Malcolm Swain "Fate"'s Story

Everything happened for a reason, but it is always the people involved with the reason that shape the course of the future by themselves. When something happens, it happens because something else had influenced another something which caused it to reach the point in which it had happened. So, nothing was truly random. This was the motto by which a man known to most as "Fate" had lived by, and the words spoke to his heart so.

With that being said, it should not come across as a surprise that when the carnage from an explosion had effectively leveled an entire city, killing many and injuring many more, that he showed not the slightest frown nor concern for his own well-being. After all, something had caused this. If anything, it had him curious as to what might have caused such destruction so quickly. The thought of such power residing within someone was such a mysterious source of excitement, and fear. Was it a group, or was it a single person? No, certainly not a group -- at least not one he was aware of. He was knowledgeable on both of the biggest groups in the world - The Chikyuu No Mirai and the Shikaku. The latter of which he was associated with to a common degree. Were someone there able to do such a thing, he'd have known. But nobody was.

Knowing that, he had one guess. Before his long-time friend, Dianne, had managed her way up the ladder and onto the position of the Master of the Shikaku, both the Shikaku and the Mirai both found themselves worried about a source of power so great that it could shape the very destiny of the world. This source of power was in one person who was known only as "The Destroyer". By the time leadership had changed, the groups didn't seem so worried about this rumor; this myth. But Fate.... that story always appealed to him. A force so great that it could not only shape its own future, but the future of anyone and everyone in the world? Awesome. Inspiring. Intimidating.......and full of potential.

Manipulation could either shape the world or destroy it, if this "Destroyer" was indeed a person as told by the stories.

And Fate, the man he is, would love nothing more than to be that manipulator. To be the one to make the person who held the world in their hands bend to his will. For it wasn't the person with the power, but the person who controlled the power that was in command of the world. Yes....

....he would be in command.

Fate had seen his friend leave her residence upon waking up along with her 'friend'. At the time, he wasn't doing much but nothing and chose his destiny by following her -- discreetly, of course. Now, he stood far behind, easily avoiding detection by anyone and everyone simply because he was further behind them. However, upon approaching Dianne and the people she had begun to converse with, he noticed.... three people. One in a tree, overlooking the gathering down below, and two others sneaking around in an even more suspicious manner than the one above.

It was left to a flip of the coin to decide where his destiny took him. Heads, he confronted the man in the tree. Tails, he followed the two to wherever they may go. Dianne could handle herself in a fight, and the Chikyuu leader didn't seem to resort to violence upon recognizing his opponent's identity, so he predicted leaving them alone for a small while wouldn't yield unfavorable results. Thusly, he flipped his coin with his thumb and watched it as it flew into the air, then plummeted down onto his palm, which he then turned over to reveal.....

Tails.

Well, either way, he was probably going to follow them simply because of their behavior. Who attempts to hide from others during a crisis like this? It was obvious no start of any war, so such an excuse was implausible. They knew something, or so Fate would hope as he stealithly followed them, paying care not to cause anything beneath his feet to reveal him to the two.

They reached a tree soon after, where the had stopped to climb. The boy instructed the girl to climb and look for an entrance. They, of course, were whispering. However, when they had stopped, he simply moved to the other side of the tree and kept his back to it via Gate, smirking at the fact they were none the wiser. But he decided that enough was enough. He wanted to question the two, especially after recognizing the man's voice. Though nothing too remarkable, this young man was known as a thorn in the side of both of the major parties. He wasn't too bad at getting in and out, and since he had never managed to do anything to Dianne or himself, Fate never found a reason to pursue him, even if he could. Another Gate placed him behind the young girl, whom he didn't recognize whatsoever. Before she managed to grab a hold of the tree, he tossed a charged card straight at the tree, above her head, slamming into the trunk and detonating with a concussive force that, though sturdy, made the tree's branches shake wildly, and caused a loud bang. Leaves and weaker branches fell from said tree due to the sudden attack, and it might've even scared the life out of the two. But that didn't matter. What did is that they were aware of his presence now, for trees didn't simply do that. "Eheheh! Hate to make a dramatic entrance, but I'd reckon you'd just bolt up the tree if you weren't aware of how vain it would be." he began, approaching the girl in a walk with a sly grin on his face, but stopped some feet away from her. "I ain't no Sheriff, but I wouldn't mind you telling me what you two are doing sneaking around here. Doesn't seem to me like you have much of an obvious reason.... unless you're involved in what happened in some way?" Fate kept his eyes open, allowing neither the boy in the tree or the girl before him to move one bit without him noticing. That, and his hand held in it a few playing cards as ammunition. To them, maybe they'd figure it was odd, but to him, they were of course, weapons for him to use in either defense or to interrogate. He'd hope Luck would allow neither to be required.

