Realistic or Modern [OSV] "Our Small Victory"

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Duplex Dan's Diner, Time: 12:15pm​

Eryn hobbled into the diner, with his arms around Robin and Sydney for support. He was still tethered to Robin's backpack via the i.v tube, meaning he was displaying his weakened state to anyone that looked at them. It was a humiliating trip. The idea of openly displaying weaknesses was absurd to him. He hadn't received help for any kind of injury sustained in the last 10 months, and now suddenly he was relying on people just to travel any meaningful distance.

The diner looked conventional enough, although there was the addition of curtained booths, and the fact that there were massive armoured clones of Duplex Dan walking around working as waiters. Their armour looked like something out of a dark fantasy, with menacing contours and spikes. The difference was that their visors were heart-shaped and glowing pink, and their biceps were the only exposed parts of the armour, being proudly displayed. The main chef, who Eryn assumed was the original Dan, was wearing a cheesy looking hat and apron (which were also adorned with massive heart designs) on top of the armour.

The Chef-Dan caught a glimpse of the group and ran out of the kitchen to greet them.
"YOU'RE ALIVE!"
"I've noticed."
"I THOUGHT YOU'D BE DEAD BY NOW!"
"I've noticed."
"I THOUGHT YOU'D HAVE DISAPPEARED AFTER YOU GOT YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU BY MY DELINQUENT-ASS BROTHER!"
"Same."
"Same."
"Same."
"Same."
"Same."
"Also, I'm literally about to starve to death, are there any booths free?"
"OF COURSE, YOUNG GHOST! AND FRIENDS OF YOUNG GHOST!"

After they sat down and were served, they closed the booth's curtains and were able to remove their masks. Jack-O-Lite ended up having messy, dark brown helmet hair after taking his off. He didn't look that old, Eryn estimated him to be about 19. He didn't recognize the face from his school. Eryn personally only loosened his respirator and let it hang down from his neck, not taking his goggles off. The others ordered reasonably sized meals, while Eryn ordered a party-sized platter of 25 submarine sandwiches.

"Is it even possible to eat all that alone!?" Sydney looked like she was physically sickened just from looking at his plate.
"As hungry as I am right now? Easily, barely an inconvenience. For others? Probably not."
"Is that a challenge, mortal?" Kumori, who he now recognized as Victoria Morris from his engineering class, had leaned uncomfortable close to ask this.
"No."
"I accept!"
"We'll join in too, then."
The hell? I didn't order this thing just to have you people take it!
"Ok."

In the end, they ended up ordering a total of 95 sandwiches for the challenge. Robin, Sydney, and Jack-O-Lite all got sick after eating 5 each. Victoria ate 29. Eryn ate the other 51. Victoria slumped over onto the table and buried her face in her arms, with muffled sobs coming from her.
"I lost...I lost...? How could I let this happen? I've brought dishonor onto my entire race!"
"So, Jack, what was your plan?"
"My name is Okami. And, what do you mean?"
"I know you're not an idiot, you knew that fighting the werewolf would put you at risk of disappearing in the middle of the night. Were you hoping you'd get lucky, or did you think you could catch the disappear-er?"
"Actually we thought you guys would have useful knowledge to give us before we tried to catch the disappear-er."
"Uhuh."
"Oh, I actually made a slideshow on my phone earlier about the thing that came to get us last night, just in case that ended up being your reason!"

Eryn would have spoken, but was interrupted by the spine-chilling feeling of something moving underground, outside of the Diner and slowly approaching. He immediately recognized the movements as similar to Predator-01. As it got closer, it slowed down even further to the point where he wouldn't have noticed if it had started at that speed. He figured that it had probably learnt from last night.

"Hey guys, be quiet for a minute, we might be seeing it a bit early."

He knew he wouldn't be able to last in a fight right now, and telling Sydney to raise a shield right away might provoke it into using it's charging attack, capable of breaking the shield, although he didn't know how many times it could do that. He knew from their first experience that it otherwise usually used attacks with manageable attack power. Fighting in the diner may also piss the Dans off. The predator itself didn't seem to like making big scenes either, as it displayed a preference for being sneaky.

It's close enough to hear you now.

Jump out the window and fight in the street.

Leave calmly and observe what it does.

Bluff it out. You're not combat capable right now, but it might now know that.

Ask Sydney to raise a shield, and ask Okami to fire his green laser at any attacks that break through.

 

[Agent]

Bluff it out. You're not combat capable right now, but it might now know that.
Imagine having to sneak around to have to win in a fight. Loser.

