Iron Kaiser's Story

"Welcome to the morning news." The morning reporter started out. "Today we have some unfortunate urgent news that has just been brought to our attention a few minutes ago. Richard Leonard, also known as Little Ricky, was found dead just outside the police station not long ago. Richard Leonard, for those of you who don't know, was thought to have been a small time criminal who only caused destruction in his wake. Known to the public as Little Ricky, he was sent to jail multiple times, only to get out of it time and again by his father: Walter Leonard."

Yohan's head was pounding as he barely managed to drag himself towards the hospital. He already knew from what the police spoke about that they had already sent people to investigate his house over the night. Great, he just hoped they wouldn't find that Gateway or anything else magical. Yohan had done what he thought was the right thing and left the body of Ricky out for them to find, but didn't stick around for questioning or to be found. No fingerprints or any evidence of them having to do with Ricky's death wouldn't of been found or noticed by them. To the cops, they had simply gone their separate ways. It annoyed him that things ended this way, but it was for the best. For once, he agreed with the mindset Sienna would probably have in this scenario.

"That is how the story has been, or so we thought. However, once Ricky's body was brought in to the police, something strange happened over the last hour and a half. New things began to pop up, not just from his family, but from other people as well. It may very well be that Little Ricky was not a criminal at all. But a rebel who only wanted to fight against the injustice of something he saw wrong with today's society. His father was the first to speak up about this unheard of side of Little Ricky. The things he said contradict what the public had known for years, and this could very well change everything we once knew about Richard Leonard!"

It was only half an hour after Ricky's body had been brought in to the police. Walter Leonard had not heard of anything yet, as one of his assistant's opened the door after knocking to find him busy talking on the phone. The assistant was nervous, Walter always made it clear not to disturb him for anything when he was on the phone. However, the news she had heard pushed her today to have to bring him the bad news. "Sir." She spoke up loudly, causing Walter to pause and put his free hand over the phone as he looked over to her.

"Did I not make myself clear before? I am not to be disturbed right now! I am on an important call with very important people!" Walter Leonard uncovered his hand over the phone and resumed talking. But that's when he heard the word again, this time louder. His eyes narrowed as he sighed and shook his head. "I apologize, sir. I will have to call you back. Yes, I know, but this is urgent. My deepest apologies." Hanging up the phone, Walter put down the phone and could already feel the rage swelling up within his body as he turned viciously towards the assistant girl. "What is it?"

"Sir, it's... It's your son, Richard." Walter's expression immediately changed upon hearing about his little boy. "He was found dead half an hour ago near the Timberland Police Station." The news caused Walter's face to become grim as tears began to flood up within his eyes. A primal scream came out of Walter as he brought his hands up to his feet, throwing his glasses aside as he found himself falling to his knees, with his assistant rushing over to his side.

"My poor Little Ricky!" Walter sobbed out. "NO! Not my little boy! Anyone but him! Why?! Why not me instead?!" Walter's hands came down from his face that was now full of tears as his eyes raced over to look at his assistant. "Get my phone! I need to make some calls, now! I need to make them, right now! RIGHT NOW!" Walter's love for his Little Ricky was apparent, only out of fear did his assistant rush over to the phone and begin to dial numbers at his request. Walter continued to cry, his youngest son was dead and his heart had shattered into pieces upon hearing the news.

"It is with great pain that I..." Walter hesitated on the television, sniffling could be heard ever so slightly as he rubbed his face with his sleeve to wipe away the coming tears. "Announce today that I have been keeping a lie. My son's lie. He wanted to make it look like he was leading a life of crime. I opposed this time and again, telling him that he wouldn't even be labeled a vigilante! But he refused to listen to me, he was such a good little boy." Walter brought up his sleeve again before continuing. "It is with a great and heavy heart that I call on all of you not to see him as what he wanted to be. A criminal. He was my Little Ricky! All he wanted was to prove his point to the world! And now he is dead because of the corruption he saw within today's world!" Walter had to stop and walk away because he couldn't stop crying.

"You want me to what?" Walter spoke hesitantly over the phone. "Oh, no, I don't have a problem with saying all of that, it's just... For him? Are you certain about this sir?" Walter stopped to listen to the words of his superior. "I, I understand. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't for the wrong reasons was all." Walter walked over to his chair and sat down in it, letting out a low groan. "I will make some calls to the news station. I can pull some strings very quickly and be able to be out speaking about the matter at once. I will do it with only honesty though, sir. Nothing more, nothing less. I want to be clear here. I am only doing this for my son, not to play along with any of your games. If you understand that, then we will talk later."

"Aside from his father, other people have come up talking about how Little Ricky was actually doing things for the better of Timberland. When the connection between him and the death of his gang was brought up, it was actually revealed that Ricky was just brought up in the crossfire and acted out of self defense. Speaking of his gang, it is believed that Ricky found four survivor's among them and took them under his wing, uniting them under the same cause as him. However, traces of these four have yet to be discovered. It may be that they have run off, but police will investigate further into it."

The group of little delinquents laughed as they all held up jugs of beer against each other. They had abandoned Ricky in his finest hour, after delivering all of the items that were actually filled with The Black across town. The sun had risen up in the distance for them, so that meant by now, The Black had already spread throughout the town. Anyone who bought those items would be unknowingly spreading it further. They couldn't help but each laugh as they were going to ride off somewhere to relax and settle down. When Ricky died, The Black he had given them all had died out as well, meaning they were no longer involved in this whole magical business. Life was good, life was very good for them! They had just stolen a huge amount of cash, they had gotten away with potential murder, and best of all, Ricky was probably dead!

That's when the one Ricky had called Franky began to act weird. He couldn't breath for some reason and he was collapsing. The others all started to back away from him, they had already ditched one person today, they were willing to throw another aside. But just when it looked like they could run, black flames burst forth and burnt Franky to a crisp! The others could only stare with wide eyes as a new body began to quickly form within the horrible flames. Murderous eyes looked over towards them as they stood frozen to the spot with fear. A demonic smile could be made out from within the black flames as the being's right arm rose and sent out black flames rushing over to them. The last actions they would ever perform were that of horrifying screams.

Once all the black flames subsided, the reborn being walked over and checked over all of their items. Just as it was looking through the money they had collected, clothes were thrown on it and it looked annoyed. However, as it looked back, it couldn't help but gasp at who it saw. "You!" The voice called out. The person gestured for it to dress up. The being could only growl as it was forced to dress up in human clothes now. "This is terrific. I come back in a new body, and suddenly, I am forced to wear disgusting clothing over my body!" The being pointed at the man. "Let me guess. You're the reason I'm still alive, right? And let me also guess this. You must also be the reason everything happened tonight, right?"

"You guessed correctly." The man in shades revealed himself to the being, smirking as he pulled off those mysterious shades and opened his eyes, revealing them to be glowing yellow. "I didn't expect things to go as well as they did. But Ricky didn't fail me in the end. The kid never questioned me when I gave him the orders in person either." The man couldn't help but grin as four yellow eyes opened up in the darkness behind him. Spider webs began to latch out over the area behind him as he spread his arms out. "It's been a long time, Despair. I trust the Hellhound's death helped you? It's time we went back."

"Ugh, back to those sinful morons? I wonder what they've been doing in my absence. Give me a smoke." The man in shades handed Despair a cigarette, as Despair lit it himself with his thumb before puffing out some smoke. "Damn, it feels good to be alive. Guess there are some things I didn't even know Despair could do. But it feels like I've been set back to zero. We'll have to perform some new tests when we get back to the labs. You chose some good clothes for me though, you clever little sneak." Despair and the man in shades began to walk away, the spider webbing's dragging the items in a bunch behind them as they soon shot out and the man in shades caught the webbing's with his bare hand to carry.



"Without a doubt, today seems to be the day people are crying out for Little Ricky to be seen as some kind of voice of justice. Regardless, police will continue to investigate the strange incidents that have occured as of late. In other news..." Yohan couldn't stand to listen anymore as he was lying there in the hosptial bed, turning off the television as he groaned out to himself.

"What is this, some kind of sick joke? Suddenly Ricky's being hailed as an icon? A voice of justice for the people?" Yohan put a hand on his forehead. That wasn't right at all, Ricky clearly seemed like the kind of person who would just murder people without a second thought. And suddenly, when he dies, people turn him into a hero? It made Yohan worry, whatever was going on, the trouble had not yet ended for any of them or Timberland. "Something's not right."

"Dad," Saiph says, her voice shaky, her hands shaky, Barely she held her phone to her ear, sitting up, leaning up against a wall in an alleyway. She had been debating to make this call for a while, but finally mustered up the courage. She swallows hard, her head... well her entire body ached. "Heh... I think I... I might have outdone myself. I uh... I kind of... killed a man... o-or well-"

"Hm? What are... what is the matter? So you got involved." a deep and powerful voice is heard through the phone, almost causing her to pull the phone away. Mr. Grimm's voice was undeniably concerned, she already knew it would cause a stir. "Sugar, did you hear the news? It is about to get very... problematic there. You should return home... you should come home." It was clear, he knew something she did not. Getting up she sluggishly exited the alleyway, and around the corner to see a television on display behind glass, watching in horror what the news was saying about Ricky. She didn't know what to feel, she felt a lot of things lately that she never had quite before. Was it anger? Was it confusion? She was transfixed, stunned on how quickly this had gone down. Her arms grew limp and just hung there, barely holding the phone. "Listen to me."

"D-dad, that isn't true, y-you gotta... fix it!" she says, swinging the phone back up, her voice becoming apparently panicked. "I-it's wrong, we stopped him because... because he-," before she could continue her head began to hurt her once again, causing her to nearly lose her balance.

"Fix it how? How can I fix this?" he responds, somewhat harshly, causing Saiph to fall back and lean against the display window. She was at a loss of words, was he scolding her? "What do I tell the public? An opposing story about his character, with what living witnesses to back it up? Your new friends who up until recently were marked as missing? Who ran hysterically out of a police station by creatures that no normal person could see? That a man, mad with some dark magical power killed people? People... are not ready for this. And even if I did manipulate the news, two opposing stories would just cause mass confusion, and who knows what that would create," he says, as earnestly as he can to Saiph. She didn't like it at all, sliding slowly down to the pavement, holding her head. "You're not feeling well, you've strained yourself, you need rest... care... you can only get that, here. Please?"

"I... I, o-okay," she says, finally conceding, albeit reluctantly. "B-but I... don't have the strength to," she began to say, before the sound of a vehicle approaching caught her attention, and soon a lavish black limousine parked itself right across from her. "Heh... you, just had him waiting, didn't ya?"

"Always be prepared. See you soon, love you," Mr. Grimms says before hanging up. The door of the limo opens showcasing an even more lavish interior, soft red velvet seats and carpeting. Saiph managed to drag herself inside, shutting the door behind her.

---

Elsewhere in a little novelty shop, a young white-haired man, the local Timberland High School gym teacher and wannabe big time actor, Rupert Kraus was hunting for props in his next attempt at a play. He was dressed in a t-shirt sporting a wolf, the mascot of Timberland High. Around his neck a whistle, and wearing shorts. Pretty well what one would expect of a school's gym teacher.

The owner, a rather crotchety, balding, whiskery old man, was growing tired of how long he was taking to browse his wares, rapping his fingers on the counter, puffing away at a cigarette. He had been looking at a couple oriental masks on the wall, one of a Tengu, the other the menacing facial armor mask of a Samurai.

"You sure these all you got? Certainly not befit the great HERO of the next big epic!" he says, placing a hand over his chest and the other in the air, all with dramatic flair as he looks upwards.

"Listen bub, I got what ya see, no amount of posturing... or whatever it is you're doing... gonna change that," the owner says finally, slamming his hand onto the counter. "Just buy something and go, you're scaring the other customers!" Of course, there were no other customers in this shoddy little shop, but questioning that would likely just get a smug exactly in response.

"Fine! Then I uh..." before he could finish that statement, something seemed to suddenly pull at him, his attention magnetically being pulled to the glass case under the counter. He scurries over, kneeling down and looking within. Some old watches, most of them broken... some decks of old playing cards, lighters... but then he say something faint, like a black mist surrounding one item in particular. A rather fancy looking gun, etched with... Little Rick. His eyes light up and he claps his hands together startling the owner.

"Aha! This one!" he says, pointing at the gun. The store owner scratched his bald spot in confusion, twisting his mouth switching the cigarette from one corner of his mouth to the other.

"I'm not sure giving some weird youngster like you a firearm is-," the man begins. But Rupert enthusiastically digs into his pocket, pulling out his wallet, reaching in, and, with a clenched fist grabs as many dollars as he can and slams it down before the owner, a wide white sparkly grin appearing on Kraus's face. He didn't even bother to count, but the owner did, the cigarette falling from his mouth. Greedily he scoops it up, opens the case, pulling the gun and hands it over to Kraus with a smirk. "Know what? Screw it, it is yours kid! Have fun, shoot your eye out or whatevah, don't give a shit if yer being generous!"

"EEee yes! Thank you, thank you!" Kraus says, nearly dancing as he runs out of the shop. Outside he glances over the gun, a dreamy look in his eyes. People walking down the sidewalk look briefly at him, a bit of concern as they back up and start to walk the other way. "I can't believe it, the guy didn't even know! Hah! A piece of the hero himself, passed down upon... ME! It must be a sign, oh yes! Things are finally looking up for Rupert Kraus!"

"More than your wildest imagination, mortal," a whimsical voice is heard inside his skull, Kraus looks around in confusion, trying to locate its origin. Soon an odd feeling begins to well up inside of him. "You and me, we are both want what the other wants, to put on the greatest show nobody will soon forget!"



Kraus looks beside him, red eyes looking back into his as a strange figure in purple robes was leaning over. Nobody seemed to see it but him, some walking straight through the odd pale man, who's face contorts into a wide smile.

"Name's Puck by the way, and... you could say, we are quite the kindred spirits, you and I~!"

Beta

Again he found himself waking up in the strange castle. He felt strange, what had he been doing? Regardless, he managed to sit up and rub his head, looking around to see nothing really had changed. Well, except that one of the doors he saw before was now missing. That was strange, what happened to that door? Didn't Shiro mention before how each door held a different purpose? Had that door served it's purpose then? He pushes himself up to his feet as he walked over to where the missing door had been, surprised to see a mask was now there. It looked creepy, but it felt familiar to him. Had he seen something who's face resembled this mask before? Whatever the case, he felt he should find Shiro.

He walked past all of the doors again, looking over each of them as he saw each one held a different design and a different color to it. He really wish he knew what this all meant! He stopped when he saw that red door again. Only this time, it had a different design to it. Unlike before where it looked just like all the other doors but with the color red, now it seemed to hold a more grand design compared to the others. He didn't know whether that meant good or bad, he would probably have to ask Shiro if he wasn't busy. Walking over to the last door, he picked up the key Shiro had shown off last time, using it to unlock the door before putting it back up and opening the door.

Inside he found Shiro staring at the crystal ball from before, his concentration set so much on the ball he didn't even notice him walking inside and closing the door behind him. Walking over to Shiro, he looked over at the crystal ball to see people moving around in it. This is when Shiro finally takes notice and lightly pushes him away from the ball. "My apologies, I didn't see you coming in!" Shiro spoke with slight nervousness to it, standing in the way of the crystal ball now as he rubbed his forehead with his arm. "I apologize, but this is something only I must see. We will talk when I am finished. But for now, there is a book I need you to get me anyway." Shiro watched as the boy nodded and walked over to the boys. Shiro let out a slow sigh, shaking his head as he turned back to the crystal ball. "Gotta count myself lucky he isn't nosy."

The Mayor of Timberland was not someone who often got called upon to listen in on meetings. He considered himself lucky to have gotten the position at all, he only wanted the best future for a town that people barely cared about. But today he felt nervous, he had been called in to one of "those" meetings. He had only been called to them a few times before, but he knew it was always important whenever they were called upon. This time would be no different, he had to be prepared for the worst should it come to that. Arriving at the door, he opens it to find rows of people already sitting and talking loudly to each other. This didn't surprise him, as he walked in and closed the door behind himself, walking past all of them. They didn't even take a single glance in his direction, they were all too busy focusing on their own needs or wants.

