Flower Shop

Rokkskar

Regaining consciousness, Skar was more than a little pissed to be woken up; by many poking fingers. At least it was better than knives, but still, don't mess with someone who's 6" 6' with claws and fangs.

Snarling at the top of his lungs, Skar lashed out suddenly, his claws searching for something to maim or wound; or at least, to instill fear into the hears of these stupid people. Leaping to his feet, growling in his native tongue, Skar stood battle-ready; if it was an enemy he would more than gladly sink his teeth into their delicious flesh. If it wasn't.. Skar hadn't planned that far yet.

Charles sat on the ground, brought back to life for no apparent reason.

"I say, how dare you stomp on me! I am your greatest friend no doubt, and as such-"

Squish. Poor Charles.. stuck in a vicious cycle..

Mr. Thorren

Opening the door, Mr. Thorren was surprised to see a strange figure; who looked a lot like a flower. Flowers coated her clothing, and a gigantic one was worn on her back. Puzzled, he searched for any tape or glue that might be attached to the clothing. There wasn't any. This made the giant man grin with delight; someone who was part-flower, and looked a lot like a customer. Mr. Thorren didn't care at all whether or not she might've been an enemy or not; she embraced flowers as much as he did, and was okay in his book. Bowing down before the woman, Mr. Thorren beckoned her inside.

"Welcome to my humble flower shop.. please, feel free to look around. Don't worry, none of the plants will bite. Well, except for Herbert in the corner there, but that's a different story all together.."

Mr. Thorren kept rambling on like this for a couple minutes.. talking about what plant was what, what name he had given it, and even how old it was - extremely accurate, right down to the hour of the day it was "born"*. Any hard feelings he had about this place were long gone.

"See anything you like?"

{*As in, the day the seed sprouted. Which is pretty damn amazing.}

Rokkskar

At the sight of the strange creatures, Skar realized how hungry he actually was. He drooled at the sight of these delicous morsels, rushing up to two of them and lowering his claws onto their poor skulls; licking his lips and grinning.

"Me think strange creatures look tasty. Don't fight it, it'll be over soon."

Skar looked down at the corpse of the olive, hoping to whatever gods he prayed to back in Naeradia that it would stay dead for a while. It didn't.

"I shall not let you harm these innocent.. things. They look all cute and cuddly.. But, if you are going to continue to hurt people, I think I am just going to leave. Tally ho, hairy man!"

And with that, Charles floated away from the beach; somehow growing in size, and donning a monocle and a top hat. Strange.. But Skar was finally free of the little bugger. At least, for now. But enough about that, now was the time to feast..

Mr. Thorren

Mr. Thorren stared questioningly at the woman - and then he noticed the X's on the back of her hands. Exactly like the ones he wore on his. So she's a Tested.. but what did she mean by "in my stead"?

"Excuse me.. but what exactly do you mean? The X's on the back of your hands means you're a Tested but.. don't tell me you got promoted.. But.. you don't seem the type to.." His voice trailed off. "..kill."

Mr. Thorren backed off warily of the woman. Even though her personality showed she would NEVER kill anyone, it might be a trick. He was confused as hell, but her love of flowers would mean that he'd be unable to harm her if it was.. This isn't good..

{There, Charles has "walked" away from Skar for now, so he gets to go have his own little misadventures. :3}

Rokkskar
~~Random Body of Water~~

Enraged that part of his dinner dared to bite back, Skar took the colossal axe off his back, and heaved it over his shoulder - aimed towards one of the very brave (or very stupid) creatures. Hopefully it will connect, because these things were annoying as hell. Though they kind of reminded him of those worthless villagers from Naeradia.. except these were white and short. And even more delicious than those damn humans ever were.

"Stay still. It'll only hurt for a second.."

Mr. Thorren
~~Flower Shop~~

"...I believe you." Mr. Thorren relaxed. He had nothing to fear after all. But he still had a couple more questions for her.

"Do you wish to take one of these plants home? I know there is probably a lack of money in this place so I'll let you take one free of charge. Though it's probably really hard to decide between all of them.. they're all so lovely.."

Mr. Thorren bent down to stroke the leaves of a nearby plant. Ended up being Herbert, a Dragonweed plant (which are known to eat human fingers), so it lashed out towards his meaty fingers. Hey! Mr. Thorren needs those, you know!

Charles
~~Park~~

"My, my, my.. what a strange little park this is. So many interesting plants.. Oh! I do believe I see some more people over there!" Charles chattered away at himself.

Noticing a bench and a few "people" crowded around it, he decided to float over towards them, waving the hand he did not have.

"'Ello! My name is Charles, and I would like to be your friend! This place is probably dangerous and whatnot, but I do believe having friends lessens the danger. So, what do you say? Care to give a poor talking olive a hand?"

Charles really hoped he wasn't going to get squished again.

Rokkskar

For the brief moment that Skar had of feasting on delicious flesh, he has loving this new world. But something snapped him out of his trance - a voice that scared the creatures more than he ever did. Could this be the Arella they were talking about? Skar licked the blood off his hands as he pondered this thought.. kind of missing Charles in an odd, olive-missing kind of way.

Mr. Thorren

Mr. Thorren was surprised to hear this news. Here was one of Them, asking to share his home (The second floor of the flower shop was like a glorified apartment.) in exchange for helping his beautiful flowers. A complete stranger, but being the friendly person Mr. Thorren is, he agreed to her terms.

"That sounds like a great idea! Just give me a few minutes to make some room for you upstairs.."

And with that, the hulking behemoth sped upstairs, still shocked about the situation.

Charles

"I say, you look like a very friendly sort of.. uh.. person. It is a pleasure to meet you." Charles graciously "bowed" before the rabbit.

He obviously wasn't squished yet so he was happy.

Rokkskar
~Random Body of Water~
{You can't arrest the Manbear, because if you do, there's no more Charles. D:}

Skar stood paralyzed before the angel; he definetly did NOT want to become one of those things.. but he did not have any money. OH SHI-

"Skar does not have any money.. but Skar could always do something in exchange.. A trade of sorts. Just don't turn Skar into one of those.. things."

He really hoped that the angel would be forgiving. Oh Charles, where for art thou Charles?

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren tripped on the final step; smashing his head on the wall and punching his fist through a window. Ow.

"RAAAGH! THAT ****ING HURT." he yelled, clutching his bloody hand. He made a beeline for the bathroom, grabbing as many bandages and cloth as he could and wrapped it around his now very colourful hands. A lone tear went down Mr. Thorren's cheek. Why the hell was he crying? But looking back towards the window, he was more than a little pissed; uncontrollably hurling a lightning bolt towards the window. Blowing part of the wall off in the process. That's great way of getting ready for guests, now isn't it?

Charles
~Park~

"Ah. Good to see there's still some lovely people like you in the world, old bean. But alas, I believe I must go. My master is in a spot of trouble, you see.. I might not like him that much, but he brought me into this beautiful world and I really don't want to leave. Tata, Mr. Bunny!"

And with that, Charles sped off towards the Random Body of Water, searching for his hairy and murderous friend. Whether or not anyone followed he didn't care; he needed to help his master. Not sure how you help against that cold-hearted bitch Arella, but Charles was going to try. Negotiating was his specialty.

Charles, Charles, Charles.. ditching your new friend to go to your old friend you ditched earlier.. that's despicable.

Rokkskar
~Random Body of Water~

Rokkskar was about to say something, but a certain little friend of his popped in instead.

"I say, madame. Why are you being so mean and cruel to those innocent little creatures? What did they ever do to you? I mean, just look at them.. do they look like the type to harm you? No, they do not. They look like the type that you'd cuddle and.. Oh dear god! What on Earth happened to this one?! Why is there so much blood?! Mr. Manbear, did you do any of this?" rambled Charles.

Skar nodded towards the olive. An apologetic sort of nod, that says he got a little annoyed at being hungry and woken up the way he did. Luckily, Charles forgave him.

"Were all human. Wait, ahh.." Charles decided to rephrase his sentence, "Nobody's perfect. Now lets put all of this behind us, shall we? I believe I need to apologize to a friend I made in the park a couple minutes ago anyways."

Whether or not the not-very-angelic angel would listen to the olive was a different story..

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren snapped out of his rage.

"...Don't worry, I'm fine!" shouted Mr. Thorren, now cleaning up the pools of blood he had conjured up; and also dousing the few flames that had sprouted around the area his lightning bolt hit.

After he had finished, he decided to walk back down the stairs - now wearing an assortment of gay and manly material wrapped around his hand. Mr. Thorren noticed that ANOTHER person had come to his store. But because he just exploded a wall.. he decided to go open the door and apologize.

"Err.. sorry about that. Had a little misunderstanding with a window." Mr. Thorren explained, holding up his still bleeding hand, and then beckoned the woman into the store - clasping his hands together, "Now, I take it you are here for a plant, yes? We have several to choose from, for instance.."

Mr. Thorren was back to his old self again, rambling on about the flowers names and age and blah blah blah.. A strange man, Mr. Thorren is.

Rokkskar
~Random Body of Water~

Skar wasn't sure what Charles was doing; doesn't he know who this person is? But then again, being a fresh olive in the world tends to make you forget things. But whatever it was, he somehow managed to get the usually grumpy angel to laugh. Good thing he read that 'About Us' thing..

"Why, no I don't, madame. And I most definetly am not messing with you. Now, tell me, what DID these poor souls do?"

Good boy, Charles, just keep stalling while Skar thinks of a good plan.. or how to even pay Arella back for those Chillies Skar killed. The manbear thought to himself.

Silly manbear, don't you know that Charles is the master at stalling? And he doesn't even know he's doing it..

But, without knowing it, the silly manbear brought ANOTHER life form into this world; Cracka Jack the Big Mac. A gangsta sammich. That wears sunglasses.

"WASSUP DAWGS! Masta Cracka Jack in da HOWSE! This shindig be cracklin' red, hot and spiceeeeehhh!" were the first words out of its mouth.

This Oress is getting sillier all the time..

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren was very surprised at this revelation; here he was, standing by two plant lovers just like him. This day keeps getting better and better..

However, he really was wondering what was up with Flyri and her huge smile, standing all creepily behind the other woman. In his dirty old mind, Mr. Thorren thought of something really dirty for a second - but then quickly zapped that thought out of his head. Silly old Canadian..

(Flower Shop)

"Name's Larya Tayl! Pleasure to meet you!" she laughed, shaking his hand with quite a bit of force. "This is a pretty cute shop you got here, man. Be a shame if somethin' happened to it, you pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?"

MEANWHIIIIILE~

Flyri took a deep breath and closed her eyes momentarily, as if focusing. Opening them again, she spoke:

"Okay, first things first. The old Oress Holders...they aren't gone. They're here, right now, but you can't see them. No one can, not even Us. That's because they're there," she poked Kim-Ko's Oress, "Inside of their Oress... In a sense, anyways. Part of their souls are there, with the other part being trapped in a limbo beyond limbo. It's difficult to explain. Obviously there are a few exclusions, such as myself, but otherwise...well, basically, they weren't given the option to move on. they weren't even given the option to participate in this Competition..."

~~~~~

(The Park)

Bunny looked down at Cracka Jack's delicious corpse. :3

"Hmm. That's kind of disturbing. But I like it! Never deny a cheez burger!" he said. Just like that, Jack was gone. Bunny didn't even open his mouth! But that's the Bunny way, so you know. :3

~~~~~

(Random Body of Water)

With that, Arella vanished into thin air. The moment she did, the Chillies sprang back into action, now throwing their comrades at Skar as if they were cannonballs. So it's like, what, fast food? Psssh.

~~~~~

(Umbra's Mansion)

"Oh, I see. In that case, their corpse would have to be in the Test Reality...which is unlikely for two reasons. One, you were all brought here yesterday, so none of the angels or whatever would've had a chance to die here. Two, Tested don't have corpses. Because of our high soul content, we just vanish into thin air at death. You could attempt to use Neren to summon their corpse, but you'd need more experience to do something like that.

"Speaking of bodies, these bodies actually are your original bodies, albeit highly edited. Remember, They aren't gods. They're completely incapable of creating things out of nowhere, except maybe at Their place of residence. All They could do was drag you guys out of the reincarnation cycle, get some people to change the behavior of your soul, and stick you here."

Wait a second. Reincarnation cycle? Holy shit, all of you guys are dead?! When did that happen?! You sure as hell don't remember dying before you got here. Assuming that was common knowledge, Umbra continued without pause.

"Also, yes, non-Oress Holders participate as well. However, as far as I've been told, the only new participants are all Oress Holders. The rest of us were present in the second Competition. As for the Creator...hell if I know. They don't even know who the Creator is. Really, we're just assuming that there is a Creator. Someone had to make Entirety, right? On that note, They aren't even sure if They're the highest beings around. For all we know, there could be millions of ranks above Them. If there are, thought, no one's ever been contacted by them. So, They're just the highest beings we actually know about."

~~~~~

(Doll Shop)

There was a silence. It was short, but definitely noticeable.

