Lugubrious

Brightside Bioweapon Research Facility - An RP About Mad Science and Free Donuts

Dr. Ronove

Full Name: Sullivan Saleos Ronove

Nicknames/Aliases: Sir, Doctor Bugs, Bugsy, Sully

Age: 41

Gender: Male

Occupation: Head Researcher of Holometabiology

Description: A broad-shouldered man of nebulous southeastern European descent, Ronove is an uncommonly intimidating scientist. Bald-headed but possessed of a bushy dark brown walrus mustache and goatee, he looks out at the world with pitch-black eyes through a pair of yellowish horn-rimmed glasses, though whether he needs them or not is up for debate. His skin is perennially dry and porous, and despite brushing at least twice a day his teeth are somewhat yellowed. He's stockily built, though neither muscular nor overweight. Beneath his lab coat he often wears olive or similarly muted sweaters along with black or tan cargo pants, citing a tendency to get cold. He has a few odd scars, all from his time at the facility, and a limp in his left leg. Sometimes he can be seen with a cane, also mostly for show.

Personality: Few members of Brightside better embody passion for one's work than Sullivan Ronove. He's been a fixture at the facility for a long time, and is a workaholic that seldom tires. Smart, curious, experimental, and inventive, he throws himself wholeheartedly at any problems that come his way, happy to grapple them with patience, resolve, and a remarkably disregard for moral concerns. Though serious and even dignified, Ronove isn't by any means antisocial, and is totally at ease working or spending casual time with his peers. Still, it's hard to avoid feeling like Ronove views others in a purely pragmatic sense, as machines with definite inputs and outputs for him to use as needed. As such, his friendly greetings, dry jokes, and various conversations invariably fall short of 'genuine'. This extends to his subjects as well, though with far more bluntness. While he might seem like he cares about the welfare of his experiments, it can be certain he does so only to extract as much usefulness out of them as possible. Altogether, while Ronove might at first seem like a cruel, manipulative schemer, he is in fact also quite reliable, predictable, and competent—an ideal department director for BBRF.

Skills: Observation, logic, manipulation, quick thinking, pragmatism, darts, billiards

Weaknesses: Movement speed, lack of cautiousness, lack of compassion, not scaring people

Brief History: Ronove's was an uneventful -or at least, undocumented- life. The first accessible records of him originate from the time of his immigration to the country in his early adulthood, and from there he attended graduate school for biology before beginning his career as a researcher. During that time that time he accumulated no criminal record, no employment record (part-time or otherwise), nor significant events of any sort. Though a familiar face and hardly a recluse, he made no friends, began no relationships, and generally did nothing but quietly mind his own business. Still, he never seemed to want for money, and misfortune seemed to followed him wherever he went. Injuries, illnesses, intrusions, strange behavior...rumors abounded, but nothing unusual ever came to light.

In a remarkably short amount of time he came to work at Brightside. There was never any celebration or fanfare; one day he just appeared, acting as if he knew everyone and everyone knew him, and somehow he fit right in. It was almost as he was always there. Suspicion lurked around him for a time concerning the speed with which he passed through the employment process, but few could argue with his results. Ronove worked painstakingly, at first assisting others with their projects and seldom failing to impress with his adaptability and innovation. It didn't take long for him to be granted the freedom to pursue his own work. For well over a decade he continued, becoming a trusted, if not well-known or well-liked, fixture at the facility as it continued to expand. Now a senior member, he heads one of BBRF's many departments: the Department of Holometabiology. He is credited as one of the facility's top bioweapon producers and also one of its biggest consumers of subjects.

Other: Ronove's department is holometabiology. Though just one of many branches of study and experimentation within BBRF, and not a very large one at that, it's one that's enjoyed a lot of success under his direction. The basis of holometabiology stems from the study of metamorphosis within caterpillars. The biological process involves the hardening of the subject's outer layer into a pupa and then the near-total dissolution of the organism within (via enzymes) into a rich slurry, which is then reconstituted into a new organism via the use of biological structures known as 'imaginal discs' that survived the melting process and form the blueprints for new structures. Ronove has scaled up this process dramatically and, through the use of artificial imaginal discs, pioneered the process of holometabolic transformation in order to reshape subjects into bioweapons. While some memories and personality traits survive the process, the subject can otherwise be almost entirely rewritten. Ronove's latest project is the Compartmentalized Holometabolism Initiative, which involves changing individual parts of the subject.

Brightside Bioweapon Research Facility - An RP About Mad Science and Free Donuts

Here's my application. I'm thinking about making a subject, but we don't have too much to go on, so it would probably end up being one of Ronove's.

Dr. Ronove

Full Name: Sullivan Saleos Ronove

Nicknames/Aliases: Sir, Doctor Bugs, Bugsy, Sully

Age: 41

Gender: Male

Occupation: Head Researcher of Holometabiology

Description: A broad-shouldered man of nebulous southeastern European descent, Ronove is an uncommonly intimidating scientist. Bald-headed but possessed of a bushy dark brown walrus mustache and goatee, he looks out at the world with pitch-black eyes through a pair of yellowish horn-rimmed glasses, though whether he needs them or not is up for debate. His skin is perennially dry and porous, and despite brushing at least twice a day his teeth are somewhat yellowed. He's stockily built, though neither muscular nor overweight. Beneath his lab coat he often wears olive or similarly muted sweaters along with black or tan cargo pants, citing a tendency to get cold. He has a few odd scars, all from his time at the facility, and a limp in his left leg. Sometimes he can be seen with a cane, also mostly for show.

Personality: Few members of Brightside better embody passion for one's work than Sullivan Ronove. He's been a fixture at the facility for a long time, and is a workaholic that seldom tires. Smart, curious, experimental, and inventive, he throws himself wholeheartedly at any problems that come his way, happy to grapple them with patience, resolve, and a remarkably disregard for moral concerns. Though serious and even dignified, Ronove isn't by any means antisocial, and is totally at ease working or spending casual time with his peers. Still, it's hard to avoid feeling like Ronove views others in a purely pragmatic sense, as machines with definite inputs and outputs for him to use as needed. As such, his friendly greetings, dry jokes, and various conversations invariably fall short of 'genuine'. This extends to his subjects as well, though with far more bluntness. While he might seem like he cares about the welfare of his experiments, it can be certain he does so only to extract as much usefulness out of them as possible. Altogether, while Ronove might at first seem like a cruel, manipulative schemer, he is in fact also quite reliable, predictable, and competent—an ideal department director for BBRF.

