[GAME] Vanguards of Hope

[The_Bladesman]

After what seemed like forever, G1 had finally made his way through a forested area of the park and just a road across from the university. He had though moving in basically a single straight line to the university would cut down on time but he hadn’t counted on there being such a dense forest between, the fog certainly didn’t help his sense of direction either. At this point one thing was certain G2 would need some kind of GPS along with the seemingly endless list of features.

Rushing into the university it seemed that the beast had long since vanished, rubble was scattered and recovery had began, surely the presence of the police meant that anyone injured would be taken care of soon enough. Still Hayato couldn’t help but want to dive in and help with the remaining rescue effort after all the very reason he started building such an exo-suit was to help with such situations. Still he couldn’t risk the police mistaking him for an actual fiend but there was still nothing stopping Hayato himself from helping out.

Heading back into the wood, G1 quickly moved to remove his armour and store it away, while he wasn’t sure he could do much to help or if anyone still needed it, an extra pair of hands couldn’t hurt at the very least. With his brief case in hand Hayato headed back into the university unsure what he would find.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Megablack looked on as the eel beast was engulfed in one last explosion, she was happy to see it gone for good but she wasn’t too sure if she had really done that much to help in comparison to some of her compatriots. The sounds of the dying flames were instantly overpowered by the sounds of sirens, much to Reika’s initial surprise though in hindsight it did seem odd to her that they hadn’t arrived sooner to try and get people to safety.

“Where do you think we……ohâ€

Turning to question her allies about their next move she found that they had all split up. Having decided to stay and hopefully get a dorm room at least for the night, Megablack looked for a secluded place to transform. Her search was prematurely ended by a bone chilling scream, grabbing her mega sniper, Reika turned to face the fiend only to see the somewhat frightening magical girl flailing wildly in the air.


“She must be possessed or something.â€


Megablack quickly dialled 259 while running only to get an error noise; it seemed flight wasn’t an option for the moment. To make matters worse the crazed girl began to fall, Reika broke into a sprint. The distance was too great but none the less she ran, hoping her digitizer would react and she’d change into faster colour but as time past that seemed more and more unlikely.

 

[Guardian07]

Raye didn't have time to curse his present plight as the newly-transformed enemy begins the battle anew. The tidal waves sent forth hit like bricks, pushing him back bit by bit as he tried to hold his ground. The white and blue warrior then closes the distance and attacks with his staff, with as much proficiency as his hand-to-hand combat skill as to be ludicrous. Rage and frustration starts to build within him. Somewhere in his heart, he knows he won't be able to get out of this. Raye quickly springs back, knowing he can't match his opponent in close distance and starts to use his chain; the only thing he has that has any hope of leveling the playing field.

While this option was effective before, it backfires as the staff coiled around the chain like a snake, and before he realized it, Raye had been wrapped tightly by the 'snake', making his situation much more dire as he instinctively realizes that he is now a sitting duck and very open to killing strikes. This is confirmed as he sees the white warrior charging his fist in a similar manner to his earlier attack. He knows that if he is hit by that, he will die.

"Am I...going to die here?"

His body is tired and battered, all his cards are used and he can't move an inch to save his life. At this rate, he will surely die. At that realization, his rage reaches a climax, and something snapped in him. And he begins to long. Long for more power. Power to kill and punish. Power to murder this vexing enemy.

Fahahaha, so you desire power? Then summon me! Bring me to this world, and on my sacred bow, and I will bring all to their knees!!

No sooner had he heard the cackling, menacing voice in his head that his mouth starts to form the words. His whole being reaching in and wishing to bring to existence the creature who answered his call.

"White...Rider!"

Suddenly, an arrow of thunder seemingly shoots out of thin air towards the white and blue warrior. Not risking a hit, Arclight brings his fist to collide with the thunder bolt, resulting in an explosion of energy, throwing him back, but he lands easily on the ground. Electrical energy crackles around Raye and strikes the snake rod binding him. The rod then loosens and returns to Arclight's hand, now in its original shape.

And it appears. It was his Persona, Grim Reaper, but now garbed in a cloak, and riding an armored white horse. Additionally, it now holds a magnificent white bow in its left hand. As the horse is cantering in place, bluish thunder crackles around it.

