the device to ward off any suspicion the guards in the vicinity may have about what she was doing. Though whether this group of misfit hippies understood what she had done previously and what she was giving to them was another question entirely. But she figured that if they brought it to Vanhorn, she would be able to put two and two together.

After the boys had gotten a few pieces of candy, everything else, including the digital device, was scooped up by a long pink tongue. It rubber banded back into Maxwell’s head, and it all disappeared with a swallow. He brought his finny hand up to his head and saluted. ”It’ll get to her if it costs me my life!”

“I have a great disdain for politics, and politicians especially but after all these long years of life, I want to see something that excites this old lady one more time…”

A certain bodyguard appeared at her side. ”What sort of things excite you, miss?”

“You may be a exhibitionist but you seem like a reliable fella, my little green friend….” tapping her cane on the floor as she slowly turned her squinted gaze upon the bodyguard that had come to her side. “Ain’t nothing you’d know about you whippersnapper, I bet you haven’t ever seen a billiards table in your entire short life, likely never even touched a bingo card, or sat by a radio listening to a ole time radio drama, those would really get you going, I wonder if you even have opened a single book either” lamenting about a bygone era and the forgotten hobbies she found so interesting to even this day.

The guard grinned. ”Actually, I happen to be really good at pool. I also have many fond memories of working with my father in the woodshop, and the radio was always playing. I’d also like to consider myself well read as-Yeowch!”

As she kept tapping her cane on the floor rather impatiently, she ended up jabbing it into the top of the guard's foot with far more force than what would be expected of any regular old granny. However she showed no sign of having done it on purpose, and no realization of what she had done. Oblivious to it as she turned to face the group “as for you hippie girls, y'all really should eat some candy before you go wasting away now, or maybe have some of granny's home cookin’, I’ll put some meat on them bones lickety split.”

But the ‘hippie girls’ were not interested in candy. Largely because Maxwell had eaten it all, but they were too busy laughing at the guard. ”Ah, you deserved that too, you perv!” The seed haired girl continued to laugh.

”What else do you expect from rude losers who rizz up old ladies?” The mermaid added.

”Rizz up?” The guard tried to tap the pain out of his foot. ”That earlier comment was a joke! It’s how I deal with a job where mermaids and giant man-eating frogs try to kill you! No offense was taken by it, as far as I can recall.”

”You could have hurt her feelings.” One of the druids folded his arms.

”Maybe? And if I did, that would be between her and me. I’d apologize and we’d move on.”

The mermaid turned to look at her seed haired friend. ”See this is what I hate about cisnormative, hetronormative cum stains like him. They act all tough, throw microaggressions left and right-”

”When did I throw a microaggression?”

”You called him a man eating frog!”

”He literally ate a man! Not even a minute ago!”

”Maybe he eats girls too?”

The guard’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. ”If he does, then I’ll call it as such.”

”There’s no point talking to these people. What are we really waiting for?” The mermaid started to manifest an orb of water behind her tail, and the guards all raised their weapons.

Letting out a sigh as she gave a small shake of her head not having time for squabble “Now, now, hold your horses before you go and get yourselves hurt now, violence won’t solve a thing for either side, I’d lower those weapons if I were you, especially after what I saw earlier with your colleagues, making a scene that will surely get you lot into hot water.” She tapped her cane on the floor as she addressed the guards. They didn’t react, and why would they? Their “aggression” was merely a reaction to having a spell aimed at them. The old woman turned to the protest group.

“As for you lot, if you go about using violence you will just get seen as a terroristic group and ain’t nobody gonna listen to any of what yall have to say, there are more ways to get what you want while avoiding making it more difficult for yourselves, you already have something that will be more useful than beating up a bunch of guards for what you wish to accomplish, what you lack is proper coordination, strategy and leadership” Shaking her cane at the group as she lectured them right after she had gotten done with the guards. Giving Maxwell a small wink of acknowledgement that he had something that would make this trip of some value without the need of stirring up a fight. “But if any of you persist with this dust up and start a ruckus, I’ll have to tan all of your hides then aint no one will be happy.”

”You don’t have to worry about me, miss!” Maxwell gave the old lady a salute. ”I can’t risk my life here! I need to keep this message safe!”

One of the druids waved their hands in a dismissive manner. ”We haven’t done anything since we got here, and we won’t start. Though some more candy would help ease our nerves.”

The seed haired girl rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips. ”Yea, our ‘strategy’ is really bad. Just look at all the damage we suffered busting into this place!”

The mermaid fretted her brow. ”Are you guys really that spineless? You know what? I think these guards are an embarrassment to themselves, but they are their own worst enemy.” She grit her teeth. ”But I am so sick and fucking tired of old people who think they know better than everyone else!” And with a wave of her tail, Sokaiya was trapped in a bubble filled with water. Slowly suffocating, and slowly floating.

The security guards immediately opened fire. It did little to the mermaid but made her mad. Though before she could retaliate, Maxwell slid in front of her. The incoming gunfire slammed into his buttocks and made them jiggle like jello in an earthquake.

”The hell are you doing!?” The frog yelled at the mermaid.

One of the guards waved his gun at everyone, but didn’t fire a single shot. The druids raised their hands defensively and the seed girl made a suspicious gesture with her hand and then he fired a round beside her. ”Nobody fucking move unless you’re going to free the old lady!”

Meanwhile, the portal leading through the office door was wide open, allowing everyone inside to turn and look out at what was happening.

”What do I think?” Davis growled, continuing his discussion with Mary. ”I think your ability to control them looks a little lacking.” He reached back into his desk for his drink. ”Mind taking care of that?”

It wasn’t clear who Davis was talking to, but the situation needed to be deescalated. The guards had momentarily stopped firing, but Sokaiya was still trapped in a water bubble and it was freaking them out. The look of horror on Mary’s face didn’t make it apparent that ze would act decisively.

“W-What’s going on out here?!” Ashley exclaimed. I should have known tempest would be unable to handle such a delicate situation… she thought ruefully. “We were able to come to an agreement, but all of that will have been for nothing if you start another battle here!” the Knight of Tomorrow told them. “Please release Tempest and stand down. That goes for everyone,” she added, glancing towards the guards.

The young whippersnappers sure didn’t know how to respect their elders. Not to mention no one seemed to be interested in actually getting her out of the water bubble in a fast and proper fashion. They seemed much more interested in asking for them to let her out, rather than getting her out. Sokaiya didn’t have time to be floating around at her age, or to wait for the mermaid to willingly let her out, if she even had any intentions of doing so.

The water around Sokaiya started to bubble as it reacted to the heat emitting from her. She raised her cane up pointing it at the edge of the bubble as it began to emit a glow as she lined it up with the mermaid that had put the bubble around her. She didn’t have time to wait for them to talk things out, she could only hold so much oxygen in her old lungs as she floated, she would have to take matters into her own hands. Using a much more old fashioned and hands on approach to get the job done.

Once she ensured her target was lined up, she unleashed a fiery magma rock blast from the tip of her cane as it exploded out like a volcanic eruption with great force hurtling its projectile from within. If no one else was going to do something then she was going to try to blow through the bubble and free herself from the Mermaid’s trap while also dealing with the Mermaid.
[Diamond Projectile/Full Enhance -180]

Grandma Sokaiya’s eyesight must have been going, because Maxwell had placed himself between the mermaid and the bodyguards, and by extension, herself. Maxwell looked over his shoulder just in time to see the incoming betrayal. It became clear to him now that this esper was no different than the others. Just another old woman who was nice to your face but said nasty things about you behind your back. Because you had a different skin color. Because you had different beliefs. Because you thought that everyone should be allowed to use the woman’s bathroom. As Maxwell’s life flashed before his eyes, he knew he wasn’t going to go alone. The plastic explosives in his stomach would surely detonate. They would kill the druid boys that this hag pretended to care about, and destroy the message he was supposed to carry to Miss Vanhorn.

But when the flaming rock struck Maxwell’s exposed back, the rock broke apart, sputtered, and smoked. Everyone, monster and guardsman alike, looked at the blundered melody without understanding what exactly happened. Had Sokaiya intended to make a flashy yet ultimately pointless melody like that to draw attention to her, or had the senile old hag forgotten to add a damage component to her melody? The mermaid, frog, and seed head looked absolutely mortified.

”Cool.” One of the druids remarked.

By this point, Mary had come to her senses and walked back into the hall beside Ashley. ”Maxwell! Get her out of there!”

With a nod, the frog man shot his tongue into the water bubble and yanked Sokaiya out. He spared her the fate of seeing what was inside his stomach and instead placed her on the ground beside Ashley before giving the human side a salute. The mermaid and seed head were still in shock. The guards had all lowered their weapons from Ashley’s earlier insistence to do so. It seemed like things were back on track.

Wiping some of the water off as best she could, the remaining bits steaming off of her from the heat, Sokaiya turned her old gaze towards Maxwell. “Dang rapscallions don’t know how to treat their elders any more, can’t trust those dang hippie girls, they can’t even be hippies right anymore, trying to dang near drown me, at least you got some substance to you my little green friend, a true gentleman, you and those two peaceful hood guys, you three are trustable at least” scolding the mermaid and seed head now that she had been freed from her water prison. Relieved that someone had finally done something about it and gotten her out. Finding Maxwell far more reliable and trustworthy than any of the rest.

Mary sighed, exhaustion clear on her face. She gave Ashley a nod before turning back towards the portals leading into Davis’s office.

”And another thing!” She spoke while she walked. ”You may not trust my people to fight crime directly, but what about becoming volunteer firefighters or rescue personnel? If you allocate funds to protect forestlands and our ocean, then you can count on us to ensure we save more tax payers.”

Davis smiled. ”A tempting offer. That guy in a frog suit seems pretty handy with a…rope?”

In the span of mere seconds, Ashley’s visage had gone from a gasp of utter horror, to a weary sigh of relief. Despite everything, it looked like the situation would ultimately be salvageable, a rare occurrence indeed, but a welcome one. “Uh, yeah…” the high-tech heroine replied to the mayor. “I’d imagine he has quite the versatile skill set, to say the least. Thank you for getting my partner out of there,” she told the frog man, who saluted her, before Ashley moved over to kneel next to Sokaiya. “Are you okay, Tempest?” the Knight of Tomorrow inquired.

Using her cane to get to a steady base as she got her wits about her. She turned towards Ashley as she squinted her eyes and lifted up her cane to give Ashley a small whack atop the head with it. “Dang nabbit, I’m fine, no thanks to you, don’t just stand there and yap, youngins these days, if it wasn’t for Maximus I’d still be in that dang thing, you have much to learn don’cha granddaughter” Scolding her for her inaction while she had been trapped in the mermaids water bubble.

Ashley winced as she was whacked, but didn’t say anything in protest. There’d be time later to explain things. Right now, she just wanted to resolve the current situation as swiftly and smoothly as possible. That said, while Sokaiya still hadn’t quite reached Finn’s level of annoyance to deal with, she was coming awfully close…

“Those two rascals oughta be ashamed of themselves, going on about how it's not fair because of this or that, dang hypocrites don’t even realize they are what they are claiming to hate, you don’t sound very accepting of the old folk, yet you blab about wanting everyone to be equal, bunch of numbskulls I tell you what, at least you other three are upstanding gentlemen that I can work with” Gesturing with her cane towards the Mermaid and Seed head voicing her disapproval while complimenting Maxwell and the Druids for good measure.

The seed head was still shocked by what had just transpired, but the mermaid was just as grumpy as before. ”Keep talking, old maid. We’ll see how tough you are once we’re outside.“ The druids didn’t seem especially shaken by what had transpired, but the old woman’s words did little to stir them either. Maxwell on the other hand was absolutely glowing with all the praise he was being heaped with. He dropped to one knee and flexed his biceps.

Meanwhile, the initial discussion seemed to be wrapping up in the other room.

”First off, nothing is going to happen if I don’t stay in office. So remember that all of this is contingent on that.” Davis lifted another finger. ”Secondly, we are going to start out small. I can’t move too many funds around without causing problems. We get a few of your guys in to make things easier on Pax and that’ll free up funds for other projects. If your guys really don’t need to be paid, then I won’t have to go through the effort of establishing another department for the city. I think I already mentioned that I hate extra bureaucracy. We don’t need any more blood sucking cunts in this outfit.”

”That all sounds reasonable.” Mary was noticeably uncomfortable in front of the gruff, haughty man. ”But um, maybe there’s some way you could give me a salary?”

”Do I fucking stutter?” Davis raised an eyebrow. ”The reason why I’m agreeing to do any of this is because it’ll save lives and not cost a lot of money. You said your people would volunteer. I’d need to create a department to get you a salary. Isn’t shifting funding to green projects what you wanted?”

”I-I mean yes, it is.” Ze chuckled nervously. ”But you know, I really wanted that surgery, and since you seem rather insistent on, um, not supporting programs like that, I figured… I could… pay for it with…”

Davis blinked. ”But if I pay you, that’s not going to help everyone else, is it?” He leaned forward. ”Or was it never about everyone else?”

Mary looked over zer shoulder and out the portal. Ze raised zer hand, clearly thinking about closing it, but decided against it. Ze then leaned across the table and whispered something into Davis’s ear. He immediately stood up, and Mary fell backwards into zer seat. ”Please don’t get mad!”

But it was too late. Davis had been mad since this entire exchange started. Now he was enraged. His skin was as red as blood, and you could practically see the smoke pouring out of his ears. He pointed his finger at Mary, though the way she was squirming in her seat, he might have been holding a knife or gun at her instead.

”You cunt! You absolutely rancid cunt! You don’t give a shit about any of this! You were going to kill me to get some surgery done? Do you have any idea how fucking insane that sounds?! How did you get so many people to agree to this stupid stunt of yours!?”

”I-It’s simple. I-It’s like how g-gay and l-lesbian and t-trans rights are all k-kind of-”

”What the fuck do trees and parks have to do with your damn pronouns!?” He drove his fist into his desk, and his shot glass did a flip before landing on its side. ”You’re as wrong as your parents were when they made you! You look like a depressed radish that stayed too long on the discount shelf! You-” Davis stopped when he realized that Mary had been reduced to tears. With a groan, he sunk back into his seat, looking away from the crying person. The body guards didn’t stir, as they were quite accustomed to Davis’s outbursts, though the monsters and druids were a bit more taken back by it. Both rooms were quiet for a time before Davis adjusted his posture. ”...But if you are still serious about this, I can, perhaps, pay you.” Mary was still sobbing, though far less than ze had been. ”I believe earlier I said that I did not want to give money to a confused youth. What I hadn’t mentioned was that at one time, I was one of them.”

With a sniff, Mary lifted their head. ”Eh?” Ze sounded very congested.

”My friends would do this thing where we would get together and talk about what celebrity we’d want to have sex with. I never told them because it made me uncomfortable, and they called me gay. They called me gay so much that I started to believe it. Maybe they were right. If they could so easily talk about such things, maybe the only reason why I couldn’t was because I didn’t like women.” A smile crossed Davis’s face. ”I’d run tests on myself. I’d look at pictures of dudes and babes to see what got a bigger reaction out of me. I’d focus on how my male friends really made me feel. In hindsight it was stupid. The only answer I was willing to accept was the outcome I dreaded, while simultaneously ignoring evidence that pointed to the contrary. Oh yes, I had very good friends.” He laughed. ”And then during my formative years, I went for a jog. While I tried to decide my sexuality, a young girl ran up beside me. I call her a girl, but she was a young woman. Probably a few years older than me at the time. She had been jogging for a while, and she was breathing quite heavily. I found it… enticing. Fortunately she had stopped to wait for a bus, which I wasn’t waiting for, but pretended that I was. We never spoke, and I just listened to her. But eventually her breathing quieted, and before long, the bus showed up.” He waved his hand in the air. ”That broke my friends’ curse on me. I was straight, even if I didn’t have a celebrity I wanted to do things to.”

Mary sniffed again, but said nothing.

”I don’t think that surgery is going to bring you happiness, but the deal interests me enough to entertain your request anyway. I will not use taxpayer funds however. I will pay your salary out of my own pocket. That way we can hold off on adding a new department until it’s really warranted. Does that sound good?” Mary nodded. The two shook hands. ”I’ll be in touch. Please escort everyone outside.”

Mary, still shaken, stood up and walked back into the hallway. With a snap of zer fingers, a portal opened that led outside. After coming out of their shocked state, the mermaid, seed head, and druids left through the portal. Maxwell patted Mary on the back. ”Even if it wasn’t your main objective, I’m glad something is going to be done to preserve the lakes around the city.” With a hop, the naked frog man departed.

The portal witch rubbed their eyes. Then, without looking at the high tech heroine ze said ”Thanks.”

“Y-You’re welcome,” Ashley replied after a moment of stunned silence. While she was glad everything had been resolved relatively peacefully, Mary’s selfish exploitation of her “allies” and Gallo’s exceedingly caustic response to it still left her feeling more than a little disgusted. Turning to the mayor, she added, “Unless there’s anything else, we’ll take our leave now.”

”I think I have it from here.” Davis shuffled through a stack of papers. ”Could someone close the door.”

Another snap, and the portal leading into Davis’s office closed. Aside from a few remaining bodyguards, it was just Mary, Ashley, and Sokaiya. Ze turned to Ashley. There were still unwiped streaks under zer eyes.

”I-I don’t have any human friends. E-everyone thinks im ugly, when I-I’m not an, esper. I don’t work as a girl.” Ze tugged at zer ribbon. ”I-I let Finn call me a girl once. H-he didn’t, but he acted like a gentleman on our date. I thought, anyway. B-but it was too good to be true. Only m-monsters can accept me for what I am. Is it wrong to want others to as well?” Their voice cracked. After taking a moment to get their breath again, they continued. ”W-what’s going to happen to me?”

The last bit of water having steamed from her by this point, Sokaiya turned her head towards the sobbing Mary. Squinting her eyes, she tapped her cane on the floor and hobbled her way over to Mary, standing before them as she took her right hand and used it to lift up Mary’s chin until they were eye to old eye. “I’ll tell you one thing right now youngin, stop feeling sorry for yourself it won’t solve a dang thing, wipe those tears from your eyes and hunker down and get serious about it, nothing changes from sniffling about things, and violence only begets more violence, you need to be more crafty and more genuine, ain’t no one gunna want to support a sniffling liar” Taking her cane as she pointed it at the middle of Mary’s chest now.

“What is most important is what is in that heart of yours, ain’t nuthin gonna happen to you unless you make it happen, it is you and only you that will shape your own destiny, I’ve lived a long hard life, you ain’t always going to be accepted and embraced, but when you do find those that do, embrace them back and accept them back, it don’t matter if they are human or a monster, people are people, you have great potential and skill, that much is obvious to these old eyes, but you are letting yourself be held back by this endless cycle of the current world by playing into it, you won’t always get what you want, but that does not mean it is the end of the world, let this be a new fresh opportunity and don’t let it go to waste” Her eyes never leaving Mary’s until the very end as she used a thumb to wipe away some of the tears from Mary’s cheek, causing them to flinch.

“Now go forth and make the most of it, but I don’t want to see you young rapscallions getting yourself into more trouble without a good solid reason, there is a time and place for everything…” Pulling her hand away as she stepped back tapping her cane on the floor as she did so. Her old eyes had a slight glimmer as she finished giving her elderly advice to the young, confused and conflicted esper before her.

”I-I won’t.” They added weakly.

“U-Um, yes,” Ashley added, a bit taken aback by her partner’s little speech. “If you’re just trying to change yourself so drastically simply to fit in, then I’d advise against it. It needs to be something you do for your own well-being, not for others’. If people don’t like or accept you for who you are, then they aren’t the kinds of people you should want to have as friends in the first place,” the Knight of Tomorrow continued. “As for Finn, he’s been going through a lot of problems of his own recently, and while I don’t agree with some of the decisions he’s made, I still care about his well being, and the same goes for you,” she told Mary with an encouraging smile. “While you may have used your allies’ concerns as a way to achieve our own selfish goals, I get the feeling that you still genuinely care about their plight. If you learn from what happened here today and put their needs before your own, I think you could serve as an excellent advocate for them, and someone I’d be more than happy to cooperate with.”

”Y-you would?” Nobody with Mary’s temperament was going to start smiling after getting blasted by Davis, but she didn’t look like a wet rat anymore. There was pride in her posture, and Danny dried her eyes with his little mit. ”O-okay. I wouldn’t say no to a collaboration between us.”

"Boy am I glad that’s over!" Danny grabbed Ashley’s hand and shook it. "That was intense! But you all more or less kept your wits about you! Whew!" Then he shook Sokaiya’s hand. "Boy, you sure are durable for someone with so many wrinkles! That’s a firm handshake too! I wonder what sort of esper’s ideal self looks like that?" With a laugh, Danny swat Sokaiya’s shoulder. Since each of Danny’s hands were powered by one of Mary’s fingers, it was barely enough to be felt. "I’m just jerkin’ yer chain! But you did say Mary looked like a clown, so, we’re even? Oh! But she doesn’t like being called Mary by just anyone."

”It’s fine...”

"Oh that’s good! But um, what about your names? One of you knew Mary’s name, but I don’t believe we ever got around to introductions. I should hear your names before we depart! I’m Danny." The puppet bowed, even removing its top hat in the process.

“You live a long enough life, wrinkles ain’t mean a thing, I been through tougher stuff than this, can’t get by or live this long without some kind of durability, how many espers you see still getting around at my age after all…my name is Sokaiya, make sure you remember it, I don’t wanna go repeating myself now, you youngins these days never remember anything it seems like, as for earlier, I forgot my doggone glasses again, these ole peepers don’t see like they use’ta.” suspiciously eyeing Danny as she still didn’t quite trust the top hat wearing puppet. Something about him rubbed her the wrong way, and she wasn’t about to let down her guard.

Ashley glanced down at the puppet, unsure if it was simply speaking via ventriloquism, or if it was a sentient aspect of Mary’s esper form. Whatever it was, it mirrored the high-tech heroine’s own ponderings on why exactly an elderly woman would want to remain as such even in her esper state, although she supposed such an innocuous appearance might serve to take opponents off guard, at the very least. “I’m Agent Orion, the Knight of Tomorrow,” Ashley introduced herself. “I’d, um, rather not reveal my actual identity in a public place like this, but I wouldn’t mind sharing it whenever we’re someplace more private,” she added with a smile.

"Maybe, but just a first name can’t hurt, can it?" Mary wrapped her other arm around the puppet’s eyes, which caused it to flail its tiny arms in retaliation.

”Well, you were both very helpful.” Mary said this while looking exclusively at Ashley. ”I’ll make sure the next time we meet is under better circumstances.” She waved to everyone before stepping into the portal and vanishing from sight. Mary had been “driven off,” and Davis survived the encounter. Their mission was a success.

“Lot of magic tricks, a real trickster that one is, more like a magician than a clown I’d have to say at this point, should’ve worn my glasses today, what a silly mistake.” Poking her cane at where the portal vanished from sight, checking it to see if there was anything there after it had closed. Once she was satisfied there was nothing left behind she brought her cane back down to the ground and tapped it a few times. “Must save a lot of gas money getting round like that all the time, but I tell you what, nothing beats a nice V8 engine and the smell of that classic muscle car as you burn rubber down the ole road.” Shrugging her shoulders as she fondly remembered times long since past.

Her old wizened gaze turning towards Ashley now squinting. “You still have a lotta learn eh deary? I can tell you’re a real idealist, ain’t no shame in that, but someday you will realize the world isn’t so black and white, good and evil, that is all a myth formulated in the moving pictures, makes for some good flicks, but ain’t got real substance outside of that, but you’ll learn as you go, make mistakes, have regrets, that's just the life of a leader.” tapping her cane a few times upon the floor, sounding more like she was trying to give advice then she was trying to lecture this time around. The old esper had been around long enough to understand the approach of the younger espers that were still finding their way. She had once been one of them, she had seen many never find that realization, only to fall victim to the never ending cycle of this world.

Ashley breathed a sigh of relief when Mary departed. We actually managed to resolve things without bloodshed… the Knight of Tomorrow reflected, even as Sokaiya rambled in the background. I was starting to think that was a lost cause. Yet, that feeling of accomplishment soured slightly when her elderly partner’s critique of her performance swiftly returned the high-tech heroine to reality.

“I’m well aware of my relative inexperience,” Ashley replied. “But I’m equally aware that this is reality and not a work of fiction,” she added pointedly. “Although that still doesn’t mean we can’t strive to hold true to our ideals, even in the face of so much ambiguity. I’ve learned from painful experience that rash action and turning to violence at the first opportunity almost never ends well.”

Sokaiya chuckled, shaking her head in response, tapping her cane on the ground a few more times “Oh, deary, I said nothing about violence being the first solution or what was needed today, no, you think too much along the lines of black and white, either talk things out, or violence, those are just two options, but they aren’t the only options, you have to think outside of the box, push into the grey areas, often that is where the answer remains, often undiscovered, underutilized, sure you can sometimes get through things with words alone, but do you think either side today, all those involved are going to adhere to what was determined today? I think not…use that young mind of yours to think beyond the typical black and white, it is not easy, it is ingrained into us through ole folktales, stories, movies, shows all hammering away into youngins minds from the day the are born, that there is only ever good and evil, right and wrong, this way or that way….” mulling her thoughts as she let out a sigh and gave another shake of her head. Her old wizened gaze turned to look at Ashley eye to eye as she tried to convey her true meaning to the much younger esper.

“Ideals are fine, and you claim the title of Knight, lofty aspirations to bring justice and peace, whatever you youngins believe in these days is the same as youngins have always believed, the Knights of times past did not have those chivalrous codes, it was all added to the mystique of them, to elevate them despite much brutality that often goes overlooked, much like today's society would you not agree, the system repeats in its broken never ending cycle, ask yourself, how much progress has been made deary? Are we any better off or different then even a decade ago? Two? Three? Further back? I’ve seen a lot in this long life, this old battered body has done it all, do you want to end up like a old hag like me, it is up to whippersnappers like you I suppose to either repeat the cycle of this broken system, or to bring sustainable change to this forsaken world” ceasing with the tapping of her cane as she reached a old wrinkled hand up to rub her chin.

Listening as Sokaiya continued her senile ramblings, Ashley began to feel the first pangs of a headache coming on. The elderly agent sure was saying a lot, but she really wasn’t making much of a point, aside from spouting vague cliches. As if Finn’s brooding edginess and constant insubordination hadn’t been bad enough…

“I’d be stupid to trust any politician at their word,” the Knight of Tomorrow replied. “But diplomacy was still a better alternative than a bloodbath, and I intend to make sure that both sides keep up their ends of the bargain. I know this city, and this world, isn’t the nicest of places,” she continued. “But if I genuinely thought that things could never improve, then I wouldn’t be putting my life on the line as a G.E.M.I.N.I. agent to begin with.”

Narrowing her old eyes, Sokaiya started to get a bit fussy from Ashley's response and attitude. “Dang nabit, you got those ears stuffed with cotton or sumthing like that, stubborn as a mule you are, you only think of two outcomes, you limit your options, diplomacy is good when both sides actually intend to work together, what I saw today, is a splintered group I tell you what, you think you can keep all those different mindsets together, what that Mary wanted is different from what those two dang hippies want, different from what those fine gentlemen want, it's a mixed bag, and as for that Davis fella he only has a deal with one of them as far as I’m concerned” shaking her head as she felt like she wasn’t making Ashley understand what she was trying to teach.

“Besides that isn’t the dang point anyhow, the point is you need to start thinking outside of the box, don’t limit yourself to two choices, bloodbath or diplomacy, black or white, right or wrong,what you going to do when neither is the right choice, you yungins are too wrapped up in this mythical sense of heroic justice, like your some comic or movie superhero, dang nabit you keep going on like this, you are just going to keep learning the hard way, until you're deader than a ole door knob, you seen plenty of espers lose their life by now I S’pose, ask yourself, what did each of those lives mean, did those sacrifices mean anything, what did they accomplish, that violence didn’t solve a dang thing in most of those cases I bet, just led to more problems down the beaten path, then ask yourself in those cases, how many of them could have been solved by talking, then once you realize neither option wasn’t worth a dang thing and people died, what else could have worked instead” Shrugging her old shoulders as she let out a sigh. It was hard to get through to these yungins these days. They always seemed far too immersed in being whatever made them look the coolest, or made them feel the most heroic. They didn’t consider that there were more ways to get things done. Brute force and talking only could carry you so far. You had to stack the cards in your favor, play the game, roll the dice, take such an approach that you aren’t predictable, and be aware enough to know when to take what approach.

It was why this never ending cycle in Pax Septimus continued, ain’t no one considered the system was broken, that the system may not even be needed. But at Sokaiya’s age, there wasn’t much she could do about it beyond trying to get the yungins to understand and break the mundane black and white view of the world. While doing what she could to make the most of her abilities to further the goal of true peace and prosperity.

Ashley couldn’t keep from wincing as she listened to Sokaiya vomit forth another lengthy diatribe. When it finally came time for her to give a response, she took a deep breath and hoped for the best.

“I already said I don’t see the world as a comic book,” the Knight of Tomorrow reiterated. “And I’m painfully aware that things aren’t anywhere close to being as simplistic as what might be found in a children’s cartoon. But clearly you think I’m blind to the ‘truth’ of this world, so if you have some insights on how this situation should have been handled, then please enlighten me.”

Frowning as she rested her hands on the handle of her cane as she lowered her head for a moment as she mulled over Ashleys response. It was clear that she was still missing the entire point and was only honing in on a few aspects of what Sokaiya was wishing to convey. She seemed far too defensive and impatient, on edge and not interested in listening in the entirety of what was being said.

“If that is what you wish to know, then first don’t just stand there yapping while those two hippies stir up a ruckus, it shouldn’t take that young green gentlemen to be the reason that I got outta that dang water bubble in the first place, if I wanted, I could have put more power and tried to put a hole through them if I saw fit, they weren’t interested in listening to anything or making a deal, you didn’t have to murder them to get me outta there, my little green friend proved that fact and he was with those two hippie brats” Complaining about her earlier inaction and leaving it to Maxwell, who was not affiliated with them to come to the rescue.

“As for that rapscallion that made the deal with that Davis fella, they yanked you around and got you to do what they wanted while leaving you completely in the dark about the real deal they wanted to make, at the end of the day, they got what they wanted and perhaps learned a valuable lesson in the process and will grow from it, but that isn’t going to stop any of the others that showed up here today from stirring up trouble again, you are too impatient, but you youngins usually are, it is obvious enough you don’t care about what this old woman has to say, but does that bleed into dealing with others as well?” her eyes looked up towards Ashley as she mulled her thoughts again and gathered them so she could address the areas that she thought were the most important and concerning.

“Were you happy with how the negotiations finished and the deal that was finally made? You needed to understand what that Mary actually wanted, that the others were just here to be exploited for personal gain, just as much as that Davis fella was only interested in his own personal gain as a politician trying to get good press, you played their game, instead of making them play yours, find their weaknesses, force them to work under your own terms by using those weaknesses, understanding what they both want in reality strengthens your position, all that was accomplished today was those two gaining something, I have reason to believe the green fellow and the other two fine gentlemen will not give us any more trouble, but it's only a matter of time before those two hippie girls stir the pot and we are rushing to clean up that mess” Giving a shrug of her old shoulders as tried to explain her reasoning and the approach she felt was needed for a situation like this. She felt that trouble was only postponed for a period of time, rather than prevented completely.

She had taken care to ensure that Maxwell had gained something of value during the ordeal. Something that Sokaiya hoped would make a far bigger difference at the end of the day compared to the negotiation between Mary and Davis which only had two winners. Half the battle was having knowledge, if Maxwell followed through with delivering her gift to Vanhorn and she used it wisely, played the right cards at the right time, it would shake things up. So it wasn’t a total loss on the day, even if Sokaiya had to stretch the boundaries to make it happen.

Ashley’s eye began to twitch. “Okay, first of all, if you, an esper with fire-based abilities aren’t able to free yourself from a sphere of water, then you probably have no business joining G.E.M.I.N.I., or even being an esper in the first place,” the Knight of Tomorrow told the old woman. “Secondly, I apologize for not being able to read minds, but since you’re apparently capable of doing so, how would you have resolved the situation?” the high-tech heroine inquired, placing her hands on her hips as she glared down at the elderly esper. “Because unless I missed something, you haven't actually provided a single alternative. And thirdly, yes, I am happy with how the negotiations turned out, because nobody died, and both sides came away satisfied with the outcome. Again, I understand what Mary was personally after now, but like I said, I can't read minds, so I had no way of knowing she was using the protest for selfish ends. Though, if you knew, then maybe you could have filled me in before I started negotiating with them?” She took another deep breath. “I don't know what your game is, but mine is keeping the city safe and resolving crises with the least amount of bloodshed. If you have a better way of making that happen then please stop being so cryptic and tell me what it is.”

Chuckling as she gave a curt nod of her head “Oh yes, so satisfied that two of them wanted to drown me, but if you want me to ensure that sort of thing doesn’t happen again, then the next time I won’t be quite so patient or nice if you wanted me to just blow them away and leave a mess all over the place which that Davis fella likely wouldn’t have appreciated” Shrugging her shoulders as she shook her head with a small sigh before bringing her attention back too Ashley.

“You don’t need to read minds, you young whippersnappers these days lack the patience and the creativity, maybe that tight outfit of yours is restricting your blood circulation or sumthing, all fired up and irritated for nothing, none of you yungins can handle any kind of constructive criticism anymore I s’pose, you didn’t have to read any minds to understand that a politician with a history like that Davis fella is only after one thing and that is good publicity regardless of the means to protect his base of support, I don’t need to be a mind reader to tell you any of that deary…you needed to use that to put him off balance,. Make him uncomfortable, appeal to his desires to keep himself as squeaky clean as possible, anything that could potentially cost him future support politically” pausing for a brief moment as she gestured with her cane as her thoughts came to her old mind.