Skills: Observation, logic, manipulation, quick thinking, pragmatism, darts, billiards

Weaknesses: Movement speed, lack of cautiousness, lack of compassion, not scaring people

Brief History: Ronove's was an uneventful -or at least, undocumented- life. The first accessible records of him originate from the time of his immigration to the country in his early adulthood, and from there he attended graduate school for biology before beginning his career as a researcher. During that time that time he accumulated no criminal record, no employment record (part-time or otherwise), nor significant events of any sort. Though a familiar face and hardly a recluse, he made no friends, began no relationships, and generally did nothing but quietly mind his own business. Still, he never seemed to want for money, and misfortune seemed to followed him wherever he went. Injuries, illnesses, intrusions, strange behavior...rumors abounded, but nothing unusual ever came to light.

In a remarkably short amount of time he came to work at Brightside. There was never any celebration or fanfare; one day he just appeared, acting as if he knew everyone and everyone knew him, and somehow he fit right in. It was almost as he was always there. Suspicion lurked around him for a time concerning the speed with which he passed through the employment process, but few could argue with his results. Ronove worked painstakingly, at first assisting others with their projects and seldom failing to impress with his adaptability and innovation. It didn't take long for him to be granted the freedom to pursue his own work. For well over a decade he continued, becoming a trusted, if not well-known or well-liked, fixture at the facility as it continued to expand. Now a senior member, he heads one of BBRF's many departments: the Department of Holometabiology. He is credited as one of the facility's top bioweapon producers and also one of its biggest consumers of subjects.

Other: Ronove's department is holometabiology. Though just one of many branches of study and experimentation within BBRF, and not a very large one at that, it's one that's enjoyed a lot of success under his direction. The basis of holometabiology stems from the study of metamorphosis within caterpillars. The biological process involves the hardening of the subject's outer layer into a pupa and then the near-total dissolution of the organism within (via enzymes) into a rich slurry, which is then reconstituted into a new organism via the use of biological structures known as 'imaginal discs' that survived the melting process and form the blueprints for new structures. Ronove has scaled up this process dramatically and, through the use of artificial imaginal discs, pioneered the process of holometabolic transformation in order to reshape subjects into bioweapons. While some memories and personality traits survive the process, the subject can otherwise be almost entirely rewritten. Ronove's latest project is the Compartmentalized Holometabolism Initiative, which involves changing individual parts of the subject.

World of Light

Tora & Poppi

Level 7 Tora (88/60) and Level 6 Poppi (27/60)
Location: the End
Word Count: 930

The Ender Dragon's mighty claw fell upon Bowser with brutal force, but the Koopa King did not give so much as an inch. A gleaming blue coating surrounded him, rendering him totally impervious to damage. Confused, the dragon raised her other forelimb to rip the turtle apart. Her talons raked across his metallic exterior without leaving even a single scratch, and that plus the look of glee in Bowser's glowing yellow eyes made her blood boil. With her full weight the dragon leaned down, trying to crush her foe where he stood. The fragile end stone buckled beneath him, causing him to sink, and for a few seconds Bowser was on the verge of being driven into the ground. Then the magic of Kamek, echoed by Mimikyu, washed over him, and he began to grow. Snarling, the Ender Dragon found herself pushed off her would-be victim and onto her hind legs as Bowser grew to a height that rivaled her own—and a weight that exceeded it. A barrage of missiles and arrows hit her in the back, preventing her from getting a footing as the ordnance ripped into her wings.

Then, abruptly as it came, the ubercharge blinked out. The healing beams of the two remaining crystals locked onto the Ender Dragon as her claws tightened around Bowser's, proving that he was vincible once again. If she could have given him a devilish smile, she would have. Instead her jaws opened wide, the angry sizzling and vile purple light from within heralding the arrival of a tide of acid to the face.

At that moment the Cadet clambered down, the blades of his clutch claw lodged in the Ender Dragon's brow, and fired a chunk of stone into the leviathan's eye. The sudden pain drove her sideways as the acid poured forth, giving Bowser a faceful but not a sustained spray. She staggered sideways on her hind legs, out of the enlarged Koopa King's grip and into one of the obsidian towers. With an impact that shook the island she slammed into it and fell on her side. Geralt's silver blade and more missiles rained havoc as she writhed for a moment, trying to regain her footing. Then, just as she did, the Courier's borrowed rifle hammered her torso with devastating anti-material rounds. An outraged roar split the air, and she sprang upward, invigorated by the pain. As much as the sniper shots hurt, they didn't seem to do as much damage as one might expect. Still, the Ender Dragon intended on making her assailant pay dearly. She thrashed her tail in Bowser and Geralt's direction, aiming to club at least one of them, then launched off a nearby tower at the Courier.

Far more quickly than he expected, death arrived. Using a flap of her wings to propel herself forward, the Ender Dragon descended on 6 with one giant claw extended. Thinking quickly, and only of her master, Gaige-tron spun around and shoved the Courier hard. He flew out of the way, and the next instant the Dragon's foot came down on the machine with terrible force.

Thinking nothing of it, the beast pumped her wings and took to the sky again. Behind her she left a crater where Gaige-tron stood a moment ago, but instead of a sparking wreck any onlookers saw the robot completely intact, lying upon a stretcher carried by diminutive cats. How they came or where from nobody -not even the Ace Cadet- could rightfully say, but they disappeared not long after, and they took Gaige-tron with them.

Of course, nobody could waste much time thinking about that. The Ender Dragon coasted over the island at a low-medium altitude, belching out acid bomb after acid bomb to fry both those on their feet and those yet to recover. Her bombing run came to a premature end when she suddenly swooped down and upward in a back loop, trying to send her ground-bound enemies flying.

After narrowly avoiding an acid bomb, Tora decided to change tactics. “Poppi, only two crystals left! Pick me up!” Happy to oblige, the artificial blade grabbed her masterpon and flew toward one of the beam's sources. This tower happened to be one of the two protected by iron bars. She flew him close so he could start waling on them, but the Nopon protested. “Nonono, take me right above!” After she complied, he carefully extracted a handful of spare parts from his pouch and dropped them. Enough fell through the openings between the bars to strike the crystal and trigger its detonation, and the pair zoomed away scot-free.

Peach, meanwhile, had been slowly descending from the great height where the dragon's attack left her. She witnessed the chaos unfolding down below, and reasoned that if the crystals were important enough for her allies to go after them, then she ought to help wipe them out. With a little force on her parasol she guided herself above the last crystal-adorned tower and dropped a grenaduck. Its explosion spelled the end for the leviathan's healing; the true battle could begin.

With nobody able to stop the Ender Dragon just flying around, she banked back toward the island's center and began her descent. The destruction of the last end crystal did not appear to register for her, and the impunity with which she arrived suggested she took their support for granted. Once over the island's highest point she let her head droop and started to gush out acid. An immense quantity flooded forth, threatening to spread over the island like syrup over a pancake.