Bane Skamour

Suddenly, the tree shook again, but not from another explosion of the town. This one was much closer, maybe even right below Bane Skamour...

He kept his balance, despite the shaking of the floors below him, leaping out of the tree to see the commotion. In front of him was a man he had yet to encounter. His aura told him that he'd had years of experience fighting. It was that right balance of knowing he was good without overexaggeration. He wasn't cocky, nor unsure of himself. He was just the perfect balance of lethality. But so was Bane. He slid out his short sword made of hardened lapiz lazuli and a throwing knife. He wasn't going to attack right away; he would if the man was persistent. But the trick now was to show no fear. However, the weak link was the woman, he feared, but didn't show in his emotion.

"Eheheh! Hate to make a dramatic entrance, but I'd reckon you'd just bolt up the tree if you weren't aware of how vain it would be." He sounded much more perky than he was led to believe, but maybe that was the dandy man's opening act. He noticed the cards in his hand and saw that they were not only the source of the explosion, but they held more than explosions to the naked eye.

"I ain't no Sheriff, but I wouldn't mind you telling me what you two are doing sneaking around here. Doesn't seem to me like you have much of an obvious reason.... unless you're involved in what happened in some way?" Dandy Man had said. Instead of taking a step forward, like a brute would do, he took a step back, not out of fear, but for accuracy. He liked it better when he had a bit of distance between him and his opponent.

"Hey, dandy man. None of us were involved in that attack in any way." he smiled, coldly, keeping his gaze locked on his stance. "If there's a huge explosion that wipes out half the town, people are going to feel it and investigate. I wanted to investigate it. There's no crime in that, is there Sherrif?" He flicked his sword once, his smile gone. There was a sharp piercing look in his eye and his aura changed to one of "I'll kill you for breathing..." He felt his inner power rise to his fingertips, ready to fight if he had to. "I also do believe that you're in my territory, so my suggestion would be to take your magic tricks somewhere else..." he finished, almost dead tone. He hadn't moved an inch.

Maedoc was about to say something when the sound of a small explosion sounded not far away. Everyone's head and attention turned to the sound. He didn't know if anyone else would, but he immediately started toward the sound. As he ran towards it, he noticed at least three distinct tracks in the snow. He didn't have time to kneel down and examine them as he was sure the others were also moving to find the source of this second, though much smaller, explosion and most of them were much faster than he.

The tracks ended at the base of a large tree with a girl and two men at the base, apparently having words. There was a black mark in the tree and many of the hibernating branches had fallen from it.

"HOLD!" His voice, unexpectedly loud from someone so usually soft spoken, carried over everyone in the party. "Now, wait! Just hold on. There's too much commotion going on. It's starting to feel rather crowded here, quite honestly... So before we continue bickering and huffing and threatening each other, there are a lot of questions that still need answered. Like who all of you are and what you know about all these explosions that have been happening."

"Okay, we're out of earshot, but whisper just in case. My home is not at all far from here. I'm not here to hurt, I'm here to help." the man whispered as they started to leave the group behind. She looked at the an and decided to make her final decision. She had nowhere else to go and no one left to trust. The best she had at the moment was him and if he would keep her safe from the groups, she would have to take her chances.

"Thank you..." She whispered. She knew the chances she was taking while following him. She took the same chances and got her sister killed when she was ten by doing the same. Now, she had nothing more to lose. It didn't matter anymore.

"Here we are. Look around until you find a hole in the tree and climb through it. The ladder will be above the entrance. climb it and I will meet you there." he said as she quickly nodded and started looking. Suddenly, and explosion went off in front of her, causing some branches to fall and getting a yelp out of her. At first, she thought she caused it again but quickly realized someone was behind her.

"Eheheh! Hate to make a dramatic entrance, but I'd reckon you'd just bolt up the tree if you weren't aware of how vain it would be." the man behind her said as she whipped around to see him approaching.