The Mayor considered himself lucky, for just as he sat down, he sat a man in a suit begin to walk across the large screen in the back. Everyone immediately stopped talking and focused their attention on him, rarely did any of them ever get to see or talk to him, but he was someone who could very well have control over all of their lives. Stopping before the center, the man in the suit clears his throat before beginning. "Good evening, everyone. For those of you who have returned, welcome back. We are happy you have not run off from our generous offers. For those of you who are new, I am the head of The Emperor's personal guard. I'm sure you all wish to know why we have called you here, and I will be glad to take the time to explain that now."

Everyone felt tense as they waited to hear what they were all here for. The Mayor wondered why they had called him in particular today, it was unlike them to need to bring something up to him so suddenly without sending some kind of letter. "As you may have heard, there have been unusual cases popping up all over the state. We believe these to be magical related, as you might have guessed. However, we also see that many people on Gaia have been steadily getting a new form of magic. One that hasn't been seen very often until recently. As you know, this mass outbreak of magic will naturally have us investigate into them, along with The Order of Gray coming in to see what the trouble is about. Have no fear, we will make certain they do not do any unnecessary actions to any of you."

The Emperor's head guard pushed his glasses into place before continuing. "Whether these magical incidents are related to Dark Wizards or otherwise is currently a mystery. We do know of one place that may help us put the puzzle together. But that is not my place to speak of. I believe I have explained enough for you to get what my Emperor is about to say today. He is ready now." Pulling out a button, he pressed it and a golden symbol of The Sukodo Empire flashes across the large screen before cutting to a shadowy figure sitting down. "You are live, my Emperor." The head guard bowed from the waist before stepping out of the way for all of them to see The Emperor's figure more clearly.

"Thank you." A robotized voice spoke out, they all knew this was to help protect The Emperor's identity. "I have brought this up to all of you because of a certain project I found myself forced to approve. I could not speak my opinion on the matter as it had already been done. However, what's done is done, and now we have a very interesting scenario. The place this all occurred in, as you may or may not have heard on the news today, is Timberland." This got everyone talking again, with The Mayor swallowing nervously as he waited to hear more. "My wishes are not to have anymore people recklessly throw away their lives or receive permanent damage. I simply wish to --"

"SO THAT'S WHAT THAT NEWS WAS ABOUT, HUH?!" One large man among them stood up and put a dent in his chair with ease. "You are sick! So what, you like taking people now and putting them through horrible experiences so they can die and become some kind of fallen hero?!" The large man's body began to let out loud noises as though his body was shifting. "Well sorry to say, but I don't approve! This isn't some game for you to toy with our lives, you know! We don't need you stepping into our personal lives now too!"

"That is not my intentions." The Emperor's robot voice spoke up. "I have already said I do not wish for more people to throw away their lives recklessly. What was done was done by the time it reached my ears. Please, sit down and --" But The Emperor was interrupted by a vicious roar, everyone becoming frightened as the large man who stood up suddenly shifted and changed, fur expanding over his body as his upper body grew larger than it already was, and his head turned into that of a wolf's. With a loud roar, everyone became frozen to the spot as they saw him going berserk!

"Enough of this!" The werewolf's now twisted voice spoke out as he points at the screen. "I know enough! I won't stand for your arrogant tone any longer! Human or otherwise, we are not to be bossed around by you! I don't care how much control you have over the world, I don't care how many people in power you have across the globe, I can still rip you to shreds in this form!" That's when everyone heard a loud stomp, their attentions now directing to the head guard.

"Please, sit down and we will forgive this." The head guard pushed his glasses again, though there seemed to be a threatening gesture behind it now. "I will not tolerate any childish outbursts from here on out. I understand how you feel, but this is not the time to overreact. We must band together and each look out for not just the future of Gaia, but for the future of those from The Other Side as well."

"Screw you!" The werewolf let out another roar before leaping over towards the head guard, mouth open, arms spread forward, body ready to attack! "I'm taking charge now!" The head guard could only sigh as he shifts into a stance in a second and slams his fist right into the werewolf's chest, the werewolf's body stopping immediately as a low growl was heaved out. Slamming his elbow into the side of the werewolf's head, the head guard sent the werewolf crashing down into the ground regardless of his transformation. Stomping his foot down on the werewolf's neck, he pulls out a pistol and quickly fires a bullet right into the werewolf's head. All movement ceased from the werewolf now as the head guard put the pistol away.

"Oops, I forgot to pack in silver. I guess you still operate the same if a bullet to the brain can kill your kind." Removing his foot, the head guard snapped his fingers and two of The Empire's soldiers rushed in and saluted him. "Take the body away, please." The two soldiers quickly got to work, lifting up the body of the werewolf before quickly rushing out of sight with it. An annoyed sigh came out of the head guard's mouth before he turned to the rest. "My apologies. But I will not tolerate any threats to my Emperor. I would like to ask that all of you listen to my Emperor's words before jumping to conclusions, if you would kindly." A chair is set up behind the head guard as he sits down and crosses his arms and legs, looking rather annoyed now.

"As I was saying, my intentions are not to throw people's lives away recklessly, but unite them under one cause. We brought you all here today to tell you that a magical outbreak has just been confirmed in Timberland. The decision to make Little Ricky a hero was, again, not my choice. By the time it reached my ears, the actions had already been decided. However, I do wish to use this new image of Little Ricky to find a suitable candidate for us to employ. One who will grow in fame and power and inspire others to follow in his or her lead."

"Excuse me, Emperor." Everyone froze as they saw the Mayor of Timberland rise up to his feet as he spoke. "My apologies for interrupting, but I do wish to know who it was that turned Little Ricky, a known criminal even to the public, into some kind of tragic hero. And why is it necessary to have someone inspired by him to come out? Surely the police can handle any threat that comes to the city, magical or otherwise, right?"

"This is why I chose you to come here, Mayor of Timberland." The robotic voice spoke out. "I do not know who it was that wanted Little Ricky to be turned into a fallen idol, but rest assured, it may not last for long. Once the people have seen the true icon rise from his ashes, they will start to see the lies fabricated for Little Ricky and the honesty this new idol brings with him or her. As for why it is necessary, I did not say I doubted the police's capabilities to handle situations. However, regardless of that, they cannot interact with magical affairs. This idol, and those to follow, will be able to use magic to snuff out those we believe will be troublesome in the future."

"I understand the need to bring magic in to fight magic, however, I do hope you are not planning to just throw this on us and just accept it." The Mayor of Timberland spoke up. "I understand more people like Little Ricky will emerge, and they will no doubt only want things like murder or destruction. However, how are we to guarantee this idol of yours, who you no doubt have already figured will rise from Timberland, will not follow the same path of chaos and destruction?"

"You are mistaken. I actually brought you here to ask for your approval for this plan to be executed, Mayor of Timberland." Everyone's attention turned to the mayor all at once. "You must understand this. This person will most likely remain a vigilante. Like a vigilante, the police will see this individual as an threat. However, over time, I believe this vigilante will be requested to help out the police. In time, as is what modern society does, they will see the vigilante as a hero. When they do, they will no doubt start marketing to spread and show their affection for this individual. They will sell toys, produce clothing with his imagery on it, create television shows, comics and more revolving stories around them. In other words, this person will become a true modern icon for the people." The Emperor's claps his hands once. "So, Mayor of Timberland. What is your answer?"

The Mayor was hesitant upon hearing this, however, the idea of people having a modern superhero to look upon wasn't such a bad idea. If it could be done in fiction, why couldn't they apply it to real life? If bad people with magic like Little Ricky would emerge anyway, why not prepare those with magic who are more than willing to deal with them? In the end, he could only see more positive's than negative's. "Very well." The Mayor of Timberland spoke. "I assume you already have a list of people who are infected or something? Regardless, my only wish is that your head guard will handle overseeing matters himself. If I were to go out and search for these people myself, it would draw suspicion upon me. But you better keep me up to date, understood?"

"Very well. We accept these terms." The Emperor spoke out. "As you have wished, you will be kept up to date on anything that occurs. Who knows, one day you may be shaking the hand of a modern superhero." This caused the Mayor of Timberland to take a step back, he had not expected such kindness to sweep over him. But he did use to look up to superheroes when he was a kid, to actually be shaking the hand of one who existed was too much for him to comprehend right now. "You will be given a list of people we have already found to be infected. My head guard will seek each of them out, the one he finds most suitable to the task will be trained under him. Do not worry, Mayor of Timberland. We will not only make your town famous for being the origin of a superhero, but also protect it from those who would do it harm."

Well...what to do now? Frederick had just convinced Gilgamesh to work with him. It was morning, his car was still missing, and it seemed that danger was gone for now. Of course remembering the words of...Of...Ok this was getting old! He needed his inner angel spirit demons name!

"Hey, miss Shepard. Mind if you tell me your name?" Fredrick asked as he turned to face the woman. She chuckled lightly as her bandaged hand however over the bandaged part of her face. "Me? It took you this long to ask me of my name? My such a cruel man to never ask a lady her name. But, I guess better late then never. Especially when you keep calling me a 'demon angel spirit' which I find rather funny. I went by a few names over time but I like 'Celui Qui a Brisé' or just Brisé for short. A pleasure to meet you." She spoke.

Fancy name Frederick thought, he wondered what launguage that was...Was it a Russian name? Or...maybe it was a fancy British name. In any case that woman was called Brisé. This made things much easier. Of course Gilgamesh chuckled at her name but did not speak his mind.

In any case, Frederick began to think: if these two were magical he wondered. Could he cook food for them. Sure using a regular stove would not work since physical food would not work but...what if he made a magical stove and made magical tools and ingredients? It would be an interesting thing to do and he would work with his powers besides making another character! It would be safe to work out his power. And having a big crowd early on could lead to problems.

Besides, if he can get Gilgamesh to eat his magical food then he would be the ultimate cook! Cooking for a king was still an honor! Of course Brisé's face was covered so...he wondered if they even bothered to eat. He knew Gilgamesh can eat from the anime he watched. So...did Brisé need to eat? Or did she just need him alive just to live?

This was still on week one, a few days in. He knew very little. Eh...It was time to get drawing then cooking. Walking into his house with Brisé and Gilgamesh in tow. He began to get to work to get a meal fit for a king ready. Who knows! Nothing bad could happen and he could be freinds with a king! Things were great!

Shiro closed up the book and put it down next to him, standing up to his feet as he smiled at Yohan. "Come with me. I have something to show you." Shiro lead Yohan back through the stairs from before, leading him up to one of the towers to show Yohan the state of things now. "See how the land looks to be healing? This is all due to your efforts. Since you overcame the Inner Demon of Despair, your world has been slowly taking some time to heal. Although, as a result, a new Inner Demon has risen up in the former's place. This one was quite a pain to contain for me. Nonetheless, it appears that the thing I said before will not happen quite yet. However, a new danger has emerged to threaten the castle."

"A new danger?" Yohan questioned Shiro, but as he did so, he felt the castle begin to shake furiously. Yohan could see it in the distance as it's wings flapped through the sky. As it got closer, it only got bigger and he could see the horrifying details that made it so fearsome. "No way, that's a dragon!" The beast let out a thunderous roar as it flew past the castle, the gusts of winds that it created sent Yohan flying down onto his back. Shiro remained perfectly still as he watched the dragon fly about, breathing fire into the air before flying off somewhere. "That wasn't here before!"

"I am already the conflicts within you have grown since the last time you were here. I am afraid that with the Inner Demon of Despair gone, your mind has allowed other things to rise up against you. It is sad to say, but we may have to awaken him soon enough." Shiro turns to Yohan and grabs his arm, quickly pulling him up to his feet. "But that can wait. I will keep this beast at bay, but in time it may become a threat to you and the two others who are still connected. This dragon reminds me of a conflict I was in a long time ago."

"Tell me something." Yohan began to speak. "You said before that when you had arrived, the door was already open. You can't use the key as well as I can, and yet you have no problem sealing away things or fending off beasts that appear here. If you were a part of my world, you wouldn't be able to have such a unique stance within it. Who are you, really? Or for that matter, what are you?" Shiro looked over at Yohan and let out a slow sigh, looking up at the sky.

"Think of me like a guardian angel. I'm here for a reason, and I know of only one other person who has a guardian angel. Speaking of, you must be weary not to come into conflict with that man. He will have a golden aura. Should you see that gold aura, run. Do not even think about fighting him. You must run as if your life depends on it." Dark clouds began to roll in as Shiro began to walk back down the steps. "I've said enough. I can tell you the full story another time. I think I've kept you here long enough. I must show you one more thing before you leave, and hopefully, we will not have to use it anytime soon."

It was business as usual. The bell had rung out and The Order of Gray's members had been summoned forth. With the exception of Epsilon, for obvious reasons, everyone had been summoned without issue. Upon taking their seats, Lady Alpha walked in with Omega by her side as always. Lady Alpha wore only the most beautiful white robes that could be made. Though her skin was unusually pale, she did not wear any makeout or try to make herself look "pretty" to stand out. Omega pulls out her seat and when she sits down, pushes her in before sitting down in it's own seat. Omega largely remained unknown due to always being seen wearing that strange armor. The only thing that reminded them that it wasn't just a robot was the long pink hair that could be seen coming out the back of the helmet.

"Welcome." Lady Alpha spoke with a soft tone that made her sound quiet, though usually one could understand and hear her just fine. "We have a lot to discuss today, so before we begin, I would like to see if any of you has anything to say before we start. Once we start, I expect full cooperation and attention on the matters we discuss, and no distractions." Lady Alpha turned a glaring gaze over to Delta. Delta gave up a lazy peace sign with his hand before relaxing in his chair again. Lady Alpha rolled her eyes as he did this. "Ugh. You know what I mean. Get it out of your systems now before we start, okay?"

The doors suddenly slammed open. "Sorry I'm late!" A voice rung out, which most would recognize as Gamma's. "It's a funny story-" Gamma was cut off by a glare from Lady Alpha. "Don't get your panties in a bunch! You said get it out now, did you not?" Gamma had on a cloak with the hood covering her face. One could tell she was spent physically as she took her seat next to Delta. She gave him a smile and said a quiet hello. Gamma then returned her attention to the oh so glorious Lady Alpha. Gamma's disdain for the woman was known among other members, but Gamma kept it in check. The woman waited patiently for the meeting to begin.

"Mmm, yes, greetings, a pleasure as usual," a deep voice reverberates through the room. The origin of this voice was a hulking figure already seated, waiting patiently. He was wearing a golden oni mask and dressed in a rather clean gray business suit. This was Omicron, a rather peculiar man, to say the least, if this colossus could be simply called a man.

He stares forward with glowing eyes, like burning embers, difficult to ascertain who he was looking towards, if anyone in particular. He was somewhat distracted today, but did his best to cover it. "Greetings, Gamma," he says calmly upon her loud entrance.

Lady Alpha couldn't help but let out an audible sigh. Omega ended up patting her back for her, with Lady Alpha shaking her head. "Of course the suspended fool is the late one. Bravo, Gamma." Lady Alpha rolls her eyes and looks around to the rest. "Anybody else wish to step forward with something?" But no one did. "Very well. Let us begin then with the first matter. We have been watching over The Other Side and Gaia for centuries now. We all know the rising conflicts that have occurred over the ages. Starting with before The Order's foundation itself, when The Wizard and The Blue Haired Warrior clashed. Or the time Gaia's influence brought about conflict on The Other Side, causing the first Sukodo Emperor to rise and form the Sukodo Empire from said conflict."

"But the worst example yet, to me at least, was the battle a hundred years ago. The one that took place a hundred years ago. The battle that almost reached Gaia and attempted to destroy it. When the man declaring himself as Dracul came out with an army of demons and laid a path of destruction in his wake. Were it not for the two men who were chosen by The White and The Black to mold them into what we know them as today, Gaia would be in ruins. But conflict has never truly ceased since any of those times. Mu!" Lady Alpha's sudden burst of the word caused Mu to flinch in his seat. "Your Dominion's name, it's Scan Chan, right? I need you to use Scan Chan to give me a report on the incidents I requested earlier before this meeting."

"Yes, yes, of course my lady." Mu seemed shorter compared to the rest of them. Though Mu had the strangest googles that made his eyes look bigger than they actually were. Mu's hair had long since turned white, his skin wrinkled and his body sometimes shook when he worked for too long on one thing. But that didn't stop Mu from doing what he loved, and he wore a suit of tech of his own design to let it be known what had taken his heart for so many years. With blue lines that ran over his body that occasionally glowed, Mu raised up his hands and wiggled his fingers before speaking again. "Scan Chan!"

