Immortal (PvP)

[Caira Ayryn]

The sticky tension in the air thickened as they breached the ground. Silence filled the empty void left from their departed friends as the trio landed on a streamline of ridged grass that rose above the nearby community. Conveniently enough, the pair of mercenaries could see far beyond the many shimmering rooftops adorned with vines that crawled up walls and grew toward the sun.

The Prime's silvery white skin became like a beckon in the dusk and of the three who had traveled on the wind, her skin -even while covered with black fabric- was the foreground of their alighting. Luminously polished eyes cast over to the ecstatic Casmeas, who was staring at his flashing blue orb and had gestured Caira and TBG to land at this exact spot. They were close. Sure the trio’s distinctly wizardly ways might have been seen from afar, and in the distance a few ant-sized people had sent a condemning glance up toward them, but the willful trespassers weren’t going to be chased out by a few plebeians glaring daggers at them.

The contempt was noted and somehow melded into an attribute of the upscale country scenery, which was an extreme change from the groveling living conditions not far below. Perhaps wizards weren’t welcome in this part of town yet Caira couldn’t help feeling this was about her. If their discriminating eyes could speak words, everyone she saw would be saying the same law: Your kind isn’t wanted here. The deathless girl was used to the extremely distinguished pallor of her skin and how it glowed as a spotlight in the sun however, there were moments when she didn’t want to be examined by trained eyes that sought to pick her mere existence apart. She knew it had given away their location yet felt as though a wizard standing half her size on her right, a mysterious technological phenomenon on her left, and their method of travel —a flying carpet— signed a very Dalaran arrival.

On the bluff, bristling green blades rippled with a gust of air. Caira parted her lips and drank in a breath, they were downwind. Let the hunt commence.

A determination within her sparked with an unquenchable flame, her eyes locked on a distant goal and her once upbeat and jovial persona she had displayed to Casmeas and Toybox Girl, now settled into a dangerously surfacing ferocity that undermined her foregoing alacrity. Brewing below Caira’s careful visage were storming shadows of destruction.

Another inhale and suddenly her lungs were full of a faintly drifting smoke. Alert as ever, the Prime twisted around seeking the distant source. Casmeas pointed his finger and they were all off, Caira followed the scent of the acrid air and TBG followed behind as her eyes appeared to be flashing with technological divinity; Caira assumed the robot was calculating the distance in comparison to a topography graphic from the Dataverse as they all followed their sources.

Caira came upon the ridge to see a mass of unrelenting flames that blazed ahead, she assumed that TBG and Casmeas were behind her as she took in the bristling claws of fire that encompassed the horizon. The ravenous hunger of the flickering inferno was beginning to ebb into the rubble of the mansion’s soft remains.

Her form dipped and she pressed a perceptive hand into the warmed earth. No sources of life could be felt however the country house was too big for her extension and the flames muddled her sight. Not to mention the tremendous probability of whatever person of impeccable status inhabited the home, could have become trapped and unconscious under the skeletal debris.

“Stand back!” she warned without looking over she shoulder and charged her hope within her hands. Despite how she knew the nil chance of a victim surviving this catastrophe, and how the same double story building had been reduced to a crumbling heap, she would set out to smother the enflamed fire that snared with the taunting wind. Yes, the odds to save any possible innocent in this disaster were very slim.

A cyclone reached into the sky and blew away the winds that chased the famished flames. Dominating the horizon, a grey vortex of looming wind was launched into the remains, hot flashing waves set ablaze to create a fire whirl that wheeled in the sky before suddenly dispersing with the choked oxygen feeding the flames.

The wind whisked the dissipating hot death away and of the burning home, only ashes remained.

“Doesn’t look like anyone was trapped inside after all, or else they would-” her neck swiveled swiftly over her shoulder and she realized she was talking to empty air. Casmeas and TBG must have disappeared as she was quenching the fire, but who was to say where they had gone? Perhaps they were vehemently on the trail of the very mage they were chasing, the same one that was likely to have caused the fire if they were in the right vicinity as Casmeas's skills had honed in on. The irregularity of this coincidence was too anomalous to be overlooked completely, yet as Caira trekked away from the heap of cinder, the girl couldn’t help but to feel as though there had been something of great importance left unsaid.

