Just Like You Imagined (Anyone And Everyone!)

OoC: This is a free-for-all battle, anything goes, really: you can use powerful characters if you want. Anyone can join with a maximum of up to three characters. I shall be using Raisha, Clown and Eden. It takes place in a modern day city that’s filled with extremely large and tall skyscrapers, along with narrow roads. And as for the name of the battle… Nine Inch Nails – Just Like You Imagined. Dunno if it’s non-canonical or not for any of your characters’ stories, but if you want to include this, you can.




BiC:

Glass and steel melded together, forming mile-high mirrors that dug into the sky. The windows reflected other reflections creating warped dimensions of a vivid reality that was brightly lit from the setting sun. It was near twilight, now, and people bustled along, the narrow streets. Some were going home, while some were coming out to work, or just to play. On the buildings, the outside elevators were still going, never tiring, carrying cells all over their massive artificial body. They were swift, too, and not so noisy.

All that she heard was a soft humming as the lift carried her straight to the top.

Everyone paid attention to her odd apparel and glimmering gold eyes, but no one actually looked at her. There was an easier, less crowded way to get to the rooftop of one of the tallest building in the city, but that would attract too much attention. People would be shocked—a blonde haired woman flying? Or even walking on air? There were many people who believed that such things are impossible, but they’ve never lived as long as she had.

The rooftop was quiet and clear. A mild breeze had picked up and the woman’s hair clung on to it, flowing into the currents. It was a perfect spot, she thought, for a little meditation. Her massive amount of spiritual power was not entirely under control, she had no idea what would happen if she uncapped it and lost control; it might level a whole city, or not. She wasn’t sure. All she knew was that it had to be contained and used as she directed.

Raisha sat at the edge, her legs dangling over. She closed her eyes, and exhaled, the breeze tickling her cheek and tugging playfully at her hair. Just a little relaxation and meditation, that was all.



* * *



Alleyways were the best routes to take in a busy city. Aside from the few rough *******s who wanted money or something…else…it was an easy set of routes to take. The vagrants who stuck near there barrels full of fire paid her no mind, even though she looked like she was rich, wearing such a suit and carrying around a valuable looking sword. Occasionally, one or two would come up to her and politely ask for money. She dealt with them all in the same way; the cigarette between her lips would twitch, she would exhale a puff of smoke (not in their faces, mind you) and simply keep walking, her hands behind her head.

But there were those few who just wanted something carnal. There would be usually be a group of them, with one as the leader. The leader or someone of importance would walk right up to her and, ignoring the mask on half her face…

“Hey, Baby…”

The response? Instant broken nose. The others would up there alertness by then and attempt to detain her for…some purposes, mostly for revenge for damaging the guy’s face. Not one of them could lay a hand on her, though. Eden would just pull out her gun and aim, while Ticker would fly out of her collar and bite someone hard on the nose.

“Oh ****!”

And they’d scatter, leaving the guy with the broken nose stumbling behind.




* * *




“Pretty lights! Pretty lights!” The Manic sat cross-legged on the edge of the jetty at the city’s harbour, not facing the ocean, but watching intently as the city lights went on one by one. And if that wasn’t all of it, he was insane enough to count them all.

“Three-thousand, nine-hundred and thirty-four and counting!” He shouted excitedly, waving a hand in the air at passer-bys who looked at him oddly before turning away before he could meet their gazes.

The sun suddenly dipped behind the horizon, drowning itself in the ocean and filling the air with thick clouds, lined with orange fire. The rest of lights in the city and harbor all came on at once.

“Three-thousand, nine-hundred and thirty—uhh….” He sat there, his lips set in a silent gasp as he stared at the sudden surge of lit dots on all the skyscrapers. His hand was still straight up in the air, staying as still as his stare.

“I… I lost…count.”

ooc: i.s.a.a.c. / eidolon / nightshade

ic:

ISAAC blasted down the street on his Tachista SF2 motorbike, weaving around traffic and narrowly avoiding collision several times. At the moment he was traveling at 113.37 mph exactly, more than twice the speed of all the other vehicles on the roadway at the time. A while back, a police car had tried to pull him over, but it couldn't get around the other cars fast enough. Certainly it had called for backup by now, but ISAAC wasn't worried in the least bit.

Above him he noticed a helicopter, the logo of a local news station emblazoned on its side. Ahead, ISAAC saw that the intersection had been blocked off with a police barricade. ISAAC sped up to 154.04 mph, approaching the barricade at deadly high speeds. The police, hiding behind the doors of their cruisers, started firing their weapons at the rogue motorcycler when they realized he wasn't stopping. When they realized that he wasn't stopping and moving 150 mph, they fled for their lives.

At the last moment, ISAAC pulled the bike into a wheelie and hit the plasma propulsor, for a peak speed of 209.44 mph. The Tachista hit the hood of the first police car, and flew into the air. While the vehicle was at the highest point in its jump, ISAAC powered up his jetpack and blasted into the sky. The Tachista, still under ISAAC's control, hit the ground and sped off into a web of dark alleyways, finding a place to cool down until ISAAC needed it again.

ISAAC landed on top of a nearby skyscraper, stretching his joints to make sure they were well oiled. He walked up to the ledge, and looked off into the horizon, watching the setting sun.