"I ain't no Sheriff, but I wouldn't mind you telling me what you two are doing sneaking around here. Doesn't seem to me like you have much of an obvious reason.... unless you're involved in what happened in some way?" He finished as Rin's eyes widened. How could he tell so easily?

"Hey, dandy man. None of us were involved in that attack in any way." The stranger who was helping her said as he jumped back down, saving her from talking.

"If there's a huge explosion that wipes out half the town, people are going to feel it and investigate. I wanted to investigate it. There's no crime in that, is there Sherrif? I also do believe that you're in my territory, so my suggestion would be to take your magic tricks somewhere else..." The stranger continued as he whipped out his sword.

Suddenly, she heard people running in the distance. Her heart threatened to stop as she saw the group she intended to avoid rush to the fight.

"HOLD!" the man who looked like the leader of the group yelled as she froze.

"Now, wait! Just hold on. There's too much commotion going on. It's starting to feel rather crowded here, quite honestly... So before we continue bickering and huffing and threatening each other, there are a lot of questions that still need answered. Like who all of you are and what you know about all these explosions that have been happening." Rin's eyes widened as she started to panic. Would they kill her if she told them?

---

---

Alizé ran toward the explosion as soon as she heard it. Getting to the clearing, her heart sunk as soon as she saw Fate.

"God damn it all..." She muttered under her breath before she glanced over at a timid looking girl who had a guilty looking face. She smiled slightly as she decided to use a bit of her powers to "Persuade" her to give the information she needed.

"It's okay, you can trust us. Just tell us what happened." She said with a fake smile as Rin looked up, her eyes slightly grey.

Suddenly, Alizé's eyes widened as she quickly grabbed her head in pain. A golden essence filled the air between them and she gasped in pain.

"I cause them..." Rin said, her voice and face devoid of all emotion as her eyes took on a greyish gold color.

Despite the fact that the people around him completely ignored his presence, Matthew continued trailing the girl. Or perhaps it was a good thing that they did; it made his job that much easier.

"I cause them..."

And apparently, this time, he hit jackpot.

Hearing that girl confess to causing that explosion was - despite the fact it could be her single most stupidest move she could make in that situation - a major hit for him. Why? Because it made her a target of the Shikaku. If they got wind of this, they would probably come down on her in the dozens. She was the ultimate Shikaku magnet, his ultimate source of revenge.

But first, he had to figure out what all those other people around her were. Were they Shikaku? Mirai? Friend? Foe?
Only time would tell.

(Double Post)

"Hey, dandy man. None of us were involved in that attack in any way." Fate was answered by the man who was in the tree, shooting him a glare and holding his weapon, a blade, as he continued. "If there's a huge explosion that wipes out half the town, people are going to feel it and investigate. I wanted to investigate it. There's no crime in that, is there Sheriff?"

Someone like Malcolm could never be frightened by mere looks or a situation alone. He had in fact picked up some feeling from the intense glare he received, but his unflinching expression told nobody anything about what he was thinking or feeling. But such was the benefit of playing poker so much. One couldn't see a single twitch in his mouth as the man continued with, "I also do believe that you're in my territory, so my suggestion would be to take your magic tricks somewhere else..." However, this was when Malcolm's facial lock broke with a grin replacing his poker face.

"Simmer down, Hotshot." he instructed. He was merely looking for answers, not a fight. But that didn't mean he would leave to avoid answers he was seeking. Besides, this man was placing distance between them, which would only provide Swain with a better advantage. If this man thought for a moment that these cards played fairly, then he would would be sorely mistaken. Then again, it's not like many people could really predict a card doing what it could in Fate's grasp. "I only seek what hand you've played in this whole affair." But that was the last line Fate could speak before suddenly....

"HOLD" a man boomed. It was the leader of the Chikyuu, to be specific. Truth be told, Fate has dealt with this man in the past, non-aggressively, but hadn't ever heard his voice go much about a whisper. "Now, wait! Just hold on. There's too much commotion going on. It's starting to feel rather crowded here, quite honestly... So before we continue bickering and huffing and threatening each other, there are a lot of questions that still need answered. Like who all of you are and what you know about all these explosions that have been happening." Foolish, this man was. Was that not exactly what Fate just asked? Of course, he obviously put pacifism before the answers, and would probably listen to the demands on someone if they promised to refrain from violence, which would be counter-productive. Fate needed these answers more than he wanted to avoid conflict, so it was only natural he'd fight to get them.