 

[official clown business]

Bluff it out. You're not combat capable right now, but it might now know that.
Looks like it's time to cook up a brand new scheme for Duplex Dan's next visitor.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Duplex Dan's Diner, Time: 12:55pm​

He figured that he might as well start by letting the predator know that he knew what was up.
"Should I, uh..?"
"Nah, that won't be necessary. It's crawling around in the ground and walls all sneaky like right now." He made sure to speak just loud enough for it to hear him. It paused its movements for a moment. "It's probably going to do that thing where it sends spikes out the walls at us really quickly, but I can catch those pretty easily now. After that, I can send a kinetic pulse along its body to find that core device thing and crush it."

That last part was a flat-out lie. He'd barely practiced using TK Sonar in that kind of manner since he usually just used it to search for movement, and this would have been a really bad time for a trial-by-fire. Still, the predator hesitated. Now instead of setting itself up for its wall-spike attack, it slowly extended a small part of itself from the wall that Eryn specifically was sitting against. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. What the hell was it doing? It stopped near his ear, and a whispering voice came from it.

"So, you think you've figured me out. Are you proud of yourself? Do you feel you've accomplished something? You seem capable enough, but what about the others?"

Eryn's mind drew a blank. He was the one who was supposed to be bluffing, but now he was on the receiving end and didn't know how to respond.

"Will they see me coming whenever you're not around, or do you plan on just having sleepovers from now on?"

The thought had been in the back of his head for a while, but he hadn't worried too much about it until now.

"What about their parents? Do you plan on keeping them safe too?"

Eryn didn't have any kind of plan regarding that. He didn't want to admit it, but he was cornered by this. He knew both Sydney and Robin had non-powered parents. He couldn't possibly help keep everybody safe at once. Why did Robin even have to be involved? Because Eryn wasn't comfortable with inviting Sydney alone to a sleepover? He knew it wasn't a good reason to put Robin in danger. And Sydney was only involved because she saved him after he decided to fight a villain in public. He didn't even know why he did that, and now his friends were threatened because of it. All he did was drag others down with him. All because he jumped into something he wasn't ready for. Stan kicked his ass. Surviving the Predator last night was a fluke. He'd only been able to stall with the werewolf. All failures in his mind. He wasn't ready to fight supervillains before this whole mess, and he sure as hell wasn't ready now. Hell, he would have bled to death by now if it wasn't for Robin. He was able to feel his rapid pulse in his neck, and he was struggling to hide his heavy breathing.

At least, until his vision tinted blue again out of nowhere, like what happened with the werewolf. He felt an almost artificial wave of calmness washing over him.
You need to work on your poker face.
Poker face? Oh, right. Eryn was the one who was supposed to be bluffing, so why was the opposite happening? Why was he the one being frightened?

"Hey, you still listening?"
"You done spouting bullshit?" Eryn's voice was steady and nonchalant. "Sure, you made some good points, but it won't matter if you die here. You're specialized against me and Aegis, right? I'm guessing the other Predators will have more trouble. While you were sitting on your ass all day, we already figured out how you work from your furry friend Markus. I've been having fun on this chase so far, so I'll extend it a bit. You fuck off for now, and we'll consider holding off on burning your whole organisation to cinders." Everything he said was based on pure theory, but he really didn't have any material to work with for spouting his own bullshit.

A moment of silence passed, but it felt like a full minute. Eventually the Predator began a slow withdrawal from the area.
"Interesting.."
Something tells me I didn't scare it at all...
Not a chance.
His vision's blue tint dissapeared along with the calmness he'd felt just now. He slumped onto the table and resumed his heavy breathing. He almost felt like there were tear droplets in his goggles now.

"What...did it say?"
"Doesn't matter, I handled it."

Sydney showed Victoria and Okami the slideshow, with Eryn giving occasional extra commentary. They explained everything they'd seen from the emblems on the energy guns, the predator's behavior, the voice coming from its core, and what Eryn had learnt about Cerberus at the workshop.
"And on top of that, I'm pretty sure this is all a big trap. They've got the Angel's emblem on literally everything related to them like they're some kind of brand, practically begging us to come look for them. And we've got no choice BUT to look for them, because those predators are gonna get us eventually."

Victoria looked like her brain was stuck buffering throughout the whole explanation. Okami was pulling slightly on his own hair, gritting his teeth.
"So what NOW?"
Eryn shrugged. He'd already made a promise earlier today.
"Train, I guess."

Where tho?

Abandoned scrapyard. It's where Viper trained you and there's a bunch of usable debris around.

At the gym. As long as you're not using powers, nobody will suspect a thing if you go in regular clothes.

In your room. There's no place like home.

Sydney's house. You know she's got a room to practice fencing in.

 

[wdinatx]

Abandoned scrapyard. It's where Viper trained you and there's a bunch of usable debris around. Normally I ask about the mindset graph first but I can't resist some good old reminiscing (For lack of a better word.)

 

[Agent]

In your room. There's no place like home.
I wanna go home and play more Resident Evil.

 

[Miniapollo17]

Abandoned scrapyard. It's where Viper trained you and there's a bunch of usable debris around.