--/+/--

Jennifer Frost put the scope of her laser carbine against her masked eye. Through the scope, she could see into the window of an office building several blocks away and a dozen stories higher. There were four men in the room, having a discussion or meeting of some sort. Eidolon didn't know, didn't ask, and didn't care. She lined up her scope on the man with the green tie, and flicked on the carbine. It gave a high-pitched whine as it charged up, slowly silencing away to a moderate hum. When a shot was fully charged, the weapon gave a single short beep. Frost pulled the trigger, and the weapon clicked.

The man with the green tie suddenly spasmed, and fell limp in his chair. It took his companions a couple seconds to realize what had happened, and suddenly blood began to leak out of a minute hole in the man's neck. The other men quickly exited the room, to avoid being the assassin's next target. But Eidolon had no intention of shooting the other three men; she was only commissioned to shoot one.

Jennifer turned off her weapon, and slung it back over her back. She then walked over to the fire escape, and climbed back down to street level. Another day's work complete.

--\#\--

"Breaking news! A speeding motorcyclist is loose on the streets. Police are chasing him now, and they say he's moving at over 150 miles per hour. Our Bird's Eye View helicopter is above the scene now, showing you a live visual of the chase as it happens."

Atropos Belladonna reclined in the couch, resting her boot shod feet against a glass coffee table, watching the local news channel. She didn't know where the television remote was, or she might have considered changing the channel. Instead, she occupied herself by reading the little news ticker at the bottom of the screen: "Local shop owner dies when car crashes through counter. -- Thief steals $129 in energy drinks at grocery store. -- Man found dead in home with several knives through chest. -- Clown finds 200 grams of--BREAKING NEWS: Business man assassinated by sniper just minutes ago."

This latest development was apparently important enough to become a main story. The coverage of the motorcycle chase was pushed aside to show the anchorwoman. "Just moments ago a businessman was assassinated by an unknown sniper. Police believe that this may be another case of the mysterious Ghost Sniper..."

Nightshade didn't listen to the rest of the story, instead getting up off the couch. She picked up her scissors, which were lying in a pool of blood on the coffee table. She wiped the blood off on the expensive leather couch, leaving a red smear and a long slash, and returned the shears to her boot. She walked over to the apartment balcony, stepping over the body in the middle of the floor. The carpet was soaked with blood, which squished up and pooled around her feet as she walked through it. The body, which was the source of the puddle of blood, was lying on its stomach, its back flayed open as with scissors, and one of its own ribs through its head.

Atropos exited the apartment to the balcony, and sat down in a lounge chair to relax in the cool night air.

"In other news, the insane Patient 613 killer has not been captured. She continues to avoid the police, and kills innocent people every day in increasingly disturbing ways. If you see this person, please call 911 immediately and get as far away from her as possible..."

( OoC: I can just join right? Jonah is my only character so he'll have some fun. BiC )

Jonah looked out at the city from the window of his apartment; a window the size of a wall. It was getting dark, the lights of the city glaring across the night. Jonah afforded himself a smile; this was a sight he did not often see. Walking away, he sat down on his shoulder, turning on the television. The picture was clear, then suddenly it became distorted, the sound elongated and crackly. Jonah put a hand over his chest and the distortion vanished.

The news was on, the reporter talking about something unimportant. Jonah focused his attention on his chest. The wound there glowed blue, its soft light casting a strange shadow about the room. Removing his hand, the signal began to break again. Jonah did not care; he was concentrating on the sticky blue substance covering his hand. It was cold, and would not come away from his flesh. Concentrating on it he commanded it to move and harden. Immediately it dropped to the floor, a solid tangle of blue. Scooping it up, he commanded it again, and this time it turned into a blue sphere, small enough to be carried around with ease. Picking up his sword and equipment he walked out of the apartment, speeding down the stairs.

This city was big. Surely there was someone who could help him.

Aronin stood still. Very still. So still he could almost feel time itself flow past. He could feel how the seconds passed away to nothing, how things speed up, and slowed down according to his will. A motorcycle passed on the road beside in incredible speed. Time slowed down to a halt as Aronin watched the metallic driver. Time speed up, and Aronin noticed the flash of a laser across the streets some blocks away.

But of course, all this was happening in his imagination. Aronin had no control over time, and could not stop it, nor slow it down or speed it up. It was all part of a day dream. He moved as the sun disappeared, leaving the city in darkness. Checking his watch against a big clock on a building nearby, he headed for the nearest restaurant. He had been standing on the sidewalk the whole day as part of his self instated training, and had not eaten at all. After his second awakening, he had not returned to the dome in fear of what would come next. Instead, he tried to train himself in self control, with promising results. He had managed to stand still for a whole day.

His black coat nudged him nicely in the wind, as he crossed the street. He had exchanged his old cloths with a new style, a black coat, black jeans and a black shirt. Since his powers no longer were affected by his feelings, he had allowed himself to do things he would not normally do. He took of his sun glasses as he entered the Chinese restaurant, and ordered a table.

Shan reclined on a park bench, absentmindedly twisting around a strand of pink hair with his fingers. A couple blocks away, one of those huge TV screens on the front of a building was blaring news. In fact, there had been about four or five “late breaking” news stories within five minutes of each other. Boy, there are definitely some people having fun out there. The mercenary sighed. Today was one of his days off so he was suppose to take it easy, which translated to not making any scenes. Therefore, this day will be boring as hell. He stopped playing with his hair as a grin crossed his face. Of course, that’s what would happen if I actually followed the rules.