[Schwi Dola]

The world looked so small from high up in the sky. They floated over the landscape quickly on the rocket propelled magic carpet, the sound ruining the otherwise serene view. Grasslands and farmland spotted most of land as well as the occasional lake or two and some mountains. But that view quickly changed the closer they got to the city. Sentient development gave way to practical designs in these med-evil times more than it gave to beauty though some of the buildings could look nice enough. It was not like the futuristic worlds TBG was from which highlighted both function and appearance in all things. In her universe most of the wilderness grew into both function and appearance as well with intelligent robotic wildlife breeding and robotic plants spreading out across worlds.

As they wandered in, there was a notable atmosphere, a vibe of unwelcome from the locals as they moved through. Toybox Girl couldn't identify it, whether it was her the technological marvel and the beezles in this fantasy setting or a distrust of the mages that she was grouped together with. Regardless, shopkeepers sneered at the group. She chose not to make comment on it, when they needed to talk to someone they would and then they'll see what tune the locals are playing then. Until they could find out what exactly was wrong, it was best to keep as low a profile as they could. Among other things attracting too much unwanted attention could warn their quarry of their approach. If their information was accurate the People's Army was probably watching them already and no doubt would do something about it if they did anything they didn't agree with.

As Caira had gone towards the fire they approached in the air, Toybox Girl looked down there as well, but her radar was still out of use. She started to think that she might have to burst in down there and see to survivors, but then she remembered that the Beezles were both radar-capable. "Is there anyone down there?" "I'm picking up signals but not from that location." "Should we go should we go should we go?" Toybox Girl shook her head, the local officials could handle themselves on this matter. "Caira! There is nobody down there!" Toybox Girl tried to shout to her but the effort was in vain, she was too focused on that fire for some reason. "Caren, would you go help her and lead her back to us, we'll continue to hunt. "Sure thing." Toybox Girl knew that Caren had some trouble with navigation earlier and that it was probably better to send Caren along with Caira instead.

The magic carpet's engines cut to a stop as they parked it at a flight master's stable. "We need to keep going that way." Mr. wizarding guide pointed out the direction to Toybox Girl and she complied by starting to head in that direction. The twists and turns led to a rather shady area of the city with back alleys none too friendly. "He has to be close now but I can't get a more accurate than this at small distance." Toybox Girl surveyed the area, but it wasn't promising. This was the kind of place that she would expect the demon force to jump her in numbers and not get any help from the locals who were no doubt in the middle of illegal activities. But it wouldn't do any good to just clear out the place, illegal activity varied from place to place but it did happen and making war with the small stuff was just a waste of time and resources.

She probably should have done this sooner, but Toybox Girl pulled out some Omnilium and focused for a few minutes, making black hooded cloaks for the three of them. "It is for the best if we try to blend in." She handed the other two cloaks and put her own on covering her pink hair with the hood. Nora still stood out as she flew through the air at all times so her cloak was levitating off the ground. "Let's go, I guess we'll still need your help Casmeas until we find him, if he starts moving away from us you should be able to detect that." Toybox Girl hoped it wouldn't take too long to play this game of hot and cold with the wizard's magical radar.

[Magus]

Shades of orange and yellow danced cruelly before the cowering blues and greys. Hidden in the dramatic shadows in the alley, Magus watched the fire that cast them. It raged wildly now, licking out of the windows and open door of the place.

The ensuing panic had attracted neighbors to gather around the flaming building, while the other tenants of the apartment fled for rational fear of the flames spreading to the other suites. The mad obsession this Heironymous Lex had; his intensely document notes and details; he must have collected data on every facet of the operations of the People’s Army. Those myriad notes now fed the hungry flames.

Sure enough, the fire began to spread, even as guards and other officials began to appear, each rushing two huge buckets of water toward the flaming building. Soon, they were coming from all over the district, even as the growing crowd gathered to watch. Some cheered the firefighting efforts on, but Magus knew most had come, driven by mankind’s morbid obsession with observing disaster.

