Chapter 2: Of Protagonists and Plot Devices

THE CHILD AND THE PEST Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs
Rika was so tempted to grab William and shove him back into her pocket, but he got out before she could and began taunting Vendetta. The girl blocked another chalk-monster attack, her face pale, as she continued trying to fight it off whilst listening to the two share their conversation. By the end of it, Vendetta had began her chase after William, leaving her in the cafeteria with Stewart. There was an awkward silence between them as all fighting stopped. Stewart looked curiously at Rika, cocking his head. "You're gonna attack again, right?" he asked eagerly. Rika sighed, staring at the monsters terrorizing the children. Okay, she knew there was something that would take them down easily, but what was it? She ducked Froggo's attack, hiding behind an overturned table. Stewart sat down beside her. "Aww, come onnnnnn, I gotta impress Vendettaaaaaa! How am I supposed to impress her if you're not doing anything?"

"Quiet. We're thinking."

Stewart fell silent, looking at Rika with a derpy grin. Then, unable to hold back anymore, he continued blabbing. "You know, I think there's something very similar about us; we're both sidekicks! Isn't that cool?"

"We're not a sidekick."

Tears spiked Stewart's eyes; he began to sniffle. Then, to Rika's amazement, the kid actually started bawling. The chalk monsters completely stopped what they were doing. Then the crying disease spread, from kid to kid. And soon enough, the entire cafeteria was randomly in tears, leaving Rika to wonder what the heck was going on. And soon her own eyes welled up in frustration.

The entire cafeteria was literally in tears.

Talk about chaos. Stewart soon hugged Rika, sobbing about something (he didn't know what anymore), letting out overly dramatic crying noises as Rika cried about.....something. The entire cafeteria was confused, and as if it couldn't get any worse....

.....The monsters began to break down.

And that was when Rika found it appropriate to stop time for a few minutes, regain her composure, resume time, and climb onto a table.
"Everybody, it's okay--" Still more bawling. Rika sweatdropped. Only one thing to do. "WE'RE A SIDEKICK!"

Stewart stopped crying. He looked up at Rika, his eyes sparkly. "Y-You are....? ME TOO~! Can I kill you?"

"Er.....no. How about we finish this death battle thingie so we can get ice cream?"

"I like ice cream!"

"That's wonderful! Us too!" Rika aimed her hammer at Stewart's head; the demon ducked, pulling out his sword and slashing at Rika, who blocked his attack.

"Yaaaayyyy!"

"Yaaaayyyy!"
 
THE RULE-BENDER AND THE NOT-SO-EVIL DEMON Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs

The floorboards creaked underneath Lambda and Pandora's feet as they entered the Thomas house; it was an old place, built in the early 2000s as a lab before, forty years later, turning into the home of Hell City's resident teenage bomber chicks. Pandora stopped at what used to be Kathy's room, curiously entering it. It looked....surprisingly girlish, with Disney princess posters hanging on the wall, collecting dust. There was a shelf dedicated to a collection of porcelain dolls. Her bed had a pink comforter on it and was unmade, as though the girl would return any minute. Did she know she was going to die that December day when she walked out of this room? By the looks of it, she didn't, and, looking into Kathy's closet, she could see several lab coats hanging from their hooks. Pushing those aside, Pandora noticed several feminine dresses. They looked as though they were never worn before. Pandora hesitated, then, after a long internal struggle, took one of the dresses, a bright pink one, and held it in front of her. It was too small, of course, but maybe--just maybe--it would fit Lambda.

Stepping out of the room and into the kitchen area, Pandora could see Lambda eating candy out of a jar, her bright red eyes filled with a certain sparkle. The two didn't say anything for a while, but soon Pandora walked over to Lambda, showing her the dress.
"I-I found this....thought it would suit yo--"

CRASH.

"SHIT!" The blonde rushed down the stairs, preparing her throwing knives in case it was an enemy, and was about to hit Tanner with a pink knife....only to realize it was just him, and that he had thrown a lamp to the ground. Pandora soon followed, her umbrella sword raised in defense. The two paused, staring wide-eyed at Tanner, then Lambdadelta burst into laughter, falling over snickering. "Hahahahaha--I thought you were some sort of an enemy or something!" she guffawed, banging on the floor while laughing. Pandora, meanwhile, just sort of plopped the dress onto Lambda and walked off to explore Anita's bedroom, which was conveniently nearby. She paused for a moment, as though thinking, then grabbed Nate by the arm and pretty much dragged him over to the cyborg bedroom.

Unlike Kathy's pink princess wonderland, Anita's room had very little light except for the dim glow of her computer. Pandora turned on the light, only to realize that the bedroom was literally a ginormous boombox. The walls had speakers attached to one another by wires, a flat-screen TV right in front of the bed, connected to Anita's many game systems that she owned. In one corner, there was a shelf full of robots she had invented and prototypes of very dangerous-looking weapons.

A cyborg teenager's heaven.

Pandora sat down at Anita's bed, looking around the bedroom. She didn't know what half this stuff was, but she didn't care. Something had made her want to see Anita's room, and now she could see why. This place was the product of hard work and dedication to.....whatever she did. Or maybe it was because she had heard rumors about her being the nicer sibling. It was hard to call it.

"I.....I.....um......I stole a dress from Kathryn's room......." she began awkwardly.
 
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Tracey Sykes
(Location: Hell City, Rainy Traveler General Store.)(Currently: Dazed & Confused)
Tracey’s brow lowered as did her head, within her compressed quivering grasp laid the pristine hilt of the ‘King slayer’ with its honed edge staying dormant on the hardened floor tiles next to her achy knees. Despite the woman’s unconsciousness during the event that had previously taken place, she was still able to comprehend what had just recently happened as the weapon before her told the bloody tale just by the carnage gliding gradually off the blade. “I-I-i need to get out of here.” Tracey’s exhaustive voice slowly faded into obscurity as her panicked gasps died down, she couldn’t believe it, she had escaped the clutches of her captors? It must’ve been some sort of cruel joke, an experiment fabricated by those that have longed her torment for so many decades, but all of this, the numb tingling in her shaky hands from clenching the pommel of the sword too hard. There was only one way to find out and it lurked behind those double-doors leading out into the open-world, taking only but a moment she gave a backwards glance at the ruination that was once the Tora syndicate’s precious lobby, now scarred in lacerations and littered in broken rubble of the expensive ornaments that had once decorated the expansive foyer, whomever owned this building wasn’t going to be rejoicing with glee after seeing what had happened, Deciding not to stick around and find out what’ll happen if more goons show up late to the party, Tracey retrieved her prized belonging off the ground only bursting through the twin-doors seconds later and being embraced by the frigid air that ruffled the leaves through the city streets, it was an astonishing sight to behold, seeing the lonely rain-drops splatter against the concrete and hearing the bustling noises of the dense traffic that made her sigh with relief in realization, she was at last free from the binds that had ensnared her mind and body. Unable to resist the feeling of gracing her skin with the crying sky, she stepped forward out from underneath the overhang. The sensation of having the second-hand sins of man being washed away one droplet at time felt like true bliss, but this had only lasted for a moment after she had accidentally misjudged her footing, eventually stepping in front of the road only to have a taxi-cab conclude its journey within its steel grill a few inches away from Tracey’s waist after the man behind the wheel slammed on his brakes.

“Hey lady are you trying to get yourself killed?” Tracey could only stare at the man hanging outside the driver-side window, completely dumbfounded at what was happening, all of this was too fast for the poor-girl. “Looks like she’s more lost about what’s going on then I am.” He thought, still watching Tracey staring at him like a terrified deer that was watching approaching headlights. “Well, did you need a ride? It’d be kinda stupid to be just standing out here in the middle of the street while getting drenched in rain.” It didn’t take too long for her to break out of the spell after he had offered a solution to getting the hell out of Syndicate territory, Tracey trotted a few steps before getting into the back-seat of the man’s ride whilst still completely silent except for her eyes which glittered with all sorts of emotion. “So? Do you know where you’d like to go? Do you have a home? A place to stay perhaps?” He asked, curious at the weird girl he had just taken into his ride whom was still staying quiet as if her lips were sealed by a spell, There wasn’t any doubt in his mind that this girl had either just experienced something traumatic or she was a complete and utter whackjob. “Uhm. I guess I can take you to a place that offers some kind of sanctuary, i’m sure that the friendly-folk at the Rainy Traveler will be able to help you.” Tracey nodded politely in appreciation as both of them drove off, during the trip she nonchalantly looked outside as the water streaked down the window, daydreaming about select memories from the past, a better time before all of this. It was only a matter of time before she dozed off for around half an hour or so, awakening at the sound of the persistent man behind the wheel notifying her that they had arrived. “No need, just keep yourself safe okay?” He said after she tried to fumble through her clothing for any sort of loose change, thankfully there were a few upstanding citizens in Hell City that weren’t corrupted by the notion of Greed, a rare occurrence to come by as this crime-ridden city was a haven for the worst of the worst. “Th-ank you” Tracey nervously stuttered as she stepped out, her face being greeted by the luminescent sign above that had been labeled with the name of the establishment. From the outside it didn’t look like anything too special but upon peering inside of the windows it appeared to be a bit more than just a regular store, if anything it was the most refine general store that she’s ever seen. Not wasting any time, Tracey merely pushed her way through the front entrance with the stereotypical ‘ding’ sound echoing its way through the store as she entered.
 
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Kimiko
(Side-character)(Location: Hell City, Cemetery.)

Thank goodness, she felt a shower of relief flush over her small-boned figure once she had discovered that this strange girl known as ‘Shiro’ was surprisingly alive and well even after her dangerous encounter with Kimiko’s former boss. Nonetheless she still was scuffed up from the aftermath of the violent brawl, her clothing attire was littered with tufted blades of grass and a few splotches of dried-up blood which managed to slightly pool around the material, Kimiko’s face simply shook with confusion as the young woman’s demeanor had completely changed, perhaps Masakazu hit her on the noggin too hard? Or maybe this was her ordinary state? Previously Kimiko only remembered cruising to the cemetery to have a conversation with the Oyabun but once she heard the tone of a different person having an argument with him, it was only a matter of time before he’d claim another victim, countless deaths had been acted out by the hands of her mad employer as she stood by in silence and fear, Kimiko couldn’t of allowed another innocent to be hurt by his cruel warped mind, there was only one solution to this continuous problem and that was killing him. However, seeing his body slumped out and all lifeless was relatively unnerving not that she was afraid of seeing someone’s corpse but more of the fact that it could’ve been possible that he was still alive, Masakazu was a wildcard and was capable of planning the most clever of schemes posthaste.

“I sure hope he’s not getting back up from that, i’m glad to see that you’re okay. It’s a pleasure to meet you Shiro but I wish it were on better terms instead on an occasion such as this, you may call me Kimiko. I was formerly the secretary of that man you see lying on the ground before you, i’ve stood by and observed him commit so many atrocities, i’m just glad that I could stop him from making another one” She replied, feeling accomplished for having finally put this psychopath down but then again, did she do the right thing? There was always another person that could be just as bad taking his place but then again Masakazu was one in a million as far as personalities go. “You’re welcome Shiro, i’m glad I could help! By the way, are you sure that you’re okay? You look kinda bruised up.” She asked in a concerned voice, stepping a bit closer to inspect the painful abrasions that she’s endured while hoping to assure her safety before wiping off a few of the unsightly leaves and dirt that accumulated on her clothes. “You don’t seem in that much pain and these wounds don’t look too bad, but my you’ve gotten a bit filthy. Do you have any place to stay Shiro? I wouldn’t advise being out here in this place especially because of how dangerous it can be at night.” Leaving this girl out here all alone wouldn’t be wise including the fact that Bernkastel and several of her disciples stay beneath the very ground that she stood, Kimiko couldn’t allow her to wander out here alone by herself, if Bernkastel somehow got a notion of Masakazu’s death it would certainly mean the end for this girl.
(Sorry for how bad this post is, i've kinda been on a few hours of sleep for a while now because of how busy i am. :c )

Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Shiro Fujima(Your post is fine :3 Sorry for replying so late ^-^)
Sure enough Shiro was still scuffed up, her outfit especially. That and there was dirt in places that dirt should never be, but oh well. She didn't seem to mind at all, actually quite cheerful and happy. Sure it hurt a little bit but she had been through much worse and survived, she'd be okay now for sure. A crack on the head was basically an everyday occurance for the albino female at this point. When Kimiko mentioned Masakazu getting up from that she blinked and looked to him. Well, Shiro was no doctor. But she summarized unless he had regenerative powers better than herself and the bullet didn't go as deep it looked the man was very much as dead as the corpses below them. She smiled at her as she introduced herself, a tiny bit nervous when she mentioned working with him...but hey she had just shot him so eh.

When asked if she was alright she nodded, "Mhm Shiro will be okay!" She replied cheerfully. "Shiro has been hurt worse than this before." She assured her, letting her wipe the dirt and such off of her dress. She nodded once more when asked about having a home, "Mhm Shiro has a nice house." She said. "It's a little broken in places but still nice." She said, shrugging a bit. "Shiro thinks it's a bad idea for Kimiko to stay here too. Kimiko could come to Shiro's place?" She offered, tilting her head slightly. "It's not very far. Shiro promise it's safe there." Normally she wouldn't so readily invite people to her home, however Kimiko had saved her life and for that she was incredibly thankful. Plus, she got herself a cool new knife too.​
THE LETTER....WOMAN? Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Bismarck looked at his reflection in the mirror one more time, still attempting to think of a decent strategy. The time loop had made him a paranoid man, and one could just tell by his expression that he was planning on just giving up entirely. The man sighed hopelessly, taking his dagger off of his belt. What was the point? He was just going to lose anyways, he thought, running his fingers through his hair and sighing once again. Maybe he was just being a little melodramatic. Maybe the time loop was finally driving him to his limits. Maybe he needed a Maria to get him to calm down before he turned into the walking, talking demotivational speech. He sighed, sitting down at the table and burying his face in his hands; what was a good, reasonable plan that would actually work? He thought for a long time, then snapped his fingers, heading over to the kitchen and searching the cupboards. He needed wormwood. He needed asphodel root. He needed a sloth's brain. He needed a Sopophorous Bean.

"Potions cabinet," he muttered, searching the designated cabinet, which had a sort of witchy scent to it. He tossed out various odd-looking vegetables, the type that looked like, if mixed with the wrong thing, they would explode. He pulled out a couple of the ingredients, humming lightly under his breath, acting as though this was totally normal. Once he had them all, he took a deep breath, looking at the assorted ingredients. "Oh, Merlin, please don't explode in my face," he mumbled before rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. His hands moved nimbly across the cutting board as he started with the wormwood, adding it to a mixing bowl. He determinedly crushed the asphodel until it was completely powdered, just as the recipe called for. He stirred, he worked, he made his Potions teacher proud. Those days with Luce weren't just all fun and games, after all.

