[GAME] Vanguards of Hope

Ryan held his ground as his gathered energy, per his companion's request.

His watched in amazement as she pierced through the creature, creating a much needed weak spot in their enemy.

When given the cue, he released the energy into a modified attack. Crying out, "Riot Echo!", a dozen phantom versions of himself emerged and struck out against the creature. Each one of them bombarded it with attack after attack, vanishing once they were done. With only Ryan remaining, he struck out with an empowered strike with Byakko.

Jumping away from the beast, he watched as the one called "Moonlight" finished off the creature once and for all. It was a marvelous explosion.

With the battle finally over, Ryan disengaged his armor. He hadn't noticed how badly he'd been wounded in the battle. He suddenly fell to one knee. Blood was dripping from the inside of his jacket sleeve and from a cut on his face.

"Hey guys," Ryan said weekly. "Not to be a bummer or anything, but I think I need a hospital..." He passed out before anyone could respond.
 
"Damn. Mega-Eel must be getting his ass handed to." Steve said as Steve saw a bright light in the distance After Cure-dark landed him at the university. Steve ran to a group of students that were looking a dorm to hide in.

"Alright. Why don't we get your asses to the dorms?" Steve said as tried looking for the nearest dorm. Steve and the students ran to it and Steve tried tried turning the handle but it was locked. Of course. Steve thought, he noticed a window open. Normally Steve wouldn't use his magic powers in public but this was an emergency.

"OK guys, I'm going to do something that may be a bit abnormal." Steve warned as he took that recently unsealed ring that lets him stretch his limbs. he ran it through his belt-scanner.

"EXTEND! PLEASE!" the red flickering seal appeared. Steve put his arm through the seal, his arm stretched til he was barely able to reach the bottom of the window opening. Steve climbed up the dorm to find no one in the room. It looked like the person staying at the dorm left when the **** hit the fan. Draco phased his head through the walls.

"OK Draco. See if you can find any stairs around here. If you find any before i do, Let me know give me the directions." Steve ordered his dragon as he ran out the dorm room and searched for the stair-well.

"Found it!" Draco said after a minute. "Turn right, and on your left should be the stairwell. run down, you should be at the entrance."

Steve ran in the directions Draco gave and he found the entrance. Steve pushed the doors open and let the students in.

"Alright Boys and Girls. You are free to enter. Oh and please keep the whole arm stretch thing a secret. The last thing anyone needs is some paparazzi bull-****." Steve said after the students entered one-by-one. They each nodded before Steve set off to watch the end of the fight. The Eel monster got destroyed and some guy passed out.

"Oh crap." Steve said as he darted to the sight of the battle. Draco followed.
 
Its eyes bulged, its body quaked, and finally the red beast gasped its last. With a blazing red glow, and one last bolt sent from its maw toward the heavens, the creature exploded in a brilliant display. The battle was over, but the ramifications were quickly made clear. The damage to the surrounding area was great, and the body count was hard to determine. It was only then that an all too familiar sound finally began to fill the air: sirens. It was hard to say why the local authorities had waited until now before making their approach. No potential answer to that question would bring any present comfort, but staying to ask wouldn’t help either.

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At that moment, from the ashes of the dead creature, a horrific looking orb appears and floats in place. It jets forward, zigzagging wildly as it races towards its target: Cure Dark. The mass comes within inches of the girl, but then suddenly stops and looks as if it is being pulled away by some unseen force. It jets away from the winged woman and flies off into the night, leaving Alice with a dreadful sort of ecstasy. It was something dark and otherworldly, but her semi-fiend nature would make her long for it. Hopfully she would overcome the “contact highâ€, but how would she deal with such a thing the next time it would appear? Cure Shine would sense the dreaded power and feel the exact opposite from the orb. It would trigger almost all of her fight or flight instincts, and leave her with a sense of doom. Still, it was long gone now though to where was a matter of debate, and concern.

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A motorcycle squealed to a stop at the university entrance as the rider gasped in horror. The damage was far worse than Thomas had expected, and he feared that none of the students may have survived. Racing toward the dorms he was relieved to see several students coming out of hiding, and even more entering the dorms. When the young men and women caught sight of the dean of admissions a few began to smile, while others let out sighs of relief. Thomas was the only member of the faculty that every student knew well, and most treated him with more respect than even Dean Rosencrantz. Oh course, Rosencrantaz was no where to be seen since he lived off campus in a mansion outside of town. That man…Thomas hated that man more than anyone else, but now was not the time for such thoughts. When he arrived at the library entrance, Thomas began the work of rallying the personal still on campus giving each a task. It wasn’t long before some sense of order began to reform from the chaos, and the first police officer had yet to even arrive.