"Of course we will. It's inevitable, especially in our case." Tintra spoke up again, surprisingly. "But in the end, even if we don't do any killing, it's always nice to have someone to stand by. Someone who'll have your back, wherever you are and whenever you need it. I think that's our alliance's true purpose."

~~~~~

(Ritzy Apartment Building)

There was a sile---wait, whoa, deja vu.

Everyone's mood seemed to fall a bit; Fray even stopped being distracted by Charteuse. After a minute or two of exchanged awkward glances, Fray decided to explain.

"They're all gone. They had to leave..." she said solemnly. "Halyn, Niya, and Verity were all Manipulators, and all of the Manipulators were pretty much sent away at the end of the last Competition..."

"B-But!" Lun jumped in, "We still have Narelle and Umbra! They could probably explain it all!"

"Yeah, but Narelle kind of closed herself off from society. I'm not even sure where she is." Dicro reminded him. "Oddly enough, though, I think we'd have better luck asking Umbra than Narelle, anyways."

"Weeeird." Lun said, complete with Twilight Zone-esque sound effects.

Rokkskar
~Random Body of Water~

Rokkskar froze. At the revelation on who was behind him, Skar nearly pissed himself - had he been able to that is. He quickly span around towards Sprinkles and knelt down before him, staring into his "gorgeous" eyes.

"Skar is terribly sorry, Master Sprinkles. Skar is an idiot for walking away from you. Skar apologizes with apologetic apologies."

What was the manbear going on about? Who knows, he was in fear of what would happen to him if he didn't show proper manners. Apparently this thought conjured up another creature from Sumai.

"Hiya! I'm Harold the Dancing Banana!" it exclaimed, dancing an Irish jig then turning it into a sexy strip dance where it peeled his skin off then promptly burst into flames and exploded. All of the banana guts landed on Skar; he had to make sure they didn't go on the beach or on Sprinkles. Skar could now control how his creations died. Odd.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren was glad she was gone, he could now attend to his new customers, heading off towards the stairs. He took a look at both of them from the top of the stairs. One of them was on fire. This could go bad..

"WHY THE HELL IS THERE A FLAMING ANIMAL IN MY STORE??? GET IT OUT!!!" he roared, grabbing the Thunderhammer from out of his bedroom. Mr. Thorren LOATHES fire. Yes.

It is advised that the flaming creature run insanely fast out of the store. Otherwise.. squish.

Charles
~The Park~

"A Cafe, you say? I say, that would be a lovely idea to go there, Mr. Bunny :3. Lead the way!" Charles nodded in an olivey fashion.

But Charles noticed the robot checking him out - in a non-sexual way hopefully - and decided to go off and greet him.

"I say, you're on odd little fellow, what is your name, my metallic friend?" he questioned.

Spark looked at her. "I have 10 dollars..." he paused, searching his pockets again. All he got after that was three huge balls of lint (of course), his lucky moldy sandwich, and a quarter. "Yeah. That's all I got."

Meanwhile, Cinda was at least 25 feet away from the store. She really didn't know where else to go, plus, she was waiting to see if something would blow up or burst into flames.

(Bah. Short post is a fail.)

"But... I need that cash!" Spark whined. "Ugh... For what? You used up the other 10 while playing Pac Man the other day..." Cinda had come back into the store.

"SHHHH! Don't say that!" Spark covered her mouth. That right there was a pretty bad idea, since she bit him almost right away. "OW!" "But seriously. That right there shows how much you fail." Cinda told him.

"Uh......" Spark was trying to come up with a comeback. That's gonna make his brain blow up if he thinks too long. "YOUR MOM."

".... Say that again. I dare you." Cinda told the electric rat quietly, and there was obviously fire in her eyes. You could totally see it.

"HOLY SHIT." Spark was curled up in a corner crying. "DON'T HURT ME!"

I think we just saw the dark side of Cinda. Or not. It might be even worse than that. We'll never know.

Mr. Thorren
~The Door of the Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren loomed over the fiery rat, with godlike rage in his eyes.

"Get.. OOOUUUUUUTTTTT!!!"

And so, the gardener attempted to punt Cinda out the window. Delicious.

{Skar and Charles post-poned until further notice. :3}

Cinda quickly dodged the punt, running out the door at full speed. "NFVBDFKJHJXOIAFBZNBJHCNSHVBHVHGFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"

"Lolololololololololol... I'm hungry." Spark looked at his sandwich. He wasn't sure wether to eat it, or go look for a hot dog. He could eat the sandwich, but... it's his, uh.... lucky "charm", it would be kinda gross, and if he eats it, expect his breath to smell bad for a while. Seriously. And he may be burping occasionally, too, so that's even worse.

Spark looked at her. "So you're saying that stealing's good?" Oh geez. He's actually listening to someone for once.

Meanwhile...

Cinda was sitting outside of the Flower Shop, bored. "Well, I could go to That One Cafe, but I seriously doubt anyone's here... And I don't know if I'll get kicked out of the Doll Shop. What about that Graveyard? ... Nah." Wow, she's talking to herself, AND she can't make up her mind.

Spark quietly followed Larya. So, people are selfish, huh?

Meanwhile, outside the shop...

"This is boring, I'm going to the Cafe. I need coffee anyways." Cinda ran off at full speed to look for That One Cafe.

Skar/Charles

The pair continued running, until they got to the Random Body of Water. Where they greeted Sprinkles and then collapsed, snoring. They were tired as hell and would probably sleep the entire night. If Chillies weren't going to come around and poke him. Then there would be more bodies on Sprinkles' beach.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"Come, this way." Mr. Thorren beckoned them up the stairs to the second floor; where a very noticeable hole stood.

The hole was about 6 feet by 6 feet. It was big. If that's how much it did from that little of anger, what would EXTREME PISSED OFF RAGE be?

He wondered if it snows or rains in the Test Reality. If it rained, it would thunder. If there was thunder, there was lightning. If someone were to attack his shop during a bout of weather like that, he'd be unstoppable. Seriously.

{Shortest post of mine yet. Oh noes, silly parents and their curfew's..}

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

":D"

Mr. Thorren starts doing his own little dance of joy, which ends up being Michael Jackon's Thriller dance. He fails miserably when he tries to moonwalk, and trips over the Thunderhammer; where he blows another 6 foot hole in the wall - but he managed to fall through this one. And so he went barreling towards the ground; where a unconveniently placed pipe - which managed to be standing upright in the middle of nowhere - sat inconspicuously. His only option was to scream a manly scream to get the attention of Flyri and Kim-Ko so they could try and save him from a most certain near-fatal wound.

What was his manly scream, you may ask?

"OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..."

Yeah. I'd be saying that too. With a few other words in there as well.

Shut up me.

Skar/Charles
~DREAM WORLD~

Skar dreamt manbear dreams. Sumai spoke to him about you failed your mission bla bla bla I'll give you one more chance bla bla bla Kill the weakened ones bla bla bla... But what surprised Sumai, is that Skar spoke back to him.

"Suck Skar's non-existant balls, sir."

Charles, on the other hand, dreamt about toast. Demon toast. And gigantic pieces of meat that wore sunglasses and danced ballet-style. Was this a premonition?

Kim-Ko
[[The Flower Shop]]

The hole continued to patch up, until Kim-Ko heard another loud crash. She opened her eyes and saw Mr. Thorren fall through the hole that he just made, again. Not thinking, but apparently at the same time was thinking, Kim-Ko suddenly made one of the vines that was patching up the hole shoot towards the falling Norse wannabee-god and wrapped the vine around his ankle before he hit the pipe. Then the vine slowly began retracting, bringing Mr. Thorren back up.

"A-a-are you...are you o-o-okay?" she asked worringly.

"Wha...how did I m-manage to react like that?" she thought to herself quietly.


[[No Charteuse cause no GSG]]

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren had his life flash before his eyes.

His constant battle-cries when people would rob his store, where he would then smash their kneecaps in with a hammer.. Flowers.. Old ladies who were really "friendly".. Flowers.. Getting a medal of honor.. Flowers.. Flowers.. and his pet cat Loki. He wondered if his cat was dead by now..

But then a vine grabbed his leg. Stopping him from an an almost uncertain death.

"T..t..han-" Mr. Thorren fainted.

How exactly did the vines not break from his weight? We may never know..

Skar/Charles
~NIGHTMARE IN DREAMLAND!~

Skar continued to argue with Sumai, calling him some pretty vulgar and obscene things.

Charles continued to have a might-be-a-premonition-but-it-could-also-be-a-dream dream. Racist unicorn-dolphins - also known as narwhals - made out of apples. A Jello version of Skar. A giant olive with six arms. A wall made out of olivelicious fists that shot out like rockets. A perverted tomato named Timothy. And finally.. a familiar face. Made of sizzling sandwichness. Delicious.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

The gardener's reaction to all of this was excessive snoring and talking in his sleep.

"Itty bitty wittle kitty havin' an itty bitty fitty." he chanted. The epitome of manliness.

Skar/Charles
~WHIRLED A DREAMER~

Skar continues arguing with Sumai bla bla bla.. But this time, he gets into a bla bla bla fist fight with him. Sumai's image in Skar's dream.. is a big fat guy with stains and crumbs EVERYWHERE on his body bla bla bla..

Charles continues dreaming about weird stuff - like candycorn vampires and apple pies with an obsession with murder. Yeah.

{Even shorter than my last shortest post! My next post.. Skar/Charles wake up. OH SHI}

Skar/Charles
~The Park~

The two disguised figures continued strolling along, right into the park. They completely ignored the two fighters stranded in frozen animation, but were unlucky enough to walk into Bunny and his entourage. Bunny would notice Charles right away, and probably Skar as well.

" I say, it's my old friend Bunny! How are you, my furry little friend?" Charles greeted Bunny with a hug, picking him up and squeezing him.

Skar cried a little on the inside. Charles obviously didn't know what 'be inconspicuous' means.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"..." Mr. Thorren twitched, then rat at Kim-Ko and gave her another Thor-hug, "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU..."

It went on like that for five minutes. I wonder if Kim-Ko could breathe?

Just like that, he stopped. He thought he should move the Thunderhammer before it did any more harm, so went back downstairs to hang it up on the wall behind the counter. He made it halfway through the room before his customer-senses tingled. Little did Mr. Thorren know, this person wasn't interested in any flowers.

Maybe.

The woman strolled over to Herbert, getting dangerously close to his plant-y face.

"Murderous, hm? He doesn't look that scary to me. ♥" she teased, going so far as to poke Herbert.

THIS BITCH BE CRAZY



Bunny said something along the lines of "don't worry about it, bro", but it all came out as jello-y mumbles. The rabbit proceeded to eat his way out of jello!Skar without even opening his mouth. Can't wreck that :3, you know. :3



Ara winced. Aita's explanation wasn't making things sound any better...but, of course, that was Aita in a nutshell! Ara missed Aita's silliness, so she decided to just deal with it.

"Wait, you just decided to call some stranger to take you adventuring through the Test Reality?! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!" Stan scolded, totally flabbergasted. That's such a great word.

"Stan's got a point." Umbra agreed. "I'm pretty sure most of the other Tested are going to think 'easy target' when they see a couple of little girls ambling around. Whether they're wrong or not, you're still going to end up getting attacked more often."

"Even with me around!" Stan nodded. Suddenly, he turned solemn. "Actually...especially with me around...people don't really like tentacle monsters..."

Stan buried his face in his tentacles, and Ara patted him on the back. Poor little tentacle monster. ):



Aracely calmed down very quickly...she actually seemed kind of relaxed, judging by her drooping eyelids.

A woman at a nearby table glanced over in their direction. Maybe it was because of the song, maybe it was because a frazzled Amity just stumbled in. Either way, that staring is kind of suspicious.



"Get creative!" Larya advised him, sitting on top of a shelf. "Don't just use boring old rocks...use some knives or something! Or a dinosaur!"



"Music store?" Lun looked at the thingy too. Soleil and the others had magically vanished into another part of the Mall by now. "Oh, right there! I've been there before." he commented, pointing to the area on the second floor.

"Yeah, Soleil goes there all the time to sell her stuff. We're regulars."



AND THEN IT BIT HER

"I guess we'd better find the person behind all of this! You saw you did it, right? What did they look like? What direction did they come from?"

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Herbert was much too evil to obey a simple thought from a simple person. He continued to bite down on the woman's finger, while Mr. Thorren went off to the counter to grab his Thunderhammer. Herbert had to be taught a lesson. Again.

"Bah. Your plant powers won't work on him. His willpower is too strong. But you can at least bring him back to life, right?" Mr. Thorren said to Kim-Ko.

Whether or not the woman was going to kill Herbert first.. is a different story.

Surprisingly, she just stood there, smiling at Herbert. Apparently the pain didn't faze her...in fact, it sort of looked like she did that on purpose. After a giggle or two, she started laughing. And this wasn't just some 'hahaha' laughing, God no. This was full-blown, 'holy shit what the hell is wrong with this chick' laughing.

"I love that! Quick, sudden, fierce, merciless! You don't waste any time, do you? What a wonderful plant you have here!"

Flyri, meanwhile, looked horrified.

"I know who that is...! She was the winner of the first Competition!" she whispered to Mr. Thorren and Kim-Ko.

Apparently Flyri wasn't being quiet enough, because the woman jerked her head back towards them as if this were some kind of horror movie. At this point, it probably will be.

"Ah, someone's done their research! Good job!"



Although Ara immediately jumped behind Umbra (she would've done that if Rokkskar was a sparkling fairy princess), Umbra herself didn't look threatened in the slightest. After all, she was just talking to a tentacle monster. Who knows what else she's talked to?

"Scuttlesworth! You were that manbear guy the whole time? Whoaaa! I never saw that coming! What a twist!" Bunny jumped, more out of amazement than fright. After all, Bunny fears nothing. :3



THEN FLO BLEW EVERYTHING UP

Lun led Charteuse over towards the music store, which was empty with the exception of a FLO and a weird green-haired girl who looked like she had no idea what she was doing.

"Hello!" the FLO greeted.



Durnam would find Soleil and the others near some random fountain, talking to a copper-clad boy(?) and a silver-clad girl(?). Hmm...suspiiiiiicious...



Larya looked at Spark's stash and gave him a thumbs up.

"All right! Now, all you have to do is...run! Run like the wind, don't look back!"



Fray(?) looked at Vers as if the answer were obvious.

"What are you talking about? I'm right h---" Tintra poked her, drawing her attention away from Vers, and whispered something.

"...Oh, right! I probably should've mentioned that I own Fray's soul." Not!Fray explained. "I usually use Fray's body for combat just because it's easier to move around in, but, uh...I can't return to my normal body. Since I switched over into her body downstairs, I can only re-materialize downstairs...sooo yeah."

So, wait! How do I refer to him...her...it...them?! Is it Fray, or is it Dicro, or is it still Fray(?), or is it...uh...aw, fuck it. I'll just say !Fray and 'her' or something. WHATEVER



"All right, then let's go!" FLO merrily skipped off towards Umbra's Mansion...but she was totally going to make Verity knock on the door. That place is all ominous and stuff!



"You, silly." the woman giggled. It wasn't really suspicious giggling...she sounded pretty lighthearted.

{{DAY 2?!}}

Flower Shop

Mr. Thorren's thunderous powers are quite unstable. Makes for interesting partnerships, because he just kept wrecking the shop. Repeatedly. How did he wreck it this time? Well, the window was lying half in the store, and half out of it. And it would probably alert a certain manbear to this location. Which wouldn't be good since Mr. Thorren is slightly immobile. Or was he?

The Park

"Ugh.. where the hell is that stupid store?!"
"I DON'T KNOW, SIR. BUT LETS KEEP LOOKING. IF WE SEE ANYTHING SUSPICIOUS, WE SHALL INVESTI-"

Boom. Window smashed. Lightning. Kill shop owner.

"..Are you ready, Charles?"
"I WAS BORN READ-"
"Bah. Don't use that overused line.. use something else."
"UHH.. OKAY."

Charles cleared his throat, and then ushered an amazing battle cry out of his olivelicious lips.

"FOR THE HORDE!"
"Needs work, but Skar will take it.. Let's do this."

Flower Shop

And so the pair ran over to the Flower Shop, and kicked the door down. Well, had Charles not punched it first. Skar just ended up falling off balance and onto his face. Mr. Thorren just stared at the two, past the image of Miss Winner.

"Soo.. I take it by the rude entry you're not here for flowers."
"..You are correct, shop keeper."
"HEY MASTER, LOOK AT THIS PLANT! IT'S SO COO-"

And then Charles became the third, and final, victim of Herbert the Devilflower. Because Charles promptly smashed it dead. Which was about the dumbest thing he could have done. Seriously.

"H-Herb..ert.." Mr. Thorren sat there in shock, which slowly turned to absolute rage. "Miss Winner.. please move out of the way. NOW."

The pissed gardener then stood up, even despite his injury - which really should have been healed by now. In his hand he held his hammer. In Skar's hand, was his axe. In Charles' hand, was his fist. He had a fist for his fist. Yeah.

Epic battle sequence INTITIATED!

"Get.. out.. of.. my.. STOOOOOOOOOORE!" roared the enraged shopkeeper.

Mr. Thorren swung his hammer in a downward motion towards the floor, causing a shockwave of lightning to completely destroy the entrance, as well as send both the manbear and the already floating olive flying out of it, onto the street. It also ended up killing an innocent little doggy. Aww..

"MASTER! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"
"..Kill."
"BUT SIR, LOOK WHAT THAT OLD FART CAN DO!"
"..And? Our mission is to kill. Not to be afraid. If you are having second thoughts, Skar will gladly get rid of you."
"Hmmph."

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Bam! Mr. Thorren's great Thunderhammer met with Charles' great fist. Charles' fist cracked. Oh shit. "You dare touch my flowers.. you will both die for this.. bastards."

What Skar did, caught Mr. Thorren completely off-guard; the foolish gardener had put his back to a murderous manbear, and he paid the price of a torn open back. Mr. Thorren fell to the ground, and noticed Skar swinging his axe down towards his face. Silly manbear. The gardener's reaction to this was a lightning bolt from the sky, which shocked Skar, causing him to drop his axe; which just missed Mr. Thorren's head. Put a hell of a cut in his shoulder though. He cursed, but quickly jumped back up, only to receive a fist to the side; but instead of being harmed by the fist, it merely shattered against his flesh in olive-y goodness.

"C..cha..rl....es.."

But, Mr. Thorren didn't count on Charles' fist growing back. So the fist still ended up shattering his non-existant ribs. The gardener collapsed; Skar prepared for an execution. And so did Mr. Thorren.

"Foolish gardener. When won't you just die? It would be so much easier."
"..Go.. to hell."
"Heh. This IS hell. And I am Satan."
"YEAH, GO SKAR GO!"

What Skar was planning was another lightning bolt from the sky. And then another. And another. And another. Charles exploded, splattering olive guts everywhere. Skar fell onto his back, bleeding from the lack of skin in most places. It got burned off, you see. But Mr. Thorren, without missing a beat, picked up his hammer.. and held over his head in a murderous fashion.

"YOU SHALL PAY, YOU DAMNED DIRTY BEAR! PREPARE TO DIE." he yelled, which would be [i]very[/] cleary heard by Flyri and Kim-Ko.

Oh no! You better save Mr. Manbear from becoming the first on the 'Dead List', guys! Because Mr. Thorren shows no sign of stopping.. after which he just promised to never kill anyone.

snap!

"Probably not...but I don't think we have any other choice unless we use the window..." Flyri glanced out the window, and all of the sudden THAT ONE OMINOUS CHICK

"Going somewhere, dears~?" Wait, wasn't she going up the stairs? How'd she get outside of the wind---

"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF" Flyri didn't waste any time in grabbing Kim-Ko's arm and attempting to drag her down the stairs. Apparently rage!Mr. Thorren is more pleasant to be around than Her.



"Wait, why does---" !Fray was about to ask a question, but Fray's enthusiasm was apparently so intense that she overrode Dicro's control.

"HOLY SHIT ROCKET LAUNCHER WANT WANT WANT WANT---"

For better or worse, Dicro snapped back in control before Fray exploded. I mean, it's good that she didn't explode...but that would've been the best Competition death ever.

"If you do make a rocket launcher, don't let Fray touch it. Ever."



"Oh, okay~! If you want, I can make some strawberry sammiches~!" Loret chimed from the main room, promptly making me miss Cel to death. ):>

Anyways, Durnam would find precisely what he was looking for because Castle Oress is convenient like that.




"That's correct, sir." Ara smiled, happy that people remembered her name. Once she was positive everyone was gone (except for FLO and Verity...FLO was asleep, and Verity...well, I guess Verity just gets lucky!), she suddenly became dead serious.

"Sir," the adorable loli began, voice much lower, colder and more mature than it was five seconds ago. "We need to talk. Regarding your employer."



"It's pretty simple, really. A person comes in, you give whatever you want to them - don't worry, they don't have opinions...only cash! - they pay you, they leave, you get to keep their money just because I'm nice. Sound cool?"

For real? Man, this job is going to be e---

"Also, if a Real person comes in here, you are to cater to their every whim...especially if they're one of Them. Whether they're here for music or not, you're to make sure they are completely satisfied. If I sense any dissatisfaction in the air when they leave..."

FLO made the 'off-with-your-head' gesture, complete with sound-effects.

"I'm going to go Tested on your ass."

):>

"THIS IS FOR HERBER-"

Mr. Thorren would then find himself getting punched again, in the back this time, which caused him to propel his hammer towards his back; thank god it wasn't his full strength. But it would would bruise it up pretty bad. But how? He killed Charles, and Skar was lying on the ground.. laughing.

"You let your guard down, shopkeeper." snarled the manbear, as he proceeded to jump up and slash Mr. Thorren across the chest.

"GOOD ONE, MASTER. NOW, LET'S FINISH HIM OFF!"

But Mr. Thorren wasn't done yet, no sir. The second he hit the ground he immediately jumped back up again, and swung his hammer again, attempting to hit Skar full force. The manbear was too busy laughing to dodge! D:

COME ON PLANT LADIES! STOP THE HAMMER!

"Heh, it seems we have a few extra 'guests'. That's our cue to leave, Charles."

Skar then turned himself into a grape, rolled away from the vines and changed back to his manbear self. He waved to his 'savior', and then moonwalked away from the rainy battlefield. Yeah.

Mr. Thorren.. he had collapsed onto his hand and knees and was whimpering away and crying manly Norse tears. Which have the consistency of ketchup, and the colour of honey. (Delicious!) What had come over him? Why did he almost kill someone?

"..W-wha..t... is wrong.. w-with.. m-me..ee..? Thi.. s.. was..n't.. supposed.. t-to.. happen.." Mr. Thorren then collapsed into a now-red pool of water - and blood - and uttered.. forgiveness? "I'm.. s-sorry.."

Well, he wasn't unconscious, but he still couldn't get up.

MEANWHILE..

Skar and Charles had finally arrived at their 'true' destination; Castle Oress. It was training time! After a rest in Skar's old room. Instead of going in through the front door, they climbed a nearby tree. And then Skar rested, whilst Charles kept guard in case any certain pyromaniacs came snooping around.

Day 2

Preston

"Ha... Ha..."

Preston had Yorito's body slung over his left shoulder and was going as fast as he could...

Slip.

Preston actually slipped and fell on the ground; Yorito's body went tumbling as well. But, there was still no response from Yorito. Preston wasn't all that surprised that he fell; although he didn't feel it, he was pushing his body to its limit. He wasn't physically strong, so carrying a body from the apartment building to the flower shop required a lot of his strength. Also, the shrapnel, freezing rain (not a good idea to wear a t-shirt and short pants while it's raining), Durnam's ice, and his bleeding right hand made things worse; fortunately, his hand was also slightly frozen from Durnam's ice, so not that much blood (or soul) was leaking out. However, it was still a significant amount of blood leaking out. In addition, he was displaying some of the moderate to severe signs of hypothermia and the flower shop was still some distance away. Nonetheless, Preston tried to stand up...

And, fell down again, face-flat.

He didn't notice it, but his whole body was violently shivering even when he was carrying Yorito; getting to the flower shop by himself would be a stretch, let alone getting there with Yorito. His legs were useless, now.

So what?

If he couldn't get there by walking, he would crawl. Preston's shivering left arm (his right was now useless) extended, his fingernails dug into the ground, and that pulled his body forward. It was a pitiful gesture, but he didn't care. He managed to get a decent amount of distance this way, before his fingernails got pulled off due to the strain; he could see the entrance of the flower shop.

"Ha... Ha..."

He was almost there. All he had to do was get inside. But, how? His legs and arms were useless... So, he used his teeth. Finally, he was under the porch and free from the freezing rain.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha..."

This was the end, though. This was the limit of the human named Preston Kim. He couldn't even think about anything. He couldn't even remember when he lost consciousness...

Yorito

Yorito woke up. He thought he heard a small voice, but he didn't hear it anymore. After he brushed himself off, he looked around.

"Preston? Hey, Preston!"

He was nowhere in sight; so, Yorito ran a bit ahead... Then, he noticed the faint trail of blood on the ground. Yorito followed the trail and saw...

"Preston!"

Yorito ran over to him and took a quick look; not good. Preston looked like he was going to die. So, how did Yorito shorten the distance between him and Preston so quickly?