Raye hold out his right palm out. With only a simple mental command, the Persona fades away, leaving a single card that floats above his palm. Looking down at his belt, he was surprised to see that the buckle's two halves had opened up, and the slot inside it is empty. He grabs the floating card and places it in the slot. As if on cue, the two halves closes, and he starts to feel a change.

The armor on his chest and left upper limb begins to change, slight in shape but drastically in color. The armor becomes slightly lighter and more shaped, and now are dull white instead of dirty gray. A small white light, and the bow previously held by White Rider begins to form in Raye's palm. As he feels its weight in his hand, a small smile starts to form behind his masked face. A strangely crooked smile. The black and white figure then holds the bow high. Raye was only half aware of what he's doing as he utters the words.

THUNDERS OF CONQUEST!!

The white bow shoots out several spheres of bluish white light into the night air. Floating high in the air, the spheres of light ignites, shooting out rampaging thunder and lighting towards the ground that scorches everything in its path, mercilessly striking at the white and blue target.

 

[Icefish]

"I...y...wha?" was all Decade managed to stammer out before he was pointed to and unceremoniously shoved through an open door. He stumbled into a classroom, but not one that was empty. There were a few students inside, cowering by the door that led to the hallway. They hadn't noticed the pink figure awkwardly arrive, which was fortunate for him. He started to go for his belt to end the transformation, but stopped. He thought he could hear the bike thief talking to someone. It was time for subtlety. He drew one of his remaining cards and slid it into the belt.

ATTACK RIDE: INVISIBLE

Decade vanished from sight, and not a moment too soon. One of the students turned around, staring right through him. Had he heard the belt? The student turned back a few moments later, so apparently not. With a slight silent sigh of relief, Decade slowly snuck out of the room and nearly ran into one of the new speakers- a cop. The police had finally arrived. As he eavesdropped on their conversation and the thief's follow-up monologue, he began to gain a clearer picture of what sort of place this town was and how bad things really were.

For starters, there were the police. Either they were corrupt, lazy, or just incompetent, if not some combination of the three. Decade doubted he'd be able to rely on them for backup. Of course, he doubted they'd have been of any use. Common police didn't have a stellar track record against these things. Then there was Dean Rosencrantz and the power his name seemed to hold. The only other person Decade had seen who elicited that sort of response was Rowan, who had his share of mysteries about him- did Rosencrantz have some link to the goings-on that had brought him here? Lastly, there was the bike thief. Turns out he wasn't just a bike thief, but yet another one of those "strong sense of justice" sorts. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with that sort of person, but...they had a habit of being blinded by their own ideals.

All in all, things in town were pretty bad off. Hell, they were teetering on the edge of disaster.

Soon Decade was alone. The scenes he had just witnessed still bounced around in his mind as he faded back into sight. He began to feel another sense of pressure, much like the one he had felt before getting the new card. Sure enough, he found another one in his hand. This one, however, seemed to be incomplete. The picture was grey and fogged out, making it unable to discern what it did. Decade was tempted to try and use it to find out, but the night's events were already wearing him down. He pulled off the belt, ending the transformation and staring up into the sky.

"..."
"Cam, you okay?"
"..."
"Cam?"
"Chief. This isn't a normal mission, is it?"
"No. Intel keeps pointing to this town as a major hot spot for activity. Something big is right around the corner."
"How long have you known?"
"Long enough."
"And you didn't tell me why?"
"I told you when you needed to know. The same as every other mission.
"..."
"Cam, you should head home."
"The debrief-"
"The debrief can wait. You need to rest, and we need to take care of some things here. We'll cover everything that happened tonight in tomorrow's briefing."
"...thanks."
"No problem."

Cam hopped on his bike, not bothering to look around the campus. Nothing he could have seen would have improved his mood or the situation, and he had a feeling he'd bee seeing plenty of it in the upcoming days. Instead, he made his way through the crowds of students and got on his way back to the inn.

 

[Ziginz Zegell]

Arclight swore he heard hoof beats galloping toward him as his fist met with a bolt of lightning from out of the blue. He was flung back, his staff returned to his hand like a wounded pet, and looked onward at a tremendous sight.

The Rider in White.