Once he was finished with the potion, he looked proudly at it, watching it turn from a pale lilac color to completely clear. He wiped his brow, smiling contentedly. He forgot how fun it was to make potions, perhaps because it had been so long. He started pouring it, the Draught of Living Death, into a glass vial, humming lightly, only to sense Maria's presence. The Letterman, now completely calm and having forgotten about his grudge against Heinrich, turned around, smiling gently at his wife as she shoved two vials of potions into his hands, telling him to drink them.
"Y-You have a plan that has to do with potions too?" he asked, incredulous but impressed. Then he nodded, taking one of the two potions and taking a sip of it. There was a long pause, then he fainted.

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When Bismarck woke up, there was something different about him. He wasn't sure how, but somehow his hair had grown a lot longer. His voice was higher as he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. He had two bulges on his chest.

Wait. What?!

Panicking, Bismarck got out his phone and turned on the camera, looking at his reflection, only to realize that he was a she. There was a long pause, then she realized what Maria was trying to do. She was trying to protect him by disguising him as a girl. Sighing, Bismarck (or should we say Bridgette?) stood up, leaning against Maria as she silently freaked out. There were so many new things going on inside of his head; slight vulnerability, but also freedom from the pressure of being strong and many all the time. Bismarck took a deep breath and continued holding Maria close. Something inside of his head told him not to worry about hiding his feelings like he tended to do, but still, it was hard.

"G-Guess I'm B-Bridgette now, huh..." she mumbled softly, hiding her face in Maria's chest like she normally did when embarrassed (and when Maria was at hand). She was a little--no, extremely--shocked, but she had to stay calm through all of this. She had to be the man of the house!

.....Wait, what?
Maria JonesMaria nodded at Bismarck's response, "Yup sure do~" She replied. Of course she had expected her husband to actually read the labels or something before downing one of them....but oh well? When he fainted she moved to catch him...or rather her, though wasn't quite quick enough to do so. Nonetheless she laid her head in her lap and watched the changes take place. It was actually quite something really. Sure she had teased Bismarck about secretly being a girl or something before, but it was sort of surreal to actually see him as a she. She was quite cute too, another thing she was happy about the potions for. A few pervy thoughts did come to mind, checking out Bridgette's new body being one of them, but she refrained...for now.

Instead the neko giggled quietly to herself as she freaked out, hugging her to her when she did. "Guess so." She told her, laughing a little and kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry if it freaked you out so much. I kind of expected you to read the label and all." She explained. "Also...kinda didn't expect it to make you faint, but oh well." She added, shrugging a bit. She then glanced to the other vial. "I kind of think you should drink the other one too. I honestly love you how you are and all, and I wouldn't want you to change permanently...but that other potion is supposed to change your personality." She said. "It'll make you less...well...Bismarck-y and obvious that it's just you with boobs and minus a dick." She said. "You'd be safest like that...I mean let's face it you're a rather unique personality in Hell City and Bern isn't exactly dumb. It's entirely up to you though." Maria just wanted whatever would keep him, or well her, the safest. She'd prefer to keep Bismarck's normal personality for now, but if she had to convince her to take the potion she'd try her best to do so.​
 
THE LETTERWOMAN Mitchs98 Mitchs98 Solemn Jester Solemn Jester Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs
Bridgette felt the usual warm feeling--no, the usual butterflies--that she often received whenever Maria's lips brushed her head. Even as a female, she still felt the same way about her wife. Hugging her, she sighed, taking her face out of Maria's chest to lean on her shoulder. She listened to her soothing voice as she asked about a personality changing potion, managing to calm down just a little more with each syllable. Then she realized it was time to make a decision. Staring at the personality potion, she gave it a wary look. What would happen to her when she drank that? She thought for a long time about what would be the right thing to do. Maria was trying to protect her. She took the vial from her hands, looking worriedly at it, then back at Maria. Once she drank this, Bismarck would be completely gone for a couple hours. And who would replace him? Some brute with no common sense? There was a long pause as she held the potion closer to her chest, then, taking a deep breath, she shook her head, putting it back on the counter.

"I.....I can't do it...." she mumbled, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "While I'm curious about how my personality would change, I just really don't want to lose myself entirely. Even if its for a couple hours, I still want to be your Bismarck. I want to be the man who fell in love with you. I-I mean, your strategy is great, from a logical perspective; it'll keep me safely hidden from Bernkastel, and she won't go after me as a result. But while my mind says yes, I guess you could say that my heart has more say most of the time. I-I hope you don't mind my decision." She smiled lightly, then, sighing, allowed her smile to fall to a more serious expression. "......Maria? I really didn't want to admit it in front of he others....but.....but I'm genuinely terrified. If I lose, this will be the thirty-ninth time that I've failed. I'm not sure if you remember, and you don't have to," A couple tears fell down her face; she felt like she had suddenly aged a thousand years, and as though the world was about to crash down on her. The prelude to the apocalypse. It was so sad, and yet so beautiful, like the view from the top of a cliff right before the rock snapped and someone fell. The girl wiped away her tears, then continued. "......But either way, can you please forgive me....?"
 
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Caligula O. Keller (Reaper)

(Location: Hell City, Devicto Mortis HQ.) (With: Damien Sykes & Bernkastel & Erika.)(Previously with: Kimiko and Shiro.)
Consolation emerged in Kimiko’s physical conduct, she needed not to worry especially considering that the ‘mad dog’ Masakazu was deceased once and for all, at least she thought that is. Nonetheless even if he did manage to somehow get up from that horrific injury, it was two against one and conflicting against someone who is that seriously wounded wouldn’t be any problem, with that thought in mind, Kimiko leisurely relaxed her hunched shoulders before sitting on one of the antique benches a couple of feet from where they’d both been standing. Undergoing Masakazu’s deranged ideology and being a victim at the hands of his unspeakable wrath was traumatic to say the least, any sort of emotion once had was now lost within the depths of her distressed mind, be that as it may, Kimiko experienced a slight tempo rattling her slender arms not out of fear but more-so guilt as ending the life of this malefactor would certainly cause some backlash from the underground criminal enterprises, Devicto Mortis, a powerful ally of the syndicate would prove ruthless against finding the one responsible for this man’s death which could account for multiple innocent lives, including herself. Nonetheless, the notion of death wasn’t all that frightening once Shiro’s upbeat attitude shined through the thick atmosphere causing her to crack a soft smile as she glanced back at the less than ordinary woman while she casually wiped off the filthy sludge composing the outer layer of clothing she had on, Shiro’s incomprehension of the dangers she was previously in was kind of inspiring, taking the untold paths of life with a headstrong perspective and not letting anything stop her from achieving any dreams that she had in mind was something that Kimiko could learn from. “Guess you’re right, after-all this isn’t the safest place right now. Bernkastel probably has sent a couple of men to check out the graveyard so it’d probably be best if I stayed with you for now, thank you very much, I promise not to be a burden.” Never in a million years did she expect some random person to hand-over sanctuary out of true kindness, harboring someone who’d just murdered an important ally of a dangerous group would likely create some distance from anyone that had once knew Kimiko, but luckily Shiro was different from the rest. Of course she spoke too soon when she heard the eerie snapping sounds of scattered branches as a darkened figure emerged out from underneath the dense soil which soon gave-way to the creature’s corruptive essence, slowly consuming the life out of the blades of grass and discoloring the very ground it stood.

“My, what do we have here?” The soft-spoken voice revealed itself to be none other than Caligula with his posture in its regular authoritative stance, both of his eyes directed at the now late Masakazu then back at the worried Kimiko and the possibly confused Shiro. This definitely wasn’t one of Bern’s normal foot-soldiers, this ‘thing’ was much more diverse and had the uncanny ability to tarnish the things that he came into contact with, not planning on figuring out if Caligula was able to do the same to human-flesh, Kimiko raised her firearm up at shoulder-length, pointing the muzzle directly at Caligula who raised an eyebrow at the gesture. “Rude, I was just here to check out on our dear friend, but it appears that i’m too late." A fatigue reaction crawled across his face at the sight of the woman brandishing the firearm and the lifeless body of whom he guessed was an associate of his dearest niece. “Quite the shame, she’s going to be severely disappointed in this unfortunate discove-” As he took a couple of steps towards the two woman he was interrupted by one of their voices which held a threatening tone. “Stand back! Or else you’ll end up like your friend over there!” Kimiko yelled out to Caligula with her shaky hands grasping the handgun. Unexpectedly Caligula kept walking towards both of them, growing closer and closer each second until she had no choice but to take a precise aim to his chest and fire a single round at him which seemed to have soared right past him, strange she thought that she didn’t miss, Kimiko proceeded to keep firing until the clip was empty but despite the bullet’s accuracy they still looked as if they had went right through him like he was some sort of spectre. “What the actual hell are you?” She asked with fear resonating out face as Caligula stopped a mere four or so feet away from her, giving him enough time to reach his hand out and curl his fingers and palm around the barrel of the gun causing the muzzle to become tarnished, bending and corroding a majority of the components in the weapon before it began to crawl further up the weapon at which point Kimiko swiftly dropped it onto the ground before the gloomy substance could crawl up her hands. “Sorry miss, but those don’t work on me. But luckily for you, i’m not actually here to hurt you because i’m in quite the hurry.” Caligula spun away from both of them before feeling a raindrop strike the top of his forehead, looking up he watched as the light sprinkle of rain transitioned into a heavy down-pour. “Rain, of course.” He sighed, expressing his hatred for the weather while sliding an arm underneath the dead body of Masakazu, taking but a moment to disappear and reappear next to Bernkastel whom was having a conversation with Damien and some other strange person who he hadn’t seen before. “I believe this is yours.”

Caligula uttered before laying Masakazu’s lifeless body onto the ground then standing back up to look at Erika who appeared to be a bit restless before Bernkastel and the rest of them. “So, new friend? You seem to be getting quite a bit of company niece.” After taking a few seconds to inspect Erika, he had come to a realization that this individual was human, a species that was beyond a state of disrepair. “Disgusting.” Caligula huffed as he awaited in the background, watching the situation unfold.

TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit Mitchs98 Mitchs98
 
THE HERMIT AND THE DETECTIVE SidTheSkid SidTheSkid
Bernkastel was about to continue teasing Erika, had her uncle not wrecked the mood at about this time by showing her the corpse of Masakazu. Her expression barely changed, but internally, she felt a certain fire rise in her throat. Her fists repeatedly clenched and unclenched. She stared at the corpse for a very long time, unsure of what to do or say except just stand there and say nothing in particular. Then a low chuckle emerged; Bernkastel felt the tension release as she started to laugh, louder and louder, crazed and, ironically enough, due to the sorrow she felt. Erika tried backing away, but she was only yanked back in front of Bern, forced to watch this spectacle. The ghost closed her eyes and began to count to ten under her breath. Just another day with Bernkastel, she thought, opening her eyes to see the anti-Reaper bending over Masakazu's corpse. Ugh, she was going to do that in front of her? She thought she was gonna barf just by looking at that sick expression on the woman's face, the way her hand caressed his dead body, and how she was still hissing out laughter like some demented sprinkler (no offense to real sprinklers). She felt her own fists clench at the sight, and honestly Erika felt like punching Bern in the face, had she not been in the middle of her weird-ass anti-Reaping ritual. And had Erika been in a position where she could do this, she gladly would. And it would hurt, guaranteed.

"Oh, Masakazu, you foolish beast, you have failed me," Bernkastel was crooning, her hand kept on his face as a bright light surrounded them. Erika looked away; she couldn't watch this. "Suppose you'll be of more use to me as a ghost?" And with that an amber light came out of Masakazu's body; his soul. She looked at it, then snapped her fingers. "Appear to me as a ghost!"

Through all of this, Erika noticed Bern's uncle(?) looking her over in such a distasteful way that it made her pride flare up. Exactly what was he thinking?, she wondered, her fists now two balls ready to swing at someone's face. Then he uttered one word. Disgusting. She glowered at him, then before she could be stopped, flew right over to Caligula, her pupils dilating insanely. "Call me disgusting one more time," she hissed. "See what happens, you...." She paused, trying to find an insulting enough word to use on Caligula. Once she did, her lips curved into a smile. "Pretentious pig."
 
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Caligula O. Keller (Reaper)

(Location: Hell City, Random Alleyway) (With: Heinrich)(Previously with: Bernkastel, Erika, Damien, Masakazu.)
Upon delivering the corpse, an unorthodox spectacle had transpired almost immediately with Bernkastel. Caligula didn’t have any idea of what to think as the lissome frame she possessed convulsed with an undetermined emotion hiding itself within the continuous action, surely this was no ordinary lackey that he’d brought to her or was it? Figuring out his niece always had been a difficult process especially how concealed she is with emotions but for some reason he couldn’t help but distinguish this on-going trembling as desolation for the companion she once had, could it of been that someone as cold-hearted such as herself found a weakness when it came to this individual? To think that she’s gone on for quite sometime, manipulating all sorts of different people to do indiscriminate biddings, pawns at her disposal, maybe instead of having actual feeling for this ‘Masakazu’ it was the loss of such a high-ranking piece that brought out such a reaction, Damien on the other-hand tried to stay straight-faced without having a foolish sentiment of joy caress his face, even with the slightest smirk he knew that Bernkastel would fly off the handle in someway. Nonetheless this situation of standing around here and there and acting like some lap-dog was beginning to take its tole on him, being a man of action it was clear that he wasn’t going to stay for too long. “Seeing as you need some time, i’ll be taking a scheduled trip to visit Bismarck and the rest of the Saedors, after-all if they’ve not shown up now, i’m doubting they’ll arrive any sooner.” Damien uttered, adjusting his fabric of his midnight-blue colored bomber jacket before strolling down one of the seemingly endless halls, hoping to bump into someone who is familiar with this maze-like place so he can locate Bismarck and hopefully negotiate with him to ensure the safety of his own two kids. Once he had left, a soft chuckle radiated out from Bernkastel’s diaphragm which promptly re-directed the eyes of everyone within the vicinity. Once a chuckle of sadness, soon it became an uncontrollable laughter that arose a crazed atmosphere as it grew louder and louder, This alone was disturbing enough to make Erika attempt to flee away from the spiraling descent of any sanity this woman once had but unfortunately she was yanked back into the fray, bound to the area like a moth to a flame. It ended as quickly as it started once Bernkastel kneeled before the lifeless body of Masakazu, hushed for a matter of a minute with a disturbed Erika and a confused Caligula watching over her as she spoke to him in a coddling manner as if he were in the very room, watching but unable to say a word until his amber essence was torn from his body like that of a seed being ripped from a fruit. “So that’s how they make spectral entities.” Caligula thought in silence, despite being a reaper he had never witnessed the process of an anti-reaper pulling the remaining life-force from a body, transforming the aura into a transparent spectre.