Plus you could find something cool if you're lucky.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Scrapyard, Time: 13:22pm​

By the time they arrived, the auto-medkit had stated that Eryn's I.V treatment was completed, so he wasn't tethered to Robin anymore. He could also move around on his own just fine now, but still wouldn't be able to use any heavy telekinetic attacks for now.

The scapyard looked the same as it did a little under a year ago. Almost every piece of heavy junk was where he and Viper had left them after training with them. The last time they were there had ended so normally, a simple "Good job today, see you again tomorrow", or something along those lines. For a moment he expected Viper to arrive so they could begin their next session. It took him longer than he'd like to admit to remind himself that Viper wasn't going to be coming here anymore. This was the first time that he'd been here ever since then, so he never had the opportunity to process it before.

He began to feel blood pounding in his ears. His heart thudded in his chest, which now felt like it was being tightened by a chain, and his hands started shaking. He knelt down on one knee, trying in vain to calm himself. He didn't know what was happening, and that frightened him. Then his vision started to distort, almost like he was looking through a fish-eye lens.

Adrien, why did you leave?

Nobody would be there to correct his methods anymore, or to help him learn new telekinetic techniques, or teach comedic timing to him, or wordplay, or to tell him he was doing a good job. Was he doing a good job? He was barely strong enough to throw a person with his powers back then. He was leagues above that now, but the recent streak of battles made him feel like he was constantly failing, like he wasn't doing things right, like he'd forgotten everything that was taught to him. Would Viper tell him he was doing a good job?

Why did you leave?

His breathing was quick and shallow. His eyes were burning. He saw a drop of water hitting the inside of one of his goggle lenses, prompting him to telekinetically force his tears to stay in. He hadn't cried properly in a long time, and he sure as hell wasn't going to break his streak now of all times.



He heard echoing voices asking if he was okay. He was dragged out of his thoughts and back into reality. Without looking at them, he replied, hoping his mask would muffle any shakiness in his voice.

"Relax, I was doing telekinetic warmups." He stood up and straightened himself, now turning to them. Victoria was actually slightly crouched so that her parasol could shield her properly from the afternoon sun. "Ok newbies, what exactly ARE your powers?"
"I can manipulate a green energy form called hakai-ergo, which can disintegrate anything it touches, except biomatter, which it just damages in a more conventional energy blast way."
"...Uhuh."
"I'm strong and fast, mostly. I'm pretty much immortal at night, too!, Oh, and I can turn into a bat!"
"...Uhuh."

Now it was a question of making sure everybody's skills, including his own, were up to par. Unarmed sparring seemed like a good way to measure that. He just had to choose who to focus on first.

First sparring partner?

Sydney. Her proficiency with a sword probably means she's got a great reaction time for kicking your ass with.

Robin. He's pretty new at this, so he probably won't give you too much trouble right off the bat.

Okami. You've only seen him using a gun and his powers, so you can't predict what his unarmed skills are like.

Victoria. Good lord, did you see her poor punching form?

 

[Miniapollo17]

Victoria. Good lord, did you see her poor punching form?

Sounds like she needs the training, though any of these options are fine with me.

 

[Agent]

Victoria. Good lord, did you see her poor punching form?
The punching has nothing to do with it. I just want her to put her dukes up and give us a real fight after the torture she subjected us to earlier.

 

[wdinatx]

Victoria. Good lord, did you see her poor punching form? I agree that she needs the training but it's clear Agent has bad memory.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Scrapyard, Time: 13:25​

After they found a wide enough area, Eryn entered a conventional fighting stance, while Victoria did whatever the hell she thought a stance was supposed to be. Eryn thought he was prepared to see it again, but couldn't help wincing again at it. He was also telekinetically floating her parasol above her so she could move freely.

"Just start by throw your best punch, I guess.."
"Uh...that might kill you though?"
"No it won't."

Victoria sent a haymaker punch, but it was so wide and telegraphed that he could simply step out of the way, even though her speed greatly dwarfed his. She ended up falling over by herself, unable to handle her own momentum. He took a deep breath and turned to the others.

"This'll take a while, you guys should just train together in the mean time."

6 hours passed.

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[/font][/h]

Time: 17:25​

In that time, while the others sparred and tested their attack power against Sydney's shields, Eryn was stuck trying to get Victoria up to a reasonable skill level. Eventually they reached the point where he could consider her to be about average. He and everyone else were sat on the ground, exhausted from training this long, while Victoria was still on her feet. Her eyes were faintly glowing red now that she was in her night-time element.

"Ok, now let's have an actual sparring match! With your powers and stuff!"
"...Are you sure?"
"Hell yeah! I couldn't actually see you during that werewolf battle, so I want to see you in action properly! Get up!"
"I'll fight from down here."

