The sun had gone down about an hour ago, yet the stadium had nearly lit the entire city up by itself. The roar of the crowd was loud enough to pierce the walls, even echoing to where most of you already stood - behind the stage. The room was fairly nice, with a line of comfy chairs and monitors so you could watch the games as they went on. It wasn't dissimilar to the small rooms they had provided your teams in the stadium, so you could go over briefing and strategy.

The opening ceremony had just started, signaled by the beat of the drums and the sound of the music. They had gotten a bit of a newer band, but one that showed promise and didn't charge as much to host the opening ceremony. As the door to the backstage opened, the music got deafeningly loud for half a second, before two staff members walked in, closing the door once again. They walked up and down between all of you, handing each of the participants that had already sat down a piece of paper.

The paper reads:
"I'm sure your teams have already gone over this, but just to make sure you understand this: You're supposed to go onto stage when it's your turn to battle, give a friendly handshake before and after, battle, maybe give a bit of wave or a gesture to the crowd, and then leave. Whatever you do, please do not try and speak to the crowd, especially if it involves taking a mic. We've... Heard stories. Fill free to talk to the other participants, before, or even while you're on stage. Heck, it'd probably look good if you said something to each other on stage."

The paper also, seems, to have had the first night's schedule:
"First match: Ashley Williams vs Aaron Stillen."
"Second Match: Steven Fukui vs Alexa Lockhart."
"Third Match: Hannah Bailey vs Jade Johnson."
"Fourth Match: Jasmine Kinkitsu vs Kyoko Valera."
"Fifth Match: Stella Harrison vs Heather Grayson."
"Sixth Match: Chloe Reed vs Joseph Williams."
"Seventh match: Clint Harrington vs Jessica Sinclaire."

But, that aside, it looks like you have some time before the event begins. Perhaps you should socialize, and talk to the other participants? You'll be seeing them a lot over the next five weeks.

Human -
Username: Goldforge
Name: Kyoko Valera
Alias: Static Boom Nana
Age: 17
Personality: At the ripe age of 17, Kyoko is a shattered mirror. On one shard, normally shown to friends and acquaintances, she appears aloof, mumbly, and reclusive. That is, as if all that spunk and flair was tucked away, waiting for something to catch her interests.

That particular interest? Battling, and her passion for her career in music. On stadium night, her personality turns on a dime to her second side. Loud, proud, and bubbling with energy, she dons the name of Static Boom Nana. She wears a true rockstar's attire for this occasion, chains, leather jacket, platform boots, and...a crudely put-together cardboard box of a head as if attempting to impress her astral. If it wasn't for how outrageously obnoxious she is during game night, her appreciation for her battle partner would almost appear endearing.
Sponsorship: Beat Machine
Appearance:

Height: 5'

Astral Mark

Location: On back of left hand.
Everyday

"Battle Wear"

 
Bio: Kyoko had always had a passion for music in her life. Wether it be rocking out in her room on a Friday night, or cracking open her laptop to work hard at cranking out from fresh new tunes. Sadly, her time for leisure had been cut short by another one of her biggest passions, astral battles. As a kid, she always watched them whirl and clash around on TV, cheering on whichever one seemed to look the coolest. Yes, that's precisely what she wanted. She wanted to be cool, have her own super hero name, and cast herself into the arena to rise to the champion's seat! Well, take a gander at her luck. Out of the blue, she began to dream of a flowing black sea of ink, eyes glaring down at her from overhead. Lo and behold, on Christmas morning, that wish was granted. Her battle costume may be a little on the low-budget side, she supposed it would have to do for now.
Music:

---------
Kyoko: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pQKnVrRt6DA
Nana SB: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AUAtTY2Df1Y
 
 
Astral -
Name: Terri Tinkerton
World or Region: B.M. Scrapland
Technique:

• B.M. Mezzo
The middle ground of all attacks, these swings are basic enough to be used early game. Like all of Terri's attacks, this non-Newtonian substance appears to be black static in a liquid form. Freely flowing, but as hard as steel whenever violent contact is made. In short, it's as if water flowed with great finesse and transformed into a brick upon meeting your face with a hearty slam. These move with the momentum of the average punch, and are not reckless enough to provide any negative side-effects thusfar.