Scan Chan appeared before Mu in the form of a monitor with a keyboard set out before him. The monitor and keyboard both looked holographic and green to an extent, though both were see-through. With a big wide grin, Mu began to type away as the monitor quickly began to change with it. "Regarding the number of The White and The Black infections finding potential candidates on Gaia, I have determined that the rate has grown by 37% in just the last decade. Most recently, there appears to have been several outbreaks of The White and The Black across the USA alone! The most recent incident we could find of this was a town called Timberland."

"Thank you for that, Mu." Lady Alpha spoke as Scan Chan faded away. "It is not just Gaia either that faces conflict right now. The many factions of The Other Side have always been tense with one another. We live in an Age of Tension, this I will not deny to you. We are meant to be keepers of balance, the people who bring peace between the magical and non-magical. Yet we cannot intervene if it does no harm to the greater good. But what we potentially face right now is far worse than just a mere battle or two. The Sukodo Empire, The Legion of Demons, Epsilon's Dark Wizards, The Dragonborn, among many others! They are all getting ready to attack someone, and with each side growing in power by the day, someone will launch an attack that will start a massive war unlike any seen on The Other Side before it."

"As you said, we cannot intervene much." Gamma said nonchalantly. "What do you suggest we do? Prevent one of the sides from gaining power? If so, which one? What's your plan, oh great leader?" Gamma glared at the woman from underneath her hood. "While it's in everyone's best interests to ya know...not have a war, how can we prevent it without violating what the Order is about in the first place?"

"Well then... there certainly are a lot of anomalies happening around Timberland, aren't there?" Omicron asks in rhetoric, tapping his fingers together patiently as he puffs on a cigar. With the creaking of his chair, he reaches down and starts to pull out some papers with his index finger and thumb, and then splays it across the table. On them are rather complex printouts of maps with marks on them and reports. Along with this is a few pictures, some of the Hound of Despair from Saiph's perspective. "Here's something to add to your data, Mu. Cross-world fluctuations seem to be happening quite frequently with this place and The Other Side, perhaps too frequently, wouldn't you agree? Lets call these crescendo points. To be frank, we are long passing the point of coincidence, and if a war were to break out, with this amount of instability, well... I'll leave it to everyone's imagination on what that entails."

Mu gathered up the papers and looked them over. "Ah, yes." Scan Chan could be seen forming over Mu's googles now, taking a look over the pictures and such. "It seems that, ironically, Timberland was founded by magical creatures. Even before that, Timberland has been known for being a hotspot for magic. It seems a lot of people there have always emerged with the potential to wield magic. How strange, considering that multiple people there have been chosen by The Black. My lady, I fear we may soon see The White and The Black clashing on Gaia. If The Emperor was correct in his report to us, that vigilante group he plans to have form could lead to a group forming in response."

"I understand, Mu." Lady Alpha spoke. "It appears that we may be facing people with connections. Sometimes these connections were formed to spread out an individual's power to others, though the person would eventually regain their power while the chosen kept their powers as well. Other times it was to simply gather people under their wing, as if to grant people the power of The White or The Black before the connection would eventually break. Though I imagine any connections have been recent, and the individuals who were chosen have not received training yet. Without this training, they will by now be starting to receive side effects. These chosen individuals will start to experience shifts in personality, they may see memories that are not their own and most for certainly, they will start to recall people they may not have met before. We will need two volunteer's to go forth to Timberland to find these people and train them before they have such experiences at the wrong time."

"I will go." Beta stated to the rest. The strongest human in The Order of Gray, Beta mostly kept himself concealed within the usual white robes of The Order of Gray. "I have business to take care of there. I will bring Delta with me just in case. If I find anyone with magic causing trouble, I'll handle it myself. I know you and Delta aren't on good terms, plus if something comes up beyond my control, he can help me out with it."

"Indeed. I trust Beta with my life." Delta spoke up. Unlike the others, he wore a gray robe over himself, standing out just that little bit among the white robes most of the members commonly wore. "I will help Beta with the training of these individuals, whoever they may be. However, from what I can tell, we have someone there who is not naturally from Gaia. I will look more into the matter when I arrive, but that is just my theory for now. Although I do wish to report that Epsilon was spotted looking for one of his artifacts in Timberland. Knowing Epsilon, he used the opportunity to go out and find information ahead of anyone else in Timberland. It's possible he is setting up influence in there now, without us knowing it. Hopefully that is not the case, but if it is, we may have more people showing up in Timberland."

"Epsilon is a danger we must not overlook. He is not only skilled with his abilities, he is smart and cunning. When he left our order, he managed to win in his fight against Delta." Lady Alpha put her hands together. "Beta, Delta. I will leave it to you then. As for the matter of dealing with the rising tension..." Lady Alpha's eyes glared over to Gamma at this. "It has always been our interest to remain as neutral as possible. With that being said, the Legion of Demons have always been our natural enemy. We have always fought against them, and they have always done the same with us. Should they cause any problems directly, we will have no choice but to make them targets. The Emperor seems to be making his move to prepare for the long term, while the others are simply gathering in forces and power. Either way, if we have to make a stand in this war, I have no objections to that."

"If I may, Lady Alpha." Chi stood up, one of the newer members. Chi had taken his position with pride after the retirement of the former Chi, however, Chi had proven at times to be reckless and new to the game. "This is not the time for me to be sitting here. With the growing conflicts on both Gaia and The Other Side, I propose that I be assigned to The Mage Killer. Whoever it is, this ruthless murderer has been targeting people with magic and I will no longer stand for it. Send me after this fiend, I have already started to research on this criminal and will personally see to it they are brought to justice!"

"Very well, Chi. I can't stop you. This Mage Killer is the one who's been behind incidents that the news keep bringing up anyway. Do what you must." Chi, Delta and Beta all vanish from sight at these words. "Upsilon, continue to observe Epsilon's every action and report it back to me. Gamma, go back to being suspended already before I send Omega after you. Omicron, continue to do what you do. I feel you are doing a good job, unlike certain people. Sigma, I need you to investigate something for me. Mu, continue to use Scan Chan to find any information you can. Everyone else, do what you do best. I need some time to decide on the matter of how to proceed with these conflicts we have been seeing of late. I will call everyone back in a week's time. Dismissed!"

Upsilon appeared in a cave after the meeting had ended. What nonsense, he thought to himself. There was only one person worthy to his eyes and that person was nowhere near the same league as anyone else. That man was a prodigy, he knew this from the beginning that he would be the one to save them all. Upsilon smiled to himself, gripping his staff as best as he could. He tolerated the others only because he had no other choice. His position in The Order had to remain for just a little longer. Damn that Omicron! He was too nosy for his own good, looking into matters that didn't concern him! It made Upsilon furious with rage, he didn't like how The Order were so close to finding out his secret plans!

Upsilon moved further into the cave, his staff hitting the ground as he walked. At least it wasn't all for nothing, he now had the information he wanted to confirm. The fools knew nothing! Not a single one of them knew what was best for the world, they were all fools. Upsilon would make sure this war would happen with or without them. He suspected Lady Alpha might try to make her stance in the coming flames, but she was too smart for her own good! She must of suspected something was up and sent others to investigate further into matters! No matter, he would find a way to involve The Order soon enough. Upsilon couldn't wait until he could execute his plans, the thought of it brought joy to his old heart. "One hundred years I've been searching for you again. I may be old now, but you were at your prime even after so many years had passed by you." Upsilon talked to himself as he moved on.

"I looked upon you like a God! Your majestic hair flowing behind you, the menacing aura that has never been seen since, the way you stood against the world and sought to brought it down with your forces. I haven't forgiven anyone for letting you die the way you did. Oh, but don't worry, I will find you again. I know you are somewhere in this world again, someday I will find you and have you brought to me. All I need is the sign, the sign that you have returned! Oh, the day will come, do not worry. We will meet again, just you wait. I have kept myself alive only to see you again. Not like you can listen to me anyway, but it's always good to talk as if you were here. I still have your precious little orb, I have kept it safe for you, my one true master!" Upsilon made several growls, among other noises, before finally calming down and walking over to one of his apprentices.

"Ah, Upsilon, sir!" The apprentice was shocked to see his master return. "I had thought the meeting would last longer, but nonetheless, Epsilon wishes to speak to you." He could see Upsilon not even look in his direction, continuing to move despite his old body slowing him down these days. "Uh, sir. About that thing you wanted me to investigate into. We have not yet been able to find the exact thing you mentioned. I apologize, sir, but..." He watched as Upsilon stopped moving. "It seems impossible at this rate. We have been searching for years, and no results have come up. It may be he just isn't coming back this time."

"BE SILENT!" A scythe's blade ripped itself out of the orb on Upsilon's staff, the scythe reaching over to hold itself over the apprentice's neck. The apprentice was unable to move, frozen by fear for his own life as he saw Upsilon stare at him with that cold gaze in his eyes. "He is somewhere, I know he is! I will find him, and I will have him! He promised, he promised me he would return! He would not lie to ME!" Upsilon pulled the scythe's blade away carefully, the blade sinking into the orb as Upsilon turned his back to the apprentice. "Search harder. It doesn't matter who they are. A baby, a child, an adult or an elderly. He MUST be somewhere! Find the mark, the mark is the key, the key." Upsilon began to move again, with the apprentice collapsing to his knees as he gripped his chest tightly. "The mark is the key. The mark is the key. The mark is the key." Upsilon kept repeating to himself in whispers. It was the only thing he looked forward to these days.

A few minutes passed and the two had finally made it to Yohan's home. Sakuya approached to door with Yohan in tow, the boy obviously ragged from exhaustion. "Is the door unlocked?" Sakuya asked politely.

-

The boy with deep red eyes finally made it back. Timberland hadn't changed a bit. The same buildings were in the same spots, though the type of people walking around had more variation. He got out of the cab he was being transported in, noting that he was by the main hall. Whipping out his cell phone, he scrolled to Sebastian's name and clicked send. It seemed high time for a reunion.

Yohan grabbed hold of the door and wiggled it around a little. "Huh. Look at that, it's unlocked. Who would of figured. I don't remember unlocking it though." Yohan quickly opened the door and had a quick peek inside. "Uh, well, it's awfully darker than I would of liked it to have been. Good thing those cops didn't stay long I suppose. This would of been awful to come home and find them probably eating up all my food."

Sebastian would feel the mobile vibrate and hear it ring, muffled by his helmet, he switched on the indicator and quickly pulled up the bike to the pavement, fetching his mobile from the pouch and looking at it, he unbuckled his helmet to feel something hit the vector field at the back of his head, the sound of shattering glass and then Wraith was launched into the car behind exploding into smoke "wait that works on me now?!" Sebastian just smirked hit the answer button and brought it up to his ear "morning Keo, what bewitched you to call"

Rupert walks down towards Yohan's house, a paper in held to his face with his address written on it. He had gone to the hospital earlier only to hear he had already been discharged! Oh what luck, he had assumed the worst after the whole horrible ordeal with poor Ricky. In the other hand he held a bag of various movies and games, he wasn't quite sure what clicked with Yohan exactly, so he just picked up whatever... seemed interesting.

"Why are we doing this again?" Puck asks, floating beside Rupert with crossed arms. He had not exactly been too big on this whole adventure, it was actually rather boring to him since it just involved a lot of... walking.

"Agh! The weird figment of my imagination is back!" he yells, flailing the paper in Puck's face causing him to back away... and people to give him odd looks. Clearing his throat he tries to regain his composure. "But as I've said, he was injured, possibly by... gangs, and honestly, I just want to make sure he's okay. Is it weird to care?" he responds, lifting an eyebrow.

"And all this..?" Puck asks, tilting his head as he points to the gift bag.

"I thought it was appropriate," he responds with a grin.

"Appropriate? Expensive is what it was... you act like you are his father or rich uncle, it is unhealthy," Puck responds, shrugging his arms and shaking his head. However something soon grabs his attention, his red eyes widening as he snaps his head in the direction of Yohan's house. "Well, seems it will be interesting after all," he says cryptically, smirking as he fades out.

"Okay, weird, but hey, I'm here!" he says to himself, looking towards Yohan's door.

Sakuya looked into the dark house and shuddered. "It is pretty dark, huh?" That's when they both heard a loud voice coming towards them. The girl looked over to see a man seemingly talking to himself with a gift bag. "Uh...I don't know what that's about, but maybe we should head inside...." Sakuya quickly pushed Yohan in and shut the door behind them. She searched for a light switch and flipped it, taking in the house for the first time. "Your home is lovely." Sakuya commented, wandering around. Soon enough, she turned to Yohan. "So, about the thing I wanted to tell you..." Her voice trailed off but a sudden thump from upstairs prevented her from going any further. "What the heck was that?" She said in a hushed voice. She could feel the same sense of dread coming over her except much stronger. Whoever was upstairs was definitely a threat should they be provoked. "Do you live with anyone? I recall you told me you lived alone.."

--

Takeo chuckled at Sebastian's greeting. "Just the fact that I'm in Timberland and want you to come pick me up. I want to go do some sightseeing." The boy also shivered. "Plus there are a fuck-ton of people here and I don't want to be out here longer than I have to be."

There was a short moment of tension in the air, the two figures in the doorway freezing at the sudden noise upstairs. It took a second before a rather anticlimactic sounds knocked that tension out of the air, a soft, yet strangely affirmative yip sounding out from the living room. Quickly followed by a strange blue light flickering from it, that in turn being followed by a very distinct sound of a Zap, and then the smell of burnt leather. There was a short shuffling movement before another yip flew out, accompanied by the same zap and smell.

Yohan's mind seemed to tick as all of this happened. The tension was building up slowly inside, it turned around all the gosh dang time. When the time to strike hit the dotted line, it all became clear to him that this was mayhem. Screaming out like a madman upon seeing the fire, he grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed away onto the couch without a second hesitation. That's when he noticed the little dog like creature and blinked. This creature was attributed to lightning? How shocking. "I think I'll leave it to play for now." Wait a diggly wiggly moment! "How did this thing even get in here?" His mind seemed to poop out as he sighed and went to grab the little dog, only to --

ZAP!

The dog was thrown in an instant, Yohan's body falling down to the floor paralyzed for a moment as the dog found itself landing perfectly on the floor. Yohan slowly managed to rise himself up as his body twitched and moved uncomfortably now. "Y-yeah, let's go..." Yohan made his way upstairs towards the master bedroom, that's where it sounded like all of this was coming from anyway. Though he still twitched and jolted every now and then as he moved. "Ow. Ow. Ow!"

Sebastian chuckled "alright, i'll be there, where are you?" once having his answer Sebastian would hang up and get his gear back on and put the phone back before walking his bike a little away from the pavement and then head for town hall, passing his apartment to fetch up his spare helmet. talking to himself Sebastian shook his head a little, keeping his eye on the road "I owe Keo my life" he sighed "i'll buy him a pint or something"

"Hold on, wait!" Kraus cries out as he ran up to the door. What would follow however only would soon turn his expression into one of horror, a thump upstairs, the smell of smoke, loud electrical sounds and a loud crash. My God, they are being attacked by a gang armed with tasers! Instincts kicking in, he pushes open the door and rushes in! "Listen up you scoundrels, if you lay a finger on any of my students, I'll personally ding dang- eh..?" Looking around he sees a scorched couch and Yohan on the ground, fried and twitching. In dramatic fashion he drops the bags and falls to his knees beside the presumably ill fated boy, tears forming in his eyes. "OH GOD NO! Stay with us, boy!"

"He's still alive, dum-dum, he's simply... stunned," Puck says from within Rupert's head, causing him pause. "As to why, well I dunno, probably the clearly electrical dog in the room."

"Huh..?" Kraus asks, looking back towards Paarl, his eyes narrowing.

The sound of a zap and subsequent smell of fire made her raise her head. This was followed by the yelling of some deranged man. "Fuck, okay...I have to hurry..." the woman said mostly to herself. However, she was so engrossed in her search that she neglected to hear the "ow" coming closer to the door. It seemed she had gathered items into piles searching for something and was turning around to search through her old things when Yohan got to the door. The door he could never open no matter how hard he tried. The woman looked up suddenly and locked eyes with the kid. An audible gasp came from the both of them. "Y-Yohan!" Was all she managed to get out before rushing over towards the door. He was obviously a mix of emotions. There was a mirror on the other side of the room that encompassed the pair: a tall boy with blue hair and a short Asian woman with extremely long black hair styled in two half buns. Her outfit was eccentric at best, more so otherworldly. Red eyes peered up at Yohan. "Yohan, you aren't supposed to be here yet." Kogo said in a stern voice. This was not the reunion she wanted.