He needed to be the one in control.

If there was any positive about this situation, it was that the young woman seemed to know something. She had, after all, a wide-eyed look on her face when Good Guy Greg questioned their involvement in the explosions. Maybe he was onto something. Yet, predictably, before he could open his mouth and get something out of her, more people showed up, one of them being his favorite toy, Alize. Malcolm tipped his hat at her and wore a smirk, knowing it'd only annoy her. That was his favorite thing about the Shikaku, was that he could go there to blow off some steam by playing around. But important matters first -- Her charm was much more.... 'potent' than his in that it nearly forced someone to listen to her. That was a big plus, but his was much more subtle and you never could tell that you were being manipulated which, in the long run, was more useful to reaching a long-term goal, like Fate had. He only watched as the young toy of his approached the girl and worked her magic.

"I cause them..."

The girl admitted in a monotone. She had caused this big explosion which had rivaled any explosion anyone had ever seen ever before. She had admitted that she was the cause of this, and that she had killed many people through it. With only three words, she admitted that she was the one Fate was looking for, and that he was so much closer to being the one to manipulate the events in this world.

He wanted to let loose a loud laugh, an evil chuckle, a howl of a sort. His objective was already in sight, all he had to do is whittle away at it's free-will and harness the ability to change the world! By the way she acted, such a task wouldn't be of much difficulty to a man who could caress someone's ears with his voice and words. So, by that logic, the actual act of manipulating her would be of no problem. But there was a problem....

His friend. And the Chikyuu No Mirai.

Two sides of the same coin, they were. And they'd both be heavily against them if they ever found out what he had in mind for The Destroyer. They both wanted to prevent destruction in this world, but with different means. Chikyuu'd try to teach her to manipulate her power by herself, while Dianne would most likely not want to risk it getting out of hand again and kill her to protect Kuusou. Either way, they were messing with Fate's goal, and that was something he could not allow. But simply turning on his friend here would prove to be a mistake. No, he could still use his relationship to his advantage, for now. And so, before anything else happened, Fate acted.

"Lady Luck is smilin." he began as he slowly closed the distance between him and the Destroyer. At this point, he knew he couldn't allow Diane, who was probably shortly behind, to order her execution. Well, at least, he couldn't let her carry out the execution. But it'd be hard to retrieve her if the Chikyuu got a hold of her, since they weren't so trusting of Fate. "Luck has delivered her straight to us. The cause of all this awesome destruction sits right before us." he was mentally laughing at all of this. The best way to get her out of this scene alive and without being apprehended was, of course, to provoke both sides at once into conflict with each other. Their ultimate goal the same, but their means different - it meant that such a task was simple, obvious. All he had to do was confirm to them what they already would suspect, and the die would fall right into place. "She has delivered unto us the Destroyer of Kuusou." he was now right behind her, within grabbing distance, but did not touch her...yet. "So, then what would we do?"

Or rather, what I do? You guys on the other hand....eheheheh!

Bane Skamour

"Simmer down, Hotshot," Okay, now that would've been a clever pun if the dandy man knew anything about his powers. "I only seek what hand you've played in this whole affair." And he he was good with his puns as well. He still kept his gaze locked on his form, checking for any surprise attacks. The small gathering had heard the explosion automatically and alerted them to the scene. God damn it all...

"HOLD!" came a surprising booming voice from the leader of the Chikyuu no Mirai. "Now, wait! Just hold on. There's too much commotion going on. It's starting to feel rather crowded here, quite honestly... So before we continue bickering and huffing and threatening each other, there are a lot of questions that still need answered. Like who all of you are and what you know about all these explosions that have been happening." Like hell he was going to hold. If any one of them made a step to attack him, he would definately retaliate. It was a natural ability of him: defenses. He hadn't failed to hold his own, even from the rare surprise attacks that weren't actually very surprising because robbers moved more loudly than a marching band.

I caused them...

It was the first words he'd heard from her yet...and it still revealed so much about her. He knew everything. Her name was Rin Hayashi. She was a very stubborn girl, but a very kind and shy one. She only wanted to do good for the world, so the fact that she caused this had been something of a surprise to him. It could only have been an accident.

How had he known all of this? He knew her. They were friends growing up together, separated for so long when he was sixteen...and she shows up again, three years later. It's a small world...