Unnerved screaming hurled its way out from the amber light as a glassy outline took its shape around it, giving the exact appearance of Masakazu whom then gasped with panic as he looked around with the faded mark of the wound still left in the middle of his forehead. “W-what? What just happened?” He asked with uncertainty in the tone of his voice, Masakazu eventually raised his palms near his eye-level only to see the background shown through them, as if being able to see through his body wasn’t frightening enough he knew now that he was among the dead and that Bernkastel was beside him. “Bernkastel? Forgive me. To think that one of my most trusted members of my association would kill me was unthinkable, damn you Kimiko. Shot me right in the back of my head while I was taking care of that imbecile of a woman who trashed my car.” Masakazu sighed, looking once more at Bernkastel and turning his body to face her but with a bit of worriness in his demeanor as he confronted her.. “I can’t express how sorry i am for failing you once more.” He crossed his arms looking away as to not show any gloom from his shame. Soft-noises resembling an alarm quickly alerted Caligula causing him to sink his hand into his right pocket, pulling out his phone to see a notification regarding his meeting with his soon to become butler, Heinrich. “Apologies my niece, i’d like to stay and catch up more with you but it seems i’ve got an errand to run. Stay safe, okay?” As soon as he was about to transport himself to the coordinates of where he and Heinrich were suppose to meet he was caught off guard by Erika whose face gradually reddened with each step he took towards him, rattling off at him with insults like a barrage before Caligula’s eyes grew weary of the predicament at hand, finally showing a smidgen of his aggressive side once he out-reached his opened hand which clenched around her smooth throat perfectly, without saying a word he lifted her off the ground without hesitation looking back at her with a straight-face. “Ah, the misguided judgement of youth. Absolutely precious, did you know that i’m capable of emitting a corrosive substance out from my very body? But, that’s only if I decide to use such an ability. Judging from the way my hand is wrapped around that delightful throat of yours, if I even think about wanting to kill you it’ll leak out from my pores and into the closest organic material that my skin is touching, your neck for example.” Caligula brushed his fingertips through the bangs of his crimson hair, directing it away from his eyes as to get a better look at Erika. “Ever wondered what it’s like swallowing hydrofluoric acid? Kind of similiar to that in a fashion, first your sense of smell is graced with the ever loving sensation of burning and that’s before it even has a volatile reaction with your skin, most likely when it does it’ll erode a hole through your throat and then the substance will eat away at your skin as it slides down your esophagus, imagine each organ of your body being dissolved slowly, as far as i’m concerned that’s quite an agonizing death, but alas.” Releasing his tightened grasp he lets go of Erika, stepping away before looking off into the distance.

“You’re a prized pet to my niece, so i’m sure she has better use for you than I do.” Caligula said, before coughing into his hand and straightening out his posture into its regular upright stance. “So i’m off, please lend me a call if you need some assistance dear, i’ll not be but a few miles away, take care.” With that Caligula vanished into the overhanging light from the ceiling before arriving in a dim-lit alleyway across from Heinrich whom appeared to be preoccupied with fixing a tarnished bus judging from his tool-box in hand, not trying to act suspicious in any nature, Caligula acted as if he was a regular ol’ rich individual without any weird creepy abilities to make him look frightening. “Ah, I see you’re a man of many talents Mister Heinrich. After retrieving your online resume and seeing your eagerness of wanting to assume a role of prized-butler of my humble estate i was skeptical at first but seeing all of the things that you’re capable of, i’m sure you’d make a wonderful addition. Oh by the way you happened to have left your location status on, knowing that I was in the neighborhood I decided to stop by but I can see that you’re busy, I’m not intruding on anything am I?” Caligula asked in his usual pristine tone while straightening out his square-rimmed glasses as he inspected Heinrich.
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THE LETTERWOMAN Mitchs98 Mitchs98 Solemn Jester Solemn Jester Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs
Bridgette felt the usual warm feeling--no, the usual butterflies--that she often received whenever Maria's lips brushed her head. Even as a female, she still felt the same way about her wife. Hugging her, she sighed, taking her face out of Maria's chest to lean on her shoulder. She listened to her soothing voice as she asked about a personality changing potion, managing to calm down just a little more with each syllable. Then she realized it was time to make a decision. Staring at the personality potion, she gave it a wary look. What would happen to her when she drank that? She thought for a long time about what would be the right thing to do. Maria was trying to protect her. She took the vial from her hands, looking worriedly at it, then back at Maria. Once she drank this, Bismarck would be completely gone for a couple hours. And who would replace him? Some brute with no common sense? There was a long pause as she held the potion closer to her chest, then, taking a deep breath, she shook her head, putting it back on the counter.

"I.....I can't do it...." she mumbled, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "While I'm curious about how my personality would change, I just really don't want to lose myself entirely. Even if its for a couple hours, I still want to be your Bismarck. I want to be the man who fell in love with you. I-I mean, your strategy is great, from a logical perspective; it'll keep me safely hidden from Bernkastel, and she won't go after me as a result. But while my mind says yes, I guess you could say that my heart has more say most of the time. I-I hope you don't mind my decision." She smiled lightly, then, sighing, allowed her smile to fall to a more serious expression. "......Maria? I really didn't want to admit it in front of he others....but.....but I'm genuinely terrified. If I lose, this will be the thirty-ninth time that I've failed. I'm not sure if you remember, and you don't have to," A couple tears fell down her face; she felt like she had suddenly aged a thousand years, and as though the world was about to crash down on her. The prelude to the apocalypse. It was so sad, and yet so beautiful, like the view from the top of a cliff right before the rock snapped and someone fell. The girl wiped away her tears, then continued. "......But either way, can you please forgive me....?"
Maria JonesMaria paused and watched Bridgette as she stared at the personality swapping potion. Every part of her hoped that she would take it to make her safer. She knew she would essentially be losing her Bismarck..er..Bridgette, for a while. But if it was the safest way to ensure they she'd make it out alive and intact from all of this then she wanted her to do everything possible. When she shook her head and placed it down she sighed heavily, mentally cursing just why she would chose to do it. She supposed she understood once she started speaking, she had already changed physically...she didn't want to change entirely.

Her heart sank however as she mentioned the possibility of them only having a few more hours together. She couldn't really bare to think that. Not now, not ever. As far as she was concerned she always had this idea of them growing old and raising their kids together. She stayed silent to allow Bridgette to continue speaking, her tail flicking from side to side slowly, a sign she was agitated more than usual. Her eyes widened in shock when she mentioned him failing thirty nine times. Had this happened before..? Perhaps the dream she had of Bismarck dying to Bernkastel wasn't actually a dream...or rather..the dreams. They were spotty at best, but one point stood out; and that was her husband dying.

She hugged her tightly to her, even her tail curled around her. "I won't let you fail...not this time. I might of said this before, I don't know...but...I..I can't lose you." She replied softly. "No matter what, I won't let you die..I just can't." She said. "How could you even ask me to forgive you for something like this?" She asked, entirely perplexed. "You died saving your family...even if it's crazy to believe you did it thirty nine time somehow. That's the most heroic thing anyone could ever really do." She said. "I won't forgive you because there's nothing to forgive...I'm not sure how exactly it happened all those times but I won't let you do this alone. I refuse to." She told her, leaning back with a determined expression and tears rolling down her cheeks. "We're doing this together, okay?" She pretty much demanded. "If Bernkastel kills anyone she'll kill us together."

Boomer
Boomer rolled his eyes and yawned, clearly bored by the entire ordeal."I'm a anti reaper! Pfft!"Boomer mocked Alisa, finding her both annoying, and idiotic in he reasoning. Although he was an asshole, so he found everyone to be an idiot, and asshole."Ya know what's funny about anti reapers? Well if you take away the word anti, ya get Reapers! Oh isn't that amazing? Yeah I know you aren't a reaper toots, but that doesn't matter. You're similiar enough physically and the energy you emit isn't that far from a reapers. Ohh yeah, there's also the fact that I've been working with BERN! You know here, evil, bitchy, manipulative, floats in the air, carries a big scythe, likes girls, and is a wee bit crazy? Oh wait I forgot to mention the fact that she's a anti reaper!" He barked at her obviously not worried about anything they'd do.


Meanwhile his hands were doing their own thing while the others were distracted. These guys really were idiots if they thought rope was going to stop him. Hell he did give them the chance to let him go, to bad. They had lost that chance, now he just needed to wait for the right moment to strike.But first the rogue AI with a tude would have a bit more fun. Pull at their preverbial chain as it was. "You know it's really easy to study someone when you're so close to them. Oh yeah, you can guarantee I was real close to her."Boomer smiled a smile that oozed with an arragant tauntingness. He inhaled, feeling the cool air against Yozaku's lungs, thinking of Bern and him rolling around in the sheets."Oh yeah, and boy oh boy was it fun. I mean yeah I used Yozaku's body. But I'm sure he didn't mind at all."Boomer aimed these words at Kathy, in an attempt to piss her off.


"Ha! Bet he had more fun then he ever did with lil sunshine and daisies over there! Always wailing on him, insulting him, oh I remember that! Accessed some old memory banks of his. Real tragic how you die, and left him alone. Then yer fuck up of a sister gets him stuck with me! But does he hold a grudge? NOOOOOOO, he tries to save you all! I mean even when Anita was trying to kill him, even after they blew up his police station. The guy still fought me for control! I mean that takes guts, he was a fool, and personally I would have used every fiber of my being to get revenge on ya. But this guy is a genuinely decent guy! To bad he'll probably die before he can see his kid, oh yeah Bern's preggers."
Boomer dropped this information his smile spreading from cheek to cheek. He knew this would rile them up, or shock them. Whatever worked, he just enjoyed fucking with fleshies heads.


Meanwhile his police were dealing with Kenshin. Who was making decent progress indeed, although this was to be expected. After all no plan was perfect, and Boomer never gave a damn about all his mean surviving. Hell it would be perfect if the fleshies killed each other off, so he could just walk off on his own. But then again, he could use the extra men to help Bern. Boomer finally managed to cut the rope but didn't move. Pretending to be tied up a bit more. Meanwhile the heavy artillery was brought out to deal with Kenshin. Smg's ak-47's and plenty of other massive miletary grade guns. The officers carrying them heavily guarded in Juggernaut like outfits, personal barriers surrounding them to protect from the Spector that was Kenshin."Fire in the hole!"One of the officers yelled tossing a odd little device at Kenshin. It laid there for a moment before exploding in an odd discharge of exctoplasmic energy. Boomer titled his head and gave Alisa a sickeningly sweet smile. "Oh really? That's funny because you know...I think I'm just about done here...Oh and so are you, because guess what?"
He asked in a retoricle tone of voice, then he lifted Yozaku's cybernetic arm, set to stun. Firing it at Alisa on close range, it wouldn't kill her but it would damn sure hurt, and possibly incopasitate her for a while."I've loosened up a bit! Stunning isn't it? Ha!"

Mitchs98 Mitchs98 TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit
Alisa Ann; Bearer of LifeAlisa glared at Boomer as he spoke, "Yes...anti-reaper. I summon souls instead of banish them, ya dumbass." She replied sharply. She rolled her eyes as Boomer tried to de-value her whole anti-reaper thing. She could honestly give a damn less at this point if he worked with Santa Claus. Working with Bernkastel, and her being a rogue anti-reaper, meant very little to her. Well, other than the fact she was rogue. The lack of fear he was showing amused her quite a bit honestly. She had only summoned a moderately powerful spirit to keep her energy levels up, after all there was a small army and she was only one person. Nonetheless Kenshin was doing his job outside she supposed. Meanwhile inside she was glaring at Boomer taunting Kathy, refraining from slapping him if only to focus on the fight and what exactly he was doing.

Other than it being hurtful to Kathy it was simply white noise to her, honestly. It was little more than annoying and she could care less what was being said. The one thing still stopping her from lopping his head off was the fact it was still Yozaku's body. She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose to try and calm herself and not get a headache.

Kenshin meanwhile was having quite the bit of fun after being caged up for so long. Sure he was getting wounded and all, but he was making amazing progress killing the men outside. At-least in his opinion. All the guns and such were indeed a problem, though they also made nifty weapons to pick up and use on occasion as he moved throughout the field. He wasn't a skilled marksman by far, no, but it didn't take a genius to point an automatic weapon and unload the clip into some poor sod. The tougher officers were indeed a problem, not so much the barrier seeing as Kenshin was TECHNICALLY in a corporeal body and not actually a spirit, but more so the armor. The device, while the explosion itself didn't actually cause him harm, did distract him enough for the heavy artillery to rip him to shreds. Rather than there being a body, his body merely disintegrated into ash and the spirit returned to her scythe.

"Damnit Kenshin.." She muttered, looking to Boomer as he smiled at her. She cried out in pain and stumbled back as the stun blast hit her, gasping and dropping to the ground using her scythe to support her from falling completely. Vision hazy she was clearly quite dazed from the blast, but not out. "D-Damn you.." She hissed, glaring daggers up at the psuedo-cyborg. She inche d back carefully from him, not wanting to take another blast of energy like that, knowing that it would put her out for who knows how long. Right now, she merely needed to recuperate so she could summon another spirit to fight the more powerful enemies.​
Caligula O. Keller (Reaper)
(Location: Hell City, Devicto Mortis HQ.) (With: Damien Sykes & Bernkastel & Erika.)(Previously with: Kimiko and Shiro.)