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As Steve made his way toward Ryan, three students who had come out of hiding joined him. Ryan had helped to save them, and they seemed committed to helping him in return. One of the students, a young woman with wavy black hair, spoke to Steve as two male students helped Ryan up gently. â€We will get him to someone who can help, but you need to get out of here. The police aren’t very welcoming of outsiders so they may try to pin this whole thing on you and your friends.†With that the three eased Ryan up, leaving behind his sword without realizing its importance to the injured man. As they sneaked away, the girl turned back with one last comment to Steve in regards to where he could find them. â€The Winter March cemetery…about two miles east of the city. The grounds keeper knows about these things, and said someone would come to fight them someday. I always thought he was crazy…but not anymore. You should meet us there when you can…you can’t miss it….and thank you…â€

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Molly and Gin watch the two riders run off before turning to walk back toward the Black Moor. It had been a long night for them both, yet Molly seemed less stressed and worn than her escort. For a time both were silent, but the red headed girl finally spoke with a kind tone. Her words were meant to bring comfort to the man, though it was hard to say if what she had to say would truly help.

â€The Man in White…he gave you that case didn’t he? Something really bad happened and then he gave you whatever is in there right?â€

Upon his response she could sense his feelings of frustration and dread. She wasn’t sure if her questions were well timed, but if Molly wanted to help than she had to ask. When she spoke next it was with a more somber tone that slowly became more confident. She believed what she was saying, and hoped it would help her new friend cope with his situation. A situation that was far too bizarre to truly be dealt with so simply, but she had to try.

†My grandma used to say that God can take something meant for your harm and turn it into something meant for your good. I’m not sure how you feel about God, especially in your situation, but…whatever is in that case is yours now. Don’t use it because the man in white gave it to you, or because you feel obligated to do so. Use it when you feel like you should, and how you see fit. Who knows…it may take you one step closer to finding your answers.â€

As the two walked they would pass four people walking down the street. Both Molly and Gin would feel uneasy around them as they passed the four. As they did, one of the four would turn back to stare at the two. She was a pretty young woman with long, black hair, a lithe figure, a scar across her cheek and an eye patch covering her left eye. She wore tight jeans, a black tank top, white sneakers, a blue hoodie and wore her hair in a pony tail. She gazed at Molly and Gin with her blue, right eye and smiled before turning away to catch up with her companions. As she did, however, her smile became more wicked as she snapped her fingers.

From the shadows another, less human figure responded to the woman’s gesture and vanished into the shadows. Gin would sense it first as something stalked them from the dark alleyways, waiting to strike out at them. Molly would notice it next and would see the being crawling toward a roof top only to sink back into the next alleyway adjacent to them. As they would break into a run, the creature would make itself known to them. It was human sized, but was mostly black with what looked like stained glass merged with its skin. It had a spider like head, and chased the pair with impressive speed. As it did, a pair of translucent fangs would appear in the air and stab out toward them, barely missing the duo. Whatever this thing was, it seemed intent on catching them, or worse. When it spoke with its distorted voice, a human face appeared in its stain glassed segments almost like a reflection. The face was a young man, grinning widely and laughing hysterically as he spoke.

â€No reason to run little ones! I jst want to play some games with you before eating you up!â€
 
"No...Thank you." Steve shouted to the students and giving them a thumbs up as they sneaked away. After which he noticed a familiar white-tiger themed sword on the ground. "Hey Draco, Doesn't that sword belong to that guy who fought with us earlier?"

"Yeah...I don't see him anywhere. You don't think that sword belongs to that guy those student's carried away, do you?" Draco asked.

"I think so. I mean, I don't see that warrior anywhere and all of a sudden he appeared. I don't think that's a coincidence Draco." Steve said as he picked the sword. He turned to his allies.

"Well, We should probably get the hell out of here. If what that girl said is true, then it may not be a good idea to stick around. I'm going to the winter march cemetery, you guys can follow if you want. We need at least some idea of what these things want. Besides, someone's gotta give this back to that guy." Steve said as he held up the Warrior's white-tiger sword got on his motorcycle and started driving to the cemetery.
 
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A not too embarrassingly long amount of time after Thomas arrived, Decade stumbled onto the scene. Even with the enhanced speed the suit provided, he had still been forced to run full tilt in order to keep the amount he was falling behind to a minimum. After all, it just wasn't physically possible for him to have kept pace with the motorcycle and its thief. As a result, he was panting and wheezing like...well, like someone who had just run across town chasing a motorcycle. Inside the suit he was drenched in sweat.