"Lady luck is smilin'." Now he definately didn't like that tone coming from dandy man. "Luck has delivered her straight to us. The cause of all this awesome destruction sits right before us. She has delivered unto us the Destroyer of Kuusou. So, then what would we do?" He was now behind her, close enough to touch.

I don't know about the rest of us, but you better be thinkin' about stepping away...

"Look, fate is fate, dandy man," Bane began. "But I can tell in your eyes what you're about to do and you better not do it. Rin Hayashi is just a simple girl with bad genetics. It's not her fault she's in this position." He paused for a moment, searching for more words. "Look, she's still unaware of herself. She wouldn't hurt someone without purpose. Maybe she can control her state. But killing her isn't the way to go." He directed that at the Shikaku leader. "Anything you do to her, I will unleash on you tenfold. And I make good on my threats." he said to the dandy man, not caring what the others thought of this. "So play your cards right..."

It was then that he saw the yellow-ish glimmer in Rin's eyes. He got into a more defensive stance, not just from the dandy man, but from Rin as well.

Rin slowly shook herself out of the awful trance that her mind went into. It was hard to think. The only thing she could think of was telling them what had happened. Her eyes widened as they went back to their black color. She looked at the man as he approached her and drew her sword and pointed it at him, keeping him away from her. She was terrified of what her life turned into.

"The Destroyer of Kuusou... That name sounds familiar. Tell me what you know." She said as she glared at the man. She needed to know. In such a short time, she grew to be a stranger to herself. Even as an enemy to herself. She had to learn what she could in the time she could.

"Look, fate is fate, dandy man, but I can tell in your eyes what you're about to do and you better not do it. Rin Hayashi is just a simple girl with bad genetics. It's not her fault she's in this position. Look, she's still unaware of herself. She wouldn't hurt someone without purpose. Maybe she can control her state. But killing her isn't the way to go. Anything you do to her, I will unleash on you tenfold. And I make good on my threats. So play your cards right..." The man said as she started to feel panicked. How did he know her name!? How could he act like he knew her?... But... the voice sounded so familiar... And he seemed to care about her well being.... She had to continue trusting him...

Rin wanted to explain herself... To say she didn't mean it, but she didn't even know if they would care. They would probably just write it off as a lie and attack her.

---

---

A painful gasp escaped Alizé's lips as she put a hand lightly to her head. Connecting her mind to that much pure energy was terrifying, but invigorating at the same time. She quickly shook away the feeling and tuned back into the conversation at hand.

"The Destroyer? That was just a dumb kids book. Completely fictio-....." She suddenly stopped and then thought for a bit before responding.

"Although, there was a big book on a shelf in the library at the base that was labeled "The Destroyer"... I just labeled it as just some more of that end of the world nonsense..." She finished as she took another smoke.

"Look, fate is fate, dandy man," Bane began. "But I can tell in your eyes what you're about to do and you better not do it. Rin Hayashi is just a simple girl with bad genetics. It's not her fault she's in this position." the young man in the tree spoke in defense of the girl. So her name was Rin Hayashi, was it? He continued. "Look, she's still unaware of herself. She wouldn't hurt someone without purpose. Maybe she can control her state. But killing her isn't the way to go." this time, it was painfully obvious he had directed his words towards Dianne. Fate didn't like that one bit - threatening her was about as dumb of a move he could pull right now, especially given the fact that he was alone, so to say. But Fate kept any irritation hidden while he watched the boy make a threat he couldn't follow up on to Fate himself, allowing him to establish an understanding of the relationship between this man and the Destroyer. He knew her name, and he definitely wanted to protect her, so she had to be a friend of his at the very least.

Good, he could use this later on.

"I can tell you're bluffing, but can you?" Fate chuckled in response. Such threats were given to him constantly, by more feared and respected people and yet, here he was today. Malcolm Swain didn't fear words. He used them to his advantage. "You'd best be able to win the hand if you're going all in. And right now, I don't think you can. Nor should you. Because I'm not so sure harming her is the best bet." it was then that he turned his attention back towards Rin, who had drawn her blade on him. He was just out of reach of her blade, so she probably felt more comfortable from him. Considering his goal wasn't to kill her, he didn't mind the distance a bit. His words were the weapon here.