It was perfect; news would spread and soon the authorities would appear. No doubt Lex, as a captain, would hear about his home catching fire. Magus knew the man wouldn’t be able to stay away. His sheer level of obsession with the People’s Army, however, put Magus on edge. There was a strong chance the good captain might expect to be walking into an ambush.

The Fiendlord watched from the alley, regularly analyzing his surroundings. A half dozen armed guards showed up, not counting the various authorities who were assisting in actually battling the blaze. These guards seemed to be investigating the possibility of a crime. They spread out, all pausing frequently to talk with members in the crowd.

Magus checked each of the investigators’ faces against the drawing he’d been provided; none of them fit the man he was looking for. Bad luck. If things got any tighter, he would have to abandon his ambush and retreat back to the poor district, where authorities would be less inclined to hunt for him.

He glanced down at his clothes for a moment, and bit his lip. That wouldn’t do at all. He closed his fists and focused on manipulating a small amount of Omnilium. The cape and pseudo-combat gear might tip an overly-nosey investigator off about him.

In an effort to avoid that ultimately unhelpful outcome, Magus created a disguise of ill-fitting, miserable-looking robes and hood that covered him up and made him look positively destitute. The robes appeared to be covered in filth and haphazardly stitched together with fabrics of various colors and types, mostly brown.

The fire was beginning to die down now, and had only slightly damaged the neighboring suites thanks to the firefighting efforts of the civil servants of Minas Tirith. Still, no Lex. The crowd was thinning out, now that the danger had passed. Once a tragedy begins losing momentum, people quickly lose interest. Magus often wondered at that – the string of tragedies that had befallen him, and those he meted out – they never seemed to lose their sting.

“What?” he’d actually said it aloud. It was with a great deal of surprise that he heard the Black Wind; usually he could feel it come on before the howling started. This was sudden. Ominous. The wind was shriller, more violent, than usual. Something bad – or strange – was about to happen.

Magus decided to shuffle off somewhere quieter, but with a decent vantage of the now-smouldering building. At least then he could keep a lookout for Heironymous without leaving himself exposed like this. He hobbled as someone who was ill and desperate might, and took a route that he was sure would keep him out of trouble. At least, from the guards.

[Caira Ayryn]

With the fire out and more condemning eyes ousting the wizard girl from the crowds of people, the Prime scrambled away from the hordes of people who swarmed around the recent disaster. With a final glance over her shoulder she caught sight of people watching her leave, some spoke in whispers while others blatantly theorized Caira as the arsonist. Suddenly she felt a violent shove throw her from her feet. Her eyes fell on the stationary crowd that only continued to swell with size as time passed. Another thrust from a nearby citizen threatened to make the girl trip and fall into the ground. Caira offered a glance that was corroded by a flare of anger in the direction the disruption had come from.

“You burnt it! Didn’t you Prime!” A voice called to her as she picked up her pace and rubbed her lower rib, she would evade this crowd at all cost. Did she really look like someone who would have set fire to a building? Maybe it wasn’t just a normal house fire, or maybe there were still pieces of this puzzle that needed to be put together.

There were many places to be searched in Minas Tirith, so what were they doing here? Sure, Caira trusted Casmeas but that didn’t mean he was correct. Mage or not, people could be proven wrong. Her eyes wandered the endless streets that were notably cleaner than the ones she had briefly visited prior and she attempted to determine which direction she should go. She now felt the cold bane of solitude. Where had TBG gone? Hm... Probably got a clue on Magus. Meanwhile, I’m stuck here, but hey, it was good I put out that fire. Had someone been inside, Caira would have been the first to respond. The Prime’s glowing eyes met a familiar form, it was Caren the Beezle. The bee colored robot flew towards her before levitating above the ground directly in front of her.

“Oh hey there, did you happen to see where TBG went? I wonder if you could get a birds-eye view for me. Just above the buildings,” Caira smiled to the helpful creature and the robot seemed to nod in response before abruptly bursting into the open air, sweeping the scene, and returning to a gentle hover.