Lumbridge

Location: Land of Adventure
@Zoey Boey

Ryu's Shinku Hadoken changed the pace of the fight, perhaps irreparably. When the final clash began, he felt laser-focused, honed to a fine edge. Barely any worse for wear on the surface, Sakura sped his way with her characteristic boundless energy, and Ryu was ready. He launched a quick standing kick, narrowly missing Sakura as she slid in for a low sweep. The world warrior's legs went out from under him, but even as he fell he instinctively understood that this wasn't a serious loss. A sweep he could afford to take without complaint, but not a full combo, so he covered the more important option. Getting to his feet again, Ryu kept his focus on Sakura as she leaped into the air. She jumped too close, he knew, to land a typical jumping attack. She wanted to cross him up.

Pivoting on his heels hard enough to tear the grass from his dirt, Ryu spun his block around to intercept Sakura's two-handed strike. He was already swinging when she touched down. His one-two punch struck home, but instead of linking into a followup, he purposefully dropped the combo. Then, with his foe unprepared to start attacking again but able to block, he lashed out again with another few punches. One-two-three... He crouched again, forcing a low block. Kick...kick. His powerful legs propelled him into the air. Ryu raised one arm, preparing to chop as he fell. With Sakura guarding low, a jumping attack would not just hit her, but initiate the combo that would take the match.

And he knew she knew it.

He dropped without performing an attack, straight into a crouch. Empty jump, low! A crouching jab, one of the fastest moves in his arsenal, zipped forward. This trick came out very rarely, but constituted a devious psych-out. By almost fully committing to an overhead but performing no attack, he could bait out a high guard from his opponent and then land without any recovery and take advantage. From there he belted out crouching light kick, standing medium upset punch, then spinning heavy kick, which put him into the perfect position. “Shoryuken!” No firecracker imitation, Ryu's true uppercut punctuated the combination in decisive fashion, sending Sakura end over end. When he landed, however, Ryu stood at the ready. Even if Sakura couldn't get up, she would try. The red in her eyes...that color didn't run.

Dead Zone

@EvilEdd1984

As the heroes moved in, Minos raised his fist and slammed it down to the left, aiming for V. The mysterious one recalled Shadow to scoot out of harm's way. Nadia, Nero, and the Slayer moved in, the latter two firing their weapons. Without picking his arm up off the ground, Minos swept it across the courtroom. Spotting the incoming limb in time, Nadia used her catlike reflexes to spring into the air and over it, but Nero took the hit and was knocked aside, and the same would hold true for the Slayer if he didn't evade in time. After being sent sprawling Nero jumped to his feet again. Minos raised an arm in front of his head to block the incoming shotgun and Griffon fire, and attempted to keep track of his scattered opponents. With a grunt he swung both arms, trying to pancake both Nadia and the Slayer -his closest enemies- at once. The double impact shook the courthouse and sent dust flying, but when he raised his arms, however, the feral was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did you go?” he snarled, looking around. A series of tentacles arose from the ground around V, keeping him too busy dodging to mount a counterattack. Minos did not notice the lithe woman clinging to the bottom of his arm until she dug in her claws and dropped.

“Hey, ugly!”

Using her momentum and jets of blood, she swung a circle around the arm and launched forward. “What?!” Minos bellowed as Nadia struck him with a double kick to the jaw, then dropped straight down while rotating her lower half. Like the blades of a propeller her legs cut a furrow all the way down his chest, and by the time she reached the ground Nero had arrived. He shot upward in with a rising slash, cutting deeper into the gash his ally left behind. At the peak of his ascent the devil hunter unleashed a slash, slash, high roller combo, slicing deep into the judge's chest. A moment before Minos' fists slammed together Nero kicked off, and as he sailed away he rode the Red Queen like a snowboard.

A noise from the left prompted the feral to look over, and she caught the last of the judge's mini-tentacles cleft from its stump by Shadow's scythe-tail. “Nyahaha!” Nadia grinned up at the monster. “How d'ya like us nyaow?”

Minos wiped blood from his eyes, his ghastly face a mask of pure rage at the heroes' impunity. “You cannot hide your sins!” He made a rising motion with his hand. Spots on the floor turned to lava, and from the puddles burst a quintet of shrieking abominations that staggered forward to eviscerate the heroes with their bladed arms. “Damnation will be your final reward!”

Nadia flinched, horrified. “Ew! I am so not biting one of those things.”

The Blue Rose rang out again and again, plugging a necromorph full of holes. Nero's demonic bullets wriggled around inside the abhorrent thing's body, carving tunnels of agony, but the monster barely slowed down. “Okay, these things don't care,” he reported, reaching for his sword again.

A moment later, Griffon toasted one with a column of lightning. It shambled onward, but only another step; Shadow's head reshaped into a spike that rammed straight through it, carrying the necromorph onward until the demon pinned it to Minos' belly. “Ya say somethin', buddy boy?” Griffon cackled.

While Nero sighed, Nadia dislocated her leg to extend a hook kick into the legs of her incoming assailant. The necromorph toppled, and she moved in to start carving it up. “Its limbs are nice and spindly. Just stop it attacking while we deal with six-eyes!” Obligingly the devil hunter rolled out of the way of his necromorph before chopping off its arms. Using a rev of the Red Queen, he separated its legs a second later.

That left two necromorphs for the Slayer, both of which rushed him viciously. Minos, meanwhile, prepared to strike again.

Brightside Bioweapon Research Facility - An RP About Mad Science and Free Donuts

Running through ideas in my head for how. I'll get a sheet up before too long.

Persona ~ The Beholder

Kirsty Ramaswamy

While nothing the black-haired girl said indicated she'd be the least bit receptive toward an amicable gesture, Kirsty still kept half an eye on her as she tried to refocus on her laptop again. If it seemed like Alina might come around, Kirsty did not want to miss it. Her attempts to split her attention left her totally unprepared for the arrival of a third party, who took the form of a towheaded boy with a cool jacket and sunglasses dangling from his collar. More strikingly, he wore a bright smile, which boasted enough power to leave Kirsty speechless for a brief moment.