Consolation emerged in Kimiko’s physical conduct, she needed not to worry especially considering that the ‘mad dog’ Masakazu was deceased once and for all, at least she thought that is. Nonetheless even if he did manage to somehow get up from that horrific injury, it was two against one and conflicting against someone who is that seriously wounded wouldn’t be any problem, with that thought in mind, Kimiko leisurely relaxed her hunched shoulders before sitting on one of the antique benches a couple of feet from where they’d both been standing. Undergoing Masakazu’s deranged ideology and being a victim at the hands of his unspeakable wrath was traumatic to say the least, any sort of emotion once had was now lost within the depths of her distressed mind, be that as it may, Kimiko experienced a slight tempo rattling her slender arms not out of fear but more-so guilt as ending the life of this malefactor would certainly cause some backlash from the underground criminal enterprises, Devicto Mortis, a powerful ally of the syndicate would prove ruthless against finding the one responsible for this man’s death which could account for multiple innocent lives, including herself. Nonetheless, the notion of death wasn’t all that frightening once Shiro’s upbeat attitude shined through the thick atmosphere causing her to crack a soft smile as she glanced back at the less than ordinary woman while she casually wiped off the filthy sludge composing the outer layer of clothing she had on, Shiro’s incomprehension of the dangers she was previously in was kind of inspiring, taking the untold paths of life with a headstrong perspective and not letting anything stop her from achieving any dreams that she had in mind was something that Kimiko could learn from. “Guess you’re right, after-all this isn’t the safest place right now. Bernkastel probably has sent a couple of men to check out the graveyard so it’d probably be best if I stayed with you for now, thank you very much, I promise not to be a burden.” Never in a million years did she expect some random person to hand-over sanctuary out of true kindness, harboring someone who’d just murdered an important ally of a dangerous group would likely create some distance from anyone that had once knew Kimiko, but luckily Shiro was different from the rest. Of course she spoke too soon when she heard the eerie snapping sounds of scattered branches as a darkened figure emerged out from underneath the dense soil which soon gave-way to the creature’s corruptive essence, slowly consuming the life out of the blades of grass and discoloring the very ground it stood.

“My, what do we have here?” The soft-spoken voice revealed itself to be none other than Caligula with his posture in its regular authoritative stance, both of his eyes directed at the now late Masakazu then back at the worried Kimiko and the possibly confused Shiro. This definitely wasn’t one of Bern’s normal foot-soldiers, this ‘thing’ was much more diverse and had the uncanny ability to tarnish the things that he came into contact with, not planning on figuring out if Caligula was able to do the same to human-flesh, Kimiko raised her firearm up at shoulder-length, pointing the muzzle directly at Caligula who raised an eyebrow at the gesture. “Rude, I was just here to check out on our dear friend, but it appears that i’m too late." A fatigue reaction crawled across his face at the sight of the woman brandishing the firearm and the lifeless body of whom he guessed was an associate of his dearest niece. “Quite the shame, she’s going to be severely disappointed in this unfortunate discove-” As he took a couple of steps towards the two woman he was interrupted by one of their voices which held a threatening tone. “Stand back! Or else you’ll end up like your friend over there!” Kimiko yelled out to Caligula with her shaky hands grasping the handgun. Unexpectedly Caligula kept walking towards both of them, growing closer and closer each second until she had no choice but to take a precise aim to his chest and fire a single round at him which seemed to have soared right past him, strange she thought that she didn’t miss, Kimiko proceeded to keep firing until the clip was empty but despite the bullet’s accuracy they still looked as if they had went right through him like he was some sort of spectre. “What the actual hell are you?” She asked with fear resonating out face as Caligula stopped a mere four or so feet away from her, giving him enough time to reach his hand out and curl his fingers and palm around the barrel of the gun causing the muzzle to become tarnished, bending and corroding a majority of the components in the weapon before it began to crawl further up the weapon at which point Kimiko swiftly dropped it onto the ground before the gloomy substance could crawl up her hands. “Sorry miss, but those don’t work on me. But luckily for you, i’m not actually here to hurt you because i’m in quite the hurry.” Caligula spun away from both of them before feeling a raindrop strike the top of his forehead, looking up he watched as the light sprinkle of rain transitioned into a heavy down-pour. “Rain, of course.” He sighed, expressing his hatred for the weather while sliding an arm underneath the dead body of Masakazu, taking but a moment to disappear and reappear next to Bernkastel whom was having a conversation with Damien and some other strange person who he hadn’t seen before. “I believe this is yours.”

Caligula uttered before laying Masakazu’s lifeless body onto the ground then standing back up to look at Erika who appeared to be a bit restless before Bernkastel and the rest of them. “So, new friend? You seem to be getting quite a bit of company niece.” After taking a few seconds to inspect Erika, he had come to a realization that this individual was human, a species that was beyond a state of disrepair. “Disgusting.” Caligula huffed as he awaited in the background, watching the situation unfold.

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Shiro FujimaShiro wondered just what exactly Kimiko would answer. Honestly, she didn't truly mind either way if she insisted that it was best she didn't stay with her or was uncomfortable, or anything like that. But she would definitely try to convince her somewhat. After all she had saved her, so she owed her something, anything really. Though she didn't have THAT much money she would even be willing to pay her should that be requested. When she did however agree to stay with her Shiro smile brightly, "Yay~" She cheered. "Shiro doesn't mind however long Kimiko wants to stay. Shiro's house is pretty big, Kimiko can even have own room." She said, nodding slightly. Indeed there was enough space should Kimiko want to stay in the part of the apartment complex that wasn't too destroyed to live in.

Shiro then paused as she to heard the snapping of branches, the albino girl slowly looking around the graveyard, unaware of the figure rising up at the moment. Thus when Caligula spoke Shiro yelped in surprise and jumped back a bit, eyes wide at the sudden appearance of the man. Whilst Kimiko had drawn her gun, Shiro had drawn her shiny new knife. The place gave her the creeps and anyone suddenly appearing likely wasn't an ally. That said, Shiro still...somewhat and might I add stupidly, trusted Caligula not to be a hostile entity. As Kimiko threatened the red headed man and started shooting Shiro took a more defensive stance...if you could call it that. Honestly, even if she had formal combat training, it was long lost in that dense and empty little head of hers. At-least as she was now.

She looked entirely confused as the bullets did nothing to the man. Last she checked a magazine of bullets into a person equaled dead. Even for her, who could regenerate wounds. Then again maybe she wasn't a good judge of physics? Who knew. He claimed not to be hostile, in the sense of harming anyone, so that was good for them. When it started whining however Shiro whined slightly, her dress rather quickly starting to stick to her frame. She didn't mind the rain in her jumpsuit, however she had learned dress + rain = bad. Rather quickly too. As Masakazu's body was scooped up and teleported away Shiro blinked and slowly sheathed her knife. She then turned to Kimiko, "Shiro think it's a good idea to leave now yeah?" She told her, looking from her to the space the man was occupying as she slowly backed away.​
 
THE PERSONIFICATION OF DEATH@Idea Solemn Jester Solemn Jester

Lily rolled her eyes as Shiiro joked about her serious nature. She was serious for a reason, mostly because good ol' Dad had shaped her to be a naturally serious and businesslike woman, the type who cared about her job more than anything else, with the exception of Shiiro, maybe. The Grim Reaper nodded to confirm what Shiiro thought about her coming back later, closing her eyes as she decided to explain herself. Might as well do so. "I actually came home to grab some stuff before I get myself involved in a battle. Well," Her face scrunched up. "Not involved-involved. Rule Number 88A: The Grim Reaper is not allowed to interfere in events in which someone is to die. And rest assured, there will definitely be at least one death in the battle ahead." Her expression grew distant; she recalled the days when she was just a little kid, learning how to wield a scythe and being reprimanded by her father, Pluto Underworld VI. She could still feel his cigar-scented breath hit her nostrils, see his frustrated look, feel his hands clasp hers as he looked tiredly at her.

Getting into fights will turn you into the laughingstock of the family.

Don't do that, Lily.

You let her out?! Lily, we've talked about this!

STOP CAUSING GODDAMNED FIGHTS WITH EVERY PERSON YOU MEET!

Whatever. Lily brushed away all the memories of good ol' dad nagging her to become a better Reaper, taking her flask from her belt and taking a swig from it. She nearly spat out her wine, however, when Shiiro mentioned taking a bath with her. "Hwhat?!" she half-shrieked, her brown face slowly developing a pink tinge to it. Fun fact about Lily; she wasn't used to intimacy. At all. Another downside of being brought up in the Underworld family. "....Ahem. Sorry. While the offer is tempting, I think I'll pass." Before she could continue to speak, however, who should come in but Mr. Douchebag 2.0, carrying pretty much half the armory. Lily cocked a brow, then zoomed over to him, beginning to yank several weapons off of him. "This," she stated, waving a battleaxe in his face. "Was my grandma's. She was a disgrace to the family. Don't you dare get your dirty hands on it again or I will hang you by your toes in the dungeon." She tossed the battleaxe aside, next grabbing a sword from under Samson's armpit. "This was my uncle's. He was a disgrace to the family. Touch this and I'll hang you by your toes in the dungeon." Next, a morning-star. Lily waved it around, nearly destroying some old photos in the process. However, she frankly didn't seem to care. "This was my great-grandpa Thantos's. Do you know who Thantos Underworld was? Of course you don't, don't touch this or his ghost'll go bonkers."

Several lectures later, there was a large pile of weaponry next to Lily, and she looked at Samson, having left him with her third cousin twice removed's death scythe, her great-gradma Persephone's battleaxe, and her uncle Tomas's favorite pet rock as a reconciliation gift. She clapped her hands twice, sending three maids scurrying to pick up the leftover weapons and a photograph Lily had smashed in frustration with her cousin Lindy's battle hammer. She nodded, then pretty much shoved Samson out of the room.

"Now get out, Donkey-Ass-Face. I need to get into some actual clothes. Go....I dunno.....outside and swing those things around at trees or something."
Samson Hearth
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Samson had done as Lily suggested, and gotten weapons. Maybe a tad bit to much, but he enjoyed variety. So when she rudely began snatching the weoa one away like a child who refused to share Samson what's slightly confused, and a tad bit annoyed. It seemed every weapon belonged to some member of her family. Most of which where disgraces or something like that. Which apparently meant they where off limits. But then why didn't she inform him of this before? Did she just want the satisfaction of taking each weapon from him just to annoy him? Samson thought this was a great waste of time. They could be out fighting or finding the person responsible for the time loop.

Samson was beginning to think Lily didn't like him very much. Although in all honesty he couldn't care less."Ah I see being a disgrace runs in the family. It's a good thing. I was worried you where just the black sheep of the family."Samson said with a smug grin crossing his arms as the weapons she left him with hung from his belt. When Lilly shoved Samson he stumbled back almost landing on his ass."Geez didn't your father ever teach you any respect? All you had to do was ask, if I really wanted to see you naked I'd just...Never mind..Forget I said anything."Samson quickly covered up his words, before suddenly getting a glimpse of the thing he had been looking for."OH YES! FINALLY! SO IT WAS HER!? Very good, I'll go pay her a visit!"Samson said taking out his katana, and holding it up blade facing the cieling. He closed his eyes and focused on where he wanted to go. Then he charged the katana with his power. Slowly the blade glowed, humming with an almost translucent blue energy. Samson then sliced through the air, opening a portal, almost like he was slicing through butter. Then Samson sheathed his Katana, and looked at Lily's closed door."Huh... Well I guess I'll leave her a note."He decided thinking it was to important to just leave on any longer. So he wrote her a note saying he had cut a portal open to go visit a friend, and that if she gave a damn he would leave the portal open for twenty minutes. Long enough for her to change read the note and make up her mind. So she could just steo through the portal and join them. He pinned the note to her door, then stepped through the portal. Where he would then be standing around the person responsible for the time loop. (Rika,or Erika I forget which it is), as well as whoever else was there. Samson waved nonchalantly at them,"Hello mortals, and non mortals. I'm here to discuss the little time loop that's been happening. It's kind of gotten on my nerves, so could you I don't know..
Stop it?"
Samson more demanded rather than requested. Not in the best of moods today, especially with the bitchy Reaper being his companion for the day.
TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit

@Sinister Clown










Mr_Keller.jpg
Caligula O. Keller (Reaper)
(Location: Hell City, Random Alleyway) (With: Heinrich)(Previously with: Bernkastel, Erika, Damien, Masakazu.)
Upon delivering the corpse, an unorthodox spectacle had transpired almost immediately with Bernkastel. Caligula didn’t have any idea of what to think as the lissome frame she possessed convulsed with an undetermined emotion hiding itself within the continuous action, surely this was no ordinary lackey that he’d brought to her or was it? Figuring out his niece always had been a difficult process especially how concealed she is with emotions but for some reason he couldn’t help but distinguish this on-going trembling as desolation for the companion she once had, could it of been that someone as cold-hearted such as herself found a weakness when it came to this individual? To think that she’s gone on for quite sometime, manipulating all sorts of different people to do indiscriminate biddings, pawns at her disposal, maybe instead of having actual feeling for this ‘Masakazu’ it was the loss of such a high-ranking piece that brought out such a reaction, Damien on the other-hand tried to stay straight-faced without having a foolish sentiment of joy caress his face, even with the slightest smirk he knew that Bernkastel would fly off the handle in someway. Nonetheless this situation of standing around here and there and acting like some lap-dog was beginning to take its tole on him, being a man of action it was clear that he wasn’t going to stay for too long. “Seeing as you need some time, i’ll be taking a scheduled trip to visit Bismarck and the rest of the Saedors, after-all if they’ve not shown up now, i’m doubting they’ll arrive any sooner.” Damien uttered, adjusting his fabric of his midnight-blue colored bomber jacket before strolling down one of the seemingly endless halls, hoping to bump into someone who is familiar with this maze-like place so he can locate Bismarck and hopefully negotiate with him to ensure the safety of his own two kids. Once he had left, a soft chuckle radiated out from Bernkastel’s diaphragm which promptly re-directed the eyes of everyone within the vicinity. Once a chuckle of sadness, soon it became an uncontrollable laughter that arose a crazed atmosphere as it grew louder and louder, This alone was disturbing enough to make Erika attempt to flee away from the spiraling descent of any sanity this woman once had but unfortunately she was yanked back into the fray, bound to the area like a moth to a flame. It ended as quickly as it started once Bernkastel kneeled before the lifeless body of Masakazu, hushed for a matter of a minute with a disturbed Erika and a confused Caligula watching over her as she spoke to him in a coddling manner as if he were in the very room, watching but unable to say a word until his amber essence was torn from his body like that of a seed being ripped from a fruit. “So that’s how they make spectral entities.” Caligula thought in silence, despite being a reaper he had never witnessed the process of an anti-reaper pulling the remaining life-force from a body, transforming the aura into a transparent spectre.
Unnerved screaming hurled its way out from the amber light as a glassy outline took its shape around it, giving the exact appearance of Masakazu whom then gasped with panic as he looked around with the faded mark of the wound still left in the middle of his forehead. “W-what? What just happened?” He asked with uncertainty in the tone of his voice, Masakazu eventually raised his palms near his eye-level only to see the background shown through them, as if being able to see through his body wasn’t frightening enough he knew now that he was among the dead and that Bernkastel was beside him. “Bernkastel? Forgive me. To think that one of my most trusted members of my association would kill me was unthinkable, damn you Kimiko. Shot me right in the back of my head while I was taking care of that imbecile of a woman who trashed my car.” Masakazu sighed, looking once more at Bernkastel and turning his body to face her but with a bit of worriness in his demeanor as he confronted her.. “I can’t express how sorry i am for failing you once more.” He crossed his arms looking away as to not show any gloom from his shame. Soft-noises resembling an alarm quickly alerted Caligula causing him to sink his hand into his right pocket, pulling out his phone to see a notification regarding his meeting with his soon to become butler, Heinrich. “Apologies my niece, i’d like to stay and catch up more with you but it seems i’ve got an errand to run. Stay safe, okay?” As soon as he was about to transport himself to the coordinates of where he and Heinrich were suppose to meet he was caught off guard by Erika whose face gradually reddened with each step he took towards him, rattling off at him with insults like a barrage before Caligula’s eyes grew weary of the predicament at hand, finally showing a smidgen of his aggressive side once he out-reached his opened hand which clenched around her smooth throat perfectly, without saying a word he lifted her off the ground without hesitation looking back at her with a straight-face. “Ah, the misguided judgement of youth. Absolutely precious, did you know that i’m capable of emitting a corrosive substance out from my very body? But, that’s only if I decide to use such an ability. Judging from the way my hand is wrapped around that delightful throat of yours, if I even think about wanting to kill you it’ll leak out from my pores and into the closest organic material that my skin is touching, your neck for example.” Caligula brushed his fingertips through the bangs of his crimson hair, directing it away from his eyes as to get a better look at Erika. “Ever wondered what it’s like swallowing hydrofluoric acid? Kind of similiar to that in a fashion, first your sense of smell is graced with the ever loving sensation of burning and that’s before it even has a volatile reaction with your skin, most likely when it does it’ll erode a hole through your throat and then the substance will eat away at your skin as it slides down your esophagus, imagine each organ of your body being dissolved slowly, as far as i’m concerned that’s quite an agonizing death, but alas.” Releasing his tightened grasp he lets go of Erika, stepping away before looking off into the distance.