--

Sakuya could only watch as the gym teacher bust through the door and look over Yohan. His rambling made it hard to think, but a tiny dog came out and started to yip cutely. It distracted the teacher long enough for Yohan to escape up the stairs. Sakuya decided that the best way for her to help was to continue to distract the teacher. "Mr. Kraus!" Sakuya said in a polite voice. "I don't understand why you're here exactly..."
--

"At town hall. See you in a few." With this, the friends mutually hung up and left Takeo waiting. It was only about 10 or so minutes before Sebastian was there on a motorcycle and ready to rumble. Takeo gratuitously accepted the extra helmet and the two were soon on their way. "I don't know if you remember, but I told you about my childhood home being here. Let's go check it out!" Takeo said over the roar of the bike. Takeo didn't seem to need to give directions, which struck him as odd, but he did not question his friend. Yawning, Takeo hung on tightly to Sebastian. Their destination awaits!

Paarl gave his head a few shakes, after having been rudely dog-handled. Fur practically flying in every direction, interestingly enough his fur basically levitated, the electrical charged hair standing straight out at different points and casually flowing as if he was underwater, the short discharge which had been shot into the blue man practically didn't affected him in the slightest, it was a low amount after all. The tiny dog was still more than groggy after having been awoken from his nap. Suddenly, a new challenger entered his vision. A rather abrupt change to his recently pleasant sleeping self. Giving off a sudden "Bwah!" he headbutted Kraus, a short "BzzZZT" escaping the connection.

Yohan had been looking through the gift bag and holy smokes. It was heaven. Just simply heaven, too much for him and his little heart. Movies and video games he had wanted for years, even some new ones?! That dude must be loaded if he blew most of his money on these. Whatever, he'd have to try them all out later. For now, his attention focused on the short Asian girl. Well, he said short, but she knew him by name and sounded very much like an adult woman should. It was not the best of confrontations, but well, there ya go. He held onto his bag still, making sure not a single precious movie or game slipped out. Hey, he said he was going to play them all later. He meant that. Static seemed to strike across his vision as he saw the woman. His vision flashing between two different locations. He could see a shadowy figure in the other, but who was either of them? His eyes began to feel like they were straining as his mind felt jumbled and distorted right now. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've properly met. But uh, did you place those curses around the house? Must be why I could never get into this room. So uh, you can take what you need and leave whenever, I guess?"

Sebastian was ever more nervous of Wraith pulling something psychotic now that he had his best friend on the bike as well, he couldn't really speak to Takeo since he had a full helmet and he only had the one eye to keep on the road, though they would arrive amidst the chaos, kicking out the stand for the bike "huh, i didn't leave the door open last night...." he glanced to his side his head moving as he looked at Wraith, who had a great big shit eating grin on his lips "what the fuck has you smiling?" Wraith's smile shifted a little to show its malice "don't worry, just some chaos" he rolled his eyes and removed the helmet and got off the bike once Takeo was off, taking his keys pocketing them and then fetching his eye-patch from his pocket and putting it on "after you Keo, your home"

"Why am I here? To be perfectly honest, I went to the hospital to see if Yohan was alright, I had heard he was in some kind of accident I dreaded the worst, y'know, ever since the whole Ricky incid-," he began to say, only to be suddenly headbutted by the couch destroying electrical dog, sending him toppling backwards into a wall and causing his hair to stand on ends. As he lays back twitching, his eyes beaming at the lightning pup, the most unexpected thing happens as he comes to... he laughs heartily. "Hah, boy's pupparoo really has some real spunk, don't he!? Don't be alarmed little fella, I'm not here to menace you or your master!" With that he pats Parl's head, each time getting a mild shock.

"You do realize I feel this too, right? Puck says to Kraus, his tone becoming indignant.

"Say, odd breed dontcha think? What kinda dog is this?"

Elsewhere a familiar rabbit themed girl, Saiph, too had begun to head towards Yohan's house as well... except she wasn't quite in the jumpsuit and helmet, but rather in a gray dress shirt a few sizes too big for her, the sleeves dangling, and a rabbit pendant on her collar. Her long silver hair braided into a ponytail, and her face, while no longer covered by a helmet, was mostly covered by bandages, except for one bright amber eye. For what was seen, she was a young woman who had a reddish tanned complexion and dark lips, her other oddities being a rather big grin, and... apparently ears being actually long and pointed for reals. Normal humans, however, wouldn't notice her at all.

She looks at the door and then glances around at all the people who are gathering together. "Oh um..." she mutters, looking in and waving. Her voice unmodified was a bit deeper and cracked a little, something she was actually a bit timid about. Her grin turned a bit sheepish. "Bad timing, heh?"

Kogo laughed heartily, her voice echoing out throughout the house. "Never properly met? Honey, I've known you since before you were born!" The woman lightly tapped his chest. "You really don't remember me?" She said more seriously as Yohan stared blankly at her. More footsteps could be heard downstairs and also the roar if a motorcycle right outside. Kogo sighed. "Well, look at what I've gone and done. My own son doesn't even know who I am. You and another one." Kogo shook her head. She then pushed out of the room, shutting the door behind her gently. "Come on, let's see what all the commotion is about downstairs."

--

Sakuya listened as Kraus explained why he had come, just nodding along politely. She was shocked as the dog headbutted her teacher and even more shocked as a terrifyingly loud laugh reverberated through the walls. She did not hear any noises that indicated fighting, but it still worried her nonetheless. "Yohan? Are you alright?" She called up the stairs, making her way about halfway up before Saiph came in. It took Sakuya a second to realize who she was, but she waved to Saiph after recognizing her. "Please, come in!"

--

Takeo chuckled at Sebastian. "My house, my rules...though it seems like there's something going on." With a sense of eerie calm, the pair walked up to the door and glanced in. "Hello? I don't know who you all are, but this house is not open to the public..." Takeo quickly maneuvered through the living room and saw Sakuya on the stairs. Her pink hair was the first thing he noticed. He knew immediately who she was, but Takeo decided it would probably be best not to confront her. "Excuse me, miss? I would like to pass you by. I believe I am needed upstairs, since I heard you call to Yohan..."

Paarl gave a few disgruntled yips as the annoying man more or less squished his exquisite fur. If it was possible for a dog to pout he was, even further annoyed by the fact that the man seemed to now be completely ignoring the passive static electricity withing him. Giving out a "Hmph!" He raised both his tail and head, abruptly leaving Kraus against the wall. Displaying a clear amount of "We're done here" attitude. Instead he happily waddled out the living room, glancing up onto the Purple haired woman standing by the stairs, the strange size, and even stranger depth to those eyes almost giving an uncomfortable feeling as he sat down beside her left foot, tilting his head as he continued to stare straight at her, giving a few adorable blinks, reducing the amount of creepiness.

Sebastian had come to a stop in the doorway, looking through towards the basement door, he jumped out his skin as he was knocked out of his focus by wraith's voice "you can't be seriously thinking about going back through to the other side" Sebastian stayed quiet, raising a hand from his crossed arms to wave to those around him "morning, quite the number of people here" his attention soon falling to the small electro dog that exited the living room "that...is the strangest breed of chihuahua i have ever seen" he thought back a moment "nor was it here..." he shut himself up there, nobody needed to know about the basement right?

Yohan was having a hard time right now, trying to get words out only for everyone to talk over it. He just couldn't believe what he was hearing from her, as she pushed him out and he ended up taking in a breath and rubbed his head. "Hold on a second. Wait a minute, wait a minute, hold on, hold on now, just, wait, a, minute... WAIT!" Yohan yelled louder than he should of and took a moment to breath. "You just said I was your son. That means your my mom. But I know for certain my mom and dad died in the car accident ten years ago! Even though I don't have any memory of the incident, I was told by everyone my father and mother died there! Ten years I have believed this, and you suddenly come in and just casually mention it?! No! I refuse to just believe it's that simple!" Yohan crossed his arms over his chest. "You want to really prove it? You want to really show you know who I am? Fine! If you really are my mother, then you will tell me something only you would know then. You better think up something good too, because otherwise, I ain't believing you."

Saiph steps in, only to hear Yohan yelling, sounding rather... angry. She remained quiet for a moment, scratching the back of her neck. The atmosphere was... confusing, to say the least. It didn't help that she was absolutely without her helmet, so she felt a bit exposed. "What... is going on here?"

Kraus shrugs his shoulders at the odd reaction the strange electrical dog gave. He then looks over and sees Takeo and snapping to his feet points with both hands in his direction. "Don't worry, I'm Rupert, I teach at the school, I was just here to see if-" he was suddenly cut off once more as he glances over at Saiph, his right eye beginning to twitch.

"Careful, she's some kind of magical being, you already flubbed it on the dog, by the way, nice going dum-dum! Try to ignore this one at least will you? There's a lot of magic here, The Black and The White included." Puck says cautiously, still rather peeved about the electrical shocks.

Rupert glances back around, trying to break eye contact from the rabbit girl. This became easier, hearing Yohan shouting at... someone, something about his mother?! What fiend would strike so low!? "H-what!? Insulting a man's mother!? That's cold!"

Kogo glared at Yohan as he yelled at her. Stubborn, just like his father it seemed. She waited for him to stop throwing his tantrum and pointed to a very specific spot under his neck. "Here. You have a birthmark in the shape of a dragon. You used to call it your monster." Kogo listened to the exchange between various voices in her home, one voice she knew well. "Takeo? What are you doing here?" She called past Yohan. She turned her attention back to her youngest. "I had to disappear with your brother, otherwise the two of you would be worse than dead. Your father died in that crash. Richter was a strong man, but he didn't have a chance once they...Never mind. There was nothing else I could do without putting you in more danger."
--

Sakuya nodded and let the boy through. She noticed another boy awkwardly standing in the doorway whom she recognized as Sebastian. She waved to him as well, not sure on what to say. She was worried about Yohan's yelling. Something about his mother...

--

Takeo passed Sakuya without a second glance. When he turned, he saw his mother, Kogo, along with a boy with blue hair. He instantly knew it was Yohan. "You've grown, Yo-man!" Takeo exclaimed. He was just glad to see his brother alive after the past decade. He dared not approach, however, because Yohan could have changed in ways unforseen and could have been dangerous. Ten years is a long time...at least for them.

Another rather weak "Bwah" Escaped Paarl, by now, he was simply annoyed and only annoyed, temptation to simply rise up and niftly electrocute the woman was rather strong, yet he simply felt too lazy to amass the energy for that. Planting his head atop his paws, attempting to put on a rather cute face to combat being ignored. Yet that was rather quickly ended yet again as his rather strong need for attention took the better off him, striking the side of Sakuya's leg repeatedly with his paws while giving out several yips, surprisingly enough there was no electricity withing the pawing, just determination!

the heated discussion kept catching Sebastian's attention, his eyes wandering towards beyond the staircase, and soon enough he heard mention of the mark. his eyes shifted to Sakuya only long enough to see her reaction to the words, though the shiver ran down his spine. "Hey Keo, I'm gonna head back, my mother is probably getting worried" he stepped out the door and returned to his bike, leaving the spare helmet by the doorway, he kitted up and soon left on the Yamaha Virago, soon enough he arrived back home and went about getting out of his biking suit. "why didn't you take the initiative and end it there?" Sebastian turned to wraith he was pointing his fingers like a gun at Sebastian "what are you on about now Wraith?" Wraith cackled a bit dropping his hand "the mark of Dracul, the last time he walked among us he waged a bloody war, you should've killed him then and there" Sebastian shook his head "nought but a coward" Sebastian gritted his teeth "i am no murderer." he was done with the discussion and began his way back to the apartment from the garage.

Yohan's eyes darted over towards the left side of his neck. He instinctively reached over to pull down his shirt and look over at the Ouroboros mark on it. Though instead of a snake it did look something resembling a dragon. "Always have I questioned this birth mark of mine. Always have I wondered how it came to be. I asked everyone I knew, they all told me they didn't have the answer for me. Here you are, a complete stranger, and yet the first thing you go for is that birth mark." Yohan couldn't help but feel strange. That's when Takeo came over into view and he called him Yo-Man? This guy also looked familiar, but he couldn't make out why. All he could do was put a hand over some of his face and let out a sigh. "I still don't recall anything about either of you. Sorry." Though Yohan did wonder what the mark meant, it probably could wait for now. "I don't got much food to eat, so don't eat it all up. I guess if you are my family though, I can't stop you from moving back in. Though it doesn't sound like either of you were watching over me this whole time, meaning someone else was paying for my food. There's still someone missing, and I bet whoever they are, they're back in this town as well." Yohan was starting to see a lot of things here. Something put him off from Sebastian, something about the look in his one good eye didn't sit well with him. He could feel it swelling up within The White that he held within himself. He is to be watched with caution.

Yohan had put the gift bag in his room before closing the door and letting out a sigh of relief. He walked downstairs, it was time to do some damage control, even though the couch had ended up the way it did by that little dog. Oh, there was Saiph, he couldn't help but wave to her. He looked around at everyone but sighing out. "Okay. So there's some more people here than I thought there was going to be. So let me clear up a thing or two, okay? I don't got much food. I don't have special much of anything. If you want to hang out, you can. Just saying, my place is not a mansion or anything." Yohan picked up the remote and turned on the living room television, putting the remote down on the table.

"Be my guest and watch whatever you like. Sakuya, I need you with me." Yohan began walking back up the stairs, it was time to deal with the family issue that had presented itself to him. Opening up the door to his room, he walked in and sat down on his bed, turning on his own television and letting out a short little sigh. "Alright." He started, letting his little room of comfort ease him. "So it seems like there are people I don't remember coming back into my life. That's not going to be complicated or anything. Especially when I feel I'm not exactly the best at being the host of a party or whatever this turned into now."

Sakuya jolted with shock as she was nudged repeatedly by the tiny dog. Not literal electricity of course, just with surprise. She pet the dog lightly a few times before Yohan had come down and explained his housing situation. She did not argue with him, but she did manage to scoop the little puppy up and bring him with her to Yohan's bedroom. The door was left open so the poor thing could escape if it wanted to. Sakuya put him down lightly on Yohan's bed and continued to pet him while she listened. "People you don't remember?" She questioned, looking out into the hall. She could see Kogo and instinctively knew who she was exactly, but did not react to her presence. "So, then she was the one here?" Sakuya asked quietly. She also glanced over at Takeo who was making small talk with Kogo in a language she didn't understand. The pair seemed to be catching up. They look so much alike... Sakuya thought to herself. She sighed and looked up at Yohan. "I'm sorry...this all must be a lot for you to handle..."

Kraus looked around at all who gathered, intentionally trying to ignore Saiph in accordance to Puck's instructions. There were quite a few gathered here, like a party, but the feeling was strange. There was at least some relief from the fact that Yohan seemed lively, if not a bit off. He then glances over at Kogo and Takeo talking, a part of his mind actually piecing things together slowly. A grin creeps over his face.

"Hah, had no idea he had so many friends and family, that is wonderful," he says finally, folding his arms. "Had no idea there was going to be a welcome home party! Uh, shame about the couch, though..."

Saiph herself was out of sorts, she had never been surrounded by so many people in a rather small space, in fact, most of her life she had spent in isolation, with dreams of being part of a crowd, going to parties, being normal... but now, she just feels overwhelmed. She puts on a grin as Yohan seemed to recognize her without her gear, waving back at him in response, then watches as he leaves back to his room with Sakuya after him. Her attention again falls to the gathered crowd. With a deep breath she decided to announce herself.

"H-hello... I'm Saiph, Saiph Grimms, pleasure to meet everybody," she says, waving her hand, forcing a grin on her face. She rolls her eye, holding out her hands, trying her hardest to make small talk. "Sooooooo... crazy night, huh?"

Sebastian stood from his spot in the park, the bruises and pelting he'd received from Wraith nearly gone now, he pulled the sword out of the ground and walked back towards his motorbike stuffing the sword into its sheath hung from the sword of the bike, he put the helmet on and went back to just riding, clearing his head.

soon enough he found himself back on the street to the Belmont house, he'd tap the handlebars and bring the bike up setting it back where he left it last, kicking out the stand, he didn't want to be inside the building, it just felt wrong for him to be near it, even on the same street, like he was betraying the trust of friends and family. Either-way he just sat on the bike helmet on his lap, if anyone paid attention to him, he'd chat but he was to busy figuring out what he wanted to do.