When she regained control again midway through his speech, she couldn't help but grow flushed. So, this guy spotted her helping out the freshers and decided of all things to take time out of his day to make sure she felt appreciated. How bizarre, yet how wonderful! here stood a ray of hope amidst the bleakness, cutting through the clouds fallen over her morning to shine some warmth down on her. Kirsty tried to stop herself from getting too upbeat. She glanced at Alina, who'd somehow collapsed in on herself a bit, clearly unhappy with all the chatter. She fidgeted with one of her hairtails, unable to suppress an embarrassed smile. “Oh...! Pardon me a moment...” Pulling a pencil and paper from her satchel, Kirsty tore off a corner and quickly scribbled a handful of characters. She stood and placed the scrap on the armrest by Alina. Then she stepped past Liam, murmuring to him as she went by. “Um, this way, if you don't mind,” she explained, indicating Alina. While she didn't mind talking to this guy more, doing so here would only make Alina more upset, so she resolved to relocate and give the girl the solitude she expressly desired.

On the scrap of paper was a lot of shorthand, hastily written and in surprisingly bad handwriting. Sry for bothering u. If u ever need anything or wnt to chat, my # is 020-811-4604

Once a fair distance away, Kirsty stopped by one of the common room's support columns and turned back to Liam. The expression she fixed him with was nothing short of apologetic. “Sorry to pull you around like this! It's just, she wanted to be alone, so I figured if we were going to talk more, we should go somewhere else.” She adjusted her bag, moving the jammed-in laptop so that it fit properly in place and then closing the zipper. “Not that I really had much to say. Just, uh, you're too kind. The directions and stuff...it was really nothing. I mean, thank you very much, of course.” Jeez, all of a sudden it turned into an action-packed morning. First the phone call, then the distressed girl, now this. Where did this guy get off being so weirdly sociable and nice-looking, anyway? In this day and age most people acted so impersonal. Maybe...he was a little like her? Minus the nice-looking part, anyway. If I looked good, people would actually want to be around me. They wouldn't mind...the rest of me. Realizing that she was standing there and just staring at the stranger, she cleared her throat and stuck out her hand. Now that he had been nice to her, she needed to repay him as well as she possible could. “Agh, where are my manners? I'm Kirsty. You're a freshman too, right? Need any pointers?” She glanced at a clock on the wall. Almost time to get to class.

Brightside Bioweapon Research Facility, Mad Science and Free Donuts

Seems like a fun time!

World of Light

Tora & Poppi

Level 7 Tora (84/60) and Level 6 Poppi (23/60)
Location: the End
Word Count: 1376

Tora held on for dear life with one Mech Arm and bashed at the dragon's pitch-black scales with the other. Acting more out of impulse than intelligence, he was surprised to see that his weapon's metal fist was leaving dents in the leviathan's armor, and even more surprised to see them repair themselves a moment later. The wounds left by various other sources, from the Primid firing squad to various spells to balls of rot and fire, fared no better. As the Ender Dragon passed by the obsidian towers, more streaks of light reached out to latch onto it, quickly undoing any damage dealt. Though the lack of any concrete measurement of the beast's vitality made it difficult to confirm, the correlation was hard to miss, and after avoiding their enemy's acidic bombing run a number of onlookers saw it, too.

Kamek slowly recognized the healing function of the end crystals first, and his discovery informed the actions of his striker. Though unable to speak, Quiet communicated the conclusion well enough to any onlookers by rounding on the gem floating nearby and jamming her knife into its glassy surface. Her target abruptly and loudly detonated, exploding like a bundle of TNT. Kamek and company took a two-hit combo of bursting flame plus the wallop of the pressure wave. The old koopa, however, fought through the pain to shout his findings to the others. His allies either repositioned or renewed their attack, but with nine more crystals remaining, the Ender Dragon took no damage -even from the charged shot- that was not swiftly undone.

Soon after the Courier deduced the more vital of the end crystal's two functions, and he wasted no time going after the nearest spire. From the ground he couldn't see the arcane stone atop it, but even in the midst of drug-induced delirium he could hazard a pretty solid guess. Even with a high-caliber sniper rifle, however, he could not pierce multiple meters of ultra-hard stone. His bullet got a few feet in, leaving a web of obsidian cracks in its wake, before its momentum came to a dead stop. Some of the obsidian blocks shattered, but in a shocking turn those that weren't completely destroyed unmistakably and instantly restored themselves a moment later. This material, it would appear, was unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

By now Tora recognized very well the ferocious report of Michael's rifle, which never failed to herald a payload of withering force. He expected the Ender Dragon to answer that thunderclap with a bellow of pain, thrashing in the sky, but it only wheeled around for another pass at the island. “Meh?” His barrage of attacks concluded with nothing gained but some focus to use for arts, he watched as the Ace Cadet clambered his way over to speak some sense. Tough as it was to hear him over the roaring air, Tora got the memo—better to deal some damage where it would be felt. Meanwhile, their teammates could deal with whatever appeared to be undoing their attacks. Using his Mech Arms the Nopon hurried after the Cadet up the monster's back, his muscles already burning from exertion.

Down below, Geralt quickly grasped the plan and put his new powers to use by leaving a bomb atop one of the towers to detonate after he retreated to a safe distance. Though tough to reach, the end crystals boasted no durability to speak of, and blew up easily. Link began his own ascent, not nearly as fast as the Witcher's but far more remarkable, for he somehow managed to scale the tower's sheer, shiny surface with nothing but his bare hands. Meanwhile Linkle followed in Geralt's example, nimbly slinging her own bombs to take out a third end crystal. Sectonia, determined not to be outdone, sent forth her rings of light to destroy even more. Since she assailed them from long range, however, a good few of her rings missed, and while she did get one the varying heights of the towers prevented a multi-kill. Worse still, one of the crystals she targeted turned out to be protected by a cage of iron bars, which took the ring's punishment heroically and then restored themselves the next moment just as 6's obsidian had.

Sectonia need not trouble herself with the caged crystal however; Hat Kid leaped to the rescue. The plucky girl used Junior's flying clown car as a grappling point to send herself skyward, sprinted up the sheer surface of the tower, and backflipped off the iron lattice to switch hats and whip up a potent brew midair. Her hurled vial shattered against the cage, blowing up in a cloud of colorful smoke with enough force to bleed through the bars and strike the crystal. It detonated as the kid sailed over Junior's head, her intrepid stunt an incredible success.

Soon after, Banjo and Kazooie crested another spire. The pair pivoted midair to allow Kazooie to execute a daring dive attack, heedless of Kamek's warning. It took just one blow from her beak to shatter the crystal, and that blow set off a point-blank explosion that hammered the pair in brutal fashion. Heavily wounded, and with Kazooie unconscious, Banjo had only a moment to try and grasp the edge of the tower before plummeting over the edge and toward the ground below. Donnie demolished the crystal of an adjacent tower in far safer fashion by raining down artillery from a distance.