The Reaper was one thing, but to think it could become something like this was far more than the angelic warrior had expected. When the persona vanished and left a card in its wake, a card that his enemy took into hand, Arclight felt something within himself. That feeling…how long had it been since he had felt it. Reaper’s belt opened, he placed the card within, a bolt struck him from above, and he was reborn. His form, his voice, the weapon in his hand; all were signs of Reaper’s new power.

As the bow wielding rider blasted orbs into the air, orbs that shot forth in bolts of electrical energy, Arclight swung his staff and retreated back. He deflected many of the blasts, but they were so numerous and so fast that a few struck home. Finally the attacks ceased, or so it seemed, as a blow from Reaper sent Arclight railing away. Another blow, and another, then a series of bolts followed by a powerful kick. Arclight was being overwhelmed by a foe who had been able to do little against him moment before. The feeling that now radiated through the angelic rider was summed up in one, almost enthusiastic word.

”Magnificent.”

Then, as Reaper drew back for another attack, his opponent struck the ground with his staff causing the water beneath their feet to rise up in his defense. The wall of water was little more than a distraction, however, as Arclight was no where to be seen once the it had cleared. A voice echoed through the alleyway, though the one speaking was not in sight.

”Magnificent display of power, though I must question the wisdom behind your choice! That is, letting your persona consume so much of you in exchange for its power. While my Arc Angel is a pure representation of my inner self, I sense something else from yours. A hidden intent perhaps…I think it would devour you completely if it could. Still, with power like that I have no doubt you will thrive in this city. I look forward to our next encounter my grim friend.”

A single feather fell from above and silence accompanied it. The battle was over, but it was only the first of what would be a long war.

--------------------------------

”GIN!!!”

He finally heard her voice as his fists stopped punching the pavement. Months of pain, frustration, and confusion had just been unleashed in flurry of deadly blows. The spider monster that had threatened both Molly and Gin was now little more than a pile of broken shards. Molly looked on with a look of fear across her face, cheeks red from yelling loudly. She had shouted at the armored figure several times already, but her voice had only just reached his ears. When he looked back at her, his voice broken up a bit, Molly ran over to his side and took his hand.

”I’m alright…are you?”

Once he had answered, Molly looked back down the road from whence they had come thinking about the four they had passed. Had they been the ones to cast that creature against them? As soon as the thought had past, the girl witnessed a fearful sight.

”Gin!”

As Gin would turn back he would see a many colored orb of light manifest from the shards of the spider and floated skyward. It disappeared from sight, but both Gin and Molly would feel uneasy about it. It wouldn’t take long for the two to leave the scene and make a beeline for the Black Moor.

Once home, Molly practically collapsed in an easy chair in front of the Inn’s fire place. Her grandmother hadn’t moved an inch since the girl had left, but turned to Molly with an empty gaze. Molly smiled at her grandmother, and the old woman smiled back before returning to her programs. For a moment, Gin might see what looked like worry in the old woman’s eyes, but it was short lived.

”She can’t help it…being the way she is. She…well, she functions on a different frequency than everyone else, so it is hard for her. Concentrating on something like the T.V. helps.”

Molly’s voice was full of compassion as she spoke of her grandmother. Another chair sat across from the young girl’s, and she motioned for Gin to join her. She knew he had many questions, though she wasn’t certain how many she would be able to answer. Still she would try, and she prayed beneath her breath that she would be able to do something to help him. She did that a lot, praying, and it seemed God was now answering those desperate requests. She also had questions of her own regarding Gin’s past and what had lead him to his current situation. Molly hopped this would prove to be a comforting conversation, though she didn’t give her hopes up yet.

----------------------------

As Hayato helped an injured man to a make shift firast aid station, he would hear a voice speak to him from behind with a bit of excitement.

”You…you’re Hayato aren’t you? The man who proposed a compressed internal electric drive for robotic exoskeletons, and then knocked down all the nay sayers by presenting a working prototype.”
When Hayato would turn around he would be met by a beautiful face. A blonde haired woman with deep, blue eyes and a star struck look on her face looked over Hayato in shock. The woman seemed familiar to the man, but he couldn’t recall from where until she continued to speak.

”I’m Milli…Milli Thorn. We met two years ago at a robotics convention in Tokyo. I was the plucky girl showing off prototype prosthetic limbs and new nervous system connectivity technology. Errr…I had pigtails that day and we spoke for a few minutes about micro technology and its unreliability in extreme conditions?”