As for Tracey however, she was out searching for her son, Sebastian had been instructed to take a day off and he was doing quite the opposite in her eyes, thanks to Rebecca she had a car to drive about in her search for Sebastian. "Sebastian...why are you always so problematic" Tracey sighed heavily glancing down streets as she drove through Timberland.

Yohan looked over at Sakuya and smiled a little. "It's alright. I knew the day would come when I would have to deal with this. Years of just being alone, and then suddenly people start showing up, saying they're my real family." Yohan shook his head. "I don't remember a thing about either of them. I couldn't tell you if they were my real family or not. It's so hard to go about my life when I know I'm missing crucial parts of my childhood. I'm sorry to be a downer, just... I don't think I was ready to hear someone say they were my mom today is all." Yohan rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what to do or how to handle this at all. I'm sorry."

The girl nodded. She couldn't imagine what Yohan was going through at the moment. She patted Paarl again and then rubbed Yohan's shoulder gently. "It'll be okay. To be honest, I don't think that woman has much of a reason to lie. She's...notorious for not having a sense of shame." Sakuya said, shuddering at the thought. "Not that I know her personally...most people from the Other Side has at least heard of her."

--

Kogo and Takeo continued to speak to one another while heading down the stairs. Kogo was mostly glad to be speaking her mother tongue with someone. It was mostly just chit chat, but it was interrupted by Kraus. "It was not supposed to be a party. I really don't appreciate strangers in my home." Kogo glared at him. She then turned her attention to Saiph. "Hello, Saiph. No need for an introduction. I respect your father and it is an honour to have you here. Please feel free to sit anywhere you like."

Kraus was stunned, to be called a stranger in his own home town!? This must be rectified immediately! "Ma'am, I'll have you know that I'm a teacher at the school here, I'm here because of a scuffle the boy had last night that landed him in the hospital, which I'd call that cause for alarm." There was no reason to beat around the bush at this point, he was going to give someone an earful one way or the other. "I've lived here all my life, and I'll tell you, things are certainly weird around here lately, spooky even. So, forgive me if I'm a bit concerned about the residents here, let alone a student. Speaking of which, hmm, you are rather lively for being dead."

"Careful, there's something strange about this one as well," Puck says to Rupert, his tone turning cautious. "To be honest, there's something strange about everyone here. Feel it? Magic all around, and I don't mean rabbits and rainbows either."

"Erm, anyways... need something done about the couch?" he says, glancing over at it and scratching the back of his neck. "Is kinda... scorched."
--

Saiph was somewhat surprised, she knew her father? Without her helmet she couldn't just scan for files to figure out why, so she simply bowed her head and took a seat in a chair in the living room, looking around the house. "Thanks," she simply said in response. Nobody seemed to be asking why she was here, that was good she guesses, it was good to be... welcomed. Though, there was a knot still in the pit of her stomach, not quite reconciling with what happened. It was the second time in her entire life she witnessed someone die, and this time she played a direct role in it. It didn't help that her head was still fuzzy from the strain, but she decided she couldn't just go back to hide away in her room, it didn't seem... right, for some reason? "You've... known my father long? Kind of a funny coincidence to meet up here," she finally says with a laugh, trying to forget how last night ended up.

Yohan tried his best to smile at her as he put a hand over hers. "Well, they must of been waiting years if they really are family. I don't know what I should do. If I keep them waiting any longer, it might seem rude. But I need someone there by my side to help me out. You don't mind, do you?" He asked. He thought he was pushing his luck a little. She didn't owe him anything, why would she bother going the extra mile for someone like him? It was only these past few days that Yohan had really gotten so much attention. That wasn't enough to put self confidence in his mind. Was he still just some nobody? It felt hard to give a definite answer to that now. Yohan felt hesitant now, no longer an adamant yes came to his mind.

Kogo had to hold back her tongue a bit, but was still highly annoyed by Kraus. "If you're a teacher, in what world do you think it would be appropriate to show up to a student's home? I'm almost positive that if it were brought up with the school board they would not be pleased." Kogo stated flatly. The man then moved on to the couch. "I'd rather you not touch my furniture, thanks." The woman crossed her arms and stared at the man with pure ice. Once her point was across, she turned her attention to Saiph once again. "I've known your father for a long time...since before he met your mother. She was a very lovely woman." Kogo tried to convey sensitivity to the young girl. "I'm assuming you are an acquaintance of Yohan's? That's...a funny coincidence indeed." Kogo chuckled. She glanced over at Takeo. The boy seemed to be distracted. Kogo placed a hand on his head and rubbed it lovingly. She jerked her head towards the door, which he gladly took as an exit cue. "I'll catch you later, Yohan!" Takeo yelled out. Kogo sighed as he left, waiting for certain someones to maybe take a hint.

--

Sakuya understood. "I can do that if you need someone. I'm not...doing anything." She awkwardly laughed, nervousness taking over. She glanced out to the hallway and back at Yohan, determined to support her friend.

With a sigh Rupert finally turns to walk out the door, he wasn't here to fight, he was satisfied enough at this point. But stops shortly before fully exiting. Placing both hands behind his neck, he sighs, hanging his head. "Look, I'm just going to be honest here, given you are his mother and all. If you or the boy are in some kind of danger, try to tell someone... authorities or something, okay? The town has changed, and not really for the better... so I'm just worried, that's all." With that he walks out, hands in his pockets, and starts heading back home. Something odd catches his attention though, casting a glance towards Sebastian who seemed to just be... sitting there on his bike. He raises a brow but just waves as he passes by. Wonder what he's up to? he thinks, slowing his walk.

--

Saiph ponders it for a moment. Since before her dad met her mother? For a moment she looks down upon the mention of her mother, then her eye widens and she snaps her head to Kogo. "Whaaaaaaaaa~," was the only sound that could escape her mouth at the moment. She clears her throat, and regains her composure. "Oh! Then you are... that Kogo! Wait, then you are," she stammers, scratching her head with a chuckle. It was quite a coincidence, indeed. She had come to check up on Yohan, and met up with a family reunion as well, and somehow it all connects to her dad in some way. Just how many people does he know? "Well, we met last night while I was checking up on something for my dad, and things got a biiiit craaaazy," she says, once again planting on a grin. "But we got kinda separated, and... honestly, I've never had a friend friend before, being half here, half there, y'know? And I just... heh, I'm not really sure how to explain it really... guess I wanted to not just be a jerk and disappear after everything? Um, pleasure to meet you by the way!"

Yohan couldn't help but smile over at her and pull her into a brief hug. "Thanks. It feels good to have someone I can depend upon." He couldn't help but laugh a bit out of honesty, rising up to his feet as he takes in a deep breath before releasing it through his nostrils. "Okay. I'm ready." He stated, heading off out of his room slowly, making sure Sakuya left before closing the door. He heard something about a 'see ya later' from the sounds of it, had Takeo left? He could only manage a brief wave before heading down the stairs. He let out a little groan as he rubbed his neck out of annoyance. "Um, hi." He stated to everyone who was still here, glancing to Sakuya nervously before looking back over to the others. "So, uh..." He looked over to Kogo. "I might need a refresher on the names and all that. If you are going to be staying here with me from now on and all."

Kogo just shook her head as Kraus left. What a strange man. Saiph, on the other hand, seemed to just have a revelation about her. She listened to the Grimms girl attentively. She was a bit awkward, but it was nothing Kogo didn't expect. "I knew something or other was going on...I was actually nearby at the time. I had my own fight going on." Kogo pulled back the collar of her dress to reveal some bandages stained with blood, but Kogo didn't seem to mind her injuries. However, before she could say more, a girl with pink hair had gained her attention. Kogo instinctively narrowed her eyes. Sakuya shrunk back a little, and sort of hid behind Yohan as he asked Kogo for names. "Names of what, exactly? I'm an old woman, you're going to have to be more specific."

Yohan looked over at Sakuya and sort of laughed a little. He couldn't help it, she was just too sweet for her own good. He knew exactly how that could feel sometimes. Looking back over at Kogo, he rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to think of how to explain it. "Well, it's like. I don't remember you or the guy who called me Yo-man. So it's like, uh, I don't know what to call either of you really? If that makes any sense."

Kogo nodded. "The one that called you Yo-man was Takeo. He is your older brother by a year and a half just about." Kogo explained matter of factly. "And I mean...I am your mother so I would assume you'd call me Mom or Mother...but if you insist most call me Kogo." She shook her head, mumbling to herself in Japanese. "Miss Grimms was just informing me of your encounter last night...She said things got a bit out of hand. You seem to be alright now...we kind of have a saying for that in my language. It's fairly old, but words of wisdom never die. The saying went...'起死回生'...coming out of a situation that seems hopeless with a burst of energy and coming back twice as strong..."

Seb hadn't noticed Kraus at first but glanced over and raised the one visible eyebrow, looking at the man with neutral expressions though Sebastian's body language expressed some shallow amount of concern as to whether the man was dangerous or not, either-way he soon went back to looking over his helmet soon enough hooking the straps over the handlebars to hold the helmet out the way, his hand had wondered towards the hilt of the sword though when he felt the wire that covered the hilt he scowled at the blade and drew it from the sheath and went to work removing the wire, if not to just see if there were any maker's mark or secret hidden beneath "should get some wrap for this...the wire isn't the most comfortable" he spoke out to himself and sighed, continuing mucking about with the hilt of the longsword.
-
Tracey wasn't having much luck in finding Seb and had pulled over looking at a small map of the town "i really shouldn't..." if she got caught using magic she would be in a lot of trouble, she rubbed her eyes and starting back onto her search.

Kraus's eyes widen as he looks back, watching Sebastian draw out a sword... in public!? With a chill down his spine, he slips behind the corner to watch from a distance. He didn't know what was up with this guy, but he got the feeling he wasn't here for LARPing. Whatever the case may be, that sword looked real enough.

"Well... this just got a bit more... interesting. Who wields swords this day and age I wonder? Hm, for some reason this reminds me of a play..." Puck says, only to get no response from Kraus, who was watching the man intensely.

--

Saiph scratches her head and chuckles nervously. She felt kind of like she just snitched on Yohan, which was not her intention. Though what was with last night? There was a fight going on nearby as well? "U-uhm... sorry, did I maybe... blab too much?" she asks, turning to Yohan and sinking down in her seat.

"Nah, it's fine." Yohan started to say, shaking his head a little as he put a hand up to his head. "I would of had to explain anyway, what with me ending up in the hospital...?" Yohan's sentence around the word hospital started to fickle. He collapses to his knees, looking to be struggled as his entire head felt like it would split open. Memories he had forgotten for years suddenly started to flood back into his mind all at once. It was like a rush, but most importantly, he finally remembered the incident. That tragic incident and how this had all started. How the White Haired Boy first came to be.

The white haired boy couldn't help but laugh at Shiro. "So he finally remembers, does he? Good. I was tired of mimicking you anyway." The white haired boy shifted in his seat, his eyes flashing red. "Shiro, you must release this form of me I was unwillingly thrown into. I've been stuck like this for years now. It is not a good form for a part of the greater force known as Malice!" Shiro rose up to his feet and walked over to the orb, not saying a word in response to the Fake Shiro. "Fine! Be that way! When the day comes you get thrown back to your so called paradise, I'll happily take this boy's body for my own! I can feel it, my power grows by the day!" Fake Shiro couldn't help but grin as his formed shifted into that of Ricky's.

"Oh, look at that. A new Inner Demon has already come about since last night. One's death has lead to another's creation. I still have a hand to play in our little game, Shiro. Don't forget that!" Fake Shiro returned back to looking like Shiro, grinning madly as he began to be sucked away into the big red door. Shiro couldn't help but sigh as he watched the memories flash within his orb. When all of Fake Shiro was sucked away, the door slammed shut behind him and he finally found himself able to sit back down comfortably while putting a hand up to rest against his head. Malice didn't seem phased by the destruction of the Inner Demon of Despair. The struggle was not yet over for either him or Yohan.

Yohan soon made his way back up to his feet, with a little help from three people unexpectedly. Letting out a sigh of relief that the pain had subsided, he couldn't help but smile over at Kogo. "Uh... Well, this is a bit awkward for a family reunion, isn't it?" He couldn't help but chuckle as he grabbed all three of them and pulled them into one big group hug. "Sorry for causing so much trouble. But I finally remember. I finally remember, mom. I'm finally here." Yohan felt tears begin to swell up in his eyes as he was forced to close them as a rush of different emotions was currently sweeping throughout his entire body.

Kogo and Sakuya alike were concerned when Yohan fell to the floor. Kogo immediately, even instinctively, reached for him, trying to make sure he didn't hurt himself. "Woah there, kiddo. Take it easy." Kogo whispered to him. The three women did help him back up, and Yohan was unexpectedly emotional. She patted his head a bit. "It's great to know I didn't totally fuck up." Kogo said, glancing around the room a few times. She gave her son a genuine hug. Sakuya smiled at the happy reunion, but felt that she was out of place.

"Yohan...are you going to be okay?" The girl asked tenderly. She stole a look at his mother before she waited for an answer.

his mystery solved. he tapped the wire and used the vectors to rewrap the hilt, as if his tampering hadn't happened, he put the sword back into its sheath and began to bind the sword into its sheath, dismounting the bike, he had noticed that Takeo had left the building, Seb had crossed his arms and waited for some response to a question that need not asking, though for the sake of the question and Sebastian's curiosity he'd ask anyway "needing a place to crash? you've got the look that you've just had all your luck shat on"

soon enough Sebastian's mobile would begin ringing and he'd check the caller answering briefly "yeah I'm fine, are you driving about? could you not waste Rebecca's fuel" he got an earful from Tracey and before he had to put up with it anymore he'd just hang up, only pissing Tracey off that bit more.

Kraus sighed as he put away the sword, ready to keep walking when Puck suddenly manifests next to him, a grin on his face as he floats there looking in Sebastian's direction. Kraus snapped a worried look at him. "Puck, what are you doing? Let's go.

"You are me aren't you? You're curious, I know you are~!" Puck responds with a tempting tone, grinning all the way. He then grabs Kraus by the collar and pulls him close. Kraus's eyes widen in shock, looking around to make sure no one sees him. "C'mon, partner, where's your love of theatrics? you can't just leave this as some hanging plotline." With a sigh, he lets go of him and closes his eyes. "Well, looks like today is a solo act, but you're gonna owe me." With that he walks out from behind the corner, taking on a more humanoid form, changing his purple robes into a hoodie, and taking on dark blue hair and begins to head towards Sebastian and Takeo, a mischievous grin on his face. Kraus himself kept, not sure what was about to happen.

"Well well, what is going on here I wonder? Up to something sinister with that sword? Funny choice for a gang weapon! he says, addressing Sebastian himself. He laughs, rubbing his chin as he begins to circle. "This... reminds me of a play, but is it Julius Ceasar, or MacBeth? I'm not sure... but maybe I'd waste time explaining, unless... you get the general theme of both?"

--
Saiph was shocked when he collapsed, holding his head like that! Had he suffered some deeper injury in the fight? The terrifying thought of a lasting effect of Payne crossed her mind, but then, helping him get back up, he suddenly says that he's remembered, and hugs them all. Her face visibly turning a bit red, her eye twitching. It wasn't usual to be hugged, not even by her father, well, not since the accident. She submitted into it though, feeling it was something he needed, even if she wasn't exactly sure why, and for some reason, there was relief in the back of her mind.

"Y-yeah, I mean, nothing... lingering from, y'know," she stammers, gesturing with a finger gun.

Sebastian turned to face the stranger who approached them. "damn stereotypes, ever heard of 'never judge a book by its cover', just 'cause i have a bike and the sword, its a recent purchace." as he spoke his accent broke abit exposing his faded English accent, sounding to be from the midlands he crossed his arms tapping his right bicep looking this hooded blue haired guy up and down, whomever it was he didn't sit well with Sebastian, 'rubbed him the wrong way' as the saying goes. "as for gangs, I wasn't even aware of any in this town" subconsciously he had sat with his English accent. "and who are you anyway?, you look like a Yobbo yourself."

Yohan soon let go of all three and shook his head, running a hand through his blue hair. "Sorry. It's just been a long time since I remembered." Yohan nodded to Saiph, indicating he wasn't suffering from any side effects from last night before looking a little sad. "I remember everything. The good and the bad. Richter Belmont. I can't believe it." Yohan sat down on his couch as he put a hand on his head. "I don't know how to say any of this. I remember being taken out of the car and being used as a hostage against my own family. I felt a rush of emotions coming through me, I remember the people around me being sent flying away as a huge blinding light engulfed the area around me. When I came to, my dad was dead. I don't think it was the attackers though that did it. They never got close to him to do it." Yohan's hands began to shake as he did his best to control his breathing. "... I think I did it. I think I was the one who took his life!"