To be honest, the distance that Preston covered while crawling wasn't that long. Preston crawled about six feet before passing out. Anyways, back to Yorito.

Conveniently, there was no door, so Yorito carried Preston's body with his arms and set him down on the floor inside. Then, he began exploring the interior of the flower shop, hoping to find something useful...

Mr. Thorren
~The Mall Exit.. which tragically just died~

Kaboom! The doors - and all the surrounding wall - were blown to pieces the same way the door of his Flower Shop was. He evaded the rubble and whisked himself out of the exit as it was tragically blocked for Flyri and Kim-Ko. The barrage of broken glass heading towards them wouldn't help much, either. But why would Mr. Thorren do this? Perhaps.. the overuse of his Oress.. what in the hell was it doing to him? And on another note, WHAT'S HIS PROBLEM WITH DOORS?!

~Outside the Flower Shop~

This was it, he was here. But.. it was now, that he finally noticed his impact on the store.. The various holes and smashed-ness of where his MAGICAL thunder-powers had struck. It was his fault, no one needed to feel any revenge.. except for that damned dirty manbear and blasted olive. But, that was for another time.

Mr. Thorren walked casually - and cautiously - towards the newly-remodled entrance. He peered inside his store, the lights overhead flickering, and noticed two bodies; one was unconcious, and the other was snooping around the store. Being the crazed fool he is, his entire attitude shifted to shopkeeper mode - he completely ignored Her as he bellowed a manly shopkeeper's greeting..

"Welcome to my store! How can I help you this fine, cold day? Would you care for some flowers?" The lights flickered to the sound of his voice. Pretty cool, huh?

But.. it's hard to seem like a good, non-threatening. shopkeeper when you're holding a colossal weapon and wearing clothes stained with blood. Whoops.

Day 2

Yorito heard the clicking of the heels as She slowly came down the stairs and looked to the source of it. He saw a lady that seemed normal at first, but even Yorito could feel the bad vibe coming from Her; Her words sent a chill down his spine... Nonetheless, he had to ask Her for help.

"Hey... Um, sorry for intruding, but do you have any hot packs or anything here? My friend is going to die at this rat-"

Then, Mr. Thorren.

Yorito jumped at his words and let out a little gasp. He took a quick look at the manly (bloody, weapon-wielding) figure, then answered...

"No thank you; can you help me by helping my friend here? He needs a hot pack or something before he freezes up..."

On the outside, Yorito appeared calm (albeit shivering a bit from the cold), but these two figures (Mr. Thorren and Her) made Yorito feel fearful. He really thought he should find some other place instead, but he wasn't strong enough to carry Preston to some other location. Also, no matter how fearsome these people looked, Yorito felt that he should trust others. Maybe they just looked fearsome but had hearts of gold or something... Yeah! I mean, the lady could have just killed the two right now if she really wanted to kill them, right? As for the buff guy... Uh... Just because he could make lights flicker to his voice, he was bloody and carrying a hamm-.

Stop yourself, Yorito. Preston said to stay frosty, right? I gotta just trust these people for now. I gotta...

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"YOU DON'T WANT FLOWERS?!" Mr. Thorren yelled in an intimidating voice, but then changed back to his normal self, coughing an embarrased cough, "Uhh.. sorry about that. I just get a little emotional sometimes, you know?"

Mr. Thorren walked over to the main counter - grabbing something from behind the desk. What he had, was a leather bag with water in it. The buff man managed a small lightning bolt - not enough to rip the bag open, but enough the warm the water up.

"Here, catch. This should help your friend." Mr. Thorren chucked the improvised hot-pack thing over to Yorito, "By the way, what happened to you guys? And.."

Mr. Thorren made a threatening face, tightening his grip on his hammer, "You will buy some flowers, won't you?"

When your voice flickers lights on and off, it's hard to seem un-threatening. Oh well.

Day 2

Yorito fumbled it a bit, but still caught it.

"O-of course. When I get some money... Thank you. Um, as for what happened... Well, I wanted to avenge Loret, but I'm not sure if I succeeded or not; it's hard for me to explain. Just ask my friend here when he wakes up."

Yorito then went over to Preston and awkwardly put the improvised hot-pack near his chest; really, he didn't know what a good location to put it would be, so he just put it there.

"O-oh yeah. Um, do you have any spare clothes or towels or something? I don't think it's good for him to be this wet..."

Yorito intentionally kept his eyes on Preston's motionless body while he was talking; it was hard for him to make eye contact with Her and Mr. Thorren. To be honest, Yorito wanted to ask Mr. Thorren what happened to him, but he sorta wanted to avoid talking unless he had to; he might unintentionally piss him off, which would be bad.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"Well, you don't need money to take these flowers home, they're free of charge! As long as you only take them with my permission, I won't have a problem with it! But.. as for spare clothes.. I'm sure there's something upstairs that you can use."

Mr. Thorren walked over to the stairs, and asked Her to move.

"Excuse me, Miss Winner? Can you please move?" Mr. Thorren then snapped his head back towards Yorito, "By the way, who's Loret? Don't tell me that the wounded guy is. Because he doesn't look like he'd suit that name."

All of a sudden, a bowl of stew - the bowl was actually a hollowed-out coconut shell - would appear beside Yorito. Uh oh.

"Hey.. where did that bowl come from?"

Skar/Charles
~Castle Oress~

"Heh.." The manbear grinned a sinister grin, and laughed a sinister laugh. "Charles, do as she asks."
"YES MASTER."

Charles then went about his business of serving the delicious stew, giving Aita her bowl first and leaving the rest of the pot to Skar - accidently spilling some on himself when serving himself his own dish. His reaction to this was a usual Charles reaction; as in, he went over to the wall behind Aita and punched a big ass hole in it. Yeah.

"Does that answer your question? Now, explain to Skar how you did your own mother in.."

Day 2

"Um, thank you..."

Miss Winner...?

Yorito wanted to ask Mr. Thorren what he meant by that, but he instead was confronted with a question.

"No, he's not. Loret was a tall gir-."

Yorito slightly jumped when the bowl of stew appeared beside him randomly; he saw it through his peripheral vision.

"Uh, I don't know..."

At first, he was planning on feeding it to Preston, but remembered that Tested don't really need to eat. Instead, he left the improvised hot-pack on Preston's chest and picked up the bowl; thankfully, it was pretty hot, so Yorito could use it to warm Preston up.

All the while, he kept his eyes on Preston; so naturally, he was slightly surprised (or scared) that She came closer.

"Yes, but um... We weren't really close; in fact, I don't think I really held a proper conversation with her..."

Day 2

Yorito

Since Yorito’s attention was focused on Preston, he was hit (on the back) with the hot pink shirts and pants, sailor’s uniform, blankets, and bloody bandages. As such, the hot stew was knocked from his hands, but fortunately none of it landed on Preston, but on the floor. Quickly, he looked behind him and used the bloody bandages to wipe up the mess.

“Oh geez…”

Then, the mini-lightning struck the ground; this time, Yorito was a bit too exhausted to even jump in surprise.

“Thank you, Mr. Thorren. Well, I’m Yorito and this guy is Preston. As for what happened, can we wait until my friend wakes up? He’s much better at explaining things than I am, and I need to change his clothes as well; please don’t worry though. I don’t think we’re bad people, heheh.”

He wasn’t sure if that was funny or not, but Yorito nonetheless kept his eyes on Preston the whole time; now that he lost the soup, he now had to move around the improvised hot-pack and change his clothes... But, She asked Yorito a question. He didn’t realize it was rhetorical, so after a brief pause of thinking of how to answer it…

“Wel-“

Then She laughed. Grating, horrible laughing.

"Oh, I don't know whether to respect you or pity you! You're a funny little thing, dear."

“…”

He didn’t know how to respond. So, he stayed quiet…

Preston

……
…

Preston saw a woman’s face. Not too pretty, but not ugly either. Just average. Who was she? There was something oddly familiar about her; before he could think about it more, darkness enveloped her face until there was nothing once more…

Oi, you sleep enough yet?

…?

Finally. Anyways, you sure got your ass kicked.

…

Well, can’t say I entirely blame ya. You either picked a really fake-ass gun that looked like a Desert Eagle or he’s just a fuckin’ monster. Or this world just likes fuckin’ with ya. Heh, you’ve been fucked with a buncha times now that I think ‘bout it-

Who are you…?

Oi, oi. You seriously don’t know who the fuck I am?

…

Jesus, you’ve really been fucked with. Well, let’s consider this as our “first” meeting then, huh? Anyways, tell me you recognized that woman, at least.

…

HAHA! THAT’S HILARIOUS. So, that’s’ how shallow your relationship with her was, huh?

So, who are you?

Tsk, you’re no fun. Anyways, I’m you.

…

Well, you can consider me as those killing impulses that you get from time to time. You’ve done a pretty good job of containing me though; I think this is the first time we’re having a real nice conversation, ya know? Anyways, I was pretty damn stoked for this Competition, but shit, you can’t even use your Eyes, huh? Also, these “Tested” are different from your regular beings; they’re more harder to kill without them Eyes of your-

Get to the point.

Alite, alite. What I’m sayin’ is that you’re jack-shit useless without them Eyes of yours. Even though you dun remember her face, you still remembered to keep your intelligence, huh? That’s why you didn’t use that Oress of yours, isn’t i-

Get to the point.

You ain’t even the least bit curious on who she is, huh?

You wouldn’t tell me even if I asked, right?

Heh, you got that right. You were much, much better when she wasn’t around. Hell, without her, yo-

Get to the point.

Hey, you little shit. Who the fuck do you think you’re talkin’ to, huh? I’m actin’ like this right now, but I’m pretty fuckin’ pissed you couldn’t even manage to kill that fire fucker. When the fuck did you get so soft, huh? Even without your Eyes, you could’ve fuckin’ killed him if ya tried. Goddamn. I’m so fuckin’ pissed. FUCK! Anyways, you little cunt, I’m gonna do you a big favor.

…

Wake the fuck up, take out that shit from your ears, and listen good. I’m gonna remind you how to use your Eyes again…

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"Bah, I have no intention of hurting 'em. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what's going on in my brain, so cut me some slack, lady." Mr. Thorren continued walking down the stairs, and turned again to Yorito and Preston, "I'm sorry if you find the clothing I found a little too "girly" for your tastes. The previous owner of the shop must've had a wicked sense of humour."

Mr. Thorren's nose twitched at the smell of the stew. He look down at it's spilled remains and.. there was an eyeball in it.

"Spilling that stew was a great idea on your part, look. What kind of cannibalistic freak would eat that crap?" Mr. Thorren's nose twitched again. He sneezed, causing lightning to expel from his nostrils and turn the stew into some sort of pancake. Eww. "Well, that's just disgusti-"

Mr. Thorren sneezed again, causing the lightning-snot to burn the eye-cake to ashes.

"Whew. At least your friend looks like he's waking up. Or is he just having some crazed nightmare about a really vulgar chick? Who knows! Bahahaha!" Mr. Thorren's crazed laughing flickered the lights again. One of the lights actually burnt out, causing some shards of glass to fall down onto the lifeless body of Preston. If he wasn't woken up by all this, he must be the deepest sleeper in the world. Or dead.

Day 2

"Ah, it's fine. Thank you."

Before Mr. Thorren even said that, Yorito was already nonchalantly taking off his clothes and putting on the hot pink pants and shirt. He moved his wet clothes to a corner of the room then returned. He once more listened to the man's words and...

"Eww..."

He was glad though, that the lightning didn't hit Preston; that would have made things worse. He continued to listen to Mr. Thorren's words as he carefully tried to take off the shrapnel that was over Preston's right arm.

"Heheh. Maybe..."

Yorito turned to face Mr. Thorren, but...

"By the way, do you have any clean bandages?" would have been what Yorito would have said next, but the flickering lights once again caught his attention. One actually exploded and shards of glass came down towards Preston's body. Normally, they would have landed on his body, but they barely missed him as if guided by some invisible force. Indeed it was. Yorito reflexively used Arode to move the glass away from Preston's body; since glass is made out of sand, it worked.

"Whew..."

Fellmund
~Elsewhere~

A cloaked figure perched on the roof of a lone building. It was a man - a magician. He had been standing there since Day 1, keeping a careful eye on his surroundings. He witnessed the collapsing of the Ritzy Apartment Building entrance, the constant desctruction of the Flower Shop, the thunderstorm; everything. Of course, he started getting bored and the constant attacks of some strange chinchilla creatures - who ended up falling to their deaths when they leapt at Fellmund with axes and chainsaws - and decided it was time to descend; even if it meant exposing himself to the dangers of the competition. He wasn't going to join in or anything, but but he was still going to keep an eye out for any murderous bastards like that hairy beast and olive.

"As the cherry blossom opens, the strong bumblebee appears. It has begun." Fellmund exclaimed to himself.

Taking his hat off of his head, he took a magic umbrella out of it. The same umbrella that Mary Poppins had in her movie. He floated down from the building, ignoring the cold and painful shards of ice cutting through the air.

He ended up landing near the building with the collapsed entrance. He took a smoke bomb out of his hat and threw it in the broken window, then allowed himself in.

"Ladies and gentleman, I present to you, the talented and illusionary magician.. FEEEELLMUUUUND NARWAAAAAAAAHLT!" The residents of the building would then see the smoke being blown away by a giant fan, with the cloaked figure standing in the center of it all.

There would probably be some gawking faces so Fellmund took that opportunity to pull some different colored cloth out of his right nostril. Yeah.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"Clean bandages? I'm sorry, but I already took everything that's already made of cloth down here." Mr. Thorren then had an epiphany; he took the remainder of his shirt off and handed it to Yorito; the blood would've dried up by now. "Try these."

In the back of Mr. Thorren's mind, he was worried about Flyri and Kim-Ko. But his crazed self pushed the thought back to his mind.

Day 2

"Ah, uh... No thank you."

Even in the weird lights, Yorito could clearly tell that there was blood on the shirt before. Even though it was all dried up, Yorito politely declined; bloody things usually aren't meant to be shared, dried or not. Yorito then turned his attention back towards Preston's body and...

"Oh? He doesn't seem as bad as before..."

Indeed, although it was barely noticeable, his condition was better. The accelerated healing factor that all Tested had may have played a role in this...

"Oh, I should change his shirt..."

Carefully, he tried to take off Preston's shirt and put on part of the sailor's uniform on him. After that, he turned to Mr. Thorren.

"Mr. Thorren, do you have a bed or something? I think it would be bad for him to lay on the floor like this, but if you don't I'll just change his pants and cover him with the blanket..."

Day 2

"Uh, okay..."

Yorito followed Mr. Thorren; when he passed by Her, he awkwardly smiled and slightly bowed at Her.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Walking into the still-intact bedroom, Mr. Thorren flopped Preston over onto the frilly-laced bed; accidently slamming him down a little too hard and breaking the bottom supports of the bed. And probably scaring Preston out of his sleep.

"Urgh.. Sorry about that." Mr. Thorren then walked out of the bedroom to go examine the half-fixed holes in the walls. Something tried to click in his mind about 'friends', but it failed to do so.

Yorito was actually quite pissed when Mr. Thorren nonchalantly slammed down Preston; almost immediately after though, he reprimanded himself.

What…? What was I thinking…? It’s gotta be that fight or something that's making me weird; yeah, I gotta believe in others. It’s not like he did it on purpose, right…?

“Um, thank you Mr. Thorren. You’ve been a great help; I can take over things from here now, so you should rest too. You look to be sorta beaten up yourself…”

After that, he sat down on the floor next to the bed Preston was laying on. Even after that commotion, Preston didn’t seem to be moving even a bit; no, wait. His eyes were open, but seemed to be staring at nothing…

Yorito

Yorito remained silent as Mr. Thorren left; he didn’t know what to make of Preston’s eyes, really. He didn’t think it would be a good idea to touch them… Then, She spoke.

“…!”

Initially surprised, he tried to stay calm; when did she come in?

“A-ah. Yeah… Um, I’ll take care of him, so you don’t need to worry about it…”

With that, he focused on Preston once more; unbeknownst to Yorito, Preston would get up just two seconds later…

Preston

Oi, come on. You’re not done after all that, are you? Your Eyes ain’t there yet.

…

Fine, we’ll take a break ya little shit… Is that what you thought I was gonna say? HAHAHA.

…

Preston didn’t even have the strength to scream, let alone talk. So, what was Preston going through right now? Death. He was going through deaths. He was killed by a knife, pistol, submachine gun, grenade launcher, grenades, anthrax, strangulation, fire, water, etc. Preston went through all of those experiences; his numbness didn’t work here. How many deaths did he go through? He didn’t count; something as irrelevant as that wasn’t even considered. Honestly, how could anyone keep count if, say, their limbs were getting ripped off one by one, among other things? Hell, Preston forgot what his name even was. A bit more of these deaths and Preston really would die mentally. To be honest, it wasn’t even 30 minutes since Yorito entered the Flower Shop; but, to Preston, that short period of time seemed like years…

Just kidding. I really will give ya a break, since it seems like you’ll die otherwise if I don’t, and that would be troublesome for me…

…

NOT! HAHA! Ain’t I the comedian? Dun worry though. I’m pretty sure you’ll like this one; I wanted to avoid it if I could, but it can’t be helped. Even with this, I doubt you’ll be able to regain all of the functions of your Eyes instantaneously. So, don’t be a damned retard like ya were today. Anyways, if ya don’t get at least some of your Eyes back after this experience, just go and kill yourself. See ya soon, though I'm not sure if we'll meet...

Once again, Preston would experience death; he experienced deaths through the body of the victim he appeared to be possessing. That included the victim’s status as well; if the victim was feeling pain, Preston would feel it as well. The victim and Preston were one.

However, this time was odd; Preston didn’t feel pain, or anything else for that matter. He couldn’t smell nor see anything either. Preston only heard three words.

“I love you.”

With that, Preston finally woke up…

“HA… HA…. Ha... Ha…”
“Wah!”

Preston suddenly got up, which surprised Yorito; also, Preston actually looked scared. Yorito couldn't remember when Preston actually showed any sort of expression at all, but maybe Yorito was just tired. Anyways, just as quickly as Preston got up, he plopped down onto the bed again. Fortunately, it seemed like Preston was sleeping this time...

"Uh, yes... If you will, that would be nice."

Yorito yawned a bit and blinked several times in succession; he felt tired, but would continue to watch over Preston, at least until he woke up.

Yorito stayed silent as She left; when She left, for some reason, it felt like some burden was lifted off his shoulders.

Geez, who is she?

Before he could dwell on it more, Preston slowly got up from the bed and rubbed his forehead with his palm. His eyes were still closed.

“Ugh…”
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I think… What was I doing?”
“I don’t know… You had your eyes opened and didn’t blink for a few moments, but nothing else really.”
“I see…”

Preston slowly opened his eyes… And was surprised at what he saw.

“What…?”

Lines. Many black lines filled his vision. He recognized all of the lines instantly; they were the lines of death, present on anything that existed. Unfortunately, he could not see any dots, which would have been excellent; if he could see the “points of existence” or dots, taking down opponents would be a cinch. Well, it was good enough he could at least see the lines now.

But, just a few moments after seeing the lines, he felt a sharp pain in his head, and he instinctively shut down his Mystic Eyes.

“Ugh…?!”

Preston was genuinely surprised; he never felt pain when using his Eyes, even after long periods of time. But, his head undoubtedly felt like it was splitting in half. The pain went through Preston’s numbness somehow…

“Are you alright?”
“Yeah…”

Preston then turned towards Yorito and saw what he was wearing. Hot pink pants and shirt. Yorito must have evidently known what Preston was thinking, since he shot back a response almost instantaneously.

“A-ah. My clothes were wet so I changed them, you see. Mr. Thorren, that’s the guy that works here, helped me. S-“
“I don’t really care that much, Yorito. I was just assessing your physical condition more than your clothing.”
“Oh… Well, I think I’m in much better shape than you we-… YAWNNNNN… But sorry, Preston. I’m gonna take a quick nap, if that’s fine with you…”
“Yeah, go ahead and sleep on the bed. We’ll talk when you wake up.”
“Thanks…”

Preston got out of the bed. With that, the exhausted Yorito plopped face down onto the bed, not caring that the bottom part of the bed was somewhat wet since Yorito forgot to change Preston’s pants. Preston sat down on the floor, near the bed. He then began to think.

“…”

Things were looking grim. From what Preston could remember, Yorito couldn’t even finish off Vers; Preston noticed the white flag sticking out of the rocks as he carried Yorito away. If the guy had enough energy for that, he was apparently alive. Also, his fight with Durnam could barely be called a draw; Preston was undoubtedly the one that was worse off…

Preston looked down at the floor, and continued to think. What should he do now? What can he do now?

“…”

After that fight, Preston truly saw how ridiculously overpowered the Oress were. Even a person like Yorito could summon that many rocks if he used all his energy, and still wake up a few moments later. It was only what, like two days since they all arrived here? Back in Preston’s world, the strength to reach a level like Yorito’s could easily take 3-5 years of training.

Craya was powerful as well. If Vers could make a shield that could instantly defend against Yorito’s rain of rocks… Well, it probably took up a significant amount of energy for Vers to block that attack, but it was still ridiculous. Preston vaguely remembered that Craya could make almost anything, from Arella and Stan’s explanation; wait, who explained Craya? Was it Arella, Stan, or both? Preston couldn’t remember, and so stopped trying. Anyways, if Craya could make almost anything out of the user’s energy, it would be similar to Gradation Air.

Gradation Air is basically a type of magic that materializes objects, in accordance to the caster’s imagination, through the use of prana. Gradation comes from the fact that the created object slowly fades away after being created, and Air is an allusion to the fact that said object is made out of “nothing”. The concept behind this magic is rather simple. It shapes prana into the material composition and design of an object that is being imagined by the magus. The item is not everlasting, as it is recognized by the world as a phantasm that doesn't belong in the natural world, and it will be erased as an inconsistency. The better the image in the caster's imagination, the more stable and longer lasting the object will be, and it can be further improved by having technical knowledge of its construction, such as a blueprint, or having materials to overlay the desired shape upon.

Gradation Air is considered to be an incomplete and mostly useless type of magic by most modern magi for anything other than immediate activities, such as projecting a sacrificial item to be forsaken in a ritual. It is generally easier and more practical to create an object that won't fade away with appropriate techniques and raw materials. Also, the object created by Gradation Air (let’s say a sword) will usually turn out to be weak and inferior if compared to the original object (i.e. the original sword that Gradation is trying to replicate).

Granted, Preston did meet a person whose skill Gradation Air was exceptional; the objects made by that magus lasted for a long time and were incredibly well made (but never surpassed the original). However, even that powerful magus could not adequately make anything else besides blades, spears, and a shield…

Yet, Craya allowed Vers to create such a powerful shield; if it could make something like that, what else could Craya make? An atomic bomb would not be so far-fetched; even a child could look up how to make one on the internet. The main problem would be getting the materials, which Craya could easily solve, based on Preston’s guess.

Alright, enough of that…

Preston then thought about his own Oress. If the others were so powerful, his should be as well, right? If Preston remembered correctly, the side-effects of Sola were (temporary?) mind erosion and overuse of it would cause brain death. But still, maybe he should give it a sho-

”I love you.”

Preston jumped back a bit and his back hit the side of the bed as he suddenly remembered those words. Then, he started shivering; it wasn’t even that cold anymore (at least in the inside of the flower shop), so it wasn’t because of that... Why did those words give him such a chill? Preston couldn’t remember nor did he want to remember, at least not right now. But, he did know one thing: don’t use Sola. Ever. Even if it meant dying, Preston felt that if he used Sola, he would be better off dead. Something vital would potentially disappear from the man named Preston Kim if he used it…

“Ha… Ha…”

Preston looked down to the floor again and finally realized he was wearing a sailor suit. Not that he cared, really; he knew that his old shirt was probably drenched. Preston then leaned his head back on the bed and started to sleep, again; his wounds were almost healed, his body seemed fine, but his mind appeared to be in a mess. Preston would think of other troublesome things later…

Preston and Yorito were sleeping... At least, Yorito was. Preston was sorta asleep, but wasn't; he couldn't allow himself to fully relax in an unfamiliar place like this. So, Preston would wake up if he felt a true feeling of danger...