“You’re a prized pet to my niece, so i’m sure she has better use for you than I do.” Caligula said, before coughing into his hand and straightening out his posture into its regular upright stance. “So i’m off, please lend me a call if you need some assistance dear, i’ll not be but a few miles away, take care.” With that Caligula vanished into the overhanging light from the ceiling before arriving in a dim-lit alleyway across from Heinrich whom appeared to be preoccupied with fixing a tarnished bus judging from his tool-box in hand, not trying to act suspicious in any nature, Caligula acted as if he was a regular ol’ rich individual without any weird creepy abilities to make him look frightening. “Ah, I see you’re a man of many talents Mister Heinrich. After retrieving your online resume and seeing your eagerness of wanting to assume a role of prized-butler of my humble estate i was skeptical at first but seeing all of the things that you’re capable of, i’m sure you’d make a wonderful addition. Oh by the way you happened to have left your location status on, knowing that I was in the neighborhood I decided to stop by but I can see that you’re busy, I’m not intruding on anything am I?” Caligula asked in his usual pristine tone while straightening out his square-rimmed glasses as he inspected Heinrich.
TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit Solemn Jester Solemn Jester
Heinrich Saedor
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Heinrich had begun working on the bus, maybe 30 minute or more having passed. The machine was to badly damaged that God. But it still required quite a bit of work. So he removed his vest, and his dress shirt, rolling up his pants legs, and going to work. He had to buffer out the dents, replace several parts, at least the ones he couldn't fix. He even had to change the oil, and refuel."Geez this bus is a mess.Even if it wasn't wrecked it still has so much trash, and grime everywhere."He had to go and get a bucket of water, dish soap, and a sponge. He had scrubbed the windows, and even removed all the trash when he heard a unfamiliar voice.


"Oh well thank you, I do try my best, but I am indeed busy. If you could hold up one..
Wait excuse me?"H

He asked suddenly realizing who it was speaking.

He popped his head out of the bus, blinking wide eyed at Cal. Then gulped nervously," oh my apologies sir I'm not dressed for the occasion. I must look like your common grease monkey."Heinrich apologized bowing deeply, and taking a hankerchief from his pocket and wiping a single black smudge from his face. Which was really the only filth he had on him. He then wiped the sweat he had built up from his body. Grabbing his shirt and stepping off the bus."No it's fine, I'm more or less done here. It isn't in perfect working order, but it should do. I'm pleased that you've decided to accept my resume. I shall be honored to serve your house. When shall I start sir? Oh but i may need today off, I have family matters to attend to."He informed Cal with a apologetic expression on his face, his hand intertwined, as he stood back his massive frame somehow seeming meek due to his stance.


SidTheSkid SidTheSkid
 
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Kimiko (Side character)
(Location: Hell City, ???.) (With: Shiro)(Currently: ???)

Never in all of her days had she seen anything like it, Bernkastel was a close second but only seen from afar compared to being up close and personal with a complete freak of nature, was that ‘thing’ even human? Whatever it was, it seemed to be uninterested in taking vengeful actions against Kimiko for deliberately attempting to shoot him, did he just arrive out of nowhere to take Masakazu’s body? What’s a person like him even want with a lifeless corpse? At-least the threat has passed, Kimiko was completely relieved at the idea of both her and Shiro being completely unscathed from the confrontations yet this new female companion that she became recently acquainted with wasn’t all too pleased even with the frightening man’s passing as the sudden cloudburst managed to completely drench the poor girl in the freezing rain, nothing less was expected out of this crazy predicament if it wasn’t one thing it was another, if it wasn’t a creepy phantom person trying to steal away dead bodies out from the open then it was rain. “Oh, lovely.” She vocalized with annoyance as she pulled her jacked inward, covering herself up a bit more as to insulate some of the remainder of warmth she had left as she looked around for any feasible transportation, Shiro had the right idea by wanting to leave this place, bad neighborhood, bad weather, and bad everything.

“Yeah, we should probably leave also don’t worry we’re not going to be walking. Thankfully Masakazu trusted me enough to let me have the spare keys to the building’s garage so i’ve got a comfortable vehicle parked out near the side of the road.”
Before venturing out to the vehicle, she gently took ahold of Shiro’s hand and guided her through the graveyard and down one of the trailing paths that led to the sidewalk, as they continued to walk down the grassy trail she could feel each step embracing the sole of her shoes with mud, “After this journey, i’m definitely going to need a shower, or maybe even a warm-hot bath to relax.” She thought, closing her eyes momentarily trying to deviate her mind away from the thought of having her polished shoes covered in grime and all sorts of other nasty stuff. It wasn’t too long until their feet came into contact, a sweet ecstasy of relief as both of them traversed stride per stride, coming up to a sleek coupe with a dark-paint job that illuminated elegantly from the overhanging street lights and streaks of rain coming into contact with the chassis. “Oof, glad to be back in something that’s warm and cozy!” Kimko replied in delight after unlocking the vehicle and seating herself in the driver-side, additionally turning the keys in the ignition and cranking up the heater with a diminutive smile gliding across her face while doing so, only after driving on the road once Shiro hopped in. “Sorry about all of this madness that’s been going on, you must be so stressed out with all the things that’ve happened today.” Kimiko said before carrying on. “So, where is your place Shiro? Up ahead or...Huh?” Just as she stopped before a red-light she noticed something that made her clench up out of surprise, a dazzling bright-light but not of headlights, this was something different and it grew closer and closer until it engulfed the vehicle in a blinding aura, she must’ve been dreaming, this couldn’t of been real. Oddly enough she couldn’t speak or feel anything except see things around her past by in colorful streaks but somehow she got the feeling as if things were changing.
(Time-loop transition ~ Arc 3)
Mitchs98 Mitchs98
 
THE LETTERWOMAN Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Bridgette froze when Maria hugged her tightly; she felt a pang in her chest as her wife spoke. No matter what timeline, Maria was still Maria. She forgot the exact times that she had said something similar to her; all that Bridgette could remember was dying. Slowly, like scenes from a movie, she could see these deaths flashing before her eyes. Burning at the stake. Getting electrocuted. Getting stabbed repeatedly. If she thought hard enough, she could almost feel a scythe plunging into her stomach....But then there was Maria, reassuring her that she wasn't alone this time. That if she went down, she wasn't going down alone. Bridgette didn't know if it was a sick thought, but she could see her and Maria, holding hands as Bernkastel's shadow descended onto both of them. It was terrifying, all right, but just knowing that she didn't have to face Bernkastel alone this time made her feel slightly better. In her shirt pocket, she felt the small portal beads from Luce roll around. Another reminder that she wasn't doing this alone.

She wrapped her arms around Maria, very gently, as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked into Maria's eyes; she was crying too, it seemed. Just for a minute, Bridgette could see the scared Neko who was nearly killed by a cyborg. The one she had sworn to protect six years ago, the one that had won her then-broken heart. They had gone through so much, from nearly losing Elizabeth to getting tortured together, to joining bodies and creating two young lives. Lives that they were responsible for. She nodded in agreement to her wife, sobbing lightly into her shoulder.
"....O-Okay....." she wept, moving a hand up to touch her cheek tenderly, wiping the tears away. "....You know, Maria, I honestly was afraid to admit that I'm scared," Bridgette said softly, kissing Maria's forehead before leaning her head on her shoulder. "I-I mean, in the previous timelines......I was so caught up in trying to be the brave one that I just....fell apart. But, just knowing I don't have to fight Bernkastel alone this time--knowing that I don't have to do that.....it.....it makes me feel a bit braver. Th-Thank you.....f-for reminding me that.....that I'm not alone....." There was a long pause, then she pulled away from the hug. She was still crying, but a brave smile formed on her face.

"Let's kick her butt."
 
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Caligula O. Keller (Reaper)
(Location: Hell City, Random Alleyway) (With: Heinrich)(Previously with: Bernkastel, Erika, Damien, Masakazu.)

Upon announcing his presence, Heinrich’s nonchalant attitude briskly changed into a more serious-tone with him revealing his head out from the protruding side of the bus and looking at Caligula, pupils as massive as ceramic dinner plates after seeing that it wasn’t no ordinary passerby but the one who previously took an interest in his online resume regarding his services as a chamberlain. Seeing him covered in random grease spots, splotches of oil, and specks of dirt wasn’t all too appealing to his tastes but giving that Heinrich is able to withstand gracing his hands in miscellaneous grime, it’d be a perfect fit for the role of his chosen steward, seeing as he himself didn’t thoroughly take pleasure in having awful shreds of grass dirty his flawlessly decorative clothing attire nor having to bathe himself for hours on end after getting covered in his own sweat by over-exerting himself. “No, no don’t apologize. Besides, you never asked me to come and visit you, I merely decided that i’d stop-by since you and I were both in the neighborhood. Even the finest of chamberlains are required to get themselves in situations that wind up getting themselves dirtied in one way or another, one cannot simply clean without getting one’s self dirty, unfortunately.” Magnanimous, understanding, and overall well-versed in mannerisms, Heinrich’s demeanor was quite impactful as opposed to shadowing the others that aspired to seize Caligula’s job opportunity. Even his outward physical appearance proved to be superb, not only did the man’s outline match authoritative and hardworking but his mug was stern yet polite, all the features often sought out in highly-praised butlers, this ‘Heinrich’ individual was a one in a billion, he knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to shoo away a man of this caliber. “Please, don’t be so rash in apologizing, it’s rather reasonable that you’d be busy at such a time and of course, i’m glad to see that you’re someone who is willing to take care of family in their time of need, it’s very noble of you.” Caligula replied, his soft-tone wisping through his mouth as he turned his head to the bus which he noticed was in a poor condition, sub-standard was an understatement, this vehicle looked as if it were in a demolition derby, he wondered what could’ve caused such disrepair to a heavy passenger carrier like that.

“My, i’m shocked that you can even fix something like this. Glad to see that my estate will be in such good hands! But before i depart, i’d like for you to take this business card of mine since we’ll be in contact with one another, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask me, oh and welcome aboard.” A whole-hearted smile snuck against the lines of his face as he slid out a card detailed with contacting information from out of the inner-sections of his onyx-slated jacket, handing it to Heinrich with respect gleaming in his posture before turning away and leisurely raising his hand into the air and waving ‘good-bye’ as he walked away, Caligula didn’t think twice about it, this beastly man may have a rough exterior but he was someone who knew his way around tools, cleaning was his specialty and knowing that he was at his disposal was something he could definitely look forward to in the future. “Hm, since that’s taken care of i’m sure it’s about time that i’d be heading off to my estate.” Gradually closing his eyelids, he pushed out a short-lived exhale in relief at the day finally being over, just as he was about to carry-on with leaving the alley-way he saw something in the distance giving off a luxurious shine from its exterior, perhaps this was a friend coming to pick him up? He believed until it lurked closer, eventually consuming his body in a egg-colored aura before disappearing and leaving a sense of slight confusion with him as he scratched his head. “That was, odd. Guess i’m more fatigued than I thought.” Calgiula shook off the unorthodox feeling as he continued his departure, although the memory of seeing that same exact light from his dreams left a raw taste in his mouth, a sense of ‘deja vu’ as he vanished off into the distance only arriving at his estate moments later still wondering what had just happened.

Solemn Jester Solemn Jester
 
THE HERMIT AND THE DETECTIVE SidTheSkid SidTheSkid
((Sorry about the wait and the shortness of post, finals suck.))
Erika was about to continue mocking Caligula, had he not grabbed her by the neck, lifting her further off the ground than she had already been lifted. The girl began to squirm in his arms, choking as he threatened her, telling her he could emit some sort of substance from his body. Erika scoffed, still squirming. "N-Not real...." she growled, her eyebrows furrowing further as he mentioned hydrofluoric acid, and explaining to her how it worked. Finally--finally!--he let go, and Erika could breathe once more. She glowered at Caligula's retreating back, unsure of what to say, then it came out, just like that. "THAT SHIT'S NOT REAL, STUPID!" she screamed. Damn, that had hurt, she thought, clutching her neck. She looked over to Damien to see if he had any reaction, but he was already long gone. Sighing hopelessly, the detective realized that she was completely alone, stuck in Bernkastel's awful spider web of a strategy, whatever that was. However, knowing Bern, it was probably not good or cool.