• B.M. Forte
A strong, swinging attack. At maximum, 12 inches in diameter. That's approximately the size across of a bicycle tire. Due to the fluid density if these attacks, Forte acquires the unique ability to warp its liquids into various shapes and pieces of scrap metal or things that may be found in a junkyard. This may very well mean that Terri will attack you with said bicycle tire mentioned earlier. Like a magician's hat, it's hard to really tell what will come out to hit you. Not even Terri can tell. What's for certain is that it will probably hurt if the enemy is unable to dodge, as these move slower.

• B.M. Allegro
On the opposite end of the scale, thinner attacks may be used. These have a lower viscosity and can move much quicker towards their target, but are not very strong in terms of pulling another entity. At maximum, they are two inches in diameter, about the thickness of a large rope. In fact, the very purpose of these attacks is to ensnare victims by an ankle so that Forte attacks can catch up. Fierce, but Allegro attacks can shatter easily, resulting in a loss of max hitpoints. A unique trait of Allegro attacks is their mildly poisoning capabilities if shattered shards enter the skin. Little eloquent messages from Terri that you may very well be taken down with her.

Strengths and Weaknesses:
-+ 2)-5 )-,3 697 :9!3
As highly unpredictable as the flowing static like shifting sands upon her screen. One minute, a bundle of gleeful joy... another, a reckless killing machine. In Layman's Terms has little to no control of herself.
-  0-8! 9; ?@33:8!( .-!,-/
Being a machine that essentially attacks with its own blood, Terri will lose max hit points off of her life counter depending on how much fluid she is unable to absorb back into her body after an attack.
?In order to even begin attacking in the first place, Terri's skin must be pierced to allow blood to flow out. At the same time, she seems to have a lot more fluid in her than a body would logically hold.
-+ /)-5534 /@92 /-: '9'3!5
Corresponding to the debuff above, Forte attacks will leave larger puddles behind and move with the consistency of silly putty, while if [smaller] tendrils are broken, a Prince Rupert's drop effect takes hold, shattering the entire appendage to send a violent smattering of the metallic substance everywhere. A double-edged sword of a death rattle. Take it as you will.
+ 43?78@: 430-84 7!/0@8558!( 2-534/
Corresponding-corresponding,
Terri has been able to display remarkable regeneration...at the cost of her blood. The speed of said regeneration is also dependent on how many hit points are left, truly a large gamble. At the same time, every wound is a new area that bleeds is a gateway she can attack from. However, this only applies to the corporeal form, and the only place she cannot heal is
- (@-// ,38@ 8!/5-!5
That brittle screen of hers. As well as stopping herself from bleeding, her health bar will shrink down in max size depending on how much she had lost. All in all, it's a pseudo heal.
+ ;@92 @8&3 5)3 ?@99:
However, in order to catch said screen, the enemy would have to catch her first. She is shockingly agile and acrobatic across the field, like dancing rain. One would have to be quite skilled on the trigger in order to reach the core of the black static mayhem that she is. Thankfully, the less hit points she has left, the thinner her attacks become. Of course, this means she will only get faster at attacking with her blood, though her body slows down.
+- :93/ 5)8/ 3,3! .97!5 ?
The static of that screen is entrancing, isn't it? The exact same static that will tear you to bloody pieces. Don't stare too long, will you? These effects are still being...tested for their true properties. Of all things, it can be tenderly pinpointed as 'madness', a shrill ringing in the head.
 