Victoria began to run at him. After her first couple of steps, Eryn waved his hand slightly to fling her into a nearby car chassis without really thinking about the consequences that much, as he could barely focus. She crawled out of it looking mostly unscathed. She still looked dizzy, though. It was only now that Eryn remembered that he wasn't supposed to be using telekinetic attacks or his stitches could break. Well, his stitches were broken now, but he wasn't bleeding. His wounds were healed despite the pain he still felt in those areas. On top of that, he barely felt any rebound from that attack. Usually he'd have sprained something after flinging a person.

Did...did you do that?
No, all I did was handle the healing. I actually have no idea what happened just now. It's the first I've seen of it.

"Y'know, the more I think about it, your telekinesis is kind of overpowered.."
"Against regular sized people, definitely. Buff supervillains, not so much. As you've seen."
He groaned to himself. It was hard for him to believe he could stand against Angel Gang considering everyting that happened in the past 2 days.
"I'm not suited very well for direct confrontation after all, it seems.."

He felt Robin patting his shoulder from behind.
"Yeah..good thing you have a different, equally useful skillset then!"
"...Huh?"
"Well, I doubt we'll get anywhere with open confrontations whenever the Predators decide to show up."
It clicked in Eryn's mind what Robin was getting at. He was inexperienced against superpowered people, but he had plenty of experience against other kinds of villains, besides just beating up alleway thugs. He hadn't done this in quite a while, but that was just because he'd ran out of targets.

"I agree with that last part, but which other skillset are you referring to?"
Eryn got up and chuckled to himself. At last, he saw a ray of hope. They were never going to win just by powering through, but there was a small chance that they could win another way. And a small chance was good enough for him. He wasn't used to being on a team, but he was open to it now.
"Well, he IS the guy responsible for taking down the mafia."
"I thought no hero was cited as responsible? The leader had a mental breakdowns and confessed because they said they were--"
Okami, Sydney, and Victoria turned sharply to him.
"...being haunted by their victims..."
"What the shit? That was you!?"
"Bruh."

He felt giddy with excitement. Angel Gang had maintained an aura of oppression that suppressed anyone trying to save people in the open. Why not do some oppressing of his own? Sure, this new idea would take a long time to pull off, but that wasn't going to stop him. He finally had something to look forward to, even if he had to do this one small victory at a time.
"Robin, do you still have the smoke machines?"
"Oh shit, we're actually doing this? I'll buy extra earpieces!"
"What did I just get myself into..?"

It wouldn't hurt to have a proper team name either.

Your new team name?​

Angel-Gang-Sucks Gang.

The Phantoms.

The Yeet Squad.

Ask the others (i.e put suggestions in the discord server).

[/centerblock][/font][/h]

 

[wdinatx]

The Phantoms. Draws from the fact we’re supposed to be in the shadows and the night theme most of us have.

 

[Miniapollo17]

The Phantoms.

Thematically fits, though angel gang sucks gang is tempting.

 

[Agent]

Angel-Gang-Sucks Gang.

This is as far as I'll go. I ain't gonna cross a line into yeet territory.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Scrapyard, Time: 17:30​

He turned back to the group.
"Alright, folks. Effective immediately, our new team name shall be The Phantoms."
"I love it!"
"Aren't you the only ghost here?"
"That's right. And that shall always be the case, as I am the one true phantasmal entity. However, to make this thing work, I'm going to teach you all how to sneak like ghosts!"
"I'm not really of the sneaking type.."
"Unfortunate. Let's get started!"

Eryn took a single step and was immediately forced back to the ground from exhaustion. Adding on to the 6 hours of training he just did was suddenly not an appealing idea to him.
"Nevermind, we'll do this tomorrow night."

Location: Streets, Time: 17:45
​

On the journey back home, Victoria seemed like the only person who wasn't about to drop dead. She was as energised as she could be, letting Okami lean on her, and her eyes bathed the street in front with a bright red. This actually ended up being purple thanks to the added blue glow from Eryn's eyes, since he was now using constant telekinesis to keep himself steady while supporting both Robin and Sydney who were leaning on either side of him. Fortunately it was a rather trivial task compared to everything else he had to do recently, so the telekinesis wasn't going to tire him out any time soon.

"Hey, can you use your telekinesis for full flight?" Victoria called out to him.
"Well, yeah, but I kinda hate it.."
"Why's that?"
"It's more complicated than it looks. If I accelerate too fast, the G-forces really mess me up." Eryn's stomach turned just from thinking about it. "I also seem to develop a sudden fear of heights when I use it now, too."
"Damn, grounded by acrophobia.."
"F."

He looked over to Victoria when she didn't respond. She had stopped walking and was looking around, sniffing. He couldn't feel anything with his TK Sonar, so he figured it wasn't anything important. Until he recalled Okami explaining that her senses were enhanced at night. He flung everyone a few meters from where they were standing, narrowly avoiding the red spikes that had burst out of the ground in their places.