"If I...live through this....remind me...never...to make fun of...marathon runners....again..."
"Uh, okay. Didn't know that was a thing you did."
"Just...the one time..."
"In any event, both the satellite footage and the bike tracker say he's here at the university. It shouldn't be too hard to find him."
"How...d'you...figure?"
"Find the mass of people running away from the monsters and go where they're not?"
"Yeah....okay, that's....a good point."

Stumbling wearily along, Decade made his way through campus. Things seemed unusually calm and controlled for a place that had just been victim to a monster attack. Nobody seemed to be paying him any mind- not entirely unexpected, given the aforementioned monster attack and the equally strange people that must have arrived to fight it, but he'd expected at least a second glance or two. Stranger still, there weren't any cops on the scene yet.

"Say, did you....blackout this....incident?"
"Not yet. The media hasn't said anything, so we've got a little more time before we need to start feeding them cover stories. Why?
"No cops....on the scene. 'sweird."
"That is a bit odd. I'll look into it."
"Thanks."

Decade hauled himself around a corner, using the wall to keep him from falling over, and laid his helmeted eyes on the bike thief. He seemed to be directing some of the faculty. That explained some of the order around here. He called out to him, trying to grab his attention as he ran....jogged....moved slightly faster over to him. This apparently was far more than his lungs were prepared for, and he slumped down in a coughing fit. Even as his respiratory system tried to launch an armed revolt against the rest of him, Decade pushed on with his questioning.

"Hey, you....what the hell? Why'd...you take...oh god I need to do more cardio...my bike!?"
 
Thomas looked back to see the armored figure that had helped protect him before, but he didn’t look happy to see him. He rushed over to the man, looking around semi-frantically before handing him the keys to the bike. ”I’m really sorry man, but half these students are in this crazy place because of me. I couldn’t just sit ideally by while-“

The sounds of sirens filled the distant air, and Thomas almost looked horrified by it. He looked at Cam and almost pushed the man into the shadows. ”Listen, you have to get that armor off and get the hell out of here. The police won’t hesitate to shoot you on the spot and blame everything on you. You have to…”

The red and blue lights were already in sight, and Thomas looked like a deer in the head lights. He pointed to an open door and pleaded with Cam to hide. Once hidden, the panicking man took a few deep breaths and assumed a calmer state. When the single patrol car arrived, two male officers exited, looked around, and walked toward Thomas in a huff.

”What the hell is this McNolan? Your students get a little too uppity for you to handle?”

”Officers. We have a lot of people injured that need medical attention.”

”Yeah, well they probably deserve it for whatever they were doing out here. So what was it; a rave with a little too much booze and acid going around? We don’t take lightly to being called away from real trouble because you can’t keep these hooligans in line.”

”They never should have reopened this damn place. It’s never been nothin’ but trouble.”

”Officers…about the ambulances-“

”Shut…up McNolan! We’ll get your brats some help as soon as we figure out how much they need, or deserve. So help me if even one of them screams monsters, aliens, or any of that bull **** then they are going straight to the Asylum. I don’t care how much they are bleeding. I’m tired of this ****…”

”No doubt this is somehow your fault Thomas. So where were you when all this went down? Spending some quality time with your little girlfriend?”

”I was busy, but I’m sure the Dean would be more than happy to make a statement about what happened here.”

”He…that old bastard isn’t coming here is he?”

”I’m not certain, but if he has heard about this...”

One of the officers got onto his radio and called for three ambulances while the other looked around nervously. They both seemed very much in a hurry to get away from the college upon hearing that Dean Rosencrantz might be on the way. This didn’t stop them from making a few more snide comments before driving away far more quickly than they had arrived. Once they were gone, Thomas broke his calm demeanor and gritted his teeth in rage. He punched a wall and began to speak in a heavily frustrated tone. It wasn’t the first time he felt this way, and it wouldn’t be the last.

” That’s how it is…how it has always been for as long as I can remember. It isn’t just those two either, but the whole damn police force. It probably took twenty people calling, screaming bloody murder just to get that one patrol car down here. Even then…even seeing all this carnage…they act like it’s just a party that went bad! They always take the easy way out, always deny that anything out of the ordinary has happened, and don’t do a thing to help! If they had seen you they would have gunned you down and found some bull **** way to make you the villain! They would have made you the cause of it all, and then thrown anyone who would say otherwise in the asylum…or worse. Maybe it’s their way of staying sane in a city full of nothing but madness, I don’t know. That doesn’t make it right though. It isn’t right and never has been! Now I have to go convince some two hundred or so terrified kids that nothing they saw tonight was real. Better to lie to them than to have a swat team come and drag them away or gun them down. I hope to God that you can do something…anything to make this right. People died tonight, and most of them won’t even get proper burials.