He hopped up from the bench and began to stroll through the streets. The TV was now talking about some serial killer (who, Shan noted, was only referred to by a number) and started showing pictures of a rather bloody living room. The kind of scenes most people only saw in slasher horror flicks. However, grisly murder scenes weren’t terribly interesting. The only reason the Lilim would be interested in the murder is if he ended being hired to find the psycho. He turned down a backstreet, wanting to avoid the majority of the city crowd. Or if I happened to meet him in the dark alleyway.

Instead of a crazy murderer, a homeless person approached Shan almost as soon as he stepped around the corner. The pathetic-looking man held out his hands, “A little money for some supper?”

“Sorry,” Shan shook his head. The vagrant blinked a couple times and then aimlessly shuffled off. Shrugging, the pink-haired man continued down the alley until another darted around a corner and nearly ran into him. Eyes wide with fear, he barely gave Shan a glance before running away. “What... was that about?” The mercenary poked his head around the corner. Oo, she’s cute. The young woman exhaled a wisp of smoke as a man with a bloody face staggered away in the opposite direction.

Her eyes watched him warily as he strolled up, a smirk on his face. “So, it seems you’re a rather rough player.” The fist aimed for his face came slightly faster than he expected. After all, not only did this woman look like she kicked ass, she looked like she kicked it on a regular basis. He caught her attack and held onto her fist, “Aw, come on, I wasn't that rude.”

This pink haired man had just approached her. He looked odd enough for her to become suspicious enough to raise a fist; usually, there are the freaks that dye their hair like that and hang out in the alleyways, and this one just approached her with what she thought was the lewdest comment yet, complete with a smirk on his face.

“So, it seems you’re a rather rough player,”

That’s what made her fire her fist at him, but this time, she realized that this person wasn’t just some kind of normal freak: he caught her punch and held on firmly to it, effectively blocking the blow.

“Aw, come on, I wasn't that rude.”

Did he really believe that? Good for him. Eden raised her free hand, firing another punch right after he had spoken. Again, he was swift, catching the attack in the palm of his other hand. He held on to it firmly, looking at her. For a brief second, Eden narrowed her eye and gritted her teeth, just before Ticker flew out of her clothes and barreled towards the man’s face. The silver golem clobbered the man’s nose, and while that event was going on, Eden’s hand slipped out of his grip. She grabbed his wrist and jerked him forward, bashing him face-first with the mask that sat upon half her face. Her cigarette went flying, but she didn’t let him go just yet. She jerked him forward again, lifting her leg suddenly and slamming her shin into his crotch.

She spun around him and kicked him behind the knees, making them buckle, making him kneel. And for a moment, she stared at him, pulling out and lighting up another cigarette as she began to turn, walking away. Ticker flew around the man for a while before moving to and landing on his master’s shoulder.

* * *


On the edge of the rooftop, Raisha kept looking out at the horizon. The sun was almost completely gone, now. There was just a tiny line of orange still peeping over the horizon. Another minute or so and that would be gone; twilight would be over, and the sky would be covered over with black velvet, sprinkled with shining, white dust.

Should she come down now? Raisha glanced over the edge, looking at the elevators still moving up and down. They haven’t gone home for the night, yet, she thought. Once the elevators were less active, less people would be in the large building, and she thought that that would be the best time to come down. But for now, she stood up and wandered around the edges of the roof, stopping at each corner, taking in the bright city lights and the cold air.

* * *


Manic stood up, now. But not on his feet at all—people watched as the queer person walked all around the dock on his hands. Some children even clapped, while their parents tried to keep them away from the odd person. He kept moving toward anything that attracted him.

First, it was the city lights. When he began moving there, he saw the flash of a watch on a man’s wrist. He stood and stared for a little while until it stopped. A car drove to the end of the jetty, one of those pretty, pearlescent painted cars…until someone told the driver that he wasn’t supposed to be there.

In his wandering, his arms got kind of tired. Could they even get tired? He didn’t know, but he felt tired of walking on them. He had reached down to the sandy beach by now, and all he had to do was give himself a small push. His body toppled over, he laid face-up on the dry sand, still warm from the sun’s heat. Clown spread out his arms and his legs, as if he were going to make angels on the ground; instead, he began counting the stars, most of which were blotted out because of the brightness of the metropolis behind him.

Eating for over 30 bucks, Aronin finally felt satisfied and returned to the moonlit streets outside. There were not as many people outside now as it was earlier today, and it was much easier to move around without bumping into people. In the more centralized parts of the city, Aronin heard sirens occasionally whine, a car crash not far away, and some yelling. Everything was normal. Actually, it was so normal it was close to boring. A car crash was nothing special anymore.

He moved closer to the car crash to get a better view, enjoying stretching his legs after standing still for a day. Not that he had been only using his legs to stand. He had used his powers to hold the legs steady when he became tired, perfecting the subtle art of telekinesis, moving, and holding rigid objects without becoming fatigue. Telekinesis was in fact very much alike regular muscles. Aronin had to train, to become stronger. It didn’t matter when he was not in control, as he powers were just like a newborn baby trying to get control over his arms and fingers, only much more powerful.