Speaking of Bern, who waved goodbye in response to
Caligula, she was currently facing Masakazu's ghost, listening to him apologize for failing at his assignment. She crossed her arms, a disappointed look on her face as she looked at him. "Masakazu, I must say that I am disappointed in you," she said calmly. "I depended on you and you let me down. However, you may redeem yourself by assisting me in the battle ahead. Your ghost form may still carry weapons, after all. If anything, I have granted you invisibility and intangibility abilities to assist you in achieving this. Thus," She gently touched his cheek, smiling lightly. "You will prove to be very useful to me. You still have your organization to follow your every whim, correct?" Bernkastel smiled, floating up to kiss Mazzy's forehead, right where the bullet hole was.

"Let's go kick some Llyrian ass."
 
Chuck Saedor
Chuck nodded at Heinrich, smiling when he watched the guy leave before face-palming when he realized what he just did. Oh, No. Bismarck was gonna be so MAD! Chuck pursed his lips, hoping that his plan would all work out in the end. Although it kinda hurt to say it, and it made him feel like a total hypocrite, Bismarck was just gonna have to let his feelings toward Heinrich go. Just for today. With a sigh, he uncovered his face, watching Maria walk downstairs after Bismarck with a couple of potions in her hand. 'Oh God.' Chuck thought with a sweatdrop. What crazy thing was she planning no-

The rings of the store bell caused him to whirl forward, eyes wide at the entrance of another new person. However, she seemed...different from a normal customer. And she certainty wasn't a relative. Realizing he was just standing there, he quickly stiffened up and put on his best smile, which appeared nervous and unsure. Whether this was his normal smile or not, no one really knew.
"Welcome to th-the ra-rainy tr-traveler!" He greeted. He looked down at his clothes and blushed. With his combat outfit, he sure didn't look friendly enough to be greeting customers. And he just didn't have the heart to put her out! Th-Think, Chuck! Think! Looking at her wet appearance, he snapped his fingers and quickly ran behind the counter, rummaging through a few drawers before finally pulling out a towel.

"S-Sorry!" He apologized as he walked around the counter and closer to her. Her outfit was...kinda odd. And those eyes were...kinda scary to look at. Without realizing it, he started to sweat. Was she one of Mazaku's men again? Coming to finish the Job?! ...N-No...Nevertheless, he raised his guard a bit, ready to call Bismarck at anytime. "Its just...to-today's be-been pr-pretty...busy for u-us." He said, smile a bit more strained. "Ho-How ma-may I help you?"
Solemn Jester Solemn Jester SidTheSkid SidTheSkid Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Mentioned: TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit
 
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Ghost Masakazu
(Location: Hell City, Devicto Mortis HQ) (With: Bernkastel and Erika)

Observing the glow in Bernkastel’s eyes gave his heart a sinking feeling, she appeared to be desolate of any satisfaction given by his remorseful explanations despite his continuous forgiveness but how could he simply blame the one true person that he loves? Of course he knew it was his own shortcoming that brought his own fate. Plagued by a guilty conscious, Masakazu’s pupils flickered downward, looking at the cobblestone ground between both of his feet with an everlasting frown tainting his very own complexion, consternation of his loved one’s potential retaliation was perhaps one of the last things on his mind compared to how he failed to complete the tasks ordered by her, now he’d never have any decent chance with the apple of his eye! If it weren’t for these interferences it would’ve been perfect, the two of them together as one bond against Hell City and the world, conquering any obstacles they come across and squashing them like the pathetic insects they are. “I know.” He muttered in his now despondent tone with each of the digits on his hands coiled up into a compact fist that was trembling at the sound of her disappointment. “I’ve failed her, again. Here i am. One of the greatest crime-lords ever to grace the damn Earth and i’m not even capable of ‘woo-ing’ the girl of my dreams and completing a couple of errands?” Expanding out his shaky grasp he quickly pushed his palm up to his face in complete embarrassment while trying his darnedest to contain his composure as much as he wanted to break down and curse the world for giving him such a shitty deal, he needed to be strong, especially in-front of her. To his surprise, Bernkastel was kind enough to lend him a second chance, but how? In a phantasmal form such as this it was impractical to even conceive the idea of going against someone but knowing the female strategist before him she was capable of many things, including giving him the ability to carry his weapons and much more.

“W-what?” Looking back up at her in disbelief, Masakazu shuttered quietly as extended out her hand and caressed his smooth check with a heart-warming smile forming amidst her plush lips, he didn’t have any idea what to say, as if his own mouth had been wired shut at the response she had given, did this mean he still had a chance with her? Masakazu stood and watched, the whites of his eyes as bright as the moon once she pecked his forehead, specifically where he had been shot earlier causing the demise of his physical state. A great deal of relief came over him as his glance ensnared with hers with determination rising in his very soul at the idea of redemption, “It doesn’t matter whether i’m dead or alive, i’d go to the farthest lengths to make you happy, as for my organization i’m not sure what’s happening but knowing that i’ve entrusted them to listen to you as well i’m sure they’d be at your disposal.” Without hesitating he raised his arm in the air in an ecstatic motion before descending it downward and pointing his index finger out with a cheeky smile complimenting his aggressive look, Masakazu’s essence was positively glowing with confidence as he cleared his throat. “I’m back bitches!” Not standing around for all eternity he followed Bernkastel’s lead, proving his might wherever she needed him, failing was neither acceptable or an option this time, Bismarck and his gullible fools had his chance to lay down their arms, now it looks like one of them are going to get broken! “Let’s fuck’em up!” Cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck from side to side he was ready to go all-out and prove to Bernkastel that his love will prove to be supreme..

TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit

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Tracey Sykes
(Location: Hell City, Rainy Traveler) (With: Chuck Saedor)

Either that chauffeur was completely bonkers or he’d been bamboozled with fictitious rumors, or this could be an underground operation. Tracey wasn’t all too sure but then again this cover-up of a building definitely screamed out inconspicuous as the location was conventionally placed in the downtown district for all to see as if they’d ‘want’ unnecessary attention, nonetheless concerning herself with hearsay and speculation was the least of any of the concerns that she had as all she wanted was a comfortable mattress to sleep on at-least until the morning so that she’d be out of the flurry of rain. After taking a moment to wipe off the bottom of her shoes with the welcoming mat, Tracey attentively looked around at the scenery including the mediocre patch-up job that had traces of an unwelcome entry as if someone drove a large vehicle through the storefront, hopefully it was no more than a freak accident. Last thing she wanted was to get into another confrontation, rest was the main priority on her mind as was trying to retrace her steps and finding the former associates that she had as to get a damn good explanation of why they’d left her for dead. It didn’t take long for something off to happen as she listened to the creaking floorboards from across the room, was someone watching her? She nonchalantly peered at where she’d heard the sound, raising an eyebrow in curiosity at a young man with awe-inspiring brown eyes, frame-glasses, and outfitted in a relatively protective armor revealed himself with a less than valiant voice emitting his presence with a rattling nervous stutter as he walked out in the open. Just by his appearance alone he looked to be in his late teenage years, younger than twenty but definitely matured coming from the tone of his voice, Tracey inspected him for a good five or ten seconds to make sure this individual wasn’t any threat at all, knowing his demeanor it was less than likely for him to be a threat but why was wearing all that gear? Cosplay? Or was that cab-driver right? “Heh, cute.” She thought, Chuck was definitely not your average person, only word she could think of was awkward when it came to describing him but somehow it was rather adorable, probably too young for a woman of her age but definitely adorable.

“Thank you for the warm-welcome, don’t be sorry! If anything, i’m the one that should be grateful you’re even helping me.” Tracey said warmly, gently collecting the towel out from his hands politely before attempting to ring out any sort of left-over residue from the crappy weather that she’d experienced earlier. Continuing to dry herself, Chuck stood there silently, obviously he was contemplating something but what? The sweat dripping down his skin was a clear indication that something was awry, was he this nervous around women? “Yeah, me too. Looks like we’ve both been hard at work today and um.” Tracey brushed her palm over her mouth in slight worry, it’d be completely rude of her to just ask to stay but then again she’s desperate for some shelter. “I feel bad for asking this, please don’t be upset but i’m in need of a place for the night. There was a rumor going around that you guys offer help, but i’m hoping that’s true because i’m not sure if i’ve got anywhere else to turn.” Tracey’s voice lightened, knowing that this was her only opportunity left it wasn’t too long until she frowned and revealed her displeasure for today. “I-i just want to be out of the rain.” She said, extending out the guilt-trip to Chuck as she tried to appeal to his sense of compassion by ‘over exaggerating’ her emotions, including ‘crying’ on command onto his forearm, sure on the inside she was thinking that she was a big scum-bag for acting but she didn’t have any choice.
Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs

 
THE EXPLORER AND THE SCIENTIST Solemn Jester Solemn Jester Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Kathy was frozen.

As the robot spoke, she could feel her rage bubbling up. Like water just waiting to boil. Like a match drawing closer and closer to a piece of wood. Like some other fire analogy that could describe how much she just wanted to punch that stupid grin off of his face. This was not Yozaku. Yozaku wouldn't just sit there, mocking them, after Anita and Don got shot. That was not the man that she had grown to actually care about; merely, a skeleton of him.

But dammit, he looked just like him. That was what made her so angry. Hot tears fell down the girl's cheeks; she felt her fists clench as the robot kept talking and talking, telling her that he--the son of a bitch--had impregnated the very person who was capable of taking her soul away. She continued staring at Boomer, a placid look on her face. Every word felt like a stab in the heart, and soon she was clutching it angrily, shaking like a madwoman. What was she supposed to say? This was not Yozaku! This was a psychopathic robot who was bent on destroying the small piece of happiness that she finally had!

...No, she knew exactly what she had to do. The issue was actually doing it.

Kathy stared down the demon, feeling her heart ache. This was what heartbreak felt like, huh? She heard the sound of an explosion; Kathy winced, slumping to the floor in anguish. She was even more horrified as the robot shot a taser at Alisa. Sierra immediately flared up, glaring angrily at Boomer.


“You bitch!” she shouted. “Alisa, are you okay? I swear, I’ll punch that robo-jerk to bits--”

“Don’t.” Kathy stood up, wiping her tears away. Her foot pressed against Yozaku’s--that is, Boomer’s--chest. Why the hell was she even bothering to cry? This was not Yozaku. “Copper! I don’t know if you can hear me or if you’re bluffing or what, but listen to me!” she demanded. “You have NO RIGHT to call me your girlfriend if you can’t even fight one of Anita’s stupid robots! You hear me?! You have no. Fucking. Right!” And with that, she punched him in the face, grabbing him by the collar. “You have five minutes to get ahold of yourself before I blow you to bits, buddy. If you fail to succeed, I get to see what cy-jerks look like on the inside! DO YOU HEAR ME?!” There was a pause, then she let go of Boomer, stepping away from his grasp. “Well? I’m waiting.”

 
Mitchs98 said:
Maria JonesMaria paused and watched Bridgette as she stared at the personality swapping potion. Every part of her hoped that she would take it to make her safer. She knew she would essentially be losing her Bismarck..er..Bridgette, for a while. But if it was the safest way to ensure they she'd make it out alive and intact from all of this then she wanted her to do everything possible. When she shook her head and placed it down she sighed heavily, mentally cursing just why she would chose to do it. She supposed she understood once she started speaking, she had already changed physically...she didn't want to change entirely.

Her heart sank however as she mentioned the possibility of them only having a few more hours together. She couldn't really bare to think that. Not now, not ever. As far as she was concerned she always had this idea of them growing old and raising their kids together. She stayed silent to allow Bridgette to continue speaking, her tail flicking from side to side slowly, a sign she was agitated more than usual. Her eyes widened in shock when she mentioned him failing thirty nine times. Had this happened before..? Perhaps the dream she had of Bismarck dying to Bernkastel wasn't actually a dream...or rather..the dreams. They were spotty at best, but one point stood out; and that was her husband dying.

She hugged her tightly to her, even her tail curled around her. "I won't let you fail...not this time. I might of said this before, I don't know...but...I..I can't lose you." She replied softly. "No matter what, I won't let you die..I just can't." She said. "How could you even ask me to forgive you for something like this?" She asked, entirely perplexed. "You died saving your family...even if it's crazy to believe you did it thirty nine time somehow. That's the most heroic thing anyone could ever really do." She said. "I won't forgive you because there's nothing to forgive...I'm not sure how exactly it happened all those times but I won't let you do this alone. I refuse to." She told her, leaning back with a determined expression and tears rolling down her cheeks. "We're doing this together, okay?" She pretty much demanded. "If Bernkastel kills anyone she'll kill us together."

Alisa Ann; Bearer of LifeAlisa glared at Boomer as he spoke, "Yes...anti-reaper. I summon souls instead of banish them, ya dumbass." She replied sharply. She rolled her eyes as Boomer tried to de-value her whole anti-reaper thing. She could honestly give a damn less at this point if he worked with Santa Claus. Working with Bernkastel, and her being a rogue anti-reaper, meant very little to her. Well, other than the fact she was rogue. The lack of fear he was showing amused her quite a bit honestly. She had only summoned a moderately powerful spirit to keep her energy levels up, after all there was a small army and she was only one person. Nonetheless Kenshin was doing his job outside she supposed. Meanwhile inside she was glaring at Boomer taunting Kathy, refraining from slapping him if only to focus on the fight and what exactly he was doing.

Other than it being hurtful to Kathy it was simply white noise to her, honestly. It was little more than annoying and she could care less what was being said. The one thing still stopping her from lopping his head off was the fact it was still Yozaku's body. She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose to try and calm herself and not get a headache.

Kenshin meanwhile was having quite the bit of fun after being caged up for so long. Sure he was getting wounded and all, but he was making amazing progress killing the men outside. At-least in his opinion. All the guns and such were indeed a problem, though they also made nifty weapons to pick up and use on occasion as he moved throughout the field. He wasn't a skilled marksman by far, no, but it didn't take a genius to point an automatic weapon and unload the clip into some poor sod. The tougher officers were indeed a problem, not so much the barrier seeing as Kenshin was TECHNICALLY in a corporeal body and not actually a spirit, but more so the armor. The device, while the explosion itself didn't actually cause him harm, did distract him enough for the heavy artillery to rip him to shreds. Rather than there being a body, his body merely disintegrated into ash and the spirit returned to her scythe.