That last part was a good memory since it was rare for Hayato to meet someone his own age that could keep up so well with his theories. Milli had changed a bit, but she was definitely the same girl from the time. Meeting her here was a bit odd, but then Cold March was a very odd place. Stranger still was her almost calm demeanor even after the madness that had just taken place. The bit of dirt on her face and clothes, coupled with a bandaged right arm were all signs that she had seen her share of the trouble, however. Perhaps seeing an unexpected, but familiar face had done wonders for her in this situation. Either way he curious gaze was accompanied by an other wise expected question.

”What are you doing here anyway? Not that I’m not happy to see you…but you picked a rotten time to visit the university. Oh as for me, I run the robotics department here…all twenty feet of it…”

Her last words were mixed with sarcasm and a smile. The conversation was becoming a bit too convenient, yet Hayato would sense no malice or danger from the young woman. Perhaps something was directing the meeting, but it probably wasn’t an enemy force.


----------------------------

”I know what I saw man! A girl fell from the sky!”

”You’ve lost it dude! You really need to cut back on…mother of God….”

Two men walked up to a small crater in which a winged girl now lay. Small sparks of electricity could been seen all around the dent in the earth, and neither man knew what to say or do. As one of the two approached the crater a cold feeling swept through his body. He turned back and saw three figures emerge from the shadows. One was a normal looking man in a red robe, while the other two were far from human. The first had a lower body that looked like a blue, grinning head, while its red upper body had no eyes. The other creature had menacing, beast like face, silver armor, and wielded a large sword as fierce looking as the rest of his form. Both creatures had an almost mollusk or crustacean like aspect to them, and both looked at the two humans before them with disdain. However when the robbed man spoke, both took heed to his words.

”That infernal woman! To think she would react so poorly to the waters of the Sanzu. Her pets were one thing, but summoning a writhing spawn? Still…her action have provided a suitable replacement to open the flood gates. Let us hope this one does not turn out as poorly as our last priestess. Ootsumuji, grab the girl, Kagekamuro…kill the humans.”

The red and blue monster drew a pair of dagger guns and began to approach the two men. They both screamed in terror and could do nothing as the silver armored fiend scooped up the unconscious, winged girl. Suddenly a flurry of blasts impacted the two faced monster and it reeled back from the blows. A figure in black ran toward the scene, her weapon drawn, as the robed man scoffed at his misfortune. He shouted to the monster called Kagekamuro ordering it to turn its attention to the strangely garbed woman. It aimed its bladed pistols at the girl and began to open fire, marching toward her with it’s stubbing, grotesque feet. The robbed man and his remaining servant scurried away with their prize, but not before a stray shot clipped the retreating creature in the shoulder. Drops of mercury like blood were left in its wake, but pursuit would have to wait until the current foe had been dealt with.

The two men ran away, terrified at what they had just witnessed. Their words caught the attention of a man in the mist wearing a heavy coat and long scarf. He was holding something that writhed in his hand trying to escape his grasp, but that he gave no leave way to do so. He looked toward the sound of battle and scratched his messy, auburn hair while making a rather frustrated face. Those two girls had been warned to stick together, but it seemed one had lost track of the other. It would be a real mess if that girl’s power was unleashed, so he decided to intervene…just a little. The strange man whispered on the wind and his words flew silently across the streams of air. They reached the ears of a certain fairy named Cologne who would not know their source. Yet the little creature knew the words heard were true, that Cure Dark had been taken, and that a new battle had broken out not far away. The message also said that time was of the essence, and that failure would mean an even worse disaster then the battle at the college. They had to hurry.

----------------------------

Kagekamuro

[hide]http://images.wikia.com/shinkenger/images/1/1e/Kagekamuro.jpg[/hide]

Ootsumuji

[hide] http://images.wikia.com/shinkenger/images/3/36/Ootsumuji.jpg [/hide]

 

[Havoc Knight]

Ryan slowly regained consciousness. His eyes blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the lighting of the room he was in. But what room was he in? The last thing he remembered was the creature they were fighting exploding. Was the battle over? Was everyone else safe?