Super Move:
B.M. Finale
F.T.:

Depending on how many hitpoints Terri has left, this attack could get a little...interesting.
Signified by a large, inky black eye opening in the sky, the true power of Terri is revealed!
---------------//
.-.-.- -- . / . ..-. --- ...- --. .-. .. / ... .- .--. . .-.. . .-.-.. .-.-.- ..- --- -.-- / .-.. . --- ... / - .----. .-.. ..- -.. -. .-- --- / .. / .- - - .... / ... --- / - .. / .. -.. -.. / --- -. .-.. -.-- / .. .-.-.. .-.-.- --. .-. --- -.-- .-.. / ..-. .-. --- / . .-. . ...- -. / .- .-- ... / - .. .-.-.. .-.-.- ... - .-. --- . .-. / .-.. .- ... - / .- / .-- .- ... / .... ... .. -
---------------//
What ever appendages are left over by the time this finishing move is activated, they will twist and warp into a set of black wings, granting her a jump boost to give off the illusion of flight. The constant messy flickering of her screen finally forms a picture that stays still, in the form of a wicked, sludgy grin of ink. Within a 50 foot radius of where she stands, the world seems to bleed out, organic material shifting into twisted metal with a strong stench of ozone and iron. From here, if she so chooses, she can absorb the fluid dripping off these warped structures to regain her lost health. However, she will grow heavier at this decision to 'drink back new blood', moving slower.
Absolutely terrifying.
In this state, she can move even faster, but is only limited to Allegro attacks that are easily prone to shattering. The only difference is that her health bar will always stay at the same size, so she must carry out as many needle-thin attacks in quick succession until her ultimate runs out of time.
The timer is indicated by her screen slowly filling with the black substance mentioned throughout this sheet. When it is full, the ultimate will be cancelled, and the world will return to normal as her screen deactivates.
The result will leave Terri without her B.M. Attacks, blinded and sluggish in movement, a murky screen left completely vulnerable to impact.
Though, would you?
*Note, brings Terri down to one health.


Appearance:
Height: 5'3"
 
Music:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U8IvS3H6ViE

Please PM me any questions you have.

In this RP, you will take control of two characters. One character is your human character, the other is your astral being. Your character sync's with your astral being, and losing a fight causes a de-sync. Even if you lose, you can't die, your astral being will be ready to fight in the next battle. Below are the skeletons for the RP.

The Basics of Sponsorship -
A sponsor is in charge of paying for supplying your place of residence at the site of a tournament; as well, they must supply your dining and training facility, if it is not included.

The sponsor is in charge of giving you the proper team needed to compete in the competition: analyst, manager, and several developers who unlock more of your abilities as your progress. You have complete control over where they are, however, and can command them to leave you be.

You are, by contract, required to utilize that which they supply you with, and must wear the uniform they provide you. If it is uncomfortable or ill fitting, you may request it be changed, but you must continue to wear it until that point.

The final term is that they must pay you spending money; a paycheck for your effort. That money - however much - is your possession to do with as you wish. They cannot legally monitor the spending of it, nor can they scold you for it.


Your astral being can be from anything, past RP, TV show, Anime, Video game, Book, Etc., or you can make them up.
Things that are not allowed
-Regenerative abilities are not allowed unless heavily scrutinized, and even then they must be watched heavily.
-Chuck Norris
-Deities of any kind
-One hit kill moves

[i] Human [/I]
[b][u]Username:[/u][/b] PU Username
[b][u]Name:[/u][/b]Character name
[b][u]Age:[/u][/b]How old the character is
[b][u]Personality:[/u][/b] How your character acts
[b][u] Sponsor: [/u] [/b] Who's sponsoring you and paying for your stay?
[b][u]Bio:[/u][/b]Your character's backstory. The more details, the more real your character seems
[b][u]Appearence:[/u][/b]Please provide an image for better visualization.

[I] Astral Being[/i]
[b][u]Name:[/u][/b]This can be same name as the character
[b][u]World, or region:[/u][/b]There are many worlds, if they are from something, name the place they come from. If made up, make up a place.
[b][u] Technique:[/u][/b]How they fight, what they use, and special moves. Give a description of the special moves.
[b][u] Strength and weaknesses: [/u][/b]
[b][u]Super move[/u][/b]Your one, high risk, powerful move. These can only be used once per battle, and have a great cost when they are used. If the cost seems too light for the move, the GM will add more to make it fair. Your super move must be able to miss.
[b][u] Appearance:[/u][/b]Provide an image to help with visualization.
Accepted characters:

“No, Silene!” Warren screamed, clawing at the screen of the laptop like he could pull her free. It slipped from his lap, hitting the plush carpet below and snapping shut. The last note of the video echoed around the room, sounding forebodingly like a curtain call. He dropped down to pick it up, ripping it back open. “Silene!”