Puck chuckles a bit, one of his suspicions had already been confirmed, this guy is not normal, he can see and hear him clear as day. "The name's Puck, well, one of them, anyways," he says, taking a small bow, before flipping his head up with fixated gaze. "And you'd think a simple little town like this wouldn't have much! You would think... but with the disappearances and reappearances, the bloody death of poor Little Ricky and all the other bizarre things going on, one has to wonder," he says, as he places a hand over his face. Then slowly he'd lower his hand. "Quite a night, wasn't it..?"

--

Saiph is speechless, it was a lot to take in all at once, but far more for Yohan, he was shaken, and yet, somehow she understood it. His memories came with baggage, uncertainty, and guilt, that much was clear. With a sigh, she holds up a finger ready to say something, "Well, I..." she mutters, then shakes her head. She then crouches down and mutters a bit to herself inaudibly, searching for something to say, looking around every which way for an answer. "You were like... really little right? And in like a bad situation... you were scared, confused. It hurts, I know, I... mean I get it, I... well, I lost my mother when I was really little too, right there in front of me, father he," she begins, stammering a bit, before cutting herself off and lowering her head. "And it... hurts, a lot, but you... even if..."

She stops once more, then raises her head staring right forward at him. "Look, I haven't known you long, so it is kinda awkward coming from a weirdo like me. H-hah, I'm really like, not even good at well, this, but... I can tell you this much: it just wasn't your fault! You're a good person, my first impression was a guy throwing himself into danger for others, who really cares for others. Maybe a little awkward at times, but heh, who isn't?"

Kogo patted Yohan's shoulder. She tried to give him a reassuring look, but her eyes were distant. Her memories of that day were a bit hazy. Was Yohan really responsible? It would explain that bright light.... "It wasn't anything you could control, Yohan. I know Richter understands that in the next life wherever he is." Kogo nodded at Saiph, understanding what she meant. "Don't beat yourself up over it. Both of us knew something would happened, we just didn't know when or how."

Sakuya stayed mostly quiet. She rubbed Yohan's back gently while the other three spoke. She did not have much to add as her family, as far as she knew, was alive. The only thing she could do was support Yohan and hopefully not say the wrong things.

Takeo didn't have to breathe a word for Sebastian to know exactly what he was feeling. Before he could even mumble half of a decent response, a voice caught his ears. Sebastian was more of a talker, so Takeo stayed back and studied the new figure. He was most definitely magical in nature, but what his purpose was Takeo had no notion. The thing seemed to piss off his best friend enough for him to forget about an American accent. The figure then went on to list the bizarre happenings of the past few days. However, Takeo just wanted to get out of there. He sighed quietly, glaring at Puck with daggers. "I don't know what you're trying to get at, but we don't want anything to do with your shenanigans. I'm sure my friend here will agree. Please take it elsewhere." Takeo then tapped Sebastian on the shoulder. "I'm good if you're ready."

Yohan could feel all three of them trying to reach out to him with what they were saying and he couldn't help but close his eyes. He could feel his mother patting his shoulder while Sakuya rubbed his back. He gave it a few to let it sink in, the memories conflicting with what they were saying. But he gave a thumbs up to Saiph and opened his eyes, smiling at her. Then he looked over to his mother and nodded. "It won't be easy. I know it won't. But I can do my best right now. I'm not going to fall back down into depression again, I'm not." Then he reached over to place his hand over Sakuya's and looked over at her, not wanting her to stop rubbing his back, but if she did, he wouldn't stop her. A slight blush came over his cheeks as he looked her directly in the eyes and smiled. He appreciated her gentle touch, his hand shifting slightly to allow hers to grip his hand in return. He certainly wasn't going to let go anytime soon if she did.

Sebastian was knocked back to reality, his answer was to hit the guy and leave but Takeo's calmer and more pleasant way, helped shave off some of the forming chip on Sebastian's shoulder, he nodded, "yeah, I'm good to go" just having his friend about calmed him down, the mellow nature rubbing off on Seb, apparently Seb needed more of it. "goodbye stranger" he turned towards his bike and took his helmet from the handlebars and went about putting it on. "oh by the way, Macbeth dies after his murderous rampages and Juilius was stabbed to death by his senators" Sebastian just had to put that out there, knowing the basics of the play and history of Ceasar.

Tracey was fed up and taking her son's advice of not wasting her daughter's fuel, she returned to the apartment to wait impatiently and worried for her Son's health "he's always been trouble...but this is something else altogether" Tracey was talking to herself as she pulled the car into the private garage and climbed out. when she returned to the apartment, she sat down in the small lounge, at her request Rebecca had removed the plaqued and mounted sword hilt, it now was in the 'storage' room, really it was supposed to be a third bedroom.

Puck simply lets out a disappointed sigh as they leave, it was looking like it was just getting interesting. With little choice left he shrugs, slips his hands into his pockets and walks back to Kraus with his head down looking sullen. "A shared theme was betrayal," he mutters looking to Kraus, his eyes lighting back up and grinning once more. "Time to suit up."

Kogo took this as her cue to leave the kiddos to their own devices. She had a specific mission in mind anyways. "I understand the years have been hard on you...unfortunately, I'll probably be a bit...busy. I have some personal business that needs dealt with. I know you can handle the fort while I'm gone." Kogo gave a final wave to the group of kids. "Oh, by the way Yohan, there's some money on the table for whatever take out you wanted...enough for all three of you actually. I also took the liberty of stocking the fridge and pantry...I wasn't sure what your tastes were like, so it's mostly just essentials. Be back soon." Kogo then headed towards the basement stairs. With the crystal necklace around her neck, she opened the Gateway and slipped through. Her adventures were not yet at their end.

The girl was surprised by Yohan's touch, but continued to run his back while Kogo made her exit. Once the woman was gone, Sakuya audibly exhaled. "She....is a very intimidating woman..." She squeezed Yohan's hand and looked around the living room. She pulled Yohan over towards the couch, grabbing a large blanket from the back of a recliner. She threw the blanket over the couch. "This will have to do for now...What do you want to do for now, Yohan? A lot happened today and yesterday..."

Takeo gave a peace sign to Puck before putting on the helmet and settling in to a familiar position. "Well, that was...something. That's enough of people for the day." Takeo couldn't wait to just relax for the rest of the day...but something seemed to be bugging Sebastian. He made a note of it to ask about later, when they weren't on a rolling deathtrap.

the Ride home on the 'death trap' was uneventful, thankfully, when they arrived at the apartment complex Sebastian took the bike round to the garage and locked it up, chaining the wheels, locking the handlebars into their resting position. he hung the helmet off the handlebars and began heading up to the apartment, of course they'd take the Elevator. The confrontation with his Mother never happened, the purple haired woman was still there of course, but Tracey had calmed down "Sebastian...please don't do that again" Sebastian just shuck his head and walked past yawning "we have a new room mate Rebecca, I'm gonna get the spare room cleared out" Tracey and Rebecca glanced to each other and then to the door.

Takeo entered in behind Sebastian. He was a bit surprised to see Rebecca and Tracey alike, but simply waved after he saw them. He was processing in his mind what that Puck guy was up to...but what had happened the night before? He knew someone had died, but did Sebastian have much to do with that? "It can wait a bit, Sebastian. Can we talk a minute?" He smiled at the two women before basically dragging Sebastian off to what looked like his bedroom. "What the hell have you been up to? I spend literally three days away from you and you've already gotten in trouble!" Of course, while Takeo was being serious, the stupid grin on his face made it seem otherwise. Takeo even crossed his arms in a funny way, much like his mother would when they would get in trouble as children. His "harumph" was emphasized as well. "You've gone off and made enemies! You could have at least made some with me!"

Well, Kogo went off just like that. Guess she was a busy woman or something. Well, Sakuya pulled him off with her, feeling a bit nervous now that she was holding his hand and all that. He chuckled nervously and looked over to the kind of destroyed couch. He could only hope his mother had some kind of power to fix that up or whatever. Hopefully Sakuya could keep that electric dog under control and from destroying anything else. Just what kind of animal did that other place produce anyway? If things like this existed, what else could there be? He smiled as he looked down at her hand and then back up at her. That's when a thought hit him. "Oh shoot, you haven't played video games much, have you?!"

He turned to look over at Saiph and points at her. "Go through that bag and find something multiplayer based. We're gonna teach this young lady what it means to play the vidya gaems!" He scratched his cheek with his free hand at that. "You know what I mean. This poor beautiful young woman is uneducated in the ways! We must show her the true glory!" He pulls out his cell phone with his free hand and sits down on the couch with Sakuya, holding her hand as he begins to call up some takeout. "Both of you tell me what you want before we start up. I want to make sure I get this just right before we begin the carnage that is the butt whooping."

The three hung out and played video games, losing track of time as they did so and just having fun. It was a time to relax and get to know one another. When it was getting late and night was starting to settle in, Saiph and Sakuya decided to head home and Yohan promised to walk with Sakuya to school while showing Saiph what a school looked up in person. When all was said and done, Yohan decided to head to bed, leaving a note on the couch that it needed to either be repaired or replaced whenever Kogo returned. With a short yawn, he headed up the stairs and looked over his shoulder at the house one more time before heading on up. This could be the last night he would have a "normal" life as it were. Everything from here would be entering into a whole new world he didn't even know existed.

"Yes sirs, I just received an update report on last night's activities in Timberland." Chi spoke to Delta and Beta as they stood on the highest building in Timberland, overlooking the town as the sun began to rise up over it. "Last night, a man in a strange attire came out and suddenly stopped a crime. He was gone before the police could get there though, he only left some kind of card with an emblem on it. I will keep an eye on this man's activities while you deal with finding who the connectors are." Once communications with Chi were down, Beta turned to look over at Delta.

"This is not looking good. It's possible that hero project is already underway Delta." Beta gave Delta a look of concern. "You should know better than anyone how that man leading the Sukodo Empire thinks by now. Can we really trust him to handle something like this? It's totally unexpected and came out of nowhere on us, the timing's off and the number of people who are being infected is rising by the day. I wouldn't blame those who are connected to start receiving the side effects starting since last night."

"The problem is that we cannot do anything about any of that for the time being." Delta gave a quick pat to Beta's shoulder. "We'll observe the High School today. If no results show up there, we'll move on to the Middle School and then start searching the shops and such. Have patience, my friend. School is about to begin soon. We should get moving if we want to observe everyone there in time."

Tuesday, September 8th, 2020. That was the current date as Yohan had woken up and gotten prepared for school with his bag. He had no real time to check to see if Kogo was back yet or not, he would have to hang out and talk with her more once he came back. He still couldn't believe a man died yesterday, he still couldn't believe that Sunday had started all of this. He had to clear his head, for now he had to remain focused. He left the house and kept it locked like always, putting away a spare key within his backpack so he wouldn't forget. He wondered how Saiph was going to meet up with them, she did tend to just appear randomly. But that wasn't a bad thing. He walked outside of Sakuya's house and sat on one of her steps outside, waiting for her to come out.

Yohan felt Sakuya touch him lightly and began to feel warm because of her powers. His cheeks ended up blushing as he felt this way, his heart racing due to this. He couldn't help but hold one of his own hands over hers, a big dumb smile coming across his face as tears began to swell up in his eyes. She made him happy, that was all there was to it. She had always been there for him, even if he didn't see it. Now that he wasn't blinded by his own emotions, he could truly see that she cared for him as a person. Probably one of the few who did in this backwater town anymore.

"Thank you." The words came out quietly, only loud enough for her to hear. He quickly wiped his eyes as he continued to walk towards the school with her. Today was a good day, he didn't care what anyone thought of them. They were happy, so why should they care? That's when he heard the bell and his eyes widened a little. What was going on, this was a little too early to be doing this. Feeling her grabbing his hand, he was pulled along with her as they made great haste to reach homeroom today. When they made it inside the school, they found it to be pretty cluttered with high school students of all ages.

When entering into the high school, Yohan noted how much larger it was than the middle school. There were people he knew, people he didn't know and so much more. The lockers looked slightly different from the middle school's, but that didn't bother him too much. Pulling out his notebook full of notes he had jotted down beforehand, he quickly put it away and took Sakuya's hand to rush her over to her locker before heading to his to put away the things they needed to and such. Once they were both ready, they began to head off for homeroom and that's when Yohan noticed it. Sakuya couldn't notice it in time, for a foot was quickly passing by her and reaching out to trip her. Yohan's heart pounded hard for a second. With the way they were moving, she was going to get hurt if she fell down now!

As soon as Sakuya began to fall, Yohan grabbed a hold of her and tried to steer her away from the floor. But he hadn't taken into consideration everything surrounding the situation, her body was pulled into his side and he felt himself being thrown right into a wall at full force, quickly followed by her hitting him and using him to soften the impact. His arms held onto her body in response as he shuddered a little. Looking over at her, he quickly pulled her away and took hold of her hand once more. "Come on." Yohan pulled her along for homeroom, he had no time to receive thanks in the moment. But what he failed to consider was how the other students had seen and concluded based on what they just saw.

What the other students saw was both true and false. While Yohan and Sakuya didn't have any hidden agenda behind what had just happened, their bodies had moved in the heat of the moment and the students had caught sight of this. Of course, to Yohan and Sakuya, it wouldn't seem odd because they both were worried about being late. "Oh my gosh, did you see what Sakuya did there?" One girl whispered to another. "Sakuya totally shoved her butt into him there. Wow, and I thought the kissing was sudden. Now they're putting the moves on in public?" The girls both talked with a snarky tone behind the conversation.

"Hey, did you see what Yohan Belmont did just now to Sakuya?" One boy talked to another. "He totally went for a grab at her! He pulled her towards the wall so no one would notice, but I totally saw one of his hands flying towards her chest!" The boy couldn't help but laugh. "I thought that dude was weird before, now that he's got a girl, he's totally trying to upstage everyone and show us all up. Like, how desperate can you get?" The two boys didn't have much time to continue the chat, for the principal came walking by them with someone following closely behind him.

"What are you kids doing? More of this gossip is it? Get to class! You'll be late if you don't hurry up!" The principal had a rushed ring behind his voice, but the students feared what he would do to them and ran off. The principal's head kept turning from side to side as he watched students hurry along past him. "Stop this foolish gossip of yours. Get to class before you get into trouble! The school year's just started, don't ruin good opportunities by clowning around! This isn't your parent's house, or your relative's place, this is school! Get going, hurry!" The principal huffed a little as he pulled out his cloth and rubbed it along his forehead. "Kids these days don't know what it means to work hard!"

Once the two had finally arrived at his office, the Principal moved to sit down at his seat. "My apologies, sir. That took longer than expected. Please, have a seat." The man in question sat down before the Principal's desk. "I thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to guard the school. It may not seem like much, but we've had terrible crimes over the summer and with that Ricky boy dying out of the blue, I fear someone may try to target the students here." The Principal put on a smile as he leaned back in his seat. "We can discuss more in detail about your position after the school day ends. I trust you already were given the basics beforehand, so I hope you can keep a close eye out for anyone who may try to attack the school. Be they student or not."

"Of course, sir." The man bowed his head to the Principal before raising it back up. Little did he know he was sitting before The Emperor's own head guard himself! "I shall not let any harm befall upon the school or it's students. I am the best at what I do, even if it is only temporary. A week's time will be more than enough to see whether things will happen or not. But if you wanted my personal opinion, I believe nothing wrong will happen. You have my word. There is a girl I have sent a call for to come to town. She will be taking my place to watching over not just the school, but the town in general. I trust her to do a better job than I ever could. You have my word on that."

Back with Yohan and Sakuya, the two just barely managed to make it to homeroom as the teacher looked over at them while adjusting his glasses. "Welcome. I assume by the hair colors that you two must be Yohan Belmont and Sakuya Lecarde. You two are seated next to each over there." The homeroom teacher gestured over towards the two empty seats. Yohan walked over with Sakuya as the teacher continued. "Before we start, I would like to make a little announcement. It's about the PE teacher. Please, do not pick on him or start any fights with him. He is who he is, and if any of you wish to start trouble with him, you will be the ones who will get in trouble. We've had 'trouble' with this in the past, both on his own behalf and the students. But he has already been notified of this, now I am telling all of you here. And I will continue to remind you all of this. School's only just started, don't forget that."