"Sorry to keep a lady waitin." he began, now ready to address the subject that she had brought up. How ironic that she didn't know what the Destroyer was when she herself was that very same legend. It only made things more interesting. "But have you truly not heard tell of the Destroyer of Kuusou? Any children's book about it could tell you: You're here to kill us all..." he let it sink in for a moment before he then said, "Or so they say. I'm sure you can tell that there's one very obvious method to making sure you don't do that. To kill you, don't cha think?" Fate extended his arm to his side and dropped about eight playing cards, which then circled around him as if he had a gravitational pull, but that's all they did. "But you see, I'm sure there's a way we can prevent such a tragedy from happening without losing one hand. Surely your power isn't uncontrollable."

At this point, some might think he was leaning towards the Chikyuu's thought-process. That is, until he continued with, "Or they'd claim to. 'Harness your talent' could easily just be a rewording of any number of things. But ultimately, it'd just mean you were a prisoner without even knowing it. And would your abilities really be put to good use? You could end up harming innocent people under the guise of saving others, when you'd be establishing a position of power above others. You'd be playing right into their hands."he shot a glare at none other than Chikyuu's leader, as if he was telling someone something the other party didn't want them to know. Fate was reasonably sure that they would't do that, but Fate couldn't manipulate events if they kept her under heavy watch. At least not without a high risk, and since his task meant that she had to trust him (willingly or not), he needed as much time as possible near her. So, he had to make both sides look bad.

"I don't see a profitable outcome for you, miss. Not with the Shikaku, and not with the Chikyuu No Mirai. Your life would either be a burden, or uselessly spent." Now, Fate's eyes seemed to lock onto Rin's, a soothing blueish glow that made things seem calmer. This situation, his voice -- they'd all seem much less tense or rough than they truly were. After all, nobody could completely resist his charm. "You can either fold, or..." he smirked. "You can make a contract with me and become a magical girl! decide your own destiny...and I never bluff about such things." he then struck a courteous bow, and held his hand out for her to take as an offering.

It wasn't safe for this woman to be in Fate's care the whole time, but he couldn't do anything if she were dead or with the Chikyuu. So, that left one party left. One who would keep her well-being intact, but wasn't affiliated with an entire group, making it impossible to reach her. Fate'd make sure she got to him.

"...But killing her isn't the way to go." There were two men with cards here, but, the one that wasn't Malcolm Swain had just offended them.
"How did you get the idea that we were going to KILL her?" As soon as Aurelie finished speaking, she had her sword drawn, and was lunging at the man.
"Attendez!" Dianne leapt infront of the man, and parried Aurelie away from hitting anyone.
"Restez pour maintenant. Senseless fighting isn't what we need right now." Dianne barked, putting her weapon away.

"We are not here to kill anyone." Dianne said, directing it to Bane and Aurelie. "Everyone needs to find a way to decide this, besides just some savage bloodbath. This is the destroyer for god's sake!"

"Dianne, you're scaring the poor child. But no more than this man." His voice was again calm. He took a slightly aggressive stance and approached Fate in an attempt to pull his focus from the girl. "I do not know if she is what you are calling the 'destroyer.' But even if she is, nothing says she's meant to destroy the world, just that it's possible." He kept his physical focus on Fate but turned his head to Rin.

"If you did cause the explosion, you must be frightened. You have a power many will want to use or abuse or even destroy. You can't trust anything any of us say, even me, right now. So all I will tell you is this. Find someplace safe. You can't make any decisions when we're all calling on you like this. The only real advice I can give, until, if, we're able to talk again, is run. Keep running until no one can find you."

His eyes began to change color as he stared at her, occasionally his eyes darting back and forth to the others looking for movement."And you better run fast, girly. Because nowadays, there'll always be someone chasing you."

"But have you truly not heard tell of the Destroyer of Kuusou? Any children's book about it could tell you: You're here to kill us all..." The man said as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. But... she was the one who destroyed half of her own town. She tried to deny it, but her voice wouldn't allow it. She was terrified. What would she be able to do if she trained that power?

"Or so they say. I'm sure you can tell that there's one very obvious method to making sure you don't do that. To kill you, don't cha think?" The man said as her gaze hardened.