They may not even be remembered…”


Thomas walked away, tears and rage covering his face. He was born and raised in this city, but it was never easy witnessing something like this. Maybe that was a sign of his sanity. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the authorities hadn’t stuck around to take notice of the heroes still on campus. No…there was no way any of this could be called a blessing. Lives had been saved at least, and now the Vanguards had some idea of the threats they would face. Whether of not they could do more for the people in this city was hard to say, but the attempt alone had made them heroes in the sight of at least one man, and several, grateful students.

It was a start, but there was still much to be done.
 
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Gin tensed up at the mention of the man in white, Though it frightened him a bit less now. Slowly but surely he was coming to accept all that had happened and was happening to him now. The man in white was real. Molly and her grandmothers knowledge of them was proof of that. He wanted to ask her what she knew of him but couldn't make himself ask. He was only now starting to calm down and didn't wanna risk getting all worked up again. He'd been an emotional roller coaster that night and any questions regarding all the crazyness could wait till he got a few hours of sleep in.

However, what molly said next resonated with Gin in a way he may not have been wiling to accept earlier that night. He thought back what the old man in the bar said, and the two armored warriors. Vanguards of hope. Hayato and "Decade" definitely fit the bill, But Gin wasn't so sure of himself. Sill he had the items in the briefcase. The Belt still around his waist, and the phone held loosely in his hand. Perhaps within them lie the means turning Gin into something like the other two. Something which could bring comfort to the fearful and hope to those who need it most.

Gin and Molly hurried past a group of people loitering out in the foggy streets. There was a wordlessly understood discomfort shared by the two at the their presence. Both unaware that one among them had Dark intentions. Intentions that wouldn't become apparent until Gin felt a chill run down his spine. He glanced just slightly over his shoulder long enough to briefly catch sight of what looked like a human silhouette creeping past. A feeling of dread similar to that felt when he'd seen the monsters before returned. When Molly caught sight of him as well the two broke into a run. As they ran the monster did less and less to hide it's presence. Instead, it redirected it's energy to attack and menecing them. Seemingly delighting in their fear.

It wasn't until a pair of transparent fangs seemingly phased into existence and narrowly missed killing them, thanks to molly's sharp eyes. Gin stopped and turned to face the monster. He shot his right arm out and then used it to maneuver molly behind him. The girls words came back to him in that moment.

â€Who knows…it may take you one step closer to finding your answers.â€

He Glanced down briefly at the phone. Gin was about sick of being scared and confused. It was time to get some answers. Starting with this phone and the creature chasing them. He called out to the monster as he flipped the phone open.

"Thats it! You've caught me on exactly the wrong night!

What began as a attempt at bravado slipped into an almost psychotic episode on Gin's account as all the pent up anger and confusion came flooding out.

"I've already seen **** tonight that would make your ASSHAIRS!...STAND ON END! DON'T EVEN START WITH ME RIGHT NOW IF YOU WANNA WALK AWAY FROM THIS **** IN ANYTHING BUT A BODYBAG!

Gin punched 555 into the phone as he glared furiously at the monster

standing by

The words sounded out of the phone in a mechanical monotone. Gin glanced down at the phone as though he were standing at the edge of a cliff. He took a shaky, uneasy breath and then slammed the phone into place on the belt.

complete

Two red lines of light descended from the bottom of the belt as as two more rose from it's top, wrapping around the front of Gin's body to form a peculiar shape. The lines seemed to solidify as the light grew more intense, ending in a brief but blinding flash. When darkness returned to the streets an armored figure stood where Gin once was. It turned slightly, toward the brave little girl that attempted to console another in spite of her own fear and nodded. It then turned toward the monster and stepped towards it.
 
A primordial scream left Dark Cure's throat. She had been close-- so utterly close!-- to grabbing the essence of that dark creature. So much power had been within her grasp, but then it had been yanked away at the last possible second. She shot forward, clawing at the retreating orb.

Her frustration sparked a resonance in the darkness she'd already absorbed. A series of sparks lit up the air as her newfound lightning powers awakened. The darkness welled up within her, churning, demanding, begging to swallow her whole.