“as for that Mary, and that mastermind that follows that youngin around, first thing that they asked was about another yungin that you both know, followed by them telling you to make it right and asking what you could for for them, they were greedy right from the start, it was about what you could give, just read between the lines, see that Mary wanted to use you as a tool to get something they wanted, it wasn’t about helping out for the greater good for them, the others that came here all desired doing things differently, quite a disjointed group, you needed to spend more time talking with the whole, get a better consensus, try to reign them in, find a compromise amongst that group, have a solid plan, one that would please a PR hungry politician, while also giving the group a more satisfying conclusion, one that those two hippie girls could accept, they hungered for a revolt, a coup, and I doubt they have been pacified for good”

Chuckling again as she was amused by her response as she gave her a smile “Game? My deary, I don’t play games anymore, I’m much too old, what I want is very simple, I’ve lived a long and hard life in this world and system that is a never ending cycle of death, destruction and chaos, all this old woman wishes for is for that cycle to come to an end and a new system put into place that shapes the world into one that isn’t divided into factions that are spinning their wheels endlessly going nowhere, isn’t that such a bad thing?” turning her gaze up above as she let out a small sigh having finished up what she had to say.

“That’s what I want as well,” Ashley replied, her rising exasperation clear in her voice. “And that’s what I’ve been doing my best to attain. I don’t mind getting advice on how to improve as an agent,” she continued. “But it’s not constructive criticism if you don’t actually provide any viable alternatives. Look,” the Knight of Tomorrow added in a tone of tired finality. “I think this discussion has gone on for long enough, you’re dismissed for now. Someone will contact you later to go over your full performance evaluation.”

“Very well, I have some business and errands to tend to, you take care of yourself now and make sure you are taking your vitamins and eating your vegetables…”Sokaiya hobbled away as she took her leave. “Dang whippersnappers these days…don’t know how to treat or speak to their elders anymore…but at least she was fun and entertaining for this old soul…”muttering to herself before letting out a small chuckle at the end, feeling quite pleased with herself.

Once the pair had parted ways, Ashley made a call to Dr. Moller. “Director? This is Agent Orion. I’ve just successfully concluded my assignment with Tempest. Although I will be making a full report when I get back to HQ, I just wanted to inform you that, despite her having exhibited several signs of senility, I believe that our current personnel shortage necessitates the recruitment of less-than-ideal candidates. Therefore, it is my admittedly reluctant decision to approve Tempest for provisional G.E.M.I.N.I. agent status.”

“Senility? In an esper?” Ashley could practically feel Fritzi squinting her eyes on the other side of the coms. “If you don’t think she’s a liability, we can make use of her, yes. I’ll be looking over that report later. Good job, agent Orion.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ashley replied.

I just hope I’m not making a mistake…

Patrol, patrol, patrol…

While Ashley wason another operation, Mika was on patrol. They had a new recruit and Ashley was using the experience to verify them as a potential addition to Gemini’s forces. Meanwhile, Mika was to tend to other duties. It all sounded a little reckless toi her. Things would get ugly if any harm came to the mayor. It made more sense to send two proven espers on the operation instead of a potential liability. Fritzi was always a little weird, but she couldn’t help but feel this was largely Ashley’s idea. It wouldn’t have surprised Mika if this was a simple oversight on Ashley’s part, but she was sure this was her way of showing Mika she didn’t need her.

Then, while on a sidewalk, Mika stopped to think.

"Huh."

There wasn’t anyone left that Mika liked. She respected Fritzi, but it was hard to say she really liked her. Anyone that she did start to like either died or turned out to be a horrible person. The only exceptions were Sam and Jacqueline, but they made the wise decision of transferring out before they were killed. Maybe they were dead and Mika didn’t know it yet. Thinking about other people was so exhausting. And what was the point if they were all going to vanish anyway?

"I guess it’s okay to think about them though."

Was it though? There wasn’t really any point. She started walking again, looking between all the buildings as she passed.

Mika had to focus on more immediate problems. Like Ashley. She couldn’t get rid of her, so if they had a problem, it was best to address it. That was something her mother used to say: face your problems directly and get over them. Trying to avoid them just put more work on your future self. Mika wasn’t sure how much of a future she had, but if she planned on fighting monsters for a long time, she should at least address the leader of her crumbling squad.

"She’s got nice legs too."

Did she though? Mika never thought about Ashley that way. While she was okay with the idea of having two mommies, she used to feel it would be ideal to have a daddy help her look after their child. That was when she wasn’t an esper and wanted a big strong man that could protect her. Now it was hardly worth worrying about such things. She wasn’t going to live long enough to have her own kids, and romantic pursuits felt pointless when one of them was just going to die in the end.

"That’s what makes poligamy great! Even if half of my harem dies, I’ve still got backups!"

What the…

Mika placed a hand on her head. That voice that was speaking, that hadn’t been her! Of course it was obvious, but she was just distracted enough to assume it had been coming from her own head. She grit her teeth and turned around to see-



Oros was doing her best to stay out of sight, but it was hard to ignore the giant pink ponytail peaking over the top of some parked cars. Mika sighed. It was difficult to feel threatened by Oros given what she knew about her. She had played nice with Gemini in the past, with the exception to that time she attacked Finn. If anything, that was a plus in her book. Though she was ready to call for backup just in case. "Why are you here?"

Oros hopped out from behind the cars and landed on the sidewalk. "Why are you here?"

"I’m on patrol." Mika groaned. "Why didn't you walk up to me last time? Why make it so hard to get to you?"

"You’re talking about the little outing I had you and the Arknights wannabe go on?" When Mika didn’t answer, Oros’s grin got bigger. "Yea, I figured it was that. Welp, that’s because yours truly is wanted by most of the city. I can’t just show up in some place and expect to not get attacked. The Fritz tolerates my presence, but that’s just because I’m not the biggest threat right now. I gave you guys intel about the diver, so she probably thinks she can use me." She rolled her arms. "Additionally, that side quest only turned into a cluster fuck because ol’ goldy glocks there went against my wishes. Of course if you talk to her, it was actually a good thing your ally got killed. What were her exact words? ‘One less GEMINI agent to worry about’ I think?"

Mika was clenching her teeth, but she didn’t show it. She allowed her jaw to relax before speaking. "Are you trying to annoy me?"

"If I was, I’d say I was succeeding at annoying you. But no. I just think it’s funny that the second edgiest teenager in Pax Septimus decided to start wearing her former partner’s clothes. I had no idea you were so sentimental, or foolish." Mika’s brow twitched, but Oros continued. "Anyway, I also have a lot more muscle this time around. I don’t have to worry about the Hand so much. I can’t chat with you forever, but meeting with you on my terms is possible now so long as I don’t dawdle."

"How about you get to the point?" Mika folded her arms.

"On that shit like I was a fly!" Oros saluted. "So, have you ever read any HP Lovecraft? You don’t really seem like the bookish type."

"Look into your sword and find out."

"Contrary to popular belief, I don’t need my sword to tell me the obvious." She snickered before resting her hand on her scabbard. "But if you did read, you’d know that a common element in his stories is forbidden knowledge. Truths that, when known, shape one’s perception of the world to such a degree that they are considered mad by everyone else." She pressed the tips of her fingers together. ”Mika, I am here to reveal such a truth. I’ll let you ask me anything you like, but in return I’ll make you mad. So choose wisely."

"Just say what you want to say."

"I’m sorry, but I’m incredibly vain, and it would mean a lot more to me if you seemed interested before I spill my guts."

Mika rolled her eyes. Why did everyone run their mouths so much? "Why are you doing this?"

"This?"

"Why are you fighting the Hand?"

"Because they look stupid." Mika rolled her eyes again, but this time she turned her back on Oros and started to walk back towards HQ. The pink haired esper threw up her arms. "Okay! Fine!" Oros ran in front of the girl. "That was just really on the nose. But sure, I can talk about myself for a bit."

"Then do it already."

Oros cleared her throat. "So, I’m not really from around here. Like, my zip code isn’t even in this dimension." She placed a hand on her hip and turned to look up at the sky. "Beyond the Elemental Chaos there are other worlds like this one, a lot more. There’s hardly a difference between some of them, and others are quite different. I was from one of the different ones."

"How was it not like ours?"

"It would be easier to list off what was the same. There was an abundance of magic everywhere, and how people tapped into it was different. You didn’t even need a grimoire because the magic was so thick."

"So much mana must have made a lot of monsters want to visit."

”Like you wouldn’t believe! But the monsters weren’t the worst part." Oros grinned like a shark. "The worst part was the psycho fucks that wanted to rule over all that. Like, I want you to take all the factions in Pax Septimus right now. Quadruple them, give them all big, scary overseers for no reason whatsoever, and then square them all off against each other. Pax Septimus might be a shit hole, but at least it’s contained to the city. In my old home, there was a cataclysmic event every week, and, well, one week things went a bit too far."

"What happened?"

"Shit hit the fan, and girl? It was nasty. Like someone had an anal detonation and sent their half solid, half diareea-thing into it. That shit ain’t coming out with scrubbing alone." Oros closed her eyes and shook her head. "Human civilization ended in a week. Some rival faction injected her with enough magic to turn her into a mindless monster. She destroyed our town, ruined the country, and just kind of rampaged around until there was nothing left to destroy. I say she was mindless, but I saw her three times after that. She saw me too, but she never did anything about it. Even after turning into that, she still wouldn’t hurt me. What few survivors were left finally killed her, but it was too late. The world was ruined, and it was never going back to what it once was. Not to mention all the monsters turned the place into a total hellscape. Humanity’s days were numbered."

Mika leaned against a wall and kept her arms folded. Her eyes wandered from her feet back to Oros. "Then you came here?"

"Wha? No! Hell no!" She laughed. "My mom turned into a demon and ended the world. That’s kind of a shitty ending to our story, so I wanted a re-do. Fortunately, that magic dense environment made it possible to visit other worlds. Turns out there’s a lot of neighboring worlds that aren’t too different from mine! So I decided to check them out. As you can imagine, worlds that are very similar to one that just imploded on themselves aren’t exactly stable. And no matter how many I visited, how much I prepared, whatever sort of events I tried to alter, the world was fucked. Even if my mom didn’t end the world, it would be some other faction, or a horror, or fucking Penny. Speaking of fucking, I did at one point decide to treat each newly discovered iteration of my home world as a date simulator and just tried to romance all of my old friends…" Mika reached a hand up to her mouth to stifle a yawn. Oros rolled her eyes. "...Point is, I was getting bored of reliving the same life over and over again. So I set out to find something different, nay, make something different. And that’s how I wound up here."

"So your home world was destroyed, you found a lot of places that were just like it with the same people, but all of them got destroyed too. Then you got bored and came here?"

"Pretty much!"

"You could have saved me a lot of time if you just said that."

Oros laughed. "Ouch, kid!"

It was clear that Oros wanted her to ask another question. Mika had decided she didn’t like this person very much, but she had to admit that too much had happened between them to not still be curious. "Why the interest in me?"

"There’s a few reasons, but the main one is that we’re the same person from different dimensions."

Mika raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh now you want the long version..." The mad esper put her hands on her hips. "Even in non-parallel universes, there’s more or less a copy of everyone. So you’re me."

"Do you have proof?"

"Well, I did, but I forgot to bring my birth certificate with me. I left it a few realities back and it’s probably long gone by now." She made the stupidest face she could manage and shrugged. "But you can look at other things. Like, did you notice how similar our esper forms are?"

Mika looked at the pink haired, katana wielding, Japanese cultist, and then looked at her own short haired, teal dancing outfit. While making eye contact with Oros, she reached up and grabbed one of her cat ears. "No?"

"Look beyond the superficial, Mika! A generic patron might not be able to look past simple aesthetics, but look at all the other stuff!" Oros flailed her arms in the air. "Our esper forms have pretty strange similarities! My sword can rend magic, and so can your claws. We both have ways of escaping harm. We both have magic that’s tied to animals. We can even divine information, and now, your ability to divine things is about as good as mine. Hell, in some ways it’s downright superior! And then there’s the color of our voices! Don’t we have a distinctly ‘tomato’ sounding voice?"

Mika groaned. For a mad esper, Oros did make a few good points. But even assuming it was true, it was a little underwhelming. Yes, Oros probably did come from another world. There are records that show that she can enter the elemental chaos, and is the only person to have done so. The only exception to that being Sharr Webber, who claimed to have been taken to a place or two by her. It really wasn’t that surprising that this wasn’t her home world. Mika found it even harder to care much about those worlds too. There were plenty of people to grieve for in Pax, let alone the rest of America, or even the world. Knowing there were other dimensions winking out of existence that she’d never see had no effect on her. Mika and Oros being the same people from different realities was a possibility, but not one she was ready to accept. Mika had never spent much time thinking about other realities, as it didn’t excite her. There might be a version of her that was famous, powerful, or even happy, but none of those people were her so it didn’t matter. She had more in common with Ashley than this supposed other version of herself. Out of the hundreds of words the mad esper had vomited up, only one sentence of it interested Mika. "My way of learning what’s going on is better than yours?"

"It wasn’t, but now that you’ve gotten stronger it is!" Oros grinned, clearly pleased that she had caught a sliver of Mika’s interest. "Have you tried using it recently?"

"No?" She lifted up her hand and looked into it. "But… It does feel different." It was a little concerning that Oros knew more about her developing powers than she did. Was that because of the power of Endless Eclipse? And Mika’s power could rival it?

"Why don’t you give it a test drive?" Oros tapped her foot. "Oh yea! How about you see who killed your mom?"

"Tch!" Mika swung her arm through the air. "I already know who killed my mom! It was-" She breathed deeply. "It was that ghost! A-and sam killed it…"

"Oh, I think we both know that’s not what I meant." Oros drew her sword. Not to fight, but to look into her blade’s sheen. "What makes dragon mommy’s death a tragedy is that it was preventable. We expect monsters to hurt those closest to us. No, Kid Icarus was acting like a brat. Dragon mommy died and then ‘Red Rebecca’ gave that fine legged bitch a promotion. The injustice of it all!" Oros stomped on the ground hard enough to send cracks running through the concrete. "I think you should look back and really analyze how she screwed up! Then next time you see her you can get in her face and be like ‘yea! You fucked up! I can prove it!’ or some shit." Oros tipped her head. "...But maybe you’re scared you might be wrong? You can keep being a pussy like a certain other little bitch."

Mika hissed through her teeth. "I’m not scared!" And then she focused on her hand. Faint images of the past started to manifest before her eyes. They were faint at first, but gradually, the image became more vibrant. Before long, it was like she had wandered back in time to that day. Or rather, she had returned as some omnipotent being. She had a bird’s eye view of the Holy Diver’s landing place. She had perfect clarity. Smoke, rain, and thunder did nothing to inhibit her view of the fight. The present bled into the background as the past reenacted itself.

Su had positioned herself between her squad and Justin. Ashley, Sam, and Jacqueline did battle with a brainwashed Pac-A-Fist and a cluster of cars floating in the air. The cars were being held in place by a ghost. What was his name, Gunther? Even Marrie was present. She was trying to stab Justin, But he had gotten his hands on her and had just flung her towards Ashley.

And there were frogs filled with acidic puss everywhere, among other things.

Nearby, Finn and a brainwashed Betty were fighting. Or it was more accurate to say Finn was demonstrating his ability to run away from his problems, and Betty was a demonstration of how futile such a thing was. In an attempt to show her down, he detonated a melody to fry a bunch of incoming frogs as well as his pursuer. It works, of a fashion, but Mika noticed something that she hadn’t noticed that day.

It was an afterthought, but Finn got a glimpse of souls that had appeared once Finn slew the frogs. They sunk into the roof as soon as they appeared.

That’s right, Gunther’s powers had been explained to Mika at a later date. Even at the time of this attack, it was known that Gunther could command the souls of dead things, and with the death of those frogs, he had given him ample power to-

Justin gazed at Su. Something that would cause any esper to freeze in place. Then the souls under the roof took hold of a safe and broke through the roof right under Su’s feet. Souls that Gunther wouldn’t have had if Finn had any desire to do anything but escape. And then once she was up in the air… That was something she had no desire to relive. Mika clenched her fist, and it all disappeared.

But this was not a voluntary action. Her emotions were getting the best of her again. Her teeth were clenched, and no amount of waiting was going to let this anger pass. She’d cry if she had any tears left. But she couldn’t, so she stood there, her lips and arms trembled as she processed what she had just witnessed.

"Yyyyyyyup." Oros sheathed her blade before sliding her thumbs into her waistband. "Kid Icarus might not have made all the right moves, but if someone on your side needs to take the blame for dragon mommy’s death, well, are you even surprised the ‘obedient little killer’ is the one to blame?" There was no answer, but Oros wasn’t expecting one. "Can you imagine how much worse this would have been if you actually liked Penny Jr before this started? Whoaboy! But I guess random visits from tasty interdimensional dogs, hallucinating entire additions to his harem, and trying to make it all mesh with reality took precedence over getting to know people who cared about him. That’s what sucks about kids, they’re all so tied up in their own bullshit and they’re too vain to realize nobody fucking cares!" She looked over to Mika, who was still staring at her clenched fist. "Yea, I think we’re done here. You know I was upset when my mom died too. But I was able to get over it when I realized that there’s a lot of universes where she’s still alive. I mean, they’re as different as you and I, but I still found it comforting." Mika continued to be unresponsive. Oros merely groaned before walking the other way.

Mika gradually came out of her trance. "This changes nothing." She said just loud enough for herself to hear. As she prepared to finish her patrol, she stumbled over a paper bag filled with the remains of some week-old takeout. With a grunt, she picked up the bag and flung it at a garbage can. It landed inside, but it hit with enough force that the entire thing tipped over, spilling more garbage on the ground. The feline esper closed her eyes and carefully approached the garbage can. She set it upright and started to pick up the mess she had made. Finally, she had gotten to the bag that she had initially tried to pitch in at a distance. But when she picked up the bag, the bottom opened up and spilled takeout refuse all over her feet. Without a word, she drove her foot into the side of the garbage can, caving it in and causing it to fall onto its side. She then proceeded to stomp on it, denting it more and more as it barfed out trash with every stomp. Once Mika had stomped it flat, she gave herself a moment to catch her breath. She dropped the open bag of takeout and allowed the wind to carry it down the street.

But she could feel someone’s presence nearby. They leaned in close and whispered into her ear.

"I told you I’d make you mad."

"Doth thou need to go someplace?" Boteg asked, but Marrie didn’t hear it.

"She died keeping Crazy Train alive."

These too-loud words were what rang through her mind as she lost the strength in her legs and fell forwards to lay prone on the dragon’s back. Someone did die…

With the last of her energy, Marrie pushed herself into a sitting position on Boteg’s lower back and let out a scream so loud and raw that her throat could barely handle it. Boteg drew his head back and placed his talons over his ears. When she finally ran out of breath, she was certain that if she had a higher lung capacity that she’d be feeling blood run down her inner neck. Even after everything that happened, she had failed to prevent someone from dying, and had once again failed to prevent someone from being kidnapped. She had no idea who that tiger was who had grabbed Regina, maybe he was friendly? If he was, wouldn’t he have let go before-

Her eyes fell downwards to her legs, and the now-dried blood that covered them down until it reached her Leitmotif’s trait of invisibility. Can’t I save anyone? As she all but felt the light go out from her eyes, she subconsciously began wrapping her Instrument’s chain around her left wrist. It wasn’t until she felt something warm come from her arm that she noticed what she was doing and stopped pulling it tighter. At least she was still in her esper form and wouldn’t have to explain it away if she wore short sleeves.

The dragon slowly removed his claws from his head and looked back towards Marrie. "Me thinks that tis most difficult to measure thy effort against a conclusion. Thy quest was difficult, and with many scares running to and fro, slinging scary sparklers and luminescent lances from the backs of the rocket rumblers. All be that thou feels responsible for thine quest, maybe thou doth overestimate thou’s ability to affect such things on their own, perchance?"

The blue-haired girl drew a deep, shaky breath and paused for a moment. After a few seconds she exhaled, shuddering. The pain was starting to really show itself from her arm, and Boteg was speaking sense. ”... Then I just have to get stronger, huh?” she asked, throwing a toothy smile at the dragon. A few seconds later, she asked him a question she’d been wondering for a long time. ”Sorry if I’m making an incorrect assumption, but I have to think dragons fall under the same category as ‘monsters,’ so… From your perspective, what are humans, anyway?”

"Me thinks monster is little one’s term for visitors. If so, thou art correct, me is ‘monster.’" After that, the dragon tipped back his head in thought. "Humans be natives to this space. Some are scares, some are not. Thou art a scare but a friendly one. Methinks there’s no need to sort them further.’"

Marrie nodded. ”I’ve been wondering if there was some sort of analogous creature where you’re from.” She took another deep breath and exhaled. ”Is there somewhere you need to be? It’s nice talking with you, but I don’t want to distract you if you have to be doing something.”

"No place me need to be, Mist scare. Me friends on their crackle tires rolling about the gravel in sight." He chuckled, then his face became grave. "Me home is empty so long as they are here. Once the road scares and ‘monsters’ return, perchance me will return with them."

As she slowly climbed off of the dragon’s back, she made a mental note. ”Yeah. ‘Monster’ really doesn’t seem like a good word, never really did but I didn’t know enough to think of an alternative. ‘Visitors’ sounds much better.” She looked around at the bikers. ”I hope nobody got hurt here on the ground while all that was happening.” Her eyes widened as she remembered something. ”Hey, uh… Trixy, right? She said someone died to protect Crazy. Did you see that? What happened?”

"Me saw a flash, and it scared me!" The dragon trembled. "Scares using that much power had me most unsettled. A mighty spell hadith been cast!"

Someone there was so dangerous that they used a Melody that could scare a dragon?

As the two chatted, a lone figure approached. Conveniently Asher had been close enough to see the massive golden dragon as it had alighted atop the rooftop, hard to miss something that size really. Momentarily he debated just going on his way, he didn’t really owe anyone shit. But at the same time he wanted to tell someone about the stuff he’d just found out. And clearly some big moves were being made based on how things had panned out. Begrudgingly Asher decided the best course of action was to share, and since he didn’t like the government then that meant he had to go to Maverick.

As he came to a stop in the street below he craned his neck upwards to gaze towards the roof, he really didn’t feel like transforming just to get up there, perhaps he could get their attention another way.

Pinching his fingers together and sticking them between his lips Asher whistled a sharp note that should have easily carried to the rooftop above. “YO! Hey you! Y’all are Mavs right?”

The sudden voice was likely unexpected, something that Boteg confirmed when he whipped around to look in its direction. There was no way either of the two would know who it belonged to. In fact to them they’d likely assume it belonged to a passerby who was much too curious for their own good.

Standing down in the middle of the street looking straight up towards Boteg and Marrie was the source of the voice, a grungy punk rockish looking dude with a messy mohawk and a permanent pissy look on his face. Asher’s natural beauty wasn’t something many had been given a chance to gaze on yet and thus the two likely would not recognize him right off. But Asher had recognized one of two present.

As much as the nuns had seemed shocked by his choice to detransform so close to the op Asher himself wasn’t too concerned, as he didn’t make it a habit of betraying teammates and double timing both sides of an engagement. In fact he was still mostly trying to find his way in Pax Septimus, a task he’d struggled with thus far and still wasn’t entirely sure on. And yet here he found himself approaching a dragon and an esper, one whom he vaguely recognized from his first operation in Pax.

“So…y’all are Mavs right? I couldn’t think you’d be anything else but I’m not really the most knowledgeable fellow about all this faction war nonsense so…yeah. Mavs?” He asked nonchalantly.

Boteg’s eyes shifted to Marrie, and he silently pleaded for her to say something.

”Friendlies. To them, and -” Marrie patted Boteg in what she hoped was a reassuring manner, not wanting the dragon to be uncomfortable. The corners of his lips spread into a smile. ”As far as I can tell, pretty much everyone.” The blue-haired esper slowly slid down to be standing on the same roof the dragon was, trying not to accidentally seem hostile. Once she was safely off the visitor’s back, she went to lean over the ledge and look at the man who had asked the question.

Marrie didn’t recognize the guy, but if he thought she was a Maverick, then he was probably an esper. With any luck, he wasn’t hostile either. Still, she didn’t want to cause him any alarm, or cause him to attack. (Especially with her at no mana) So as an olive branch, she stood on the edge of the roof so he could see her completely.

”Don’t freak out about the blood, okay?” She waved her left arm, wincing as she did, and then gestured towards the tops of her legs. ”The arm is from me, and the legs… I don’t really want to talk about. But they weren’t from a fight. Wanted to make you aware of them, instead of surprising you and making you worried.” She looked back to Boteg, then back to the man. ”The beautiful gold dragon is too nice to try to start a fight, so as long as you’re cool, you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Asher raised an eyebrow in response. Clearly they were on edge, which he supposed was warranted given the events of the day. Then again if Asher had a dragon at his back there was no way he was going to be acting like he was afraid of a fight, but everyone was different. Asher wasn’t sure of a whole lot about the blue esper from before but what little tidbits he’d gathered paired with their current actions gave him an inkling of a suspicion that they were likely a bit of a youngin.

“Relax, kid. I’m not here for a fight, besides I’m more of a punch first chat second type anyways so if I were then we’d already be dancing. You can quit the posturing, you’ve nothing to worry about from me. Besides, we worked together, once. You’d probably recognize me in my other form but I’m feeling a little burnt out at the moment. Anyways, I’m here to talk, specifically to some Mavericks if possible, suppose you might be able to assist me with that?” He asked, although his tone was more demanding than requesting.

The dragon laid down, cradling its body around Marrie. Boteg’s tail draped off the side of the building, but his head was attentive. He looked like a dog that had been told to lay down, but was only being as obedient as they needed to be. "Methinks they are making rounds on their…" The dragon hesitated as he tried to think of the words. He had a hard time remembering names and was liable to come up with different names for the same thing. "Diabolical rubber spinners. They hath decided that such round trips are most necessary. But methinks they shal be back before nightfall." The dragon then leaned in towards Marrie and, in as hushed a tone as a dragon could manage, whispered. "Doth this visitor kiss thine mother with those lips?"

Not completely sure what Boteg meant by that, Marrie gave the dragon a smile, which didn’t fade as she turned to the man on the street, or as she whispered back. ”I’m not sure guys with that look still kiss their moms?”

She thought back for a moment without losing the grin. Assuming the guy didn’t become a girl in esper form… If they’d worked together before, the number of possible matches was low. He likely wasn’t Elroy, shit what even happened to Elroy? If Regina was taken, was he taken too? Her smile disappeared and she shook her head to dislodge the thought. Focus on what you can do. She’d have to find out his status later.

And if not Elroy, that left… Technically the young boy had worked with her before, but that was another that was a low chance, considering this guy just called her a kid. Otherwise, the only other males she’d worked with that she could remember were the two at the church. Given the guy’s mundane form’s aesthetics, and personality… That left the gun guy, right? Alongside that thought was the memory of that event, and she once more shook her head.

”Sorry, didn’t mean to be acting tough, just wanted to get off on the right foot. Too many people in this city are ‘punch first’ types, but at least you’re level-headed now, so thanks.” Forcing another smile, she looked around. ”I think you’ll be able to meet them, but can I ask why you want to?” Despite her usually forgetting the fact, Maverick Alternative was a terrorist group. And while this guy looked like he stepped right out of their hideout with his style, it wouldn’t do anyone any good if he met them just to fight.

Just as Asher was preparing to respond he was cut off by the clopping of hoofs signaling a new arrival, and a familiar face at that, fantastic. It was clear they were here for the rooftop esper though given their initial lack of noticing him standing there.

"So I know there are people out there stealing dogs and shit when you aren't paying attention, but a dragon? Now that's new."

Ciri's tone was all amusement, lacking its usual hostility. Blue wouldn't actually steal Boteg, even if she somehow had the means. She finally believed that now.

Somewhere between pondering why the girl had to try and save everyone and actually catching up to her, Ciri had, after all, finally connected the dots.

"You're Marrie, right? The one Tetrad has a huge-ass crush on? You never gave your name, and I don't usually care enough to snoop through people's files. But you fit her description, so."

Ciri slid off her horse-shaped shadow mount, still in her esper form, still covered in burns and blood. Her neck was craned up to address Blue atop the roof - but as she lowered her gaze, she quickly realised she was interrupting something.

"... oh. What's this? You gonna serenade her?" She grinned at the guy in the punk getup, one hand on her hip. Another esper? Or just a ballsy normie?

Asher frowned and suppressed a deep sigh, a clever retort coming to mind that he chose to keep to himself instead, it was time to be somewhat serious. “You again, eh? Nah, actually I’m here to try and meet up with your people. Figured the dragon and the girl would have some clues as to how I could make that happen, but now you’re here so I suppose that works too.” Asher said with a shrug.

... Again? Ciri narrowed her eyes. Did she know this guy from somewhere? She was pretty sure she'd remember. He knew she was part of Maverick too, by the looks of it, so... either he was someone she'd worked with, or fucked over. Potentially both.

It was likely neither of them knew who he was and Asher didn’t really feel a rush to quell the ambiguity of the situation, sometimes a man enjoyed a little mysteriousness. Seemed to be something many in this city didn’t take for granted.

Ciri crossed her arms, one brow quirked. "So I am. So, what's up? You looking for a job or an application form t- hey!"

Turning back towards the rooftop to address the other esper, “And to answer your question, I guess I have some information? Maybe some questions too. You know I’m not really entirely sure why myself but I don’t really have any other plans or whatever, so I figure fuck it.” he said with a shrug.

Wow.

Before she could finish, the dude had turned to address Blu-- Marrie instead. Talk about rude. With a huff, Ciri butted in, figuring whatever they'd been talking about was relevant to her as well. "Actually useful Information can get you pretty far, so, if you got some to offer, I might be able to get you something in return. Sure."

People could steal dragons? "Oh, yeah I'm... huh?" Marrie's thoughts faltered for a moment before her synapses began firing again. Someone had a crush on her? Specifically, Tetrad had a crush on her? The one who was both a Maverick and had seen Marrie's poor performance in her first mission in Pax, the first serious mission she'd ever been on? She didn't know how to respond. The closest thing to romantic involvement she'd ever had was in Pax... her first, last, and only date ever, if it even qualified as one. Plus, with that Stacy had come along, and- ... and a GEMINI agent was there, and the one who had asked Marrie along was the supposed most dangerous esper in Pax. She quickly decided not to mention any of that, but the train of thought was enough to distract her from what the shadow-master girl had said.

"This guy's looking to meet up with-" Oh, he beat her to saying it while she was in her own head, it seemed. As she finally looked towards Ciri, her eyes widened as she saw how damaged she was. In all the fighting, she'd forgotten that the Maverick girl had been lit completely ablaze. Sure, it was her esper form so she'd survive, but it still had to hurt. Marrie tapped her fingers against her side nervously, trying to look within herself to check if she could heal her. But there wasn't any mana left for her to try with.

Hearing a voice, Ciri glanced back up at the roof, where Marrie seemed to be pretty lost in thought. And nervous, for some reason. "Relax, Blue. There's no one in need of saving around right now."

“Well, usefulness is determined by you and yours I suppose, but if you think your boss might be interested in knowing who crashed our party then I suppose it will be useful. Although I’m not too sure on where we all stand on this issue. I don’t know, I was supposed to help kill one of those trains but then things started getting overly complicated and the guy that hired me got blown up. Lotta wild shit started going down. And I don’t even know where I really fit in with it all and…” slowly Asher stopped, his own eyebrow raising in response to his behavior. This faction war shit sure had him confused.

"You mean those fucking nuns and the redhead duo?!" Damn right she wanted to know what the hell they'd wanted, and who'd paid them to care. "... Wait, you were paid to work with them? Didn't see you up there." She snorted. "Guess that's lucky for you, huh?"

Ciri wasn't sure whether the guy had changed his mind out of compassion for the train or just straight up failed his mission, but the guy seemed like he'd be pretty receptive to a recruitment speech right about now. One she was forbidden from delivering; only monster recruiting for her. Something about her being 'bad with people.'

"Sec, I'll ring the boss." She did, mentally, aware he was somewhere nearby anyhow.

Ciri’s words seemed to have an effect on Marrie. She visibly let out a breath; if Ciri was saying that nobody needed help, that meant she thought she’d be okay. Her attention turned back to the boy on the street as she connected the dots. ”You saw what happened to Raphael? Was that the…” she glanced at Boteg. ”The ‘mighty spell’ that took someone out? Who else got caught in it?”

Boteg hummed in thought, and the entire building trembled. "Me thinks me saw the holy scare and a nun scare fall from the smoke roller’s back. But flirting scare, me hasn’t seen her anywhere…"

Seeing Marrie visibly relax, Ciri grinned - then fell right back into thought, as the rooftop duo continued their conversation. …. Flirting scare? Oh, yeah, come to think of it, where was Goldie? She furrowed her brows at what was being suggested. "Ain't no way she was that powerful. At least not without–"

Consequences? Sacrifices?

Marrie’s eyes widened. Did that mean…? After a moment, she shook herself out of her own head, deciding to not make guesses until she learned the facts.. ”I can’t really speak for Maverick, but since the Trains got away safely, I don’t know why they’d be mad at a Freelancer for having taken someone else’s job instead of theirs.”

"... Damn. Talk about conviction; that's some mad dedication to the job." She looked back up. "Speaking of, yours ain't done, Blue. You were all over the place trying to save everyone, so I'm pretty sure you've got a nice report to give on whatever - and whoever - you know. Confidentially."

It wasn’t long before the convoy of bikes and cars rolled into view. The rain had lifted, but the sky was still overcast enough to warrant leaving the headlights on. Rows and rows of glowing yellow lights closed in on their position before coming to a stop. Ciri nodded in greeting.

Billy stepped over the top of his door, the rest got off of their motorcycles. But just because Billy was the first to dismount didn’t mean he would be the first to approach the group. Someone was driving so fast that when they hit the breaks, their head flew off of their shoulders and rolled to Asher’s feet. It was the head of a woman, young in age, yet her skin was sickly and green. She blinked her big doe eyes at Asher before smiling as brightly as she could.