Preston awoke with a shock. He felt an evil presence next to the door, along with a normal one. He was able to hear all of Mr. Thorren's words, since the walls and doors weren't really soundproof. So, Preston decided to just wait and see how their conversation turned out; if things looked like they were going to turn out bad, he would take Yorito and escape through the window...

"..."

Preston heard the words spoken between Mr. Thorren and Her. To be honest, the game She proposed didn't really bother him; heck, Preston might have wanted to participate in that game as well. Also, he was a bit surprised that Her presence suddenly vanished like that, but that was it; it wasn't like he could follow Her when he couldn't sense Her. Preston got up from the floor, went to the door, and knocked on it; he knew Mr. Thorren was in front of the door, so he didn't want to surprise him by opening it.

"Hello. Thank you for looking after us. I assume you were the one that allowed us in here, correct?"

"It's fine. As for anything else, do you have a washer and dryer? For our soaked clothes, of course. If you've already done so, then I don't think I need anyth-"
"YAWNNNN..."

Yorito made one of the biggest yawns ever as he woke up.

"Oh, hi Preston."
"Hi Yorito; I'm talking with..."

Preston realized he didn't know who he was talking to (also since the two of them were talking behind a door).

"Sorry, I don't think I got your name."

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~
=Upstairs=

"Ah. No I don't have one of those. And if I tried using my powers.. they'd probably burn up instead of being heated." Mr. Thorren replied, "So you might be stuck in those clothes for a while."

Enter "WHAT'S YOUR NAME" scene.

"I'm Mr. Thorren. The shopkeeper of this badly-damaged Flower Shop." Didn't mention that it was his powers that had destroyed it, but still, "You can leave the room if you want, you know. So we can stop talking through a freaking door."

Mr. Thorren then subconsciously used his FLASHY POWERS to turn the door to ashes instantly. Yeah.

"Damn, not again. What's with me and doors..?"

The instant that the door was hit with lightning, Preston reflexively jumped back. Now that the door became just a pile of ashes, Preston was able to see Mr. Thorren's back; Mr. Thorren was sitting, but Preston could already tell that he was muscular (since he wasn't wearing a shirt, that made it even easier). Also, traces of blood could be seen on Mr. Thorren's body. Well, Preston wouldn't ask. Just from that action (turning the door to ashes), Preston thought it might be better to let any potential sleeping dogs lie; this man might be dangerous if he could use his Oress so carelessly.

"Woah, you jumped back quickly, huh?" Yorito said.

Ignoring him, Preston focused on Mr. Thorren.

"Well, I have some things to talk about with my friend here, so if you don't mind I'll stay in this room for a bit longer. Do you mind leaving us for a bit?"

"Geez Preston, you could have been a bit nicer..." Yorito complained.
"..."

Maybe Preston came off as being too mean; ah, well. Mr. Thorren left already and Preston had other things to do. Preston turned towards Yorito and sat down on the floor.

"Yorito, make a small rock for me, if you can."
"Huh? Well, ok then..."

Yorito closed his eyes for a moment, and then a small rock formed in the palm of his hand. Preston took the rock and inspected it. Then, he placed it on the floor.

"Yorito. Try to crush this rock into tiny pieces."
"Uh... Ok..."

Yorito was somewhat confused that Preston was asking him to do such things, but Yorito did what he was told. With a bit of focus, the rock crumbled and broke off into pieces.

"Now, try to reassemble the pieces back into a whole rock."
"..."

Once again, Yorito performed the task. After some concentration, the rock pieces became one. Preston picked up the rock and inspected it again; it was like the same rock as it was before. He then placed it back on the floor. Then, he took out the knife from his pocket, activated his Mystic Eyes, and traced one of the lines of death on the rock. The rock split into two pieces; satisfied with this result, Preston turned off his Mystic Eyes and pocketed his knife.

"Woah, that must be a sharp knife..."

Preston didn't comment; he went on as if he never heard Yorito.

"Now, try to reassemble the pieces back into a whole rock."
"Sigh..."

With his eyes closed, Yorito once again tried the tedious task of putting the rock pieces back together; he thought it would be even easier since there were only two pieces this time.

"Hmm?"

Yorito opened his eyes; he didn't know why, but something felt off. Sure enough, there were still two pieces of rock. Yorito tried again. No dice. Yorito then clenched his teeth and tried again.

"Rrrr..."
"That's enough, Yorito. You can stop now."
"Wait, just give me one more chance."
"..."

After a couple of minutes, the two pieces were finally one; however, it did not look like the original rock from before. Yorito lied down on the bed, and faced the ceiling. He was breathing somewhat heavily, but had a triumphant look on his face.

"Ha... Ha... Ha! I did it! I had to think a bit, but I did it!"
"Yes."
"But, I give. What the heck did you do? I couldn't reattach them together from the place you sliced it; I had to rearrange and change the structure of the rock pieces in order to make it work. Gah, that was frustrating."
"..."

Preston wondered before if he should tell Yorito about his Mystic Eyes; ultimately, he decided against it. It wasn't because he didn't trust Yorito, but it was because Yorito didn't need to know. What would the benefits be from telling Yorito? Preston was the only one able to trace the lines of death anyways; in fact, they might be disadvantaged if Preston told Yorito. If Yorito was somehow captured, he could spill the beans on the Mystic Eyes; also, even if he wasn't captured, Allyson might be able to read Yorito's mind with her Oress, Sytel-wait, how did he know Allyson held Sytel? Ah, that's right. Two days ago, when they all arrived here, they introduced themselves to each other...

"Wait, I know! That knife is like some sort of magical knife, right? Right?" Yorito guessed.

Wait... What exactly did Preston do two days ago? Oh yeah, Arella and Stan came along and explained the situation (including the Oress), then all of the Tested introduced themselves to one another, then slept...

"Or maybe... I dunno. Did you use some secret knife technique or something...? Gah, just tell me!"

From Preston's memory that seemed to be the case... But, something was off.

"Fine then. I'll just lay down on this bed and be silent until you tell me. Jerk."

Why would Preston introduce himself to a stranger, let alone a group of strangers? Preston was cautious in giving out his full, true name to anyone; his name could be easily abused. In fact, he introduced himself as Durnam to the FLO at the mall when he was there... Wait, why did Yorito know Preston's name anyway? How did Preston know Yorito's name?

"..."

Preston thought harder. Yes, Preston did remember introducing himself in front of everyone... But, it didn't feel real. It was like some other person took Preston's form and introduced himself; it felt extraordinarily out of character. He remembered that Yorito introduced himself as well... But, it just didn't add up. From his memory, Preston remembered Yorito was calm while introducing himself; however, the very next day, Yorito was crying and screaming and running all over the place. How did that work?

"...Yorito."
"What? You're gonna tell me now?"
"When did I tell you my name?"
"That's random. Well, wasn't that when we were talking?"
"No. I never brought it up."
"Well, I guess it was two days ago when everybody introduced themselves...?"
"Do you remember what we did two days ago?"
"Huh? Didn't we wake up yesterday?"
"No. Two days ago, that angel and tentacle monster... Do you remember them?"
"Now that you mention it, I think I do... But... Hmm..."

Yorito's got up from the bed, but then sat on it; he looked like The Thinker as he thought. But, it didn't last for long. Soon after, he put his hands to the hair on his head and ruffled it around in frustration.

"Ah, my head hurts. Let's talk about something else, like your trick thing. I can't figure it out..."
"..."

As Preston thought, Yorito's memory of that day was foggy too. Well, at least it wasn't only Preston's imagination. Although the mystery of what exactly happened during that day was unclear and a bit unsettling, Preston set it aside for now. There were other things that he wanted to get to.

"Aren't you curious on why I asked you to do such things, Yorito?"
"Hmm? Like the rock making and breaking thing? Uh, it was because you wanted to see if my condition was ok, right? Well, I think I'm fine, so just tell me about what you did to the last roc-"
"I can't tell you exactly what I did to that rock, Yorito. That's because you don't really need to know right now; it's not that I don't trust you. It's just that it's unnecessary for you to know about it."
"Well, you don't know until you try, right? I-"
"Yorito. Please. There's other things I need to talk to you about."
"...Fine."
"Thank you."

To be honest, Preston didn't ask Yorito to do those tasks only to check his body's condition. Preston wanted to see if his Eyes were the real deal and let Yorito practice a bit with Arode; when Preston thought about it, there could have been a much better way for Yorito to use his energy than just make huge rocks and boulders fall on Vers. Also, Preston was a bit surprised that Yorito had the insight to rearrange and restructure the pieces rather than stubbornly trying to put it back exactly the way it was before; that was the only way to restore an object that had its line(s) of death traced.

"We can't do much in this weather right now, so we'll probably have to spend the night here. However, that doesn't mean we just sit and do nothing. We both rested for quite a while now, so I think we should spend this time talking about various things. Which brings me to my next topic; what are we going to do tomorrow?"
"Hmm... I dunno. What do you want to do?"
"Well, we should head to the mall and catch up on some reading. Before you ask me 'why', it's so that you can get stronger. There will undoubtedly be books at the mall that are about rocks."
"Oh, that's a good idea. But why do I need to read the books? Can't I just practice right now?"
"Yorito. Do you know what 'obsidian' is?"
"...?"
"I thought so. Even if I describe it to you, you probably won't be able to create it without a firm image in your head."
"Hey, you don't know until you try. Describe it to me."
"...Yorito. I noticed that you keep on using only one type of rock. Why is that?"
"Well, I've seen that sort of rock many times as I went to school... Ah!"
"As I thought. It put less strain on you if you use a rock that you're familiar with, correct?"
"I guess... But, describe it to me!"
"...It's a type of volcanic glass that has a variety of colors. If it's made into a blade, it is also extremely sharp."
"Hmm... Sorta vague, but I'll try..."

Yorito closed his eyes and focused. Eventually, a strange rock appeared. It had all the colors of the rainbow on it and looked like it had very sharp corners (it was square). Preston was no petrologist, but even he knew that it was not obsidian.

"So? How is it?"
"..."
"Well, I can't do much with that vague of a description, you know?"
"That's what I remember off the top of my head; I'm not a petrologist."
"Peta-what?"
"Basically a petrologist is a person who studies rocks. Anyways, that's why we're going to the mall."
"Alright. I got ya. But, I really do like this rainbow rock..."

As Yorito picked it up and looked at it from various angles, Preston spoke.

"Now, let's talk about our opponents..."

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~
=Downstairs=

Seeing the faces of both Flyri and Kim-Ko again, Mr. Thorren rushed up to them and super-hugged both of them at the same time.

"FLYRIII! KIM-KOOO!!!" Mr. Thorren cried manly yellow tears. What? "WELCOME BAAAAACK!"

He then proceeded to explain that he helped two peoples and that they're resting upstairs. Oh, and that he made a deal with the devil Her accidently. D:

"If I comply to Her wishes, apparently this Arella person will kill me, and if I don't comply to Her wishes, She'll kill me! What shall I do?!?"

oh mr. thorren you childish 45 year old who sells flowers

And by flowers, I mean he has drugs too. So yeah. If anybody needs a hit, Mr. Thorren will hook you up. *coughcharteusecough*

Skar
~Limbo~

Skar sat down in the chair. It buckled under his weight, but it stayed intact anyways. For now.

Macaroni Obama continued to spew pasta and cheese and screaming "CHANGE!" repeatedly, while Cracka Jack put sunglasses on and went all gangsta-like. Yeah.

But Charles decided to ask Them a question.

"I say.. what's with all the paperwork?"

Fellmund
~The Sidewalk?~

"Off we go to the Cafe.. where my plan will actually be executed. Hehehe.." Fellmund laughed maniacally, "I may have an unlimited source of money, but what's to stop me from getting more?"

Preston told Yorito about their enemies and which ones they should take out first. First place went to Vers, while second went to Durnam. The last on the list were all of the people present at the apartment building during the fight.

In addition to telling Yorito about their enemies, Preston gave explanations behind his reasoning. Vers was first since he could possibly make an atomic bomb in addition to a fallout shelter and easily win like that (even easier since Tested don't need food or water). Granted, Preston wasn't sure if Vers could make such a weapon, but if Vers could instantly make a shield strong enough to withstand Yorito's rain of rocks, well... Durnam was second, since he was dangerous and already killed someone; in addition, he was pretty skilled in combat.

The people at the apartment building were guilty by not doing anything even after hearing Preston's explanation of Durnam; as the saying goes, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing". Yorito looked like he disagreed at first, but couldn't find any good excuses that could defend them; in Yorito's world, most people would not just do nothing if a killer appeared in front of them. Also, Preston explained that the people at the apartment building actually had power to spare; it's not like they were too weak to do anything. Although Yorito couldn't tell, Preston instinctively knew that those people were capable of a thing or two. In fact, if they participated and helped Preston out, Durnam probably could have been taken out. Granted, Yorito had nothing to go on by except Preston's words, but by now Yorito trusted him more than anyone else in this Test Reality.

Also, Preston explained to Yorito that they would try to avoid the people at the apartment building for now; Preston and Yorito would most likely have their hands full trying to take care of the Andorae brothers. That made Yorito feel slightly relieved, but still uneasy.

"...So yeah. Vers is the biggest problem here. Any questions?"
"Uhh, but didn't I... Uh..."
"No worries, Yorito. I'm sure you didn't kill him, since he had enough energy to make a little white flag of surrender; if he was dead, I doubt he would be able to muster the strength to make something so useless."
"Whew..."
"...Well, I assume that you're relieved because you don't have blood on your hands, right?"
"Yeah. It was like you said... I think I might have hesitated in attacking Vers, since... You know? It's not like I kill people on a daily basis... Sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for, Yorito. I expected this sort of thing from you. It's good to see that hesitation; when I heard you say that you wanted to kill Durnam, that unsettled me a bit. At that point, I thought you were just a typical human. It seems that you're still somewhat unique."
"Huh? Thanks I guess...?"
"But Yorito, you understand by now, right? Get rid of that hesitation. We're not going after everybody in this Competition, but only getting rid of the bad apples. If you allow a murderer to escape and he kills another person, that victim's death is partially your fault. It's like the same thing. We can't hold back against guys like Durnam. No hesitation is allowed. I don't think I need to explain why we need to kill others; you remember what I said earlier, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Good. Any more questions?"
"I don't think so... You explained everything pretty well..."

Yorito once again assumed The Thinker's pose and thought. A few moments later, he realized something.

"Ah, so you failed in killing Durnam, right? So, did you hesitate as well?"
"...Yes and no. I did fail, but I didn't hesitate. On the other hand, he could have been holding back. Remember when he said something along the lines of 'I don't want to kill you guys'? It could have been a bluff, but whether it was or not doesn't matter. We just have to be better prepared next time; it was fortunate that we both managed to retreat safel-"

Just then, Preston sensed two presences entering the shop.

"Looks like we have company... Yorito, stay here. If I don't come back in a minute, exit from the window and get away from here."
"Is it them?"
"I doubt it, but it could be. We had the 'great' fortune to meet the two at the apartment building, so we might be 'lucky' enough to meet them here too."
"Let me come with you too."
"..."
"Don't be so selfish. If I run away from here I won't be able to face Matsuri again. Als-"
"I get it. Just wait here so I can see if it's really them or not. If they're here, we'll fight, together."

With that, Preston silently went out of the room (even more silently since he didn't have to open a door; Mr. Thorren reduced it to a pile of ashes) in order to see the new arrivals...

Skar and his buddies
~Still Limbo~

"Skar never got his name. He was an inventor, a definite Tested, and he must've built that weapon from scratch. At one point in our battle he created a green wall out of thin air. That's about all the details Skar can give you."

----

"Bloody hell, that's a lot of paperwork. D:"

no shit sherlock

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"No. She left. But who knows about when, or if, She comes back.." Mr. Thorren answered Flyri's question, "But.. if I comply to her wishes.. my evil side might return. I wasn't always nice and stuff.. I was as murderous as that manbear from earlier. It started when I was at the age of five.. Back where I come from, there was this guy called Jim Morrison. He was a singer for a rock band called The Doors. And.. since doors and me are.. yeah.. I killed him. And everyone attributed his death to a drug overdose or something.. no one knows the real truth.."

If any nearby drug addicts heard this, they'd probably be pretty pissed that an awesome singer like that was killed by a flowery geezer like this.

Fellmund
~That One Cafe~

Fellmund walked into the Cafe. Yeah.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"But.. why? Even though Her deal was that I did mean things to one of Them, doesn't mean that person is going to be you. You're my friend.."

And Mr. Thorren cried some more. Which ended up causing a thunderstorm outside. Yeah.

Fellmund
~That One Cafe~

"Excuse me, but could I get the privilege of using the stage for a magic show? I have some 'special guests' coming soon that I wish to entertain.."

Skar and his buddies
~Limbo again~

Cracka Jack took a moment out of his rap-listening time to spit a razor-pickle at the passing Chilly. D'oh.

~

"In the place where Skar was from.. lots of people died. Thousands, maybe. And the only thing Skar thought about the dead people is that they were delicious."

~

"So when does this interviewing thing start?"

Enter Chilly death scene.

"D:" Charles gasped at Jack, "Hey Cracka, apologize you blasted twit!"

{{Short post is short, d'oh.}}

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~
=Downstairs=

"It wasn't on purpose, Kim-Ko.. I'm.. sorry.." More crying yadda yadda yadda, "If you want to hate me and leave too, you can go right ahead. I'm used to being alone.."

Poor Mr. Thorren.. no one knows about the fact his parents died when he was seven and was an orphan in the streets of Toronto. Until he was hired by a local flower shop owner, he had to fight drunk bums off with his fists. Being five feet tall at that age is pretty damn useful though.

"But whatever you do, stay alive. If your name ends up on the Dead List too.. I.. I.."

Enter yet again more manly crying. I wonder if that makes a good impression on a certain person standing on the stairs.. probably not

And then Flyri's comment.

":D" He stopped crying immediately and waved to Flyri, "Hurry back!"

Skar and Charles
~Limbo~

And so Skar devoured it whole. Woah.

"Delicious. Now, got any more questions for Skar?"

----

"That's what you think." Charles flashed a look at his master; where the remains of that hamburger dude promptly disappeared into non-existance, "Now that he's in non-existance, he'll never get back out here to Limbo to annoy you guys. :D"

silly ardrin he's a floating olive he can do anything

Fellmund
~That One Cafe~

"Already? That was fast.." Fellmund muttered to himself, "Okay, lets get this over with."

The curtains slowly opened, with dry ice smokily floating around and flashy lights shining flashily everywhere. Off to the side of the stage was a drummer guy made of cards doing a drum roll. Don't ask how he's not chopping the drumsticks up in the process. But Fellmund the magician was oddly nowhere to be found. But then..

"Introducing.." The disembodied voice of Fellmund began, "The great, the wicked, the amazing magician FELLMUUUUUND NARWHAAAAAAALT!"

A variety of multi-coloured smoke bombs were thrown on the stage. When the smoke had cleared out, standing there was the figure of the greatest - and only - magician in the Test Reality.

"Greetings. The show you are about to see today is a... aaahh.. aaahh... ACHOOOOOOO!!" Fellmund sneezed out a bunch of fake coins everywhere, probably pelting some people in the head, "Ahh.. sorry 'bout that. Those things happen."

He then proceeded to the magic tricks.

"Anyways.. for my first trick.. I'll need a member of the audience. Any volunteers? Or am I going to have to use deadly force? Kidding! Ahahaha.. haa.."

it's a trap

{{oh gsg you ninja}}

Normally, Preston wouldn't be so careless and clumsy as to have his footsteps creak on a wooden floor if he wanted to secretly listen to a conversation. But, when he took a look at Kim-Ko's face, all thought processes stopped... For a moment. Soon after, Preston realized it was just Kim-Ko, not... Who again? He didn't know and didn't want to think about it, so Preston decided to just focus on what they were saying (Mr. Thorren was leaving an especially bad impression on Preston with his words and actions). But...

"Preston! Geez, I thought you left or something..."
"Oh, sorry Yorito. It's been a minute already? Well, I forgot to come back."
"You? Forgot? What? That doesn't make sens-"
"Shh, you're disturbin-"

Then, Preston heard Flyri's parting words. With that, he somewhat hurriedly went down the staircase before she started to skip away; he couldn't let such a person leave without knowing her identity. Even more so since Preston couldn't remember seeing Flyri on the first day.

"Sorry, but can I ask exactly who you are?"

abrupt

{{FFFFF keep forgetting Puppy exists}}

Flyri stopped abruptly.

"Oh, me? My name is Flyri. We never had a proper introduction, did we? I apologize."



"Nope. That's pretty much it."

Before Ardin could respond to Charles' wonderful act of paperwork-eliminating, he heard the words 'that's pretty much it' and became very :D. :D is totally an adjective, shut up.

"FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYY"

It took him about a split second to run out the door, with Ola suddenly springing up and running out after him. Sileny just shook her head and adjusted her glasses, standing up and neatly organizing the papers on her desk before writing something down on a conveniently-placed dry-erase board.

[I don't think it would be a good idea to leave these two in a room with a bunch of Chillies and already-traumatized souls.]

"Good point."

WHY DON'T THEY TRUST THE HUNGRY MANBEAR AND THE VIOLENT OLIVE

THEY'RE TOTALLY TRUSTWORTHY



One hell-raising session later, and Nago had made his very own Chilly army! Well, a mini one, anyways.

"Ah, good times. All right, I guess we're done here, then...but, just because I'm feeling nice today, you can keep a couple. Chillies are pretty dumb, but I guess they're fun to kick and they're good at doing stuff when you 'motivate' them." Arella shrugged, turning to go back towards the elevators.



"Pick me, pick meeeeee~!" Fray waved her hand, bouncing up to the stage without waiting for any approval. She swore she was hearing voices and couldn't stop staring Kilii for some reason. Concerned that she was becoming a lesbian for no reason or something, she decided that a little MAAAAAAGIC would make things normal again!

Except not at all.

Meanwhile, for better or worse, Zalika and Narelle got distracted by the magic show. Vitara looked on, eyebrows raised.

"My, my...so many things going on at once. How suspicious..."



Poice being Poice, he decided that it would be a good idea to follow them inside and poke at anything and everything he came across. Silly Poice, you're so silly!



She mumbled something under her breath and pressed the basement button, and awaaaaay they went!



"O-Oh, I see...d-don't mind us, we're just, uh..."

And then elevator.

Ciess and Shan immediately walked out and made their way over to the crowd, naturally kind of surprised when they saw those pesky elevator punks, an unconscious Umbra, and a barely-conscious-if-even-conscious Aita.

"Holy hell! What did you do?!"

"I-It wasn't me, Miss Ciess! It---"

"Oh, so it was these two? Figures..." Ciess cracked her knuckles and glared over at DBA and Peylet, causing Peylet to back away.

"N-No! T-There was...t-there was one of Them...a-and then Umbra...a-and Aita...with the...a-and then she left...and...and..."

Oh, Ara, you crazy nervous loli, you!

Deciding to make use this moment of distraction, Peylet walked deeper into the basement's library, again gesturing for DBA to follow. There were plenty of dusty, old, worn-out books here...one of them has to be useful!



"So you're, like, from an alternate Test Reality, but now you're here for some reason? Wicked. But, uh, what does that have to do with me?" Nette asked.

Whoa, she believed him that fast? I guess living over There does wonders for an open mind.

“Flyri…?”

That’s the name of that plant Oress…

Preston was a bit surprised when he heard her name, but quickly continued.

“It’s fine, but you’re not an Oress holder, are you? Do you know anything special about this Competition or this world in general? ”

Meanwhile, Yorito went down the stairs and waved to Mr. Thorren, Puppy, and Kim-Ko (apparently Yorito didn’t feel embarrassed that he was wearing hot pink pants and a hot pink shirt). Then, he went towards Mr. Thorren.

“Mr. Thorren, thanks for all the help. It’s ok if we stay here a bit longer, right? This weather looks pretty bad, so…”

“Uh, ok. Something bad…? Not really, why?”

Yorito was pretty confused and felt an awkward atmosphere begin to form; luckily, Charteuse and Kim-Ko spoke. To Charteuse he just waved while he attempted to answer Kim-Ko’s question.

“Well, I’m Yorito and this guy here’s Preston. Mr. Thorren helped us out a bit with our wet clothes and stuff, since we were injured a bit. Preston’s better at explaining stuff than I am so you might want to ask him if you want to know more. You’re uhh… Kim, right? I sorta stink at remembering stuff, so I'm sorry if I got your name wrong...”

Preston

Preston said nothing in response to Mr. Thorren’s comment, Charteuse’s entrance, and Kim-Ko’s question (since Yorito already answered it), but continued to talk to Flyri.