“Looks like she and the others went off that way, that’s what my scanners say at least.” Caren offered before following Caira’s immediate pace. “Oh, will we be meeting up with them instead of...” Her robotic voice drifted off so as to not confirm their goals out loud.

“That’s right. I have full confidence that TBG has found him already or is hot on his trail. She’s a sharp robot.” Caira winked to Caren, who beamed at the Prime’s reverence.

The streets seemed to twist and coil with every step she took. Around every turned corner, Caira expected to see TBG and her other allies. Around every one, she saw nothing and no one that she recognized. Heads bobbed and the blurred faces of strangers passed by in her haste. What was worse, Caira didn’t know much about the capital city, nor did the girl know where she was going. She had passed by some strange fellows in cloaks but was in too much of a rush to investigate their peculiar existence. As time flew she later shook her head in disappointment and remembered that it was possible Magus was working with the People’s Army. It was entirely possible that those fellows in dark capes could have been them. With an emphasized palm to her forehead, Caira finally decided to ask for help. After all, every second she lost was another chance for Magus to get away. If he escaped, the injustice he committed would never be paid for. Caira not only fought for her belief of right and wrong but for her own purpose in the careful balance of these two variables.

Careful footsteps carried her to a figure who was hobbling down the shaded cobblestone streets and the naive girl’s heart leapt out to the person who seemed to be walking as though he was plagued with an illness. From behind, Caira observed the figure had a wrinkly hood clumped over a stout looking head and a cape that gushed like a stream to the elderly person’s heels. She used her poor navigation skills as excuse to approach the frail figure, who seemed to be veering his face away from the light.

The girl’s feet lightly brushed against the ground however instinct suddenly gripped her gut and caused her to pause with a faltering pace. Alert eyes fell on the cloaked figure for the frozen moment before Caira’s gaze swept her sides as she became aware of all directions. In the distance she saw TBG growing closer, however relief didn’t flood into Caira’s chilled veins as she would have hoped. Anticipation made her heart quiver and a strong sense of fate stirred in the ebbing waves of wind. It was as though they were destined to reunite at this very street.

TBG approached from the opposite angle (across from Caira) and was much further up the street (past the two of them.) The robot girl walked with the others. The moment her eyes fell on Caira, she knew that the stagnant motionless girl had seen something. It was written plainly on her suddenly sharpened features. The robot could practically taste the frozen wavelength of Caira’s shock, even from the distance that spanned between them. It would take TBG another few strides to finally see the reason behind Caira’s distinguished expression.

“Beezles, you go down the streets that surround this place and block each one. You will be our support and will prove to be very instrumental so that we can have no reason but to succeed.” TBG commanded as her tone edged with determination.

They obeyed her demand with speed but only after departing with a silent and knowing nod. They retraced the pathways they had taken before the robots followed the side streets that once again lead them to the empty central street. Everyone must have been quenching the fire or trying to get the latest gossip on the rumors that surrounded it. This was lucky, at least for Caira, who wanted no casualties to result from the standoff that would soon commence. The hooded figure was surrounded -or rather had nowhere to escape- and Caira threw caution to the wind, took a large gulp of air and braced herself as she was carried by her courage forward.

As her step brought her closer, the Prime tensed and braced for the fall of her enemy's wrath upon her. She came upon him and caught a glimpse of his distinguished face as she uttered his name with new revelation, "Magus..."

The girl didn’t have to look up to the sky to know where the sun hung. It was the customary time for a duel. It was high noon.

[Schwi Dola]

Toybox Girl was leading along with the wizard Caesemas. They found a figure though, and Toybox Girl looked back at Casmeas who nodded. This was definately their target. "I'll leave it to you ladies to handle it." Toybox Girl nodded back and looked back at Magus. She took the hood off of her cloak and pulled it off of her completely, she couldn't fight very well if that thing caught on fire from her booster. She looked at the hooded figure, though from this distance it was hard to tell what he was thinking as he evaluated the situation looking back and forth at them.