From what he could see, he was in a hospital room. He was still in his street clothes, minus his jacket, with bandages on his head and arm. Nothing was attached to him, so he assumed that his injuries weren't as bad as he'd originally feared. He swung his feet off the side of the bed, a bit too quick, as he winced in pain from the motion. Seems as though he wasn't as in good of shape as he'd thought.

Looking around, he came to a startling realization. Byakko was missing! He must have dropped the blade after passing out. Was the blade still in the street, or did someone grab it? If someone took it, were they friendly? He wished that his connection to the blade was stronger, so he could just call out to it. But currently, he was limited to just calling it to him when he could see it.

The door opened suddenly, and a young, brunette woman walked in, surprised that Ryan was awake.

"Holy crap, you're awake! Are you feeling okay?" The girl asked, rushing to his side. She began inspecting his wounds before he could even answer.

"I'm okay. A bit sore, but I'll make it." They made eye contact for a brief moment before she broke it to check his head bandage. "I... uh... are you my doctor?"

"Me? No, no." She replied laughing. "You and your friends save us. When you collapsed, a few of us tried to treat you ourselves. We thought about having my Grandpa treat you, but your injuries just look too terrible to move you too much. I figured you'd be out for a few days with your injuries!"

"How long have I been out for?" Ryan was afraid of the answer.

"About two hours or so. Oh, by the way, I think this belongs to you." She pulled out a most welcome sight. In her bag was Byakko!

"Byakko! Where did you find him?" Ryan could feel a ton of weight lifted off him.

"Your friend Steve grabbed it after the fight. He's at the graveyard now, but asked me to get this to you."

"I really appreciate it. You didn't have to do that though. I can't imagine what danger you were put in carrying him around." Ryan couldn't help but feel guilty that his sword was returned to him by a civilian.

"You saved our lives, it was the least I could do. Besides, nothing happened between here and there."

She was a chipper thing, something Ryan hadn't seen in a while. She brushed aside her raven hair as she double checked his wounds once more. He liked having someone to talk to, but didn't want to keep her around for long. His instincts told him more danger was on its way.

"Well, everything looks good. I'm not sure what the doc did, but your wounds are completely closed. If you're as sore as you sound, I'd take it easy for a few days." She gave him a spirited smile, and headed for the door.

"Wait." Ryan didn't mean to say it, but couldn't stop. "What's your name?"

"Oh man, I always forget to introduce myself. My name is Isis." She offered her hand to Ryan, which he took.

"Ryan." He said shaking her hand. He knew it was a bad idea, but he didn't care. "Listen, I hate hospitals. Wanna show me where we can get some pizza?"

 

[The_Bladesman]

Hayato smiled as he remembered their meeting, she was one of the few people that day that had treated him as a peer and not as some kind of young upstart.


“I remember now, It’s good to see you again Milli, I hope your research has been going well.â€

He said with a sliver of guilt, he always had difficulty keeping up to date with other people’s research and at times even asked his assistants to give him summaries of work he was interested in. Once the injured man began to receive aid, he and Milli started to walk ahead as they began to look for more injured. He looked back to her when she questioned his presence as he quickly thought up a reasonable half truth.

“I’ve been on a meandering sort of holiday since getting my doctorate, but to be honest all I’ve been really doing is working out how to improve on my exosuit prototypes since leaving. I was visiting cold march when I noticed there was some kind of accident and I thought I’d try and help out.â€

He said before he walked into a dead end sandwiched between a library and ruined building and began to help clear the rubble. It was around then he decided mention his interest in helping out at the university in exchange for using their facilities while trying and utterly failing to be subtle about it.

“It's funny I was planning on visiting here tomorrow and offering to lecture for a while when I heard this university was a bit understaffed. Beyond simply lecturing though I guess I’d like to try building a new prototype but I suppose that this would all be up to you and the dean ultimatelyâ€

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Reika’s face turned pale under her helmet as she heard that distinct “thud†noise, she had failed to catch the magical girl all because that ell destroyed her cyber slider. Pressing forward out of an almost delusional hope that she had survived the fall, Megablack’s fear turned to anger as she saw the two unnatural things and the cloaked stranger with his arms around the girl’s body.