The car crash was not very much to watch. Just a car that had not stopped at the red light, and had slammed into the back of another car. No fire, no deaths, not even wounds. Just a cop trying to get to an agreement between the two drivers.

Aronin went disappointed away, and into a back alley. His black coat felt too heavy, and not like him at all. It made him feel different, in a strange way. It was almost as if he became a different person when he wore it. He took it off and threw it in a garbage container, slamming the lid shut afterwards. It did not help. He still felt different, and without purpose. Everything had been boring lately. Nothing felt exciting anymore. It was as if a dark cloud covered his mind and shrouded everything that once was light.

He watched the sky in the small back alley, only a small stripe of stars was visible between the two high skyscrapers. Carefully lifting himself with telekinesis after making sure nobody saw him, he soared unsteady up between the two buildings, landing first on top of the lowest building, he looked up at the much higher skyscraper, and continued his unsteady path upwards. As he crossed the edge of the roof, he did not see the blonde woman standing at one of the corners, and instead sat down at the edge of the tower sulking about how sad he was.

A chopper passed overhead, probably a news chopper, and Aronin turned just as it passed, staring straight at the woman. Aronin froze, not sure what to say, or how to explain that he just flied up to the roof.

“err.. Hi?” he tried and did a quick wave with his hand, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

OoC: Time to bring back things that are epic. Like Chinatown Rush. Using Zach, Monroe and Emile. Let the fun begin. ^_^

BiC: It had been a long time. Chinatown seemed so long ago now, looking back. For him, it was even longer. For the man that, at the time, had been searching for wanted criminals, it was hard to imagine that he'd be in some place like this. It felt like home. The home he remembered. The home that rejected him. The home he held disdain for.

Aside from that, there was something else bother him. Last time he had been in a setting like this, he hadn't believed in magic or the like, but now he held full beliefs. And yet, so much had changed. Johnny Bones was now fully dead. Zorlo... well who knew where Zorlo was. Cadenza was busy with her life back where Monroe now called home. But still... something didn't sit right. Someone was here... someone that reminded him of those three.

The Quincy closed his eyes and allowed his senses to free themselves. He looked for it... the power that seemed to radiate so freely that it had no cap. He knew that wasn't true... someone was trying hard to hide their power... but it must have been hard. To be that powerful that a person couldn't contain their power. It was mind boggling, and yet, Monroe didn't care.

He had found his target. Now it was time to find out exactly who this target was. He placed one foot on the edge of the building and pressed forwards. Quickly, his body shot from the skyscraper he was on to another. A series of quick movement landed him from skyscraper to skyscraper effortlessly.

After a few well placed jumps, the Quincy found himself face to face with a blonde haired woman. She simply radiated power, as if she were something like Zorlo or Cadenza...

No.

This one was different. She was unlike those two because... she wasn't among the living. Monroe wasn't sure how he knew this... but he could feel it like it was his business. "So, you're what's radiating pure power. I've been looking for the source, and now I've found you..."

The archer closed his eyes and focused on who this person was. He had seen her before. If he hadn't met her, he'd read about her in Zorlo's notes. It was then it clicked who she was.

"Raisha Seraph."

Those simple words answered who he had found. "Zorlo said you were powerful... some kind of Shinigami or something. Perhaps you'll help me then," he stated, taking a step towards her. "I need to fight people like him. People like Zorlo... so I can become stronger. So I can grow powerful beyond him. Care to help me?" the Technological Quincy asked. "Also, as a Quincy, I'm obligated to fight you."

"For I am, Monroe Vossler! Technological Quincy, at your service," he said with a bow and a smile. "So, what say you?"

o=)---------- Zachary -----------(=o

Lost.

That was the one word to describe what had happened to Zachary. He had told Wisp to meet him in this place at some intersection, but now he couldn't find it. It was hard for the ice innate to grasp just how massive this city truly was. Even so, he continued to move from street to street, looking for something that looked like where his meeting point was.

It didn't take him long before he had to ask for instructions. Even so, another thing occurred to him then: people in cities were angry, angry folk. He couldn't quite find a reason why, but he knew they were angry just from the few people he talked to. Sure, one man had been nice enough to tell him where to go, but numbers of others had either ignored him, laughed at him for his strange attire, or blatantly told him to leave them alone.

As soon as he found where he was heading, the Replicator was met with a minor problem: some pink haired guy and some woman with half a mask were already there. Zachary narrowed his eyes as he approached and moved towards the meeting point, looking at the two. "Could you two move your love quarrel elsewhere?" he asked sarcastically as he looked at the two. "I'm meeting an associate here, and I'd rather not talk over you two killing each other."

o=)----------- Emile ----------(=o

Well... this hadn't worked out as well as she had hoped. She'd traveled across the landscape from town to city to town to city since the tournament in Tybalt, but still, she couldn't find him. She couldn't find that boy. The one that had nearly defeated her in her battle after the first round of that tournament. It annoyed her ever so, and yet, she followed him like a bloodhound, and yet he still slipped out of her view from time to time.

I'll find you... the Silver Beauty said as he skated through the city, leaping over cars and skating along the sides of building when time allowed. This time, she had a strong lead. An informant had found the guy she was looking for walking around this town. Soon, she'd fight him and show him what was what. This time, she didn't have to hold back.