”Hey buddy!” The bodiless head said, somehow. ”You kind of look like my brother! Well, last time I saw him anyway.” She giggled.

A familiar monster wrangler dressed up as a circus performer ran onto the scene. Without flinching, she picked up the head and looked over her head at the others. ”Hey Marrie! We’re gunna have pizza when we get back if you want to join us.” But when Luna turned to look at Asher, she nearly dropped Stacy’s head. ”Oh! I didn’t see you there.”

”It’s my brother from another mother!” The head gestured towards Luna with her eyebrows. ”This is Tetrad, she’s my sister from another mister.”

At first Asher’s brow was furrowed in confusion, given a head had just rolled to a stop by his feet. That confusion only deepened momentarily as another familiar face ran up to retrieve the head. Instinctively Asher took a couple casual steps back, maintaining his personal space buffer mostly. His eyebrow raised quizzically as the head referred to him as it’s brother from another mother, but for the most part he simply shrugged off the strange occurrence as esper antics and folded his arms over as he eyed the girl who’d retrieved the head. “Hello, again.”

Ciri felt vindictive glee as Stacy and Tetrad - more or less literally - rolled up to greet the punk dude. Finally, someone else's turn to be on the receiving end of their exhausting shenanigans. She crossed her arms and watched them converse, until what the guy said caught her attention. Hello-- again?! Had he met Tetrad too? Wait... the getup, the attitude, the fact he'd met both her and-- could he...?

It was starting to get a little crowded around here, and Asher didn’t care about a crowd, on the contrary he loved one, but one wouldn’t consider him in a partying mood currently. With a sigh of barely hidden impatience Asher looked at no one in particular, “Who can I talk to that actually knows something about what’s going on in this city?” He asked, a mild look of annoyance forming upon his face.

Still deep in thought, Ciri jabbed a distracted thumb to point back at Billy, who was difficult to miss, even with the circus that had preceded his arrival. "Take a guess.”

Despite having heard Ciri and Tetrad speak, Marrie was slow to respond. She had nodded at Ciri, but when Tetrad appeared, her mind blanked. She registered what she had said, but Ciri’s earlier comment made her a bit flustered. But when Asher asked who he should speak to, she shook the thought out of her head. Focus.

”Well,” she began, speaking to Asher while waving to Stacy and Tetrad, ”I think we both have a chat with Billy coming up. You’re welcome to go first, if he’s okay with that.” She didn’t speak her reasoning, that she wanted to collect her thoughts more now that she’d been broken from her self-deprecation, but it was polite to offer regardless.

”You’re too kind, Marrie. Ain’t no way I’d let someone who talks like that step ahead O’ me.” The strangely upbeat voice of Billy Black carried across the street. Tetrad excused herself to reassemble Stacy, and the giant cadillac driver took her place. ”Now see here son, now see here. I get that ya got the short end of a stick, as plain as day the other half got tucked god knows where. But regardless of your predicament, ya always gotta respect women! Can’t just be dismissin’ ‘em because it hit the fan. A man’s gotta be in control of his emotions at all times. Which is why you can be as rude to me as you like.” Billy kneeled in front of Asher. This didn’t quite put him at Asher’s height so he hunched forward. He was still a few feet taller. ”You wanna know something? I know things. Got more things in my head than a yard has weeds, but they’re way easier to pull outa my head. Shoot your shot.”

As Billy approached Asher found himself feeling a slight bit intimidated, a feeling he wasn’t often privy to. Determined not to show it though Asher crossed his arms as he waited for the giant man, although man was a strong term here. As Billy neared and the rest of those gathered backed up a bit Asher couldn’t hide all his feelings, his eyebrows rose sharply in surprise as Billy’s actual size became more apparent up until the giant had to kneel just to get into conversational range. It was barely close enough to be considered comfortable.

In response to both his words and partially the intimidating nature of his size Asher’s hands rose in a sign of casual surrender, “Look, easy, I didn’t mean anything by it. Rough day, not that it matters. I just uh…” Asher trailed off. “Look, things have been confusing since I got here, to this city. I don’t know, I just have had a hard time understanding things around here, I’ve never really ran into so many other esper’s gathered in one place. Trying to grasp the politics of this place has been rough and ah fuck I’m not trying to give you a sob story god dammit.” Asher finished with a grunt of frustration.

Asher’s tone was agitated as he continued, rebounding from his earlier moment of vulnerability. “I’m dealing with some personal shit, but my last job got compromised by my own team and the bitch that cut my arm off was the one that hired them. I figure someone else has to have them in their sights but I sure as shit don’t feel like giving the government a call. I don’t really know a lot about you guys but these two,” Asher paused momentarily to indicate Ciri and Tetrad with a wave of his hands, “gave me the impression that maybe you guys were somewhat decent compared to the rest of the assholes in this city.” As Asher finished his rant he let out a deep sigh, rolling his shoulders in an effort to release some of the tension, “Look, I’m just trying to find a way to do some good. But lately ‘good’ has been a little bit harder to figure out, trying to make sense of this place has been…difficult. I don’t know what I’m doing here really, maybe you can make use of the information I have, maybe not.” Asher shrugged as he finished and crossed his arms as another look of annoyance graced his features, although this one was self directed.
Ciri shook her head, taking a few steps away to give her boss and the potential recruit some space. As Billy began his spiel she sighed, giving Asher a sympathetic shrug - which she hoped would dissuade him from trying to argue with the big man, if he was so inclined.
She glanced towards Marrie, using telepathy to bridge the distance. [i]"You sure you wanna deal with the Boss? I can take your report just as well. Hell, you can give it to Tetrad. I'm sure she'd love that."[i]
Unused to another person speaking in her mind, Marrie flinched and looked around for a moment before recognizing the “voice.” She gave a thumbs up toward Ciri and tried to reply in her own mind. Uh, sure. Whatever’s most convenient for you guys.

Ciri grinned, always finding the first reaction of her mental recipients amusing – except that one time, when a porcupine-esque monster had reflexively bristled and essentially rained spikes on anyone within a one hundred feet radius, her unfortunately included.

Ugh. Ciri was too preoccupied by the memory to remember to reply, basically leaving Blue on the mental equivalent of read as the latter started to make her way over.

Unsure if the other esper could hear her reply, she began towards her, smiling at Stacy and Tetrad as she approached. ”If you’ve got plenty, I won’t turn it down.” To be honest, her stomach did feel pretty empty.

It took Tetrad a moment to shift gears. ”Ah! Sorry Marrie! I was distracted.” She took one last look at Billy before walking beside her fellow esper. ”And we don’t have the Pizza here, we have to pick it up. Trixy messaged me back and said she couldn’t pick it up. But it won’t be a long wait.”

Marrie glanced toward Ciri once again. ”If I’m not just hearing voices, though, I think she wants to talk about the mission too. Save you and Billy some time.” Marrie thumbed in Ciri’s direction as she mentioned her, before continuing until she was a few feet in front of her.

”I really hope you’re a telepath.”

“A telepath?” she began, feigning ignorance with her best poker face – which doubled as her resting bitch face, and was pretty solid, all things considered. “Dunno what you’re–”

”She’s not a telepath, she’s actually haunted by spirits, and the spirits talk to you in her voice! Very spooky!”

“Gee, thanks for that,” seriously, ruining a good prank with a bad one should be punishable by law or something. ”... Yeah, I am. So you can always just… think through the report, if you don’t feel like actually talking.” A grin slid back on her face. “Just be careful. It’s a lot easier to get distracted by a passing thought and accidentally put that into words in your mind than it is to accidentally speak it out loud. I’ve heard some weird shit that way.”

”Huh. Ghosts? That seems… overly complicated.” Marrie nodded at Ciri’s warning. ”I totally get that. But… are you able to read minds out of nowhere, or only if the person wants to respond? Can you just… corporate espionage your way through a place? What about non-humans, dogs and Visitors and stuff?”

In answer, all Ciri did was maintain her smirk, pleased by the sudden interest in her powers. She didn’t really… get to talk about them much, nor should she have, truth be told. With that in mind, she raised a finger over her lips. “Now that’s classified information, Blue.”

Marrie nodded. ”That’s fair. I guess to get to business, what all are you wanting from my report? Things are never really… uniform with that. I dunno if you need the play-by-play, especially since you were there too, ya know? But whatever you guys need to know, I’ll talk about.”

”We’re not the government. We don’t require to know every little thing that happened on a mission.” Luna nodded at the sky. ”It’s clear both trains got away. We just want to know if anything of note happened. Monsters can be a little unreliable, so we need to know how Boteg performed as an example. If you encounter a shady individual, maybe bring that up. Really we just want to know if you saw anything strange and if you have a strong opinion about your allies.”

Ciri nodded along, her face having returned to its default state of boredom and indifference. “Yeah, what she s–”

Then, something put its hands on Ciri.

She practically jumped, hand already grasping for her gun. “W-wha-who-the-fu–?!”

Stacy spoke. ”Woops! Sorry Tetrad! I hope that didn’t look too awkward. But uh, you do feel really firm.”

Luna looked to Ciri and raised her eyebrow. ”That’s… Probably because you’re holding Ciri’s shoulders.”

”...Oh!” Stacy laughed. ”With the height and everything I thought for sure it was something else. You know, Tetrad. You’re not a very tall person, but Ciri’s like, even shorter than you are!”

Ciri inhaled so sharply it was a wonder she didn’t stab the back of her throat. "I don't want to hear any... evaluations a from head case like you," she hissed, ready to tell the zombie to keep her head in the game when they’re receiving a report, but the joke stopped being funny once Tetrad actually reattached said head, so Ciri just opted to sulk instead.

Luna placed Stacy’s head back on, and the stitches around her neck binded it into place. ”Does that make more sense now? Also, you seem a little tense.”

The next one to bother her was Tetrad, which was slightly more tolerable than the zombie – but she tried to shoo her off too, regardless. ”You think? You aren’t helping.” Well, Tetrad was trying, Ciri figured, but Stacy hardly listened to reason, so.

”I’m not helping?” Luna blinked in confusion.

Stacy giggled. ”She thinks you’re the one giving her a massage! But I guess she’s had enough.” The zombie placed her hands on her hips.

She glared at Marrie, her mood suddenly sour. “Just start with… I dunno, why the hell did you wanna save the flaming bitch who tried to kill us anyway?”

”Do you want the personal reasons or the professional ones?” Marrie began counting on her fingers as she rattled off her points. ”Aside from her being one of the most popular and powerful Freelancers in Pax, if not much farther than just the city, which makes her getting hurt or killed terrible PR for Maverick if it got out, she’s also, as one of the Bates siblings, got a loooooooot of fans who would suddenly want to fight Maverick too.” With three fingers up on her right hand, she continued. [color=00aeef]”Her getting just [i]injured[/] almost put her brother on a rampage, and he’s the other of debatably the two strongest Freelancers in Pax, if not the States, and all of those other points hold equally true for him.”[/color] Now that she’d overflowed her fingers, she had all but her thumb up counting, with her thumb down to represent a sixth.

Ciri listened, taken aback, as Marrie listed off her... surprisingly rational reasons for not wanting to off the Bates bitch in particular. She did have to scoff every time the other Esper called them some variation of strong, not wanting to hear their praises sung.

She was just about to concede Blue her point, when she continued and proceeded to lose the Oni.

”On a more personal note, I don’t think she was trying to kill us. If the rumors and stories about her are true, she would have succeeded if she had. Those nuns were much more likely to try to kill anyone than her, seeing as…” Her words trailed off while her eyes stared into nothing for a moment. After a second or two she shook her head to bring the current moment back into focus. ”A-anyway, I don’t want anyone to die if it’s not absolutely critical that they do. Regardless of what ‘side’ they’re on.” She did air-quotes with her extended fingers on both hands, including the two on her left.

”Life’s precious, and once you kill someone, you can’t go back to the way you were before you did. Besides,” Marrie dropped her hands and stopped keeping count of her statements, ”if you don’t want to die, you shouldn’t kill anyone else.”

"You don't think she was trying to kill us!? Not you, maybe – after all, who'd want to kill you." It sounded almost an accusation, the way Ciri snarled it out, a hand on her hip. The memory of her and Regina's brief little melee bout was still fresh on her mind. "I don't exactly have the luxury of being likeable, so sorry if my situation's a lil different from yours. And you got it all wrong -- it's not that you shouldn't kill someone if you don't wanna die, it's that if you don't wanna die, you sure as hell better kill 'em first. People are--"

Noticing she was not only getting off topic but also angry for what must've seemed like no reason, she settled to rolling her eyes, recrossing her arms and letting out a long sigh. "... Forget it, I'm not here to change your mind, and you ain't gonna be changing mine. So, 'bout the nuns...?"

”I don’t find being dead all that bad!” Stacy had detached three of her fingers, which she looked like she was going to offer to Marrie. Though she had finished counting before she could offer them.

Exasperated, Ciri reached to plug one of Stacy’s detached fingers to point at Marrie with, probably trying to lighten the mood or to regain her composure, either or. “Spill.”

Marrie didn’t seem to flinch like she normally would in a situation like this. She managed a weak smile at Ciri, but it didn’t reach her eyes. That is, until she turned to face Stacy. ”Stacy, you’re undead. I haven’t figured out if that counts yet.” She gave a slight laugh before turning back to Ciri.

”If you wanna talk, I’m up for it whenever. It’d be nice.” Marrie’s smile grew a bit more full, a little brighter. But in the few seconds she took before continuing, her smile dropped completely.

“Talk… yeah, sure, someday. Maybe.” If it was about their different views on ethics and morals and what-have-yous? Honestly, no thanks, she’d rather be set on fire again. Thrice. She did have to admit though, she appreciated that Marrie didn't try to argue her point right here and now at the very least, but rather went straight to the point when prompted. The only kind of bleeding heart she could tolerate.

But… Those nuns, dunno who they are. All I know is they showed up on what was supposed to be a meeting between some GEMINI espers and Oros. They killed one of the two who were there for that, tried to kill, or at least kidnap, the other, and I barely made it out alive too. The white haired one can use smoke that drains your strength, and I’m pretty sure she can turn into it too. The other is a good fighter, really good, and I think she probably was the one to summon the meteors. I don’t know why they showed up either time, or what they’re after. I just know they’re tough and willing to kill people. And that there’s another one who carries around a flamethrower, looks like a rabbit.”

Marrie paused as a thought struck. ”They also had a few foot soldiers who had some sort of magical machinery… stuff, implanted in or on them. Diodes were the giveaway. I’ve seen that before, but never found out what was going on with it. I don’t think these women were the ones who made them that way, so they’re probably working with someone else. And if they were working with Regina, they must have been here for Raphael’s version of this whole fight. I really doubt it was because they follow the same religion, so there’s gotta be some other reason.”

As she listened, Ciri was tossing the stolen finger up and down in her hand, deep in thought. "Magical machinery? Man, first mechas, now that? People are getting real creative." She was mumbling mostly to herself, but after a brief pause, she did catch the finger mid-throw, turning back to Marrie.

Having said all she could think of in the moment, Marrie looked up to the sky. Her arm twitched on its own from her self-imposed injury, but she did what she could to stifle it. This punk-styled girl, who she knew she had heard the name of but with all the stress of the day, she couldn’t bring it to mind… She knew better than Marrie what had happened in the fight with Regina. But that didn’t mean she knew what the intent was. The thing that was catching on her was the implications she had buried under her phrasing. The blue haired girl’s head fell forward as she let out a sigh. All she could do right now was stay in the present.

"So what you're saying is, there's a threat bigger and badder than the GEMINI we should be worrying about right now.” She contemplated that, sighing irritably. “Much as I'd like to kick GEMINI's ass in particular, they were kind of..." she shrugged.”Inconsequential in that fight just now, so, yeah. Dunno what's up with them. But I sure as hell don't mind hunting down some nuns for a bit, instead. Think we can agree on that?"

It wasn’t quite an offer for another job – she wasn’t exactly in a position to be making those – but it was close enough.

A nod. ”I’ll be looking for them. I’m more interested in finding the Bates, but given how things tend to happen in Pax, finding one will probably lead to the other.”

Ciri grinned. "Then it sounds like we’ll be running into each other sooner rather than later. Tell you what; you help me take down the nuns, and I’ll try to not to blow up the Bates’ faces again.” She scoffed. "Unless they ask for it.”

…

…

…

The giant just listened. At no point did Billy make any sudden movements or give the impression he had other places to be. He maintained eye contact the whole way through. ”Bein’ good ain’t easy.” He sat down and rested his wrists on his knees. Finally, the giant was at or below eye level with Asher. ”Can’t do anything in this city without bein’ judged for it. We try to save the good monsters, but this can put humans at risk. That’s why we’re labeled as terrorists. Not gunna pretend I don’t see their point of view, but it’s wrong. Feels like we got a lot more to gain if we don’t just assume monsters and humans can’t co-exist.” He laughed. Even with the mask on, it was possible to see his curved cheeks through his visor. ”I can relate to being confused about politics. When I first got here I was a little unsure of how everything worked. You might have heard that monsters see humans as a crop. That ain’t wrong, but it ain’t all right either. Don’t reckon many farmers talk to their crops or take them out for pizza.” Then a bit quieter he added ”don’t reckon many crops look as good as these ladies.” Though he wasn’t looking at Asher when he said it. ”Anywho! That operation didn’t last as long as a hiccup! Barely saw anything, and before I could circle back, the trains were gone. Woman? Compromised? What do you remember?”

Asher’s confusion was evident in the way he absentmindedly scratched at the side of his head, he considered himself more of a straightforward guy, not much for the philosophy side of things. For starters he wasn’t sure what determined a ‘good’ monster from the rest and how they could be so certain. When Billy started talking about farmers and crops the metaphor was even more lost on Asher and before long he was losing sight of where the conversation was going.. Asher was just on the verge of reminding him what they’d been planning on discussing when Billy seemed to snap back into focus on his own and started asking questions about the operation.

This was the part Asher had been waiting for and yet he wasn’t sure what exactly to share. So without any real clue as to what might be relevant and what not Asher began giving Billy a run down of the entire operation starting with the meeting with Raphael, Black Sabbath, and the Bates twins. He made sure to make it particularly clear how he felt about the unexpected party crashers that waylaid Raphael’s group before getting to the unexpected betrayal by Black Sabbath. Recounting events out loud definitely caused Asher to pause as he tried to make sense of things, in hindsight maybe leaving with Black Sabbath hadn’t been the right choice but it had provided him with information that he now chose to pass along to someone who might possibly do more with it than he could. Asher wasn’t really quite sure what he was achieving but in a sense he was beginning to feel frustrated and on the outside of whatever was going on and tired of feeling like such.

Finally Asher brought the tale to a close as he finished discussing the meeting with Lenore and the other nuns shortly before he’d made his way over to find Maverick.

“And so yeah, I don’t know, maybe if you’ve got an idea of what’s going on you could share? None of this nonsense has made a lick of sense to me. This esper business was already a wild discovery a few years back but up until now it seemed pretty straight forward. Something about this city seems to make things a lot more complicated now and I don’t really know where I stand in the grand order of things. Just been trying to figure things out lately, didn’t realize the situation was so complex.” Asher finished with a shrug.

”Everythin’s complex if you look below the surface.” Billy seemed to have picked up on Asher’s confusion while he was feeling him out. Villains tended to work in the shadows, and the more complex they made things, the harder they were to find out. Most of Billy’s lieutenants were intelligent women who wanted to know how the evidence lined up and what it all meant. Getting into such complexities, if they could be called that, was also a way for Billy to affirm that he understood a situation and had drawn the most likely conclusion. But when dealing with Asher, perhaps it was best to forgo the lengthy explanation and just reveal the end result. ”The Hand, do you know who they are?” Billy held up his own hand as he said this. ”The woman that tore off your arm must have been working for them if she was assisting Big Tony. Those nuns were working for them too. Raphael must not have been aware of it at the time. If you want payback, side against the Hand.”

Asher unconsciously began scratching the side of his head, again, as he pondered over Billy’s words. “The Hand…? I can’t recall ever hearing much about them…other than the handful of names I picked up today after talking with the nuns. Other than that…? Nada.” He said after a moment of consideration. “Where do you stand in all of this? Are the Hand a group you’d consider enemies as well?” Asher asked.

”The Hand are more conniving than a weasel trying to run a chicken coop! I don’t like the cut of their jib!” He slapped his knee before pointing out at the city. ”Every last one of them is an agent of chaos! Things are never going to calm down around here unless they’re dealt with. They give all monsters a bad name. Don’t like ‘em, don’t see a reason to start likin’ them neither.”

A grin as wide as a shark’s and twice as bloodthirsty split Asher’s face as he let out a satisfied chuckle, “Alright then, how’s about I just tag along with you guys and we go deal with these handsy fools ourselves, eh?” Asher asked. Asher cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders in anticipation of a fight, already it felt like his body was reawakening at the idea of breaking some skulls.

”That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Billy stood up and cracked his back. ”We keep good company. Nobody knows how to cook so we order out a lot. You’ll get along with everyone else. Maybe you’ll be one of us if you like our style. We can talk about that later.” He waved his hand. ”Guessing our next order of business is trying to save those espers. Don’t imagine the hand’s got anything nice planned for them.”

”Reckon you ain’t lying there. And don’t worry,” Asher paused as he underwent a fiery transformation into his esper state, ”I think as far as style goes we’ll get along just fine! Now I’m ready to whoop some ass.” And just like that Asher had decided to align himself with the city’s underdogs and rebels, fitting?

It was with great relief that, when Ashley returned to her apartment after another grueling all-night patrol, she found the hallway leading to her door pleasingly empty of anyone who might delay her eagerly awaited appointment with sleep for even a few seconds, and especially, her excessively chatty neighbor from across the hall. With the drastically reduced numbers of the city’s G.E.M.I.N.I. branch, it was only logical that the few remaining agents would be required to work for even longer spans of time, but that still didn’t make it any less tiring. But now, the Knight of Tomorrow would finally be able to take a long-awaited and well-deserved rest. Or so she’d thought…

“Oh! Hi, Ashley!” an all-too-familiar voice called out just as she was about to open her door, causing the exhausted young woman to wince as if she’d been punched in the gut.

“H-Hello, Olivia,” she replied with a tired smile as she slowly turned around to face her bespectacled and ever-energetic neighbor. She really didn’t want to have yet another long-winded conversation with the girl, but politeness, and more importantly, her compassion for others demanded that she at least put forth the effort. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, all things considered,” Olivia replied. “I am a little worried though,” she added with a small frown. “You remember Finn? That tour guide I told you about?” she inquired. “Well, I’ve been trying to contact him for the past few days, but he hasn’t responded yet, and I’m starting to get concerned about him. I mean, I know he’s an esper and can probably take care of himself, but that kinda makes it even more likely that he could be in trouble, you know? Like, maybe he’s been captured by a monster, or impregnated by one, or maybe he’s just badly hurt somewhere? I… I just want to know if he’s all right…”

As Ashley listened to Olivia’s nasally-voiced ramblings, her sense of trepidation grew more pronounced with each word spoken. While she had no idea of Finn’s current whereabouts, she knew full well what had precipitated his disappearance and complete disconnect from everyone he knew and interacted with. Of course, she couldn’t exactly tell Olivia that. At least, not without revealing that she, too, was an esper. Instead, she resolved to offer as much reassurance and support as she could without crossing that boundary.

“I-I’m sure he’s fine,” Ashley said in the most reassuring tone she could manage, even as she desperately tried to get the image of a pregnant Finn out of her head. “You said he’s an esper, right? So, maybe he’s on a top secret mission and has to keep a low profile?”

“I guess so…” Olivia replied, although she didn’t sound entirely convinced. “I still want to try and look for him, though,” she added. “And while I’m searching, I might even finally run into a monster!” By this point, the bespectacled girl’s typically cheerful disposition had fully returned and a gleam of eager anticipation glistened in her blue eyes.

Great… Ashley groaned mentally. This was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. Finn’s disappearance/desertion was already bad enough, but now it had led to a naive and impressionable girl like Olivia wanting to place herself in extreme danger on his behalf. Blast it, Finn… When am I going to finally stop having to clean up your messes?

“I wouldn’t be so eager to encounter a monster if I were you, Olivia,” Ashley cautioned. “From what little I’ve heard, they’re extremely dangerous.”

“It’s okay!” Olivia reassured her with a smile. “I’ll have darling Xolys with me!”

Right. Xolys…

“Plus, I was told that my field trip will be ending soon,” the bespectacled girl continued, her bright smile fading into a disappointed frown. “Something about how, if I stay much longer, then the Caustic Bovines will show up! I said that they sounded really fascinating, but my counselor said it would be much too dangerous to be around them, even with Xolys protecting me! Anyway,” she continued. “Since I’ve yet to see a monster or other supernatural being up close in all my time here, I thought it would be best to give it one last shot before I have to go!”

Caustic… Bovines…?

Ashley sighed. “Well, if there’s no talking you out of it, then will you at least promise to be as careful as you can?” she requested. “Especially if you’re planning to go into some of the city’s more dangerous areas?”

“Of course!” Olivia replied with an emphatic nod.

“All right, then,” Ashley conceded, giving the irrepressible girl a tired smile. “I guess all I can do now is wish you good luck on your search.”

“Thanks, Ashley!” Olivia said with a cheerful wave as she set off. “See you later!”

I should probably keep an eye on her just in case… Ashley reflected with weary resignation as she watched Olivia head down the stairs. Guess I won’t be taking that nap after all…

---

During her last expedition with Finn, Olivia had asked him all sorts of questions about espers, and among the many interesting pieces of information she’d learned was an item of particular usefulness to her current search. According to Finn, a diner called the Great Escape was a popular hangout for espers, and as such, it sounded like the perfect place to find out if anyone had any knowledge of her missing tour guide’s current whereabouts. Upon entering the establishment, the bespectacled girl noticed that it had a very charming retro style, and even this early, there were a few oddly garbed individuals present, who were almost certainly espers. Although she wasn’t exactly an esper herself, Olivia figured a magical girl was close enough to pass for one, and so she decided to introduce herself in what she was sure was the best way to put the diner’s mystical patrons at ease.

“Greetings, fellow espers!” she announced with a big smile as she moved over to the largest group of uniquely attired individuals. “I’m looking for a missing friend of mine, named Finn,” she added, holding up her phone to show a picture she’d taken of the young esper. “Might any of you have seen him lately?”

”Finn?” A cowboy-looking esper took a good hard look at the photo. ”Oh! Timekeeper! The kid that did all that stuff to rescue his violinist girlfriend! Yea, I remember him.” He chuckled. ”But haven’t you heard? He works for Gemini now, has been for a month or longer. You won’t see him around these parts.”

A doll-like woman gave the picture a glance. ”I feel like I’ve seen him around here more recently than that. Didn’t he square off against Oros the Mad near that water truck? I also recall him trying to defend that Vanhorn girl from those tractor supply nutjobs.”

”Now that you mention it, I did see that violinist back here with a young lad. Maybe that was him?” He placed a hand on top of his hat. ”I sure hope not. It felt like a really bad soap opera. Those three girls arguing over who was his, and then that outburst. Yeesh!” He shook his head. ”If that was him, he hasn’t been here for a week or longer.”

Olivia’s azure eyes seemed to grow ever wider as she listened to each new piece of information about Finn’s recent exploits, or rather, Timekeeper’s, as he was apparently known amongst his esper peers. It was all extremely fascinating, and the bespectacled brunette couldn’t help but wonder why her tour guide had never told her about any of those adventures (or the fact that he was a member of G.E.M.I.N.I.) despite her clear interest in such things. Still, if relationship drama was involved, maybe he was just feeling self conscious, but they couldn’t all have dealt with his romantic troubles, could they? In any event, as intriguing as the information was, it still did nothing to point her towards Finn’s current whereabouts.

“Gosh! It sounds like he’s incredibly well known!” Olivia replied. “But no one’s seen him in over a week?” she added with a frown. “Isn’t that a little concerning? I mean, isn’t anyone worried something might have happened to him?”

The woman shrugged her shoulders. ”Maybe? He’s definitely been around here less ever since he went corporate. He was a big celebrity a few months back, but that kind of dried up once Justin bit the dust and he rescued his girlfriend.”

”That is to say, he’s a hasbeen.” The cowboy sipped his orange juice. ”Nobody really talks about him that much anymore. I kind of lost interest in him after he decided to work for the government. It all felt like a big publicity stunt. But he made it big. If he’s smart, he’ll retire on whatever the government paid him or start working a cushy office job. The streets are no place for a child.”

”What about that teenage pirate you keep teaming up with?” The Doll asked with a grin.

”That’s different! Besides, I’m sure she’s not really a teenager.” The conversation shifted away from Finn as the espers spoke of other matters.

As Olivia continued to listen, an idea began to form in her overactive brain. It seemed that, much like magical girls, espers often had a particular theme. For example, Finn was a clockwork doll, and now she was standing in front of a cowboy and hearing about a pirate. If that was the case, then perhaps…

“Um, excuse me?” Olivia’s nasally voice spoke up. “If you don’t know where he is, do you maybe know of someone who can help me look? Like a detective esper? Or maybe a shopkeeper esper who knows all the local gossip?”

This got a chuckle out of the cowboy. ”Can’t say I’ve seen any detectives. Brittany is a shop owner, but she doesn’t open until later.” He looked around before casting his glance at an empty table. ”If ya want gossip, try sitting over there. That’s where I sit when I want to hear rumors.”

“Oh…” Olivia replied, her voice and visage conveying her disappointment at the realization that things wouldn’t be quite as easy as she’d hoped. “O-Okay, then... Thanks for all the help,” the bespectacled girl told the pair of espers with a small smile before making her way over to the table in question.

I wonder how long this is going to take… Olivia thought to herself as she took a seat. I know it’s still early, but I don’t want to waste the whole day just sitting here…

Once Olivia was far enough away from the table, the cowboy said under his breath. ”That should keep her busy for a moment.” The woman suppressed her chuckle before continuing to converse.

Hmmm… Olivia mused after a few minutes had elapsed. Maybe the reason none of the other espers are coming over to chat with me is because I look like a normal person. In that case, all I need to do is transform, and I’ll have plenty of people to talk with! Still, I suppose I can’t really do that out here… she reflected, before her eyes lit up after noticing the restrooms. That’s perfect!

Getting up, she hurried into the (thankfully unoccupied) women’s bathroom. However, the young woman who emerged a minute later was the complete antithesis of the vertically challenged bespectacled brunette that had entered. She was a tall, graceful beauty with long, flowing blonde hair and bedecked in an elaborate azure ball gown fit for a fairytale princess. Gliding over to the table she’d previously occupied, the transformed Olivia took a seat once more, a pleased smile adorning her lovely visage. There! Now I’m just as impractically attired as all the other espers! Unfortunately, it soon became apparent that this new tactic wouldn’t be nearly as successful as she’d initially hoped.

Time passed. Olivia could hear other espers from other tables talking about other things, but never about Finn. There was a point where an esper mentioned a “time keeper,” but she was referring to her watch and not the esper Olivia sought.

Goodness! I hope darling Xolys isn’t getting too uncomfortable hiding in that handicapped stall… Olivia fretted. I never would have imagined it would take this long! Oh well, at least I found that mop for him to use as a disguise! As long as he keeps that on, I’m sure no one will ever suspect he’s not a lady!

As time marched on, it seemed like news about the clockwork esper wasn’t going to present itself. But it would be a shame if Olivia left now. What if she just had to wait five more minutes? What if it would never happen?

Then, a soft voice spoke up from behind her head.

”Beautiful woman, fetching dress. Mild look of distress on her face. Her hands are folded in her lap. Appears to be alone. Hmmm…” The voice came closer. ”While attractive, the dress is much too flamboyant for a hookup. The time of day is also wrong, and she’s wearing a ring on her ring finger. She’s married, and loyal. She’s not distressed enough to not know where her spouse is. Hmmmm…” A detective-looking esper appeared to her right. ”She’s not eating either. If she wanted to participate in idle gossip, she’d at least order an orange juice, but what she wants is hardly idle. Hmmm…” The same detective appeared on her left. She swiped her finger along her cheek and examined it. She then licked her gloved finger. ”Sweat. Yet it’s far too cool in here to be sweating, and it’s still chilly out. She wasn’t running around in that outfit. Is she looking looking for someone? HMMM…” The detective dashed to the other end of the table and looked straight across at Olivia. ”According to my deductions…According…To my…Deductions… You have a problem that only Sammy the Supah Sleuth can solve!” Two cats appeared on either side of the detective and tossed pawfulls of confetti into the air before ducking under the table. Some of the colored ribbons fell on the detective’s hat and hair, and a few in a nearby table’s drink. She dragged out the table and sat down in it. Her short legs came off the ground. ”Sup?”

“Oh my goodness!” Olivia gasped, her voice sounding far more sweet and melodious than the nasally tone of her mundane form. “That was amazing!” the blonde beauty declared with a dazzling smile as she clasped her hands together. “That thing you just did was like something right out of Sherlock Holmes! Well, this is actually just an engagement ring,” she clarified. “But everything else is correct! I’m worried because I’m looking for a friend of mine,” she explained, holding up the picture on her phone once more. “His name’s Finn, aka The Time Keeper. He’s an esper who was serving as my tour guide and he’s been missing for roughly a week. Oh, and I’m terribly sorry! I never introduced myself! I’m Olivia Bell,” she informed the detective, holding out an elegant hand. “The Ethereal Rose!”

Sammy reached her tiny hand across the table, but when it didn’t quite reach she gave the beauty a thumbs up. ”It’ll be a wedding band in time, I’m sure.” She folded her hands together on top of the table. ”Yes, I have seen much of the Time Keeper in the news. He doesn’t drop by here much anymore. Anyway, if you have something that belongs to him, you could hand it to me and I should be able to locate him without much effort. Otherwise, you can tell me where you last saw him and we can work from there.”

Olivia frowned slightly upon noticing that Sammy couldn’t quite reach across the table to shake her hand, before giving the diminutive detective a thumbs up of her own. “Well, I don’t actually have anything that belongs to him,” she told the super sleuth. “But the last time we were together was when we explored the catacombs under the historic library. We were looking for ghosts,” she explained.