"Are you having trouble with your new technique, 01? I recall you claiming it to be absolutely undetectable to Ecto." Eryn heard the new voice from behind him. Black mist had collected together in the middle of the street a relatively short distance away, into the solid-looking shape of a pitch black horse, with white glowing eyes.

"Shut it, 13. Begin your evaluation," he heard from below.
"Understood."

Predator-01's spikes retracted into the ground, while the new Predator began approaching at its own leisurely pace.

Ah shit, here we go again.​

Fire the taser bow at it.

Gather everyone up and turn them invisible, then attempt to escape.

Strike menacing JoJo poses at it together while you wait for it to reach you.

Ask Okami to fire a beam attack at it.

[/h]

 

[wdinatx]

Fire the taser bow at it. Why ask someone to attack an enemy you can attack yourself, strike poses for no reason, or risk turning this many peeps invisible when you're all tired and you need constant contact?

 

[Miniapollo17]

Fire the taser bow at it.

Might as well go for the option that doesn't really use up your energy

 

[Agent]

Fire the taser bow at it.
I ain't no expert on behavior... well I kinda am, but I don't think these guys are expecting an attack.
Can we perform an Alpha Strike? That would probably be cool.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Streets Time: 17:50​

Victoria was the first to her feet, entering a combat stance significantly better than what she normally did. The others regrouped near Eryn shortly after as he raised his bow at the approaching enemy and locked on to its body and limbs. Robin began to gradually build electricity in his fists.
"What's our play?"
"Just do what we did last time, I guess."
He fired, and the shot hit like usual, then attempted to bind the targets together. It was only for a moment, however, as not only did the new predator not seem to be fazed by the initial taser shot, but the electricity was quickly absorbed completely into its body after a second. A ball of electricity formed in front of it right after, which then shot out at Eryn only to be blocked by a shield from Sydney. It continued approaching at the same pace as before.
"Ok, nevermind."
"Dude, it's got the same powers as Dark Pontifex!"
Sydney was right. Dark Pontifex was a villain that used energy redirection as their main offensive ability while using bulletproof armour to avoid most physical attacks. They could also use limited teleportation in a way that created shadowy effects at the destination, which most people assumed was purely cosmetic. Alongside that, it was believed that she could analyse the powers of her foes once she saw them in use. Unfortunately he didn't have his notebook page on her anymore.
"...Now what?"
"Punch it."
"Don't mind if I do!"
In a single stride, Victoria crossed the distance between her and the horse within a split-second, cracking the road beneath her slightly. Just before her punch connected, Predator-01's spike shot out of the ground and swatted her into the air, sending her flying to a different street. Blood rained down briefly, followed by her dismembered arm landing somewhere nearby.
"Oh God, is she gonna be okay?!"
"It'll be fine."
"...Are you sure?"
"hOLY fUCKsiCKLes."
"Positive."

Please do not forget to monitor both enemies at once.

Predator-01 rose up from the ground and formed their main deer-shaped body, looking bigger than before. Eryn felt his eye twitching at the sight of this development. He felt that he and Sydney could kill 01 pretty easily on their own, but the teamup between it and the horse would make her flame-emitting sword somewhat useless. Sydney seemed to realise this too as she drew her old "seperator blade" instead of her new one. Still, he knew of other ways to make fire.
"A five vs one hardly seems fair."
"Oh, fuck off with that!"
"That's not nice.."
"Listen, you were intimidating the first couple of times, but it's gotten old real quick. You were way better when you as a cool silent assassin, but now you keep opening your mouth and ticking me off way more than you're scaring me!
"B-but what about the dine--"
"Shut up! Your villainous lines are forced and generic, and you're a dissapointment to everybody you know!"

The one Eryn assumed was called Predator-13 charged at him, which he avoided by forcefully changing its angle, letting it smash itself into a parked car. It quickly got back onto its feet and turned back to them, the car totally wrecked and starting to leak gasoline.
"I happen to think he's pretty cool!"
"Congratulations."
"Evaluation complete. Eryn Cissnei does indeed possess the Blue Fragment."
"TheWhatNow?"

I believe they may be referring to me.

"Feel free to utilise the countermeasure."
"Understood."

Predator-01 steadied their stance, and a blue flickering light became visible from inside it, gradually getting brighter and more frequent.

Needless to say, it's about to try something. Countermeasure the countermeasure?



​

[/h]

 

[Miniapollo17]

Tell Okami to fire a beam attack at them.