Wisp actually blended in with everyone else in the city. Her weapons where covered by her black jacket that the rabbit girl had tied around her waist. Her ears stayed hidden underneath her hair, but one thing still bothered her.

She was lost.

Zachary told her to meet him somewhere, but didn’t catch if he specified a place, so she just wandered around the city, before the shapeshifter noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Hm…?

Starts walking in that direction, but picks up an argument, and starts to walk away, but notices someone with red hair. “Zachary…?”

OOC: ok I'm in. I'll be using Fenrir, San, and Josh.

BIC: It's eyes remained closed. Thousands, no, millions of people were packed into this City of Mirrors. It grinned. Millions of souls that are ripe for the picking. It finally opened it's eyes to see a vagrant looking at him. He had been laying there for days just scoping out the City of Mirrors. But this homeless street rat was thinking of using him as a garment. No. The scarecrow opened it's mouth and put the mans head into it mouth. He struggled at first, but he slowly relaxed. It slowly ate him like a snake would eat a mouse.

"Yummy," it said licking it's lips."I do believe that a little grime makes everything taste better." It dusted it's self off and walked out of the alleyway. He was now in a park, or a town square (it couldn't tell the difference) It decided to lay low until the precise moment came, then it would take the souls of everyone in the city. It casually strolled to the center where it produced a hat and placed it on the ground. It would be best to preform until the time was right. Standing completely still people began to crowd around to see what was going on. After a sizable crowd gathered around, it started his act.

It limply stumbled around, examining the members of the crowd with mock curiosity. It was looking for a specific type of person. Suddenly, it spied the perfect man. The largely built man was perfect. It flung it's arms up and limply ran to the man. It led him to the center where it studied him. Then it stuck out it's gloved hand. Giggles from the crowd erupted randomly. The man hesitantly took the scarecrow's hand. But the man looked sick. In reality, the scarecrow had transferred the essence of wrath into the man, with the mission of scoping out the city unnoticed. The man stumbled away, while the It resumed it's show.

"Look out city," it thought to it's self." Fenrir is here."


Josh stealthily crept through the alleyways. This was his place. He was a child of the alleys. A tall cloaked figure with a Richard Nixon mask on followed him closely.

" Are you sure you know where you are going?" asked a high pitched voice that came from everywhere and nowhere.

"Of course I do!" Joshua angrily exclaimed" I have a map remember." he was amazed that he was finally back on earth, but he knew he had no place here anymore. Dragonia was his home now. His eyes shifted from left to right. He stood up straight and slouched his shoulders, his normal posture. He pushed the glassed that he wore, high up on his bridge. The cloaked figure stood silently behind him.

"What are you thinking about San?" Josh asked the creature.

"I am thinking of how we are going to survive in a place like this." he replied in his low bass voice.

"That's why I'm here, besides, people will think we are performers, and there's nothing people love more than a good show."

"I suppose you're right," the creature replied.

"Damn straight." They stepped out of the alley onto the side walk.

"No remember San," the monstrous figure bent down close to Josh." Keep your tail tucked into your cloak, that way, no one will step on it." San nodded, and they continued on their way. They passed a park when suddenly a figure stepped out of Josh's body. The figure was very thin and covered in black skin, but the most notable feature was the two large yellow eyes eternally fixed into an evil glare.

"What's wrong Phobos?" asked Josh.

"I sense an extremely evil force over yonder, Yehoshuah. I fear it is a demon." said the specter.

"That's impossible. earth's Hell is sealed. no demon could physically escape."

"I do not make mistakes, Yehoshuah. This is a demon, but not one from our plane of existence. I believe it followed us from Palanar." Phobos replied. Josh looked into the park. It did seem darker than normal. Without a word, he briskly, walked into the park, and almost certain pain.

ooc: I would like to inform Fluesopp that his character could not have seen the flash of Jennifer's laser because it is an invisible laser.

ic:

Night fell. The Sun was now completely set beyond the horizon, and the skies were lit with moonlight. ISAAC walked around the edge of the skyscraper, paying attention to his surroundings. It was around this time in the big cities when the strange folk came out of hiding. The unusual, the mystical, the powerful. ISAAC quickly identified the location of one of these people, watching as he flew up onto a nearby building. Another person was already standing on the top of that skyscraper, and as ISAAC watched he saw yet another person fly to the same building.

What's this now, a congregation? As he walked around his building he noticed another gathering nearby, down at street level in the alleyways. There were two people there having a fight, and a third person interrupted them. A fourth person soon followed the third one, asking for someone named "Zachary." ISAAC remained up at his vantage point, where he could keep an eye on both gatherings. He'd keep himself scarce for now.

--/+/--

Jennifer Frost melted into the shadows, her dark cloak hiding her from watching eyes. She moved swiftly and silently through the city's back alleys, winding between buildings and climbing over fences. After a few minutes of this, she found the street she'd parked her vehicle on. She unlocked the car, and got into the driver's seat.

She pulled out her PDA and typed a message to her client, which read simply It is finished.

--\#\--

As Atropos relaxed on the apartment's balcony, she smelled the faint scent of the salty sea carried on the cold wind. This gave her the desire to go to the beach, and she got up out of her chair and looked to the horizon, where the ocean was. She made a rope of Black Matter, sticking it to a nearby street lamp, and swung Spiderman-style across the street. She threw another rope onto the next street lamp, and made her way down the street as such.