"But you see, I'm sure there's a way we can prevent such a tragedy from happening without losing one hand. Surely your power isn't uncontrollable. Or they'd claim to. 'Harness your talent' could easily just be a rewording of any number of things. But ultimately, it'd just mean you were a prisoner without even knowing it. And would your abilities really be put to good use? You could end up harming innocent people under the guise of saving others, when you'd be establishing a position of power above others. You'd be playing right into their hands." the man said as he shot a glare at the man who stopped them all earlier.

"I don't see a profitable outcome for you, miss. Not with the Shikaku, and not with the Chikyuu No Mirai. Your life would either be a burden, or uselessly spent." he stated as his eyes slowly made her grow slightly calmer and her golden essence whipped out again and stayed around her.

"You can either fold, or..." he smirked. "You can make a contract with me and decide your own destiny...and I never bluff about such things. he said as he held out his hand. The smirk on his face put her off though.

"I don't trust you in the slightest. So no, I don't believe I will." She stated bluntly as a laugh escaped a woman's mouth and she quickly covered her mouth to stop.

"Apparently I'm not the only woman to turn you down." The lady said with a smirk before Rin's attention was brought to the two people looked the same. The woman lunged at the man who Fate gestured to earlier. The other "Twin" stopped her and tried to calm them all down.

"We are not here to kill anyone. Everyone needs to find a way to decide this, besides just some savage bloodbath. This is the destroyer for god's sake!" She yelled as Rin flinched. She didn't like that name at all.

"Dianne, you're scaring the poor child. But no more than this man." he said as he approached the man from earlier.

"I do not know if she is what you are calling the 'destroyer.' But even if she is, nothing says she's meant to destroy the world, just that it's possible." he said again as her head started to spin. There were too many sides to choose from! Who could she trust!? Suddenly the man looked at her.

"If you did cause the explosion, you must be frightened. You have a power many will want to use or abuse or even destroy. You can't trust anything any of us say, even me, right now. So all I will tell you is this. Find someplace safe. You can't make any decisions when we're all calling on you like this. The only real advice I can give, until, if, we're able to talk again, is run. Keep running until no one can find you."

Rin stared blankly as she thought over her options, not giving any emotion to show anyone what she thought. Suddenly, her mind was made. Her essence quickly formed a wall between her and the others and she quickly took off, taking the mans advice. She couldn't trust anyone there.

Bane Skamour

Suddenly, everyone was talking. They all were trying to get Rin on their side. The way Bane Skamour saw it, all of them wanted to use her to their benefit. The Shikaku wanted to kill her, the Chikyuu no Mirai wanted to control her to their bidding, and God knows why Dandy Man wanted her . He had to talk to her alone. He wanted to know what she wanted. He only wanted the best for her (and for everyone else to beat it.)

He whistled, shrilly. It pierced the air all around them, cutting through the noise like a hot knife through butter. He had noticed that the glint in her eyes had receded momentarily, so if there was a time to talk to her, it was now.

"STOP! ALL OF YOU!" his voice boomed over everyone elses, most likely making them stop and listen. He then turned to Rin, but she was gone. Damn all of you...

"Okay, you all need to stop and let her think for a while. She will come back when she's made her decision on what to do. We can only let her. In the meantime, I suggest you all leave me in peace because I'm not a people person anymore and I only help the closest of friends. So be gone before I decide to change my lawn's color to blood red..." his empty threat was meant to be a mood changer and his tone showed it: he really didn't want to slaughter any of these people, no matter how bad their personalities were. He just wanted to b left alone and at peace.

Matthew was already gone.

For the first time, he felt excited. This girl was powerful. She would surely attract a lot of those Blasted Shikaku members. When he realized that it was Fate who was talking to that girl, he got a little concerned - they knew each other, Fate and he; they were on a... "truce of mutual interest". However, when he got the girl to run instead of handing her over the Shikaku, he sighed in relief and set out after her, continuing to follow her.

Fate wore a dissatisfied frown on him in the face of the rejection that the woman threw at him. Not because he wasn't expecting it, not because it put a dent in his pride, not because it would make his overall goal harder to achieve, but because it's what the others wanted to see. It was a show and nothing more. Nothing about this outcome had been surprising to Fate. In fact, he predicted her reaction rather well. Everything was going according to his plan, and nobody but himself new that.