They're gonna countermeasure our power, so it doesn't seem wise to countermeasure their countermeasure with the power that they're going to countermeasure, so blue is crossed out for me. The taser bow didn't work because maybe they countermeasured that, so again I don't think we can countermeasure their countermeasure with someone possibly already countermeasured. Sydney's shield could work but one of the predators has already been up against her, so they may have a countermeasure for that too. I don't think they know about Okami as well so the beam attack has the better chance at being a good countermeasure. (Yes I tried to cram in the word countermeasure as much as possible)

 

[Agent]

Tell Okami to fire a beam attack at them.
Eh, lasers are cool so let's give it a go.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Location: Streets, Time: 17:55​

While Predator-01 was charging up their countermeasure, Predator-13 charged at the group. Sydney blocked their route with a shield barrier and began attacking it with her unactivated sword. While she kept it distracted, Eryn began subtley moving the car's leaking gasoline across the ground towards 01, without any obvious hand gestures. Okami was trying to aim his gauss-rifle at Predator-13. Eryn had an idea of what the countermeasure would be, since it was being used after P-13 had presumably analysed something about his powers.

"Jack-O-Lite, fire off a laser at the other one."
"Roger that."
"Hey, I'm all charged up, you want me to attack it too?"
"Nah, give it a few more moments."
"...Oh!"

Okami fired his green beam attack at Predator-01, who was shielded by Predator-13 teleporting in front of them and absorbing the attack. They were covered in sword slashes, leaking a wispy black mist from its wounds, and struggling to stay on their feet. Their weak counter-beam was easily dodged by Eryn sidestepping. The gasoline had arrived in a puddle beneath Predator-01, avoiding the spots where their feet were. The blue blinking light stopped, and the predator's body opened up to reveal it's core device, this time attached to a larger unidentified device. Within a split-second of the reveal, the new object unleashed a short-range EMP. The HUD in Eryn's goggle lense fizzled out.

Okami dropped the gauss rifle whose external motor had gone up in smoke, while Sydney's sword sparked and had its blade sections fall apart. Her sheath also caught on fire, which she hastily removed. Erin and Robin both dropped to their knees. Eryn was flickering in and out of invisibility while Robin gave off quite the lightshow as yellow arcs appeared around him.
"Ohhhhh lord this feels weird!"

Eryn didn't say anything. It hurt, but not as much as the one from the Angel. Which was to be expected from such a drastically less-powerful EMP, after all. In fact, it was a different kind of pain all-together. It felt like hitting a funny bone, except the feeling was in every single one of his joints.


"Finish it, 01."
"Finish it, Robin!"

Predator-01 closed up its main body and shifted its stance, while Robin fired an electrical beam at it from his hand. When this was blocked by Predator-13, he fired another attack from his other hand, this time at the real target. His second attack hit the ground next to Predator-01, and the sparks ignited the gasoline puddle. Predator-01 was engulfed in flame, making unintelligble sounds of pain. Its mass was dissapearing rapidly, and the only reason it wasn't completely reduced to nothing was because Predator-13 charged into them and teleported away with them.

Robin's lightshow ended and smoke began coming from his hands. Eryn managed to get back onto his feet and approached him.
"Phew, that was...wait, what? How'd I..?"
"Looks like we've figured out how to buff you." Eryn raised his hand, and Robin responded with a high-five.
"Aha! Now I can compensate for you when you're down!"

Eryn's response was delayed by the muffled sound of crying. He looked over to see Sydney on her knees, both of her swords on the ground in front of her. The separator blade, or rather the separated sections of said blade, were still sparking. The red-spiral blade just seemed to have created its own small campfire out of itself. He, Robin and Okami sat next to her.
"Geez, we just got these things this morning!"
"J-jerks...!"
"I feel like we're forgetting something.."
"Guys? You didn't lose, did you?"
"..Ah."

Eventually the found the street where they presumed Victoria had landed, Okami having carried her arm with him.
"...Ew..." Eryn came across Victoria's head and picked it up.
"Damn, took you long enough! Return me to my body, please!"
Victoria's decapitated body was wandering around blindly with its arm outstretched forward. Eryn placed her head on its neck stump, letting it reattach itself. Okami gave her other arm back, which attached itself in a similar way. The nature of her "Self-repairing coat" taken from the workshop became apparant as her sleeve also reattached itself to the rest of her coat.

"I feel like we're forgetting something.."
"What, again?"
Eryn gasped out of the blue, hastily taking out his phone. The screen had been cracked for a while, but now it wouldn't turn on.
"Those Assholes."
Sydney checked her phone too, which also wouldn't turn on.
"Those Assholes."
The others checked their phones.
"Those Assholes."
"I am confusion."
"Huh, mine's still working."

Location: Eryn's Bedroom, Time: 00:00​

After everyone else had went to sleep, Eryn had started searching around online for the locations of Cerberus bases from before they were destroyed. Most of the details had been removed after the company collapsed, but he still managed to find a few in the city. He'd even managed to find the building blueprints thanks to one of the more questionable techniques taught to him by Robin. Of course, by the time he'd gotten this far, several hours had passed and he was rapidly approaching dawn. He fell asleep without realising.