"Damnit Kenshin.." She muttered, looking to Boomer as he smiled at her. She cried out in pain and stumbled back as the stun blast hit her, gasping and dropping to the ground using her scythe to support her from falling completely. Vision hazy she was clearly quite dazed from the blast, but not out. "D-Damn you.." She hissed, glaring daggers up at the psuedo-cyborg. She inche d back carefully from him, not wanting to take another blast of energy like that, knowing that it would put her out for who knows how long. Right now, she merely needed to recuperate so she could summon another spirit to fight the more powerful enemies.​
Shiro FujimaShiro wondered just what exactly Kimiko would answer. Honestly, she didn't truly mind either way if she insisted that it was best she didn't stay with her or was uncomfortable, or anything like that. But she would definitely try to convince her somewhat. After all she had saved her, so she owed her something, anything really. Though she didn't have THAT much money she would even be willing to pay her should that be requested. When she did however agree to stay with her Shiro smile brightly, "Yay~" She cheered. "Shiro doesn't mind however long Kimiko wants to stay. Shiro's house is pretty big, Kimiko can even have own room." She said, nodding slightly. Indeed there was enough space should Kimiko want to stay in the part of the apartment complex that wasn't too destroyed to live in.

Shiro then paused as she to heard the snapping of branches, the albino girl slowly looking around the graveyard, unaware of the figure rising up at the moment. Thus when Caligula spoke Shiro yelped in surprise and jumped back a bit, eyes wide at the sudden appearance of the man. Whilst Kimiko had drawn her gun, Shiro had drawn her shiny new knife. The place gave her the creeps and anyone suddenly appearing likely wasn't an ally. That said, Shiro still...somewhat and might I add stupidly, trusted Caligula not to be a hostile entity. As Kimiko threatened the red headed man and started shooting Shiro took a more defensive stance...if you could call it that. Honestly, even if she had formal combat training, it was long lost in that dense and empty little head of hers. At-least as she was now.

She looked entirely confused as the bullets did nothing to the man. Last she checked a magazine of bullets into a person equaled dead. Even for her, who could regenerate wounds. Then again maybe she wasn't a good judge of physics? Who knew. He claimed not to be hostile, in the sense of harming anyone, so that was good for them. When it started whining however Shiro whined slightly, her dress rather quickly starting to stick to her frame. She didn't mind the rain in her jumpsuit, however she had learned dress + rain = bad. Rather quickly too. As Masakazu's body was scooped up and teleported away Shiro blinked and slowly sheathed her knife. She then turned to Kimiko, "Shiro think it's a good idea to leave now yeah?" She told her, looking from her to the space the man was occupying as she slowly backed away.​
THE EXPLORER AND THE SCIENTIST Solemn Jester Solemn Jester Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Kathy was frozen.

As the robot spoke, she could feel her rage bubbling up. Like water just waiting to boil. Like a match drawing closer and closer to a piece of wood. Like some other fire analogy that could describe how much she just wanted to punch that stupid grin off of his face. This was not Yozaku. Yozaku wouldn't just sit there, mocking them, after Anita and Don got shot. That was not the man that she had grown to actually care about; merely, a skeleton of him.

But dammit, he looked just like him. That was what made her so angry. Hot tears fell down the girl's cheeks; she felt her fists clench as the robot kept talking and talking, telling her that he--the son of a bitch--had impregnated the very person who was capable of taking her soul away. She continued staring at Boomer, a placid look on her face. Every word felt like a stab in the heart, and soon she was clutching it angrily, shaking like a madwoman. What was she supposed to say? This was not Yozaku! This was a psychopathic robot who was bent on destroying the small piece of happiness that she finally had!

...No, she knew exactly what she had to do. The issue was actually doing it.

Kathy stared down the demon, feeling her heart ache. This was what heartbreak felt like, huh? She heard the sound of an explosion; Kathy winced, slumping to the floor in anguish. She was even more horrified as the robot shot a taser at Alisa. Sierra immediately flared up, glaring angrily at Boomer.


“You bitch!” she shouted. “Alisa, are you okay? I swear, I’ll punch that robo-jerk to bits--”

“Don’t.” Kathy stood up, wiping her tears away. Her foot pressed against Yozaku’s--that is, Boomer’s--chest. Why the hell was she even bothering to cry? This was not Yozaku. “Copper! I don’t know if you can hear me or if you’re bluffing or what, but listen to me!” she demanded. “You have NO RIGHT to call me your girlfriend if you can’t even fight one of Anita’s stupid robots! You hear me?! You have no. Fucking. Right!” And with that, she punched him in the face, grabbing him by the collar. “You have five minutes to get ahold of yourself before I blow you to bits, buddy. If you fail to succeed, I get to see what cy-jerks look like on the inside! DO YOU HEAR ME?!” There was a pause, then she let go of Boomer, stepping away from his grasp. “Well? I’m waiting.”

Boomer Yozaku

Boomer laughed as Alisa seemed to manage keeping consciousness. Truly she was a tough one. It was only fair to give her props, after all anti reaper or what the hell ever she was she was still a fleshy organic."Wow, the pun wasn't that bad was it? You really seemed stunned after it. Hahaha! Alrighty then, time ta put you out of your misery shall we?"

He said cracking Yozaku's fist the satisfying sound of his knuckles crying out in relief. He was in power, and it felt good. No longer being held back by that pesky Yozaku was truly liberating. He definitely would have to enslave mother and her boy toy Don if they ever managed to come back to life in some Bullshit plot manner as thanks.


He was preparing to dilvery a devastating Bitch slap to Alisa when he suddenly received one from an unexpected source. Of course it wasn't as unexpected as it could have been as she felt it suiting to give Yozaku a little peep talk. Boomer rolled his eyes,"Oh please, there is absolutely, positively, nothing you can do to-smack." Boomers eyes widened in suprise as a sudden punch graced Yozaku's face. He just stared up at her. His pupils staring into her eyes, almost seeming to clear, as if a fog was raising."K-kathy...You, you're still trying to save me...Even after all I've done."He said seemingly back to Yozaku, tears beginning to swell in his eyes. He held back sobs, suddenly wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug, but it didn't seem hostile."Why? Why would you do that for me? It's all my fault dammit. I don't deserve you!"He was embracing her completely now his face buried in her neck."I wasn't strong enough to stop him, please..you have to go before he takes control again."He begged pleaded, his voice filled with pain."But before that, I just want you to know..I'm sorry.." He pressed his cybernetic arm against Kathy's face. Suddenly his cybernetic eye glowing with that familiar red light.

"SORRY YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THUS SAPPY SHIT HAHAHA!"
Boomer suddenly sent a million volts of electricity through his cybernetic arm and into Kathy. Not stopping until he was sure she was good and fried. The he pushed her away, standing up and smirking, wiping his crocadile tears away."I can't believe you fell for that. Although I must say it was very convincing. Good thing I can imitate Yozaku. Plus I may or may not have been saying show shit he's been yapping about in our head. Dude really needs a hobby, I mean I know it's pretty boring in there, but hell I found a way to spend my time. I plotted a way to escape, and take control... Although maybe it's better that he just bitches and moans..Yeah probably."Boomer nodded, kicking Kathy away and then stepping over here, and towards Alisa."Huh, it's such a shame you had to be so against Bern. I see why Yozaku likes you hehe."Boomer rubber his face where she had struck him."I like a loli with fight. Anyway if you're not completely friend from that I hope to see you some other time.Maybe on better terms."He told her before turning towards Alisa.He glared towards he menacingly, his blaster at the ready. Then he shot another blast at her, considering this blast missed he would suddenly charge at her sending a devastating electric punch to her pretty little face.


TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit Mitchs98 Mitchs98
 
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Chuck pursed his lips and blushed a bit at such a kind response, quickly pushing up his glasses when the woman took the towel. Well, he wouldn't lie and say that was what he expected. He thought for sure he scared her away, considering the shop, even if Heinrich cleaned or fixed it, still looked as though someone drove a car through it. Heck, he even thought she would reveal herself as another criminal sent by Bern. But she was actually a bit...well, normal. Her clothes and that odd fading symbol on her face were a bit strange, but considering how strange he was himself, it wouldn't be right to judge. He nodded silently at the mention of work and rubbed the back of his head, looking of to the side in thought. He guessed, since he was technically in a gang, that trying to rescue his nephews from death was 'Work'. Turning back to her, he frowned a little as he saw her face twist into a worrisome expression. He wasn't good at reading emotions like Maria or Luce (His eye twitched) was, but considering how he was worried...basically all the time, he could recognize it on someone else from a mile away. The question was though...why?

And the question was soon answered when the woman had actually asked of him something...a place to stay the night. His eyes snapped back to her and widened in surprise. Now, the overly-cautious side of Chuck began to ring the alarms at this. He knew he just threw away the 'Woman working for Bern' theory, but this whole thing just smelled of a Bern scheme! And he didn't know where this woman had been! She could be a drug dealer looking to rob their money or just some assassin who liked to kill without having to work for anyone! This was Hell City! Anything could happen! ...And that's how the Emotional side of Chuck came into play when she revealed why she asked such a thing. Th-They DID offer help, Lyria being one of those gangs that appeared to do more good than harm, afterall. And he couldn't blame the woman for coming at the first place that would offer it with people like that gangster running around...and it was raining pretty hard out there...bu-but they were about to go headfirst against Bern's cult! What if they pulled a surprise attack and the woman got hur-

Aaaand she was crying on his arm.

Chuck blushed heavily and squirmed a bit at the sudden contact. He wasn't all the best with women, and was even worse when they were crying. He pursed his lips, remembering the Neko girl he had electrocuted, but shook his head. He look at the crying woman, no place to stay and appearance disheveled, to the outside world beyond the door, cold pellets of salty water raining down and blowing winds just on the other side. With one finally sigh, he gave in, the thought of saying no too much for his heart to bare. At least if she killed him, he would die knowing he wasn't being useless for a change.
"...Ok-Okay. You can st-stay...fo-for a-as long as yo-you ne-need t-to." He added in, hesitantly rubbing her back to comfort her in some way. "Uh-Uhm...My brother ow-owns th-the sh-shop though, so I-I wo-would ha-have to ask..." He felt a bit bad for putting this all on Bismarck, but darn it, how did his brother expect him to turn this away! "Bu-But I'll talk h-him in-into i-it. Pr-Promise." He slowly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back a bit, looking at her face and giving her a smile, small and still a bit unsure, but kind and caring.

"M-My name's Ch-Chuck...Uh-Uhm...Wh-What's yo-yours?" He asked. "Bu-But...you don't ha-have t-to te-tell me if yo-you do-don't wa-want to...If s-so...so-sorry fo-for asking..." He rambled, blushing still and looking down sheepishly.

SidTheSkid SidTheSkid

Mentioned: TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit
 
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Tracey Sykes
(Location: Hell City, Rainy Traveler General Store.)(Currently: Grateful)(With: Chuck Saedor)
Swift as a viper, Tracey shot a quick unnoticeable glance up at Chuck’s young profile from the corner of her eyes. Checkmate! After that display of falsified weakness mixed in with the gentle feminine ‘canoodle’ she was able to make him melt like an icecream cone on a scorching hot day, entangled by a beautiful-face with his heart-beat rumbling like a freight-train it was only a matter of time before he had ultimately given up. A skittish exhale pressed its way from his lips with great intensity after giving into the woman’s melodramatic breakdown which at that point Tracey knew that she had him like puddy in her hands, able to mold him in every which way to achieve fulfilment, although a sinking feeling gradually was eating away at her from the experience. The thought of using someone to get what she needed especially someone as innocent as him was rather draining, aside from having an extensive military background she was still that selfless little girl on the inside that so much as apologize for sneezing in public. “Wuh? Wait r-really?!” Enjoyment emanated from her soft voice as she concluded her girly ‘bawling’ with a couple of sniffling sounds to further seal in the deal, at-least that was one of the few things that she didn’t have to be too worried about, being out in the rain was disastrous enough for her hair! But having a comfortable, warm, and cozy bed fit for a woman like herself was a dream come true and after all of the physical plus mental torment of today, it was an absolute Godsent. “Thank you! Thank you so much.” After wiping away the remainder of salty tears sliding ever-so daintily down her supple cheeks she glided up to his nervous expression all before taking but a second to grace her lips onto his forehead giving him a tiny peck, even for such an age-difference there wasn’t really any significant changes to the beauty of this woman aside from the temporary cuts and bruises she had left on her body from those damned miscreants, the very thought of them laying so much as a finger onto her made the goosebumps on her skin stand-out.

“You have no idea how much this means to me, but if it means anything to you… I’ll assist you and your brother by any means necessary, just from taking a gander at this place it looks as if you need a helping hand here and there and trust me! I maybe small-framed but i’m damn strong to say the least.” She replied, smiling at the comforting rub before being pulled back a little bit by him. “Oh, uh sorry about that” Tracey added, giggling shortly at how uncomfortable that must’ve been for him, with all of that out of the way he introduced himself in a rather sheepish fashion but then again it was more surprising to actually figure out what his name was rather than seeing how he acted towards her, Chuck? Well, she couldn’t exactly tell if it matched him or not but nevertheless it was still a nice name for a such a nice person whom was chattering their teeth trying to form a sentence at the idea of asking this girl another question. “Lovely name Chuck! It’s a pleasure meeting someone like you and it’s Tracey, a bit of a juvenile name but it’s a name all the same..” She commented, excessively letting out a yawn afterwards. Damn, it was only a few hours in the afternoon and she was already deadbeat tired and feeling as if she had just sprinted through an entire marathon without taking a break, luckily for her she wouldn’t have to stand up for too long. Things soon became slow-paced again once he started looking down at the ground, his face flustered with color and his eyebrows descended showing his sheepish behavior. “This guy really is a nervous wreck huh? Hrm, maybe I could teach him some things one day so he’s not so skittish.” Transforming people wasn’t Tracey’s style as everyone had their own uniqueness and seeing him like this was cute as ever but then again being scared of doing things must be quite a burden on the mind especially in tough situations and lending a small nudge in the right direction here and there could really go a long way for the lad. “So, plan on showing me around? I maybe bright but it might take me a while to familiarize myself with this place.” Tracey said, asking for some assistance in being guided around, hopefully ending the long-tour by introducing her to a big queen-sized bed, even a sleeping bag would be comfortable at this point.
Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs
 
THE CHILD AND THE PEST Solemn Jester Solemn Jester Sugary_Paragraphs Sugary_Paragraphs
The cafeteria was a mess.