“I see. But, what do you mean by “Promotion”? Was there anything different about the last Competition in comparison to this one? Also, I hate to repeat myself, but do you know anything special about this Competition or this world in general?”

“Oh, I’m really sorry. Well you ca-“

Then, Yorito took notice of Charteuse’s odd behavior (along with Puppy).

“Yeah… Umm… She seems a bit odd…”

Yorito didn’t really know what he should do, so he stood there awkwardly in silence. He got a bit nervous at the escalating scene though; by the time Kim-Ko said “Mr. Thorren watch out!”, Yorito heard Preston’s voice as well.

“Yorito. Come on.”

When did he get there? Preston was already on the top of the stairs, holding Flyri’s wrist. Preston assumed that Yorito knew what was going to happen, so he went into the room that they were in before. However, Yorito was a bit slow on the uptake, so he briefly wondered why Preston would bother to go up the stai-.

Then, the flickering lights caught Yorito’s attention and he realized that things were not looking good, especially when he saw Mr. Thorren raise his hammer. Yorito turned his attention to Kim-Ko.

“We should get out of here…”

But, he was a moment too late; Mr. Thorren unleashed his wrath upon Charteuse and unintentionally(?) upon any bystanders, which included Yorito and Kim-Ko (also Puppy). Instinctively, Yorito shoved Kim-Ko out of the area of effect and took the damage instead.

“Ugh…!”

Surprisingly, Yorito wasn’t all that fried from the shock; maybe it was a side-effect of being the holder of Arode? Or maybe it was because he wasn’t the target of the attack and not too close to Mr. Thorren. These thoughts didn’t appear at all in his head though; instead, Yorito turned towards Kim-Ko.

“Are you alright?”

Preston

“Thank you. As for what I want to know…”

Preston stayed silent as he thought about the questions he should ask. Which ones should he ask first? However, those thoughts disappeared as Preston noted the worsening atmosphere. Preston grabbed Flyri by the wrist.

“Sorry, but I think we should talk upstairs…”

Without waiting for her response, he pulled Flyri by the wrist as he went up the stairs; then, he called out to Yorito. Finally, after the two entered the room, Preston took a seat on the floor.

“Sorry, about that, but I think you’ll hear the reason why I was in a hurry soon enough…”

Just then, a crashing sound could be heard from outside. After that…

“Can we wait for my friend Yorito to enter? I think he would be interested in your answers.”

Flyri was caught off-guard by Preston, but allowed herself to be dragged along out of curiosity. One crash, glance out of the window (assuming there is a window, anyways), and worried expression later, she turned her attention to Preston.

"U-Um...yes. That'll be fine, I suppose..."



Just to be extra sneaky, Larya took Spark over to the back of the building and snuck in through a window. Real thieves never use the front door! Or front window. They should really get that entrance fixed...

Anyways, the window led to a pretty fancy-looking room full of unnecessary accessories, unnecessary appliances, and potentially necessary clothes. Larya smiled an eeeeeeevil little smile, brushed herself off, and pulled out two random THIEF SACKS YEAH.

"All right, Soleil's room! Goin' for the good stuff first." she said, grinning. After tossing one of the sacks to Spark, Larya started grabbing shiny stuff.



Two, actually. Well, one, actually; Tintra finally succumbed to her sleepiness, so now it was just Vitara.

"Oh, relax." Vitara waved her hand. "I'm not going anywhere, dear. ♥"



"So it was Arella? Oh, okay. This makes sense now." oh fray you and your educated guessing

Dicro briefly brushed away the fact that he didn't know how Ignis knew his name, thinking over what he had just said instead. Willing suspension of disbelief and all. It's what Halyn's Alliance is best at (besides being lazy)!

"So you're in the avatar program or whatever it is? I guess there's no getting around that, but I'd like to know what you intend on doing here. Doesn't seem like you're in it for the viewing experience. On that note, if you're not one of Them and we've never met, how do you know our names? Hell, how do you even know about the Test?"

Fray gasped, hiding behind Dicro.

"He's totally a creeper!" she exclaimed, pointing at Ignis. "Like, a mind creeper! I didn't even know those existed!"



[Who is that supposed to be?]

MY POSTS IN LIMBO JUST GET MORE AND MORE DETAILED HUH

I MEAN THIS IS CRAZY LOOK AT ALL OF THIS DETAIL



Poice just watched, although his mind wasn't really in the room. He was distracted by the MAGICAL THOUGHTS of how awesome their SCIENCE ALLIANCE was going to be. He could see it now...

...

...What? You thought I was going to type that up? No way. Awesomeness like that can't be put into words.



AND THEN PEYLET

Said soulless-looking semi-loli popped up behind him, not realizing that doing something like that was kind of creepy.

"Is something wrong? You sound concerned." she asked.



"Contract? What's your contract?" Umbra asked, sounding suspicious.

"Sorry, Umbra! That's top secret! But, c'mon, you trust me, don't you?"

"No."

"Fair enough. Anyways, me and Julie have some talking to do, but don't worry about it! It doesn't really have anything to do with the Competition or anything like that...just a lucky coincidence! Anyways, anyways, anyways, we'll talk later, okay? ♥" Halyn said, attempting to drag Julias out of the room and into the hall. Having plenty of experience with Halyn being a weirdo, Umbra just sighed the subject away. Before she could question why Joe was here, her phone vibrated and stole her attention.

Oh, you Tested and your texting.

She turned back towards towards Ciess, Shan, and Ara, looking a bit weirded out by the text message.

"Hey, do we know anyone capable of possession?" Umbra asked, apparently referring to whatever the text said.

"Besides Dicro?" Shan asked.

"It's from Tintra, so I'd assume so."

"...Sola, maybe. Otherwise, no."

"Hm."

Ciess, not caring for the MYSTERIOUS TEXT MESSAGE, marched right up to Joe.

"Hey, who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me you're going to join, too..."



Silence.

"W-Wait...you're telling me...you're telling me that I was basically Meil?!"

"):"

"No way! You've got to be kidding! What the hell kind of Test Reality did you come from?!" Nette exclaimed in total disbelief. How could she not have gone on badass semi-loli adventures?!

Fellmund
~That One Cafe~

"The only reason that I trapped you in those cards, is so you don't interrupt me while I am robbing your friends of their valuables."

And so he got started on that fun stuff, stuffing the stuff inside of his stuffy cloak, keeping a close watch on the still conscious Vitara in the process.

"By the way, if you keep waving your hand around like that, it's going to get chopped off. Just sayin'."

Skar and Charles
~Limbo~

"Apparently that's supposed to be Sumai." Skar replied, "But Skar can't really tell."

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Three of the stars missed Mr. Thorren completely; the other two inserted themselves into his right shoulder and left hip. Normally this would make any normal man wince in pain, but Mr. Thorren was so pissed off that he felt absolutely nothing. Not good.

"I don't allow vandalism in my STOOOOOOOORE!!!" he roared.

Another thunderclap, and about five out of six lightning bolts rained down from the sky to around the area where Charteuse was - the other one forked over to the bodies of Kim-Ko and Yorito. Oh snap.

Oh, and Mr. Thorren swung his hammer at Charteuse too. With a person of her size, if she got by it once it could cause great problems.. instant powder ribs, instant powder skull, instant broken/torn off limbs. Oh joy.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

"I don't take kindly to vandalism.. I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Mr. Thorren then decided it would be a good idea to pick Charteuse up by the throat, scorching it slightly, "If you didn't want this to happen, you should've been more careful around my plants. I'll let you off easy, however, since I'm in a forgiving mood at the moment."

And so Mr. Thorren chucked her out of his store, keeping a close eye on her in case she did something funny.

"Get out of here. If you ever come back, I'll finish what I started."

Fellmund
~That One Cafe~

"Oh, probably. In fact, it's come back and bit me on the ass a few times. I'm used to it. But this is all I know, and it is all I'll ever do." Fellmund looked in disgust at Naj's possessions, "And, I'll be sure to return this stuff sooner or later. In fact, here's some things I stole from you guys earlier."

He then put all the junk he had found earlier - minus Poice's card - on the nearest table. Yay.

"I'm not all bad. Just mostly. Remember that." Fellmund then finished up his robbing escapades, "By the way, why'd you even come here anyways? I mean, it was a very noticeable trap and everything, but still, why?"

Skar and Charles
~Limbo~

"Whatever. Let's just go There and get this over with."
"I wonder what There looks like.. perhaps it has more Olivites like me!"
"..Don't count on it, Charles."

{{Bonus cookies to the people that catch onto the ongoing reference to a certain video game in Mr. Thorren's posts. Minus you Exuro. Your cookies are already on the way. Try not to murder the Girl Scout this time.}}

"Thank you."

Then, Preston waited in silence.

Yorito

"Yeah, I'm good..." Yorito slowly got up, but then he was suddenly pulled by Kim-Ko; the lightning bolt that brushed past them answered his concerns. Yorito couldn't see the bolt since he turned around to see Kim-Ko; it came from behind him. As they were going up the stairs, Yorito spoke.

"T-thanks!"

However, Kim-Ko probably didn't hear it, due to the raging battle between Mr. Thorren and Charteuse.

The two then arrived at the room.

Preston

Preston looked up to see the two arrive.

"What's going on? Well, Mr. Thorren seems to have gotten upset over the fact that Charteuse broke one of his flower pots, as you saw. He is going a bit overboard, though."

Yorito spoke up.

"Preston, shouldn't we stop the fighting?"
"Normally, I would, especially since he admitted to killing someone. However, Mr. Thorren helped me, so I'll let this slide. He might have had a good reason for killing Jim Morrison. Who knows? We can ask him after he's done."
"What if he kills her, Preston?"
"Well, to be honest, it's partially her fault for being so stupid. This is the Competition, right? Why pick a fight against a guy you can't win, especially when there's a chance you'll die? Well, we did the same thing, so I guess Charteuse must have some reason. Anyways, if Mr. Thorren does kill a weak girl like her, I won't be obligated to spare him in this Competition."
"..."
"Ah, while Mr. Thorren is downstairs..."

Preston turned to Kim-Ko.

"I'm not sure what sort of relationship you have with Mr. Thorren, but I suggest you cut ties with him as soon as possible. His behavior is dangerously erratic. He probably injured one of you guys while fighting Charteuse, right?"

With that, Yorito slightly jumped.

"Well, it was only me, really. Didn't hurt that much either."
"Whatever. From the sound of things, the fight is over. Let's wait to see if Mr. Thorren comes to join us."

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren appeared beside the group suddenly. So yeah.

"I'm sorry, Yorito, for harming you. I don't know what came over me when that girl hurt that poor, defenseless flower.. but now you can see what my Oress has done to me." The no-longer pissed off gardener then turned to Flyri and Kim-Ko and completely ignored Preston, "Are you two okay?"

Mr. Thorren twitched.

"Don't worry, that girl is still alive. I wouldn't kill a defenseless woman like her. That just wouldn't be right."

See? He is a good guy. Don't split up the Flower Alliance, Preston!

"By the way, Preston, would you guys like to be apart of the Flower Alliance?"

On a side note, Mr. Thorren was bleeding quite a bit from his shoulder and leg. And he didn't even notice. Snap.

Fellmund
~That One Cafe~

"Heh. Everybody does." Fellmund began walking out the door, and then span around, "Oh, one more thing.. when the others wake up, tell them to meet me at the Random Body of Water tonight if they have any scores to settle with me. And that I'll return most of their things there too."

He snapped his fingers; the cards twirling around Vitara spontaneously combusted.

"May we meet again. 'Twas nice talking to someone normal for a change."

And then he was gone. perhaps to go to a party with Julias?

Skar and Charles
~Limbo~

Charles was mezmerized by the elevator. Skar had a nap. Standing up.

“Woah!”

Yorito jumped a bit when Mr. Thorren suddenly appeared beside him. Besides that, Yorito and Preston didn’t say anything until Mr. Thorren left the room.

“Woah… That surprised me. I thought you said he was downstairs, Preston.”
”Guess I was wrong…”

In reality though, Preston knew full well that Mr. Thorren was near enough to hear at least some of his words. Preston wanted to gauge Mr. Thorren’s reactions, which is why Preston pretended to not notice him. After answering Yorito, Preston answered Kim-Ko’s (rhetorical) question.

“Anyways, yes, you and Flyri should leave Mr. Thorren. This isn’t a game and you’ve witnessed his reckless actions firsthand. What’s there to say you won’t be his next target? Yes, he helped me and Yorito, but at the same time he would use his Oress on someone for breaking a flower pot; he’s a loose cannon. In addition, he killed a person at the age of 5 and made a contract with… Her? He knew that Flyri was one of Them, but still agreed to the contract. Why? If he didn’t know, then I guess that’s excusable, but he did know about Flyri and agreed to the contract nonetheless. Personally, I would never agree to such a contract under such conditions, and I doubt you would either. There are plenty of other problems with him, but I think that much will be sufficient. Also, I doubt you knew him before you were transported to this world, so what makes you want to stick with him? So, please explain. I’m curious.”

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren continued stitching himself up. So yeah. He heard a fair bit of talking, but couldn't make out any words. He whistled an unknown Canadian song as the needle sewed up his wounds. La la la..

Fellmund
~Random Body of Water~

So the THIEVING THREESOME arrived at the Random Body of Water. Where Sprinkles still sat. Who Fellmund didn't know anything about.

"Good evening, sir. What brings you to dark, secluded beach like this?"

That fucking manbear, of course. Who was quite dead at the moment. Never to speak with Sprinkles again.. maybe.

Skar and Charles
~Limbo~

"Depends. Have you seen any Chillies around here? I'm hungry."
"Actually, we did a person like that. He went ove-"
"Shut it, Charles."
"Go to hell master! You are not going to blackmail this poor innocent woman, just because you're a fatass!"
"..Ehh?"

Charles punched Skar in the face. He died again. Snap.

"Oops. I don't think They'll like master hanging around in Limbo by himself.. oh well. But anyways, that person went that way, miss..?"

Charles pointed - with his bloody fist - in the direction of the TALL GUY while waiting for a name.

Flyri actually had to pause and think for a while before responding to Preston. Mr. Thorren was pretty reckless and destructive, and he did make a contract with the most terrifying person she had ever heard of...

"W-Well...he's nice...even though his power gets out of hand sometimes, it's not like he does it on purpose! He's rather impulsive, but he has a big heart, and I know he doesn't really want to hurt anyone. Plus, he promised to take care of these flowers for me, and that means more than you could ever know. Not to mention that this is the Competition...you want to make as many friends as you can, right?"

BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT THAT WHOEVER WINS THE COMPETITION IS ACTUALLY THE PERSON WITH THE MOST FRIENDS, PLOT TWIST



Larya shrugged...and Spark would notice that it seemed empty. Nothing shook around or shifted inside of there...what's up with that?

And then Sprinkles.

"'SUP, BITCHES? I'M JUST CATCHIN' SOME SNOW RAYS, YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES. JUST CHILLIN'. GET IT, CHILLIN'? AND IT'S REALLY FUCKING COLD OUT? AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Oh, Sprinkles.



For better or worse, Skar would find himself unable to die over Here. Turns out that mortal people are immortal here...so does that mean that immortal people are mortal here? That would explain the Chillies.

"Ooh, you guys are deliciously violent! I think I might have to hang out with you for a while...well, my name's Tzila, which is a much prettier name when it's being torn from the throats of the tortured and dying. You know how it is." she shrugged.



Today's my official first day!

Those Chillies work damn fast...it's only been a few hours and they've got the whole frame up! Fabulous~!

Speaking of fabulous, I decided that I know where I'm going to put all of my secret rooms. I'm starting on the first one today...it'll be hiding in the freezer in the Castle Oress cafe! Hahaha, no one will expect a secret room to be hiding there! I'm a genius! Oh, Cenedra, you're too good for yourself! Stay beautiful! ♥

~Cenedra Shore

Shall you continue reading, or will you investigate the first secret room and come back to the papers later?



The rest of the graveyard seemed to be empty...but it kept getting darker and spookier somehow. The ominous silence was practically screaming death, which is impressive because silence doesn't typically scream.

Anyways, he'd soon arrive at a series of graves with pieces of paper taped onto the tombstones. All of them were blank, except for the first three...

{DAY 3}
Fellmund
~Random Body of Water~

Derp.

"..Bah. I can't think this early in the morning without my coffee." And so Fellmund produced a hot cup of coffee out of thin air, and it was delicious! "But yes, you certainly do have a point. It will take a lot of energy, but I'll try it just the same. If it disrupts my plans in any way, I'm holding you responsible Larya.

And so he went to work. If Larya and Spark wanted to watch him in all his glory, they could totally climb that "rope" and join him. So yeah.

{DAY X}
Skar and Charles
~There~

"Don't worry. Skar met this one fellow who went totally apeshit when Charles here destroyed one of his flowers. Just a single flower, and he nearly killed Skar right there. If anyone were to destroy that entire Flower Shop of his, I guarantee he'll go completely insane and destroy everything and anyone in his way." Skar continued, "Enough dead bodies for a while. Of course, it's pretty damn similar to the Competition, except it will go on at the same time and give the dead ones a chance to fight, take their revenge and other stuff. And give Skar some delicious meals."

Charles loosened his grip on Tzila to give her some air. And gave a little olive-bow.

"I gladly accept your terms, Miss Tzila. I will accompany on your long trek to fuck with people's minds. :3"

oh charles

{DAY 3}
Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

{I'm tired of waiting for roler and such, so here's Mr. Thorren's post.}

Mr. Thorren woke up in the bathtub. It was glowing yellow and such, from his Soul and from the lightning from his body. His wounds had nearly healed fully, as in, a scar was the only thing left. The string he used for stitches had burned off during the night.

But Mr. Thorren was in a different mood today.. a kind of door to door salesman style mood. He got up out of the bathtub, only to fall through the floor because he had scorched it enough during the night, oddly enough. No flowers were harmed, so he continued to grab a collection of them and proceeded to walk out the doo- giant hole in the front of the store. He had shades on for some reason today. Because they're totally bitchin'.

Mr. Thorren took notice of the apocalyptic sky, and then gave it no more notice of it. wuts

"Hopefully some people will buy some flowers today!" he said in an almost eerily cheery cheesy way. Huh.

He then headed off towards a strange apartment building with an even stranger entrance. Thank god it didn't have a door. But he called out anyways.

"Excuse me, does anyone live here by any chance? Because I have some flowers for sale here.."

Day 2

Preston remained silent as he listened to their explanations.

"W-Well...he's nice...even though his power gets out of hand sometimes, it's not like he does it on purpose! He's rather impulsive, but he has a big heart, and I know he doesn't really want to hurt anyone. Plus, he promised to take care of these flowers for me, and that means more than you could ever know. Not to mention that this is the Competition...you want to make as many friends as you can, right?"

"Y-yeah...he promised to p-protect us. He hasn't done a-anything wrong!"

If Preston was more emotional, he would have facepalmed himself right there. Instead, he remained silent; he didn’t even try to stop Flyri as she left.

What did they know about a person they only just met recently? It hasn’t even been a week but they still trusted that man. To Preston, there were many other things wrong with their way of thinking. But, he wouldn’t press the issue.

After a few moments, he spoke.

“Kim-Ko, you’re free to leave now. Yorito and I will be occupied for a while, and I think you would be bored if you stayed here. Take that little animal with you as well.”

Without waiting for a response or even caring if she obeyed or not, Preston turned to Yorito.

“Well, let’s train.”
”Train?”
“Yes. It’s hard to move in this weather, especially with the clothes we have on right now. So, we’ll have to train in here. Granted, our options will be limited in this confined space, but it’s still possible. I’ll be guiding your training. Any objections?”
“Nope. But, what are we going to train?”
“Your Oress, of course. I forgot to ask Umbra if using the Oress makes us more capable of utilizing it, but we may as well give it a shot; she implied it, at least. Also, we have nothing better to do.”
“Alright!”

With that, they trained into the night…

Day 3

Preston woke up first. He examined his body. No damage at all. It was as if the battle yesterday was a dream. But, that wasn’t the case; he still remembered Durnam’s words…

…Everyone here treats it like the end of the world, and the Competition only has more and more death in its future. What will you do then? Hunt down every person that killed someone? You'll destroy yourself…

It wasn’t that simple. Preston wouldn’t hunt down every person that killed someone. Rather, he would try to go after the ones that didn’t have an adequate reason, like Durnam; his explanation didn’t satisfy Preston. Durnam mentioned something about two hours for his reason… Which didn’t explain anything to Preston. Life was a precious thing; his father told him so... And someone else told him the same thing… Who?

“…”

As Preston was thinking, he heard a voice from behind him.

“Morning, Presto-.”

Yorito observed the strange and eerie weather that was outside the window.

“Preston…”
”Yeah, I noticed. However, it seems to be similar to a sunny day. The temperature is normal, and visibility is only slightly hampered.”
“This just looks terrible…”

Yorito stared out of the window with a solemn expression on his face until Preston finally spoke.

“Well, let’s get going to the mall. We need to read up on rocks, yes?”
”Oh yeah. But these clothes…”
“We can get new ones while we’re there. Let’s go.”
"Ah, but what about Mr. Thorren?"
"What about him?"
"Well, he didn't come back from wherever he went yesterday, did he? Do you think something happened to him...?"
"I doubt it. Even if something did, we don't need to worry about a guy like him. I'm sure that he can take care of himself just fine."
"Okay..."

With that, the two headed for the mall.

"Sounds good to me!"

SO YEAH MALL TIME



"You don't know what arcades are?!" Lun and Fray exclaimed simultaneously, looking at Joe like he was crazy.

"Dude, arcades are the only reason people exist!" Lun began.

"Yeah! They're full of video games and beeping and booping and cool stuff!"

"How could have never heard of one before?! Have you no soul?!"

Meanwhile, since Halyn appeared to have an unhealthy obsession with staring at Julias, she seemed to notice that something was up.

"What's wrong, Julie? Are you getting nervous~?"



Meanwhile, 'Flyri', Puppy, and Kim-Ko would arrive at the front entrance.

"Hm, if I was Mr. Thorren, where would I shop...?"



"Sure, but...who are Powell and Stearns, if you don't mind me asking?" Seraye...you know, asked. I mean, it's right there in the sentence...

Meanwhile, Exuro's Chilly was still totally sleeping cutely in the corner.

I WANNA HUG IT! D:



"That's right! Everything is 100% free! Except for the Chillies, of course...but they're worth it. ♥"

The Chillies all proceeded to blush and be all "aww, well, you know...".

D'AWWWWWW



The girl behind him looked up at Skar, not intimidated in the slightest.

"Have you seen a blue-haired boy around here at all? Maybe a girl with brown hair and a most likely strange outfit?" she asked.



Zalika and Narelle looked at each other, shrugged, and decided that they had no choice but to follow the two. So Larya led them in.

"Okay, here's the first floor and...and...uh...yeah. Let's just go upstairs."

so yeah



Suddenly, She appeared behind Mr. Thorren, clasping a hand over his mouth.

"Naughty, naughty. Violating our contract?" She spoke, every word dripping with poison. Kilii took Naj's hand and the two immediately scrambled towards the other side of the room. Even Naj, known pretty much only for her constant urges to violate everyone she sees, appeared to be scared shitless.

"That's a bad, bad thing." She whispered into his ear, grinning maliciously.



Charteuse would end up in the same strange, black-and-white sidewalk area that Skar and Charles had arrived in earlier. Just like with those two, she'd hear a wall calling out her name...



Yes, yes he would! :3

Bunny was sitting beneath the base of a tree, strumming a sad tune on some random guitar. :3

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Lightning poured out from Mr. Thorren's mouth. His face.. had become one of pure rage. The bolts of lightning conveniently missed anything, but would probably be noticeable by any crazed pyromaniacs standing in the general vicinity.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAAAAAAT?!?!?!" he roared, before collapsing and fainting again. Yeah.

Better go get the movie back. godspeed, young padawan!

Fellmund
~The Mall~

"Nope." Fellmund bluntly stated, "But if everyone is done here.. we should probably go off and find a jewlery store or something to rob."

Since that's totally not cliche at all.

Skar
~Limbo~

"Anything? Anything? Anything?" Skar drooled at that thought, "If you're really that willing, allow Skar to give you a manbear's greeting.."

And so Skar slaughtered three more Chillies, and coated his entire face and mouth with blood. Sweet, sweet blooooood. Oh, and he did that "come hither" thing with his one terrifying claw. Be afraid.

(The Flower Shop, Day 3)

"Showtime. Ignis bless these hands and guide my vision."

With a quick puff of shadowy smoke, Julias arose from the shadow of a flowerpot just outside the main entrance of the Flower Shop, carefully positioning his arrival to avoid detection from any of the windows. Once he was sure that we was alone out there, he melted down into the shadows once more, eventually somehow reappearing on the rooftop of the establishment. Creeping over to the edge, he silently climbed down to the nearest window frame and pushed open the window. But one question remains: whose room did he end up in?

---

MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day... 3?)

"Got it figured out, do you? Care to share with the rest of the company present? I'm honestly curious to see what people think I'm doing, skulking in the shadows and subconscious of semi-lolis."

In response to Fray's disapproval, Ignis merely stared down at her and put on the usual grin. You know, the one that practically screams "I'M AN ELDRITCH ABOMINATION AND I WILL DEVOUR YOUR SOUL."

---

(Ritzy Apartment Building, Day 4)

Lokk was still apparently asleep downstairs on his desk. Awww, look, he's narrowly avoiding drooling all over his blueprints and awakening to a nasty surprise.

---

(The Doll Shop, Day 4)

Not too long after the fire started up and smoke invariably drifted up the stairwell, the sound of frantic swearing would erupt from the vicinity of Exuro's room, quickly followed up, by the door bursting wide open to reveal... well, Exuro, dressed in nothing but a pair of grayish boxer shorts and holding a goddamn machine gun. The half-naked mercenary commander charged downstairs and into the kitchen, sending a spray of bullets scattering through the room. Overreaction much?

=DAY 4=
Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren slept through the entire night. And did not see any shadowy figures leaping around and intruding peoples' beds. But what he did see, was the now sunny and hot weather surrounding him. Getting up off the dusty ground, Mr. Thorren scratched his head and wondered.. how the hell did he get there? Instead of walking over to greet Kim-Ko, he stayed rooted in place, staring that bloody tree down. STARING CONTEST IS A GO!

Skar & Luther
~Limbo~

"A manbear's greeting.." Skar grinned, "..Is this."

Aaaaand that homicidal manbear bastard gave Neren a deep, passionate - but bloody- kiss. slip her the tongue, Skar!

But then Koren came in. And Luther gave Koren a deep, passionate, man-to-man kiss. Disgusting. Those hillbillies make me sick. I feel sorry for Koren.. also, did I mention that an apple in the shape of a certain pirate penguin had popped up between all the women standing in the corner. And.. yeah.

"Meep!" was all that it said. Don't fall for its tricks! It only wants to eat the wenches and drink their mead! what

Charles
~Limbo~

"Probably the same reason that I am a giant floating olive, madame. But I say, what is that in the corner there? If it's one of those monster chaps, I shall protect you, my beautiful lady."

D'awww.. but if it really was a monster, that would soooo lame.

Fellmund
~The Mall~

Desperately wanting to impress Larya, Fellmund decided to eat his ice cream treat all at once.. which, because of the fact Tested can't eat and such.. caused Fellmund EXCRUCIATING PAIN. He cursed and damned his impudent god in twenty-six different languages that he didn't even know he could speak. His body leapt around and contorted into some pretty weird shapes. But after about five minutes of this, Fellmund's fit was done. And he just sat there; speechless from the pain. Well, that's just going to impress Larya a lot, isn't it? Silly Fellmund..

(The Flower Shop, Day 4)

Apparently, After his fancy entrance, there was no sign of Julias all throughout the night. That, however, was about to change. Julias was perched next to the window of the empty upstairs rooms and had his gaze trained on Thorren just below him outside. Drawing what appeared to be a small ritual blade from the inside of his robes, he carefully slid the window open before leaping down, aiming a swift, momentum-driven strike at the back of the shopkeeper's neck. If his senses weren't too preoccupied, he might be able to hear the sound of the window sliding open and have a hint of what was coming. If not... well, he'd notice a sharp pain that felt like something more than just a dagger was slid into the back of his neck.

---

(MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day 4)

"Very good. I wasn't expecting you to catch on so quickly. Indeed, that is my ultimate goal... one that will assuredly free me from the bindings keeping me in place by a being that would finally be lower on the Chain than me. And now that you know... I'll just have to dispose of you quickly."

Ignis paused for a moment, his expression going completely serious before breaking out into heartily malignant laughter.

"Bet you thought I was serious there for a moment, didn't you? Nah. I like you two. It would be a dumb move of me to kill off two of my greatest assets here, after all."

---

(Ritzy Apartment Building, Day 3)

Yep, still sleeping.

Fellmund
~The Mall~

Fellmund just kinda.. stayed on the floor. In shock. Yeah.

Skar + Luther + Cap'n Beaky the Applelicious Pirate Penguin
~Limbo~

Skar continued making out with Neren, horribly enjoying the fact she wasn't fighting back and was all confused and such. good thing Naj isn't here right now

===

Luther followed closely behind Koren.. yikes.

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk! Where do yer think yer goin'? I ain't finished with ya yet!"

===

Cap'n Beaky the Applelicious Pirate Penguin walked up to Aracely and.. went all pirate penguin on her.

"OI! YE FUCKIN' WENCH, WHY ARE YE NOT EMBRACIN' ME? I BE A CUTE MOTHERFUCKIN' PIRATE PENGUIN, ARRRRRR! SO HUG ME BEFORE I RUN YE THROUGH, ARRRR!" the actually-not-that-cute pirate penguin raged, "AND WHERE BE ME FUCKIN' MEAD? I GOT WENCHES, BUT WHERE BE ME MEAD?!"

Needless to say, he started licking Aracely's leg. Woah, NOT COOL, MAN!

Charles
~Limbo~

"I say, madame, you're making me blush!" Charles blushed, in an olive-y sort of way, "But.. oh dear! I say, what is tha-"

Suddenly, Beatrice popped randomly out of nowhere and impaled Charles, who promptly slid off her now-bloodied pickle horn and onto the cave floor. The murderous unicorn then walked up to Loret.

"Like, were all alone now. So do you like, wanna like, do you know? That?"

Silly Beatrice.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Unfortunately for Julias, the knife did not inject itself into Mr. Thorren's throat. You see, at a rather convenient time, Mr. Thorren bent down to pick up a flower, narrowly missing Mr. Thorren and instead getting stuck in the tree. Something snapped in Mr. Thorren's brain; Tree = Plant. Plant = Flower. Flower = Hurt. Hurt = RAGE.

"T-tree.." Mr. Thorren immediately went into rage mode, "TTTTRRRRRREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

Mr. Thorren pivoted on the spot; IT WAS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG! Mr. Thorren responded to Julias' act of war by pretty much using Force Lightning on him. Of course, a few lightning veins arced and scorched the side of the buildings around it, as well as charging up that random metal pole sticking out of the ground with electricty, and bouncing off of it. If Julias can dodge this, he must have super crazy superhuman speed. But it's not like lightning will kill you instantly.. but still, those things can stop hearts - which Tested don't have - and explode eyes and damage the brain.. but seeing as it's Julias we are talking about here, even if he had those parts, he'd still survive. Maybe.

Don't ever harm a plant when Mr. Thorren's around. Ever.

(The Flower Shop, Day 4)

"Oh, don't throw a fit. Luck would be against me around here. But you know what they say... skill trumps luck in any test of competency. It's all just good business really, so sit down and die, would you?"

As Julias went to lunge for another strike, Thorren's arcing blast of lightning made contact. Doubling over in mid-swing, Julias went tumbling face-first into the grass in front of him. Even considering that he was just struck by a bolt of lightning, Julias quickly - and literally - sprung back to his feet with a single jump, cracking his neck in a rather noisy. Years of getting struck by all manner of lightning-based spells and magically-reinforced robes do help build tolerance to that sort of thing. However... he didn't exactly look all too happy about the spell's effect. Shaking off the tingling in his arms, Julias slipped the blade back inside his robes before taking out his staff, glaring daggers from behind those shades of his. You just fried the hair. THE HAIR, MAN.

"Oh. We're playing like that. Very well. I'll personally ensure that you have the single most excruciating exit from this little game as possible."

With that last remark, Julias lept backwards some distance and took a sweeping arc of a swing with the staff in his hands. a torrent of what looked like viscous purple liquid erupted from the end of the weapon, flying towards Thorren like a single, continuous projectile. Probably don't want to get any of that in your eyes, at the very least.

---

(MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day 4)

"I just assumed that I'd bullshit my way through it. Seems to have worked out for me in the past, you know. I may be a schemer, but I have to do this more often than you might think. People like intervening in my plans for whatever reasons. Morality is such a bitch sometimes..."

Oh, Ignis.

---

(The Doll Shop, Day 4)

Exuro eventually came to his senses after being berated by Durnam for his miniature rampage. Lowering his light machine gun, Exuro glanced from the smoking stove over to Durnam's soul-leaking wounds before facepalming on a grand scale.

"Oh, motherfucker. Sorry about that... was in the middle of one of those dreams again, and the smoke just... kinda triggered a reaction. Guess I owe you guys something for all of this, right?"

Of course, he wasn't about to elaborate on the whole dream issue.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren lept to the right, but some of that purple liquid stuff got on part of his leg. He didn't notice that of course, since being unable to feel pain does that. For the few seconds before he hit the ground, he chucked a rather large energy ball - capable of paralyzing a normal person for a few minutes, but would probably only stun Julias for five seconds or so - at his attacker. He really had no chance of beating Julias without his hammer, and the lack of clouds in the sky didn't help. Otherwise, he could draw upon there power and utterly destroy him due to the fact lightning from clouds is so much more potent. Noticing Kim-Ko, he thought up a plan.

"KIM-KO! THROW ME MY HAMMER!" Mr. Thorren shouted, hoping that her vines would react in time and throw him his Thunderhammer which could change the fate of this battle.

Considering he was lying on the ground right now, Julias had an easy target. Both Mr. Thorren, and Kim-Ko. Especially Kim-Ko. :(

Charles & Beatrice
~Limbo~
=The Cave=

"Like, I'm a total lesbian freak, mmmkay? I like, don't want any like, men getting in my way so like, just take it like a good little girl.." The creepy unicorn pickle creepily said in a voice that totally doesn't sound like my Frodo Baggins voice.

Meanwhile, traumatized Charles lay motionless on the ground. Not quite dead, I presume. But still motionless.

RUN LORET, RUN!

...Did I mention Beatrice just transformed into a total MILF pickle lady and started walking up creepily towards Loret?

Skar & Mr. Licky Penguin
~Limbo~
=The Lobby=

"That is how all manbears greet all human women. Except for the gay manbears. They do something a lot more disgusting." Skar explained, "You know how Skar covered his face in fresh blood? Yeah. Just imagine what gay manbears would do.."

Disturbing thoughts. DO NOT WANT!

On the other hand, Mr. Licky Penguin did not take very kindly to Aracely's stomping. The enraged pirate penguin apple conjured up an apple sword out of the air and proceeded to stab Aracely in the foot.

"WENCHES BE NOT DOIN' SUCH A THING TO SUCH AN HONORED PIRATE CAP'N SUCH AS MYSELF! FOR I BE THE BEST FUCKING PIRATE PENGUIN CAP'N EVER TO EXIST! I AM.. CAP'N BEAKY, CAP'N OF THE P.P. PIRATES, ARRRR! NOW FEEL THE WRATH OF ME BLADE, YE SAUCY WENCH!"

Why are none of my character's normal...?

Fellmund
~The Mall~

"..I'm starting to regret being a Tested. Do you think there's anyway of getting my anatomy back and everything?" he asked, still lying on the floor, to Larya, "Because if I can't even have my favourite dessert, I'm going to be pissed."

Standing up, Fellmund looked at the FLO eagerly waiting for money. Being the dick that he is, he used his 'CARD'-iac arrest spell on her and caused the cards to contract.. which would most likely chop her up into little pieces and douse the counter, and Spark, in DELICIOUS CRIMSON RED. Unless FLO was like an alien or something, and had green blood. That would be freaky.

"Looks like somebody dealt you a bad card! NYAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!" The dickish magician laughed manically, scarring Larya and Spark possible-maybe-yes.

(The Flower Shop, Day 4)

Julias never was good at dodging Lighting Orbs, so Thorren's attack once again hit its mark. The blast arced through his body, dropping Julias to one knee for a long enough period of time that he wasn't able to do anything about Kim-Ko tossing Thorren his weapon. Once he was able to stand, he once again sprung to his feet in a single swift movement. Now he was faced with an even more problematic dilemma: he was currently outnumbered, and those odds tend to result in a great deal of pain. Shaking off the lightning's effects once again, he slipped one hand into his robes and offhandedly began speaking towards Kim-Ko, despite still facing Thorren.

"We can't have anyone interfering with the odds now, can we? Be a good little girl and run along before I'm forced to feed you to the shadows alongside the big fellow here."

Without missing a beat, both of his hands re-emerged from his robes, holding in each a set four throwing knives resembling the blade he stowed away earlier. Just like that, he made a swift spinning motion and launched each set of knives - one aimed for the window Kim-Ko was in, and the other towards Thorren. Regardless if they hit or not, the two would probably notice they were composed entirely of an odd-looking purple crystal material, carved into an aerodynamic shape. Judging by how he pulled them out, he might be just creating them on the spot.

---

(The Doll Shop, Day 4)

"How about breakfast is on me? I'll take everyone out to wherever it is they want to go. I swear on the life of my beard."

Man, he's really breaking the bank on himself here. Also, Freeman goatees do make for a convincing manbeard of manliness.

---

(MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day 4)

"I've been told that I'm very... convincing, to say the least. Regardless, if you do have any ways to speed up the process when it comes to the minds of the higher beings, I'm all ears."

But then Fray dun goofed. Despite Mr. Fish's shushing him, Ignis could tell that her semi-loli spaz instincts were trying to betray her there. Turning on the classic nightmare fuel-fed grin that he so loves, he merely glared down at her, eyes visibly glowing an ever-so-slight shade of violet from behind those Tinted Spectacles of his.

"Please, Fray. Do go on."

---

(Ritzy Apartment Building, Day 3)

"FWAAAAH!"

Lokk tumbled off of his workstool, uttering the strangest cry of surprise that one could possibly imagine out of a bipedal not-Chilly.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren barely stood up in time; the knife would've struck him in the face otherwise. But.. Julias attacking Kim-Ko was the last straw. Julias had just earned the eternal rage worthy of a god.

"YOU SADDEN ME DEEPLY, CHILD. IN A FEW SECONDS, I WILL MAKE YOU VERY THOR! SHOCKING, I KNOW!!"

The pissed off gardener charged forwards, grabbing his hammer along the way, and used his signature shockwave attack on Julias. Regardless of whether or not Julias dodged it, the sides of the flower shop and the building next to it would come crashing down.. right on top of Julias. That conducting rod in the middle of the alley way didn't help, either. Or the large burst of electricity that would probably send him flying backwards.

Above in the sky, a small cloud was beginning to form. Be afraid, Julias.

However.. that wound on Mr. Thorren's back opened up slightly again. Isn't that just lucky for Julias?

Fellmund
~The Mall~

"...Are you callin' me a pervert? Because if you are, you're correct. Hehe."

But.. yeah. Fellmund began walking outside the now-desecrated store and off to the movie theatre! Hoorah.

THE MANBEAR'S MURDEROUS MONSTROSITIES GUILD
~Limbo~
=Skar=

Skar sadfaced at the departure of the only woman that ever let him give them a manbear's greeting. The others in the lobby would kill him for doing so, and death isn't necessarily a pleasant experience. He decided.. it was time to return to There. And so he went into the elevator. Yeah.

=Mr. Licky Penguin=

The apple-penguin lived up to his new-found name, at the same time as repeatedly stabbing her in leg still. Did I mention he had a grey beard and 'stache now. And long gray hair. He became wrinkly, and his voice became all raspy and hoarse.

"WHAT DO YE THINK YAR DOIN', YE SAUCY WENCH!"

=Luther=

The gay potato chip melted down.. and traveled under the door.. and reformed on the other side. Koren wasn't safe anywhere.

"Hyuk hyuk hyuk! Ya ain't gonna get ridda meh that easily!"

And yeah. Chip hug. Again.

=Beatrice=

Beatrice chased after Loret but failed. So she just disintegrated and disappeared.. for now.

=Charles=

Charles popped up beside the running Loret.

"I say, what are you running from, madame?"

YAY! HE'S ALIVE AGAIN!

Noticing that Kim-Ko was in trouble, Puppy panicked for a moment before deciding to be an hero. He jumped on to Kim-Ko's head (not her face, of course, that would be kind of counter-intuitive), now serving as a fluffy helmet against any debris. That wouldn't help her against the debris that wasn't heading right for her head (see what I did there), but at least having head protection would help Kim-Ko avoid an insta-kill.



"You're so silly, Magic Man!" Larya commented, following him to the movies because movies are the bomb.



"GET OFF OF ME GET OFF OF ME GET OFF OF ME" Aracely oh-so coherently requested, now punching and kicking him at the same time. Ah, karma. You're so much fun! You're also so disturbing. So, so disturbing...



Loret jumped and screeched to a halt, immediately going to cling to Charles with a bright smile.

"Oh, Charles! I was so worried! I thought you were gone forever!" she cried. TRUE LOOOOOOVE~♥



Ardin raised an eyebrow, then wrote some stuff down with that cool pen on that cool paper.

"Sounds like fun. Alright, before this whole Test Reality mess, what was your outlook on death? Did you believe in a certain afterlife or anything like that? Did death terrify it, did you look forward to it, were you pretty indifferent about it?" he asked.



Vitara sighed with relief and smiled, happy that poor Dysis' mind hadn't melted/Dysis wasn't stabbing her to death for that horrible pun of hers. There was a reason she only pun'd when she was alone... Anyways, Vitara accepted Dysis' handshake rather heartily, now back in a good mood.

"Good morning! My, what are you doing here so early? Why, this cafe isn't even open yet! Do you work here? Were you hiding out in here? Or is the food here just that delicious? ♥"



"Decently enough." Peylet briefly glanced to the side, implying that her sleep may not have been as decent as she claimed. Which is kind of depressing because 'decent' doesn't even mean good, really.

"So, DBA. What is our first task of the day?" she asked. "We could go back to looking for those secret rooms, or return to Vitara as she requested yesterday..."



Nette hopped back up on her feet and started pacing around.

"So you can get Promoted and become one of Them like Boss over there, duh!" she began, pointing back at Hat Guy. He seemed to be paying attention at this point, but He decided not to say anything.

"That's, like, the whole point of the Competition!" Nette continued. "Well, i mean, you don't really have to kill anyone off if you don't want to, but someone's probably going to try and kill you guys off eventually. Kinda sucks for you, huh? But, don't worry! After you die, we can totally go on magical Limbo adventures together, yeah?"

Because magical Limbo adventures are totally worth dying and losing the Competition for. Well, actually...



Seraye, confused and mind-blown, decided to just calmly walk over to her desk and sit down with a terrifyingly blank expression on her face.

"Everything is normal. Everything is normal. Everything is normal."



Mariol jumped, now starting to understand the feelings of intimidation running through her mind. She thought for a moment, trying to remember her age...

"Um...I'm 16. I t-think...?" she stuttered. She looks waaaaaay too young to be 16! Then again, most of my 16-year-old characters look too young to be 16. Damn semi-lolis and their ambiguous ages! It's a good thing that they're cute and silly. (:



Suddenly fearing for her loli Tested-virginity (I don't know how that works, either), Ara backed into the nearest wall.

"A-Aita...? W-What are you doing...?" she asked, her silent D: contrasting Aita's unheard >:3.



Halyn laughed. That laugh is kind of disturbing. ):

"Ha! That creepy guy in the corner was the one who did the killing! Yeah, Shan killed that one guy who was kind of a dick. Must've been pretty nasty, because the following girly scream kinda broke the windows." she explained, looking over at the broken windows in the front.



Kilii sighed, relieved.

"Ah, that's good. I was afraid that something bad happened! Well, I guess that's it. If you need me or Poice, we're busy working on a super-fun experiment in the guest room upstairs. ♥" she said, turning to leave.



Rokkskar would end up on 'main street'. Yeah.



Stan was stunned. Someone was...someone was hugging him. Someone was hugging him. And out of their own will, too! Holy shit! This is was insane! This was...this was...there were no words! Stan's mind was officially blown...up with sunshine and happiness and smiles and butterflies.

The Chillies rushed back with a bunch of crazy objects...one had a bag full of powder, one had a syringe full of liquid, one had some strange patch-things, one had some stamps, one had some pills, one had some cool-looking vials...and the list went on and on. The only thing they seemed to have in common appearance-wise was their excessive purple-ness.

Anyways, they just held them out to Charteuse, as if telling her to pick any one she wanted. Or all of them. Yes.

(The Flower Shop, Day 4)

In a surprising show of agility, Julias managed to entirely avoid the shockwave this time... though his backflip that he used to avoid it brought him closer to the now-crumbling facade of the Flower Shop. The faintest trace of a terrified frown flickered across his face as the building came tumbling down upon him. Aside from the sound of shifting rubble or anything that Kim-Ko, Thorren, or Puppy were doing, there was utter silence for a minute or two.

"You'll need to do better than that to kill the Chosen of Lord Ignis, though I have to commend you on something. The fact that you were able to draw blood while managing to ignore the sensation of your leg being consumed by my lord's magic speaks volumes about your tenacity. I shouldn't have underestimated you, it seems..."

Julias' voice was initially coming from somewhere inside the wreckage for the moment, but it soon became apparent that it was on the move. Eventually, he once again emerged from atop the rubble, having shifted into a shadowy state to escape entrapment. When he re-solidified, he was clutching another batch of throwing knives in one hand and his side with the other, where a stream of unnaturally blackish blood was starting to seep out from his robes. That has to look awfully unnatural, never mind that the fact that Tested weren't supposed to bleed in the first place. Thorren wouldn't have too much time to ponder an answer to this, considering that the next round of four throwing knives was screaming towards him already.

---

(The Doll Shop, Day 4)

Exuro instinctively went to stroke his non-metaphorical goatee when Durnam and Elia brought up the topic of him getting rid of it.

"Aahah- no. Do you two have any idea how long it took to perfect this? You'll have to kill me before you take my beard."

---

(MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day 4)

Ignis' eyes practically lit up when Fray started spilling what she knew.

"So Dicro! You should have mentioned this all to me before. Really, if you knew all about this sort of thing before, you could have saved me a lot of time in somewhat-planning what to do and following Halyn's actions around through Fray's eyes. We can speak about the topic of temporary Promotions later... right now, I think that I could use your services in figuring out how to crack the subconsciousness of a few key people over There. You know, standard fare. I'm willing to listen to anything that you might need in return. Getting in good standing with a guy going places like me can be greatly beneficial, after all."

He makes a valid point... BUT DON'T LISTEN TO HIM HE'S EVIL.

---

(Ritzy Apartment Building, Day 4)

Scrambling up to his little Asuran feet, Lokk resisted the urge to snarl at his partner there for the rude awakening because GREAT MARVEL OF SCIENCE. He scurried over to the wheelchair, looking it over like one might admire a fine work of art.

"I have to say, that's one way to beat crippling overuse of your Oress."

Mr. Thorren
~(The Remains) of the Flower Shop~

"YOU DESTROYED MY STORE. YOU KILLED MY PLANTS. YOU ATTACKED MY FRIEND. NOW, FEEL THE WRATH OF A NORSE GOD!! FOR I AM THOR, THE ALMIGHTY GOD OF LIGHTNING!!! DDDIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!!"

Mr. Thorren swatted the knives out of the air with his hamme- wait, they stuck to it. But either way, he began spinning and swinging his hammer around in a circle, creating dust and causing several streaks of lightning to shoot out randomly. Some towards Julias, some towards nowhere in particular. Because of the fact that their were electrical devices underneath, they began streaking it up through the debris and towards the shadowy man. Mr. Thorren quit spinning and jumped up; and slammed down on the ground hard with his hammer, creating another shockwave, quite a bit bigger than the last one. It would throw the debris up into the air, and whoever may be on them. Those three lightning bolts that came flying down from the now fully-formed cloud didn't help either.

Sadly, Kim-Ko would likely get caught in blast.. poor Kim-Ko. :(

Skar
~There~

Skar scoured far and wide for more women to rape talk with. Did he find any? This of course does not count Charteuse and Stan. Who cares about them.

Fellmund
~The Mall~

The group of thieves arrived at the movie theatre. Yeah.

"Now.. excuse me Miss FLO, but what is playing in the theatre today?"

SKAR'S CREATIONS
~Limbo~
=Charles=

Charles was speechless about everything. And had but a single facial expression on him... :D

=Mr. Licky Penguin=

By now, Beaky was one bruised - and moldy - apple. So, to Aracley's delight, the pirate penguin spontaneously combusted.. sending mold and mushy apple guts and beard hair everywhere. Only thing left behind was his pirate hat and eye patch. Yay, free loot~

{{FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU- double post}}

(Flower Shop, Day 4)

Well, this was a show of force that Julias wasn't exactly expecting, to say the least. Not prepared for an assault from all sides on this scale, Julias went to dodge the salvo of thunderbolts from Thorren's spinning attack, only to be caught up in the combined updraft of rubble from beneath the ground and the hammer's shockwave. To make matters worse for him, one of the bolts crashing down from the sky struck Julias as well, sending him crashing back to the ground with a dull crunch. When he did finally manage to get back to his feet, one of the lenses of his Tinted Spectacles was noticeably cracked, causing an intermittent flash of his normally-concealed scarred visage and unnatural eyes to flicker across his face like a broken TV every now and then. It seemed to be taking more effort on his part to stay alert, coughing up a trace of blackish blood all the while.