The monitor held nothing else for him. The screen stayed the same, asking him if he wanted to rewatch the video. He watched it again and again in the dark of the room, hands pulling at his hair; each replay was torture, but he deserved it. “Silene…” The unfamiliar feeling of helplessness pooled in his gut, and tears pricked at his eyes; he hadn’t felt like that since he was a little kid fighting his Dad, so utterly broken.

Without warning the laptop exploded as his fingertips ghosted across the keyboard, shards of burning glass lodging themselves in the palm of his hand. His mind didn’t even register the sting, robotically pulling the USB from the wreckage. It was singed, but still intact. “Gotta… Gotta call.. Witch…”

Warren felt far away as he pulled out his phone, clutching the usb to his chest tightly, rocking on the floor. The madness was stronger than it had ever been in his life, a thousand voices screaming in the back of his head for attention. It threatened to pull him away, but the thought of Silene’s tearful face was enough to keep him on track as he dialed Hason’s number into the cellphone. It rang three times before someone picked up.

“Hason…help…Silene…bring...laptop...” The phone imploded after that, a hysterical grin spreading across Warren’s face. “Ahahaha! It exploded! I wonder how many pieces it’s in?” Sitting up, the delirious man began to count the shattered bits of the phone

---

The day had been like any other; Steven and Hason had tried for a mission, but yet again had failed to get there in time to actually receive one that would pay enough. Luckily they had leftover cash from the last few, but it was still getting a bit sketchy cash wise, and they were going to have to start training more if they couldn't get one soon enough.

As they sat in their dorm room waiting for the next day to come, they were just sort of relaxing. Steven was reading a book he had borrowed from The Stranger, by Dr. Franken Stein, and Hason was watching something on their laptop. As they were just sort of doing whatever, Hason's cell began to ring.   She was a bit confused at first, because after all, why would anyone be calling at this point in the night? Without even checking who it was, she answered, and began to say hello, before promptly getting cut off. What she heard on the other end of the line was a somewhat broken, or distressed voice... Warren's voice. "Hason...help...Silene...bring...laptop."

As the other's sentence came to a close, there was a deafening explosion from the other end, and a somewhat horrified look grew in Hason's eyes. As she began to pack the laptop away, Steven closed his book, giving her a questioning look as he began to speak. "...What was that noise? I heard that from here... And why do ya' look so shocked?"

Her response was quick,, but it gave him the only answer he needed. "It was Warren."

At this, Steven gave off a light sigh, however he knew her concern was genuine because of her answer. He slipped a bookmark into 'How to Vivisect your victim; Redux', and began to get ready. He threw on a scarlet hoodie over his black T-shirt, and wore a pair of faded jeans with his tennis shoes. Hason wore a similar outfit; consisting of a lime hoodie over a white T-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. As she slipped the laptop bag's strap around her shoulder, she spoke, a somewhat urgent tone to her voice. "You ready?"

Steven replied by opening the door and motioning for her to lead, a blank tone to his voice. "Yep. Why don't ya' lead the way? I'd assume ya' know the route to their apartment better than I do.”

---

About fifteen minutes later, the two arrived at the apartment complex, where they then began to look for Warren's room. It had been quite some time since she had actually been here, as they had started meeting out at the sparring point, rather than meeting here first. When she finally found it, there was a bit of a relieved tone to her voice as she pointed towards a door number. "Ah... There it is. Sorry for not remembering, it's been awhile since I've been here."

Steven shrugged, replying to her in a monotone voice. "Eh, I mean... Ya' got us here and even found the room, so I can't really complain."

When no one came to answer, Steven put his ear to the door, where he heard something; it was as if someone was counting, a demented tone to their voice. Steven turned to Hason, attempting to open the door as he spoke. “He’s in there, but he sounds off… Like he’s counting, or some shit.”

As the door opened, Hason quickly made her way past Steven, a concerned look on her face. She had somewhat of an idea of what Warren was like right now, and it didn’t really fill her with confidence. She cupped her hands around her mouth as they walked in, as if calling out. “Hey, Warren! We’re uh… We’re here!”