As she prevented people from following her with a wall (Or so she thought. If he had wanted to, walls couldn't really do much against someone with the ability to teleport), he let out a "tch" as if annoyed by her retreat - as if it wasn't something he wanted in the first place. He then moved his glowing blue eyes up to Alize, as he pretended to recover his cool that he hadn't lost in the first place. "Simply means I get more time with you, Alize. After all, you're one of a kind." he chuckled. She probably knew that that meant he was going to do his best to get back at her. And he would, not out of anger, but out of boredom. While he wasn't manipulating events, it was always fun to do what he could to screw with her. Childish? Maybe. Fun? Sure. Necessary? Absolutely.

Soon, the man cowering in the tree had spoken. A threat again, but this time, his bluff was obvious. Intentionally, maybe. Either way, it wouldn't matter to Malcolm, who now needed to make an appointment with someone else. Rin could wait, since his role in this was going to be on a temporary hold for now. He had alliances to forge and scenes to be behind. So many things to do, so little time and no room for errors. If things were to go his way, he couldn't allow any mistakes on his half or anybody else's. That's why he needed to predict events before they happened, as well as people too. Shikaku members wouldn't be hard: he had time to gauge what they would do in a given situation. Especially Dianne. Assuming things was foolish, but necessary in the case of the Chikyuu No Mirai. Playing cards was something Fate was a master at; people wouldn't be much harder. Speaking of.... he wasn't in the tree anymore - his target. He had moved on, presumably to follow Rin. Now was the time to confront him.

"I guess it's time for me to leave then. In fact, I'm already gone." with a smirk, the cards circling around him lowered their orbit to his feet and began spinning more rapidly, until Fate disappeared inside of them. He was no longer near the gathered crowd, but instead a lot closer to Rin. Not that she was his target at the moment. He set his sights for someone else, and when that man leaped to another tree, in pursuit of Rin, he tossed a charged card right at the man. Well, his shoulder, to be precise.

Matthew felt a charged projectile enter his right shoulder as he hopped from branch to branch. Feeling the card make a small explosion, Matthew winced - it had exploded right in the middle of a jump.

Quickly gathering his bearings, Matthew grabbed a smaller branch before swinging himself up and perching himself once more, this time turning to the man who had thrown that card even as his shoulder regenerated from Rheingold. There was only one person that could be.

"...would you please stop that?" he asked in a more annoyed instead of hostile tone. "If you wanted my attention, Fate, you could decide to just, you know, tap me on the shoulder instead of doing something that would send a normal person to the hospital?"

Fate laughed at his annoyed response. Nothing more fun than calling someone's attention by hitting them with a card. At least, not to Fate. Well... Alize was always a barrel of fun, so maybe he wouldn't be entirely truthful if he said that. "What's wrong? Feelin' blue?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer. He wanted to get right down to business. "Anyway, I got a proposition for ya, if you're interested. But why don'tcha come down hear so I don't have ta yell at ya? Wouldn't want to reveal the hand I'm playing to someone else before it's dealt." Fate made it clear that he wasn't going to say much more until he did so.

Matthew sighed and jumped off the branch, landing in front of Fate. "...I have a feeling I know what you're about to say." he sighed. "It concerns the girl, doesn't it?"

There really was no other explanation on why Fate would try to talk to him now of all times. That man did promise that he wouldn't get in the way of Matthew, even if he was in the middle of attacking Shikaku members, so long as he left the leader alone. While the leader was the one he wanted to give a good punch to the most, he decided it was an ok deal if it meant getting this annoyance off of his trail; at least temporarily.

"You're brighter than you look, kid." Fate had said, acknowledging the fact that his proposition involved the young woman Matthew was just chasing. "Which is why I can see us being partners in crime, so to say." Malcolm then elaborated. "As I'm sure you know by now, after my splendid performance, what that young woman is is the possible destroyer anything and everything. Or, as the Shikaku might label her: A 'liability'. You can understand what that means, I'm sure you can. So, how about you help me with something selfish, and I'll do the same?"

It was simple, really. Fate hadn't tried to butter his words up, so it would be obvious he reworded, "Hey, can I use you?" to even Matthew himself. But Malcolm wasn't worried about him getting upset or declining because of an obviously hidden ulterior motive for this partnership. In fact, it'd make things simpler if Matthew understood that. Fate was a selfish man and that wasn't something he bluffed about. It wasn't something people wouldn't know. You could tell just by how he acted and did things. That was part of who he was. So, why try to hide that when discussing a partnership? They each had something to gain out of it, and that's all that really mattered.