Until she got bored of that, and dropped down to the street. From there she ran through the middle of the road, dodging vehicles, all the way to the harbor. There was a few people here, one of which recognized her from the television and panicked, running away. He would probably call the police, Atropos realized, and she didn't want that to happen. As the man ran down the sidewalk, one of the street lamps above him exploded, and one especially large shard of glass found its way into the man's throat, as Fate would have it.

The police would, of course, no doubt be called now; but at least they wouldn't be looking for her. She smiled cheerfully, and skipped down to the sandy beach. Once she was on the beach, she started slowly walking backwards and counting her footprints she left behind in the sand. "Eleven, twelve, thirteen, five-thousand-fourteen..." That wasn't right, why did she say 5014? She turned around as she realized that someone else was counting at the same time, which had thrown her own count right off. Laying on his back in the sand was an odd looking man, looking into the sky and counting the stars.

For a moment Atropos looked up at the stars as well, silently. Finally she spoke, saying, "I tried that once. I lost count somewhere around 11, 365."

...

Owwwww!

From his forced kneeling position, Shan promptly fell over on his side, overwhelmed, very overwhelmed, by the welcome the woman had given him. Geez, lady. Have a little pent-up anger, do we? He rubbed his nose. The Lilim was sure she had broken it with her headbutt but had already healed by now. Then he sat up, rubbing dirt off the side of his face.

“Hey, what was that for?” he called after the woman. She didn’t stop walking. Cute and feisty. The mercenary hopped up and jogged after her. “Hey, I- woah!” He stopped short of kick to his chest. A silver orb, the same that had knocked him on the nose, started buzzing around his head. He tried waving it away which only caused it to bite down on one of his fingers. Shan decided it was better to just ignore it at that point. “Did you have to do that?”

The woman gave him a cold look, “Go away. Or would you like to me to do it again?”

Shantanu had to restrain a laugh. Not to mention the next lewd comment that was trying to come out. But he didn’t exactly want a leg in a crotch again. However, at that point, perhaps mercifully, another person walked into the alley. Shan noted his bright red hair first, the gauntlets around his arms second. Well, he looks like someone who has seen a fair amount of trouble. Of course, then the red-haired man had to make the comment about a lovers quarrel. Argh! Don’t say something like that! Shan almost shouted out-loud, She’s liable to hit me for it. At that point, another person walked into the alley, a girl, apparently recognizing the red-haired man and addressing him by name. “And you were talking about us being lovers,” Shan smirked.

Walking along the streets of the city, Jonah marvelled at the variety of people around, and how they all ignored him, just going about there business.

It was at that moment that a car crashed into him.

The moment the speeding metal touched his skin, Jonah pushed hard with his legs, his hands slowing the vehicle. With a great hevae the car went flying backwards, crashing into the cars behind.

The citizens were no longer ignoring him, all were staring at him, some calling the police. Within seconds the police were there, many arriving from other incidents nearby. Guns were drawn at him, to which Jonah drew his sword.

"Lets dance...."

“Err.. Hi?” The man waved as he looked at her. He obviously didn’t see her there, but she saw when he had arrived. She didn’t say anything; this wasn’t her rooftop after all. It was a coincidence, right? He just happened to come up to this particular skyscraper to brood. For a moment, she stared at him. And even though it was a sort of blank stare, her eyes still burned gold in the dead of night.

And then she turned away from him, looking out to the horizon. “If you think you are intruding, I assure you; you are not.”

Suddenly, something bound towards her, hitting her upside the head. It was a sudden spike of power, and it was heading straight towards her, over the rooftops. The source from one skyscraper to the next until it finally came to rest right in front of her.

"So, you're what's radiating pure power. I've been looking for the source, and now I've found you...Raisha Seraph."

Raisha blinked. She knew this person; she saw him in Chinatown, when she had emerged from hiding in a nightclub.

"Zorlo said you were powerful... some kind of Shinigami or something. Perhaps you'll help me then," he stated loudly, taking a step towards her as she took one step back. "I need to fight people like him. People like Zorlo... so I can become stronger. So I can grow powerful beyond him. Care to help me? Also, as a Quincy, I'm obligated to fight you."

What is…a Quincy?

"For I am, Monroe Vossler! Technological Quincy, at your service. So, what say you?" The man bowed and smiled, Raisha only looked at him.

“You are indeed strong,” she sensed it from him, speaking only after a little while, “And while you say you are obligated to fight me, I am, in no way, obligated to fight you.” And with that, she turned her back on him, walking over to the opposite edge of the rooftop, ready to jump off.

* * *

Red hair, pink hair. Eden looked at the two and tapped her cigarette lightly with her finger, causing some ash to fall off. She kept focus on their hair, but not on their faces, but in her mind, she still made some kind of a comparison. Must be brothers—Lots of these freaks around here today.

"Could you two move your love quarrel elsewhere? I'm meeting an associate here, and I'd rather not talk over you two killing each other."

It was kind of rude for him to just butt in and demand that they stop quarreling or leave, but she didn’t take any mind to that. Instead, she gave the pink-haired man one last look of disdain before walking past the redhead.

“He’s all yours,” she said, putting the cigarette back between her lips.

At that moment, she passed a girl who was headed into the alleyway. The girl addressed the redhead by name, “Zachary.” But she didn’t stay behind to hear what this was all about. As she rounded a corner, the last thing she heard was the pink-haired man’s voice.