”Oh.” Sammy’s skin turned pale. ”The catacombs are uh, well, they can be quite dangerous. And ghosts too, huh?” She used her napkin to wipe down her forehead. ”I don’t think we can go back there to look for clues. And if you left there with him, there probably isn’t anything there to find.”

One of the chairs near the lonely table slid back, and a witch plopped herself in the seat before leaning in. “Looking for clues, detective? Or perhaps you need wards for those ghosts that spook you so?”

”Brittany…” Sammy squinted her eyes. ”What has you acting so chummy?”

“It’s like that Marrie girl insisted. We have a lot more to gain from working together than butting heads.”

”Well, this case is pro bono. So I don’t have funds to spend on ghost repelling charms.”

“Not all payment comes in coin, dear sleuth.”

”Ah.” Sammy grinned. ”It took me a moment to deduce, but it seems like you’re willing to help out for the publicity!”

“You had the same idea, I trust?”

”Now.” Sammy conveniently avoided answering Brittany’s question. ”Do you know anything about Time Keeper? He’s something of a myth, and knowing what he’s really like could help a lot.”

Olivia, who had been following the back-and-forth banter between the detective and the recent witchy arrival with some interest, perked up at Sammy’s question. “Why yes, I do!” she confirmed with a nod. “He’s very sweet, kind, and helpful, a real gentleman! Plus, he’s incredibly knowledgeable about the city, which, as I’m sure you can imagine, is a very good thing for a tour guide. And he likes to read, which is actually how we first met! You see,” she continued. “I was on my way to check out some books at Mister Torvald’s shop, when I tripped, and he was kind enough to gather them up for me and help me carry them as well! Like I mentioned before, he’s always willing to help someone in need! That said, I suppose he does seem to have something of a self-esteem problem,” she noted with a frown. “I kind of got the feeling that he didn’t really enjoy being an esper, and that he thought he was bad luck. But nothing bad ever happened when I was with him, so I don’t know what might have caused him to think that,” she hastened to add.

Sammy had a notepad out and was jotting down notes the entire time Olivia spoke. Occasionally, she would look up and nod. ”I think I’m seeing a connection here.” She tapped her notepad. ”We have a book loving, paranormal loving esper. He even went exploring under a library to find ghosts. Perhaps the ghosts he spots in his esper life pale compared to the ones he reads about. He wishes to transport himself to other worlds with even more fantastical specters!”

Brittany smirked. “And have you deduced where he might be now?”

”Torvald’s.” Sammy replied with all the intensity she had been maintaining. But this only caused Brittany to chuckle.

“That was just where Olivia and Time Keeper first met. Or do you think…”

”Yes.” She held up her phone to show everyone a video. ”This news story just showed up this morning. Bookman, a popular lifestyle influencer, is showing up at Torvalds to sign his new book. If Time Keeper is unhappy with his life, he will meet with Bookman to get a signed copy to change his luck around while also visiting his favorite bookstore.” She stashed her phone. ”If we’re quick, we can stake out Torvald’s and wait for his arrival. Otherwise, we can ask Bookman if he’s seen Time Keeper and confirm he’s still alive.”

“An incredible deduction!” Brittany stood up. “I have a car we can all use, but the double XXL broom might be more fun. Are you ready to go, Olivia?”

“Oh, yes!” the blonde beauty agreed with an eager smile. “Let’s be off! Oh… But I should probably change back first,” she added, sobering slightly. “I don’t think darling Xolys will fit on your broom…”

“I trust your intuition!” Brittany got up.

”That’s my line!” Before standing up, Sammy hesitated. ”Darling Xolys? Sounds foreign...”

…

…

…

The giant broom was the length of a small limo, but was far easier to park due to its ability to fly. Despite how unwieldy and uncomfortable riding on a wooden dowel might sound, it was not an unpleasant experience for anyone. Brittany dismounted with a carefully choreographed cartwheel, while Sammy swung under the thing and lowered herself to the ground. Then she rolled clear of the contraption before standing up.

”That was swift!” The detective adjusted her hat before looking across the street.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Olivia’s dismount wasn’t nearly as graceful, the bespectacled brunette’s scrawny frame dangling from the broom for a few awkward moments before dropping to the ground in a pinwheeling of limbs as she tried to keep her balance. Still, such difficulties did nothing to diminish her enthusiasm.

“Gosh! That was so exciting!” she exclaimed even as she struggled to maintain her footing. “I’ve always wanted to give broom riding a try, but Charlotte and Nessie were always too busy,” the chatty girl explained. “Thanks so much for giving me the chance!” she told Brittany with a big smile.

”I suppose all we need to do now is-”

But before Sammy could even finish, someone very familiar came waltzing out of the store.

”Great Scott! It’s him!”

“Oh wow! You’re right!” Olivia gasped. “Hey! Finn!” she called out to the boy, while rapidly waving her hand.

“Did you forget to write her back?” Brittany pointed at Olivia with both hands. “This isn’t a fairy tale. You can’t just save a girl from falling on her face and expect her to forget about you.”

Sammy took a step forward. ”My mental prowess is unnecessary to deduce that you are a stand up gentleman. Come see your friend.”

_Shit. The boy visibly flinched at sudden voices calling out to him, his widened eyes snapping towards the direction they- …O-Oh. It was Olivia, and two other girls apparently? With everything that happened, he didn’t even think anyone would come looking for him without ill intent much less manage to spot and recognize him.

Well one of the girls was dressed like a detective, so that answered for him. But Finn seemed concerningly stunned, like a deer caught in headlights. Should he run? Should he stay to talk? He didn’t know.

“Gosh, are you okay, Finn?!” Olivia inquired when she saw that the young esper seemed to be petrified. “You look like you just saw a ghost! Oh my goodness! Did you actually just see one?! What did they look like?!”

”Ghosts!?” Sammy went pale again. ”If there’s one around here, please vanquish it!”

“Don’t worry everyone, I brought plenty of seals!” Brittany pulled one out to show everyone. “This one kind of looks like Time Keeper, but I don’t have the rights to his likeness, so I would have to get them approved by our favorite clockwork hero!”

”Guys…” Finn groaned, raising a hand to wave it off. With a sigh, he hesitantly walked over. ”There’s no ghosts here, please do not cause a scene.” He reassured and asked of them, then looked at Olivia with a remorseful frown. ”’M sorry, with everything that’s happened I-I forgot about you. I didn’t mean to make you worry.”

“That’s okay!” Olivia reassured him. “I’m just glad you’re safe!” she added with a smile. “You know, I was really surprised to find out that you were so famous!” the chatterbox continued. “And I’d love to hear about all your exciting adventures, if you have the time! Oh, and maybe we could also explore the catacombs some more, too, since my field trip will be ending soon, and I really wanted to see some ghosts and/or monsters before I go!”

And again, Finn was stuck like a deer in the headlights. The longer he lingered in this place, the greater the chance was that someone would notice him. Brittany was already texting someone, and Sammy looked like they were about to snap a picture. If only something could save him from this situation.

Suddenly, a massive mech fell out of the sky. One that looked like it had been made with tractor parts, burned within an inch of its life, and then reconstructed with all the tech available at Gemini HQ.

”More adoring fans, timekeeper?” Was blurted out of the speakers before it picked up Timekeeper and charged off again.

“Hey!” Brittany called out before giving chase.

”A chase!” Sammy was hot on their trail.

“Finn!” Olivia gasped, her azure eyes going wide.

As the unlikely duo ran after the other unlikely duo, an unlikely individual started walking down the street.

”Sharr?” She called out. Her big eyes blinking as she walked in the direction the mech had stormed off in. Though she stopped as soon as she caught up to Olivia. ”They’ll be back.” The large eyed girl turned her gaze to Olivia. ”Oh! Oh are you waiting for them too? We can wait together.” She extended a hand. ”I’m Faith. Nice to meet you.”

“I-I’m Olivia,” the bespectacled girl replied, tentatively taking the offered hand. “I-It’s nice to meet you as well. Oh, and I wasn’t waiting for them,” she explained. “Brittany and Sammy were just helping me find Finn. D-Do you know why that, um.. that mech took him?”

”You mean Sharr? She said she had to find him, but was a little hazy on the details.” Then, like it was the most normal thing to do, started to circle around Olivia. ”That looks a little bit like a school uniform. But I don’t think any of the schools around here require them. And…” She examined the insignia on the back of Olivia’s uniform. ”Oh wow! That looks really cool! It reminds me a little bit of the Hogwarts insignia. You wouldn’t happen to be a wizard from some different wizarding school, would you?”

“U-Um, actually, I attend Marrywell Academy,” Olivia replied. “It’s in London, but apparently there’s one here in Pax Septimus as well?” she added with a puzzled tilt of her head. “At least, Finn mentioned something about some students from there possibly being abducted by fairies, but he didn’t seem to know much about it, so I don’t know if it has any relation to my Marrywell, or if your London even has a Marrywell to begin with. You know, learning about all these similarities and differences has really been quite fascinating,” the babbling brunette went on. “But please tell me more about this Sharr person!” Olivia requested, leaning in even closer to Faith while clenching her trembling fists. “She’s not going to harm Finn, is she?! Her mech is very cool, by the way! It reminds me of the kinds of mechanical creations Miss Valeria likes to build with her magic! She’s one of my teachers,” the bespectacled girl explained. “Oh, and my school teaches magical girls, not wizards,” she clarified, carefully adjusting her glasses and lowering her nasally voice to a conspiratorial tone. “But that’s kind of a secret. And since magic using people here are called espers, that’s what I’ve been saying I am so as to blend in better and avoid confusing anyone.”

Faith batted her eyes adorkably at the student. But if one were to listen, she was breathing quite heavily. Her jaw swung open like some primordial beast preparing to devour its next meal. Then she cupped her lips.

”Woooooooooooooow! Marrywell Academy is a magical girl school? In another universe? And you were tutored there?” She began to hop on her heels like a child on a sugar rush. ”That kind of reminds me of Little Witch Academia! You have all of these teenage girls learning how to use magic at Luna Nova academy! Oh, I bet that’s so cool to be surrounded by a bunch of magical girls and cast spells all day! Thinking about what the teachers must be like gets me really excited. You even kind of give me Lotte vibes with the glasses and everything! But Sucy has to be my favorite character. Though Lotte is probably the one I’d rather be in a conversation with, since she wouldn’t poison me. But trying to picture all those witches replaced by magical girls has me on the verge of fainting!” Her excitement was making her voice crack. She inhaled. ”Oh I wonder what sort of magic you use. Lotte communicates with fairies and spirits which is really interesting, and I feel like you probably have a powerful spirit by your side for some reason.” She sighed. ”It’s too bad that you come from a different world. Maybe Sharr could take me someday, since she said she could do that. But nobody else really knows how to visit other worlds.” Another innocent blink. ”Oh, yea, you were talking about Sharr’s mech. Sorry. It’s not really hers. She and Finn just upgraded it, though she told me that we could make another one from scratch just for me. I’m partial to Evas, but Gundams have some slick designs too. The Evas just have that organic look I really like, and I hope we can pull it off. Sharr kind of looks like a magical girl, so I guess I’ll be getting an education similar to what Miss Valeria did for you. I hear they call espers magical boys and girls in Japan, but I don’t know. I don’t think it’s really the same.” Her hopping stopped. ”Oh, and no, I don’t think she’s going to hurt Finn.” Faith rubbed one of her eyes. ”Finn’s okay. He doesn’t make a lot of time for other people, so he’s unavailable a lot.”

“O-Oh, I see!” Olivia replied, finding Faith’s enthusiasm extremely endearing. “That’s quite a relief! I was worried he might be in trouble! I don’t know very much about Gundams,” she went on. “But did you know that the Evas’ biomechanical appearance was inspired by the giant/god warriors from Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind? I always found the giant warriors fascinating, because humans actually created them by growing them, rather than constructing them, and in the manga, they’re even shown to be sentient! Plus, there’s a single scene where it looks like humans might have been able to ride inside them! That might be where the idea for the fusion between an Eva and its pilot came from! Isn’t that cool?! Also, I love how the giant warriors can form weapons out of solid light, and can fly by twisting space, just like the Evas! Oh, and their skeletal faces are just so adorable, too! As for my school, it’s really great!” Olivia continued, her azure eyes sparkling with delight. “I’m fan of LWA myself, and now that you mention it, Marrywell kinda is a lot like Luna Nova! In fact, one of my friends, Charlotte, kinda looks a bit like Shiny Chariot!” she added with a giggle/snort. “She has a flying broom and a witch’s hat and everything! And another friend, Nessie, sort of resembles Amanda, even though she’s Scottish and not Irish-American. Oh, and the way magic works where I come from is that there are these mystic storybooks called Grimoires, and when they bond with a magical girl, they grant her magical powers based on the story they contain! For example, mine is Beauty and the Beast, but it’s what’s called an Alter, because it’s a variation of the original story,” she explained. “It’s absolutely wonderful, though, since it allowed me to meet my soulmate, Thyerg’Xolys! He’s the Master of Xhar’doth and is so strong and powerful and handsome and kind and I just love him so much! In fact, I don’t really have any magical abilities at all, aside from allowing him to exist in whatever universe I happen to be in. And he’s more of an eldritch horror than a spirit, but my friend Helmi is able to summon all kinds of ghostly sailors to fight for her! Isn’t that really cool?! Oh, and speaking of spirits and giant robots, what did you think of the one that Akko and Constanze built to fight in the wild hunt?! Apparently it’s based on the mecha from Gurren Lagann, which I haven’t gotten around to seeing yet, but looks very exciting! Anyway, I really loved how Akko and Constanze’s robot could also turn into a flying ship, especially since Helmi told me that she’s hoping to get strong enough to eventually be able to summon an actual flying ghost ship of her own!”

”Oh my gawad! Your class sounds super special awesome!” Faith had resumed bouncing up and down as Olivia went on. Her pace and height had increased to the point where the only reasonable explanation was that she was defying gravity. ”I wish I got to have a Shining Chariot look-alike as a friend, but I’m really happy you get to experience something like that! We also use grimoires to transform in this world, which is an interesting naming convention. Because most of the time they aren’t books. I’m told it has to do with way back in the day when almost all of them were in tomes of song. Sheet music and poems. But I’m guessing you guys probably use actual books. And did you say The Shining Chariot look-alike wasn’t the only person who looked like they were from the show? Oh-man-oh-man-oh-man!” It was hard enough for Faith to keep up with everything the unusual girl was saying. She touched on so many topics and didn’t wait for a response to a single one of them, which wasn’t too unlike herself. ”I gotta see Marrywell with my own eyes. I’m probably a little old to go but I could pretend to be Sharr’s legal guardian. She looks like a magical girl when she transforms so that could be my way in. Then I could see your Theyerig’Xorlis and a bunch of ghost sailors! Maybe she can make a flying dutchman for them that would be the coooooolest!” She stopped jumping. ”Gurren Lagann is okay. The first part of the series is a lot more interesting than the second half, and the ending is kind of sad.” She resumed jumping. ”But I love the mechs! They’re kind of pointy and the obsession with drills is weird but also interesting! I don’t know if my mech is going to have a drill on it, but it’s a fun idea for a show!” She folded her hands behind her back. ”Did you want to transform now? I kind of want to meet your special someone.”

“Well, darling Xolys told me I should only transform during emergencies,” Olivia explained. “And people often seem to get really scared of him for some reason, so he usually has to disguise himself or hide out of sight, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt just this once,” she added with a smile. “After all, you already know about espers and magic and monsters, so you’ll hopefully be able to appreciate all of his eldritch charm! Oh, and while I’d love to give you a tour of Marrywell, my student counselor said that it’s really tricky to travel to this universe, and that goes double for traveling from here,” the babbling brunette noted with a slight frown as she adjusted her glasses. “But I’ll still be sure to make a request when I get back!”

”Oh my gawad! That would be-”

A purple and white blur snatched up Faith and carried her around the corner and out of sight. Before Olivia could even wonder what had happened. She could see Brittany flying overhead on a normal sized broom. She floated down to her side before hopping off. “Wow, she’s fast.” She rubbed her head with her sleeve. “The pilot of that mech bailed out, so Sammy and I split up. I took to the skies on my broom to follow the pilot and Sammy should be tracking down Time Keeper. “

“Goodness! So that blur was that Sharr person?!” Olivia inquired. “Gosh, her esper form’s superhuman speed is quite extraordinary! But, if she’s so incredibly fast, and she wanted to capture Finn, then why did she let him go?” the bespectacled brunette wondered with a puzzled frown.

“That’s the strange part.“ Brittany narrowed her eyes. “She took Timekeeper inside the mech, and then she bailed out. Is it on some kind of autopilot, or perhaps there was a co-pilot that’s keeping it moving?“ She shrugged her shoulders. “We might be dealing with a kidnapping. But if that were the case, I don’t see why Timekeeper would avoid contacting anyone for so long.“

“Do you know anything about this Sharr person?” Olivia asked. “Or where she might be taking Finn? Faith didn’t think she would hurt him, but I’m still kind of worried…”

“I didn’t even know her name, and who’s Faith?“

“Oh, um, Faith is the lady who was chasing after the mech,” Olivia replied, although Brittany was only half listening. “I think she’s the apprentice of Sharr, who was piloting the mech, although Faith didn’t really say much about her, other than that she’s really powerful and talented, and also kinda looks like a magical girl,” she added.

While Olivia was still speaking, Brittany approached her XXL broom and hopped onto it. “There’s a non-zero possibility that Timekeeper and this Sharr person are working together. You thought he would be in the catacombs under the library, right? Maybe that’s where he’s headed.“ The broom rose into the air. “I’m going to see if I can help Sammy catch the mech, but if we fail, you might be able to catch him there.“ And in a flurry of rainbow sparkles, the massive broom took off.

“O-Okay!” Olivia acknowledged. “Good luck!” she called with a wave as she watched the giant broom race off.

Hmmm… The library’s pretty close by, so I should probably enter the catacombs via the basement again… Olivia reflected as she set into motion. Still, it might be tricky for me to find my way around down there without a guide… she noted with a frown. Then again, I’ve already met so many friendly and helpful people today, so maybe I’ll run into someone else who’ll be kind enough to assist me!

With that hopeful thought at the forefront of her mind, Olivia made her way to the library with renewed enthusiasm, eager to see just what manner of intriguing individual she might run into next…

---

“I see. Thank you for informing me, Brittany,” Head Librarian Eleanora Everly told the witchy shopkeeper, before hanging up the library’s antique candlestick telephone and fixing her gaze upon the young woman who had just entered the historic edifice. Why does this turn of events not surprise me? Eleanora thought to herself as she watched the library’s latest visitor hurriedly move past the front desk. “Good morning, Olivia,” she greeted the bespectacled girl. “Is there anything I can help you to locate today?”

“O-Oh, um, n-no thank you, Miss Everly,” Olivia stammered as she came to a stumbling halt at the sound of Eleanora’s voice. Giving the head librarian an unconvincingly innocent smile, she added, “I-I’ll just be browsing…”

“Will you now?” Eleanora inquired with a raised eyebrow. “Are you certain you will not, in fact, be attempting to access the catacombs via our basement archives as you did on your previous visit?”

Olivia gasped, her eyes going wide. “Y-You… knew about that?” she asked meekly as she cowered before the head librarian’s stern visage.

“I did,” Eleanora confirmed with a nod, before allowing her expression to soften. “Olivia, the reason access to the catacombs is forbidden is for your own safety,” she explained. “They are highly dangerous, and even if you managed to emerge from your last trip down there unscathed, there is no guarantee that shall remain the case if you attempt to venture there again, especially if you plan to do so alone.”

“I-I know,” Olivia replied. “B-But that’s why I have to go! You remember Finn, the nice boy who’s been helping me? W-Well, there’s a good chance he might be trapped down there, and I really want to make sure he’s okay! Please,” she pleaded. “I promise I’ll be careful, and even if he can’t fight well in such cramped spaces, darling Xolys should still be able protect me from any monsters, although I’ve yet to see a single one during my stay in the city, which is kind of disappointing, since I’ve been really curious as to what the monsters here look like, which is why I got Finn to give me tours of Pax Septimus’s most paranormally active locations, but now he may be in trouble and I want to help him like he helped me!”

As she listened to Olivia’s distraught ramblings, Eleanora felt her initially firm refusal to accede to the bespectacled chatterbox’s request crumble before the onslaught of words like a wobbly tower of books, despite her best efforts to maintain its integrity. I know she means well, but she cannot possibly understand the magnitude of the danger she’s placing herself in by going down there unaccompanied, aside from whoever this ‘darling Xolys’ is. Still, I suppose she doesn’t have to remain unaccompanied… The head librarian gave voice to a weary sigh of defeat. “Very well,” she conceded, while carefully adjusting her glasses. “Against my better judgement, I shall allow you access to the archives’ entrance to the catacombs. However,” she added, raising a finger for emphasis. “You must promise me that you will be as cautious as possible and not take any undue risks, is that understood?”

“Yes, of course!” Olivia replied, while giving a vigorous nod. “And thank you so much!” she added with a giggle/snort as she hugged a wide eyed Eleanora. “I promise to be extra careful, and if I see a monster, I’ll be sure to observe it from a safe distance!”

Eleanora, whose usual composure had been briefly shattered by Olivia’s surprise embrace, slowly returned it as professionally and with as much decorum as she could. “N-Now then,” the librarian spoke up, while attempting to extricate herself from the bespectacled girl’s tight grip. “Allow me to escort you to the passage entrance. I took the liberty of installing new locks after your last excursion,” she explained. “So even if you had snuck past me, I imagine you would have had a rather difficult time gaining access. Thankfully, I always keep the library’s various keys on my person, so this shall be our little secret,” she added with a wink as the corner of her mouth tugged upwards in the slightest hint of a smirk.

In short order, Eleanora guided Olivia to the otherwise unoccupied archives, uncovered the hidden door, and released all of its myriad new locks. “That should do it,” she announced, opening the passage to the darkened depths below. “I trust you brought some form of illumination?” the librarian inquired of her young visitor.

“Oh, yes!” Olivia confirmed with a smile. “I always bring my flashlight with me whenever I explore the city! After all, most of the places where paranormal activity are said to occur are exceptionally dark! But I don’t mind, since I find that kind of ambiance to be incredibly charming!” she added with a giggle/snort.

“I see…” Eleanora replied, not for the first time wondering if she was making the right decision. “Well, if your young friend really is down there, then we shouldn’t waste another moment.”

“Right!” Olivia agreed with a firm nod before setting off down the steps. “Thanks again for all your help, Miss Everly!” she called over her shoulder. “You know, I’ve met a lot of helpful people today,” the bespectacled girl continued. “So maybe there’s another friendly person waiting for me below!”

“Perhaps there is,” Eleanora reflected as she watched the girl disappear into the darkness. “Perhaps there is…”

---

In all honesty, Olivia had absolutely zero idea of exactly where in the labyrinthian catacombs Finn might have been taken, if he was even down there to begin with. Furthermore, without the aid of a guide, the bespectacled chatterbox had zero way of knowing where she even was herself. Yes, getting lost was a very real possibility, but one that didn’t particularly trouble Olivia. She was on a mission, and, so far, whenever she’d needed help, someone had always been there to provide it. Thus, even as she peered into empty alcoves and called Finn’s name into the darkness only to be met with nothing more than an echo, Olivia was still fully convinced that this would continue to be the case.

After a time, the cramped catacombs opened into the slightly more spacious sewers, her flashlight’s beam glistening on the putrid waters. “Gosh, I hope I didn’t take a wrong turn…” Olivia murmured as she examined her new surroundings. “Well, at least darling Xolys will have more room now if he needs to protect me,” she added with a pleased smile, before it all-too-quickly drooped into a glum frown. “That is, if I even get to see any ghosts or other monsters…”

“Dat ain’t somethin’ ya should be ‘opin’ fer,” a voice noted.

Whirling around, Olivia found herself (nearly) face to face with what looked for all the world like…

“A goblin!” Olivia squealed in delight, her wide eyes gleaming with excitement. “You’re a goblin girl, right?! Or, are you a goblin woman?! I’m so sorry if I offended you, it’s just that it’s really hard for me to tell your age because of how small you are, and oh my gosh, I’m just so glad I finally got to meet an actual monster!”

“Yeah… ‘bout dat…” the goblin girl replied with an awkward frown once Olivia’s babbling had finally quieted. “Ah’m not actually a monster. Ah’m a human, an diz ere’z mah esper form. Ah just look like a goblin so’z ah can hunt ‘em better,” she explained with a grin. “Name’z Elzy,” she added, holding out a clawed hand.

“Oh wow, so you’re an esper, too?!” Olivia asked. “Gosh! I knew that they could have all sorts of different forms, but I never expected one could look like a monster! Oh! And I’m Olivia!” she added, taking the offered hand with a bit too much enthusiasm. “It’s very nice to meet you, Elzy!”

“Uh, same ere…” Elzy replied as she tried (and failed) to extricate her hand from Olivia’s surprisingly vice-like grip. “An’ we esperz come in all shapez an’ sizez,” she confirmed. “Dere’z diz one dat looked like a giant suit o’ armor, wit nothin’ inside, but dey ain’t been seen ‘round much lately.”

“Goodness! That sounds absolutely fascinating! I would have loved to meet them! In fact, with the way their esper form is just a suit of animated armor, they almost sound like a ghost!” she added with a happy giggle/snort.

“Speakin’ o’ ghostz, dey ain’t nothin’ ta mess ‘round wit,” Elzy advised. “An’ neither’re goblinz. Dey may be tiny little shitz, but dey’re really fuckin’ clever, an’ if dey catch ya, well… if ah told ya, it’d probably give ya nightmarez fer a month. So, anyway,” the goblinoid esper continued. “Yer lucky ya ran inta meh an’ not one ‘o dem.”

“I really am!” Olivia agreed, while rapidly nodding her head. “In fact, I’ve been really lucky all day! Every time I’ve needed help, I’ve met just the right person to provide it!”

“Ya don’t say?” Elzy inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes!” Olivia confirmed, having never met a rhetorical question she didn’t answer. “You see, I’ve been searching for my friend, Finn. I’m visiting Pax Septimus on a single-student field trip and he’s been serving as my tour guide! Since I heard this city was filled with monsters of all kinds, I wanted to try and see a few by visiting locations with the highest paranormal activity! I know it can be somewhat dangerous, but like I’ve been telling everyone else, there’s no need to worry, because I have my darling Xolys to protect me! He’s so big and strong and handsome and charming and not only can his tentacles crush the life out of any monster, they also give the most comfy hugs! But, for some reason, a lot of people seem to be terrified of him! Like, this one time, when we were having a Halloween party…”

…

…

…

“…and then he mentioned that Helmi might be scared of ghosts, which is just silly because she summons ghost sailors to fight for her all the time, but anyways, when we got to the haunted music room…”

…

“Wonder ‘ow much longer diz iz gonna go on fer…” Elzy mused as she rolled her eyes and gave voice to a tired sigh.

…

“…and he had the cutest top hat and monocle, but he said he wasn’t really a ghost, and the reason things could pass through him was actually because he was out of phase with…”

…

Meanwhile, Elzy had been digging a clawed finger ever-deeper into one of her oversized ears, before finally pulling it free to reveal a massive clump of wax. “Huh. Dat wuz biggah den ah dought…” she noted idly as she examined the wax ball, before discarding it with a dismissive flick of her finger. “Oh fuck. She’z still goin’…”

…

“…and then he helped me pick up my books and after that we introduced ourselves and…”

…

“Reeeeally ‘ope she’z gonna wrap diz up sometime soon…” Elzy muttered as she stared at a completely oblivious Olivia with the most blank visage imaginable.

…

“…and that’s why I came down here!” Olivia finally concluded. “So, do you think you can help me search for him?!”

“Lemme git diz straight,” Elzy began, her voice filled with exhaustion as she slowly raised one hand, while using the other to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Yer a magical girl, which iz like an esper, from anover ooniverse, ‘an yer tour guide, an’ esper named Finn, aka da Time Keeper, got kidnapped, an’ now ya dink ‘e’z somewhere down ere?”

“Yes, that’s correct!” Olivia confirmed.

“Welp, it’z not like ah can just leave ya down ere all by yerself,” Elzy replied. “So ah guezz ah’ll ‘elp ya find diz friend ‘o yerz.”

“Oh! Thank you so much!” Olivia gushed as she knelt down and wrapped the goblin girl up in a big hug.

“Urk! D-Damn… Y-Yer stronger den ya look…” Elzy wheezed upon finally being let go.

“Although,” Olivia continued, her new friend’s pained words having gone blissfully unnoticed. “I’m not exactly down here alone, since I always have darling Xolys with me!”

“Riiiiight…” Elzy sighed. “Juz stay behind meh, an’ ah’ll keep uz clear ‘o any nasty surprisez. An’ keep yer voice down, too,” she advised. “Ya may wanna see monsterz, but trust meh, ya really don’t wanna draw da attention ‘o some ‘o da stuff down ere.”

“Okay!” Olivia acknowledged. “I’ll make sure to use a whisper from now on!”

“Great…”

---

“So, are you biologically a goblin in your esper form, or do you just look like one visually?” Olivia inquired as they made their way through the twisting sewer passages.

“Ah’m a total goblin inside an’ out when ah’m like diz,” Elzy replied. “Ow else ya dink ah’d be able ta put up wiv stayin’ down ere so long?”

“What’s wrong with staying down here?” Olivia inquired innocently.

“Ya fuckin’ kiddin’ meh?!” Elzy asked, turning around to give the bespectacled chatterbox an incredulous stare. “Diz place iz a fuckin’ shithole!” she added, gesturing to the fetid, detritus-filled sewer way.

“Oh, um, I guess I didn’t really notice,” Olivia replied. “As a matter of fact, I actually like it down here. Sewers have always fascinated me, especially the lifeforms that thrive in them, like insects, gastropods, and fungus!”

“Wut iz wiv diz kid?” Elzy muttered.

“Um, if you’ve been down here so much, can you tell me about some of the creatures you’ve encountered?” Olivia asked. “Besides goblins, that is,” she clarified.

“Well, dere are lotz ‘o critterz romin’ ‘round down ere, includin’ a giant snake, but ah do mah best ta steer clear ‘o ‘em, since ah’m really only good at killin’ goblinz. Anyfing else’d eat meh alive. Literally.”

“Wow, really?!”

“Yup,” Elzy confirmed. “Dat’z why ah told ya it ain’t safe fer ya to be down ere. Da fingz ya could run inta are really fuckin’ dangerouz, even more den da onez topside, cuz at least most a da time, ya can see dem comin’.”

“B-But people still survive down here, right?” Olivia pressed. “I mean, you said the goblins managed to live here despite all the other dangers, so, um, do you know of anyone else that might be able to do the same thing? Maybe as a hiding place?”

“Well, dere were some rumerz o’ a few depraved esperz hiden’ out down ere,” Elzy replied. “But, dankefully, ah never came acrozz ‘em.”

“Depraved espers?”

“Esperz dat do somefing so orrible dey git marked fer deff by all da ovver factionz,” Elzy explained. “Dere juz az bad az da worst monsterz, so ah ain’t gonna go anywhere near ‘em.”

“Huh… I wonder if the espers chasing after Finn are depraved…” Olivia mused as the pair entered a roughly circular chamber with entrances to several branching paths. “I sure hope not. Faith was such a nice lady, just like Finn, and I couldn’t imagine either of them having done anything bad enough to be marked for death…”

“Y’know,” Elzy spoke up in an attempt to change the subject. “Dere’z a good chance dat friend o’ yerz might not even be down ere, an’ diz could all be just a big waste o’ time. Ya sure ya don’t wanna ‘ead back topside an’ look someplace else?”

“Can we look just a little longer?” Olivia asked. “I don’t want to turn back until we’re positive he’s not here. Plus, I really wanted to see one of those monsters you mentioned, or at least a ghost… Do you think maybe you could…”

“Damn it, kid!” Elzy snapped, her patience long since eroded away. “Ah told ya, dey’d kill ya in a fuckin’ ‘artbeat!”

“B-But Xolys…”

“Shhh!” Elzy hissed, pulling Olivia down and clapping a hand over her mouth. “Ear dat?” she whispered into the bespectacled brunette’s ear as her own oversized ears began to twitch. “Somefing’z comin’…”

“Whuf?” Olivia inquired through the goblin girl’s palm, sounding more intrigued than frightened.

“Ah don’t know,” Elzy whispered back. “An’ ah don’t plan on findin’ out!” she added, grabbing Olivia’s arm and pulling her back the way they’d come. “Let’z git outta ere!”

“B-But…!”

“AHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLS!” The catacombs themselves trembled as a deep, disembodied voice reached them. “You have walked directly into my lair, of which there is no escape! Prepare to spend the rest of eternity as nourishment for maggots and worms!” The sound of its approach was getting louder. Even Olivia could make out the heavy crashing in the distance. Though even nearby, the roof of the catacombs shook and dropped dirt on their heads. “Do not run from your destiny, for it will do you no good! Come…Closer…”

“Shit shit shit!” Elzy swore as she pulled Olivia along, only for a massive chunk of stone to fall from the ceiling and block their escape route.

“G-Goodness!” Olivia gasped as she covered her head with her free hand. “I-It really doesn’t seem to be very safe here, so maybe we should go to where the voice is coming from?” she suggested. “I-I’m sure darling Xolys can protect us if they try to do anything mean, and I’m very curious to see what they look like, so…”

Before Elzy could reply, another giant piece of the ceiling broke off and plunged down directly on top of the pair. Yet, just before it could crush them, the chunk of rock shattered against a dome of glowing green energy. Such was Elzy and Olivia’s surprise at this unexpected turn of events that it took them a moment to realize that the source of the protective barrier was a young woman in a futuristic white bodysuit with neon green accents, who was now standing between the pair.

“Oh wow!” Olivia cheered. “That was amazing! Thanks so much!”

“Happy to help,” the young woman replied with a strained smile. “I’m Agent Orion, Knight of Tomorrow.”