By the time Fox returned from his own brief trip up and down a spire, leaving four out of the ten crystals in operation, the dragon arrived. She flew low to the ground at high speed, her wings extended and her head down spewing acid. Her flight created a front of air before her and a river of acid behind, and she tore through the center of the battlefield like an ebony hurricane. The wall of air she pushed along slammed into all those remaining on inside the circle of towers, be they on the ground or within fifty feet of it. The turbulence alone could fling climbers from towers and disrupt low-power flying machines. This time the force and follow-through of the Ender Dragon's onslaught would carry anyone caught up in it toward and over the edge of the island, provided they didn't crack against one of the towers first or escape via an ability.

Both Peach and Euden had attempted to avoid the dragon by breaking to opposite sides, but neither escaped the wind front. The princess pulled out her parasol, got caught up in the currents, and flew sky-high. The prince couldn't shapeshift again, and so hurtled, yelling, across the ground. He struggled to bring his sword around and plunge it into the end stone, but in the utter chaos he couldn't get a sense of his position. He could only swing wildly, up until the point his sword happened to hit the ground hard enough to jar it from his grip. A moment later he tumbled out into open space. The Ender Dragon passed overhead, and he began to fall.

After a moment the dragon whipped around, turning on a dime in an impressive feat of maneuverability to face the island once again. The move cut its speed, but it also wrenched Tora and Poppi -lacking the security of the clutch claw- loose from her back. By this time the artificial blade boasted an abundance of experience catching her rotund masterpon as he freefell, but doing so meant she couldn't turn her attention down below. She plucked Tora from the height of his arc and zoomed back toward the battle below. The Ender Dragon flew above the island slowly, seeking individual targets to blast and swipe at rather than just belting out acid on a bombing run. Bowser caught her eyes first, and she hovered over to lay in some pain. Tora and Poppi approached from behind. Even if it was still being healed, Tora figured he might be able to outpace the regeneration, and if not he could at least stockpile power for a Blade Combo. “Poppi, switch wind core!” he called. “If get level three, can seal blowdown!” He let loose a barrage of missiles, peppering the leviathan's back and wings.

Lumbridge

Location: Land of Adventure
@Zoey Boey

Tenaciously observant, Sakura weathered the string of blows until Ryu went for an overhead, at which point she made her move. She threw out a low quick and quickly transitioned into a unique shoryuken, tailored in her own style. Her fist detonated against him jubilantly, and he flew upward. “Hmgh!” he grunted, getting a feeling of what else lay in store. His opponent ran beneath him to take advantage of his lack of in-air recovery with a mirrored sparking uppercut. The martial artist felt that one, but he was far from defeat, or even from losing his composure. He spotted Sakura coming in for another helping as he hit the ground and bounced to his feet. It seemed she wouldn't be relenting for a moment, utilizing a blistering offense to avoid giving him the chance to think. In a situation like this, fresh off a fair hammering and faced with an exuberant ball of energy bearing down on him, a man would have to be crazy to do anything but block.

Or wise.

As Sakura rushed in to throw him Ryu crouched down and intercepted her with a speedy light kick. From there the rhythm of the combo flowed, beat for beat, as easy and natural as his heart. His leg muscles brought him back up to deliver a standing medium kick, and without so much as setting it down he gathered himself into a chamber before sending a fully-fledged donkey kick Sakura's way. 'Excessive punishment' it might be to some, but this girl was asking to be given as good as she gave. Besides, anything less would no doubt be taken as an insult. Ryu's countless hours of practice kept his form perfect as he then transitioned into a tatsumaki senpukyaku, obliging Sakura to come face to face with the might of his hurricane kick. He spun through the air like a top, his extended foot leaving a trail behind it as he carved through the air. It would only hit once, unlike his friend Ken's multi-hitting variant technique, but it could not be taken likely.

“Do not expect to trick me twice,” Ryu declared as Sakura slid clear. He maintained his stance, but continued to speak. “You've improved. Show me what you've learned from other worlds!”

He couched his hands and began to gather energy. A brilliant blue light swirled around him, focusing into a sphere between his hands. “Shinku...” Sakura would know this move, a formidable technique among their more-or-less shared arsenal. This much stronger hadoken packed a lot more punch than its typical counterpart, but it carried the same limitations. Still...there seemed to be an awful lot of energy around Ryu.

“HADOKEN!”

Ryu thrust his hands forward, and instead of a fireball a frothing beam of power blasted forth. It reached from the ground to above the man's height vertically, and the same horizontally. Its sapphire blaze blinding, it covered the distance between the fighters in an instant, only failing to hit Sakura if she preemptively dodged. In such a case, however, Ryu exerted some effort to move the beam in her direction, tracking the girl's movement.

Dead Zone

@EvilEdd1984

The sight of the Doom Slayer using a skateboard to grind across one of the chains leading to the courthouse left the others completely baffled. “Nyow there's something you don't see everyday!” Nadia laughed, the least affected, while Nero could only stare with his mouth ajar. After a few moments interspersed with disbelieving blinks, he accepted reality for what it was and let out a deep exhale. Then, shaking his head, he turned to climb the stairs to the courthouse door.

An unsettling wind flowed from within the place, seeping out through those great, cracked-open doors. The strange, whistling vapor raked across the skin, chilling the flesh despite the heat of the molten lava only a few hundred feet away. It helped the devil hunter and his crew quickly put the unusual sight behind them, and brace for the fight that undoubtedly lay ahead. Nero laid a hand on the door and pushed it gently, peering inside. What he saw made his face tighten. “Well, we got the right place.” Foregoing subtlety, he pushed the door open and sauntered inside.

His footsteps echoed off the stone floor, though not so loudly as V's cane as he followed right behind. They moved quickly through what was once no doubt a lobby, but could now never be mistaken for anything but a prison. Iron bars lined the walls, holding ranks and ranks of withered captives as they shuffled inward toward...whatever might lay in this fell building's center. The intruders proceeded down the hallway, fighting through the deathly wind, and in only a few moments arrived at the courtroom.

While places of law often favored at least facades of classical design, hearkening back to the authority and civility of the ancient democracies, this room look almost air-lifted from a polis of the Greeks, or perhaps from their underworld. Of circular design, and featuring tiers of columns and arches reaching up the stories, it was as ghastly as it was magnificent. Flaming braziers provided light, though the air sweeping across the floor was cold. In the center towered a monstrous judge, his visage grim, plucking with his tendrils the pitiable and eerily human things that emerged from the arches around him. He seized one despite its protests and brought it close to his wrinkled face, sniffing deeply. “Ah...” he rumbled, his voice gravelly, deep, and oddly cultured. “Suicide.” As it wailed, he cast the victim down a pit that lay at the bottom of the stairs leading down from the room's entrance. Then, his eyeless face fell on the intruders. “Who comes into my house of pain?”