"A god, you say? This is most troubling if that is indeed the case. I served beneath a god many years ago. Irregardless, this makes you even more of a threat to my lord's plans, and I must dispose of you as such. Like I said, it's nothing really personal. All for the sake of Lord Ignis."

This time, he offered no forewarning of his strike. With a flick of his staff, the shadows cast by the cloud overhead began to darken and intensify, eventually beginning to heave in and out in a consistent cycle. It was almost as the darkness had gained some semblance of sentience... and a bloodthirsty instinct, to boot, considering that shadowy tendrils would emerge from the blackness, attempting to wrap themselves around Thorren's ankles, wrists, and neck. If he managed to dodge, they would wheel around again and again in a relentless pursuit.

What the hell is Julias, anyways?

---

(Ritzy Apartment Building, Day 4)

"But of course. I'll just have Frederick make preparations for the mass transportation. In the meantime, I should at least make a quick observation of the state of the castle at the moment. Can never be too careful."

Lokk proceeded over to Frederick, and with a few button presses and switch flips on the golem's console, sent him off to begin gathering up the pieces of the collab. Meanwhile, the Asura toddled over to a smaller Golem sitting inactive against the far wall and powered it on, as well. Judging by the screen-like crystal pnel in the front, it was the same monitor golem as the one in his Castle Oress room.

---

(The Doll Shop, Day 4)

Just now noticing how incredibly awkward he looked at the moment - not wearing his sunglasses, never mind the lack of clothes - Exuro hurried back off to his room.

---

(MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day 4)

"I'm thinking about starting things off with a bang. By which I mean going right for His subconscious. With a strong base of operations, I'll be within striking distance of everything I please."

wait what

There has to be something wrong with Ignis' head. Then again, just think about who we're talking about here...

"Stick with me, kid. We'll go places with this little project that will rattle this little Chain that this whole Entirety has down to the very first link."

Fellmund
~The Mall~

"We want a watch a movie. Now quit playing games bitch and tell me what's playing." Fellmund said sinisterly.

In Fellmund's hand, was another playing card. This one was covered in blood already. Freaky.

Skar
~There~

"You were the one who ran into Ska-" Skar span around, and took one look at Naj and said, "Heh. You are perfect."

And so Skar conjured up a Chilly corpse in his mouth and chomped down on it, splattering a bit of blood on Naj's face. That got Skar even more 'excited' and grabbed onto Naj's shoulders, locking her in place; lest her shoulders were torn apart by his claws. A gigantic seductively sinister sexy grin appeared on the manbear's face. Skar had Naj right where he wanted her.

And then he kissed her. Yeah.

silly old bear

Charles
~Limbo~

"I say, you are quite right, madame! If we could go back to the Test Reality and be all solidified and such, why, we could have a marvelous time in the Mall! But alas, we cannot.. oh dear.. oh woe is me.. what shall we do?"

D'awww.. don't be sad Charles, get Glad!

shameless advertisements ftw

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren's last attack was starting to leave him a little worn out, but he had to keep moving; lest he die and leave Kim-Ko unprotected. Speaking of Kim-Ko, she had gotten caught in the crossfire of his abilities. If he could at least buy time for her to use a thorny vine to impale Julias through he face, or even just escape, he could die in peace. But that time was not right now. For now, he lobbed his hammer, sparking and shooting small bolts of electricty off of it, in a great arc at Julias then barreled away from the tentacles, going through an alley on the other side of one of the buildings he destroyed, all the way around to the other side, never stopping, and chucked another two energy balls at Julias, and another six lightning bolts from the heavens came crashing down as well. But blood was flowing down from Mr. Thorren's back, and now from the little spot on his leg. He had no idea. If Julias didn't kill him, Mr. Thorren was going to end up killing himself.

Those clouds were getting bigger and greener. STORM POWERS, DON'T FAIL THE ALMIGHTY THOR!

{{Mr. Thorren is OP, man. Pain is nothing to him, and his powers topple buildings. This is truly an EPIC battle. And Mr. Thorren hasn't even shown off Stage 3 of his power yet. :3}}

(The Flower Shop, Day 4)

Julias was too concerned with pursuing Thorren with the shadow tendrils from his previous attack and had a relatively short amount of time to react to the succession of his attacks. He was able to avoid being clobbered by the arcing toss of Thorren's hammer, but the next series of lightning orbs sent him teetering off-balance. This left him open to the hail of thunderbolts crashing down from the clouds, and two made direct contact with Julias. The bolts arced through his body once again before sending him flying off of the pile of rubble he was standing on, narrowly avoiding a face-crunching smash into the ground thanks to the inky black shadow beneath Thorren's cloud.

"...So I have underestimated you once more. As much as I'd so enjoy being able to say you claim victory here, your self-destructive nature will be your downbringing. Enjoy cleaning up your mess, monster... and by all means, don't forget your parting gift."

The swirling black shadows would lift Julias to his feet once more before dissipating back into a run-of-the-mill shadow. Julias himself was definitely looking worse for wear, coughing up a significantly larger amount of blackish blood - not on his clothes, mind you - and struggling to even keep upright. Staring down Thorren from behind his malfunctioning spectacles, Julias removed from his robes the ceremonial flintlock pistol that he showed the resident of Umbra's Mansion the night of his arrival and aimed the sights directly at Thorren. Certainly an ancient-looking piece of weapon history couldn't do that much, right?

...Right?

Well, not quite. When he pulled the trigger, a colossal plume of vivid purple flames erupted from the barrel, almost as if the weapon was loaded with some sort of technicolor rocket fuel. Regardless, the column of flames quickly bore down on Thorren, who likely would have a moment or two to react if his reflexes were fast enough. Oh, and it would likely catch some of the shop in the blast radius regardless of if it hit Thorren or not, and by the time that it dissipated, Julias would be on his way out of the area as fast as he could muster.

---

(MAGICAL SUBCONSCIOUS ADVENTURE, Day 4)

"No Cora, huh? That's one less Mirror hogging the spotlight, then. And I'd imagine that Shan's head must have some serious issues, as well, considering all of the bloody murder and whatnot that he apparently carries out when nobody's around to see it. It's a damn shame, too. I was hoping that I'd have someone readily accessible by Julias at all times, but I suppose it might be better for the stability of everyone else involved."

Ignis shrugged, and with a flick of his wrist, crossed the aforementioned names off of the chain.

"And if what you say about Nette is true, then she really has had a complete personality reversal, just like Him and Her apparently did. She used to always be utterly paranoid of just about everything and turned up in boxes on peoples' doorsteps-"

Before Ignis could go on any further, he went oddly silent. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn't to happy about whatever it was the he picked up.

"...Julias, there'd better be a damn good reason for that, or I'm collecting my debt early."

I WONDER WHAT COULD HAVE DONE THIS.

Mr. Tornado
~Flower Shop~

Oh, silly Durnam. Defensive technique? Mini tornado? The real fun is yet to begin..

And it did. The winds around the area began picking up, increasing the radius of the twister by a fair margin, with lightning shooting out of it like some fake natural disaster from a movie. The debris which had dangerous goo on them, remnants of Mr. Thorren's fight with Julias, were picked up by the winds, and they decided it would be a fun idea to hurl themsleves around, and at, the new-found visitor to these "hole-y grounds." Mr. Thorren's hammer hadn't been picked up by the winds yet, but lightning struck down on it, only to bounce off and get attracted to the nearest metallic object possible.. hey there, Mr. Chain. The debris underneath a certain person's feet were somewhat metallic as well. Uh oh.

Durnam's assumption of getting an easy kill was.. well, wrong. Yeah.

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

A few more rocks sctrached Mr. Thorren's back, but he still did not budge. Getting pushed off by Kim-Ko and her CRAZY VINE POWERS didn't stir him, and neither did his sickly looking leg. A couple lightning bolts would find themselves into the room, but would both be absorbed by everybody's favourite spaz. What wouldn't be absorbed, however, would be the debris from the roof's new skylight, courtesy of a couple destructive lightning bolts.

OMFG FLYRI COME BAAAAAAAACK

Fellmund
~The Mall~

Fellmund went the third row of the movie theatre because that row is obviously the coolest. However, there was a slight problem; a few certain illusionary fellows were taking up the entire row. Until, of course, a certain rainbow handkerchief decided to hang all of them by the roof. And then he sat down all casually and invited Larya and Spark to sit next to him. don't do it!

"The movie trailers aren't that interesti-" Fellmund jumped up when he saw a rather.. unexpected movie trailer, "THE THIEVING THREESOME: THE MOVIE?!?! NO WAY!"

Yes way. But who might you ask act out their parts? Well, Fellmund was acted out by Jim Carrey, Larya by Dakota Fanning, and Spark by Verne Troyer. Sprinkles was played by Sprinkles. But anyways, the trailer went like this:

"You wouldn't steal a car.
You wouldn't steal a purse.
You wouldn't steal someone's pajamas.
But these guys will.
When the Thieving Threesome is around..
Nothing is safe."

/end trailer

Fellmund just stared. And blinked. Then stared some more. And blinked. His jaw had metaphorically hit the floor, cracked open, did an Irish jig with a moldy piece of popcorn and then got some hot, steamy action from a cockroach named Alfie. His mind was twisting into a raging ball of confusion and.. Doritos. Yeah.

Skar
~There~

"So.. 'Naj', is it? See all these annoying chinchilla things? Kill them. KILL THEM ALL." Skar grinned, picking one Chilly up and promptly tearing its spine out, and threw it around the tentacle monster like a horseshoe. To further traumatize everyone and everything in this room, Skar said one last thing, "And while you're killing them, you must violate them and drink their blood, and anything else that you might want to drink, hehe."

oh god.. IT'S PEDOBEAR!

Charles
~Limbo~

"I say, madame, whatever are you talking about? I've not seen you at all in my entire olive-y life! Perhaps you're confusing me with somebody else.." Charles frowned, then went back to his super happy face, "I say, do either of you wonderful ladies possibly know where in this dreadful, dreary place we could find any of Them hanging about anywhere? We want to know if it would be possible if they could turn us into ghosts; solid or not solid, doesn't matter. Because.. trying to find a misadventure is terribly impossible when you're dead."

true dat

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Apparently the shouting of Durnam woke up the unconscious body of Mr. Thorren.. well, that and the fact he just had a bunch of rubble land on him, which he promptly shook off. Despite bleeding all over the place, cuts and scrapes and embedded rocks everywhere, a ghastly looking wound on his legs, this strange fellow stood up like he just awoke from a good nap. He yawned too. That should probably send a warning signal popping off in Durnam's mind.

"Hey, what are you doing in the middle of that tornado? Don't you know that's dangerous?" Mr. Thorren looked around for Kim-Ko, but found nothing. So he went beserk and started chucking the rubble from the roof out of the way, ever-so-conveniently ending up in the spinning typhoon. "KIM-KO! KIIIIIM-KOOOOOOO!!!"

Mr. Thorren dropped to his knees.. and started crying again. Yeah. Rain - conducting electricity from the clouds and shooting it off from its bowels - began falling down from the cloud to the ground. Thankfully, the tornado picked them up.. and began twirling them around for bit until the raindrops dissolved. Yet.. the rain just kept coming.

The tornado picked up in speed once more; and twisted in such a way that Durnam was no longer in the epicenter. Meaning.. unless he chained himself to the ground.. he could potentially picked up the twister. The abundant source of rubble, and now Mr. Thorren's giant fucking hammer and those electrifying raindrops, in the storm could probably spell disaster for our silly intruder.

But if Durnam's swords were made of metal, he would find a 'shocking' surprise about them.. metal conducts electricity. And there's electricity everywhere. Oh shit.

this is some crazy shit, yo

However, slowly but surely, Mr. Thorren was being pulled towards the tornado. He just.. kinda slid. Yeah.

Fellmund
~The Mall~

Fellmund looked down at the still-playing trailer of it; the movie was directed by Walt Disney. No wonder it sucked. It was directed by a dead guy.

"Yeah! I mean, Sprinkles played himself, so why weren't we able to? Jim Carrey is good and all.. but he doesn't have the same.. charm as me, you know? But.. hey! Maybe when This Here Movie is over, we can go out and make the movie ourselves! Of course, we'll have to stop by the 'Film Store For Remaking Films You Think You Could Do A Better Job Of Than Those Piece Of Shit Dead Guys' store first, and then slide on over to the 'Film Crew Monkeys For Hire' store and finally the 'Video Editing For Dummies' store."

say what

Skar
~There~

"..Okay, you can rape have her, if you really want to. Skar is going to go.. greet our tentacled friend here." Skar walked over to Stan, stepping on a few Chillies and crushing them under his feet. Skar thought Stan looked like an edible octopus. And decided to bite down and start eating one of Stan's many tentacles. Om nom nom. "SKAR IS HUNGRY!"

You see children, this is what happens when you shoot manbears with GIANT FUCKING LAZERS. You get endless amounts of countless different kinds of rape. Blame that Vershole, Vers.

Charles
~Limbo~

"I say, I'm dreafully sorry, madame. I'm nothing but a simple olive. How am I supposed to know such absurd things?" Charles apologized, "But since you are one of Them.. do you believe you could turn us into ghosts?"

D'awww.. you can't say no to such an awesome little fellow, can you? CAN YOU? CAN YOU?!?!?!?!

if you do, you deserve to die a horrible painful death

Durnam ignored Thorren's questioning, and didn't care for the fool's antics. Instead, Durnam was focusing his energies for a monumental task: getting rid of that tornado.

Fool. You can't even control your powers. Time to show you how it's done!

Without warning, Thorren's tornado would slow down in speed, until the air settled with a calmness juxtaposing all of the chaos before it. Expunging any water from himself, Durnam gazed at Thorren; and, rather suddenly, chains shot out of the ground, shackling Thorren's arms and legs (well, he's already kneeling, so there's not much he really can do) to any stable surface they - the chains, that is - could find. Carefully, but with a brisk pace, Durnam walked towards Thorren, his hand reaching into a pouch on that belt slung across his chest.

Shit, this is taking way too much energy out of me. Just a bit more, and my victory will be just a little bit closer...

Upon reaching a close enough distance, Durnam thrust his hand outwards, scattering some white powder on Thorren's clothing and skin. "Healing powder. Stay still, and let it run its course, or the corruption will kill you. Now, tell me this: Who attacked this place?"

Mr. Thorren
~Flower Shop~

Mr. Thorren would've kept crying out for Kim-Ko, but he felt that healing powder instead. Weird.

"Gah! That stuff stings, you idiot!" Mr. Thorren shouted at Durnam, despite being quite close to him. "But.. to answer your question.. I honestly have no idea who attacked my store besides to kill me, but he did wear purple robes and some bitchin' spectacles. And.. judging by the X's on your hands.. have you come to kill me too?"

The man stared sternly at Durnam. Aaaaand accidently sent electricity flowing through the chains. Whoops.

"You have me right where you want me, so why don't you just get it over with? Why do you insist on trying to bullshit your way through this?"

oh he mad

But.. then Mr. Thorren passed out again.. or did he? He was losing a lot of that delicious soul of his.. and left Durnam open to shank him. Yeah.

The Park
Nago wouldn’t find anything interesting at that area of the park besides the rocks. Nothing looked out of place; the mess that was present yesterday was absent today. If he went towards the cave, the entrance would be firmly blocked by a boulder that looked to be around 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide. As for Preston, Yorito, and Matsuri, there was no trace of them to be found. Why? Well, moments earlier…
……
…
Preston and Yorito
After some time had passed, Preston awoke due to the heat and a piercing headache; the pain he felt from the headache was odd. That was now the second time in which Preston felt pain in the Test Reality. But, the pain quickly vanished. Odd. Well, nothing that he could do about it; thinking about such a thing would be pointless. Preston then observed his surroundings. He was still inside the cave; next to him was the sleeping figure of Matsuri, blanked by the new clothing that Preston and Yorito stole. Preston took the stolen clothes off of her figure and placed them next to the cave wall; she wouldn’t need them in this weather. After that, he proceeded to head outside of the cave. As he neared the cave entrance, he saw Yorito, laying down on the ground in the cave’s shade.

“Hey. Is Matsuri awake yet?”
“No. I do not think she will be waking up any soon, but she is alive. If she sleeps more, I am confident that she will recover. How do you feel?”
”…Well, that’s a relief. As for me, I’m fine, actually. I didn’t do anything stupid by the way; I paced myself. Still not completely finished yet, but the rest I can do later.”
“Did you get any sleep at all?”
“No. But to be honest, I’ve been feeling less and less sleepy lately. It’s not a big deal. I think someone told me that Tested don’t need sleep, but can’t really recall who exactly… Well, I feel like I’ve fully recovered, so yeah.”
“…”

Preston activated his MEODP and shut them off after quickly assessing Yorito’s condition; indeed, Yorito was in a normal condition.

“So Preston, can we head back to the Flower Shop? I got so caught up in this yesterday that I completely forgot about returning there. Also, I think Matsuri would be able to rest better in a bed, than in some cave. So…?”
“Your mind is already made up. Why do you bother to ask me?”

Preston felt like he was looking at a completely different person. The Yorito of four days ago and now were as different as Heaven and Earth. Telling Yorito that he had to meet someone in this park before leaving would be pointless; well, that line-less girl from yesterday could wait a bit, right? Also, if she were here, wouldn't she had said something already? So, Preston thought it would be fine.

“Heh. Well, I dunno… Anyways, I’ll go get Matsuri.”

With that, Yorito and Preston headed to the Flower Shop (after Yorito moved one of the boulders in front of the cave entrance). Matsuri was still sleeping in Yorito’s arms…
……
…
??? = “Jane Doe”
She was awake. Was Preston really that unaware? Was this guy even Preston at all? The possibility that “Preston” was actually an imposter seemed to be high. After all, she was impersonating someone herself…
……
…
Preston and Yorito
They arrived near the Flower Shop… Or what remained of it. The two saw the back of a figure; who it was, Yorito didn’t even need to ask. Still staring at the figure, Yorito talked to Preston in a low volume.

“Preston, I’m going to have to ask you to hold Matsuri for a bit.”
“…Sure. You know who that is, right?”
“Yeah. I’m not going to underestimate a guy that you couldn’t kill. I’ll take this opportunity and go all out.”
“Did you forget about the plan already?”
“Of course not. But as you already know, we can’t utilize it with your arms full of Matsuri, right? I’m sure as hell not going to just leave her in a bush or something. You know as well as I do that I can’t take that chance. I’m entrusting her to you, Preston…!”

After leaving Matsuri to Preston, Yorito started sprinting towards Durnam. In a few moments, Yorito was now within the range where Durnam could probably hear him and/or sense him coming. But, Yorito still was not using his Oress. Why…?
…..
…
Preston
Preston moved to a nearby location where he could observe the battle without being noticed by Durnam. Of course, even though Yorito implied that Preston was to ensure Matsuri’s safety, Preston would nonetheless help Yorito if he needed it. But, Preston doubted that, since Yorito wasn’t a weakling anymore. Also, it was odd that Preston couldn't sense Durnam, who was a Tested, even when he got so close; was his body's condition fine...? He felt nothing majorly abnormal...
…..
…
??? = “Jane Doe”
This was getting interesting. She would observe this fight and see how tough he really was…

"Purple robes and tinted spectacles...? Hmph. Looks like my guess wasn't too far off. Nonetheless, this spells terrible, terrible news for everyone. The powder should help with most of your wounds. I haven't tested its effectiveness against Ignis' magic, but I can say that it'll only slow down its progress. I'm sorry, there's not much else I can do..."

Suddenly, Durnam heard footsteps behind him. Swiveling around, he was greeted with the sight of Preston's somewhat incompetent sidekick. "Great. Just great. You know what? This morning just keeps getting better and better. Look, if you're going to try and pick a fight, don't even bother. I have far more pressing affairs to attend to, and the last thing you or I need is to fight, especially with the current circumstances. If you really plan on assuring your own survival, you'll listen to what I'll have to say," he said, giving Yorito a rather grim expression. You know, one of those "This is some serious shit right here" expressions.

---

Preston, from his point of view, would probably want to take note of some very interesting details. One, if he was paying attention to the number of lines on Durnam, he'd see that it was considerably less (to be precise, it's somewhere between that of an experienced warrior and a demigod's) than your average Tested's. Second, he'd probably notice the chains holding Mr. Thorren down, which were impossibly attached to the debris.

Preston didn't activate his MEODP, but he did notice Mr. Thorren being tied down by chains. It was odd; Durnam wasn't the holder of Priste. There was also some white powder on Mr. Thorren's body; what it was, Preston couldn't tell.

More than the chains and the powder though, Preston was more concerned with how Yorito was planning on taking on Durnam...
.....
...
Yorito slowed down and stopped as he heard Durnam's words. He looked at Durnam with one of those "are you serious" expressions after Durnam finished speaking. Then...

"Sorry that I'm not that important to you. But, the first thing that I need to do is fight you, especially with the current circumstances. You killed Loret, hurt Matsuri, destroyed Mr. Thorren's flower shop, nearly killed him, and have the guts to say those words? You must be out of your mind. It hurts for me to listen to you. I could have killed you easily with a sneak attack, but I didn't want to step down to your level. Remember how you killed Loret? Yeah, you disgust me. Talk's over."

In an instant, countless numbers of tiny black rocks swirled around Durnam like a dark cloud from all possible angles. Then, they all went straight towards the center-Durnam. To be honest, Yorito did not know what the obsidian rocks would do to the chestplate, but anything flesh and leather would be sure to get severely damaged...

If they landed, of course.

But, Yorito did everything he could to make it happen as fast as possible; Durnam would undoubtedly be shocked by this development of Yorito, which would slow down his reaction time for even a little bit. Also, Durnam couldn't just burn away the rocks; they wouldn't disappear just by heat.

Durnam's chestplate, with the exception of some scratches, was mostly undamaged. His skin and leather garb, on the other hand, suffered from a number of widespread scratches. Durnam, now on all fours, was taking in deep breaths, trying to control himself from lashing out. Instead, with a fairly noticeable wince of pain, he cauterized most of the injuries (about two-thirds of the injuries on his hand and legs). And then, he laughed. This wasn't some maniacal laugh of madness, but closer - far closer, might I add - to a king laughing at a particularly good joke made by his court jester.

Shit. Can't keep this up much longer. I could kill him if I wanted to, but... No, that's not going to be a possibility. Far too much risk for too little gain. I'll need to save it for a time where I can take full advantage of her powers...

"Look at you, all grown up now, with these obsidian shards. I'm sure that your mother would be so proud, except that she might find it shameful that her son has the wrong man. I didn't attack whoever the hell this Matsuri is, and this shop was destroyed long before I got here. But, if you aren't willing to listen, then I have no choice. I'm going to say this one last time: Listen to what I have to say, especially if you don't want to die at the hands of a psychopathic god," said Durnam, shifting his support from his knees to his feet, almost as if he was ready to either pounce or stand up.

If Yorito replied with anything resembling a "No," then Durnam would utter a quiet "So be it." Fire gathered at his heels, quickly sweeping up some of the obsidian fragments in the heated air's convection currents. Without warning, the flames, and Durnam, leaped at Yorito. The three arcs of fire intended to strike Yorito along his right side and left arm. Durnam, attempting to capitalize on this moment of potential opportunity, did his best to smash into Yorito's chest with his right side, while drawing his left shortsword in an attempt to slash Yorito's chest at such a close range.

Otherwise, well, that's kinda unlikely. If Yorito does feel like actually listening, this narrator will add the following events after his next post.

BYE-BYE, MR. FOURTH WALL, IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU.



Koren, unwilling to give up to someone who was probably not of the same caliber as he was, made the telekinetic storm worse, flinging paperwork across the room, as opposed to just messing with Ardin's desk.



Vers stroked his chin.

Testing? Oh, right. Scientists still do that stuff? Ah well, looks like I'll just have to say something.

"I've tested most of my equipment. The Binary Fusion system works like a charm, and the attached ion thrusters should provide enough of a lift to ascend about a hundred feet, although we'll actually need to assemble everything together to test that. The weapons are standard military issue - well, for heavy artillery, at least - so I don't think we'd need to test them. The cockpit's Faraday Cage should work, but we'll need to test that. I suppose we should assemble everything first, and then test it, unless you want to see if you configured your crystal matrices properly."