Warren shoved a shard across the floor, pushing it into a large pile with the others. “Two-hundred and sixty-three,” he whispered, glancing towards the doorway at the sudden new voices. “Who’s there?” His steely eyes pierced the darkness, and a toothy grin consumed his face. “Are you here to die?”

Warren’s reply sent chills down both Hason, and Steven’s spine, however the reactions were not what one would expect; Hason had seen this before, and was rather cautious, contemplating even leaving and coming back later, as to avoid getting blown up. Steven, however, reacted a bit differently. He hadn’t seen this before, he had only heard stories, and they never mentioned it like this. He moved to stand in front of Hason, jade eyes glaring into the steel eyes the other Meister possessed. When he began to speak, his voice had an undertone of aggression. “It’s Steven and Hason. You called for us, didn’t you?”

“I…” Warren blinked several times, shaking his head. The broken picture of Silene pierced the haziness of his mind, forcing back the madness; the voices in his head roared and he fell to his knees, clutching at his hair. “Flashdrive...watch it,” he finally choked out, motioning to the small USB beside him.

Hason cautiously took the USB, careful not to startle Warren. She sat the bag down on the bed, loaded up the laptop, getting the flashdrive ready to play. Steven slowly turned his gaze towards the screen, glancing back routinely glancing back at Warren like he was a snake that might strike at any time… And then, Hason hit play.

The video played on, all while they both watched. Steven’s hand balled up into a fist, and then into a chain, taking great self control not to lash out at something, anything. Hason however, reacted with a blank stare. Her breathing seemed to slow down,becoming heavier with each passing second, and her eyes bored into the screen like it was a void. “I’m going,” she said quietly, standing up.

As the words left her mouth, she began to walk towards the door, however her movements were brought to a halt as Steven’s hand came down upon her shoulder. His voice was both caring and angry, completely free of its previous blank tone. “No, you aren’t.”

Hason began to struggle, trying to get away, trying to get to the door. She kept telling herself she had to turn herself in. That it was the right thing to do, that it would allow her to save Silene, and possibly make things right. She told herself it was her fault that this was even happening, that she somehow caused this. Tears began to stream down her face, and her voice came out heavy, her tone that of regret. “I’m going. I have to save Silene, I have to stop this before anything else happens to her, or anyone el-”

She was cut off as Steven pulled her back, and positioned himself in between her and the door.. As he spoke, his eyes began to stare into her being, and his tone had lost the concern it previously had, the blank tone once again overpowering all else. “Do you really think that even if you were to give yourself up to them, that they would just give her back? Do you really think that if they were fucked up enough to do this in the first place, that they would just drop it here?”

At this, Hason stopped moving. She didn’t really react further; she wasn’t sure how to react, she wasn’t sure what to do, to be honest. Steven was right. Why would they give Silene back, even if she were to turn herself in, but she herself didn’t have any better ideas. She turned herself to look at Warren, a somewhat regretful tone to her voice as she spoke. “What should we do...?”

“Go...” Warren trailed off, forcing himself to his feet. He was drenched in sweat from the effort of controlling himself, eyes bloodshot and sunken into his head. “Go show that to Alex and Jessie, then stay with them.” His voice was strained, breaking every other word. The madness drowned out all rational thoughts; the only thing he knew was Silene needed him and he was wasting time. “Hurry!”

At the other’s words, Hason began to pack up the laptop, taking the flashdrive and slipping it into one of her pockets. Once the laptop was packed up, she left the apartment, beginning a walk towards both Alex and Jessie’s dorm. As Steven began to follow, he turned around at the door, saying a few choice words to Warren before he would begin to continue following Hason. ”“Hey, don’t do anything stupid.”

And with those words, he was off, going in a light sprint to catch up to Hason as they began to head to Jessie and Alex’s dorms.

---

About fifteen more minutes later, Hason and Steven arrived outside of Jessie and Alex’s dorm room. As they reached the correct door, Steven motioned towards it, speaking as he did so. “Here we are. How about you knock this time?”