“Ah wuz wonderin’ when ya’d finally decide ta show yerself, Orion,” Elzy told the newcomer with a wry smirk. “Sure picked one ‘ell ‘o a time fer yer grand entrance!”

“You mean you knew she was here all along?” Olivia asked.

“Yup,” the goblin girl confirmed. “She’z been trailin’ uz fer awhile, but since she’z one ‘o dem goodie two shooez types, ah figured she probably wuzn’t plannin’ ta ‘arm uz.”

“Yeah… It’s, uh, kind of a long story,” the Knight of Tomorrow replied sheepishly. That was, of course, quite an understatement.

At first, it had been fairly easy to follow Olivia, but that all changed when the bespectacled chatterbox had left The Great Escape with Sammy and Brittany. While the high-tech heroine’s esper form may have boasted the speed of an olympic gold medalist, even Usain Bolt in his prime would have been unable to keep pace with a flying broomstick traveling at over 70 mph. Thus, Ashley had missed the run in with Finn outside Torvald’s, the boy’s abduction via mecha, and (perhaps thankfully) Olivia’s subsequent meeting with Faith. By the time she’d caught up, her eccentric neighbor had just entered the library. The exhausted agent had then begun trailing Olivia through the catacombs and sewers, keeping enough distance to at least avoid the chatterbox’s notice (if not Elzy’s), but remaining close enough to leap into action the moment her help was needed.

“Somefin’ tellz meh dat’ll ‘ave ta wait,” Elzy remarked as she took up a combat stance and readied her sword.

“Right,” the Knight of Tomorrow agreed, tightening her grip on her techno-wand and raising her energy shield. “We’ve got more immediate problems to worry about… Stay behind us, Olivia,” she instructed. “Things are about to get very dangerous, very fast.”

“Welp, lookz like yer gonna git ta see dat monster ya were ‘opin’ fer after all…” Elzy muttered, her gaze fixed on the far tunnel opening as the rumbling continued to grow louder.

In fact, Olivia was very excited, and her heart was pounding with eager anticipation, but at the same time, she was concerned for Elzy’s safety, and the strangely familiar Orion’s as well. “P-Please be careful!” she told the pair. Of course, if it came to it, she could always call upon Xolys’s aid, but she really didn’t want to risk scaring the approaching monster away before she got a chance to get a good look at it.

”You lot are aware that I can smell, hear, and even taste your presence in my domain, are you not?” The monster’s tone was haughty and felt like it was coming out of the walls itself. ”I do not stalk prey in my own domain. If you have come this far, you may come to me. You will find escape is impossible otherwise.” A low, rumbling chuckle filled the halls. ”Ah, but perhaps the issue is that you do not yet know who I am. Hmmmmm, but to tell you outright would spoil the fun. Why don’t we play a little game then? Let’s see if three heads are greater than…me.” Even without seeing the creature, they could feel it smirking at them. ”The Hand owns Pax Septimus, of which I’m sure most of you are aware. But relating to the hand, which part of the human body is most important do you think?”

“Fuckin’ riddlez?!” Elzy asked incredulously. “What iz diz, da Hobbit?!”

”I find it quite humorous that someone who walks around cosplaying as a little green orc would accuse *me* of being in the hobbit. The voice shot back, smug as ever.

Elzy simply ground her teeth in annoyance.

“Of course it can’t just make things simple…” Ashley muttered before giving voice to a tired sigh. “I really don’t have time for this…”

“Well, I don’t know anything about The Hand, but a hand can’t really be used unless it's attached to an arm,” Olivia spoke up. “Then again, an arm can’t move if a brain doesn’t tell it to do so, which I guess makes the brain the most important part!”

”FOOOOOOOOOOOLS! AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!” The voice boomed. ”Humans put far too much emphasis on the head, or ‘brain’ as you put it. It may be important to humans but let’s be real here, not every humanoid needs a brain or head to run their body. An android needs no head, nor does a Dullahan or the goddess Chinnamasta. Your answer is wrong.” A pleased sigh filled the room. ”But credit where credit is due. You are on the right track with the arm. It is attached to the hand, but it, too, is attached to the shoulder. And the shoulder is part of the torso. I’m sure a brilliant young woman like yourself must know where I’m going with this now, no?” Ashley and Elzy could feel the creature’s presence on them.

​​As the only member of the incongruous trio to maintain her amiability, Olivia spoke up again. “Well, you said which part of the human body, so I think bringing up other entities is a little disingenuous,” she told the creature, not sounding intimidated in the slightest. “But I suppose if you’re looking for something more specific than the arm, perhaps the elbow? Or if you mean important to the hand itself, then I guess it would have to be the opposable thumb!” she added with a smile, hoping she’d found the answer this creature was seeking. “Oh, but since I’m answering your question, can I ask one of my own? You see, I’m looking for a friend of mine named Finn. He’s an incredibly sweet and adorable boy who’s also an esper known as the Time Keeper, and I think he might be down here somewhere. So, um, would you happen to have seen him?”

The room was quiet for a time. ”Did I say human?” The monster thought for a time. ”No matter, I will not answer your question because you cannot answer mine. For you are a FOOOOOOOOOOOL! AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!” The catacombs trembled once more. ”I grow tired of watching you struggle to answer something so simple, so allow me to blow your mind. The hand is merely the end of a massive crane. And while the business end of a crane is its most important feature, the arm that holds it is powerless without its body! Think about how useless a crane would be if it had no treads, tires, or other way to move about. Why, it would surely tip over without some support from the floor!” The walls began to shake and move apart. ”A hand is nothing without an arm, but the arm is directed by the shoulder, and the shoulder is directed by the torso, and the torso is held up by the legs, and below all of that is what holds the body steady! I am The Foot!” As the catacombs opened up, it came into view. A giant, dirty foot with monstrous talons on every toe. On the front of the foot was a giant face with large pale eyes and teeth that stretched from ankle to ankle. ”And while the hand does my bidding up above, I remain below, commanding our forces under the earth. And you have walked right into my lair! FOOOOOOOOOOOLS! AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA! YOU BLEW IT! YOU’RE ALL DEAD!”

​​“That went about as well as I expected…” Ashley grumbled, before charging up her techno-wand and firing off a pair of high-powered energy bolts in quick succession.

“Damn, dat fing’z ugly an’ den some…” Elzy observed. “Now, juz’ keep dat big mouf o’ yerz open a bit longer,” she told the laughing creature as she removed a hand from her sword and used it to chuck a just-conjured bundle of dynamite sticks into its giant maw.

However, none of the projectiles would make it to their targets. The rapidly expanding room was also rapidly crumbling, and the monster was obscured from view behind some falling boulders. The ceiling continued to drop massive stones, starting further away and coming closer at an alarming rate.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Olivia had a slightly different reaction to the creature’s appearance…

“Oh my gosh! A giant foot! Ooooh! He looks so adorable!” the bespectacled chatterbox gushed, clasping her hands together as sparkles filled her eyes. “I really wish we didn’t have to fight him,” she added as she watched her new friends launch their attacks, only for them to be blocked by debris from the rapidly collapsing chamber, her cheerful voice taking on a significantly more sullen tone. “Killing us just because we couldn’t solve his riddle is a little extreme.”

”I’m killing you because you entered my lair. Big difference!

The catacombs shook more aggressively, and the falling debris got larger. It would take more than Ashley’s wand to blow apart the rocks, and the dynamite wouldn’t be much more useful once the ceiling caved in on their heads.

“Shit!” Elzy swore in frustration as she was forced to employ her various conjured explosives simply to destroy the rain of boulders threatening to crush them. “Diz lazy fucker’z juz gonna wait fer da whole damn ceilin’ ta fall on uz!”

“It certainly seems like it!” A panicked Ashley agreed, her eyes frantically searching for some path of escape even as she blasted apart another falling chunk of rock.

Unfortunately, no such path seemed to exist, and even with their combined firepower, it wouldn’t be long before the debris began falling faster than they could destroy them. Yes, things were looking quite grim, at least, until the rain of rubble completely stopped, the roof of the chamber having been eclipsed by an enormous pair of… wings…?

“Don’t worry!” a sweetly melodic voice called from behind the pair. “Darling Xolys will keep us safe!”

Turning around, the two espers were greeted by the sight of a beguilingly beautiful blonde-haired woman bedecked in an elaborate blue ballgown that shimmered with the light of a hundred twinkling stars, and behind her…

“A-Ah don’t believe it…” Elzy murmured.

“H-He’s…”

“E-E’z…”

“Real?!”

Towering up behind the transformed Olivia, wings spread wide, was a nightmarish multi-limbed, many tentacled eldritch monstrosity, far more imposing than the giant foot opposing them. Yet, despite its terrifying visage, it indeed seemed to be protecting them, as not only were its wings serving as a shield against the falling rubble, several of the creature’s rapidly spinning tendrils had created a series of whirlwinds that were now collecting the boulders crashing down farther out, creating a mostly unobstructed path to the giant foot.

“Of course he’s real!” Olivia replied with an amused burst of laughter, one which sounded more like a cascade of melodic chimes, rather than the cacophony of loud snorts produced by her regular voice. “Thank you, darling!” she told her eldritch consort as she lovingly gazed up at the massive monstrosity.

“You are most welcome as always, my dearest Olivia,” Xolys replied, his voice disconcertingly refined and polite.

“T-That’s the voice I heard in her room the other day…” a still stunned Ashley murmured as she blankly watched the bizarre interaction unfolding before her with a wide eyed stare. “U-Um, y-yes,” the Knight of Tomorrow finally spoke up after shaking off her initial shock. “T-Thank you. W-We should be able to get a clear shot at him, now, r-right Elzy?”

“U-Uh, y-yeah…” the goblinoid esper replied in a dazed tone as she forced her trembling body to slowly turn away from “darling Xolys”.

“Oh! Please don’t waste any more of your mana!” Olivia entreated. “You’ve done so much already! Leave this to the Ethereal Rose and her darling Xolys!”

With that, the tentacled terror opened his lamprey-like maw wide and, giving voice to an otherworldly screech, disgorged a twisting torrent of unreality. It smashed through the few boulders still falling and then hit the foot with the force of a thousand bullet trains, the eldritch energies drilling into the strange creature’s skin like a churning blender of broken tesseract fragments and transdimensional spectrum shards.

“H-Holy…”

“Fuck…”

”GRAAAHHHHHHH!” The foot-shaped monster howled. ”PAIN! MY ONLY WEAKNESS! WHO KNEWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwww…” And then with a satisfying pop, the creature vanished from sight.

With The Foot vanquished, the chamber’s collapse came to an abrupt halt, giving Elzy and Ashley a chance to catch their breath and take stock of the bizarre battle’s aftermath.

“Dat’z it?” Elzy wondered aloud. “E’z dead after juz one shot? Damn… Either e wuz a fuckin’ pushover, or dat beam packed some bigazz fuckin’ power!”

“Or he was a coward and teleported away after realizing the attack could actually harm him,” Ashley noted.

“Oh, I truly hope so!” Olivia spoke up, her hands clasped over her more sizable chest. “I would very much like to be able to examine him in greater detail, and there are so many questions I want to ask him! For instance, was he always just a giant foot, or was he at one point attached to a larger creature? Also, all those books over there seem to indicate that he liked to read,” the Ethereal Rose continued, pointing an elegant finger at the piles of books heaped up inside The Foot’s lair. “And I would just love to know what his favorite genres are!”

“‘Oly shit…” Elzy murmured as she slowly made her way over to the mass of tomes. “Are dose…?” Opening the front cover of the top book of the first stack she came to, her yellow eyes went wide. “An’ ‘ere ah dought dese got nicked by goblinz… Den again, ah guezz da gobboz coulda been workin’ fer diz Foot fucker…” the goblinoid esper mused.

Meanwhile, Olivia was still babbling away, although at least her current form made her voice considerably more pleasant to listen to.

“And speaking of teleporting, if there’s any way to track where he teleported to, darling Xolys could teleport after him, thanks to that Grimoire tuning Miss Eins provided! I know you said it should probably only be used for emergencies, darling,” she added as she smiled up at her eldritch consort. “But I think this certainly qualifies, don’t you?!”

“To be perfectly honest, my sweet,” Xolys began tentatively. “I believe it might be more prudent to depart these darkened tunnels and continue your search for young master Finn elsewhere, as it does not seem likely that he might be found anywhere in these depths, and the same can almost certainly be said of that unpleasant fellow we just encountered having any knowledge of his whereabouts.”

“You’re probably right, darling,” Olivia conceded. “You know how carried away I can get, and it wouldn’t do to get distracted from our real objective,” she added, before turning to the other two espers. “I know you’re both probably very busy with important esper matters, but would either of you like to continue helping me for a little while longer?” the azure-clad maiden inquired with a hopeful smile.

“Ah gotta git dese fingz back ta da library,” Elzy replied, patting one of the sizable stacks. “Dey went missin’ awhile ago, an’ ah’m sure da staff’ll be ‘appy ta see ‘em returned,” she added with a toothy grin. “Pluz, ah, uh, ain’t exactly cut out fer doin’ fingz topside…”

“I-I should probably assist Elzy with moving these books, since there seems to be an awful lot of them,” Ashley noted, while doing her best not to look directly at Olivia’s eldritch companion.

“Oh, but, um, weren’t you following me for some reason?” Olivia asked, her enchanting visage looking rather puzzled.

“Well, uh, about that…” Ashley began with an awkward smile. “I was asked by an acquaintance of yours to look after you, since you were planning on venturing into some of the more dangerous parts of the city and they were worried about your safety,” the Knight of Tomorrow explained. “H-However, after seeing how capably your, uh, darling Xolys here is able to deal with threats, I don’t think there’s any need for me to watch over you any longer.”

“Oh, you must mean Ashley!” Olivia replied with a jubilant smile. “She worries about me a lot, but that’s only because of how incredibly nice she is! But, um, how do the two of you know each other?”

“I saved her from a monster, once,” the high-tech heroine replied as she began picking up some of the piled books.

“Really?!” Olivia asked, her azure eyes gleaming with excitement. “I guess that explains why she’s been so worried about me running into any,” the blonde beauty observed. “But wait, you said you were an agent, correct? Does that mean you work for G.E.M.I.N.I.?”

“Yes, that’s right,” the Knight of Tomorrow confirmed.

“Oh wow!” Olivia exclaimed. “That means you probably know Finn! And probably even fought monsters together!”

“H-He told you he worked for G.E.M.I.N.I.?” Ashley asked, her tone filled with shock and perhaps a hint of anger.

“Oh, no!” Olivia clarified. “I learned that from some espers at the Great Escape!”

“I see…” Ashley murmured as she frowned in thought. “Well, to answer your question, we did work together for a time, but he chose to leave the organization due to some… differences in opinion.”

“Oh… I’m very sorry to hear that…” Olivia replied, her lovely visage taking on a more sullen countenance.

“It was honestly for the best,” Ashley reassured her. “The stresses associated with being an agent were starting to get to him, so I think a break from all that will do him a world of good.”

“Well, in that case, I hope he gets all the rest he needs!” Olivia replied, having returned to her usual upbeat exuberance.

“Speakin’ o’ rest,” Elzy spoke up. “Ah dink we’re gonna need some after haulin’ all dese bookz back…”

“If I may, Miss Elzy,” Xolys offered, raising a single scythed talon of a wickedly clawed appendage. “I believe I can greatly expedite the books’ transferal, and would be more than happy to provide such assistance.”

“O-Oh, uh, d-dankz fer da offer,” the goblin girl replied in a shaky voice as she hesitantly glanced over her shoulder at the eldritch monstrosity she’d been trying to forget was still there. “B-But, uh, ah don’t dink ya’d be able ta fit through all dem narrow tunnelz…”

“As it transpires, I think this would be a most pertinent instance in which to employ my trans-etheric teleportation abilities,” the gentleman horror declared, even as he scooped up several piles of books with his myriad tendrils. “I merely need to know the location you would like for these tomes to be deposited at.”

“W-Well, uh, in dat case, a-ah dink da annex is probably da best place fer ‘em, ‘least fer da time bein’,” a cringing Elzy stammered, her small body shuddering at the closeness of Xolys’s tentacles.

“But darling, don’t you need to have some knowledge of the location you want to teleport to?” Olivia asked.

“That shall not pose a problem,” Xolys assured her, even as he reached a tendril out towards a visibly horrified Elzy. “Please do not be alarmed, Miss Elzy,” he bid the cowering goblin. “I promise that you shall experience no discomfort. All I ask is that you call a memory of the annex to the forefront of your mind.”

“O-Okay…” Elzy confirmed, wincing and squeezing her eyes shut as Xolys prepared to place his tendril upon her forehead.

“There,” the gentleman horror announced as he retracted the appendage. “That should suffice. Thank you, Miss Elzy.”

“Uh, sure fing…” the goblinoid esper replied with a mixture of relief and surprise. “Y’know, dat actually wuzn’t even close ta bein’ az bad az ah dought’d be…”

“Of course it wasn’t!” Olivia replied with a sweetly harmonious giggle. “Darling Xolys is a perfect gentleman!”

“Thank you my dearest,” Xolys told the blonde beauty with a respectful bow. “Now then, if there are no objections, let us take our leave.”

Once everyone had given their assent, a swirling vortex of eldritch energy quickly enveloped the quartet, and after a bright flash, they found themselves in the library’s annex, along with all the stolen books.

“And here we are,” Xolys announced, his massive form having considerably reduced its size in order to fit in the smaller space. “I trust no one experienced any discomfort?”

“No, not at all,” Ashley replied.

“Same ‘ere,” Elzy added.

“I’ve traveled through portals before, but this was my first time teleporting such a considerable distance,” Ashley noted. “It’s a very impressive ability.”

“Isn’t it, though?!” Olivia agreed, her azure eyes gleaming with excitement. “Teleporting really tires darling out, so he has to rest for a while before he’s able to do it again,” she explained while affectionately caressing one of Xolys’s tendrils. “But with enough training, I’m sure he’ll be able to overcome that limitation completely!”

“As optimistic as ever, my sweet,” Xolys noted with a chuckle as he gently wrapped an eldritch appendage around her, causing the fair maiden to giggle with delight. “Though, while I have greatly enjoyed our time together, I believe it might be best if you returned to your mundane form,” he advised. “I fear it would cause quite a commotion if I were to enter the main library.”

“I suppose you’re right, darling,” Olivia conceded with a sigh, closing her eyes as she embraced and lovingly nuzzled one of her consort’s tentacles, while Ashley and Elzy watched the incongruous pair with no small amount of awkwardness. “See you when I get back home,” she told him, before a burst of azure energy saw the eldritch monstrosity vanish and the beguiling beauty return to her normal, nerdy appearance. “Well, um, I guess I’ll be heading off now,” Olivia told her new friends in her usual nasally voice. “It was really nice meeting you Elzy! And you, too, Orion!” she added with a wave. “Thanks again for all the help!”

With that, she headed up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

“So, um, do you need any help with organizing these?” Ashley inquired after a moment, gesturing to the books piled up on the floor.

“Nah,” Elzy replied with a dismissive wave of her clawed hand. “Da staff’ll ‘andle dat. ‘Sidez, ah’ll bet yer ready ta ‘ead ‘ome yerself,” she added with a knowing smirk. “Diz place haz all sortz ‘o secret tunnelz,” the goblinoid esper noted, pressing a hidden button that slid back part of the wall to reveal a small passage. “Ah’ll give ya some privacy if ya wanna change back,” she told Ashley. “We esperz gotta keep our secretz, right?” the goblin girl asked with a wink.

“Uh, yes, that’s right,” Ashley confirmed, before giving the smaller esper an appreciative smile. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Elzy called as she began crawling into the tunnel. “Say,” the goblin girl added, pausing to look back at the high-tech heroine. “Ya dink she’ll stay outta trouble now?”

Ashley frowned as she looked towards the stairs. “I certainly hope so…”

---

“Oh, what an exciting day this was, darling!” Olivia gushed as she cuddled with Xolys on her apartment’s bed. “I got to meet so many fascinating people and even saw a monster! I only wish I could have gotten a chance to say goodbye to Finn as well,” she added with a slight frown. “I know Faith said that Miss Sharr only wanted to talk with him, but I hope she doesn’t try to end his vacation prematurely…”

“There’s no way of knowing for certain, my sweet,” Xolys replied. “But perhaps Miss Sammy and Miss Brittany were able to locate them before that potentiality could be made manifest?” It might have been grasping at proverbial straws, but anything that might calm Olivia’s worries was worth a try. After all, it wasn’t as if there was very much chance of running into the detective and shopkeeper again before he and Olivia departed Pax Septimus.

Then, as if she could be conjured by merely saying her name, Sammy pushed open the door to the apartment. The teenage detective stood in the doorway. She looked like she had been dragged through an army obstacle course. Her outfit was caked with everything from mud to trash. Her eyes held a thousand yard stare, and her knees were buckled just from the effort it took to stand. Behind her were several cats that were better off, but not by much.

”He got away.”

She promptly fell forward and went out like a light.

It had been an interesting last few days, but Sokaiya wasn’t a fan of sitting around. There was still something she had to take care of at GEMINI HQ now that she had access to its facilities. She exited her apartment that she had just recently rented. It was a humble little place, faded paint, some worn utilities, but it was serviceable and comfortable enough. She hobbled her way a short way down the street as she approached a shed that was secured with a few large padlocks. But the shed was in such a condition, with broken dusty cobwebbed windows that Sokaiya doubted anyone would ever bother to check what was inside.

Slowly but surely pulling out a key-ring from her pouch she inserted one key after another until she found the right ones to undo each padlock. It was a quiet enough afternoon, no one seemed to be around as she started to swing open the creaking dilapidated door of the shed. Revealing a covered car as she let out a sigh moving over to it as she used her cane to poke up underneath the corner of the cover, giving it a flick as she flinged the cover off revealing the old muscle car underneath. Blue with white racing stripes down the middle, it was her pride and joy, a relic much like herself.

Standing there as she admired it for a moment she ran her old hand down the side of the door to the door handle. “Nothing is better than an ole classic, how about we go for a little ride and stir up some trouble….” settling into the bucket seat as she took the key from the key ring and jammed it into the ignition, shutting the door with a satisfying thud. She threw over the lap belt and secured it as she turned the key, giving the car a little gas as its small block fired up and started to rumble, the sensation of the engine shaking the car, the smell, the feel, it was all how cars were meant to be as far as Sokaiya was concerned.

She reached her old hand down and grabbed the shifter, giving it a small wiggle as she engaged it into first gear as it rumbled out of the shed. She took a right as she started to cruise through the streets on her way to GEMINI. Taking it easy as she came to a stop at a stop sign, a much newer and modern car rolled up alongside, a young man with sunglasses at the wheel as she glanced over.

“What's up with that old pile of scrap, did the both of you just escape the museum of ancient history or something Grandma? I paid top dollar for this marvel of technology, with all the bells and whistles….” Laughing as he bragged and taunted, which only brought a devious smile to the old woman.

“Oh? This ole thing? It's just an old Shelby, how about we have a little race young man, let's see just how fast that super-car of yours is….” Throwing down the challenge to the young man, baiting the hook as she knew someone like him would jump at the chance to show off his expensive toy.

“Don’t make me laugh Grandma, that bucket of bolts will fall apart before you even hit 20, but you're on, I’d hate to do this to my elders, but you asked for it….”

Sokaiya laughed as she sat up in her seat, gripping the shifter a little tighter as she revved the small block a few times as the young man did the same with his car. They made eye contact one last time and with a nod of the head the race began, the young man shooting off ahead as Sokaiya remained stationary for a moment giving him a head start. Once she was satisfied she had waited long enough, she dropped the clutch, her foot mashed against the gas pedal as the small block roared to life, firing on all cylinders, tires squealing as she left a cloud of smoke behind. Running him down, she was able to pull up alongside him as he looked over in surprise and confusion, having thought he had it in the bag easily from the start. He started to push his own car even more, Sokaiya grinned as she flipped a switch on her steering wheel to reveal a button, jamming her old thumb onto it as it engaged the NOS which threw her back into her seat as she rocketed ahead leaving the young man in her dust.

In his efforts to keep up he lost control, spinning out as he hit a few trash cans as his car came to a skidding stop, he slammed his hands on the dashboard in frustration “That damn old hag, just what the hell is she driving, a rocket ship?” He blurted out as he watched her disappear into the distance.

That little bit of fun concluded, Sokaiya finally reached GEMINI HQ, parking a short distance away in the most secluded area she could find. Wanting to ensure that no one disturbed her ride, she hobbled her way over to HQ. Making her way inside she started to take a good look around, wanting to get a better idea of the building's layout as she had only gotten a glimpse of it for a brief period before.

She quickly noticed that the HQ was not as busy as the last time she had been here, which likely explained why she was hired in the first place. She made her way around the building bit by bit, exploring as she came to a brief stop outside some of the more important locations, eyeing them over for a moment as she got familiar with the place.

Once she had finished her exploration, she made her way to the nearest computer terminal as she took a glance around before she pulled a data transmitter from her pouch and plugged it into the terminal. She then opened it up and started to dig through the files that were available to her, as she started to dig through the last few mission debriefing reports making note of the details as she found the debriefing for the last mission.

Searching through the files, she came across the personal roster and files of all that had been involved. She reached back into her pouch and pulled out an ear piece as she stuck it into her ear. “I need you to start pulling as many files as you can manage, if you can breach into the more confidential stuff that will be a bonus….”She muttered in her old wizened voice as the data transmitter started to glow.

“Your voice sounds different, I don’t like this one bit, don’t you know that GEMINI works for the government, they are all aliens in disguise ... .reptilians or even greys…all organized to fund the agenda of world domination so they can sell us lawn mowers that we will have no choice to buy, creating a monopoly….” the frantic and conspiracy laced voice in her ear respond as Sokaiya let out a sigh “Just focus…its likely the signal causing a bit of interference ”

Pausing her search when she came across Finn’s file, the word resigned plastered across his image as she read through the debriefing of his actions during the last operation. “Interesting…it seems he has taken a new path…a far more interesting path...” smiling as she flipped through the file reading the details about the failed rescue of Regina Bates, and the appearance of Tony of The Hand. Once she was satisfied with that bit, she searched through the next few files, pausing when she came to the bit that contained information about Raphael and the short little team up with GEMINI, “Desperate times call for desperate measure I suppose, the numbers thin, but the pressure never decreases, but it does at least explain the Churches presence…its a shame that fella survived” She also made note of the personal file of the free lancer Sovereign who had been listed as KIA and was the one that had seemingly attacked Raphael without warning "A shame...its a wonder that they have no details about the motive but it doesn't matter now I s'pose..."

Flipping through a few more files, covering the debriefing from the Knight of Tomorrow and Cerberus, she felt satisfied with the information she had been able to glean, plus the other data that would be gathered by her accomplice may provide even more juicy knowledge. “Finish up, I’m done here, this old lady is ready for her afternoon nap…besides my sister seems to be having more fun than me lately so I gotta step it up…” removing the earpiece right away to avoid the response of her accomplice as she put it back into her pouch, before she took the data transmitter and put it back as well.

Grabbing her cane, she began to hobble away back down a hall and making her way towards the exit. “Oh GEMINI, my dear GEMINI, look at the hard times that have befell upon you..”

"At the same time of Ash- ...Wait, no, it's Olivia's post."

The mech continued to stomp its way through Pax Septimus with a feline-riding detective in hot pursuit. She looked quite small from atop the mech, even if it was only fifteen or so feet tall.

”Timekeeper! I’ll rescue you!”

Finn was hoisted higher into the air, and a hatch on the top of the mech opened up. Sharr popped her head out and looked up at the lad. ”Oh, that can’t be comfortable.” She stretched out her hands. ”Don’t be scared.” The mech dropped Finn into Sharr’s arms, and she pulled him inside the mech. Sharr slid down a ladder as the hatch shut and the two were safely inside. She released the boy and kept one hand on the ladder. ”That should give us some privacy. How about you get strapped into the cockpit?”

"You better be knowing what you're doing, Aria!" Despite his hesitance, it did seem like the woman wasn't here to shoot him or something for ditching GEMINI, so that's fortunate. Though he couldn't assume anything yet. Finn quickly moved to sit at the cockpit. He hadn't been in here since they had last worked on fixing the mech, so he couldn't help his curiously glancing around the interior.

"But at least I should thank you for stepping in! I didn't think anyone would genuinely be searching for me." Not that the boy was wanting to be found right now.

”I thought finding you would be difficult, but you were just there. Luck must be smiling on you for us to meet completely by chance at such a moment.” Sharr giggled. ”Well, I only needed the mech to make my escape. I think you'll need it now more than I will.”

“Hey, long time no see.” Someone called out from below.

Soon as Finn heard that voice, he swore he could feel his heart jump. It couldn't be. It had been so long he figured she ether got killed or got sick of him. The boy hesitantly, almost fearfully, turned in the direction of...

”Ahh, I almost forgot. I ran into one of your friends earlier. She's presently in the co-pilot seat. Perhaps you recognize her voice?” Sharr grinned.

_{"K-Klava...?"} There was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He still couldn't trust Ari- Er, Sharr, but if there was still some hope that someone he had regarded as a mentor was alive this whole time?

“Did you say something? I couldn't hear over the engine, Or maybe Miss smugs-a-lot's lead head is blocking the sound.” Yes, that was Klava.

”This is what I get for helping a stranger.” Sharr shrugged her shoulders. ”Anyway, I'll let ol' Rime Rose, Frost Maiden, Klava, whatever you want to call her, I'm sure she can explain everything.” She climbed back up the ladder. ”Just outrun this feline riding delinquent. I'll keep the witch busy.” And with that, Sharr climbed out of the mech and dove off. Sure enough, Brittany changed course to go after the escaped Gemini reasercher.

Oh. Okay, uh, Aria Sharr was leaving him to drive the plane so to speak. Cool. Hopefully he wouldn't cause too much damage outside. Finn focused on piloting the mech, steering through more narrow and crowded paths to outrun their remaining pursuer. But something still ate at him.

"Klava, I-I thought you died. What happened?" He asked the maiden.

“I’m sort of a badass. You thought I’d let furry Sofron kill me?” Klava relinquished control of the mech as soon as Finn took over. “It was a closer call than most. Sofron and I took a dip in the ocean, and it was a little cold. We probably should have died, but he’s just as badass as I am so we were able to make it back to shore. We talked a bit and we both decided we were too good for our former employers, which is when I met the goat man y’see. After that, well, I think we both know what happens after that, eh?”

"You're working for the Bookman too?!" Finn seemed to brighten up, immediately catching on to what Klava was implying. For once in a long while, the boy genuinely grinned. "That's great! We can actually work together again!"

“We’re freelancers, we get to work with whoever we want.” Klava unbuckled her harness. Finn couldn’t see her, but he could hear her scrambling up to the hatch. It popped open and, without revealing herself, she lobbed a snowball out of the hatch.

”Whoa!” Sammy’s cat swerved to avoid it, but the snowball detonated and caused everything nearby to acquire a layer of frost. It didn’t freeze anything solid, but both cat and rider were quite slippery now. This was to say nothing of the ground. ”A complication! The teenage detective was struggling to stay mounted, but her feline was struggling to maintain traction. The cat fell on its side, Sammy rolled off her mount, and the two slid to a stop while Finn made his escape.

“I was the one who told you to work for Gemini. Figured you’d be back in the faction dating pool sooner rather than later.” The hatch closed and she swiftly returned to her seat. “Speaking of dates, that all worked out okay for ya? She was still alive last time I checked.”

"...You don't wanna know. He sighed, grimacing. Would've told her how it really went, but at this rate, he couldn't really bother. Did he really just not understand how any of it worked? Or was he just misread, like usual?

"If I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't think I'm cut out for...well, dating and stuff. Betty deserves better than something like me. And I'm starting to think I don't really feel any romantic attraction in general?" Finn confided to Klava. "I'm not sure. Probably not gonna be sure for a while."

“Your balls haven’t even dropped yet. You still need to start your playboy arc once you hit eighteen. Just ignore your parents and keep experimenting until you find something that works, mkay?” Klava finished buckling herself in. She had never really thought too hard about long term relationships. People changed too quickly, and today’s heartthrob was tomorrow’s icky ex. “Probs best to to keep your distance for some time, yea? Don't get tied down to someone if you’re going to play around with goat guy’s sort. Hopefully Gemini doesn’t harass Bets too much on account of you doing this.” Maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say to someone who perpetually hated themselves, but there were no undo buttons in life.

If there were, she’d have suggested Finn tap his a few times.

“So now that you’re the proud owner of a giant war robot, where are we going?”

Finn hummed in thought. "Well, Bookman said they've already arranged for me a place to stay, so guess I gotta look for it." The boy shrugged. "Also maybe somewhere to park this damn thing. Wanna keep trying to tune it up to where no one notices it used to be built with tractors, hah."

“Yea, I know the place. It's probably the same one that he offered me. There's a huge parking garage right beside it, so we just gotta shake everyone that's following you.” Klava looked at her radar on the HUD. “Which must have just been that cat riding highschooler.”

"Cat riding...?" Finn trailed off, the way that was describe seemed a bit jarring to him, then sighed. "Espers are weird. Right, let's get outta here!"

It was shortly after her less-than-pleasant first operation with Sokaiya that Ashley was once again contacted by the mysterious High Priest. Although she was still somewhat suspicious of the enigmatic individual’s motives, the Knight of Tomorrow was forced to admit that their objectives seemed to align with her own, and those of G.E.M.I.N.I., or at least, they had thus far. As she took a seat on the park bench she’d been directed to await further instructions at, the high-tech heroine only hoped that would continue to be the case.

It was only a few minutes later that a certain other esper appeared at the park. Though her esper form didn’t show it, Marrie’s eyes had terrible bags under them from the late nights she’d been pulling ever since the Trains incident. Between training even harder than before and searching for leads on the Bates, she hadn’t gotten much sleep, if any.

It was only a moment after she arrived that she noticed Orion sitting at the same place that she herself had been instructed to wait. Which had to mean they were both contacted by the same person.