Some small semblance of sanity lurking in the recesses of her mind noted that this display was not helping her standing with the other heroes present. She needed to get away. She needed to escape them. She needed... Her thoughts turned inward in one tangled mass.

The instinct of self-preservation took over. Dark Cure broke off of the pointless pursuit and rocketed skyward. Higher and higher she rose, like a missile reaching for the moon. Only when the air thinned beyond use and it hurt to breath did she stop.

Only then did the world around her explode into a storm of lightning.

Only then did consciousness leave her.

Only then did she begin to fall towards the unforgiving ground below.

---

Cure Shine managed to stop short of reducing the entire area to slag, but only just barely and only because Dark Cure was in the line of fire. She squelched the glowing sunlight of her palms and started to take the fight to the orb... but it abruptly vanished along with Alice.

By the time Cure Shine had re-exerted control of herself, it was far too late to be of any use to the situation. She shook her head and tried to take stock of what had happened. When the soul of that creature had been revealed, it had been so shockingly surreal. The soul literally should not have existed. It was so unnatural that her first and only thought had been to destroy it. But now, she didn't know where it or her best friend were.

She sighed and pondered the lingering feelings of dread for a long moment. The wailing of police sirens jerked her back to reality.

"That's probably our cue." Shine risked a quick glance at the silver Cure. "I don't know what your plans are, but, uh... there's a place we can change over there if you're interested."

With that, Shine twisted to the side and bolted into a nearby alleyway adjacent to their dorm room. Upon landing, she let the building's shadows envelop her. A quick release of energy allowed her Cure form to dissipate and brought Melinda back into the world.

She peeked back out into the alleyway, taking stock of the police's actions. The back of her mind worried about Alice. Unfortunately, there wasn't much that she could do about that right this moment. She needed to sort through her feelings, take stock of just what was going on and let the paranoia brought on by a giant monster attack settle down. Once the heat was off and she had a better grasp on the situation, she could develop a plan of action for dealing with her wayward partner.
 
Steve just made it to the graveyard that the female student told him to meet them plus the old man at. It was more Eerie than the rest of the city, and the wind chilled him to the bone. Draco, despite being an intangible spirit, felt that bone-chilling presence also. Steve took the white-tiger sword out and tried searching through the graveyard. It only got colder as the wizard, dragon spirit, and talking sword got deeper. Finally, they managed to find the 3 students that helped the warrior out. Steve couldn't find the warrior, so they probably delivered him to safety already.

"Hey, Thanks for helping my new pal out, but if it's not too much trouble, could you give him this sword? It was left behind when you helped him get out of the area." Steve told the female student as he handed her the white-tiger sword for it to be returned to it's rightful owner. "I have a feeling he'd want this sword back considering how it can talk and all."
 
Each step produced a heavy thunk against the ground. Telling of the armors weight. A weight not fully carried by it's equpper. This was perhaps due to the black portions of it, Made of a strong rubber or foam like substance. Hard as rock but still maintaining a usual degree of flexibility. The spider swung in on a web toward him, colliding with the armored Gin as his punch missed the creature. Gin was knocked backward a few steps but showed few signs of damage and continued to move forward, much to the spiders rage. It charged Gin striking at the massive chrome chest-plate. Un-phased, Gin wound up with his right and threw a powerful haymaker at the spider, connecting slightly off target with it's shoulder. The impact caused the creature to stumble backward.

The flexibility the foamlike membrane allowed made the user's body feel a bit stiff, specifically around the joins. Due to the membrane' not wanting to give completely. However, as Gin landed consecutive right hand punches, he could feel it give a bit more, The same way a bungee cord needed to be "warmed up before it could be stretched to it's max. Gin decided to test this after his fourth consecutive right hand sent the creature reeling. He rotated his arm at the shoulder as though he ware winding it up then threw a looping overhand right which propelled the monster backward, through the air and into a brick wall. Gin flicked his arm out in a celebratory fashion. Gin would later realize these movements had the added bonus/detriment of seeming like stylistic flourishes.

As the monster staggered back to it's feet and charged Gin cocked his right arm back while rotating the left at the shoulder. He stooped the monsters forward charge with the right then slashed across it's face with the left. A flood of emotion came barreling out of Gin as he bombarded the creature with punches. He became lost in a warlike trance. He shouted violently with each punch. Even when the spider fell to the ground and shattered into multicolored glass shards Gin continued to swing violently into the air. It wouldn't be until Molly, witnessing the display, be it out of fear, pity, or confusion, called out to him.
 

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