“And you were talking about us being lovers.”

She admitted that she was glad to be walking away.

* * *

“Counting, counting!” Clown used his talons to point out the stars, “Five thousand and—”
"I tried that once. I lost count somewhere around 11, 365."

He stopped, his talon frozen in mid-air. The girl’s voice had cut across his, making him lose count. Manic didn’t turn his head to look at her, though. Instead, he tilted it slightly, still focused on the stars.

“I don’t think I see that much up there,” he responded, his mind now wandering to the fact that there were three hundred and sixty five days in a year, and if that had some sort of significance in the number she had stated. She said she lost count, but did she lose it deliberately, by accident or did she get bored?

Manic looked at her out of the corner of his eyes; she looked as if she got bored quickly…and people who get bored quickly are usually… “Booooooorrriinnnng.” He fidgeted on the sand, lifting his legs and letting gravity pull it back down.

OoC: And Z would like to inform Et that Zach enjoys breaking machines. After all, heat and cold are very different. ^_^ Even the most advanced machines can be frozen in place. Oh... and... *Pokes Ratha to read Zach* He's been upgraded. ^_^

BiC: Monroe looked at her. Something came back... "Wait... I remember you..." he said as he too a few steps forwards and began to rush after her. "You... you were the one at the dance club. The one who was being chased by those triad guys. The one that stopped the motorcycle with your body, right?!"

At the time when he had met her, Monroe hadn't been all that interested in feats of strength, but at this point in time, he actually wondered how she had done it. She didn't look any different... but the air about her was different. As the dark clad man followed her, he pondered what had, if anything, happened to this woman. After, he hadn't made it long in the battles of Chinatown after Zorlo had appeared.

As he followed after her, he smiled a bit as he quickly dashed in front of her and cut her movement off. "Normally I wouldn't follow someone, especially after they've told me they have no interest in fighting... but you're different. I remember you... the strength... it was terrifying for me at the time. I recall every seconds what happened at that dance club... and now I truly desire to see what you're truly capable of."

"I'm not like I was back in Chinatown. Unlike back then, I'm intent on finding out how much I've truly grown. You're the only person here of interest to me at the moment... so what do you say? If nothing else, can you simply fight me to help me see how much I've grown. I must know... how far I've come since then. So... what do you say?"

o=)--------- ----------(=o

Zachary watched as the woman walked off and the pink haired guy shuddered a little bit, clearly scared of the woman. "You're not a very brave guy, are you?" he asked, looking at the pink haired man. "Or am I wrong, Shan? After all, Monroe said you were a brave guy, but that lady... she's vicious."

Zachary turned his attention to Wisp and smiled at her. The fact he stuck out like a sore thumb in this area didn't really help him, but he didn't mind too much. After all, he had been more misplaced before, but right now, that didn't matter. The ice warrior smiled at his student and turned towards her. "Anyway, how's your training been since you left the Dome? You certainly look stronger, but I called you here to see just how much you've grown," he told her, smiling a little bit.

o=)--------- ----------(=o

Emile skated down the roads, road after road. She could feel she was getting closer, but couldn't seem to really tell. It wasn't that long before she found herself seeing a large number of police and pondering what was going on. The armored girl smiled as she leapt over the gunfire and saw a man with a long sword standing in the middle. If she had been more incline, she might have stayed to fight him, but as it was now, the lancer merely leapt over the crowd and skidded to a stop.

"Or maybe I am?" she asked, quirking a small smiled. "After all, a little warm up is never a bad thing."

As the first shot was fired, Jonah let the thrill of combat sweep over him. A quick slash of his swoord and the bullet was cleft in two. Such a display stunned the crowds for a moment, before every officer began shooting.

Jonah smiled as he dodged the bullets, this was sport to him. He reached out with his arm, instantly extending it with shadow. With a tug, an officers gun was pulled away, the pistol safely in the hands of Jonah.

Overhead, a figure flew above them, straight above the shooting. Jonah turned to stare at the person, moving just so the bullets diid not hit him. It seemed the figure was not going to stop, but it did. Immediately Jonah sensed the danger of the situation, stealing another pistol.

Sword on his back, Joanh held the two pistols in perfect alignment, squeezing the triggers of both with glee. The police seemed confused the majority ushering away the crods. This was going to get messy.

ooC: I PLAY TOO! I CAN HAZ KILL JONAH!

BiC:

The busy streets chattered aimlessly about the pointless dribble of everyday life. The hoards of people moved without purpose through the city streets, not stopping to see that they where just part of the status quo, that in fact whatever they did really had no effect to anyone. It was the dream of the people after all, to become nothing more then a number. The greatest fear they had was not to be useless or without meaning, but to be greater then imagination and more powerful then their dreams. It was that fear that drove the masses as a singular entity to continue down the same path, never stopping or thinking what it meant.

“This place hardly seems worth protecting.” A Blond haired man mused to himself from the second story balcony of a small coffee shop. Taking a sip of tea he leaned back letting his ears picking up the tales of the people. An amusing process he engaged in from day to day to remind himself of the nature of people. Full of sound and furry, signifying nothing.