”Hey, Orion. How’s it going?” Marrie asked as she walked over to the bench and gave a wave, her tiredness audible in her voice. Once she was standing a few feet in front of her, she continued. ”I take it you got the same message I did?”

“Hi, Gale,” Ashley replied, holding up her hand to greet the blue-haired esper. However, before she could say anything further, both of their phones vibrated at the same time. They had been pulled into a group chat with the one and only High Priest.

Long time no chat my fellow espers! I always loved Tree Corner Park. It has a strange absence of trees, but it's got so many lovely walkways that go up and down those beautiful green mounds. It's the perfect place to walk your dog or lure some espers out in the open so that you can snipe them from a far off building!

There were quite a few buildings that made the area easy to spy on. Aside from the occasional park bench near a paved walkway, there was nothing to take cover behind, save for diving into a shallow man-made pond for visiting birds. But the next thing to make a sound was their group chat.



On a more serious note, good job you two. Marrie has more or less replaced Timekeeper as the face of the Freelancer underdog, and Orion is changing perceptions of G.E.M.I.N.I. operatives. Between the two of you, it may be possible to call for a team up between G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick Alternative. What the Gems were able to do to the Holy Diver on their own was impressive, but you'll need to join forces if you hope to take on the hand directly.

Marrie didn’t look up from her phone at the mention of the possible sniper. There were plenty of equally or better spots to shoot from, and they had view of locations she was much more frequently at or passing through. More important, to her, was the timing. She flinched from her tired muscles screaming at her as she squatted down. After a few seconds she began looking under the bench, then around the back. Even if the High Priest wasn’t, the possibility of someone spying on them was not something she’d accept.

Despite the High Priest’s customarily eccentric ramblings causing her to feel a brief twinge of panic at the thought of walking into a trap, Ashley was able to quickly refocus on the core point of the message. A team up, huh? While she had no great love for the Mavericks, the possibility of uniting against a common foe was rather appealing. Indeed, if they had both worked together, rather than storming Justin’s mansion independently, the vampire might have been vanquished far sooner. “Hmm… I doubt it’s going to be easy, but I suppose it’s worth a shot. What do you think Gale?” the Knight of Tomorrow inquired, looking up from her phone to find the bluenette peering under the bench. “Um, Gale? Is everything okay?”

Looking up at Ashley for a moment, Marrie replied. ”I think it’ll be really tough to get Maverick to deal with Gemini, at least,” she stifled a yawn, ”at the organizational level.” After checking the bottom of the bench, she moved to the back. ”It’d be a lot easier to get the individuals on each side to agree, though even that’s going to be hard to do. A lot of biases and bad experiences have to be addressed.”

Having looked over the bench, Marrie went back to lean on the side of it, her arms straight to support her weight. ”Doesn’t look like anyone’s listening in. If it was High Priest, I wouldn’t be super upset since it’d speed up the conversation, but I wanted to make sure that,” another yawn, this one unsuppressed, made its way out of her mouth, ”nobody else was spying on us.” Her body slumped as her legs bent so she could rest her head on her now folded arms. Standing like she was had already gotten uncomfortable. ”That said, I don’t doubt that someone is spying somehow, even if I can’t find how.”

Their phones vibrated again.

Can’t respond? My big brain plan must have blown your minds!

Oh! Are you guys not super big on texting? It wasn’t a problem in the past but we can have a phone call if you’d prefer.

Anywho, news about Orion helping Cthulhya is making the rounds, and while news about Time Keeper’s heel turn is pretty hush hush, he’s always gone out of his way to make things as miserable as possible for the Mavericks. Knowing that he’s not with G.E.M.I.N.I. anymore is sure to make the idea of a teamup a lot more palatable. Maybe that alone won’t do much, but Marrie is everyone’s best friend. If she thinks you’re cool, you can bet you’ll get a lot of their respect right off the bat.

I can probably get you in touch with a few more people if you need their help, but whaddaya say? Sounds doable, right?

->>>It sounds like something we could try. Ashley texted back.

->>>But I doubt it’s going to be that easy.

She had to admit, Gale’s paranoia was a bit concerning, although she supposed it never hurt to be cautious. What was substantially more worrisome was the bluenette’s apparent fatigue, which didn’t bode well if they needed to engage in combat.

“Are you feeling all right, Gale?” the high-tech heroine inquired. “You sound pretty tired.”

Marrie managed to pull her phone up to see the chat again. ”Just… Been pushing myself a lot. I messed up again, so I need to be able to fix that, and I’m not yet.” Another glance at her phone. ”Who’s Time Keeper? Someone left Gemini?”

​​“He’s… He was a young agent,” Ashley replied. ​​“Too young, if I’m being honest. He was going through several… issues of late, but instead of seeking help, or even taking time off to recover, he insisted he was fine, only to botch multiple missions by repeatedly failing to follow orders. After the train operation, he just ran off, and no one’s seen him since.” She sighed. “I’m sorry to hear about your own failure,” the Knight of Tomorrow added. “But I’m glad you’re working on improving yourself.” It was more than Finn had ever done, after all. “As long as you can recognize your weaknesses, you should be able to eventually overcome them,” she told the bluenette with an encouraging smile. As annoyed as Ashley had been at Gale’s ineptitude during the mission to eliminate Sofron, the blue-haired esper was clearly trying to learn from her mistakes, and the Knight of Tomorrow could only admire that.

Marrie’s fingers on one hand slowly typed out a message while her other stayed on the back of the bench. ->>>I don’t know about your reasoning, but I’m down for trying to get everyone to work together.

->>>I just don’t know if the leaders will agree to it.

Is anything easy in Pax? Is anything without risk?

You need to have more faith in yourselves! You have a common enemy and I think both sides can see that.

It’s not as if Dr. Moller was always a staunch monster hater. She works very hard to keep it hidden, but when she used to be a field operative she was absolutely smitten by a certain woman respecting mechromancer!

That revelation honestly wasn’t a surprise, at least as far as Ashley was concerned. Dr. Moller had always been rather eccentric, and seeing how amicably she had interacted with infamous Depraved Esper Oros the Mad in the aftermath of The Diver’s defeat, the Knight of Tomorrow fully expected the director to be amenable to at least a temporary ceasefire with the Mavericks in order to eliminate a common foe. No, it was the monster-loving terrorists’ own leadership, and members in general, that the high-tech heroine was worried about.

->>>I can see Director Moller being agreeable, Ashley texted.

->>>But I’m afraid Maverick as a whole has little desire to cooperate with G.E.M.I.N.I. at any level.

->>>Especially in the wake of the recent debacle at Dante’s, she added after a moment.

Once more, it seemed that Marrie was out of the loop. After reading what Orion had sent, she decided to ask for more information. ”What happened? I don’t know that I know of a place called Dante’s, but it sounds like it raised tensions?”

“To put it mildly. It was a meeting place for monsters and magi that was run by a sandman who had been attacking Time Keeper’s dreams, further eroding his already fragile mental state,” Ashley explained. “During a mission to investigate the establishment, Time Keeper disobeyed my orders and rushed inside, where he instigated a full-blown brawl, one which culminated in the entire place being set on fire and the sandman, Dante, being killed by Time Keeper before we could get any real answers. On top of that, Dante apparently had a daughter, who promptly joined the Mavericks once she saw her father had been murdered. So, yes,” the high-tech heroine concluded. “Pretty much nothing good came of that operation, all thanks to Time Keeper…”

->>>I don’t see Billy being a problem unless something goes wrong, so if Gemini’s bosses can avoid getting rejected by people higher up than them it might be possible.

->>>I doubt the government is willing to work with with a designated terrorist group even if the people in it might be.

”I dunno how the bureaucracy of Gemini works, but I wouldn’t be surprised to have a deal be ready and then get axed by someone in another state for PR reasons.”

Maverick Alternative is a designated terrorist organisation [i]because[/i] of G.E.M.I.N.I. my dudes. There are plenty of things they could do, legitimate or underhanded, to get around [i]that[/i] little problem. Besides, we’re talking about Fritz here. The hard part is going to be getting her and Billy to work together.

But what am I doing here? You guys already sound like you’re on board! Unfortunately I’m a little lost as to how I could help you guys further. I have lots of connections, but nothing that would really help with this. You guys are already pretty revered by G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick Alternative respectively. But if there’s anything you’d like me to do, please don’t hesitate to ask! These favors aren’t going to call themselves in!

->>>If you can gather anything about where Elroy Bates went or the tiger guy who took Regina Bates somewhere that would be great.

->>>Chasing rumors is really time consuming. Don’t want to do anything to put another target on my back in the process either.

->>>Agreed, Ashley added.

->>>It’s almost a certainty that they were abducted by The Hand to be brainwashed, but if we could strike whatever facility they’re being held at before the procedure happens, we’d gain a significant advantage.

The Knight of Tomorrow knew it was certainly a long-shot, but it was still worth the attempt.

Huh? ”You think the tiger guy was with The Hand?” That was not good news. ”If that’s the case…” With enough information to not be searching for a random tiger person, she would have a much easier time getting more. The problem was… If she was going to be working with G.E.M.I.N.I. anyway, there was no reason to go digging. ”Then you guys probably have some info on him, right?”

Under her breath, Marrie muttered. ”Too bad we don’t know where one of their fronts is…”

“Yes,” Ashley confirmed with a nod. “He’s Big Tony, leader of the Weretiger Mafia and one of The Hand’s key members. I tried to eliminate him while you were attempting to rescue Regina, but unfortunately, Time Keeper decided to screw everything up again…”

”Oh.” Things suddenly clicked for Marrie. But in that case… ”Any idea where his, uh, ‘Mafia’ is based from?”

Their back and forth was interrupted by their phones chiming. High Priest responded again.

A little bird told me you recently got a mole in your organisation to give up the location of another key Hand member’s hideout. If time is of the essence, then maybe I could start looking there? I certainly have the connections to run intelligence for you. If you can get me the location, I’ll be able to tell you if the Bates are there lickity split, tiger boy too. And if the Bates have not been brainwashed yet, then I’ll be able to report that back to you as well.

The Hand isn’t stupid. They know you’re coming for them and are preparing. That’s why you need to be even better prepared. Call in every favor you can think of and you can achieve a decisive victory against them.

Marrie pulled her phone back to her sight and… blink. Another. A third. ”If that’s the case…” Finally, the tiredness seemed to leave her voice as she perked up and looked directly at Ashley. ”If I could just get to one of their…” Was it worth asking? If the hideout was occupied, then the chance was lower, but… ”Do you think you could get to it?” She went back to her phone, almost excitedly.

->>>If you can get there physically, is there a place I can meet you or your workers to give you something?



Tree Corner Park and the surrounding buildings are squeaky clean. If you want to pass something off to me, I can have a delegate at your position with two shakes of a lamb’s tail.

“Yes,” Ashley told Marrie after the other esper had finished typing. “Like High Priest mentioned, we have the location where an agent was recently brainwashed. From what we’ve been able to gather, the individual responsible seems to be some form of AI, possibly serving as their command and control center. We’re already planning to mount an assault on it, but if you’d like to lend your support, we could always use the extra help.”

”Like an actual coded program? Or are we talking about like… a magical being that can go into cyberspace?”

“I honestly have no idea,” Ashley confessed with a frown. “It was described as a giant TV screen with a very odd name, so perhaps it’s some form of artificially intelligent monster. Whatever the case, all evidence points to it being the source of The Hand’s advanced technology. Cerberus mentioned that during the ambush at the abandoned church there were several cybernetically augmented construction workers among the attacking forces,” the Knight of Tomorrow continued. “I think there’s a good chance that it’s what’s responsible for creating them.”

Once more, Marrie’s eyes went wide. ”That explains it, then.” Standing up straight, the blue-haired esper nearly bit her index finger before stopping herself from the habit. ”Alright, I’m gonna have High Priest send someone over here, okay?” A pause. ”If you ask why, you have to promise not to tell anyone you work for.” Her thumb hovered over her phone, ready to type a message once Ashley agreed.

[color=MediumSpringGreen]“All right,” Ashley replied after a moment. “G.E.M.I.N.I.’s security has already been compromised once, so I’m fine with keeping this between us.” She only hoped what Gale was planning would improve the upcoming assault’s chances of success, rather than hinder them…

Marrie nodded, a serious look taking over. ”Alright.”

->>>Can you send whoever to come pick something up? If your people can use it, I think it’ll help.

A short delay, another message. Sure! They’ve already been dispatched!

->>>It would also be helpful if you were able to gain some intel on the penthouse a giant TV of The Hand’s is located in, as well as on the construct itself, Ashley added.

->>>I’m unsure of its exact name, but I was told it was something like “Morning Dragon Fruit”.

I’ll look into it.

Turning to Marrie she inquired in a low voice, “What kind of plan did you have in mind?”

”This.” Marrie reached under her Style’s top and pulled out a small rectangle. ”It’s what I’ve been working on since… well, actually, since shortly after our first mission together.” Holding it out to Ashley, Marrie took a cap off of one end to reveal a USB-C connector. After a few seconds, she put it back on and took off the other end, showing that it had a USB-A connector there. Putting that back on as well, she pointed with her free hand to one side of the thumb drive where there sat nine numbered buttons and a tenth with a key on it.

”If the enemy isn’t a magical cyberspace manipulator, this should work. It, uh…” Marrie’s expression turned sheepish. ”It’s pretty powerful. If we can get it into one of their computers, we should be golden.”

“I see…” Ashley murmured as she looked over the data stick. “So I take it this contains some sort of computer virus?”

Ashley received a nod in response. ”There’s a handful of them. To not bore you with the details, if we can get this onto one of their computers, and if it’s connected to their network, or if they try to remove the virus but salvage the machine or any data on it… This’ll give me full access to whatever network they’re on, and most if not all of the connected machines.” Marrie’s finger shot up. ”There’s a few possibilities that could stop it, and if the ‘AI’ they have is actually magic, it can probably stop me. But unless they’re using computers that are so old they barely work, or so new that they use quantum computing parts without a regular machine to interface with it, it should work.”

“Based on what I’ve seen of The Hand’s technology so far, it’s probably going to be a long shot,” Ashley noted glumly. “But it’s probably also the best chance we have of substantially disrupting their operations and gaining access to their information network.”

Their phones vibrated.

Your UberEats delivery is approaching!

Sure enough, approaching the duo was a short woman, or perhaps a girl, dressed in an oversized trench coat. Her hands and legs were concealed under the baggy getup, with her only other accessory being a STEYER cap that had seen better days. Her skin was as white as snow, and her hair was as black as shadow. It took her some time, but she eventually arrived at the bench.

Once she was before the two, her left hand slid out of the center of the trench coat and brust one side of it off. The flesh on her arm was no less pale than her face, though her nails had been painted onyx black.

”I was told you had something for High Priest, the most amazing something, a something worth getting excited over. A beautiful something, maybe?” She turned over her palm.

Marrie carefully placed the thumbdrive in the girl’s outstretched hand. ”All you’ve gotta do is plug it in, there’s an A connector and a C connector so whichever one, and then press the key button, input seven-one-three-five-five, and press the key again. The little light on the side will start flashing blue. Once it’s solid blue, it’s done and you can get out.”

She held up two fingers. ”I’ve tested it on the largest range of computers I could, and the installation takes between fourteen seconds and forty-three minutes depending on the hardware, so make sure you don’t get in trouble while it’s plugged in.” She put one finger down. ”More importantly, once it’s been plugged in, it’ll wipe itself. We only get one shot with this. It doesn’t have to be an important computer, just one that you’re confident will get used by someone.” Her second finger curled as well.

”I’ve only got one other of these, so I’m counting on you guys.”

The girl nodded her head along with the detailed instructions of what to do with the vaguely described device. ”You can count on me to get this thing into a computer. I’ll get it into a computer so fast you’re going to be like ‘whoa, slow down, not so fast!’ That’s how fast I can get this to where it needs to go.” Her right arm slid out of her coat. It looked like a prosthetic that had been cobbled together from old engine parts. At least mostly, there were some pistons that were notably newer than the others that allowed the entire thing to move with the smoothness of a human hand. They were arranged on the back of the hand, arm, and finger to realistically simulate human muscles. ”Got a preference for when I get this baby uploaded? ASAP or, like, maybe a few hours before you plan on attacking?”

”If there’s a scouting mission, that would be a good chance. Otherwise, the sooner it’s done, the more info I can gather.” She paused for a second before continuing. ”On the other hand, the sooner it’s up, the more time they have to try to stop it…”

Marrie turned to Ashley. ”Any preference?”

“Well, if it’s just meant to gain information, I think the sooner we use it the better,” Ashley replied. “But if it will actively attack their infrastructure and shut down security systems, then perhaps employing it just before our assault would be the more effective option.”

”Then I’ll wait for High Priest to get in touch with me.” She pulled her hands back inside the oversized coat. ”Did you need anything else?”

”I can’t think of anything else. Hopefully we won’t remember something after you’ve already left.”

“I don’t have anything else to add either, except to wish you good luck,” Ashley added. In all honesty, she wasn’t entirely comfortable with relying on so mysterious an ally in the first place, but at this point, anything was worth a shot.

The stranger used her bionic hand to slap her chest before casting it over her head. This caused her coat to swing open a bit wider. Despite how heavy the trench coat looked, she wasn’t wearing much underneath it. ”No need for luck, no luck needed for me. You can keep that luck for yourselves. You’re going to need all that luck.” And with that, they turned around and began the slow, arduous trek out of the park.

I’ve just been notified that the transaction was successful. I think the next order of business is going to be to get as many people in on this as possible. Within reason, of course. Last thing we need for our carefully crafted plan is for some brainwashed tag-a-long to rat everything out to the Hand. I say you two see about getting the doctor and mechromancer working together and then hire as many trustworthy espers as you dare.

->>>Understood, Ashley texted back, even as she tried to think of what Freelancers might be agreeable to taking on such a mission, while also not being more of a hindrance than a help.

While Dead Head was fairly competent, he was also rather volatile. G.E.M.I.N.I. had pretty thoroughly burned their bridges with MDP and The Pounder after the Dante debacle (thanks Finn!). Elzy only dealt with goblins, and Noble Spark seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. Hopefully he was still alive and simply lost to the Marvel Rivals brainrot the Knight of Tomorrow had been told her little brother was being treated for… That just left Mary and her merry band of misanthropic misfits, who, like DH, seemed just a bit too chaotic for such a sensitive operation. Still, after planning out all its various facets, perhaps there would be a suitable role for them after all. Only time would tell.

“I suppose I should be wishing you luck as well, Gale,” Ashley told the bluenette. “I get the feeling you’ll be having the more challenging time of things, between the two of us. Nice work with that device, by the way,” she added with a smile. “You must be really talented with that sort of thing.”

”If I was talented, it-...” Her voice petered out as Marrie looked down at nothing. After a moment she looked back up. ”Thanks.” She smiled. ”I’ll try to get Maverick onboard. I could check the Great Escape, but I don’t know anyone super personally. There’s an investigator, but I don’t really want to put her in harm’s way by snooping around for this place, especially if High Priest is confident that they can get it handled. If I’m lucky, I might be able to get some extra gear for those of us who go.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Ashely agreed. “Hopefully the intel gained by High Priest’s scouting mission will give us an idea of what we’ll be going up against and allow us to prepare accordingly.”

Jumpscare phone blip. It was HP again.

Actually, maybe I do have something else you could do. I get the feeling Orion was hoping to smash some heads

Very well. You may not remember, but during the diver fiasco, Binky was going toe to toe with a second smaller behemoth. I wouldn’t fault you if you don’t remember; there was a lot of exciting things happening that day. Said behemoth’s true name is Ynqriolli the Dawnraiser, or maybe that’s the magi that it’s soul is bound to? Either way, I think “Rising Sun” is what G.E.M.I.N.I. has classified it as. It’s also a member of the Hand. One of the more useless members, mind you. Merely extra muscle to throw at durable targets. But if you take care of it now, maybe your operation will go smoother?

I’ll leave your own research to you, but the magi it’s soul is tied to is none other than the disarmingly young but incredibly intelligent president of Pax Septimus University. I imagine he is formidable, but I would not bring a lot of agents with you. Despite everything, he is far more beast than man, and you risk more than your own lives if you engage him the wrong way.

Ashley frowned upon reading the High Priest’s opinion that she wanted to engage in battle, as she didn’t really consider herself to be a particularly violent individual (unlike a certain “obedient little killer”), but when she saw the proposed target to be eliminated, the high-tech heroine knew she couldn’t turn away from such an opportunity. Still, taking on even a lesser behemoth would be a tall order for a mere two espers. They would need at least one additional team member, but who would be the best fit? After thinking things over for a moment, the Knight of Tomorrow came to a decision.

“Marrie, do you think Stacy would be willing to join us on this mission?” she asked the bluenette. “I know she’s a Maverick, but she seemed like she bore no hostility towards G.E.M.I.N.I. and, if memory serves, she was able to effectively engage The Diver, so she obviously has experience with behemoths. Not only that,” Ashley continued. “But with her inclusion, our team will consist of one Maverick, one Freelancer, and one G.E.M.I.N.I. Agent, so this mission can also serve as a test run to see if the city’s three major factions can effectively work together.”

”Yeah,” Marrie’s head bobbed an affirmative as she pulled up Stacy’s contact. ”I’ll send her a message.” At what was, for her, a relatively slow pace she typed up a quick message.

->>>Hey Stacy, are you free in the near future? Orion, the girl from the Oros date, and I want to hit the Hand.

->>>She suggested bringing you along, and since you did beat the Diver, it sounded like a good idea to ask.

A few seconds after sending her text message, Marrie’s phone rang. It was Stacy.

”Hi there! Long time no chat! I mean no fight, I realize we were together not too long ago. Meaning you and I were together, but I wasn’t together. My head popped off again!” She laughed. “Anyway, who suggested I come along? Orion or the girl from the Oros date? I guess it’s not too important. But if you’re going to attack the hand, why don’t we bring the rest of the Mavericks? I’m sure Tetrad would love to see you again, and I want you to meet Amanda. I have a feeling you two would get along really well!

”Right now we’re just hitting one of them, so maybe…” She glanced at Orion. ”Four or five people, max. With you we’re at three, but if those other two you mentioned are up for it, I don’t think that would be a problem.” Having answered, Marrie had a thought and turned her phone’s speakerphone on.

Ashley winced.

“Actually… I don’t think bringing Amanda along would be a good idea,” she whispered. “She’s Dante’s daughter, and she and I were both there when Time Keeper killed him, so I highly doubt she has a fond opinion of G.E.M.I.N.I. Plus, we’ll need to clandestinely target Rising Sun after school hours to ensure the lowest possible chance of civilian casualties,” the high-tech heroine continued. “Which means the smaller the team, the better.”

”It sounds like we’re shooting for a smaller team, so maybe just you and Tetrad? It’d be better to meet someone in a peaceful place, instead of on a mission, right?”

Stacy laughed again, but it was much harder this time. ”Oh listen to you! Don’t you remember how we met? There’s nothing wrong with meeting people in the heat of battle! Besides, we’ll have plenty of time to talk and hash out a plan before we run in, wherever we’re going. I used to not be big on planning, but it’s an excuse to talk about stuff over pizza and-” Stacy stopped speaking. Marrie could hear a few voices, but only recognized Luna and Stacy. ”But yea, a smaller team is fine. Tetrad really wants to fight alongside you again, but I don’t think Boteg would have any reason to tag along anyway. He’s a little big for a small team anyway, ya know?”

“All right,” Ashley conceded. “I suppose that’ll work.” She only hoped this “Tetrad” would be agreeable to fighting alongside a member of G.E.M.I.N.I.

”Sounds good. Do you mind meeting up at… hang on.” Marrie pulled up her phone’s map app to check for a good place. An alley would probably raise suspicions, but so would the University's roof, though that would give them a good vantage… The Great Escape would be a neutral place, but if a fight broke out (however unlikely that was, or that she hoped it was) that might bring more people into it. Still… ”Let’s all meet out by the Great Escape to plan stuff out and introduce everyone to everyone as needed.”

While giving Stacy a second to process that, Marrie mouthed to Orion. ’When?’

Ashley thought for a moment. ‘Tomorrow night?’ she mouthed back. That would hopefully be soon enough to keep The Hand from moving too far forward with their plans, while also giving her some time to formulate at least a rough strategy.

Marrie relayed the information to Stacy. ”Sounds good! I’m going to bring a game of scrabble with me, and then we can use the pieces to build a tactical map. It comes with all the props necessary for such a thing. But I’ll see you then!”

…

…

…

The time flew by like it was nothing

In less than forty-eight hours, Marrie and Ashley found themselves in the all too familiar diner. It didn’t take long for the jester to make an appearance. It was hard not to notice her outfit. Even among espers, Tetrad was rocking a remarkable amount of colors.

”Hey!” She sat across from Marrie. Her eyes flicked over to Ashley, but quickly returned to her friend. ”I didn’t think it was a good idea for Stacy to be here, given all the espers. That, and I figured it would be better for us to get the main part of this plan underway before letting her look it over. She’s a little better at execution than I've found. ” She placed a scrabble box on the table and lifted the top off. Aside from the usual game board and letter tiles for scrabble, it looked like there were some monopoly pieces in there as well, and some plastic cars from rush hour, and some unpainted effects from a war game. There were also a number of other items that couldn’t be as easily identified, but had to have come from some more obscure board games. ”She insisted we make our battle plans with this.”

It was amazing what a good night (and day) of sleep can do for someone. For the first time since the Trains, Marrie was bright-eyed and full of energy. Throwing herself at training over and over might get results, but it was also very draining on her mental energies. Now that she’d taken a day off to prepare, she was ready.

”That makes sense.” Marrie felt a bit bad, her face showing that fact. ”I didn’t think of that.”

Ashley couldn’t help but feel a twinge of tension upon Tetrad’s arrival, although she supposed simply being ignored was preferable to open hostility. More concerning by far was the thought of devising a plan that would not only ensure the successful elimination of their target, but also that no innocent lives would be lost, or endangered, in the process. As a student at Pax Septimus U, Ashley had heard of the school’s enigmatic president, but that same aura of mystery meant she knew very little about him. He’d never been seen leaving the campus, let alone anyplace else, so ambushing him at his place of residence, or while he was on his way there, was out of the question. That said, she did know the location of his office, and since that was where he could usually be found, she figured it was the best place to start looking.

“Well, the behemoth we’ll be eliminating is apparently bonded to a magi serving as President of Pax Septimus U,” Ashley explained, while tentatively taking a few of the miniature buildings out of the game box and arranging them in a rough mockup of the university campus. “His office is located in this building, here,” she added, pointing to the largest structure she’d found. “So that’s probably where we should begin our search, although we’ll have to wait until all the night classes have finished to ensure that none of the students or faculty get caught in the crossfire of a potential battle.”

”Soooooooo, we don’t even know where he’s going to be exactly.” Luna’s eyes scanned the plastic buildings, each of which was out of scale. ”Sounds like we’re going to pretty much wing it depending on what we find inside. Maybe instead of coming up with a plan then, we just need a strategy.” She poked the “principal's office” a few times before folding her arms. ”So we start our search here. What happens when we find him? Are we going to go Hitman’s Rule on his butt, or do we lure him out? If we go really late at night, the only people we should have to worry about are a few janitors and some overworked teachers.”

”If we can lure him to somewhere good, we could transplace with him to a better fighting area. We’d be down a person for a little bit, but we could also use a portal to fix that.” Looking over the “campus,” there didn’t seem to be any great places to target.

”Ultimately, it’d be best if we could find and destroy his… if not Grimoire, then his spellbook. Though the real target should be whatever links him with the behemoth, right?” She took a second to double check the “map.” ”If we have to fight him, we need to keep in mind that he could probably summon it, so we really don’t want people around, unless that’d stop him from doing it.”

“I’d imagine combat’s going to be unavoidable,” Ashley replied with a tired sigh. “From what I gather, he and the creature have willingly bonded together, I don’t think there’s really any way of separating them in such an instance. Furthermore,” she continued. “I think it’s less a matter of Rising Sun being summoned, and more of the president turning into it, so if we want to prevent that from happening, we’ll need to strike fast, and if it does, we’ll need to engage it somewhere free of innocent bystanders. His office itself could potentially suffice, as long as we do this after school hours and can keep the battle contained there.”

Luna blinked. ”I don’t… really like how unsure you guys sound about this.” she crossed her arms. ”We really are winging it huh? Welp, Stacy’s going to be upset how underutilized her game was in our planning, but she liked winging it, so I don’t think she’ll mind.”

”Sorry…” Marrie put a piece next to a building. ”I don’t like the idea of fighting him in his office, if he’s a behemoth, or has one, that’ll destroy the whole building, won’t it?” She turned to Ashley.

“That depends on how large it is, but, yes,” the Knight of Tomorrow conceded. “There’s a fairly sizable chance of that happening. If you have any ideas for a more suitable location we could transplace him to, I’d be happy to hear it,” she added, turning to Marrie.

”So let me see if I understand this.” Luna was more talking to herself than anyone else, but she was speaking loud enough that Marrie couldn’t answer Ashley right away. ”We’re trying to slay a behemoth, who is bound to, or could be, the president of the university. Then if we’re trying to murk this guy anyway, why do we care if his office gets a little banged up? Are we even sure that everyone else there is innocent? Do we know he doesn’t have a whole cult with him or something?”

Truthfully, Marrie had been hoping they could win without killing the target, but the likelihood of that was low. More importantly… ”Do we know that him dying won’t release and anger the behemoth? What if we get him, then we have to fight it too, with it unbound to anything?”

“Something tells me we’ll probably have to fight the behemoth no matter what happens,” Ashley replied. “As for him having allied underlings present, from what we’ve been able to gather, he’s operating alone. Supposedly, Rising Sun is little more than a blunt instrument for The Hand, as opposed to having any form of leadership role,” the high-tech heroine added. “Plus, he probably figures he’s strong enough to deal with any trouble he might run into.”

”Mmmhmm…” Luna rapped her fingers on the table. ”Alright, so, we don’t know anything about the target, really. That’s fine. If there’s something Mavericks are good at, it’s improvising on the spot.” With a sigh, she leaned back in her chair. ”I didn’t really understand what this was. I mean, anything second hand from Stacy is always a little iffy, you know? But it sounded like you guys were going to go after the Hand. This sounds a lot more like Marrie helping her Gemini friend kill a monster they have incomplete information on.” She raised a hand to Ashley. ”I know you’re not some mass murderer, and I know you wouldn’t work with a Maverick on this if it went against our standards.” Luna hit the table with the tip of her finger. It was just hard enough to shake things. ”This is a member of the Hand we’re going after, right? A real monster. Not, you know, someone’s dad or something.”

Ashley couldn’t help but wince at that last remark. Despite her best efforts, that particular operation had gone as poorly as possible, with the only silver lining being the safe escape of the endangered schoolgirls, and she was determined that this operation would not be a repeat performance. “Rising Sun is a behemoth that ambushed and captured an agent that was later brainwashed by The Hand, not a business owner trying to provide for their family,” the Knight of Tomorrow explained. “You can try reasoning with it if you really want to, but I don’t think it’ll end well for anyone involved.”

”It’s a good first step. We were told that he’s not a super… important, I think was the word, member. That implies he might be able to be talked down. If we’re going to be meeting him in his office, we should at least try diplomacy first.” After a moment of thought, Marrie continued. ”The unfortunate thing is that if that works, we’ll have to make sure he doesn’t just send info to the rest somehow, or attack us when we’re not paying attention. Though that’s true of any peaceful surrender, really.”

”Orion, do you have any info on what Rising Sun looks like?”

Ashley sighed upon hearing Marrie’s persistence with trying to employ a diplomatic approach, but her weary exasperation didn’t stop her from answering the bluenette’s question.

“Going by what data we have, it’s a giant, multi-limbed, multi-headed snake-like creature wielding a spear and staff,” the Knight of Tomorrow replied. “Apparently, both its physical and mystical abilities are quite strong, so it’s not a foe to be taken lightly.”

”From my understanding, behemoths tend to be a leeeeetle bit more difficult to socialize than even average monsters. But if it’s bound to a person, or is a person first, or… like…” Luna snorted. ”If this thing works for the hand, it could be highly manipulative. If it won’t come to the Bastion peacefully, we’ll have to fight it. Clearly leaving them alone is not going to work. Does that work for everyone?”

Marrie gave a nod. ”Yeah. If we can’t talk things through, we don’t have a lot of choice after that.” She sighed and leaned back. ”It’s too bad we don’t know how the connection works. Though that would open its own problems…”

After stretching her neck, loud pops coming from it, she continued. ”So. How do we want to do this? Should someone be backup, or do we all go in together? On the one hand, if we’re all together, it’s more obvious that we’re being genuine about wanting to talk. On the other, if he goes straight into a fight without giving us a chance, having someone behind might be good.”

“If you’re really set on trying to talk things out, then I think it’s best if Stacy serves as backup,” Ashley replied. “I mean, my initial reason for bringing her along in the first place was her durability in combat, not her diplomatic skills.”

”And I’m all about saying sorry and passing go!” The aforementioned Stacy walked up behind the group.

”Stacy?” Luna looked incredulous. ”You were going to wait outside, right?”

”Yea, but I was getting bored.” She cleaned her ear with her pinkie. ”I was also worried you were going to make a really complicated plan with all the talking you were doing in here. Hopefully it’s not too hard?”

Luna looked between her companions and Stacy. ”I don’t think so? You’re going to wait outside, and then if a fight breaks out, you’re going to come in and help us fight them.”

”Just like that?”

”Yes.” Luna bit her lower lip.

”Huh.” Stacy rubbed the back of her head. ”I just thought for sure with all the talking you guys had been doing you’d have something really complicated dreamed up.” She squinted her eyes. ”You guys weren’t doing all you can eat chicken fingers without me, were you?”

Luna glanced at the menu. ”I don’t even think they do that here...”

”Oh okay!” Her smile quickly returned. ”Well, do you mind stepping outside with me for a moment?”

With a nod, Luna stood up. ”Sure.”