The start of school!

Frederick smiled as he saw the many high schoolers entering school. Yeah! His skills as a janitor would be put to the test! With so many dirty floors to sweep and mop, he would be the one to keep the whole school clean! As he was walking through the halls he already heard the gossip going on. It's been one day and already he heard talk of...hold on...Yohan and Sakuya!? They were already making out and touching eachother in public!?

"Kids these days man...They are just wild no matter where they are." Frederick spoke to himself as he shook his head. "Oh such youthful indulgence in sin...Lust...Two young flowers in bloom to be joined together in time...I wish the same could be said for you my dear lamb..." Brisé suddenly appeared by his side shaking her head. "Here many young souls are gathered together to socialize, to mingle...to fall in love with eachother...to grow up together hand in hand...You however seemed to have squandered an oppurtunity like this...a great shame, but you are still young enough..." She chuckled a bit.

"Jeeze...I told you I'll think about it. What? Do you want me to draw myself a woman to romance or something?" Frederick asked looked over at Brisé, of course with her face all masked and bandaged up, all he could see was that one eye. "Dear lamb...Even you can tell even such lengths sound desperate even for you...but I am not against it...I even encourage it...I am interested to know if romancing a construct is possible. Perhaps you may even have---" "Okay! I get it! No need to go saying that alright!" Frederick interrupted drawing plenty of stares from the many teens around him.

"I understand, you should get to work for now. I heard the gym benches need to be cleaned up. I expect you to finnaly awaken to your hidden sins...At least some of them now, that child you looked at before---" "Will you quit it with that! Jeezums! She had a tail! And horns! I'm...Of forget it I'm dropping this conversation!" Frederick waved her off as he marched to the gym equipment in hand.

In the Timberland Highschool gym, Kraus stood in the middle of the ball court, performing one-armed pushups, his other arm behind his back. This was not unusual for him, nor too unusual in general for a gym teacher to exercise, what was unusual was, if others could see it, Puck sitting on his back Indian style, rubbing his chin and pondering. Kraus paid it no mind as he switches arms upon reaching a count of 20.

"It is a good start, a few criminals here and there, but we are going to have to up the game to keep it interesting," Puck comments propping his arms behind the back of his neck, kicking his feet up. Kraus doesn't seem to pay him much mind as he continues to exercise. "Imagine it, up on the grand stage, hah, the great Iron Kaiser against a real menace! Wouldn't that be thrilling!?"

"Hnf... say, those two could see you, I thought only I could," Kraus says finally, regarding the encounter with Takeo and Sebastian. Puck simply slaps a hand over his cheek and leans over beside Kraus's face, a wide grin cracks across his face.

"What I said was that normal people can't see me, or did I forget that specification?" he responds, his tone half playful, half mocking. Kraus's eyes dart to Puck for a brief moment, stopping briefly, his facial expression tensing momentarily, before casting his eyes forward and continuing his exercise. "In fact, pretty well everyone back there..."

"Yeah, I get it, everyone had some kind of magical power back there, even that dog," he says with a sigh. Puck's expression blanks for a moment, he had almost forgotten that Kraus actually has brains in that thick skull of his. "The sudden reappearance of Yohan's older brother and mother, and then... Sebastian Winters, there is something up with that guy. And then there was that strange girl there that you said normal people can't see either. She like you?"

"Oh her? Different, she was some kind of part human hybrid, she seemed harmless enough, though," Puck answers, folding his arms as he levitates up off Kraus's back and flips upside down. He starts to walk in the air like this, as if there were ground under his feet, pacing around, each step leaving a shimmering ripple ring in the air, rubbing his chin. He stops and grins, his eyes aglow as he snaps a look back down at Kraus. "That man, on the other hand, well, lets just say his heart has shadows, and who knows what those will grow into."

"Ominous, but should something come of it," Kraus begins, stopping and sitting up, wiping his brow, a stern look on his face. "Someone will have to step in."

"Oh I do hope so!" Puck exclaims, holding out his arms. "We need more conflict!" Suddenly there are footsteps heard upon the gym floor, and upon hearing them, the bizarre Puck fades out. "What is she doing here?"

The steps came from Saiph who had entered the school gym. She was now dressed in a black rabbit themed hoodie, the sleeves too long for her arms, and a skirt that went down to her knees. Her eyes were obscured by some goggles, with the same red tint as her bodysuit. She wore a pair of purple laced black boots. Kraus watches just from the corner of his eye as she dances about before flopping down on the bleachers and just stares down at him. Kraus attempts to avoid direct eye contact, and just keep wiping his face with a towel.

"Soooo... you can see me, can't ya?" She says titlting her head to the side and rubbing her cheek with her right sleeve. Kraus stands up and begins to walk away, not intent to answer that. She stretches and lays back. "I mean, you are maybe it just seems like you're tryin' too hard to ignore me? I dunno, could just be how you act normally, I mean, hah, that'd be weird, a gym teacher suddenly being able to see what is supposed to be invisible to normal people. Yeaaaah..." She then pops onto her feet and begins fallowing Kraus, her hands behind her back, and waving a hand to the side of his face, then hopping around him in circles. Amazingly Kraus was unfazed, even though he actually could see her, his self control admirable, but inside his mind was stressing to remain composure, especially when she started making silly faces in front of him. "Wow, you are either really good, or just some regular guy after all. Eh, annyyywhoooo~ even though you probably can't hear it... um, thanks for the games, they were really cool." With that she skips back to the bleachers and sits down, looking like a perfect angel.

"Bravo! And they considered flunking you from drama class! Hah!" Puck says to Kraus as he walks into the locker room, who was just now staring at a locker, his right eye twitching. "So much for hitting the showers, what, with an invisible woman skulking about," Puck laughs, but Kraus simply plants his head against the locker, letting out a small whimper.

"Right!" Yohan exclaimed with excitement. He was happy with how things had gone just now, he got to sit next to Sakuya, the morning so far had been going well, nothing seemed to be going wrong today. School days had always been a drag before, but now Yohan had Sakuya there to make it all better for him. Well, for a brief time he did anyway. Now he was on his own, and that brought a gripping fear into his heart. Could he survive without his friends or family here to support him? He decided to walk off on his own, only to find a familiar face staring at him from outside. His eyes widened as he quickly headed outside to stare face to face with the familiar person before him!

"Hello, Yohan." Ricky stated with a cool attitude, the calm tone coming from his voice made it sound like nothing had happened to him. He held a cigarette in his hand as he brought it up to his mouth before pulling it away and releasing a puff of smoke. Ricky looked about as normal as his pictures lead him to believe, no demon influences, none of the Djinn's strings, he seemed pretty normal compared to what Yohan had saw! As Yohan stood in shock at seeing Ricky alive and well before him, Ricky looked up at him with a cocky smile on his face. "What's wrong? You look shocked right now, as if something was wrong." Static flashed briefly across Yohan's vision, changing his view of Ricky to seeing his corpse before returning to the normal Ricky.

"How are you... Here?" Yohan had trouble getting his words across fully. The static and seeing Ricky's dead body there had shaken him up. He had tried so hard to put away the image of Ricky's body, especially after he had to put it outside himself, but one reminder sent in a rush of the same emotions as before. He was close to having a panic attack over just the sight of it, yet here Ricky continued to sit, unphased by Yohan's disturbed form before him. Yohan could see it in his eyes, see it on his face. That smug, cocky attitude that had been given off of his character just from what he had seen before. Ricky had always assumed himself the top dog over everyone, that no one was superior to him. Could this have transferred with Ricky even after death, if this was Ricky to begin with?

"You called me here." Ricky stated, rising up to his feet slowly. Despite the intimidation Ricky's slow movements caused within Yohan, Ricky simply walked past him and looked up at the beautiful morning sky. "Nice day today. No rain, no clouds, just a perfect blue sky with the sun shining down on you. Of course, you only see green now, don't you?" Ricky's tone made it sound like he was playing around something with Yohan. Yohan had a growing fear of what that was, but didn't want to confirm it for Ricky. "I can tell you are tense. You can't hide that from me." Ricky turned to look over his shoulder at Yohan, giving a dangerous smirk. "You haven't been asking the right questions, Yohan. You haven't taken the time to properly address the things that should of been given attention to. Now, I'm going to show you why that is a problem." As Yohan felt frozen to the spot he currently stood on, Ricky pulls out of his chest a strange looking orb. Yohan felt a cold sweat beginning to rush through his body as he sees Ricky slowly reaching his right hand down on the top of the orb.

"Sienna and Frederick. That's the names of the two people, eh?" Ricky looked over at Yohan with a cold smirk. "Let's make this fun." Ricky's hand sinks down into the orb, the orb's color changing to yellow as Ricky's eyes glow red for a moment before he quickly pulls his hand out and the orb slowly begins to fade away. "I've just sent a piece of myself to halt both of their progress. With any luck, one of them will give in and turn into a demon pretty soon." Ricky couldn't help but chuckle as he stretches his arms up. "You seem confused, allow me to sum it up without actually explaining anything useful to you. I have total control over this connection power you have with them. If they should happen to die or turn into a demon, I consider that a win. They aren't going to be able to run away now, no matter how far they run, I'll still be able to screw with them." Ricky suddenly appears in front of Yohan and grabs him by the throat, pulling him down a little to glare him down right in his eyes.

"I want to make one thing clear between the two of us. As long as I'm here, I will be calling the shots from now on." Ricky's eyes glow red again briefly as he smirks. "If I tell you to bark, you bark. If I tell you to go steal someone's money, you steal the money. If I tell you to shoot someone in the head, well." Ricky let go of Yohan, only to pull out a pistol and push it up to Yohan's head, not even looking at Yohan as Ricky's mouth morphed into an unsettling, twisted version of a human's smirk. "You shoot them in the god damn head!" Ricky pulls the trigger, shooting Yohan right through his skull and causing him to collapse to the ground. Ricky faded away, his job done as birds flew past the area Yohan had been standing in. Yohan didn't know whether he was alive or dead for a moment, but after a second, he sits up and sucks in a large amount of air before coughing and putting a hand up to his throat. He checked his forehead as soon as he could, nothing out of the ordinary. It had been an illusion perhaps? No, something felt wrong here. Ricky was dead, yet Ricky had just appeared before him seeming to be inside his head now. The most likely answer was that Yohan had somehow manifested a new inner demon in response to Ricky's dead. If that was the case, Yohan felt like the gates of hell had just opened up before him and he had been the unlucky guest to be invited inside.

Ricky did not reappear before Yohan, there was nothing wrong with Yohan as of the moment. That was a scary thought, to know Ricky not only held some control over him, but over the others as well. He had been trying to avoid digging further into all of this since Ricky had died, he thought that was it. That it would be over with the death of one person and that he could live a normal life knowing magic just existed. Reality had come in and slapped him, telling him that it had only just begun. He felt like he was missing a piece of the puzzle here, why did it feel like Ricky had won despite him dying? Why was there now an inner demon of Ricky messing with him, why was there now doubts about himself? He felt like hitting something just out of the anger and confusion that flooded through his body right now. Yohan had to calm his breathing down before he could think again, classes would be starting up again soon. He had only a few minutes to himself at best, he had lost track of time when Ricky had appeared before him. As he looked around, he noticed a group of people near the school. That's when Yohan spotted one of them and immediately knew who it was. Yohan's old bully: Chase.

It would be an understatement to say that Chase had been the main reason Yohan had fallen into depression in the first place. For ten years, Chase had done nothing but try to ruin Yohan's life and it almost had worked. When Chase had learned Yohan's parents had died, Chase had spread a rumor that Yohan was the reason they had died and even convinced other kids to believe that Yohan was out for blood. Chase had always gone out of his way to beat up Yohan whenever he saw him before, the beatings only growing more violent as they got older. Yohan had refused to ever fight back, only getting back up despite whatever Chase had thrown at him. The verbal abuse Chase had played with him was all intentionally to screw with him, always spreading unhealthy rumors about Yohan to make him look all the more like a freak. This summer, Chase had been quiet, Yohan had not heard a single thing about him since middle school had ended for the both of them. Yet now Yohan saw him sitting calmly, smoking a cigarette with his group of friends, all of them appearing to be skipping school while sitting right outside of it.

Chase had not noticed Yohan, he didn't seem to care about Yohan right now. Yohan observed them as Chase motioned for one of his friends to get out the phone, motioning for him to call someone. Chase continued to smoke, he had been smoking for about five years now. He was a heavy smoker, going through about five to seven cigarettes in just half a day. He had earned quite the reputation throughout Timberland over the years, leading people to term the phrase that "If you smoke cigarettes or start doing drugs, you'll end up becoming Chased down by them for the rest of your life." A lame pun, to be sure, but an effective one given Chase looked about as intimidating as people advertised smoking and drugs to be. Chase had gotten into plenty of trouble and fights, probably the most terrifying wound he got and always showed off was the scar that ran down the left side of his face. The way Chase had "fixed" up his scar, he made it look like his skin had split open and had remained that way ever since. Even his left eye looked inhumane, always half closed to either give an impression that Chase just didn't care, or that Chase was always really angry.

Yohan felt scared watching Chase and his friends, he didn't really have time to waste on them. Yet something struck Yohan off about Chase today, something that he felt all too well when he had first met Sakuya. Or when he first met Ricky just before they started to fight. Could it be that Chase had gotten The Black somehow?! Yohan wanted to believe it wasn't true, yet he could feel it clear as daylight coming from all of Chase's group. Yohan knew others would be feeling this too, had others in Timberland always gotten a hold of The Black somehow? It didn't matter, Yohan knew if he took the first action it would be the death of him. Chase had made a hobby of practicing with guns, they say he started taking up firearms to start outright shooting people he just didn't like. If Chase had killed anyone, he had never let it reach the public ears. Maybe it was better to just leave them alone, but just when he thought of leaving, that's when one of Chaser's friends spotted him. He had been careless, and now it was going to cost him! Chaser looked over towards Yohan and motioned for him to come over. Aw, crap!

Upon walking over to Chase and his friends, Yohan could faintly smell something disgusting coming from them all. It could of been anything, so Yohan felt it was better not to assume and let his assumptions remain just that. As Chase's eyes glared over towards Yohan, immediately it was like the years had caught up with the both of them. Chase closed his eyes for a moment as he pulled his cigarette over to his mouth, pulling it away to blow out a puff of smoke before slamming it down onto the table before him and wiping the cigarette out roughly. Chase rose up to a frightening height of six feet, eight inches. He towered over Yohan, which sent a shiver down Yohan's back as he could now see in full detail the scary man known as Chase before him. Chase's skin came off as ash pale, with his greasy hair scattered about on his head. His jeans had some tearings in them, while his jacket looked torn and tired out. What could be seen of his t-shirt was stained, with what Yohan didn't want to know though. Chase remained unmoving on the spot, making Yohan think he had randomly passed out before Chase suddenly coughed into his arm, making Yohan jump at the surprise before Chase turned back to him.

"So it's the Yo-bang. That is yer name, r'ght?" Chase mumbled out, causing Yohan to give him a confused look of sorts.

"It's, uh, Yohan."

"I knew that. I was just messing with you, Yo-ham." Chase cleared his throat a few times before continuing. "So, uh, you's was lis'ening to us?" Chase asked with a shady look in his gaze. Yohan hesitated before answering.

"Yeah, I heard you guys." Yohan's response caused Chase to growl out lowly. His friends started to back up, but it was too late as Chase reached over and grabbed one his friends by the collar and slammed them face first into the desk right on the cigarette. Tossing him aside, the others only watched in horror as Chase took a moment to look around before looking back at Yohan.

"You is gon'a do me a fav, kay?" Chase started explaining to Yohan. "You 'eard no'hing. You even so much as whi'per one urd 'ere todah, you gon'a git a whooping." It was hard for Yohan to fully make out what Chase was saying, something seemed incredibly off about Chase than what Yohan could remember. Chase had gone through such dramatic changes during this one summer alone, but he figured it was years that built up to the current state he was in now. "I don like it when peeple rat'le on meh. They git them'elves in trible. You 'alk away now, kay?" Chase started to move to sit back down, but was stopped as he heard Yohan shout at him.