Location: Eryn's Bedroom, Time: 14:30​

When Eryn woke up, he was slouched at his computer desk, but now there was a blanket draped over him. His jacket was also neatly folded on his bed, washed and with all the new holes sewn up. On his desk he saw several notes saying where everyone went. He'd slept in quite a bit, so he didn't blame them for wanting to get on with their day. He wouldn't really have anything to do besides patrolling until tonight, so he figured he might as well try to enjoy a Sunday for once.

I'm taking all our gear to the workshop for repairs, I'll bring them all over tonight.
-Okami

I'm gonna buy a new phone at the mall, maybe look around for some other stuff too. Might as well upgrade after last night's tragedy T.T
-Sydney

Imma try and scope out some new parts for us at that new store near Dan's Diner. I can't stand to look at that dinosaur you call a computer, after all! >:p
-Robin

I'm gonna learn to fly, at the top of the Sky Piercer :3
-Victoria

Who will you spend time with?
(WIll not affect mindset.)​

Sydney.

Okami.

Victoria.

Robin.

[/h]

 

[Agent]

Let's spend time with our good pal Robin.
Either we haven't had many meaningful interactions with him or I'm unobservant.

 

[Doctor Nope]

"Our Small Victory"​

Eryn's bedroom, Time: 14:35​

After a quick breakfast, Eryn stuffed his goggles, respirator and Ecto jacket into his bag alongside the 8-ball and prepared to leave. Before he left, however, his father called him over.
"Hey, you got EMP'd last night, right? You'll be in trouble if it happens again, so you can borrow this if you want." His father held out a pistol and holster. It was an XDm 3.8 compact, the gun Eryn would commonly take with him back when his telekinesis lacked offensive power. He looked back up at him with a raised eyebrow and a tiny smirk.
"I don't have a carry license."
"That's never stopped you from sneaking it out with you before."
"Touché."

Just as Eryn was about to take the gun, ribbons of flame began surrounding his father, raising the temperature and lighting of the room. The flames quickly turned blue, as did the flames that were now in his father's eyes.
"I AM THOU, THOU ART I,"
"Ah shit, not again.."
"THOU HAST TURNED A VOW INTO A BLOOD OATH. IT SHALL BECOME THE WINGS OF REBELLION AND BREAK THE YOKE OF THY HEART."
"You really don't have to do this every time.."
"THOU HAST AWAKENED TO THE ULTIMATE SECRET OF gun, GRANTING THEE INFINITE POWER."

The flames stopped abruptly, and Eryn equipped the gun and holster. His coat was able to hide it well enough.
"Have fun!"
"Yup, see ya."

And with that, Eryn was able to actually start his day.

Duplex Dan's Electronics Store, Time: 14:55​

Across the street from the diner was the new electronics store. Eryn suspected that Dan was attempting to create some kind of monopoly, seeing as most stores in the area now seemed to be run by some clone of Dan. The store, while small, was a maze of shelves filled with various high-end gadgets. Eventually he felt Robin poking his shoulder from behind him.
"Yo, I got the--- wow, you're a bit of a mess.."
"Same to you. I think this is actually the first time I've seen your hair ungelled."
"Ey, it ain't my fault your house is lacking in essential male hair products! Honestly, I almost thought I was at a girl's house when I saw your bathroom!"
"Well, excuse me for preferring to have soft hair."
"And at least I combed mine today! Can you even see out of your right eye with your hair like that?
"That's classified information."

Robin chuckled, but quickly regained composure.
"For real, though, I need your help. Like, really really badly."
"Oh? What's up?"
"I need you to wingman for me."
Eryn felt his mind partially crashing. It was like he was stuck frozen on the screen of what Robin had just said, while pretty much all other functions became non-responsive. Eventually he was able to speak again.
"...Elaborate?"
"I've got a date in a short while. I want you to float near me all invisible and sneaky-like and whisper tips to me throughout."
"You know I'm like...the LEAST qualified person for such a task, correct?"
"I know, but I don't really care, since it's you."
"What does that even mean?!"
"I don't know. Regardless, you can probably learn a thing or two while helping me out, so its all good right?"
"I....fine."
"Sweet! Let's finish up here and get to the meeting spot!"

Eryn ended up buying a phone from the store too alongside some upgrade parts for his computer, but it wasn't a new model or anything. Neither he or Robin were too knowledgeable about mobile tech trends, and the only person he'd trust for reliable information on the subject was Sydney.

Barstucks Café, Time: 15:33​

Eryn was floating invisible next to the seated Robin. It was pretty easy for him to block off airwaves to stop people from feeling him moving about or hearing his whispers.
"So, context?"
"She's a year above us at school, but we managed to strike up conversation over in the coding club! Her name's Nyx Strider."
"Sounds somewhat familiar. She in one of the popular cliques?"
"Yup!"
"Thought so. Impressive how you pulled this off."
"We haven't pulled it off just yet. Here she comes!"