Stacy looked at Marrie. ”If you guys get done early, we’ll be waiting outside!” She waved her hand, but Luna quickly ushered her out of view.

”... Well that sucks. It always feels bad to disappoint someone.” Marrie wasn’t sure what else to say. ”Any final thoughts?” She turned to Ashley.

“Just a suggestion not to get your hopes up,” Ashley replied with a solemn frown. “I know things like this can sometimes be resolved in a peaceful manner, but we’re talking about a member of The Hand here, and one bonded to an exceptionally intelligent magi at that,” the Knight of Tomorrow added. “I just want to make sure you understand the danger of what we’re dealing with, and that the odds of a non-violent resolution aren’t exactly high.”

In an instant, many thoughts rushed through Marrie’s mind, but in the end she decided not to voice any of them. ”It’s important to try, even if we can’t manage it.” Truthfully, she was terrified that things were repeating. The pattern had held true so far, and if it continued to, she was likely to lose at least one person on this mission. Her eyes unfocused as she stared into nothingness, the fear of that happening taking over.

”All I know about The Hand is that Justin was a member, and that they kidnapped the Bates. Neither of those are good starting points, but if there’s some in it who aren’t as bad as Justin, then him being in the same group as them shouldn’t disqualify them from being given a second chance to change.”

“I understand where you’re coming from,” Ashley replied with a sigh. “But I’d be very surprised if that was the case. You remember the giant weretiger? He’s the leader of a massive criminal organization that deals in human trafficking. These are not nice people. In fact,” she added, her visage turning even more serious. “They're probably the closest thing to pure evil in this entire city.”

…

…

…

Nightfall.

Pax Septimus University was shrouded in shadow. Only the waning moon cast any light. Without some form of dark vision or night vision goggles, it would be difficult for the espers to make their way. Luna and Ashley walked side by side, with Stacy and Marrie in front. The zombie was humming an unrecognizable tune as she skipped ahead of everyone.

Surveillance would be an issue, but Ashley studied on these very grounds herself. She had never pictured herself breaking and entering Pax University, but she did have a general idea of where security was tightest. There was almost no surveillance around the main faculty building. Some might wonder why there would be so little security for the teachers and principle, but these four knew it wasn’t necessary for them. If the principal was really capable of contending with Binky, they likely didn’t need a security detail.

”We’re here.” Luna whispered. Before everyone was a tall, yet narrow building. It would not be incorrect to call the structure a tower. It was cylindrical and seemed to rise into the heavens. ”So we’re leaving Stacy out here, right?”

”I forget this part of the plan.” Stacy also whispered, but it was an uncomfortably loud whisper. ”But I can wait out here. If something explodes, or a wall falls down, or someone laughs really evilly, I’m going to kick their butt.” She hoisted her chainsaw onto her shoulder. It was off, presently.

“Uh, yes, Stacy,” Ashley confirmed with a slightly worried frown. “Unless you and Tetrad have some form of communicators, just wait here until the first signs of combat.” While a part of her worried that the zombie girl might mess things up at a key moment, like a certain “obedient little killer”, the Knight of Tomorrow strongly suspected that a fight would be inevitable, and so Stacy’s ditziness hopefully wouldn’t be much of an issue. Far more concerning was the possibility that Rising Sun, or rather, the magi he was bonded to, would attempt to deceive them in some fashion… “Stay on your guard the moment we get inside,” the high-tech heroine instructed. “The magi serving as the principal is known to be highly intelligent and exceptionally cunning. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already planning a trap for us.”

Marrie nodded. ”Right.” She considered making a portal, but decided that doing so might give away that they had backup. Looking up raised a question. ”What floor is his office on?”

​​Ashley was about to answer, but Tetrad spoke up first.

”I thought you guys had a bunch of intel on this guy?” Luna raised an eyebrow.

”Hmmm…” Stacy was holding a promotional flyer that also had a general map of the University grounds. ”Apparently the faculty building is ten stories tall, and it looks like the top floor is his office as well as a mini-museum filled with stuff he’s helped research. Apparently he’s really into optics, so I’m picturing glasses and stuff like that. If you guys don’t blow the place up when he attacks you, I’d love to have a look around.”

Luna sighed. ”Looks like there’s a staircase that can take us straight to the top too.” After looking up at the tower for a time, the espers noticed a balcony. ”Or we could fly up there. But that might be a little risky.”

“Flying would avoid any potential traps or security systems on the stairs,” the high-tech heroine noted. “But unless we had some way of cloaking ourselves from detection, we’d be sitting ducks for the duration of our flight, and that’s not even getting to how we’d even manage such a thing in the first place,” she added. “I’m pretty sure Gale is the only one of us who can fly, and I doubt she can carry more than one person, if that.”

Luna smiled. ”Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem. I can make you weigh as much as a feather, and I know Marrie can carry a feather while she flies.”

Mostly to Tetrad, Marrie spoke with a bit of hesitation in her voice. ”If we had as much info as I’d like to have, we wouldn’t have to have backup in case the talk didn’t go well. Honestly, I’m sort of feeling things out as we go.” After a moment she realized something. ”... That’s, unfortunately, how most of my jobs go.” Which might be part of the problem.

”But as long as we keep our heads cool, the worst that can happen is that we lose our trust in a source of intel.” If the building was ten stories tall, then… ”It’s sounding like a portal is the way to go after all. Should I go ahead and start the talk, or should we all go up together? Stairs or flight with a portal, either would work.”

”A portal might be good if you want to bring everyone up with you. Stacy is fast, but not ten flights of stairs fast.” Luna looked at her undead friend.

”I dunno, I think I could run up some stairs without too much trouble. Unless they have a big bad boss at the end of each floor. I could take them, but it would take some time.”

“If we’re going for a diplomatic approach, at least to start, then using a portal would probably be the best option,” Ashley spoke up. “And considering the distance, I think having Stacy come with us would be preferable to leaving her down here.”

”Right. I’ll see you all in a moment, then.” Marrie cast a simple Melody and began her ascent towards the balcony.

{Silver Self - Flight} -72

The balcony was not hard to reach with magic. As soon as Marrie got to the top, she was able to land on the narrow balcony overseeing the university. There were a pair of windows and a set of double doors. They were made out of glass but not enough light got through to illuminate anything. It was a good thing Boteg wasn’t here, because there wouldn’t have been any room for him to land.

No booby traps so far.

For a moment, Marrie considered knocking. Would that be wise? Probably not. But it was in her nature to want to be polite, so she had to fight not to. The one thought that most kept her from rapping her hand against the window was that he’d probably think she was a vampire. So instead, another Melody was cast.

{Silver Self - Magic Sense} -48

The space behind the glass doors came alive with magic. She could not detect any melodies at play, nor the presence of any traps. but Marrie could sense that the area had been enchanted with some form of “dream” magic prior to her arrival. But these were just remnants of the spell, and wouldn’t bring harm if any of her allies were to touch them now.

Huh. That was not what she was expecting. Glad that she didn’t rush in, Marrie cast another low-cost Melody, namely a portal, on the wall so that her allies would land on the balcony. After a moment’s pause, she jumped off the ledge to return to the others, using a shield to land safely.

{Silver Touch - Portal} -48

{Silver Self - Shield} -48

She felt a little concern about using so many Melodies so soon, but at least they didn’t use much mana. Once safely on the ground, she told her allies what she found.

“Dream magic?” Ashley wondered aloud as she placed a finger on her chin. Of the people she knew who were capable of employing such magic, one was dead, another had joined the Mavericks, and the last was an esper who she was sure would never work with The Hand under any circumstances. Unless, of course, she’d been captured and mind controlled…

”Awww man! It’s been so long since I had a dream!” Stacy slapped her hands together. ”Can’t wait to get up there and go to sleep!”

Luna patted Stacy on the shoulder. ”She said ‘remnants’ of dream magic. So the spell has already been cast. But the bigger question is why was it cast?”

”Clearly, we need to investigate!” Stacy pointed at the balcony with her chainsaw. ”Let’s get up there and figure this out!”

“I agree, but we need to stay vigilant,” Ashley replied. “From my experience, dream magic can be especially challenging to deal with.”

With that decided, Marrie placed the second portal on the wall next to them. ”Let’s try not to burst in on anyone who’s there, okay?”

{Silver Touch - Portal} -48

Unfortunately, Marrie picked the wrong order to do those things in. As soon as she opened the portal, Stacy walked through while the pacifist was still talking. ”Gunna get me a hot principle!”

Stacy looked like she was about to throw open the doors, but Luna remained in place. She eyed her companions, perhaps to read their intent.

“How did I know something like this would happen?” Ashley groaned. “Come on!” the Knight of Tomorrow added as she raced through the portal. “Let’s get after her!” She only hoped they’d be able to move fast enough to keep Stacy from making an already tenuous plan completely untenable…

So she’s not staying for backup. Got it. Marrie could see Stacy through the portal, but Tetrad staying back gave her an idea. ”Well. Looks like we switched the roles, but I don’t mind staying back here like Stacy was going to, if you want to go on ahead. Plus, if the portal gets removed, I could still get there quicker than the stairs.” She wasn’t sure at this point just what she was even there for. Getting them to the balcony was good, but they could have done that with any number of Melodies on their own.

”Earlier, Orion made it sound like Stacy was coming with us. And I don’t trust Orion to be alone with Stacy. Let’s go.” She stepped through the portal with Marrie.

Stacy pushed sliding glass doors to either side before stepping inside. Her eyes wandered to either side of the room. But there was nothing that could be seen. Then the lights came on. This momentarily blinded Orion and even the espers outside, but their eyes quickly adjusted. The room they had entered was massive, but largely empty. There were a few empty display cases and a rug that suggested a path through the room. It looked like an empty museum exhibit. Clearly they had been expected, and this was all part of a trap.

Fortunately, Stacy was a zombie, and her eyes had long stopped adjusting to light sources. The principal was standing off to the side of the door and fired a cone of fire at her, but she was able to jump out of the way as the flames came near. But monsters were not known for their arcane resistance, and even the fringes of the cone were enough to blacken her flesh.

Before fading out entirely, Marrie’s magical sight caught something streaking through the sky. It was the behemoth, and it was cloaked with an invisibility spell and headed straight for them. She also picked up a spell being cast by it, but it was far beyond the power that her magic sight could interpret.

“Well, looks like talking’s off the table…” Ashley noted with weary resignation as she raised her energy shield to block any further attacks from the principal. “You okay, Stacy?” she called to the singed zombie, while snapping off an energy bolt at the principal, which would at the very least hopefully force the magi to take cover.

”Yup!” Stacy made a peace sign with her hand, even as the flames ate away at her feted flesh.

”The big guy’s on his way, and blasting!” Marrie managed to say as she tried to take stock of the situation in the office. Then she noticed Stacy had been burnt, and something in her bent. This is not going to happen again. The thought rushed through her mind, and the next thing she knew, a Melody had been fired from her weapon, targeted at the principal.

{Silver Projectile - Homing - Blink} -108

The principal raised his hand, and an energy barrier appeared before him. It took Ashley’s energy bolt without showing any sign of damage. Magus of the principal’s caliber could deploy spells faster than any esper. They were able to bend the very mana in the air, rather than channel the mana in their grimoire.

He spotted Marrie’s melody mid flight, and hopped backwards to avoid getting hit. But the projectile curved and struck him anyway. A faint glow appeared on his chest, and he looked up at Marrie with a smile. In a flash, Marrie appeared before the principal, and he closed his hand around her throat. His knowledge of magic was so vast that he had been able to interpret what Marrie’s melody did after it hit him.

”I came from the stars.” A disembodied voice called out. ”I’ve watched your kind toil since this ball of dirt formed. What hope did you have to get the jump on me?”

Luna had just gotten inside when Rising Sun landed on the balcony, the invisibility wore off and revealed its spear thrusted into the ground. She turned to face it, but the look on her face was of someone who was well outside their element.

”Tetrad and I have the biggie, you two gotta save Marrie!” Her chainsaw started with a single pull, and she dove onto the monster. Meanwhile, the principal’s body started to power up as he manifested his next spell. If the burning sensation on Marrie’s clenched throat was anything to go by, it was another fire spell.

“Damn it!” Ashly hissed as she watched things go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye. Rising Sun choosing that moment to make its grand entrance was concerning enough, but then Marrie simply had to teleport herself into the principal’s quite literal clutches… “Roger!” the Knight of Tomorrow called to Stacy, while briefly wondering who the second person the zombie wanted to save Marrie could possibly be, unless, of course, the chainsaw-wielding girl just couldn’t count…

Taking aim with her techno-wand, Ashley fired off an energy bolt, which, upon striking Marrie, would envelope the bluenette in a glowing, semi-transparent green barrier.

[Gold Projectile][Homing][If: Ally][Reflect] = 168 mana

She only hoped it would be strong enough to stand up to the Magi’s impending spell…

It was an abnormal experience for Marrie, being ahead of things. She wasn’t entirely sure that her plan would work, since she didn’t have a training partner to test it on prior, but she had relative confidence that it would. And so, as her neck began to heat up, she gave a toothy smile to the principal, and began to cast her Melody.

{Tempest (Intangible): Gold Touch - Dispel - Restrain - Mana Burn} -560

And then she was behind him, her arm around his neck and her Instrument stabbed into his arm which had just had its hand around her neck as her Melody finished casting. {Devour Chance}

”Well, I dunno how your connection to the big guy works, but let’s find out.”

Or at least, that had been the plan.

But if the principal was able to identify when Marrie’s blink was going to activate, what was stopping him from doing the same thing with her intangibility? He wouldn’t be able to grab Marrie’s neck a second time, as she also expected it. He was able to grab her arm and beat out her thrust. Marrie’s arm sizzled and popped as the flesh was cooked right off the bone. It could have been far worse if Ashley hadn’t attempted to protect her.

”You don’t have any original thoughts.” He growled. ”Men are born and die between the beats of my heart. Insignificant!”

While the magus had gotten his spell off first, Marrie was able to touch him. It was difficult to dispel something that she didn’t know existed, but she could feel some kind of magical boon on the principal and weakened it with her melody. His hand sparked with flame, but then he stumbled forward. Sand poured out of every orifice of his face, even his tear ducts. Then he collapsed onto the ground.

Rising Sun suffered the same fate. It howled before sand spilled out of its face, and it collapsed. Luna put an enchantment on Stacy’s chainsaw, which she swung into the behemoth’s elongated neck. In just a few seconds, the chainsaw cut the head clean off of its body. But this just caused more sand to spill out. ”Damn! Where’s this thing’s weak point for maximum damage?” She thrust her saw into its chest and started to carve the behemoth like a turkey.

Had Rising Sun been defeated?

Seeing that Marrie had the magi distracted, Ashley was just about to fire a powered up energy blast into his back when, to her astonishment, he suddenly collapsed to the floor. Then she noticed the sand, which also seemed to be pouring out of Rising Sun as well, albeit in much greater quantities. Although the Knight of Tomorrow hadn’t seen it first hand, she knew that Finn had experienced something similar during his “dream demon” ordeal, and that, coupled with the mention of dream magic, painted all-too-clear a picture of what had transpired.

“Guess you decided to bring Amanda along after all, huh?” the high-tech heroine inquired of Tetrad. As much as she wanted to avert the inherent awkwardness the girl’s presence would generate, Ashley had to admit, her abilities had proven decisive in bringing the battle to a swift conclusion. “Are you okay, Gale?” she asked the partially burnt bluenette.

But Marrie didn’t respond, not for a while. She’d managed to keep her teeth shut when her arm began to burn, but how the Magi had been able to avoid her Melody was taking too much space in her mind. If only she hadn’t gone with her instinct and just grabbed his arm, instead of trying to get behind him… Were Magi really that far apart from Espers? She found herself staring into space, not even registering the pain in her arm nor Orion’s question.

When her synapses finally fired again, she turned to Orion just in time for the pain in her arm to hit her too. ”Gah!” was all she managed before sucking in air through her teeth, instinctually putting a hand over it and casting a Melody. As it began its magic, Marrie sighed and gave a simple response.

{Gold Touch - Heal} -96

”No. Not really.”

Luna was a little distracted watching Stacy try (and fail) to kill the behemoth by sawing apart its body. ”Eh?” She turned to look at Ashley. ”What are you talking about? Stacy invited me and Amanda to come along. She was the one who set up everything with Marrie. Though I haven’t seen Amanda around.”

”Yea!” Stacy stepped off the balcony and into the office. She was covered head to toe in dragon blood. ”Marrie said not to take too many people, so I said I’d leave Boteg behind. Amanda wanted to try cursing the principal, but it didn’t work. At least, it didn’t for a time.”

Amanda lowered herself off of the roof and dropped down onto the balcony. She took a look at the flayed beast before stepping beside Tetrad and Stacy. ”I saw you coming, so I activated my sand trap. He was able to resist it with a spell, but something must have weakened his magic, because I was able to put him to sleep shortly after you attacked.”

A frozen fog twisted and solidified over the magus’s prone form. It seemed that weakening his magic was enough for the sand spell, and all other spells, to start taking effect.

Ashley inwardly winced at the sight of Amanda. The dream manipulating monster girl was pretty much the last person she wanted to interact with, and the current situation was far from an ideal setting for such an interaction to take place, but it didn’t look like the Knight of Tomorrow was going to get much of a choice…

“Thanks for the help,” Ashley told the new arrival. “I’m sure things would have been a lot more treacherous without it,” the high-tech heroine added, while making her way over to Marrie. “Um, do you need some help getting patched up?” she asked the blue-haired freelancer.

Marrie simply shook her head. ”I think that’ll be fine.” she said to Ashley, before addressing the new arrival.

”Thanks for the help.” Her blue hair swung beside her as she lowered her head for a moment, slightly bowing towards Amanda. ”I wish things had gone better, and sorry for making you do all the hard work. I owe you one.” Lifting her head, a thought occurred.

”So you put him to sleep? Is he still asleep, or…” She noticed Rising Sun behind the Maverick trio. ”Same with him. Oh! Also, it’s nice to meet you, too. Sorry, this wasn’t really a great first impression, I’m sure.”

Amanda had little difficulty totally ignoring Ashley, but not Marrie prostrating herself before the teenage monster. ”I-It’s fine! I wanted to knock him out before you got to him, but he was stronger than I suspected.” She averted her eyes, even as Marrie continued to attempt being pleasant with her. ”He should just be asleep. Normally I’d enter his dreams, but I don’t see the point.”

”And since you never put any spells on the behemoth…” Luna’s eyes locked on the magus. ”...Then their weak point must be…”

”Oh! Is that how it works?” Stacy chainsaw growled as she approached the magus’s prone form. ”Welp, I guess in order to finish off Rising Sun, we need to finish off the Principal. Can I do the honors, or does someone have a suitably flashy way of blowing him up?”

“Go ahead, Stacy,” Ashley told the zombie girl with a tired sigh. Although she knew how much Marrie had wanted to resolve things peacefully, the Knight of Tomorrow hoped that recent events would convince the bluenette of that outcome’s impossibility. As for Amanda, the high-tech heroine figured that simply being ignored was probably the best reaction she could hope for, given the circumstances of their previous encounter.

”That’s a cool power, making people turn to sand and fall asleep.” There was honesty in her voice.

”It’s not actually turning them into sand. Just a little bit comes out of their face holes and then they go out like a light. Or I guess a lot of sand in terms of the big guy, but uh, yea.” Amanda folded her arms. ”Glad you think it’s cool.”

Marrie was still somewhat distracted. She made her way over to Rising Sun. ”Just in case, we should probably be ready for this guy to get back up.”

I’m tired of getting surprised all the time. Sure, they hadn’t been able to talk the principal or the behemoth into leaving The Hand, and he had attacked first, but she couldn’t help but wonder how his family, if he had one, or the students would feel when they found out that he went missing. Or was declared dead, whichever happened. With a sigh, she pointed her Instrument at the sand that was Rising Sun, just in case.

Stacy’s methods wouldn’t have impressed the geneva convention, but her saw had little difficulty cutting the magus in two. Unlike espers, they did not have the same protections and were vulnerable without their magic to protect them. In truth, a single punch or slap from Stacy would have done far more damage than her saw. But the deed was done. The principal likely didn’t feel anything in his final moments, not that he could voice that now. Rising Sun’s form flaked away like ash, and blew away with the rest of the sand. The principal’s flesh aged before everyone's eyes. Years of rot set in after just a few seconds, and soon everything dried into dust except for his bones.

”Now that was cool!” She said before turning off her chainsaw.

”Yeesh! That’s not normal.” Luna attempted to shake what she had just seen out of her head. ”Was that some sort of dark blessing? Would have had to have been. Whoever he was, I don’t think he’s been himself for a long time.”

Amanda seemed far less impressed than her companions. She stood like a statue, eyeing the weathered bones for something. Then she looked up at Ashley. ”Is it true that Finn isn’t with Gemini anymore?”

“That’s correct,” Ashley replied, her exhaustion clear in her voice. “He couldn’t be bothered to follow orders, so he quit,” she explained. “No one’s seen him since.”

Despite the seeming tension, Marrie gave another sigh, this time of relief. Hearing the conversation behind her, she turned to face the other four girls. ”Have you tried to find him? I’d be surprised if the government couldn’t find an ex-worker of theirs.”

”Of course she did.” Amanda hadn’t taken her eyes off of Ashley. ”Though judging by your tone, I’d say you’re more than a little disappointed in him. If he were to show up again and he made a nuisance of himself, would you protect him?”

Ashley frowned as she took a moment to answer. “It would depend on how much of a nuisance he made of himself,” she finally replied. “Based on his previous actions, and the fact that he’s virtually dropped off the face of the earth, the odds are good that he’s now working with The Hand, either willingly or otherwise,” the Knight of Tomorrow added, here eyes narrowing behind her visor. “If it’s the latter, I’ll do what I can to free him from their control, but if it’s the former, then he’s chosen to become an enemy of humanity and will be treated as such, regardless of his age. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how dangerous he can be.”

”You didn’t even have to tell me you don't discriminate based on age.” Amanda flicked some of the Principal’s blood off of her cheek. ”But it’s good to see you’re consistent. I was just curious how problematic it would be if I tried to kill him.” She turned away from everyone. ”If we’re done here, I’m going home.”

”Yea, we should probably get out of here before-” But Amanda had already jumped down. ”...I think Gemini and Maverick Alternative’s first joint operation went pretty well?”

”I even kept my head on!” Stacy pointed at herself for emphasis.

“Yes, so I see,” Ashley noted, while giving Stacy a tired smile. “In fact, I think it’s safe to say things worked out even better than I expected, all things considered.” She only hoped the upcoming full-scale operation would meet with a similar level of success…

In just a few minutes, the Gemini briefing room would be graced by Dr Moller and the operation would be explained to everyone. For many of the agents, this was something that had become pretty routine. For a certain elderly woman, this would be her first time being briefed inside of HQ.

Mika was already present, sitting in a chair waiting for the briefing to begin. The arriving agents would have a bit of time to converse before Fritzi made her appearance. She always arrived at these things right on time, save for when she was kidnapped by a mole.

It wasn’t long before Ashley entered and took a seat, being careful to leave an open chair between herself and her younger subordinate. In light of recent developments, it was safe to say that the Knight of Tomorrow was feeling more alone and isolated than ever. Despite her best efforts, Mika remained frosty towards her, Sokaiya was distressingly senile, and the twins were often far too busy attending to other matters to train or socialize with. That just left Raven, and as friendly and supportive as she was, it took more than two people to make a team.

In addition, while she and Gale had managed to lay the groundwork for a collaborative effort with Maverick Alternative, the high-tech heroine wasn’t so naive as to believe that it was anything more than an alliance of convenience against a common foe, one that would shatter the moment their shared objective had been achieved. Worse, none of her attempts to recruit freelancers into G.E.M.I.N.I.’s ranks had met with any success. Would it come as any surprise if she felt like a failure as a leader? After all, what else could she be called? If she were more capable, surely she’d have the respect and admiration of her team, would she not? Surely, her current feelings of isolation were due entirely to her own failings, and thus, entirely deserved to be felt. As such, Ashley simply sat in tense and oppressive silence and waited for the briefing to begin.

Sokaiya had some trouble finding the right room, having checked a few on the way through the building until she finally found the right one. She slowly hobbled through the door, her cane taping against the floor with each hobbled step as she took note of the room's occupants, one whom she hadn’t met before and Orion who she recognized from the other day. Since Orion was here it meant she must be in the right spot so she could finally rest her old weary knees.

Pausing for a brief moment her wizened gaze searching the room, she hobbled her way over to the open seat between Mika and Orion and slowly lowered herself into it, leaning her cane up against the side of the table. “If you sit there as stiff as a board for so long, you are going to give yourself back problems yungin, just sitting on pins and needles, I haven’t seen a body so rigid since that fella who got buried in cement, ain't nothin to make yourself miserable over once you get to my age ” Immediately noticing the tense atmosphere as she turned her gaze from Orion to Mika now, squinting her eyes as she tried to get a better look at her. Taking note of her current clothing choices which she found a bit much for indoors, but the white jacket caught her old eye.

“I don’t recognize you, but with that big white jacket, you must be the pharmacist, I could use a few prescriptions filled, or maybe a doctor….scientist? Now that I think about it, lots of folk wear big white coats these days….maybe you can help out ole stiff-necked by giving her something to loosen up before she gives herself a hernia.”

Mika gave Sokaiya a good, long, hard stare. Her brow twitched a bit before she finally sighed. "Sure." Mika got out of her seat and stood behind. Then, she firmly placed her hands on Sokaiya’s shoulders. She moved her hands to and fro in an attempt to work her muscles loose.

“Oh-Ho? I wasn’t talking about myself, but I won’t complain young missy, I think I like you already, you sure know how to treat your elders…”

Raven entered the room not long afterwards. "Hmm?" was all she muttered. It was, of course, very unusual to see Mika doing something nice for anyone, let alone subjecting herself to something as intimate as giving someone a massage. Without taking her eyes off of Mika, she sat in Mika’s seat.

"I’m not a farm-ah-sis. I’m just wearing this coat because it kind of looks like the one Fritzi wears. I like her a lot. I’m not a doctor. You need to be smart to be a doctor." She almost scoffed. "The last person who wore this jacket was a fool though. I don’t think they were a doctor either. They were weak and stupid and died like a coward. The only good thing about them was their appearance, so I took their jacket." She began to work the old woman’s back more aggressively. "Never found her instrument. Would have been a nice decoration. Someone else must have picked it up because I couldn’t find them no matter how hard I searched. There was a lot going on that day."

“I just hope that whoever might have found it will use it to help others, rather than harm them,” Ashley spoke up, her eyes still staring straight ahead, even if her body had relaxed some after being called out by Sokaiya.

“You can still become a doctor, you are still a yungin, ain’t nothing stopping a smart yungin like yourself from becoming whatever they want, as long as you bust your tail, most youngins these days don’t want to put in any effort”“ Finding herself enjoying the free unexpected massage that she was receiving. Even if she had meant Ashley, she wasn’t minding the attention one bit. Listening to Mika’s reasoning, she gave a small nod of her head, and a small smile appeared on her face.

“Ahhh, so you got it from someone else that you knew, most whippersnappers these days are fools, That jacket seems to suit you better than most, you are quite dapper, a real dandy, I was just telling Orion over here that I could help spruce her up and make her more classy, but she is a stubborn whippersnapper, but if you are after a particular instrument deary, I might be able to help”

“Are you saying you have a way of gaining information about other espers’ grimoires?” Ashley inquired, her eyes shifting to look at the elderly agent, although her head still faced forward. “Is that a benefit of all the contacts you made during your decades of freelance work?”

Chuckling as she turned her wizened eyes towards Ashley with a smile “Of course, but that is just part of it, I routinely explore the city almost every day to keep myself active,I like to cruise in my free time, you can learn quite a lot in a short time moving amongst the rabble, spending time chewing the fat with the locals, you yungins these days don’t talk face to face enough with the people, you’d really get the skinny and learn things you never dreamed possible out on the streets. Esper-less, lost, or known instruments cause quite the buzz, if you know the right fella’s you usually find what you are after, or information about it”

“I see,” Ashley replied with a nod. “And I’d imagine trafficking in such information is a particularly lucrative business,” she added in a more pointed tone, her head finally turning to face Sokaiya directly.

Mika stuck her tongue out to the side and really dug in with her thumbs. Her body transformed, and Cerberus’s claws were around Sokaiya’s throat. Only now there were white hot cracks all over her face, With a flick of Mika’s wrists, her fingers flew up and Himiko’s enchanted disguise was ripped from her body. Mika resumed rubbing the girl’s shoulders as if nothing had just happened.

"Did you hear about the mole in our operation?" Raven looked at Himiko, but her hand was on her scabbard. "After we caught them, we set out to make sure future moles had a harder time. Imagine leaving our databases open so that just anyone could access them?"

“That was a test,” Ashley added as she rose to her feet, transforming and raising her techno-wand to point at the unmasked traitor while doing so. “And you failed.”

Laughing as she was confronted she beamed from ear to ear as she was unmasked “Oh I heard, I heard and learned quite a few things even before I arrived at Gemini, it is quite lucrative and eye opening as a business, It took you all long enough to figure it out, here is something that should have made it known immediately…all you had to do to learn my true identity from the start was to take the name Sokaiya Whimhokimia and solve its riddle” giving a shrug of her shoulders “But you have all disappointed me on that front, especially if you didn’t figure it out until I gathered the information from the databases that I was after” clasping her hands in front of her as she remained calm and seated while Mika continued to rub her shoulders.

"Why solve some stupid puzzle?" Mika had stopped the massage, but left her very sharp claws on Himiko’s neck. "Japanese people are not common. I knew you hadn’t killed yourself when I couldn’t find your guns.“

"Hate to break it to you, but you didn’t get the big payload you think you did." Raven bristled. "What you logged into was a honeypot. The data you got? It was all incomplete information if not outright fabricated. I’ll never understand why people like you need to lie to get everything."

“What I said was all true however, not once did I speak untruthful despite my disguise….” turning her golden gaze towards Ashley “I gave you my honest assessment, whether you learned from it or not is entirely up to you, GEMINI is a flawed organization, so is Maverick, The Hand, The Inquisition, they all continue the same pointless and futile cycle, violence, the loss of life far too young, all to gain nothing, ask yourself truly, what has GEMINI or any of the rest actually accomplished? You wake up day in and day out, the mission changes, but they never end, there isn’t an end in sight, are you truly happy with this endless unchanging cycle of this world? Do you enjoy watching people die for an objective that never gets any closer?” The smile on her face was long gone as she took on a more serious tone as she addressed them. Letting out a small sigh as she turned her gaze upwards in a moment of thought.

Her eyes softened as did her tone of voice “As for you Mika Fang, we are far more similar than we are different, I know your struggle and how there has been very little help to bring you inner peace and provide a satisfying justice for what has caused your life eternal turmoil, I can help you with this if you are willing to accept my offer, but it will not be a easy path, and I doubt you have much reason to have faith in what I say or can do for you.”

"I wonder who’s fault that is." Raven rose to her feet.

Mika scoffed. "That’s all she does is talk in riddles. It’s annoying, just don’t listen to her.“

“So what? We should just give up?” Ashley inquired of the captive freelancer. “Focus only on our own personal happiness? Sorry, but not everyone is as selfish as you are. Some of us actually care about improving the lives of others, even if it looks hopeless. But since you seem to have all the answers,” the Knight of Tomorrow added with a contemptuous sneer. “How about you tell us why you thought it would be a great idea to infiltrate G.E.M.I.N.I., and who’s paying you to do it.”

Himiko’s golden eyes flashed with disappointment as she let out a sigh, tilting her head to the side, the threat of Mika’s claws at her neck not being much of a bother to her at the moment. “I did not say you should give up, nor did I say to focus on your own personal happiness, you continue to only redirect and believe in your stubborn ideals that hold no real substance in how Pax Septimus actually operates, you are part of the reason why it looks hopeless, what I want is fairly simple, I want a peaceful world, a world that can co-exist without lines of division, division which will forever continue the cycle of futile death and destruction, Gemini, Maverick, The Hand, The Inquisition, and any other organization are all wrong,that's whose fault it is, its only with the removal of all of them can we find true peace under a new world” Trailing off for a brief moment as she made eye contact with Ashley with a frown.

“I’m not selfish, I’m Greedy, there is a difference, and because of my Greed I desire a new world, it tires me to see everyone repeat the same cycle over and over again, divided by the higher ups who benefit and gain from keeping everyone separate and in perpetual conflict, I’m not being paid a dime by anyone, I’m doing this of my own free accord for my own purpose as I’ve stated to you already, I greed for knowledge and information, with said knowledge and information it gives me power, with that power I can help reshape Pax Septimus and break the cycle once and for all…” her frown only growing as she continued with her explanation. Though she knew from previous encounters that it was difficult to get through to this bunch no matter what she presented to them.

“If you are so convinced that Gemini is truly helping you and is the right place to stay then so be it Mika, but don’t you find it suspicious that there hasn’t been a resolution, an investigation, justice served for what happened? I can sense something familiar about you, a connection, as I’ve said before, we are more similar than you’d like to admit, you can keep denying yourself the truth, wasting your talents and your future here, eventually end up dead, forgotten and tossed aside by Gemini like it has done with so many others, including your adoptive mother, but if you truly find me as annoying and full of riddles as you believe, yet don that white coat, your claws are already there, sharp and within reach of ending me for good and you can keep doing what Gemini wants you to do and you won’t ever have to worry about me again…just one slash is all you need” Himiko’s voice was soft, she was relaxed and calm, there wasn’t a ounce of fear or tension within her. She had given Mika a choice, but if she didn’t wish to take it that was her choice and the fate she had decided. But Himiko had seen something in her, the turmoil, the frustration, and the touch of the Mad.

“Do you really think abolishing all the factions in this city will bring peace?” Ashley scoffed. “All that’s going to accomplish is create an anarchic power vacuum, and while I’m sure someone like you would thrive in such a situation, I doubt the same could be said for most people.”