"No!" The tension could be felt as his friends only continued to back up further away from Chase. Chase's unmoving form again made Yohan think he had randomly passed out, until Chase looked over at him and wheezed out the most awkward pauses in-between laughs he had ever heard. Yohan suddenly felt one of Chase's hands gripping his collar and his body being lifted up, the sky becoming present to his view before his back was slammed right into the table, causing it to shatter underneath him as Yohan felt his eyes roll into the back of his head from the sudden pain that jolted through him right now. Chase's bad breath had become apparent for a moment as Chase let go of him and reached into his jacket's pockets, pulling brass knuckles over both his hands before taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly with a little wheeze coming out.

"Dis ain't no kiddie gluve I wear. You gon'a git it." Chase swung down at Yohan without another second to waste, Yohan barely just moving himself out of the way as he felt the ground shake a little just from Chase's fist hitting the ground. That's when Yohan felt something heavy hit him in his gut, causing him to collapse to a knee. He dodged Chase's strike, how did Chase still hit him without touching him?! He couldn't get much time to think as Chase came stomping in towards him and made a swing for his head, Yohan moving to the right to avoid Chase's arm as it swung through the air. Yohan felt a heavy impact hit his head as he stumbled backwards, Chase glancing over at him and clutching his fists tightly as he turned to fully face Yohan before giving him a pretty awful looking grin. "I nevah miss." Chase's word struck him as odd, could it relate to his ability somehow?

Once again he had little time to think as Chase charges in and sends in a flurry of punches this time, Yohan managing to dodge them at first when he started to feel the heavy impacts striking his body in rapid blows. Chase took the opportunity to start slugging in some hits of his own on Yohan, the impacts soon going away as Chase just started to strike away on Yohan. Blood soon began to spray across the area as Yohan was beaten up pretty badly in several places now. Yet he refused to use his sound ability on Chase, he wasn't going to do that for this. Chase took advantage of Yohan's weakened state to grab hold of his leg and pull him out from under his feet, then throwing him roughly into one of the school's wall as Yohan felt himself black out for a moment from the impact. Yohan's body limply fell to the ground, Chase's wheezy laugh could still be heard faintly as he took the time to examine his fists. Chase slowly came walking over towards Yohan as Yohan regained his vision, trying to push himself back up but it wasn't good enough. His body wouldn't correctly respond to him as Chase stopped in front of him and slowly pulling back his right fist, ready to strike Yohan a mighty blow to the face.

But Yohan wouldn't let that happen, focusing momentarily on his arms as he struck his left fist into Chase's right fist, Chase's brass knuckle shattering into pieces as Chase's eyes widen. Chase then struck out with his left fist, only for Yohan to respond with his right, Chase's brass knuckle shattering again as this time, pieces of something graze pass Chase's arm and make small cuts on it. Chase's eyes widened as he looked at his arm in surprise, turning over to Yohan to notice his left arm had changed. He seemed to have grown some white scales, but the white scales now held some faint blue tattoo like design to them. As Chase recklessly charges in, Yohan strikes in a hard uppercut to Chase with his left arm, shattering the scales on it as they go flying and stab themselves lightly into various parts of Chase's body. Chase gave a mighty wail in pain, the scales shattering and breaking off from Chase's body shortly after as a loud snap had come off to Chase's friends when Yohan had landed the uppercut. Blood dripped from Chase's broken lower jaw, the intimidating giant falling to his knees and holding his face as he could only give off muffled wails for the moment. Yohan felt himself growing more exhausted suddenly, collapsing to his knees as he could only breath heavily.

Before Yohan could push himself back up to his feet, Chase suddenly threw debris of the table at him with full force, causing Yohan to get smacked in the face by some of them and the rest slamming past his body as he felt himself getting thrown onto his back. Blood ran down the right side of his face, causing him to close his right eye as he slowly pushed himself to sit up while looking over at Chase. Even if Chase could talk properly right now, he seemed way too emotional right now to even care about speaking. Chase rose back up to his feet and glared down at Yohan, despite the pain Chase must of been receiving, he still was able to move properly. Yohan had to force himself to quickly get back up to his feet, only for Chase to start pounding into his body with more strength than before! Yohan was surprised by how much stronger Chase seemed now that he was backed into a corner, even more so by how Chase was still able to focus on where to slug into Yohan in order to make him feel the most pain. All those years of practice on him must of really helped when Chase kicked into berserk mode!

With a final slug to the face, Yohan was sent stumbling back into the wall and slide down it a bloody mess. Chase couldn't proceed to finish off Yohan for the moment, having stopped as the pain must of started to kick back in hard and force Chase to remain frozen to the spot. Yohan took the time to muster up the last of his strength to stand up to his feet, his entire body shaking as he could see blood dripping down from his body practically all over. He focused as much of his power as he could into his right arm, his right arm beginning to shake fiercely as he tightened his hand into a fist before pulling it back. Chase let out a low menacing growl before charging forward at Yohan, with Yohan being quick enough to step in and throw a weak punch right into Chase's right shoulder, but that one hit was all he needed. Chase's pupils turned tiny as he felt something building up before a loud sound practically exploded from his right shoulder. Chase let out a high pitched scream as his right arm was painfully snapped out of place, Chase being sent flying back and slamming painfully into the ground while Yohan was sent flying back into the wall for a third time.

As the loud booming sound went off, most windows within the school suddenly shattered, causing a lot of people to notice something strange was going on. Most people were now beginning to panic and wonder what was going on, the loud boom had sounded close to being like someone had just set off some kind of weapon. Yohan barely kept himself conscious as he saw Chase not moving from where he lay. Chase's friends had long since abandoned the scene in order to avoid getting into trouble with him. Some friends he managed to pick up. As Yohan barely to pick himself up, trying to move in order to go and warn someone about what had happened, Chase had been quick to the draw and gotten a knife out, swinging it across the air before letting it fall and stab into the ground beside him, collapsing and passing out properly. A cut suddenly forms itself on Yohan's chest, causing some blood to come out due to how quick it suddenly formed. Yohan felt his body go numb completely and he fell down flat onto the ground, passing out along with Chase as now everyone who had started to watch would freak out and think both of them had just died!

As Mr. Kraus contemplated exactly how he was gonna worm his way out of his predicament, reaching for a clean towel, there was a blast, a rumble and suddenly the lockers clattered with a most startling racket, causing him to bump his head against the locker he was leaning against. He could feel even Puck was shocked by this. Saiph popped to her feet as the windows cracked behind her, her jolly expression broken in shock. It was like a bomb had gone off outside, a terrifying feeling goes through both Kraus and Saiph, who immediately head out the back exit of the gym, the former no longer concerned about the strange girl. Before them at the back of the school was a grizzly scene, blood staining the ground and the remains of what was once a table, fragments of glass scattered about from the sonic explosion that went off. It was then, their hearts truly sank when observing two collapsed bodies before them, bloodied, cut, and badly beaten. To Saiph's added horror, however, was that one of them was Yohan, the very reason she was even here!

Snatching the clean towel from the stunned Kraus's arm, she rushed over to Yohan, to first check if he was still breathing, then to wrap the towel up and gently place it under Yohan's head to try to at least offer him some level of comfort. It was a mess, he was an absolute mess. Bruised and bloody, he was in a far worse state than when he fought Ricky, added that was mostly superficial. A lump gets caught in the rabbit girl's throat as one of her first real friends lays in such an uncertain state, and with all her power, all she can do is try to make him comfortable until someone more capable can handle this.

"H-hey, hang in there, okay?" she murmurs, her voice cracking as she remains kneeling beside him, trying to find something else to do for him, yet afraid to move him, should he have internal injuries. She looked to Kraus who was checking Chase's pulse, already on the phone talking to some emergency service detailing out the situation and route to get here, soon after coming over and crouching down beside her to check Yohan as well. It looked like the most serious is that he may be suffering a concussion with the amount of head wounds he has received, the cut on his chest however, was not deep enough to be the most concerning. Then there were the bruises all over his body, bringing to light another concern.

"Damn, not again,, there might be internal injuries with the other... student's name is Yohan Belmont, yeah, it looks bad, many deep bruises have already formed, some may have been with a blunt weapon, possibly a brass knuckle," Kraus says, trying to maintain composure in the fallout of this violent scene. There was a moment where he looked at Saiph, who looked absolutely miserable as she looked over Yohan, practically holding by a thread on breaking down. She had already witnessed one horrific death already, unsettling her, now it was with someone she actually trusted. The boy had some strange, yet loyal friends it seemed. "Uh, back of Timberland High, there is debris everywhere, nobody else seems badly hurt. I don't know, may have been some kind of weapon on Chase, but I'm not seeing signs of it... uh-huh... they are already on their way? Good, they both are still be breathing at least. Thank you, and hurry."

With that he stands up and turns to the students. "Alright, alright, make room for the paramedics!" He cries out, waving his arms at them.

"You are taking this rather well, but I know you are screaming inside! Screaming at the world that has allowed this to become the norm," Puck finally says to Kraus. "This is the result of the world, this violent world that lead Ricky to his fate, this malice, and here I'm asking... how does this man remain sane, unbroken, knowing it all... feeling it around him? Funny how I don't know... I mean, I am you after all, and yet... I'm not you?"

The school gym, where sports are held and where much sweat is spilled. And who is going to clean up all those sweaty benches which would stink like heck? Well why of course the schools brand new janitor! Frederick himself was on the scene! With rag in hand and bucket of water with cleaning solution.

As Frederick was hard at work cleaning the benches at top speeds, what stopped his progress was a loud boom causing the windows in the gym to suddenly explode into many pieces. He immediately hit the deck with a panicked shout of surprise. As soon as the coast was assumed clear after half a minute Frederick slowly got back up looking around. Now he was no expert, but windows do not suddenly explode like that, what if there was a battle between the people with the powers of white and black?

He was in danger! Where the heck is Gilgamesh!? If there was a fight he needed some help right! But wait?...This was a school right?...So that meant the people fighting are students...kids! He was not for killing kids. However it seemed that Brisé has...other thoughts compared to his.

He heard a familiar jingle of a bell as suddenly the so called Shepard in her usual white dress appeared. Mask still broken, half of her face still wrapped. And the wings on her back. Her single purple eye looks at him, and what Frederick could tell he could tell from the gleam in her eye that she was...happy?

"Oh my precious lamb! What Naïve thoughts, you refuse to fight? Let alone kids with the power to turn the world into darkness?...Oh my...this wont do at all..." Brisé chuckled as she thwacked Frederick on the head with her little staff which rang causing him to hold his head in pain.

"Now, Now...Let me start with something first my dear lamb...Those with the power of the Black want power...they want to destroy our world...Do you wanna something? You may not want to kill but those kids will gladly kill you without a second thought...to gut you and leave you for death...Look at Ricky dear lamb...He killed his own friends and in his final moments he could not understand why he was alone...A sad fate, to never understand that you yourself was the cause of it all...Such are the way of kids, to act first before thinking...But he has died right now so we need not shed any tears. He wanted to kill you all and instead died like a spoiled child..." Her eye soon had a hint of malice in them now. However her voice was still calm.

"To hesitate is death lamb...To hold back, pain...To continue your blind naiveté those around you will die...Its time to wake up lamb...No more grazing idly in the fields of poison...Its time to move onto greener fields...for your sake...I am your Shepherd, I know what is best for you so listen..." She spoke suddenly getting closer to him until they were mere inches from their faces.

Frederick had a chill run up his spine as all the hairs on his body stood up. "Woah...You went into scare mode..." He managed to speak as he looked at her. "But I see you are just looking out for me...No need to worry, I'll take some of your advice no worries!" He spoke with a smile before Brisé backed off and nodded to herself. "Good choice Lamb..." She spoke until she vanished.

Frederick breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around. Well...That was something but for now he had shards of glass to sweep up. If there was danger Gilgamesh would surely come to his aid in a heartbeat! Putting down the bucket and rag he soon grabbed a trusty brrom and went to sweep the glass.

Hanging her head, Saiph was still kneeling amidst the debris. Yohan had been taken to the hospital a while ago, but she had broken down herself. She had considered today would be fun at least, but all it was was lead to more misery. This world was only proving time and again to be a cold, cruel, and unforgiving place, threatening to take away anything that mattered. It made her think of things she didn't want to think of, of the high probability that she'd watch as everyone else around her dies, that she'll instead be doomed to remain the same, doomed to be alone.

"My, my, what a burdened mind," the familiar warped voice come to Saiph, as the familiar form of Maddy appears to her, sitting down behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh Maddy, perhaps... dad was right," she mutters, as people, unable to see them pass by. "I shouldn't have gotten involved... but... if I didn't, they'd have died... but... but they are gonna die anyways... I... just... I-I don't know what to do."

"Not knowing what to do is part of learning what to do, like you must be lost in order to be found," Maddy responds, softly stroking her head. She doesn't however respond as usual, continuing to hang her head. "And right now my dear, you are quite lost..."

Lifting up her goggles slightly, she reaches up and wipes her eyes, catching something reflecting back on a shard of glass with one of her yellow eyes. It was Frederick, who was also on the scene, cleaning up the broken glass and debris. With a brief moment, she sighs and glances back before standing up and pointing at the debris that was once Chase's knife and brass knuckle. "Careful with the metal bits, they are evidence, y'know, don't wanna put your fingerprints on them," she warns, trying her best to joke, her tone however void of the more chipper one of before. She looks down for a moment and kicks her feet, then places her hands in her pocket. "Oh yeah... I almost forgot about our deal, um..."

She digs around in her pocket then pulls out a paper which she hands it to Frederick. It was the terms of the contract in detail, including the confirmation he made to follow through. The terms were, quite simply, for him to make a sequel to "Planetary Wars- War for Planet Hopitus." Apparently it had appealed to her, and she was a fan of it.

"Sorry for leaving you hanging, I... just wish it could have been under... happier circumstances I delivered this," she says, running her fingers through her hair. "I'm a fan, though."

---

Kraus had made his way to the principal's office, feeling it appropriate to report on the circumstances of the recent fight on school grounds. By the furrowing of his brow, it was obvious he felt like he should have done a lot more, even if he couldn't have possibly predicted today was the day. For the many years Chase had been a problem there, particularly to Yohan, he had only been there for two of them, and he was barely present even then. It felt to him like he had failed as a peer. Added to that, he started to understand the dangers presented by magic, that it could turn out a doped up thug into a real monster... if Puck's assessment was to be believed.

"Relax, the kid will be fine," Puck says, rather nonchalantly as usual, as he suddenly is floating beside him, lounging back with his arms behind his head and legs crossed. Kraus almost jumps, until remembering he's the only one that can see him. "Well, bruised and beaten, but he'll recover, besides, that girl is a healer... bout all she's good for I imagine!" He begins to laugh. Kraus lifts a brow, a quizzical look upon his face.

"How... do you know this? Because I didn't see anything that would have clued me in on that," Kraus whispers, covering his mouth so others don't see him muttering to himself like a nutter.

"Oh yeah, didn't I tell you?" Puck says, sitting up and slapping his hands down on his knees, giving Kraus a wide grin. "My Dominion! Well, part of it... Eye of the Beholder, what I see I see for what it is! What I see... is how it will be."

"That is... weird... but... so you see the reality of things around you?" He begins to say, but his eyes widen, then he furrows his brow and glances over at Puck. "Wait, what did you mean with that last bit?"

"That would be telling! Said too much already, better if you are surprised!" Puck exclaims, clapping his hands together twice, a whimsical grin across his face. "In fact, it probably is better I don't tell you yours either. Just keep doing what you've been doin' brother!"

Kraus held up a finger, getting ready to press Puck further but the joker had already poofed back into whatever recesses of his psyche he crawled out from. It was strange to Rupert, on how polar opposites they were to each other. Never in his life did he remember being maniacal or cynical... or whatever it was Puck was. Shaking that from his head, he now stood at the door of the principal's office... well, time to give the news. With a deep breath and a small sigh, he knocks on the door first to announce his arrival before opening the door with his head down.

"Just thought I'd follow up, Yohan Belmont has been taken into the hospital, and well... as it turns out, Chase was also found with a considerable amount of narcotics on his person," he then begins to scratch his head nervously, grumbling a bit to himself. "Actually, to be perfectly honest, that Chase was allowed to go on like this for this long, someone who has a notorious reputation, it was kinda... no, it was irresponsible, and I believe the boy has done us a major favor today and shouldn't be held accountable. I mean, high chances anyways that he was simply defending himself. Er, that is simply my opinion though." With that he sighs, and begins to lift his head. "But, I'm just glad to say that this wasn't as bad as-" he begins, before something catches him off guard.