Hason nodded, and walked up to the door. She shakily rose her hand to the door, knocking on the wooden door, a bit of disheartened look to her face.

---

Warren did not look fine to Alex. She knew he wasn’t fine, but decided not to say anything and let him leave the classroom alone. He’d sort it out with Silene later. Alex jogged to catch up with her sister, who was texting away.


“What’s up?”

“He wants to know if we can push our date to two-thirty instead of three. I wanted to go home and freshen up a bit first, but I won’t have time to now...” she bit her lip.

Alex sighed and shook her head. “Jessie, you look fine. It’s not like this is your first date with him, and you’re only going for coffee anyway. Besides,” she smiled, “from what I heard, he likes a dirty girl.”

Jessie elbowed Alex in the rib. “Oh shut up! You’re more embarrassing than Dad.”

“Aww, wittle Jessie’s getting worked up over her big sister,” she said as if talking to a baby.

Jessie muttered something under her breath and stormed off, leaving Alex behind to laugh.

“You’ll be fine Jessie!” Speaking of dates, she thought as Dean walked over to her, hands stuffed in his pockets and that same neutral expression on his face.

“What happened?”

Alex was still giggling a bit when she replied. “Oh, nothing. Just us being silly. Where’s my coffee?”

“I decided not to go for a smoke.”

“Glad to hear you’re actually trying to quit now, but I was looking forward to that coffee...”

Dean put a hand on Alex’s shoulder so she would stop and turn to look at him. He brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and whispered to her: “I have something else you could look forward to when we get back to your dorm.”

Alex looked her boyfriend in the eyes. “If it’s not coffee, I’m not interested.”

Dean raised an eyebrow.

Alex sighed and grabbed his tie, dragging him with a quickened pace. “I hate you sometimes.”

He chuckled. “Love you too, Lexie.”

“Don’t call me that!”

---

Alex and Dean sat on the living room couch together, his feet on the table and her head in his lap. It was quiet, only the sound of turning pages momentarily breaking the silence. And then Jessie walked in.

“How was your date?” asked Alex, not lifting her eyes from her book.

“He’s cheating on me!”

She looked up.

“Well, actually, he’s cheating on another girl, but he’s cheating on her with me!”

Alex sighed and returned to her book. “So not good then, okay.”

“What a fucking prick,” said Jessie before slamming the door to her room. The next interruption was a few minutes later when somebody knocked on the door.

“I’m getting changed!” yelled Jessie.

Alex looked up at Dean. “Please?”

He closed his book - a crime novel about a girl who was suspected of being a witch - and answered the door. It took him a moment to recognize the two faces. “Can I help you?”

“We’re looking for Alex and Jessie. Are they here?” asked Hason. Her voice was shaky, her face wore a worried expression, and a laptop was being carried under her arm.

He knew exactly why they were here. He could imagine Warren in his apartment on his hands and knees, weeping for Silene, praying she would come back. He wondered how she was faring in the hands of his master. He wouldn’t have to wonder for long. “Yeah. Come in.” He held the door for them and stood aside to let them pass.

Steven waved for Hason to go in first, and then merely stood in the doorway. Hason slowly set up the laptop, turning it towards them with the video pulled up, before moving herself away, not wanting to watch that again.”Press… Press play. She muttered, her voice barely audible.

“Jessica,” said Alex, staring at the screen. “Come here please.”

She was throwing on a light sweater when she came charging out of her room. “I’m here. What’s up?”

Alex pointed at the laptop and pressed play.

Jessie stood behind her sister with her arms crossed. Alex touched Dean’s arm, and he wrapped it around her for support. He used all his effort not to cry out to her and confess. I did that to her, he thought. He remembered how easy it was for him. Walking down the street alone, a sick mind would think she was asking to be taken away. And the bruise from when he punched her while trying to run away, his fist still burned from it. “Cut her up a bit too,” he said. “Give them a better show. Be careful with the flesh, we don’t want her bleeding out before the grand execution.”

There was an icy silence when the video ended.

“How’s Warren?” said Alex.

Hason’s voice was somewhat shaky, the tone of someone just trying to hold it together breaking through. “He’s… He’s lost it…”

Alex opened her mouth to say something else, but all that came out were sobs. She turned around and fell into Dean’s embrace.