“Housekeeping,” Nero called, drawing the Blue Rose to aim at the judge's face. “We're here to take out the trash.”

“Hmmmm...” the monster grunted. “Then I, King Minos, will judge you...accordingly.”

Warning! Miniboss discovered!

He leaned back, and Nero started shooting. V rode around the pit on Shadow, with Griffon opening fire, and Nadia leaped over it. She sprinted toward Minos as he doubled over, and a wave of fog rolled out from his mouth. Thinking quickly, she leaped over it, stretching her legs apart with her muscle fibers for maximum air. She landed on Minos' face and stabbed it with her tail over and over again. Far more quickly than she expected, the judged reached up and clenched his fist around her, making her eyes bug out. “Buh!?” The next moment he slammed her into the ground before him, then brought his fist up to pulverize her. Shadow burst up from the ground and extended a tree of spikes from his back, which pierced the fist as it came down.

Nadia used the chance to scoot out of the way. “C'mon, Fortune,” Nero called as he ran up, swinging at one of Minos' tentacles. “These things don't mess around.” Still a little squeezed, Nadia took a moment to catch her breath before circling around. All the while, Pandemonica stood by the door, watching with a bored expression.

Persona ~ The Beholder

Kirsty Ramaswamy

For an indeterminate while after the call ended, Kirsty remained motionless, running over the situation in her head. The band, fallen upon hard times as is, lay on the edge of destruction. All too soon, it seemed, it would be transitioning from spinning its wheels to falling apart. Doing things like helping June move was Kirsty's way of making amends for her poor performance, trying to prove that she remained useful, but if June was set against her there was no point in making such pitiful attempts. Other than it being the kind thing to do. But June wanted her gone. Drew, meanwhile, wanted her to demonstrate her appreciation for his continued support. Kirsty felt trapped between them, forced to choose. Then again, it wasn't much of a choice. She needed to reciprocate for Drew, or she might lose the only person really looking out for her. But to do that, she needed money...

Something occurred to her, and she breathed a heavy sigh. Navarro. After class today, she would approach her professor and ask for work after school. Repeated sessions did nothing to mitigate the uneasiness Kirsty felt when doing it, but it couldn't be helped. Besides, hopefully being showing some eagerness would get her on Navarro's good side. Toward the end of last semester, when Kirsty started feeling reluctant, the professor let slip that her student's lack of cooperation might affect her grades. Now more than ever, Kirsty needed to decrease the pressure. There was no chance today wouldn't suck, but she could only grin and bear it.

As she neared the end of her thought process, a girl appeared. This in itself was no strange occurrence, and Kirsty felt a little better that people weren't avoiding her purposefully, but as the newcomer settled down she said something that was anything but ordinary. Whoa. For a moment, Kirsty was at a loss for words, which no doubt suited her new acquaintance fine. It wasn't every day that an introvert felt the need to try and suppress interaction directly. She tried to keep Kirsty from taking it personally, but it still stung. Well, ultimately her feelings didn't matter. Instead of feeling down Kirsty tried to look at it from the other girl's point of view. If she really wanted to be alone, why would she come to a place with people in the first place? Was this one of those 'cries for help' where someone tried to put others off as a defense mechanism but really wanted some human contact? Either way, Kirsty couldn't ignore this. To be silent and indifferent would be to to rail against her own nature. It took only a couple seconds for her to make up her mind. If this girl didn't like it, she should have gone somewhere without anyone around.

“Oh. I'm sorry to hear that,” she said, her voice low and full of sympathy. She sat up straight, her arms in her lap, to convey appropriate gravitas. “Things must be pretty rough for you right now. Well, I'll shut up, but if you change your mind I'd be more than happy to talk with you.” She couldn't help but wonder what struggles this poor girl might be going through. No doubt they dwarfed Kirsty's own, and stemmed not from her own failings but from misfortune and terrible circumstance. Kirsty wanted to help, but knew she might not be able to. Maybe I should have gone into psychology instead of journalism. Then I'd know what to say to people to make them feel better. All she could do was hope she seemed understanding and approachable enough to open up to.

World of Light

Tora & Poppi

Level 7 Tora (78/60) and Level 6 Poppi (17/60)
Location: the End
Word Count: 686

The great dragon rampaged forward like a midnight tidal wave, and the heroes hurried (or in some cases, were hurried) out of its way. Not everyone prepared had themselves for such a titanic beast, however, especially one that bore down on them so quickly. As the party scattered, the Courier and his entourage, Jak and Dakster, Cuphead, Donovan, Hat Kid, Banjo and Kazooie, and Fox didn't quite get out of the way in time. None got so unlucky as to fall beneath one of the Ender Dragon's feet and get trampled into the store, or snapped up by its ebon maw, but even a glancing blow from its enormous limbs or chest was a heavy impact that sent them sprawling. None got even close to flying off the island's edge, but rolling across end stone wasn't exactly pleasant. Such a monster need not even make a real attack to dish serious pain; just the act of moving in its enemies' vicinity presented a threat.

The others, however, did not let the Ender Dragon move on and take to the skies again unscathed. While getting out of its way Geralt peppered its face and head with blaster shots, his weapon's inaccuracy not an issue against a large target on approach. Junior and his Pokemon worked together to unleash a pair of twin Laughing Ghosts that rushed after the beast to detonate against its hide—unfortunately, they moved a lot slower than the dragon did. Link's arrow struck the beast's back and left a visible scar between its scales, and the first wave of Sectonia's light rings cut in just after. Cadet managed to snag his Clutch Claw on the Ender Dragon's foreleg as it went past, which abruptly yanked him after it, and then the monster was gone. It took to the air, left the island, and began to circle around. The Laughing Ghosts swerved to track it, but detonated against one of the island's obsidian towers. Even in this lighting, anyone who happened to look at the impact sites could tell that they left not so much as a scar on the smooth, glossy black stone.

Tora, meanwhile, jumped up and down in frustration. “Crap!”

Poppi side-eyed him. “Masterpon forget that missile arts only usable after hit with basic attacks?”

The Nopon signaled for her to lift him up as he watched the dragon come around. “Honestly,” he said as his partner boosted upward, holding him. “Given circumstances, little moment of panic more than understandable, meh.” Poppi set him down on top of one of the obsidian towers, where he stood at the approximate height of the leviathan's cruising altitude.

A moment later the Ender Dragon flew toward the island again. Purple welled from its mouth, and as it soared over the island it released blast after blast of ender acid. The stuff splashed against the end stone with loud, dangerous hissing. Timing the jump, Tora waited until the Ender Dragon got close before slamming the Mech Arms against the obsidian beneath him. The blast sent him flying into the dragon's path, and using his weapon's hands he grabbed hold of its upper tail and hung on for dear life. Poppi flew after it, getting as close as she could.