Preston was close enough to hear their words. Durnam wasn't responsible for Matsuri and the Flower Shop? Then, who was? There was always the possibility that Durnam was lying... More importantly though, what was Yorito doing? Why was he pausing in-between attacks?
......
...
Yorito didn't pause because Durnam decided to talk. He already decided that talking was over. Yorito was more surprised by the fact that Durnam managed to survive the attack. He purposely made sure to aim not just for his body, but also his head. Yet, the man was still alive...

"...Listen to what I have to say, especially if you don't want to die at the hands of a psychopathic god..."

Ah, what did he say before that? Whatever. Probably wasn't anything important anyways. Yorito knew that Preston would be annoyed at him stopping his momentum; he wouldn't pause at all from now on.

Instead of responding with a simple "no", Yorito instead gathered up obsidian shards and planned to repeat the same attack. However, Durnam and flames jumped at him; the obsidian attack would not be on the same scale as the first one, since Yorito shifted gears. Instead of continuing with the obsidian shards, Yorito instead jumped backwards; however, he would be unable to dodge both flames and Durnam nonetheless. Which was expected, of course. He wasn't as fast as Preston was or the holder of Kinet. Instead, once Yorito's feet hit the ground again, he made a thick, concave, porcelain wall in front of him that would serve two purposes. One would be to dissipate the flames coming at him. The second purpose would be to suppress Durnam. Unless Durnam could somehow stop his momentum, he would crash into the porcelain instead (which would hurt). Of course, the tall wall would block Yorito’s line of vision, but that didn’t matter. He didn’t need to see Durnam to hurt him. Regardless of whether Durnam would crash into the wall or not, Yorito would create bigger and thicker obsidian rocks and send them towards the general area of Durnam.

The flames licked the porcelain, but still lingered around Durnam, who, quite unfortunately, crashed into the wall with a rather harsh crashing sound, sending a fairly large crack through where Durnam's sword met the porcelain barrier. Dazed, Durnam fell onto one knee. He was pretty badly injured - thankfully, he didn't have bones, or his body would be in a considerably worse condition - but it wasn't anything worse than some of the injuries he accumulated during his time on the battlefield. Nonetheless, the obsidian rocks heading towards him was a definite signal that he had to act very, very quickly.

Bracing himself against the oncoming onslaught, Durnam focused his energies, not on making fire from the air around him, but just super-heating the air. Without warning (for Yorito, at least), a large sonic boom (yay for superheated air expanding!) burst from Durnam's general location, knocking back most of the projectiles and staggering Durnam. Well, anything that didn't hit his general location or embed themselves in his flesh.

Ah, shit. Looks like I'm going to have to get him off my back. Why is it always the hero-types that never listen? Vers is going to kill me for this, but I don't give a damn.

Durnam tore his pouch of white phosphorus from his belt, and flung the innocent black pouch over the porecelain wall, scattering granules of the white powder practically everywhere. The moment Durnam heard any sound of impact, he snapped, igniting the phosphorus, and sparking a chain reaction. Great columns of hot, white smoke began to form, obscuring Yorito's vision (and probably scalding him, unless he took some adequate protective measures). In his best attempt to escape the searing smokescreen, Durnam created a chain, connecting him between his current location and the roof of the nearest building that was still intact. As quickly as he possibly could, Durnam retracted his Marionettiste chain, drawing himself closer to the building, and weakly flung himself onto the rooftop. However, this was only a temporary retreat, providing him with enough time to try and regenerate.

Yorito was stronger, and better prepared than Durnam anticipated. Without a doubt, the boy knew what he was doing with his Oress, and Durnam had to circumvent that, somehow. Dealing with earth users was never his forte, so Durnam would have to rely on his combat experience if he wanted to fight Yorito properly. At least the phosphorous would keep the kid occupied long enough for Durnam to plan his moves. For now, all he could do was bide his time on the rooftop.

As expected, Preston would be able to see Durnam's attempt at "escape" from his point of view. Plus, the towering pillars of white phosphorus smoke would be visible to pretty much anyone who could actually see in the general direction of the Flower Shop, unless you're a fair distance away and can't distinguish smoke from sky.

Yorito was surprised when he saw the sword pierce through the porcelain wall; granted, the porcelain wall was concave, but porcelain is a sturdy material. Also, Yorito was stunned a bit by the sonic boom; he did not expect that. So, he couldn’t react to the white phosphorus in time. Just when he regained his composure, he heard a snap and smoke erupted from the ground around him. Yorito took in a deep breath and closed his eyes to prevent the smoke from getting into them. After doing this, he summoned as much sand as he thought he needed in order to quench the smoke, which was successful. But, he could do nothing to prevent the smoke from touching his body – or could he? Although the white smoke was in brief contact with his skin, he wasn’t burning. Instead, Yorito clutched his nose and winced in pain; the white phosphorus smoke seemed to have affected his nostrils, but not his body...?
…..
…
Preston observed the fleeing Durnam and made a mental location of where he retreated to. Then, he planned to head toward Yorito with Matsuri still in his arms – wait… Still in his arms? How could Preston forget to leave Matsuri on the ground? It would drain Preston to carry her the whole time like this, especially in this hot weather. Oh well. What’s done is done. He reached Yorito, whose shirt, hair, and pants were singed.

“Yorito. H-“
“If you’re going to tell me to stop, I’m not gonna listen. I-“
“I know. I was going to tell you that he headed to that building’s rooftop over there.”

Since his hands were full, Preston nodded towards it instead. It was an odd sight. If anyone was observing from a distance, Yorito’s skin appeared to be falling off while Preston wasn’t batting an eyelash. Upon closer observation, one would see that it was actually compacted pieces of sand falling off of Yorito’s body.

“Crap… This took quite a bit of time and energy to maintain too.”
“Are you going to restore it?”
“Nah. It would take too long and he would get away by then. Was useful though. Otherwise, I would probably be unable to continue fighting him, seeing the condition of my nostrils, clothes, and hair; it was only for a brief moment of time, but it still burned like hell. Still sorta stings actually, but it’ll heal up soon. I didn’t extend the Armor of Sand to those areas, for obvious reasons… To think that an idea from a manga could be so effective… Anyways, did you notice anything odd from what we previously discussed?”
“Yes. In addition to his Oress, he seems to have the ability to use chains, which is how he got himself up to the rooftop. But, be careful. In this hot weather, there is a high chance that you might pass out; since Tested cannot sweat, even more so. On the other hand, even though he is wearing that kind of armor, his Oress allows him to direct heat away from anything, as I have told you before; it is unlikely that he will pass out due to this heat. His Oress also allows a variety of uses, like what we discussed, such as the sonic boo-”
“Alright, Preston. I’m off. Get Mr. Thorren to safety for me, will you?”
“Impossible. I cannot lift a man like him up alone.”
“Sigh…”

With that, Yorito went over to Mr. Thorren (who appeared to be miraculously unaffected by the battle) and easily slung him over his shoulder. Which should surprise Mr. Thorren immensely, if he was still awake. He carried him a few feet away from the rubble and gently set him down on the ground, in the shade of a nearby tree. Then, Yorito took off his shirt; it was hot and it didn’t provide much protection, anyways.

“Well, I’ll be off.”

Instead of heading directly to the building, Yorito went over to the porcelain wall and took the sword that Durnam left behind. Then, he headed towards the building.
…..
…
”Jane Doe”
Interesting. That boy was far better than she imagined. That Durnam guy wasn’t half-bad either. She couldn’t lose this opportunity to take a closer look…
…..
…
When Yorito arrived at the building, he didn’t enter it. Instead, he went towards one of the corners of the building. Then, he erased a good chunk of the soil around that part of the building; if Yorito could create rocks out of thin air, then he could erase it. He purposely erased only the soil around that part of the building instead of the entire structure’s soil; there was no need to do the latter. Both options would cause the building to crumble, but the latter one used more energy. As the building crumbled, Yorito readied another volley of obsidian shards, which would shoot towards Durnam the instant he saw him…

Matsuri found that she was lying in the shade of a tree. She slowly got up and observed her surroundings. Mr. Thorren, a bunch of rubble, a sea of violet flames, and Preston stood out. But, where was Yorito?

“Um… Excuse me, do you know where Yorito is?”

Preston slowly turned around to face her.

“He’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”

Of course, saying that would have the opposite effect; she would worry.

“Please tell me where he is. I have to go.”
“No.”
“If I don’t see him now, I feel like I’ll never see him again!”
“…”

That was odd. How did she know? Just by her feeling(s)?

“Fine. I’ll search for him myself.”

Matsuri started to sprint towards the west. Preston had to think quickly. Letting Matsuri go would go against Yorito’s wishes; she was also heading towards the wrong direction. But, leaving Mr. Thorren behind would probably not be a good idea either; these flames and the lingering remnants of the phosphorus smoke would surely attract unwanted attention. In the end though, Preston decided in an instant…

“Wait. I’ll show you. But, you must stay close by me, whatever happens.”

…To leave Mr. Thorren behind. Preston did owe a debt to Mr. Thorren since he saved him; however, the trust Yorito placed in him took priority. Also, the determined face that Matsuri put on was not going to accept a compromise; he couldn’t tell her to wait up a bit so he could treat Mr. Thorren. Lastly, the Tested anatomy proved to be useful in this instance; the wounds that Mr. Thorren had would make him perish in his world quickly. However, the healing factor present in this Test Reality would allow him to survive, at least for a bit longer. If any Tested came though… Well, that would be bad for Mr. Thorren. Nothing he could do though; if it happened, it happened. All of the Tested knew what they were getting into when they came here; an incident like this one should be no surprise.

So, the two walked towards the building, leaving Mr. Thorren behind. Preston thought it was odd that she didn’t question the rubble, flames, or Mr. Thorren; the first thing she asked for was Yorito’s location. Well, whatever. It was convenient for him, since he also wanted to check up on Yorito; Durnam’s chains were something that they didn’t prepare for. How would Yorito handle it…?
…..
…
Yorito
Yorito already noticed the violet flames when he was at the Flower Shop; however, he knew that they were no ordinary flames. Sand would probably be ineffective; how he knew, he didn’t know. It was a mere feeling. Even if it were treatable, he didn’t have energy to waste in being a fireman; killing Durnam would probably take all he had, even with the specialized training he did in order to combat him. He had to be efficient, so he didn’t treat the flames. He only treated the phosphorus smoke in fear of it injuring Mr. Thorren; thankfully, it didn’t. If he got hit by the smoke on top of his already numerous injuries, even a man like him would certainly die. It was a miracle he didn’t die already. Mr. Thorren needed immediate medical attention; even an idiot could tell that. But, Yorito chose not to. Why? For the future. Yes, if he got Mr. Thorren some medical attention, he would probably be able to survive. But, Durnam would get away. If Durnam got away, he could easily cause an incident like this one again; there would be more victims if he just let him run loose. Yorito had to cut off the source of the problem before it started. Also, there was no Kim-Ko. He didn’t realize it at first, but while he was going towards the building where Durnam was, the thought struck him. She hung out around the Mr. Thorren; where was she now? Granted, there was a chance that she was somewhere else. But, Yorito thought that was unlikely. The worst-case scenario was highly possible. Now, he couldn’t fail even more; he would kill Durnam or die trying. It was a shame that he couldn’t utilize his 100% sure-kill plan, but he couldn’t stop now. Now, back to the scene…

As Durnam said those few words, Yorito already managed to quickly gather the obsidian shards into one large and sharp spike. He directed it towards Durnam at the same time Durnam threw his spikes; but, they coincidentally wouldn’t collide with each other without some outside interference. If Durnam managed to dodge/block the obsidian spike, after getting his bearings, he would notice that Yorito seemed to have disappeared; if he took the hit, he might have an idea where Yorito went. But, that may be the last thing he ever sees.
…..
…
Preston and Matsuri arrived at the building – or what remained of it. The two could see Durnam in the distance, but no Yorito. Preston instantly had a rough idea of what was going on, but Matsuri…

“Who’s that man? Where’s Yorito?”
“Be quiet and watch. Yorito is going to show you something.”

After that, Preston shouted.

“Hey asshole! Where’s your disgusting brother!?”

A crude and poor sort of insult; Preston wasn’t exactly trying, to be honest. It could distract Durnam, but its primary purpose was to inform Yorito that he arrived.
…..
…
”Jane Doe”
She arrived at the scene. From here she had a clear view of Durnam, but couldn’t spot Yorito. But, judging from Preston’s words, Yorito was going to do something. She wanted to join in on the fun, but since Preston was here… She had to be careful not to blow her cover. Well, she hoped that this show wouldn’t disappoint her at least…

Well, talking to Durnam could provide Yorito with a window of opportunity. So, Preston decided to talk.

“I am not going to attack you when you are obviously stronger than me. Also, since Yorito seems to have run away, go ahead. Talk all you want. I will listen.”

"Oh no. You're a superb form of existence. How could I ever think of tricking the almighty Durnam? Ironically, I am trying to kill Yorito myself; his usefulness has come to an end. He is more trouble than he is worth, to be honest. I happened to see him fighting and so I came here. What say we team up? I really would like to avoid torture if I can."

Of course, this would not be very convincing, seeing as Preston continued to speak in monotone; the diction itself was strange. Also, right after he said this, he picked up a small rock and lightly threw it at Durnam; what sort of message was that?

"Refrain from using such big words on me because I am only a child. My knowledge of words is limited, you see. Also, I cannot tell a lie. A great god would strike me dead the instant I told one, you see. So instead of being all paranoid towards me, can you continue with what you really wanted to talk about?"

He missed. Well, not like he was really trying; it would have been nice if it hit Durnam. But, the rock proved that that was real lava, at least. Anyways, Durnam himself seemed to be in a fine condition; if he were responsible for destroying the Flower Shop and injuring Mr. Thorren, that was a feat. The man didn't even look tired from fighting with Yorito. His Oress was powered by anger too; yet, he seemed to be in a relatively calm state of mind. Out of curiosity, Preston decided to activate his MEODP and look at Durnam. Intriguing. The parts of Durnam that were exposed showed relatively few lines. He wasn't ordinary after all. Preston engraved the location of Durnam's lines into his brain, then shut his MEODP off.
.....
...
"Jane Doe"
What the hell was Yorito doing? Damn, it was taking most of her strength to refrain from just jumping into the fray. Seriously, if he wasn't going to do anything, she would have to just release her impulses...

Durnam shook his head, not fooled by Preston's facade. "Really? Try any harder with this bullshit, and I might just die of laughter."

Durnam turned away from Preston, and slowly walked around his pool of lava. He knew that victory was in his grasp, since the immediate area was composed of the controllable lava. Nonetheless, though, the situation was a great inconvenience, and Durnam figured that he should just end it once and for all. Spreading his hands wide apart, Durnam glanced once more at Preston as the lava pulled him under its searing surface. Of course, this wasn't some form of suicide, just the preparation for what was to come.

In mere seconds, Preston would see molten rock slowly, but surely rising out of the lake of lava. After about thirty seconds, the figure - presumably Durnam - was fully raised from the lake of lava. A seven-foot-tall creature of living magma, with a long blade affixed to its left forearm and an actual sword of magma in its right hand. Flourishing the right blade, "Durnam" beckoned to Preston.

In a darker voice, echoing from within the cracks of lava, "Durnam" spoke. "Tell your friend that he can come out of hiding now. He cannot fool me."



Now, of course, you couldn't honestly expect Durnam to do something as straightforward as that, could you? That lava construct was nothing more than a decoy, placed to fool Preston and Yorito. Durnam designed it not to last for too long, and all it could hope to do was put up a decent fight. In a dark alley not too far from their location (although still obscured by buildings, so neither Preston nor Yorito - wherever he was - would be able to see this), Durnam climbed back up from a pool of lava. After he was standing, he sealed the pool, leaving next to no indication that he had actually escaped. For a moment, Durnam gripped his solidified staff of volcanic rock, and caught his breath. Creating the Destroyer was far too much effort, but it made a worthy decoy; and, assuredly, it would be a decent enough fighter to throw Preston and Yorito off his trail for some time.

As quickly as he could (in that weakened state of his), Durnam made his way to the Cafe, probably arriving shortly after everyone else from the Doll Shop, who probably could see the extent of his injuries.

"So you do not want to talk, it seems. Even though you brought it up..."

Then, Durnam disappeared for a good 30 seconds.

"Tell your friend that he can come out of hiding now. He cannot fool me."

"Woah. Just like a final boss transformation in one of those RPGs. It's not hot under there, is it?"

Monotone, as always. Nonetheless, Preston activated his MEODP. But, before Preston could continue any further, he saw Yorito appear from the ground some distance away. Preston shut off his MEODP and Yorito walked towards Preston and Matsuri.

"Hi Matsuri. Are you well?"

Matsuri, who was quiet during this whole time, was understandably shocked at the sight of Yorito; he just appeared from the ground. For a moment, Yorito was puzzled at Matsuri's reaction, then realized...

"Ah, I haven't explained it to you, have I? Well, it's my special power. I can use earth stuff. It's pretty nifty and handy. Sorry for scaring you."
"Eh, no... It's alright. I'm just glad to see you're safe..."
"Oh, really? Umm..."

Yorito scratched his cheek with a finger and looked away from Matsuri while blushing. Then, he whispered.

"...Thanks."

Preston took this chance to butt in.

"So Yorito, you were unable to do it. Well, that was somewhat unexpected."
"Sheesh Preston... It's hard to do if I do it cold turkey. Besides, he ran away."
"Then who is that right there?"

Preston pointed to the Destroyer. Then, he realized.

"Ah."
"It's as you think. That's not Durnam, but a construct. Pretty bad-ass looking, I admit."
"Interesting. It talked to me, you know?"
"Ohh... Maybe I could do something like that?"
"Did we not discuss this already? There are too many flaws t-"
"Yeah, I was just yanking your chain."

Even though they appeared to be talking nonchalantly like this, they showed no openings and maintained a safe distance from the Destroyer the whole time.

"So, where's the real Durnam?"
"He went over there. I'm not gonna chase him. I'm already sorta exhausted from this heat and my Oress. Also, it's best to not reveal all of your tricks when you don't have a 99% chance of killing the opponent. That's what you told me, right? It's frustrating for me, but I'll have to stop here. Have to save the remainder of my strength for any unexpected encounters. For now, let's get Mr. Thorren some help too, yeah?"
"Sure."

Preston and Yorito started off towards the Flower Shop; Matsuri, on the other hand...

"Umm... Yorito. What about that thing?"

She pointed at the Destroyer. Yorito turned back his head a little to see what Matsuri was looking at.

"Ah. Forgot about him. Well..."

The Destroyer was a formidable opponent. If it could move as well as Durnam, all the more so. Magma is hot as hell; a touch of that would destroy skin instantly. When it was made into a sentient, bipedal golem wielding blades, even worse. If Preston fought it, he would have to kill it quickly before it could even touch him; a mere touch could easily be fatal. Indeed, it would be a difficult opponent...

But, not for Yorito.

The Destroyer, for all of its obvious perks, had a fatal weakness that was also the source of its strength: magma. Magma is hot, but what is it made of? Rock. The Destroyer was basically a super hot rock thing. Yorito already demonstrated that he could make the very soil, with all its sand and rocks, disappear. This would be no different. Temperature of a rock was irrelevant; if it fell under the domain of Arode, it would be no exception. It would have helped Durnam more if he made a being of pure fire, instead of magma.

So, Yorito turned around to face the Destroyer and casually extended his arm towards it. Then, he opened his palm and closed it into a fist again.

"Bye."

The Destroyer would disappear from existence. Yorito turned around and started to walk away with Preston and Matsuri.

"I always wanted to do something like that. Did I look cool, Matsuri?"
"Eh... Ah, yes..."
"But yeah Preston. Do you think that golem could transfer information back to Durnam? You know, like Naruto's bunshins?"
"You are not serious, are you?"
"Haha! Yeah, I'm not. That would be impossible, if you think about it."

Yorito was in a pretty good mood, despite being unable to kill Durnam; he was even smiling and laughing.

"So, why are you in a good mood?"
"Well, I'm just happy that my training wasn't a waste of time. Also... Ah, anyways, let's run! Mr. Thorren could be gone anytime!"

Yorito went off into a sprint. Matsuri and Preston followed.
.....
...
"Jane Doe"
The hell was that? Really? That's it? Show's over? She was pissed. She got so pissed that she injured herself to the point where blood/soul came out. The fire-Durnam thing didn't even cheer her up; what sort of fight was that? Bunch of dickless men; Preston didn't do crap, Yorito's laughing and smile were like a girl's (who also didn't do crap), and Durnam actually ran away from Yorito?! The hell was this? The hell was this? Thehellwasthisthehellwasthis...

So, the trio met Mr. Thorren, who was still alive; the purple flames crept closer and closer. Ignoring all of that, Yorito slung Mr. Thorren over his shoulder and turned towards Preston.

“So, where to? The mall?”
“Yes. You are catching on fairly quickly... Anyways, the mall might be a dangerous place right now. In addition, I am unable to sense any Tested besides you as of right now; that is why I did not detect Durnam earlier. Why, I do not know. But, if we want to treat Mr. Thorren, the mall is our best bet nonetheless; I think I saw a store that sold medical supplies when I glanced at the directory.”
“Yeah… But Preston, isn’t it hot as hell?”
“Your point?”
“Well, I got an idea. Instead of us all going to the mall, how about you just go by yourself? Me, Matsuri, and Mr. Thorren will be at the Castle Oress pool. How’s that sound?”
“Fine by me. A few days ago I would have refused, but I think you are fully capable of defending yourself and others now.”
“Uhh, thanks? Heheh. Well, I’m burning up so…”

Then, huge flying robot thing overhead. It wasn't hard to miss, due to its size and the sound it made.

"..."
"..."
"Ugh... Hey, Preston. Let's deal with that thing later, yeah? Mr. Thorren takes priority."
"Yes."

With that, they parted ways.
…..
…
Preston
Preston didn’t run towards the mall even in this heat; that would be stupid. That would basically be exclaiming to all of the Tested to come and kill him. It would be even more dangerous since Preston couldn’t sense any Tested besides Yorito. How long this condition would last, Preston didn’t know; but, it gave him all the more reason to be careful. So, he imitated the NPCs’ walking, posture, and movements; if it weren’t for the X’s on his hands, he could have easily passed as an NPC. Even with this unfamiliar posture, Preston was thinking.

Yeah, there was definitely something strange about a lot of things today. Why couldn’t he sense Durnam or Mr. Thorren? Why only Yorito?

Matsuri was strange as well. Why did she ask who that man (Durnam) was? Was he not the person who attacked her? Granted, she might have not seen his face and/or gotten mental trauma from the encounter (which could cause amnesia), but still. The whole style of attack seemed off too. Why would Durnam attack an arcade and leave Matsuri alive? What was the point? Why would he light it on fire? It would just attract needless attention to himself and use energy; the battle with Yorito today proved that Durnam fought pretty logically. Maybe Durnam wasn’t lying after all? Indeed, if he truly was able to destroy the Flower Shop and reduce Mr. Thorren to a state like that, then Yorito’s next encounter with a fully recovered Durnam…

“…”

Preston continued to think while walking.
…..
…
Yorito
Yorito was deep in thought as well. He was glad that the training showed some results, but he was angry that he couldn’t defeat Durnam completely. Did Durnam do some intense training with his Oress as well?

“Umm…”

Yorito eventually had the same thought of Preston. Durnam destroyed the Flower Shop and beat up Mr. Thorren; so, Yorito fought him while he was weakened. That could explain why Durnam was so intent on fleeing.

“Shit…”
“Um, Yorito?”

If they fought the next time, then – Yorito felt a soft poke at his side. He turned to the source and saw Matsuri.

“Yorito? Are you ok?”
“Huh? Oh, uhh… Yeah.”
”Oh, that’s good. You had a scary expression on your face, you know?”
“I did? Sorry, sorry. Was thinking about something. Anyways, let me get you caught up on this whole crazy situation while we’re walking. You’re a bit confused about this whole scenario, right?”
“Ah, yeah…”

They headed towards the Castle Oress pool.