Through the door walked a girl who looked about the same age as them. She had dark blue hair that parted neatly in the centre, and faint red eyes. A lot of sunlight was coming in, so he didn't suspect her of being a vampire or anything because of that. Robin said that she went to their school, but Eryn couldn't shake the feeling that he'd seen her somewhere else, a long time ago.

The date went without notable incident, with Eryn only giving the occasional hint to help keep the conversation going. Nyx had mantained a consistently bubbly and cheerful appearance. When she and Robin were leaving, however, Eryn seemed to be the only one who noticed her almost drop her phone. It was relatively empty inside and she was walking behind Robin, so nobody really payed attention to the fact that her phone had been falling for a brief moment, only to miraculously float back into her hand, while her eyes glowed faintly.

Eryn suffered a mind crash similar to before. He was stuck buffering on what he had just seen.
How intriguing.
I need a coffee..

Arcade, Time: 16:45
​

After Nyx parted ways with them, Eryn and Robin headed to an arcade to further kill some time before they began tonight's operation. They were playing a two-player game, aiming pistol-shaped controllers at the screen. Eryn used a relaxed one-handed style while Robin was enthusiastically using both hands and taking most of the kills. Eryn was doing his best to ignore the troubling sight of Nyx's telekinesis for now. It wasn't as troubling as the thought of Predator-01's threats the previous day. Despite them proving to be somewhat incompetent last night, their words at the diner were still relevant.

After losing the game, he set his controller down and awkwardly put a hand to the back of his head.
"I, uh...I'm sorry..."
"Hm? What for?"
"You're wrapped up in this whole mess because of me. You're underpowered, but for some reason I still brought you over and needlessly put your life at ri--"
"Dude, shut it."
"--huh?"
Robin placed his hand on Eryn's shoulder.
"Getting to be a part of this is one of the best things to ever happen to me. For the longest time, I've watched you and Sydney put your lives on the line, while I sat back unable to do anything because I thought I was useless." His usual laid-back expression grew serious for once. "But you gave me an opportunity, and now I can actually help! It's not fair any other way, especially since you've been at this since before you could even lift a person. I want to be a hero like you guys, even if it takes me a while to get my powers up to scratch."

Eryn stared wide-eyed for a moment, before relaxing himself and sighing.
"Geez, what the hell? You're already more of a hero than I am!"
"Huh? How so?"
"For the past year, I haven't been saving anybody. I had to ignore calls for help out in the open because I was too scared of dissapearing. All I did was beat up alleyway thugs every night. I'm really just a small-time vigilante, not really anything heroic. Fighting the predators has all been self-defence so far, and the werewolf thing was just because I was bored."
"So, instead of focusing on beating up random thugs, a true hero would instead willingly enter a dangerous situation to help others, knowing the risks of getting dissapeared?"
"That's right."
"Such as, for example, single-handedly engaging a notorious supervillain along with their various minions to save some outclassed police, mere seconds after recieving a request for help?"
"Sure, that'd wor--"
"Hm?"
"....What are you getting at?"
"Well, maybe you should try giving yourself some more credit where its due?"
"Eh..?"
"Come on, let's play another round! On me this time," Robin said while inserting more coins into the machine.

Scrapyard, Time: 18:20​

After switching into his Ecto apparel and Robin's ski mask, the two met up with the others at the scapyard. Okami had brought a large bag with all their repaired gear inside. Sydney was particularly pleased about this, rushing over and hugging her double-sheath to her chest.
"Ah, I've missed you~"

"So, what's the game plan for tonight?"
"After making sure you all know how to sneak, we're gonna infiltrate one of the abandoned Cerberus facilities that I located last night."
"Woooh, we're gonna become ghosts!"
"I'm the only ghost around here, but sure, whatever floats your boat."

Eryn spent the next few hours teaching everyone basic stealth techniques, how to shift their body weight appropriately, proper procedure for checking around corners, and other related skills. After some time he moved on to using thin pieces of sheet metal that were laying around to construct shoddy looking practise rooms for them to practice different scenarios in.

Site-14 Ruins, Time: 23:50​

The location was a brief train ride away. It was a mostly underground facility before it was destroyed, and the surface entrance was blocked off by rubble. The surrounding area was abandoned and wrecked, as if the facility had been the epicentre for some kind of blast wave.

"You sure we're gonna find anything useful in here?"
"It's our only lead so far, so we might as well try." Eryn turned to look at everyone. "Now, rushing in as a crowd isn't a good move. I'd say we should have two groups. Three of you should tail behind a decent distance away, while I'll serve as the initial scouting wave. I'll need one more person with me as my vanguard in case things go south suddenly.
"And who'll that be?"
"Hm.."

Who will you choose to be your vanguard?​

Victoria.

Okami.

Robin.

Sydney.