Mid-battle, Rika and Stewart had decided that it was probably a good idea to continue their conversation without any of the children getting involved, so they had cleared the area, Stewart drawing police safety tape and putting it around the perimeter of the cafeteria before they continued. As of now, Rika was constantly stopping and un-stopping time to get out of range of the demon's attacks, basically pressing pause and walking to a place where she wouldn't get hit. Stewart, who didn't know about the girl's power (of course) was now babbling on and on about how she was "one of those cool teleporters" and how it was "totally unfair". Well, at least her opponent was a pea-brain, Rika thought, stopping time once more to walk away from Froggo's attack, then resuming it to return to dodging yet more attacks. After all this time, she hadn't even been able to get one hit on this kid. He was surprisingly durable. Rika was about to dodge yet another hit, when something happened.

A portal appeared.

Rika gaped at it, giving Stewart enough time to strike the girl with his sword; Rika stumbled, dodging his hits as he pinned her to the floor, squirming in Stewart's grip. Finally, she managed to land a punch to the boy's face. There was a pause, then a couple tears welled up in the demon's eyes. Then he began crying. Rika winced.

"E-Er.....sorry, but we have to stop you--" she started, only to hear what Samson was saying. The time loop. He knew. This was bad, he KNEW! Rika looked over at him, her eyes wide with horror, then she whispered, "It's out of our control. Sorry."

Stewart leapt at Rika; he managed to graze her cheek with his sword. Now blood was running down; Rika held onto her injury, looking at Samson with earnest violet eyes. "We had it in control at first, but--"

"MEANIE! YOU PUNCHED ME!" Stewart attacked Rika again; Rika blocked his attacks with her hammer, shaking her head.

"SORRY, BUT WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!"
 

  • ...Ya know. William didn't say this much, but now that he thought about it, staying in the bed probably would've been a good idea.

    CRACK!

    "GET!"

    CRACK!

    "BACK!"

    CRACK!

    "HERE!"

    Deep in the base of JTA HQ, William was running as fast as he could down the hallways, the Oak walls and various doors leading into rooms of children blurring past him. Looking behind himself for a second, his eye widened a bit in surprise when he saw Vendetta closing in on all fours like a cat. Her large gauntlets crashed into the floor and pushed off viscous and rapidly to help her gain more speed, actually leaving large gashes behind her. Pouting, William turned back and turned a surprise corner, causing Vendetta to yowl in shock as she slid past him, crashing into a closet door. Alright, he had to think! He already had one psychopath to go help get rid of, but now he had to get rid of this one first! But how! How, How, Ho-

    Wait. He grinned. He just had an idea.

    -

    Vendetta burst down the door to the closet, fuming and red-faced as she felt the soggy thick strings of the end of a mop still atop her head. Ripping it off her head and throwing it too the floor, she sprinted to where the intersection took place and looked around, her real eye looking at the floor with an intense glare. Where did he go?! Her cat ears twitched and swiveled, hearing the soft pitter patter of...tiny shoes! Her head snapped to the direction of the sound, her cat eye dilating as she saw a little thin mouse tail disappear around another corner. Gotcha! Dropping on all fours again, she ran after it, turning and narrowing her eyes at the sight of stairs. Little bastard's five inches tall! How far could he be?!

    Growling, she quickly climbed up the steps like a lion climbing up a rock, eye twitching as she saw him literally have to jump and shimmy up the steps like they were mini-mountains. She smiled deviously, once again gaining up on him. This time, he was hers! Licking her lips, she closed in just a little bit one last time before finally pouncing, only to yeowl in annoyance when the bastard backflipped out of the way and onto her head. Her eyes then widened when she had lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs, but not before the mouse boy jumped off and turned to do a quick wave before resuming his trek. When she landed face first at the bottom, she laid still, hair now disheveled and ears twitching rapidly at the sound of tiny laughter. She begun to shake, and slowly raised her left fist before slamming it on the ground, causing the floor to crack.

    -

    She slammed open the door, having climbed up the long flight up the stairs, to see she was now on the damned roof of this god awful place. The rain and wind blew vigorously, yet she could still make out the small figure of Henson standing a few feet away at the edge. "Nowhere left to hide, Henson." She purred with a small victorious grin as she began to slowly make her way toward him. "No more sniveling shits in bow-ties to slow me down. No more bitches in dresses to distract me. And no more of your kiddie girlfriends to try and stop me. This. Is. It." She said as she got closer. And Closer. Henson was backing up now, but stopped and nearly stumbled when he was just teetering off the edge. Towering over him, her grin got wider and wider, revealing her sharp teeth and the threatening red eyes that pierced through the falling raindrops. Finally. FINALLY! HAHAHAHA! SHE FINALLY GOT HIM CORNERED! "HAHAHA," She cackled. "ANY LAST WORDS?!" She asked, as she brought up her gauntlets and licked the smooth metallic finger of one.

    Henson blinked and his eyes shifted.
    "Hm...Last words...Last words...Ah! I got one!" He said, causing her to roll her eyes. "See ya next spring!"

    Vendetta raised an eyebrow. "...Wha-"

    The next thing she knew, she was flying in the air, Henson, and even the Omega sector, shrinking below her.

    -

    William whistled, watching as she traveled far into the sky. Damn! He looked at the spot she had stood on, smiling in satisfaction at the sight of a large metal spring attached to a wooden board. Ah, a cartoon classic! He knew building that up here was a good idea! Based on the angle and power he put into it, she should be far into the alpha sector by now. Without realizing it, he let out a breath and let the cool rain water wash over him.

    "...So...She's back, eh?" He said to himself, eyes opening as he looked down to the floor and pondered. He had managed to save himself by the hair this time...but what if...? A crash from way downstairs brought him back to reality. Woah! Rika was still fighting that chalk kid?! He quickly ran to help her, one last thought popping into his head before he wiggled under the door.

    Wonder where she went...

    TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit

 
THE HERMIT SidTheSkid SidTheSkid
Masakazu was so easy to manipulate, Bernkastel thought as she saw a cheeky smile form on her ally's face, before he pointed his finger outwards, announcing that he was back. If there was one thing she appreciated, though, it was his enthusiasm. He always knew how to bring a smile onto her face, which had for some reason, turned a light shade of pink. She looked for a while upon the face of Masakazu as he eagerly spoke of fucking up Llyria Harp (damn right they would) and all the while, was grinning. It took Bern a minute to try and register what exactly this feeling was. Perhaps if she categorized it by types of emotions she would eventually figure it out. Now, what was she feeling?

Serenity. A strange, burning serenity. Happiness, so to say. Or maybe it was euphoria. Her brain was going all fuzzy inside and she felt this overwhelming warmth...maybe it was too hot in here? No, Bernkastel had long since gotten used to living underground, and besides, it was raining outside. She severely doubted it was that hot out. She scrunched up her face, trying to think of what exactly the emotion was. Her devoid-of-emotions mind could hardly process any of this, and honestly, it was more than a little disconcerting to the normally emotionless woman. Finally, she gave up, smiling warmly at Mazzy as she pulled her scythe out of its holder. It was, indeed, time to get a move on in their attack. Erika shot a weird look at the anti-Reaper, who finally began floating over to the exit. She shook off the feeling, her face turning more grave as she called out for all of her forces to rally. Soon enough, there was a small army surrounding Bern, who smiled lightly. This would be a battle to remember.

"....Right. We'll attack the general store from all sides. It's more efficient that way," she said. Besides the idea of the Saedors being completely surrounded--trapped--made her feel oddly satisfied. Erika, who was being dragged in tow, merely scoffed. Bernkastel stopped flying and turned to face Erika. "....What?"

"I think that's ridiculous. If anything, rather than shooting from random spots, everyone should shoot from the same spot. The bullet is more likely to hit that way."

"That may be true, but we aren't aiming to kill." Bernkastel shrugged, as though this were the most simple notion ever. "We're aiming to capture and experiment upon the targets, and once my thirst for knowledge is quenched, I will then kill."

Erika couldn't argue with that.

Meanwhile, Bernkastel thought she was finally developing an understanding of what emotion she was feeling. It was a deep, heartfelt desire to be near Masakazu, but not to kill. Rather, just for the sake of being with him. She supposed it was appropriate enough to call it, simply, desire, though, of course, this wasn't the full extent of the emotion. The full extent, of course, was love. Pure, unsaturated love.
 
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Wraith Masakazu
(Location: Hell City, Devicto Mortis HQ) (With: Bernkastel and Erika)

Even within passing there wasn’t anything compelling enough to bring down Hell City’s mad dog, Masakazu! Obstinate as he was, he definitely wasn’t going down without taking a heap load of people with him, innocent or not almost everyone associated with Llyria harp was on his ultimate ‘shit-list. If he had the resources in his ghost-form he’d probably contemplate on ramming a whole damn stampede of buses into their building just for the hell of it! But last time he checked ghost licenses weren’t a thing or were they? Even though they were going to have an all out assault on their store-front from all sides something didn’t seem right, he could feel it in the air or maybe that was just one of the disgusting rats that scamper about through the corridors of this catacomb as if it were their own little rodent boarding house. “Eeeh, so uh you think they’ve got a sneaking suspicion about what’s gonna happen? I mea-Uh, Bern? I hope you’re not coming down with a fever, you’re kind of cherry-red." Before he could address any further concerns about the besiege, Bern, the woman of his love-filled dreams managed to catch his eye but this time something he noticed about her was a bit off, Bernkastel always had this wicked smile that would send shivers of fear and admiration down the column of his spine but this time there wasn’t any notion of foreboding terror but instead she gave a heartfelt glare that was captured by rapture. Never in all of his time spent with Bernkastel did he ever been given such a look, to be honest he didn’t know whether or not to be scared of this unknown sensation, once a dreadful woman compiled with displeasure, now a blushing mistress whom had herself set on him. If it weren’t for the whole being not alive and as ‘dead as a doornail’, Masakazu would probably be having the same red-faced reaction at this moment of confusion, only a moment had passed before a soft smile swiped away his neutral expression, halting all of his thoughts after taking a nervous gulp.

“Please, be careful okay? You’re a Goddess among men and i’ve got full confidence that you are capable of extracting greatness out of even the worst scenarios but I couldn’t imagine you getting hurt because of something like this, you’re more important to me than anything.” Choking down all the feeling to show his true emotions was kinda killing him all over again but he couldn’t tell her, not yet anyway, he knew it wasn’t time, not until this battle was over and they had achieved victory. Masakazu reached out with his hand, leisurely placing his hand onto Bernkastel’s shoulder before handing out another cheerful smile and giving a playful wink on-top of that as he continued his one on one conversation. “We’ve got this.” He uttered, relieving his friendly grasp on her body, sliding his hand down to her fingertips before breaking away and turning back around and making his promise to himself before leaving the Devicto Mortis sanctum, after achieving total victory and capturing Bismarck, he’d reveal his true desires for Bernkastel, the entirety of his love. That’s if they manage to come out victorious through all the eventual bloodshed, no doubt about it though that Masakazu was going to be giving it his all, losing wasn’t an option anymore and with this spectral form that was granted upon him, these Saedor scum didn’t stand a chance.
(Kinda short, had no idea what to say. :X Writer's block killed me on this one.)
TheHufflepuffRabbit TheHufflepuffRabbit
 
THE LETTERWOMAN Mitchs98 Mitchs98
Bridgette froze when Maria hugged her tightly; she felt a pang in her chest as her wife spoke. No matter what timeline, Maria was still Maria. She forgot the exact times that she had said something similar to her; all that Bridgette could remember was dying. Slowly, like scenes from a movie, she could see these deaths flashing before her eyes. Burning at the stake. Getting electrocuted. Getting stabbed repeatedly. If she thought hard enough, she could almost feel a scythe plunging into her stomach....But then there was Maria, reassuring her that she wasn't alone this time. That if she went down, she wasn't going down alone. Bridgette didn't know if it was a sick thought, but she could see her and Maria, holding hands as Bernkastel's shadow descended onto both of them. It was terrifying, all right, but just knowing that she didn't have to face Bernkastel alone this time made her feel slightly better. In her shirt pocket, she felt the small portal beads from Luce roll around. Another reminder that she wasn't doing this alone.

She wrapped her arms around Maria, very gently, as the tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked into Maria's eyes; she was crying too, it seemed. Just for a minute, Bridgette could see the scared Neko who was nearly killed by a cyborg. The one she had sworn to protect six years ago, the one that had won her then-broken heart. They had gone through so much, from nearly losing Elizabeth to getting tortured together, to joining bodies and creating two young lives. Lives that they were responsible for. She nodded in agreement to her wife, sobbing lightly into her shoulder.
"....O-Okay....." she wept, moving a hand up to touch her cheek tenderly, wiping the tears away. "....You know, Maria, I honestly was afraid to admit that I'm scared," Bridgette said softly, kissing Maria's forehead before leaning her head on her shoulder. "I-I mean, in the previous timelines......I was so caught up in trying to be the brave one that I just....fell apart. But, just knowing I don't have to fight Bernkastel alone this time--knowing that I don't have to do that.....it.....it makes me feel a bit braver. Th-Thank you.....f-for reminding me that.....that I'm not alone....." There was a long pause, then she pulled away from the hug. She was still crying, but a brave smile formed on her face.

"Let's kick her butt."
Maria SaedorMaria wished she didn't remember all the times that Bridgette had died, and she didn't remember them all...but the ones she did were more than enough. She couldn't stand the thought of it and utterly refused to allow her to die alone again. In all honesty she didn't want to be alive if it meant her dying. Sure she needed to be here to take care of Elizabeth...but she figured she could manage well enough alone. Plus she'd have Chuck. She had always been the smarter out of the two so if she did suddenly be on her own she knew she could make it just fine. She was definitely scared, there was no denying that at all. But her fear would be what would drive her, the fear of her losing everything that she loved.

She still might die today, that was uncertain, but she wouldn't if she could help it. Above all her children were what mattered most right now. They were still so young, and really innocent in everything going on. How they could use them as pawns against them infuriated her and made her sick to her stomach. Even going so far as to threaten to kill them...she knew that Bernkastel would likely do it and deliver their corpses to their doorstep too. She shuddered at the thought and shook her head, focusing on calming herself and Bridgette down. She smiled softly as she listened to her speak, it was honestly so like her. It would also possibly explain the reasons that she had failed before now.

She sighed softly and nodded, kissing her briefly on the lips when she pulled from the hug. "You shouldn't have to worry about doing that all by yourself. You're more than welcome for that reminder you dummy." She told her, lightly punching her shoulder. "Never forget that I'm here for you, all of us are, Elizabeth is too. You're our family, the only family we've ever cared for. If we die today at-least it'll be together instead of alone." She said, gently caressing her cheek. "Now, let's go indeed~" She added in a happy tone, taking her hand to slowly walk back upstairs with her. "How are we gonna explain the new you to 'em?" She asked with a smirk.​
 

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