Jessie rubbed Alex’s back and mouthed the word “Later,” to Hason and Steven.

Neither Hason nor Steven complied, feet rooted to the ground. "S-sorry, but... We're not leaving. Warren told us to stay grouped together with you guys, and... I honestly don't know where we'd go right now." Hason whispered, her voice shaky and apologetic.

As she finished speaking, Steven stepped in front of her, chin raised defiantly. “Not only that, but Warren's out there, most likely being a dumbass...” His aggressive voice trailed off, before he began to point towards the window, voice picking up violently as he spoke. “Why the hell are we standing around, doing jackall to help him!? Jackass’ll get himself killed without us!”

Jessie sighed. "Fine. I'll go, but give my sister a minute, please." She looked at Dean. "I trust him."

He nodded, Alex now quiet.

Jessie ushered Hason and Steven out of the dorm. "They'll come when she's ready. The last few weeks were really rough for Alex. Dean's last kishin egg fight put him in the hospital, our grandmother had a heart attack, The Reading Café almost burned down... and now this. It's too much for her."

Each and every one of them was silent for the walk, a bit on edge after what they had seen...

Mortecai's class; Something I assumed would get better, but honestly, never did. I had noticed that Warren and Silene hadn't gotten here yet, but I had assumed something just kept them up. About halfway... No, a quarter into the lesson, Warren walked into the class room, and he had a strange look to him. He looked almost depressed, or mopey. I mean, sure, he always looked depressed, but even this is off for him, it was like depression times two. Furthermore, Silene wasn't following him, and the whole situation was just all around a bit strange.

It was strange enough, that even Steven nudged me, mentioning that Warren looked off, and that Silene was missing, two observations that I had already made. At this point, my attention was focused on Warren; Not because of him being mopey or anything, but for the reason that everyone else was; He had the audacity to show up to Mortecai's class late. And I, for one, was curious as to the consequences.

Hason

As everyone else began to get up, I felt Steven tap me on the shoulder, and motion towards the door, speaking with a somewhat dull tone to his voice. "I'm gonna go pick us out a mission, since we sorta forgot to do so before this started, so we've most likely got the worst mission left. Come find me whenever, and we'll go." And with that, he was off; Running as he normally did, no doubt to pick a mission and then to go interact with his cats. As everyone, one by one began to leave the room, I slowly got up, and approached The Stranger. I began to speak, a somewhat cautious, and perhaps nervous tone to my voice. "You uh... You said to be here in three days, so I'm here, and ready for the tests, Sir."

The Stranger

As the young witch approached him, The Stranger let out a smile bellow his cloak; He had been looking forward to this from the other day, finally a chance to examine a witches soul without them trying to truly kill him. Without a word, The Stranger hit a button on his desk, several training dummies dropping from the ceiling, and coincidentally setting on fire. He spoke; His voice quick, and slightly demented. "We're going to test your endurance and power. You have to put out all seven dummies within ten seconds or else they'll burn up... Of their original ignition point, leaving about seven seconds as I finish this sentence."

Hason

As the training dummies fell from the ceiling, and were set aflame, I nearly zoned out of his explanation. I knew what I was supposed to do already, but... Could I? Something told me not too, and there was a tingle of delight I got from watching them burn, similar to one watching a movie they enjoyed. As the seconds ticked down, I seemed to come back from almost allowing them to burn, firing out several mid sized maws to douse the flames at once, with greater precision than ever.

The wind was seemingly knocked out of me at the sudden expenditure of energy, and I was reminded why I was taught to gradually fuel them, rather than to rip the energy out all at once. Nonetheless, I completed my task, and returned to my 'instructor', hoping that maybe he had assumed it was just the charge time for each maw, rather than me almost allowing it to be. I began to speak, a somewhat curious but cautious tone to my voice. "Did uh... Did I pass?"