As the Ender Dragon passed the tower, a beam of purple energy shot out of the crystal atop the spire to lock onto the beast. While it looked like an attack, that didn't exactly make sense given its placement here along with the dragon, and it also didn't look like it did any damage. In fact, to Poppi and the Cadet, it appeared to be the opposite. They were close enough to see the wounds from Sectonia's rings, Link's arrow, and Geralt's shots close up, and to see the beam peter out the moment the wounds did. In the heat of the moment, however, Poppi was concentrated on her masterpon.

After completing its acidic bombing run, the dragon turned toward the island again. With Poppi on board as well, Tora could start pummeling the dragon's hide, although the assault didn't so much as slow the beast down.

Lumbridge

Location: Land of Adventure
@Zoey Boey

While waiting for an opponent to make their move meant one could fight reactively, figuring out their foe's strengths, weaknesses, and moveset, it also meant surrendering the battlefield and playing by that foe's rules. Sakura would not be doing that. Instead she leaped on the offensive, and to begin her match with Ryu she unleashed a full-force spirit ball that flew quickly across the distance that divided them. A less experienced fighter might have jumped over the linear hadoken to deliver a jumping attack, but all that awaited such a maneuver would be a quick shoryuken to the face. Being no amateur, Ryu contented himself with blocking the blazing projectile and seeing where things went from there. He did not, however, anticipate Sakura going all-out aggressive. The girl sprinted after her hadoken to press the attack. Ryu had just enough time to throw a jab, but if Sakura was this familiar with his fighting style, she probably knew he could and would instead go for block pressure. As such, he held firm on the defensive.

He chose wrong.

Sakura met him not with a blow but with a grapple. In a remarkable gymnastic maneuver she flipped over his guard to pull him off his feet and send him into the air. Ryu knew how to fall, and he hit the ground with enough grace to get back to his feet immediately, but his face bore a scuff from where it hit the dirt along with a look that could only be termed 'mildly impressed.' Still, he didn't wait around. He advanced toward his opponent, stopped at the perfect range, and began to apply pressure. He alternated between high and low strikes, varying his targets and techniques, never committing to a sequence heavy enough that Sakura could sneak in a counterattack. It seemed as though he fished for an opening to start a combo, but he did not expect Sakura to mess up her blocks; his intentions lay elsewhere. Finally, after a tense few seconds, he unleashed a Collarbone Breaker, a tricky blow that needed to be blocked high. Sakura had to recognize and adapt to in the span of less than a second to avoid getting opening up.

Dead Zone

@EvilEdd1984

While the Slayer certainly didn't seem happy about having Pandemonica along for the ride, he seemed to understand that he was already tolerating a heavily-armed quarter-demon and a human commanding three full demons, so a harmless-looking, tired secretary who happened to be a demon wasn't that big of a deal. That left the group able to focus on the threats ahead.

Straightaway the Slayer busied himself with mopping up all the small fry and medium fry, exterminating zombie and demon alike regardless of how on-fire they might be. Nero decided to go after the biggest fish, that being the vaguely doglike monstrosity of twisted metal. It reminded him of a heavy-metal spinoff of the Cerberus demons, which he knew Dante faced multiple times in the course of his adventures, but this thing acted more like a Behemoth. It heedlessly tore through any monsters in its way, devouring them with its three heads. As he approached, Nero wondered what happened to what the beast ate, since it featured slavering mouths at both ends. Of course, he didn't play to find out. “Hey, poochie!” he called, getting the beast's attention. “Let's play!”

The Greed replied by blasting fire from both of its forward maws. Nero jumped over the wave of flame and launched downward with a Payline. Snarling, the monster raked at him with its crimson claws, but Nero's technique brushed the attack off as he drove the Red Queen between its necks and into its body. He landed on its back and ran across, dragging his embedded blade. As he jumped off, pulling the Red Queen free, the Greed's rear head snapped at his leg. Its teeth tore free a strip of his right pants leg and bloodied the skin beneath, but the devil hunter didn't seem too bothered. He landed with a roll, unleashed a couple shots from the Blue Rose, and promptly dodged back out of the reach of the rear head's ice breath. Having clawed the life out of a prowler, Nadia then jumped in to attack the Greed, but her nails didn't even scratch its steely armor. “No good!” she called, jumping away. V moved in with Shadow and Griffon to help take the Greed down.

Meanwhile, one of the bedside brutes swooped toward Pandemonica, leering at her. In a salacious voice it called, “Hey, babe! You look like you could use a pick-me-up!”

The demoness blinked. “Oh, you have some? Black with two sugars, if you don't mind.”

Smirking, the incubus lunged. “I'm thinkin' red with cream!”

There was a snapping noise, and the demon dropped dead, its neck twisted neatly backward. Pandemonica stood over the corpse, adjusting her glove with a resigned expression. “You must have me mistaken for Modeus. I'm in Customer Service. I trust you're satisfied.”

Nearby, Nadia landed on top of another incubus, driving it face-first into the ground. Her eyes were wide. “Whoa, you're one cool cat!” she said.

Lying on the ground beside her, her target sputtered. “Guh! This ain't what I had in mind when I said I wanted pu-!” With a slash of her detached tail Nadia sent the demon's head rolling, and when his body dissolved into ash she stomped on the spirit. Some sort of horn manifested, which she left where it lay. The victors glanced over just in time to see the Slayer put down the surprisingly tough hag monster, and not long after, Shadow crushed the Greed's last remaining head with its flytrap form.

Nero lingered over the Greed spirit for a moment. “I'm not a weapons master like Dante, but...maybe something like that'll give me something useful.” He destroyed it, and to his surprise the spirit reconstituted into a prosthetic arm. “Hey, that's not half bad.”

Nadia looked down at the itemized result of the hag. “Aw, sweet...a knife.” Shrugging she stuck it in one of her pouches to followed the devil hunter and his associated across the remainder of the lot and to one of the many entrances to the mall. She glanced up, watching the edge of the building get closer and closer to eclipsing the root that rose from it. “So, this is it, huh? If this gets tough, you guys better not fur-get to keep me safe.”

Since the sliding door wasn't working, Nero kicked through the glass. He turned to see Pandemonica holding back. “Stay out here if you like, but there's probably a cafe or something in here,” he told her.

“I see.” The demon promptly followed the rest, and with the party at his back Nero forged inside. Immediately he saw the chains everywhere, stretched haphazardly across open space. Almost every wall bore iron bars over its recesses, and in them were crammed humanoid shapes beyond counting. They moaned as they struggled in vain, packed like sardines and pleading for succor. From his time in hell the Slayer harbored familiarity with such surroundings, but the others needed a moment.