Without saying a word Megablack split her mega sniper in two opened fire. She focused primarily on the larger more unnatural creature; the unnatural existence seemed the perfect target for her rage. It quickly returned fire as the other two escaped, possibly for the better since it was questionable whether she could handle both on her own though didn’t stop her fire at the pair even if she had only managed to wing one of them in the process.

With her focus on the escapees, Megablack failed to notice the two faced beast's shots until it was too late. Flung to her back from the impact, Reika was lucky her suit had managed to shield her from most of the damage. Rolling up to her feet Megablack zigzagged toward her opponent as she fired her combined mega sniper at the fiends shoulders all in an effort to throw off the creatures aim.

 

[MagiPink]

(Working two graveyard shifts really did a number on me.)

Hovering where he was the small fairy bare a deeply concern expression upon his brow glance around for the source of the message only to find none save for those within his company. The great Tree of Heart’s premonition brought him wonder what form of matter was plaguing the Earth’s existence spread quickly like wildfire. Cologne’s thoughts drifted to the one known as Cure Dark abduction and rippled effect would be to her partner. It pained Cologne deeply being the messenger word of another threat elsewhere than focusing upon getting the second precure’s partner back. However if anything were to be done for Cure Dark they’d first need to head towards the source of the second battle grounds. “There is not time to waste…†Cologne muttered taking one last glance towards the fleeing figures before flying toward the direction he had last left Cure Moonlight and the other noble warriors.

The purple Fairy Tone, Dodory small face filled with determination place itself in front of the other Fairy tones picking up the subtle feelings hidden within Abby’s heart. Regardless of its minuscule size against the Minotaur and harpy creatures did not stop from using its power to push the two back. “We will not standby idly to do as you please.†Dodory said clutching its small hand into a fist. The other Fairy Tone shared a silent glance between one another nodded in an agreement. At the given state of Abby’s heart the G Clef shine would not resonate to call forth the Cure Module alone. In order answer Abby’s desire the other fairy tones gathered their powers summon the henshin device before the voluptuous short-hair brunette. Harmony’s eyes open wide understanding their action ran over toward her best friend side.

“Abby, the Fairy Tones have listened to the music resonating within your heart gathered their powers together to bring out the Cure Module.†Harmony said, “That girl needs your….†The white feline paused reconsidering her words more closely. While they were able to see quite faint traces of Abigail former self knew closed her heart to awaken her powers as a Precure. Asking that she takes her place now in order to save that of her fellow co-worker, Harmony already knew what the answer would be. “The two of you are in a way alike. Differences aside surely you can understand what it is like and show her that there is still much for her to hope. She still has her family, right? Open her eyes….Dodory….and the other Fairy Tones will grant you that power as the Kamen Precure.â€

Abby’s brown eyes stared at the Cure Module recalling how the other staff and patrons acted when they fell under assault by the Minotaur and its underlings. All except for the action of one who push her viewpoints aside only voluntarily. The world could still fall apart for all she cared, but to see another persons’ idealistic manipulated would not tolerate. By simply helping her co-worker did not necessary mean that the world held anything worth protecting. “Fine. If it means knocking some sense into her, I do not care what the means are.†Harmony smiled softly happy accepting that answer for now.

“By using Dodory to transform into Kamen Precure shall be able to fight against those two. However…†Harmony added, “You will not be able to talk, but Dodory will convey your thoughts for you. Are you okay with that?â€