Toybox Girl reaching into the belt pocket on her waist and pulled out the wanted poster she had of Magus. "You are Magus? We have come to collect your bounty. If you come quietly with us and do not resist, we won't have to disable you before turning you in. Or worse... the bounty is dead or alive." Both of Toybox Girl's arms stretched out in gun holding positions to point at Magus and one materialized her Handy Bazooka, a black, all business weapon that clearly shot projects as big as Toybox Girl's chest was.

[Magus]

A sharp chill ran down his neck.

He was betrayed; had to be. Who else would have put a bounty on his head but that decrepit old bastard Lud – he must have thought the deed was done and made to ensure Magus wouldn’t be a loose end.

“Every single goddamn person in this forsaken place is a snake,” he grumbled under his breath, before turning perpendicular to the women who flanked him to keep his eyes on them. “Mercenaries, then? You don’t owe your allegiance to the People’s Army; they’re just paying you.”

Neither of the women made to reply. One, just an ordinary girl, shifted her self into a fighting stance. The other, a ridiculous looking child wearing some kind of futuristic armor and armed with an absurd rocket launcher-looking device. To her credit, she kept the weapon trained on him without waver.

Slowly, the wizard reach up and clasped his robes. He paused, watching for any sort of reaction. When there wasn’t one, he pulled it off with one quick motion and threw it to the floor. His regal, purple cape billowed out behind him, and his combat-honed muscles tensed in anticipation.

“We’re taking you in,” the heavily armed child flatly replied. “We know who you are and what you’re capable of, so just surrender peacefully and nobody needs to get hurt.”

At this, Magus chuckled a sinister and taunting retort.

“You know who I am?? You couldn’t possibly have less of an idea. I am called Fiendlord; the Demon King. I am the Archmage, the one above all,” Magus bellowed. “All I want is to find Omni. If you think to get in my way, to slow me down for even a moment, the wrath I will bring down upon you will hound you ‘till the end of time,” his face twisted into a dark snarl and his scarlet eyes burned as he spoke. “You will never run far enough. You will never secret yourself away well enough. If you stand between me and Omni, not even death will spare you from my anger.”

There wasn’t a response for a long time, which suited the mage just fine. He was outnumbered, and if these two schoolchildren posed more of a threat than they appeared to, he would need all the time he could get to formulate a strategy.

“We didn’t come all this way to back down now,” said the older-looking one. Her voice was quiet but firm, and didn’t flutter with fear as Magus had expected it to. She was like Marle in some ways; confident and strong in spite of her youth. Maybe.

He wasn’t fond of the idea of murdering these children, but if they were Primes as he suspected they were, they were arguably going to be okay in a few days anyhow. And if not… if they wouldn’t wake up again like Omni had promised, well, he had seen worse horror in Guardia and in Zeal.

The wizard clenched his hands into fists and surreptitiously channelled his energy there. If they tried to make their move, he’d hit at least one of them with a face full of dark energy. The unlikely survivor would have to square off against him one on one.

“What have they told you about me?” Magus growled, casting his angry glance from the teenager to the child and back again. “Do you honestly believe that there is any possible chance I might allow you to take me prisoner? You can tell Lud he’s turned his most powerful ally into his most dangerous enemy and begone.”

He was met with a silent response again. The kid with the rocket launcher kept it pointed right at him, and the other girl just kept staring at him with those strange, purple eyes.

He clenched his fists tighter and kept channelling his energy there. As soon as the first one made their move, they were dead.

The girl with the unusual eyes suddenly shifted her stance. “He- he’s trying something!!”

She leapt into a sidelong dive and flicked a dagger produced seemingly nowhere at Magus. At the same time, the psychopath with the bazooka opened fire. Magus leapt in a twisting motion, nearly upside-down as both the rocket propelled projectile and the dagger missed him by less than inches.

Still midair, Magus unleashed a bolt of greasy, black energy at each of his attackers. Just as he did, each narrowly avoided being struck and all the flying projectiles crashed and exploded into the ornate buildings around them.

Amidst the flying rubble, Magus broke into a run and charged the tiny, rocket-launching lunatic.

She may have been a little girl, but she had tried to liquefy him. That was a good enough reason as any for him to backhand her across the face. He’d expected her to be sent sprawling to the floor while he beat a hasy retreat, but instead, the kid used the momentum to connect with a kick to the back of his head, sending him stumbling.