“Jesus...” Nero muttered before glancing back to check on his crew. V looked grim, Nadia looked like she was about to throw up, and even Pandemonica seemed pretty displeased. While this place matched neither what Nero knew of the place from Dante nor Pandemonica's workplace, it certainly fit the bill for hell. The sheer number of chains served to inhibit their progress, so Nero drew the Red Queen and started cutting away. “C'mon,” he told the others. “Let's put down whatever screwball lives here and get the hell out.”

After a while of working through chain-infested halls and stores, littered with pools of lava, they came to an area where the ground had given way. The entire back half of the mall seemed to have sunk down into a fiery pit, but enough chains stretched across it to make a way over. As nimble as she was quick, Nadia could run along the chains to get over the gap, but the others needed to be a little more careful. Nero slung himself under, climbing hand-over-hand, and V called upon both demons to help him. Pandemonica managed somehow, balancing slowly but surely across. The real problem seemed to be the Qliphoth root; the team had underestimated its size. It was farther away than it looked, and not in the mall itself at all. On the other side of the lava pit, sitting on the edge of the cliff, stood the remains of a great courthouse. It was from there that the Qliphoth root rose.

Persona ~ The Beholder

Kirsty Ramawamy

Steadily more students filtered into the common area, whether just to pass through or to while away some time before their various classes began. Try as she might Kirsty found it tough to concentrate, and she ended up glancing around quite often to the people congregating nearby. She recognized a number of faces that she couldn't assign names, having exchanged pleasantries with them last year but never gotten the chance to know them. As more young men and women arrived they formed groups, chatting about this or that, Kirsty became more and more aware of a nagging, irritating feeling, like the itch of a bug bite.

Nobody seemed to recognize her, or else they did and felt no need to talk to her. In the midst of a number of people she more or less knew, she felt remarkably alone. Why? Not for the first time, she launched a hunt for a reason. After all, considering her outgoing and obliging nature, there had to be a reason why people didn't consider her a friend, or an approachable acquaintance. Maybe they wanted to prioritize their best friends? No, Kirsty suspected it was because she was ttoo amicable. In this impersonal day and age, someone who grew too close to people's precious personal space was a weirdo. But it wasn't like Kirsty could dial it back. If she acted as impersonally as the average person, how would she stand out? How would she set the example? She couldn't let herself be along for the ride, indifferently sliding through each day without caring for her fellow man. People were meant to be together.

So why did she end up alone?

The buzz of her phone woke her from her daze with a start. She stared at her laptop's screen for a moment, watching the little line blinking halfway through an incomplete sentence in her text document, as she extracted her phone from her bag. A glance at the caller ID did not leave her feeling any more at ease. It read 'Drew Whittney', and those words left a pit in her stomach. Nevertheless, she couldn't very well ignore a phone call, so she swiped up on her phone's surface and held the device to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, sugar!”

Kirsty winced. “Um, hi, Drew...”

A moment of expectant silence passed by. Fidgeting and quite unable to fill it, Kirsty could only wonder about her caller's intentions. Then the boy's voice reached her again. “So...do you have anything to say to me?”

Kirsty stiffened. She had nothing. Did she forget something? Did...he expect her to say something affectionate back to him? Ever since that evening at Swingers a few months ago, he seemed to consider her more than a friend. With how depressed he'd been at the time, Kirsty had wanted to try and lift his spirits, even to the point of paying for the golfing session herself. To him, though, it seemed like that tied some kind of knot between them, and ever since the trepidatious boy had gotten a lot bolder with her. She wanted to say something to set the record straight, but she didn't want to make him feel bad. Her stomach crawled. “Hello...darling?”

Drew's laughter crackled through the phone. “No, silly goose, it's my birthday! Don't tell me you forgot?”

Kirsty suffered a brief moment of silence. “...I'm sorry.”

“Hey, no worries,” Drew assured her. “Tell ya what, you can make it up for me with dinner in Sky Garden! It's the perfect romantic spot, and with school heating up again, I figured we could both take some time to enjoy ourselves!”

“That sounds...lovely, but...”

Drew continued, “And, I've been pretty low on cash lately, and I paid for us at that cafe last week, so I figured you could take this one maybe? Goes both ways, don't it? Think of it as your birthday present to me.”

Kirsty's grip on her phone tightened. “Um, sure, but didn't we both say we'd help June move flats tonight?”

“Pssh. Is that really more important than my birthday? Besides, why wouldja wanna help someone who's talkin' behind your back?”

“What?” A chill ran down Kirsty's back.

A sigh came over the line. “Look, love. I didn't want to be the one to tell ya, but June's been tellin' Erin she should kick ya outta the band. She says you're bringin' the whole thing down.”

The image of June scowling at Kirsty after the low-turnout performance in Jenning's Pub last week flashed through her mind. At the time it didn't seem like the face was directed at her, but could she have been wrong? Seen something different because it wasn't what she wanted to see? Distraught, she stammered, “I-I know I haven't been doing my best lately, but I still want to help the band succeed! June wants me out? You can't be serious.”

In the pause that ensued, Kirsty heard Drew swallow over the phone. “Well,” he said after a moment. “I'm sorry, but that's how it is. I gotta be honest with you, Kirst: everyone knows you're the weak link.”

“No...” Kirsty sank into her chair, her laptop sliding to one side, where it luckily caught on the armrest before falling to the floor. She felt like a deflated balloon. She knew it was true. “But I've been trying so hard...”

Drew quickly reassured her. “I know love, I know. You're doin' the best ya can. That's why I'm fightin' to keep ya in. Tryin' to convince 'em you're just in a slump. 'Cause you're special to me, yeah? Workin' so hard, always smilin', the nicest and prettiest girl there is.”

Kirsty felt gratitude well up inside her. Even if Drew was a little weird, he could still appreciate her, appreciate all the effort she put in to be good. Whatever the reason, she had someone in her corner. “Thank you,” she breathed. “I won't let you down. I'll show June and Erin I can get out of this slump and really pull my weight.”

“That's great!” Drew said. “So, we on for tonight?”

For a moment Kirsty considered her bank account. She didn't have the money for dinner for two in Sky Garden. But this was a special occasion, and she needed to reward the faith Drew put in her. Or he might turn against her too. “...Okay. Yeah, I think I can manage.”

She could practically hear him grinning. “Sweet! I'll see ya tonight then, sugar. Buh-bye!”

He hung up before she could say anything, and then Kirsty was alone again, sprawled like a lazy dog in one of the common room couches. Mechanically she put her phone away, then stared at the screensaver that had overtaken her laptop. Hopefully she hadn't been too loud.