Dusting her clothes off Abby stood upright snatching the Cure Module, “Do you even have to ask that silly question. Dodory, come here!†Holding the Cure Module in the palm of both hands presented the henshin device before the purple Fairy Tone. Taking that as its cue the other remaining acted as a distraction by taunting the harpy to try and catch them.

~~~~~~~~

Hearing the sounds of the sirens increasing toward their vicinity second Shine’s recommendation to leave before the authorities arrived. With the strangely dressed fighters looking something straight from an anime or sci-fi cosplay group likely have a difficult time to explain themselves to convince the authorities that they are the good guys. Introductions and formulating a plan to help get Shine’s partner back would have to wait for the time being. “Lead the way†Moonlight replied keeping up with Shine’s pace. Putting distance between the approaching sirens felt her stomach tie up into knots at the other girl’s losing. Even they barely known each other for only a few seconds wanted to do all that she could to get the back Shine’s partner.

What became of the other that fought along with them was equally worried as they were forced to separate. Pressing her back against the wall breathed slowly catching her breath as they waited in the shadows till all was calm. A soft purple light elope reverting back leaving a young woman with back length shoulder raven-hair wearing black leather jacket and white skirt. Seeing the other girl transformation undone was not surprise her appearance to be different. “Cure Moonlight†Gwen spoke referring to the form Shine had seen, pulling away from the wall to take a peek into the streets. “Moonlight fo short, but in this form you may call me Gwen. Gwendolyn Hales, nice to meet you. Mmm….there is something not right about this city.â€

 

[Solo the Wingman]

"There are a lot of things not right about this city." Melinda agreed with a pointed glance towards the two less than helpful cops. "I'm Melinda, by the way, otherwise known as Cure Shine. The snarky one was Dark Cure, A.K.A. Alice."

Speaking of which... Melinda paused to recenter herself and give the skyline a quick scan. There wasn't any sign of the abomination's soul or a crazed demonic warrior girl in a short skirt. A frown passed over her face as she realized that she couldn't quite sense Dark Cure either.

Her friend wasn't dead. That was impossible. If Alice had died then all of her contained evil would have been released. Surely she would have felt a disturbance like that, right?

There were too many irons in the fire right now. She needed to investigate the abomination, jot down a few notes on the cops' exchange with university man, find Alice and make sure that she wasn't up to trouble. Too much to do and far too little time to do it.

No, Alice took priority. It was her fault that Alice was what she was. The rest of the world could wait until Melinda had that straightened out.

"I need to track down my partner." Melinda said slowly. "She gets into trouble rather easily. I don't suppose you have any means of tracking down a wayward Cure, do you?"

 

[thunder]

"ACHOOO!!!!!" Steve sneezed as he waited with the 2 male students that Isis was with,. Steve assumed it was from the cold.

"Gesundheit." One student said to Steve, the other handed Steve a tissue. Steve's jeweled rings started glowing. Draco quickly inspected the glowing and explained.

"Your time-limit is up. You can transform again!" Draco said as he shivered a bit. spirit or not, dragons were still cold-blooded. Steve saw being able to transform again as an opportunity to use his fire-magic for warmth.

"Hey, I just got my transformation powers back so i bet i could make some fire with this." Steve said as he put on his red ring.

"Well what are ya waiting for? Start that fire up." A male student said.

Steve ran his hand ring through the scanner.

"DRIVER ON! PLEASE!" Steve shifted the hand-mode on the belt from right to left.

"SHABADOOBIE TIME TO CHANGE!" the tune kept repeating.

"Henshin." Steve ran the red ring through the scanner.

"FLAME! PLEASE!" The red burning magic seal appeared to Steve's left hand and drifted to the right side and transforming him into his fire-wizard form. "HI! HI!! HI HI HI!!!"

"Dude. Do you ever get used to being able to do that magic stuff?" One of the students asked the wizard as he gathered some wood for the fire.

"I'm still trying to get used to that. You'd be surprised by the stuff that happened to me." Steve said as he channeled his fire-magic in his legs and kicked the gathered wood, causing it to ignite.

"No, we would not." the students said in unison as they put the hands near the fire to keep warm. At that point, Steve leaned on a tree to wait for the man who they were supposed to meet.

 

[G.K.]

As the two made the remainder of their trip back to the black moor unhindered the events of that night looped over and over in Gin's head. Not just what happened to him but what had occurred with molly and the other vanguards as well. He couldn't help but wonder about the poor girl. She had a strange ability, and knew of the man in white. Then there was her grandmother, who was nearly braindead one minute and possessed the next. Maybe whatever strange forces which dwelled within the two of them ran in the family. Or maybe cold march was just a fucked up place.

Gin was almost relieved to see a look of worry on the old womans face upon his and molly's return. It was the most human he'd seen her since their initial meeting. Still it only made him wonder more about her and her granddaughter.


Gin was hesitant to ask her questions. He couldn't help but suspect there were a lot of sore subjects regarding the girl's past. Trying not to upset or offended her with a round of questioning would be like playing hopscotch in a mind field wearing soccer cleats. Still he had to try.

"So...how do you and your Grandmother know the man in white?"