Suddenly the sound of a crash rocketed through the air, and gun shots fired off at random. A Stray bullet smashed through the tea cup Derrick had in his hand splashing hot liquid onto the blond haired man's face as the bystanders ran away. The bullet continued forward slamming into derricks forehead, flattening the lead missile.

“Ouch,” Derrick remarked before dropping some money onto the table and walking over to the railing. Looking down he saw a single person toying with the the hoards of police men, dancing between bullet fire with the greatest of ease. Whipping the remnants of his drink off of his face the assassin carelessly dropped from his perch into the ground below, cracking the concrete underfoot. “You,” he said looking at the man, “Ruined my afternoon tea,”

The gun totting man just stopped and stared at the white clothed man with a dumbfounded look on his face. Without skipping a beat, the blond haired man pressed the button on the top of his cane as a sharp metallic point suddenly protruded from the bottom of it. Picking it in hand the blond haired man threw it with deadly accuracy and speed towards the still confused looking young man.

”Oh,” was all Aronin could mutter as the woman just turned around. He had just floated up to the roof, and she didn’t blink? Well, Aronin thought and shrugged, turns out not everybody freaks out. He was about to move up to the woman, asking her whom she was, and perhaps why she didn’t freak out of seeing abnormally things, when a man came jumping from another roof and landed just beside the blonde woman. “Quincy,” he called himself.

So, this woman, and this man, they also had powers it appeared. Nobody should be able to normally jump that high, unless he too had some telekinetic powers to propel himself forward. He was about to ask if he perhaps too had telekinetic powers, and moved closer to the two. They seemed too busy with their conversation and did not show any signs of noting Aronin as he came closer.

But he hesitated before interrupting them, as they talked about fighting, Chinatown, and obviously they knew each other from the past. Wearily, he tried to get their attention.

“Excuse me?.. Sorry that I interrupt, but.. Do you also got powers of some kind? Like, telekinesis perhaps?”

Though the figure did not seem to be advancing, Jonah had attracted the attention of another. Jonah starred at this man, puzzled. Something was wrong.

Before Jonah could react a sharp point was flying straight towards him. And stopped. Jonah looked from behind his raised arms, and saw that a crystalline barrier had wrapped around the cane. A barrier the same shade as the orb in his pocket. The barrier shattered, the cane returning to the man, Jonah felt his pocket; the orb had gone.

Turning his attention to the man, Jonah began shooting, pumping as many bullets in his direction as possible. This was just getting better and better.

OoC: LETZ DANS PUCKY!

As ISAAC observed the two gatherings he had identified, he heard police sirens wailing nearby. Bored with what was going on here, if a machine could be bored, ISAAC began leaping from one rooftop to the next, getting to a point where he could watch the action. He finally got close enough to see what was going on, standing on the roof of a tall building. Down on street level several police were shooting at a man with a sword. The swordsman was dodging and blocking bullets with inhuman reflexes. Another person was standing nearby, and as ISAAC watched a third person joined in. The third person threw something sharp at the swordsman, apparently not happy with him.

ISAAC didn't really care either way, but he was bored of just observing. He jumped off of the building, hitting the sidewalk and rolling. He got back to his feet, and was standing just outside of the line of policemen, who were all hiding behind various means of cover, mostly their vehicles, firing their weapons at the man in the middle. ISAAC warmed up his plasma weapons; activating a blue plasma cell in his left arm and a red plasma cell in his right arm.

ISAAC didn't jump into the fray right away, but decided he'd best observe a little longer, and get an idea of these people's fighting styles and techniques. Even a few minutes of evaluation could make the difference between winning or losing the fight. Either way, whether he won or lost, the only thing ISAAC would gain would be information and experience. The only thing he could possibly lose in the process is 316.51 pounds and several thousand dollars of technology. That was hardly a loss at all, compared to how many androids he had and the ease in which he could make another.

--/+/--

As Jennifer Frost was sitting in her car, parked on the side of the street, a car crash occurred on the road right in front of her. The car collided with someone, but instead of running the man over, the car went flying backwards away from him, and he seemed unharmed. Shortly afterward, police showed up, already nearby investigating some accident involving a street lamp (according to her police radio scanner.)

A fight quickly broke out, with the police shooting at the man, but the man quickly dodged all the bullets. A woman flew through, jumping over the fight and then stopping to watch. Another man jumped down from a building somewhere and started to fight the first man, throwing a makeshift spear at him. Hoping the fight wouldn't advance to where she was, she grabbed her plasma armgun just in case.

--\#\--

"Boring? I'll bet. Do you ever do anything other than lie on the ground and count the stars?" Atropos jumped over the man, landing on the sand in front of him. Ignoring the boring man, she walked down to the water. The water was lapping at the shore, and Atropos bent down to touch it with her finger. It was cold. Atropos disliked cold water, it was no fun to swim in cold water.

There was nothing to do on the beach. She turned back around, wondering where she should go next. The odd man was still laying on the sand, and Atropos stopped for a moment to investigate him further. His left arm was covered in some sort of black substance, which covered his hand and give him long sharp talons over his fingers, Atropos noticed. She wondered how it got there and what it was for. The black substance it was made of reminded her of something, and as she thought about it, a black liquid began to drip from the fingers of her left hand.

Within a matter of moments, Atropos' own left arm and hand was covered in Black Matter, formed into an accurate replica of the odd man's talons. She lifted up her arm and looked at it curiously for a moment.