The Stranger

Hmm... She put them all out with a maw for each one, signifying the well of magic she pulled from's strength, but there was something that caused him to be somewhat concerned. She cast the spell at near the last second, and she only 'succeeded' in the test due to a miscalculation on his part, as they stayed aflame for eleven seconds. He wanted to write it off as her taking time to conjure the spells, but he could sense her soul had wavered for a second during that time. He would however keep this knowledge to himself, as to not discourage her, and only write it down himself. This time when he spoke, his voice was a bit more calming, his abyssal eyes examining the barely standing dolls as he spoke. "Very good. It took you longer to conjure that spells than I had anticipated, but it still got the job done."

As he finished his sentence, his voice he clicked another button, several more dolls falling from the ceiling, again catching on the fire. He spoke again, his voice returning to it's demented demeanor, speaking a bit faster than before. "But can you succeed with triple the amount?"

Hason

As the second test began, I felt somewhat betrayed, but I also felt that warm feeling again. It was somewhat intoxicating, to be honest. The more I felt it, the more I wanted it to go on, the more I felt my judgement grow blurry... I had to stop it as soon as possible. I began to charge a maw, but realized rather soon that it wouldn't work alone, no; I didn't have enough time. I kicked my bag into the air, and caught it, taking out a water bottle and unscrewing it, pouring it's contents into the maw I had been charging, mixing the water into my own, and while it did leave more water behind than I had anticipated, it did succeed with less than a second to spare. I didn't turn to the stranger yet, I instead watched my work, or what I had done, all 21 training dummies still in some more of 'not completely burned'.

The Stranger

As the test came to an end once again, The Stranger was a bit surprised, as she succeeded in her task. He noted her soul wavered much more this time, almost dipping into allowing them to burn, but she put them out much faster this time; It was as if the more she wavered, the faster she was to react to something, which was... Intruiging, to say the least. This reaction time increase was hinting towards her being more likely to act without thinking the more she gave in, which would be good to know for further tests. The stranger concluded he would have to wait to put this to its limit for later, though, as she still had a Kishin hunting mission to get to.

There was another thing he noticed, but he would have to wait to put that to it's true test until much later. When he once again spoke, his voice was back to his somewhat calming tone, and he had moved away from his desk. "Ah, you were much faster this time. Your precision was off, but that was to be expected in this situation. I didn't even expect you to succeed in this task, so I must commend you in your use of mixing the pre-existing water with your own. Now then, hurry onto your mission with Steven, as I have to clean up all of this water."

Hason

As he finished his sentence, I nodded, taking my now water soaked bag, and leaving the room, heading into the city to look for Steven... And to pick up some more water.

Maintenance; Terrible at first, but after you get it the first time, it's basically detention. As I sat my seat, I just sorta did the work I was given to do for the next couple hours, somewhat awaiting what was going to happen after detention... It was the third day. However, that's not what occupied my mind at that moment. I was more just sorta chuckling over how Steven and I got maintenance. See, I wasn't really sure why we got maintenance, but after people began to leave class, Archie pulled Steven aside. He had this somewhat angry scowl on his face, but didn't say a word; He merely pointed to us, and then the crumbling chalk board that only had the word "MAINTENANCE" left... And even that crumbled too, with a beautiful sound at that. Either way, we weren't really sure if we had maintenance, but we sure went there.

Anyways, as we were doing our work, the Stranger began to talk, explaining what was going on. To be honest, it was quite interesting if I have to say so myself, as he was explaining how he was doing the illusions. As he offered to show us the test take place, I couldn't help but sport somewhat of a smile. As I began to raise my hand, someone else spoke first... I believe her name was Jessie? She began to speak, rather loudly and quickly. Honestly, it was rather unsettling how happy she was about all of this. "I'll watch! I watched as she quickly ran up beside the stranger, almost like a puppy to their master. "I want to watch the test." When she finally finished yelling, I began to speak, a somewhat quiet tone to my voice... "I would like to watch the test."

As I finished my sentence, I looked to where Steven was sitting, to see if he was coming. To my surprise however, he had taken a book, one by that famous meister The Stranger had been talking about... Franken Stein, I think it was. He seemed quite interested in that book, I think the title was "Dissection for Dummies", and appeared to have no interest in watching the test. I simply shrugged and looked back towards The Stranger, waiting for us to begin watching the test take place.