"It is a naive view of the world." Raven added. "There’s no point in history when humans didn’t work together to achieve great things. Even when we were all in tribes, humans-."

"How much longer are we going to talk about fill-loss-hippy with her?“ Mika’s claw bit into Himiko’s neck and drew a bit of blood. "We need to decide what to do with her. She’s not a nice person. She’s said things that make me angry.“

"That does not surprise me." Raven said under her breath. Then she looked at Ashley. "What did you want to do? I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of luck finding common ground with an anarchist."

“We’ll obviously need to confiscate her grimoire,” Ashley replied. “Then we can confine her in a detention cell until Director Moller decides her ultimate fate.”

Sighing as she shook her head unable to hide her disappointment “You are the ones with a naive view of the world, still you make assumptions and claims that make you feel better about what you are doing, I never claimed to want a system of anarchy, or that I wanted no one to work together, the point of eliminating all the groups would to be to unite and create one system of equality, not divide further, but you have a pessimistic view, shaped from being a pawn of the never ending violent cycle of life that is Pax Septimus, insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results” shrugging her shoulders as she felt her own warm blood trickling down her neck, but the sting of the wound did very little to dissuade her.

“Not a nice person? At least I’m willing to be honest and was willing to help you, the truth making you angry is good, but you are angry at the wrong person, I had nothing to do with Su’s death, or Gemini’s refusal in the aftermath of it to do the right thing, you can confine me in whatever Detention Club you wish, but that isn’t going to change a thing, if you are that loyal Puddy, and hate me so much, why not end me, be done with my ‘threat’, just one slip of a claw and surely Gemini will cover it up as if it never happened just like they have done before” Leaning back in her chair as she crossed her arms, a glow simmering in her golden eyes. She felt a sense of serenity she had not felt in some time, there was no reason to fear death. The only thing that bugged her was Mika’s stubborn loyalty, but she understood it. Gemini was her home with her parents and adoptive mother gone and it was not easy to leave your home at her age, the turmoil, frustration and anger would be hard to overcome as it simmered within her. It was obvious now why Oros The Mad held an interest in Mika and had wanted Himiko to deliver her to her back then, it was uncanny how similar of a feeling she got from both of them.

"Why do you keep repeating yourself? Isn’t that the definition of insanity?" Raven shook her head.

“Simple, you make assumptions and add in your own beliefs into my words to make it easier to judge me”

Mika didn’t flinch, even as Himiko continued to barb her with her words. "They don’t want me to kill you. I don’t want to kill you either. You’re dumb, not evil, maybe. We can’t all be together because we all want different things. The monsters want to kill all of us. We need to stand up to that. We can’t all be on the same team.“ She squinted her eyes. "Hand over your grim-more, or we’ll take it by force. We won’t even have to kill you to do it, in case you were hoping for that outcome.“

Sighing with a roll of her golden eyes “What a narrow minded view, so what? Kill all the monsters because you believe they all want to kill you? Wipe them out until only humans remain? Then what, wipe out the humans that don’t agree with Gemini? Until there is no one left but Gemini so you can have your ‘peace’ and ‘justice’, yet I’m the dumb one that wants to create a new world were such divisions do not exist, I’m not foolish enough to believe it will be easy, or that all of the monsters, humans and other lifeforms of this world will be as agreeable, but it sure as hell beats continuing this fruitless cycle were no one wins” reaching her hand forward as she took the handle of her cane into the palm of her hand with a sigh.

“I’ve not resisted you, tried to attack you, or anything else, if you want to take it, then take it, I’m not stopping you Cerberus, but you may not be happy with what you discover when you do so…” The cane in her hand started to crumble away as pieces of obsidian dropped to the floor as it fell away from a golden revolver. “A pity…I thought that you were ready to break the chains that have bound you…you lack conviction”moving with a deliberate effort as she took off her mask and set it on the table, before moving the golden revolver and placing it underneath her own chin with her finger tightly against the trigger. Letting out a big yawn, she kept it firmly pressed against her chin “you bore me…

“Likewise,” Ashley replied flatly, utterly unimpressed by Himiko’s overly dramatic antics. “So, what? You’re going kill yourself for real, now?”

Mika didn’t flinch or even motion to stop Himiko. Instead, she locked eyes with Ashley. "She won’t have the chance.“ Then, her eyes glowed red, but only for a moment.



No sooner did Mika blink did Himiko’s arms start to change color. Her blood vessels turned black, and her pink skin went pale. Her arms fell to her sides, and her revolver skidded across the floor. Eventually, her arms turned black and fell off, rotting away in a matter of seconds.

Raven looked at the rotting flesh and then up at Mika. "What did you do?" she said before picking up the gun.

"Did you think I was mass-sage-ing her for fun?“ Mika searched for her second firearm. "When I transformed and sliced off her disguise, I got her with my poison. That way, when she got dramatic we could disarm her without wasting more time.“

"But how did you know when she was going to do that? If you had been just a little bit early or late-" Raven stopped speaking when Mika tossed the remaining gun into her hand.

"She’s not that hard to figure out.“ Without her grimoire on her person, Himiko soon returned to her normal form. Raven circled around Himiko's back and started to cuff her. Mika moved in front where she could face her. "Since I had to listen to you say things over and over again I’m going to repeat something to you. I only work for these people because I want to kill monsters. I am working with them because I want to be doing what I am doing. I have never seen a monster do anything nice. They eat our memories and farm us like a crop. I can do that better with a team.“ She pointed at Ashley. "I don’t agree with everything she does. We do not go into a mission with the same ideas.“ She took a step back towards Ashley without looking away from Himiko. Then she stretched an arm around her squad leader’s waist and pulled her close, like she was an old drinking buddy. "But we both want to protect the city, and agree enough on how to do it. If we were really as simple as you say, we would not be teaming up with our enemies to kill even more monsters.“

“E-Exactly,” Ashley stammered out her agreement, the Knight of Tomorrow’s eyes having gone wide at Mika’s sudden and unexpected physical contact.

Despite the circumstances, Himiko didn’t seem surprised or concerned. Sitting there quietly as she glanced down at her non esper form. It had been quite some time since she had been out of it, she had almost forgotten what she looked like. Long orangish red hair and dark tan skin that she had not seen in quite some time. But, more importantly she had noticed a glint of something new from Mika, something of great interest. Even as Mika spoke, Himiko remained silent, listening and looking her right back in her eyes, neither a smile, nor frown on her emotionless face.

She figured once they went through her revolvers and found that they were both unloaded they would come to the realization she had no true intention to kill, either herself or anyone else. It had been a test, one that Mika had dealt with in a way that helped Himiko gleam a little more knowledge. But it was obvious there wasn’t any point in trying to speak or reason with her. It was time to fold and move on, to turn her attention elsewhere.

“Fare thee well…”

Mika slapped a piece of duct tape across her mouth. "And stop asking me to kill you! I won’t do it no matter how many times you say mom’s name!“ She squared up her shoulders and strutted away from her. "Someone else needs to go first.“

Raven was frozen in shock. "Well that just happened." She shook her head. "I’ve got it from here, Orion. Good plan, it worked well."

"It was a good idea.“ Mika said before rounding a corner.

“Thanks,” Ashley replied, a tired, yet appreciative smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

Maybe she wasn’t as terrible at this whole “leader thing”, or as alone, as she’d previously thought…

So this was it, the big joint operation.

It was unfortunate that Himiko wouldn’t be joining them. Actually, no, that wasn’t what made it unfortunate. Mika was pretty sure that she hadn’t enjoyed a single interaction with that depraved esper. Her nature was what made her unfortunate. Part of Mika wanted to believe that seeing all the factions working together might change her mind about things, but that wasn’t how Himiko operated. She was someone who stole from children and secretly plotted the downfall of the very organizations that paid her. Mika was a fool to try and save her back at the cathedral, but she had felt like enough lives had been lost that day. But empathy was a weakness. Ashley had taken pity on the ‘old hag’ and gave her a position in the organization she wished to destroy. Mika sighed. She had nothing in common with Himiko, but she was a lot more like Ashley than she had originally thought.

Mika considered changing her loadout before going on their next big mission. She considered several options, even reviewed her arcane magic, before deciding that she had exactly what they needed to succeed. She shut the door behind herself as she left the armory.

---

The day before the operation was scheduled to go off, a certain bikini clad, trench coat clad woman snuck into the Golden Trove. It was a very, very, very high end hotel that catered only to Pax Septimus’s most elite visitors. A single day could cost you millions of dollars if you wanted to rest in the most luxurious of rooms with the fanciest of options. It was the sort of place where people who asked how much something cost were shown the door. Only the most beautiful, busty, and attentive maids were allowed near the rooms, and a chef that had no less than three michelin stars was always available to cook at all hours of the day.

That was to say that the dirty, partially naked woman crawling around the first floor was stopped immediately.

”Excuse me.” The clerk said, not trying to hide his snobbish tone. ”But you do not appear to be a guest here. Might I suggest that you go back outside?” But she didn’t go back outside. She practically jumped over the counter and rammed the USB stick into the computer. ”Hey!” She slung her leg over the counter and kicked him across the face, dropping him instantly. Then she kneeled on the counter and punched in a few numbers on the keyboard. After typing in the activation code and seeing the light flash, she yanked it out. Moments later, security showed up, and they promptly chased her outside.

”...Owwwwwww.” The clerk slowly stood up. Afterwards, he pulled up a phone and called his boss. ”
Some…Bitch just kicked me in the face and installed something on my computer. Can you get the tech guys down here to scrub this thing?”

But it would be too little, too late. An advanced cyber security firm would take weeks, if not months to fully untangle the assortment of redundant and protective systems that had been unloaded onto the computer. Already, the virus had silently spread to every computer on the network, giving Marrie complete access to the system. She could see their billing information and had complete access to the surveillance system. There would not be enough time to remove the virus before the operation.

Among the files of interest that Marrie was able to recover was a guest registry. It all looked fairly normal until she saw the guest staying at room 1408:

XVIII Morning Dragon Fruit.

None of the rooms had surveillance on the inside, but it did look like they had found the location of the target. Since Marrie didn’t gain access to any “magical AI computer,” it did seem like the target was not hooked up to the internet.

---

Finally, the day had come.

Roughly halfway between a police station and an underground parking garage was another Micromart. There was nothing special about it other than the vast parking area was a good place for GEMINI and Maverick Alternative to meet up.

Everyone was in attendance. On one side, Fritzi, Binky, Mika, and the rest of Gemini stood with their backs to some armored transports. On the other side, Billy, Luna, Trixy, Stacy Stitches, Amanda, and the rest of Maverick Alternative stood with their backs to Boteg.

Somewhere between the two were the freelancers. There weren’t a lot. Not just anyone could be trusted with an operation like this, and there was no room for potential traitors. This was big operation that could bring the hand to it’s knees or serve them Pax on a silver platter. The roulette wheel was spinning, and the factions were going all in.

They were still waiting for a few people to show up. There was time to get a word in before the final briefing.

---

Depraved might have been a severe description for what Himiko was. On the surface, her belief in equality for all was in line with Maverick Alternative’s ambitions. But even they weren't interested in a vision like Himiko’s. She was naive and idealistic at best, or a warmonger at worst. Surely she realized the factions were a result of a divide among espers, rather than constructs made to entrap them in some twisted game.

Himiko’s cell was not exactly comfortable. She was held in what was a slightly more comfortable version of solitary confinement. She had a bed with a metal frame, a small table for eating meals, a sink, and a toilet. Everything was made out of metal and bolted into reinforced concrete. A single fluorescent light lit the space. Perhaps it was mercy for the other inmates that they put her in a cell where she couldn’t talk to anyone else. With the operation at hand, Fritzi had other things to concern herself with than another mad esper.

Himiko’s cell was eerily quiet. The only sound that came into the space was the dull sound of muted talking from the door, and the rumble of the central air unit moving air through a one inch wide vent at the top of the cell.

This was it. The big joint operation to remove another finger from The Hand. While Rising Sun, and whatever The Foot was, had been defeated with surprising ease, Ashley doubted things would go as smoothly with Morning Dragon Fruit. Not only was the strange machine entity located in what was presumably a fortified skyscraper, but there was a very good chance that it would be guarded by both of the brainwashed Bates, and perhaps even Time Keeper, neither of which were particularly pleasant possibilities. Also concerning was the fact that both Doctor Webber and Faith had disappeared, taking the recently reconstructed mech with them. While she doubted they had joined with The Hand, at least based on her prior interactions with them, their departure still represented a loss of support, as well as the potentiality that they would serve as opposition to G.E.M.I.N.I.’s goals at some future juncture. Then again, perhaps they would instead reappear as allies, to lend their aid at some critical moment. Whatever the case, the Knight of Tomorrow knew that worrying about such things would only distract her from the task at hand. If the upcoming operation was to succeed, she would need to remain fully focused. Yet, despite making this resolution, it shattered the moment she left her apartment.

“Oh! Hi Ashley!” Olivia greeted with her usual nasally-voiced exuberance. “I’m so glad I ran into you! I was just about to head back home, and I was really hoping I’d get the chance to say goodbye before I left!” Taking a closer look at the chatty girl revealed that she was wearing a backpack that seemed a bit heavy for her slight frame. “I also wanted to thank you for sending Agent Orion to look after me!” she added with a smile. “She was very helpful and kind, just like you! We actually did run into the most fascinatingly adorable monster while searching the sewers, but Orion, my other new friend Elzy, and darling Xolys were able to team up and defeat it! It was so exciting!”

“I-I see,” Ashley replied, blushing slightly at the compliment. “And you’re very welcome,” she added with a smile of her own. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

In truth, the high-tech heroine knew that she probably shouldn’t have ever worried about Olivia’s safety, having seen firsthand the staggering power of the girl’s “darling Xolys”. Indeed, in light of the eldritch entity’s impressive strength, it seemed almost foolish not to enlist Olivia’s aid in the upcoming mission. Yet, while a part of the Knight of Tomorrow was sorely tempted to do just that, a much larger part still wished to shield the idealistic girl from the full horrors of Pax Septimus. With Xolys at her side, Olivia might have little to fear from suffering physical harm, but emotional harm? That was a very different matter. The longer Ashley had been around her, the more sure she had become that, even if the bespectacled chatterbox had fought numerous monsters wherever it was she truly came from, she’d never seen them actually harm anyone, let alone kill someone, and that was something the monsters of Pax Septimus were all-too-capable of…

In the less than two months she’d been in the aptly named “City of Blood”, Ashley had witnessed the deaths of more people than she had during her entire life up until that point. She had seen fellow agents die in battle and innocent civilians, innocent children, be heartlessly slaughtered. Even worse, she herself had been forced to kill, more times than she wanted to count, and the worst part about the seemingly endless slaughter was that she was beginning to grow numb to it. Where once she would have been sickened and horrified by such bloodshed, now, she simply accepted it, resigned herself to it, expected it, and that fact was even more horrifying by far. But while it was still a sacrifice she was willing to make for the sake of helping as many people as she could, it wasn’t one she was willing to have Olivia make as well. Much like her brother’s, the excitable girl’s idealism was something that deserved to be protected, and the Knight of Tomorrow would do so, no matter the cost.

“Oh! And Finn’s okay, too!” Olivia added. “He just went on a little vacation because things were getting kind of stressful for him!”

“That’s good to hear,” Ashley replied. If only it was really that simple… “It was very nice getting to know you, Olivia,” she told the bespectacled girl as they headed down the stairs. “I hope you have a safe trip back home.”

“Thanks!” Olivia replied. “It was very nice meeting you as well! I really hope I can take another field trip here sometime in the future!” she added with far more enthusiasm for that prospect than Ashley had. “And maybe I can even get Miss Fang to let me bring a few friends along, too!”

Miss Fang? Ashley wondered, the familiar name seeming far more than mere coincidence. However, she forced herself to push those perplexing thoughts aside, and, after exchanging their final goodbyes, the pair went their respective ways, one setting off to return home, the other embarking on a mission that, with luck, would go a long way towards to saving hers…

---

The twin-tailed esper sat in a rather uncomfortable chair, staring at her laptop's screen, hidden away in the corner of a library as she waited for confirmation that High Priest's... ally? Friend? Self? Whatever she was, she was the one that Marrie had trusted with set up for tomorrow's mission, and now it was time to wait. She hadn't heard anything from Raphael, or Church, but she assumed that High Priest was on the same side as the regular priest, so she was anticipating him showing up for the assault. Though she wasn't sure if she was happy or not about that possibility, or of Walking Church being there. Sure, they could use all the help they could get, but...

As she idly twirled a finger through one of her bangs, Marrie wondered, not for the first time, exactly how she had gotten in this mess. She'd managed to break the loop she was in, not having an ally die against the president, but that didn't mean the world wouldn't slam two pieces together soon and cover that break with a splint. In fact, considering her previous experiences, it was likely that it'd be worse than the first time through. She didn't have any more time to think before a popup appeared in the top right of her computer's screen.

"You have mail."<

A deep sigh escaped the girl's lips. That was good. It was later than she'd like, but she understood High Priest's logic and strategy to wait until now, and it did make sense. She'd just have to take advantage of the time she had. A few clicks later and she was on her email. Normally she would never sign in to anything while on public wifi, but she'd bought this cheap laptop for the sole purpose of using it in conjunction with her viruses. Besides, no reason not to use a temporary email in public anyway.

"Now Streaming" was the title, two instances of it had popped into her inbox. She opened the first, clicking on the link it contained and then did the same with the other, the two windows showing an edit-box each. All she had to do was type the passwords to view the keylogger and screen recorder streams. The only problem was that they were such long ones that she wouldn't be able to remember them. Luckily, she only needed to remember one passphrase to get access to those two and soon she was viewing two white backgrounds in place of the edit-boxes.

Nothing, huh? Marrie supposed that it made sense. If HP's agent had been stealthy then the machine she uploaded on would still be unused for a little while. Unfortunately, that meant that she'd gained a near zero amount of information so far, namely that it was connected to the internet. With another sigh and a stretch of her arms above her head, she slumped into the too-hard chair and opened a manga site to waste time on as she waited...

It took about an hour to catch up on her favorite series since she'd not read much of it lately, being too busy on missions or training for them to have any leisure time. The two browser windows had lost connection halfway through and assuming that The Hand would be thorough, she didn't stop reading at the time. But now that she was done it was time to check in on things. A double click on a folder labeled "Writing" and an entering of a password later, her screen blacked out. In five seconds it lit back up, and she had complete access to...

The Golden Trove? The hotel? She wasn't sure what she was expecting. Maybe something less... flashy, for an organization that was targeted by the government and a terrorist group? Surely the entire staff and visitor list weren't part of The Hand, right? Well, it would be prudent to find out.

Two hours later Marrie decided that she'd done all she could. The guest registry had revealed Dragon Fruit was supposed to be there, Room 1408, but nothing else seemed off with it. A few strange things in their billing, but she figured that was due to her lack of understanding of business in general. Wasn't super out of the ordinary for a business that catered to the uber rich to be a little shady with their finances, after all. But access to the security cameras was helpful. She'd mapped them to the floor-plans she'd found online in both a static map and a live-updating program she'd written the base of a few days prior. As long as she had internet access, she'd be able to share the map with the cameras to the others on the mission. If Gemini didn't bring something for that, she figured it'd be funny to use the Golden Trove's wifi to stream it.

In spite of the optimism born from her new access she couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong. She felt her shoulder-blades catch on the top of the chair as she slumped down and started lightly chewing on the side of her index finger. There wasn't any out of the ordinary machine that would signal the potentially magical "AI," nor strange software that would indicate it being used there. Was this a setup? Did she actually have access at all, or was this a spoofed feed? On the one hand, she didn't expect The Hand to use the common computers on the Trove's network for their actually important work. But wouldn't they, if they had a conscious digital entity anywhere involved with it, at least protect it better? Did The Hand own The Trove or was it a temporary arrangement? Also, why would they list a guest under a name like that? Wouldn't a fake normal sounding name be wiser?

Marrie snapped back to her surroundings, now disgusted with her slightly wet finger. It wouldn't do her any good to focus so much on the ifs that she didn't prepare correctly for the assault. Soon the library's printer was warm and the esper had ten copies of the static map on paper to bring alongside the rest of her equipment. She made sure to circle Room 1408 on all of them before she packed up her things and left, ready to return home. She only could hope she'd get a good night's sleep.

It was quiet, peaceful even within her new confines. Though the room service was terrible and the food wasn’t worth writing home about. If she had to rate it on a five star scale, it would definitely get a zero when it came to hospitality. She would have to book a better room with better accommodations next time. The murmur of talking outside wasn’t much of a bother, nor was the sound of the air unit. She hadn’t spoken since her last words in the briefing room, nor had she much of a desire to say anything to anyone at the moment.

At least the quiet allowed her to relax and think as she laid across the bed. Her head hanging off the side as her long reddish orange hair dangled to the floor, she stared at the blank and empty wall. Propping her right leg across her upright knee, she had her arms crossed as she mulled over her thoughts. It had been a bit since she had some time to just lay around and think without anything going on. She had been in her esper form for so long, it felt nice for a change to be out of it.

She had been able to get some of the stuff she sought during her most recent venture, but there was still much left to do. At the very least, Gemini hadn’t questioned her or mentioned Himiko having had any help during her infiltration and data gathering outside of the honey pot she had toyed around with while letting her assistant of sorts dig deeper and took care of the actual work. When she got out of here she would have to check in on them so the next step could progress. They had been far more focused on what was right in front of them and not what was happening behind them.

Even so, she knew she would soon have to take a different approach if she wanted to get things done. To shift her resources and time to a new front. There currently wasn’t much of a point of discussing anything further with Mika Fang, she was not yet ready with her devotion and loyalty to Gemini. But if that glimpse of Mika's new power meant what she thought it did, Gemini would have more problems on its hands sooner or later. Regardless it had been a lot of fun under the guise of Sokaiya even if she had to cut it a bit short. Screwing with Tighty Brighty and getting her worked up had been the most fun she had in a long while and made it worth it.

She had been playing things too loose and having a little too much fun as of late. It was clear Gemini saw her as a foolish idiot that wasn’t worth their time. They had thrown her in here without bothering to follow up on anything as they went to focus on things they saw as more important. They were gravely underestimating her, overlooking her and the meager capabilities she had so far put forth. They would learn soon enough a lesson that could have been avoided if they had dealt with her when they had the chance. Never underestimate a fool, they will always find a way to surprise you.

She also had the benefit of everyone else outside of Gemini still perceiving her to be dead. Allowing her a bit of flexibility and room to maneuver when she got out of this place. She had a feeling that she would be out of here much sooner than Gemini was expecting and her gut feeling tended to be on the mark more often than not.

Mika groaned.

Despite the importance of the operation, it seemed like both Ashley and Marrie were running late. She did hold either of them in especially high regard, even if they weren’t as involved with her mother’s death as she initially inspected. But this operation relied heavily on Marrie’s data, and Ashley was squad captain. It was fine to complain about your position, but at least pretend that you want to honor your squadmates by showing up on time. The longer they delayed, the longer Fritzi and Billy were going to menacingly stare each other down. That was equally embarrassing.

"Cerberus.” Fritzi didn’t bother turning her head. "Where are they?”

Right, Mika’s new power made her the operation babysitter. It was acceptable though. Marrie was a VIP and should have been under surveillance at all times, but you never knew. Mika opened her palm. "Orion was held up by her neighbor.” Mika had some colorful comments to add about prioritizing listening to Olivia stroke her ego, but kept those to herself. She paused when she heard Olivia call out her mother’s last name, but shook it off as a coincidence. Then she focused on Marrie. "Marrie is… wasting a lot of printer paper. I think she’s getting prepared.” Her eyes shifted to Billy. "You look a few short. Need any help finding them?”

"I appreciate it little girl, but I reckon they’ll be coming around the corner with two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

"Right…” Mika looked to doctor Moller.

Fritzi shrugged her shoulders. "Everyone should know the mission, but here’s a recap.The target is located in room 1408 of the Golden Trove hotel. However, we are expecting heavy resistance from other high value targets. Many aliases of known dark web espers and high level monsters have been batched from Marrie’s data. Various members of the weretiger mafia are present. The situation is delicate because there are civilians involved.”

Billy held a whiteboard in one hand and pointed at it with a marker in the other. Even though it was the biggest marker and white board they could get, they both looked small in his hands. He pointed between a building and a slew of motorcycles. "Our main force is gunna ride up to this joint and say hello the Maverick way. We’re attackin’ in the middle of the day, so all the gusts should be upstairs or out and about. Just make a ruckus and get security coming to the bottom floor.”

A laser pointer in Fritzi’s hand pointed between a dragon and the top of the tower. "Once that’s started, Gemini will ride Boteg up to the top floor and descend to room 1408. There they should be able to destroy the target. It won’t be simple, of course. There are a few interesting rooms that we suspect might be housing something interesting. The build plans all have the center of the structure as completely empty, but we think it might be a large elevator to move something to and from the upper levels of the tower. That’s not to say things will be any easier on the bottom floor.”

"Gotta expect those nuns to show up again...” Billy sighed. "And the Bates. Hope we don’t gotta muff ‘em up too bad.”

"It will be an evolving situation. Be prepared to adapt to changes on the battlefield.” Fritzi placed a hand on her hip. ”If there are no immediate questions, the Gemini agents may start boarding the dragon.”

"Mavericks? Rev those engines…”

---

There wasn’t a great deal for Himiko to do by herself. She considered all she had accomplished while spending a fair bit of time patting herself on the back. At her core, Himiko had always been a mobster and had adapted their mind set. They all suffered from megalomania to the extent some would consider it a sort of madness. Typically, we allow the servants of patrons to be as mad as they like, though sometimes their delusions need to be viewed through the impartial lens of truth. And in the case of Himiko, things looked very different when viewed through that sacred spyglass.

Gemini had tried to question her, but she immediately shut it down by speaking in riddles. She was far more interested in mocking the agents that trusted her and calling them accessories to a murder cult, essentially. Furthermore, it was clear that Himiko did not know what a honeypot was. A honeypot is one of several cybersecurity tools used to deflect cyber attacks from legitimate targets and monitor the attackers. It’s effectively a virtual environment that is designed to “look” exactly like the data structure the hacker is trying to access. While inside the virtual environment, the honeypot collects information on the attacker while they navigate the honeypot. There could also be things such as bogus reports and other such dubious information. After Binky’s brainwashing was discovered, well before Himiko got anywhere near a Gemini database, Fritzi made the choice to upgrade security on everything. Trust was extremely low for new recruits, and Himiko checked all the boxes for a perfect candidate to be a spy. They did not need to ask her a single question, because the honeypot was able to gather all the information it needed on both Himiko’s unauthorized attempt to steal sensitive files and her partner she was working in tandem with. They would be thrown in a cell beside hers in less than 24 hours. She may have learned things about Gemini agents from talking to them, but she was unable to get any useful data from the computer system. Though she was likely still under the impression that she had outsmarted them.

Gemini was also, definitely, not underestimating her. They just weren’t so heartless as to execute an esper because they happened to be against factions as an idea. Maybe someone with Himiko’s disposition would think nothing of killing someone just because they disagree with you, but that was not the reality for most sane and good natured people. It didn’t matter if she was the next Regina Bates or a trash esper. There are laws that need to be followed, and no one is above those laws.

Though Himiko had been even more wrong regarding her identity outside of Gemini. See, turns out the government is actually kind of sensitive about its secrets. Almost as sensitive about having agents turn on them before a big operation and conspiring to bring them down. Additionally, Glimr doesn’t want to host espers that are going to turn on their employers. It’s also a violation of terms of service to create a second account to fake an identity. Finally, Maverick Alternative is similar to Gemini in that they want loyal freelancers that are going to do what they are paid to do. Fritzi just had to make a single phone call to get Himiko blacklisted from Glimr, and most of the faction in and outside of Pax took notice. She would have a very hard time finding work outside of the dark web and certain organisations.

But for as wrong as she was, she was right about one thing. Ashley and the rest of Gemini would soon come to regret letting her live. They would wish that just this once they hadn’t shown her any mercy.

And that started with black dust pouring through the ventilation system. It swirled about before finally manifesting into a form in the center of the room.



"Hello there, miss.” The demon with a smooth, velvety voice squatted in the corner of the cell. "Gemini has gone off to fight, and they’ve taken the entire crew with them. I wouldn’t say it made reaching you easy, but it made it possible.” He opened a giant black tome. His fingers ran over Finn’s contract before turning the page. "I understand that you want to change the world. That’s kind of difficult to do from the inside of a cell. Maybe… We can make a deal?”

When Ashley arrived at the pre-mission meeting location just in time to hear the beginnings of Dr. Moller’s briefing, she was met with two decidedly unpleasant realizations. First, she appeared to be late, even though she’d left her apartment at a time that should have allowed her to arrive early, even despite the slight delay of talking with Olivia, which couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes at most. A quick comparison of her phone’s clock and her visor’s chronometer revealed a worrying discrepancy of twenty minutes. Although that could have been due to a malfunction on the phone’s part, the high-tech heroine was meticulous about ensuring that it was always functioning properly. Indeed, it had been as recently as when she left her apartment, when she’d checked it against both the clock on her nightstand and the one on her laptop. While it was possible that all three devices were malfunctioning, it seemed far more likely that some other force was at work. Delaying her arrival in order to disrupt critical timings, and call her competency even further into question by the rest of her squad, was certainly something she could see The Hand doing, and there was a mysteriously vanished esper who called himself the Time Keeper that could easily now be serving them, one way or another.

Second, the Knight of Tomorrow and her team would apparently be riding to the target atop the same golden dragon she had shot at, and which had subsequently, and completely understandably, attempted to kill her. Of course, she hadn’t wanted to fire on the creature, but that fact didn’t make interacting with it any easier. And I thought working with Amanda was uncomfortable… Yes, the thought of “boarding the dragon”, as Director Moller had just instructed, filled her with far more trepidation than any of the mission’s myriad other concerning facets.

As the other members of her team began climbing onto the massive creature, Ashley approached the director. “Agent Orion reporting, ma’am,” she announced. “I apologize for my lateness,” the Knight of Tomorrow added with a small bow of her head. “It would seem that my phone’s clock is now running exactly twenty minutes slow, along with every timepiece in my apartment…”

---

Marrie had hoped to get everything done in time to head home for a moment, but the printer having shot out incomplete copies had eaten up too much time for that. So she found herself cycling to the Micromart as fast as she could, already in her esper form. She didn't think there was anyone who would be participating who didn't know her mundane identity, so it was more in the vein of wanting to be prepared if they all got attacked. At this point she wouldn't be surprised if everyone in Pax knew that she sometimes had blue hair and magic...

She arrived just in time to catch Orion's arrival, Marrie's tires coming to a stop a few yards away from Ashley as she gave her explanation to her boss. Finally at a resting point, she pulled up her phone and saw the update to the plan; GEMINI had done more digging than Marrie could and linked a lot of the guest list to hostiles. Also, they appeared to have been told that she herself was the one who gathered the data. She shot a quick glance at Ashley, but thought better of making an assumption and simply got off her bicycle.

The whiteboard seemed to confirm the message she'd just read, that Maverick was going to be a distraction while GEMINI went up top. Speaking of which...

"Sorry I'm late." She didn't give a reason because none would be quite valid enough. Instead she went to each of the espers present, as well as both Billy and who she assumed was Dr. Moller, and handed each a folded paper map that she'd printed. Once she was sure she'd gotten everyone, she reluctantly handed Fritzi her laptop bag. Even though it had no data on it that wasn't related to the opperation, she was still filled with aprehension at the idea of letting someone else handle it. But ultimately it would be best to let GEMINI have access to it and the updating map of the cameras, since they had the best way to communicate with everyone.

"Can't disregard the possibility that the camera streams are fake, but the big blue square icon labelled 'Map' should help if they're not." She shrugged. "As long as eighteen is where the guest list says, everything should go..." She paused. When had anything she'd been through as an esper go as planned? "Relatively... Uh. Relatively like you're probably expecting, but probably worse than we're hoping." Shaking her head to dislodge her fears, she began to walk towards Billy when she realized something.

"Hey, sorry, but the plan's summary I got didn't say where I'm supposed to go," she asked as she glanced around.

Himiko was still deep in thought when out of the corner of her gaze she noticed something peculiar start to flow into her cell from the vent. Her eyes slowly diverted from the wall she had been staring at towards the black dust that gathered to constitute a humanoid form in the center of her cell. She remained there upon her bed, watching it unfold with her upside down perspective until a horned demon was squatted before her. She remained calm and composed, even though a demon forming in a locked cell would likely scare most. His velvety smooth voice was pleasant to listen to, as if it was coated in honey as he addressed her. It made him seem and appear friendly, as if he was a friend of hers. Though she knew they had never met before, he seemed to know about her and her plans.

Himiko had been expecting someone to show up, but he wasn’t who she had been expecting. But she wasn’t about to complain, it was better than not having anyone show up at all. Her golden yellow eyes scanned her guest from head to toe before coming to rest on the black tome within his demonic grasp. Her expression remained neutral and she had not yet uttered a single word as she took it all in. His tome gave her a pause as something about it gave her an uneasy feeling deep in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t sure what he could possibly want from her, or what sort of deal he would put on the table. Waiting for him to finish as she mulled over this unexpected encounter before she finally broke her silence.

“Someone has been eavesdropping haven’t they, you're not the one I was expecting, but if you came all the way here to speak with me with some sort of deal in mind and put forth the effort to get into here I will hear you out, you have a captive audience” her tone filled with whimsy, shrugging her shoulders, still not bothering to change her position. It wasn’t like she had much of a choice in the matter, besides his arrival and remarks intrigued her. Plus if it meant getting out of this cell it was kind of hard to argue or disagree with.

Even so, every deal had a kicker, so getting to the bottom of that was a priority. She was sure there was some kind of catch he would drop on her. After all he had all the power on his side in the current situation and there wasn’t much she could do about that fact. She was at a disadvantage if it came down to negotiations as she had little to no leverage depending on what kind of deal he wanted.

Sometimes you had to make a deal with a devil to get things done, but was this the time?