She followed up with another shot from her ridiculous weapon, and Magus hadn’t the time to get out of the way.

Magus gasped and sputtered as the rocket frozen in the air in front of him flickered and shuddered in place. Wind and whispers assailed his ears, and a strange, shimmering liquidness seemed to tease at the edges of his vision.

That wasn’t there last time.

He knew he couldn’t stand in this plane immaterial for too long. Both of his assailants seemed frozen in place, and Magus noticed the one with the purple eyes was gathering some kind of energy in her hands. Interesting. The other one would likely be content to keep shooting him with that damn launcher.

Magus approached the little one, feeling a twinge of guilt as he did so. He would end things for her quickly, at least, and then could focus on the other to do the same. He withdrew his karambit – the one that Lud had given him – and stalked toward the frozen child.

The whispers seemed to grow more frantic, and so did the wind. The strange shadows that flickered and cast about suddenly coalesced into the shapes of tall, elongated people, frozen there, standing before him.

Magus stared wide-eyed at them, himself frozen with fear for a moment. He fought the urge to rub his eyes, fought the urge to avert his gaze. He deliberately stalked toward the weaponized child, taking care to watch the shadow people who’d appeared before him. He was painfully conscious of the ones that could have been behind him.

Once he was close, he thrust his blade at the pink haired girl. Suddenly, he stumbled, like something had pushed him or – or grabbed at him. He made to cut her throat, but instead, plunged the sinister dagger into the girl’s shoulder.

Fuck.

It was too dangerous to use his Shadow Step any longer. He slipped back into Camelot and ran as fast as he could. Sweaty, terrified – and not just of the two people trying to kill him – the wizard manically sprinted into the first alley he came across, hoping to lose them in the confusion.

The wizard pounded down the cobblestone path, his cape trailing behind him. He rounded a corner and kept running, his anger and fury brewing.

Lud and his supposed freedom fighters would burn for this betrayal. Somehow, someway, Magus was going to track Omni down and he would get out of this ridiculous alternate reality. He was not going to be cut down by a couple of crazy, brainwashed kids.

The wizard ran into a widening path that spilled into patios for cafes and restaurants. Finely crafted shops built from bricks and stone and wood dotted his path as he ran. The wealthy patrons of these places took time to remark to one another at his behaviour, but what surprised him was the damn girl with the purple eyes bursting through a door and tackling him to the ground.

The two rolled on the cobbles and Magus swatted her away. She struck back with a fist to the gut. He gasped as an electric pulse catapulted him backward and into a wall. He nearly collapsed from the sudden agony, but managed a strained breath before he straightened back to his full height.

“My, but you are a tenacious one,” he said with a sneer. “What is it they’re paying you with, anyway? You’re a Prime; you can literally have anything you want. If you’re trading for a favour you can forget it. I promised to help that decrepit old bastard in exchange for information, and now you’re here.”

The tiny maniac appeared through the same door as the adolescent with the purple eyes. Great. One big happy reunion.

“What are you looking for, anyway?”

Magus didn’t miss a beat. “Omni.”

[Caira Ayryn]

A tremendous surge of fear rose in her throat. All the confidence she once held onto had now mysteriously evaporated, her stores of inner strength were equally depleted as she faced her fearsome adversary. He had called himself the ‘Fiendlord’ whatever it was, she knew it wasn’t good. Caira wasn’t one to doubt her choice to chase the man in the first place, however she now could see why mere secondaries were no match for the mage. With a large gulp she gathered the courage in her heart and persuaded herself to fight, otherwise, she would loose her life just as TBG had been wounded. She reminded herself, This is what it means to fight for your life. And she set her heart aside and prepared for the oncoming survival instinct that would soon take over and merge with the strength of her will.

Caira could see the calculation on his face, the eyes of aggression, and the swiftness in the motion of his body that told her that he had ample power to back up his words of warning. Magus could throw a fist without hesitation and effortlessly create destruction in his wake. This fearsome ferocity was the sheer definition of his title: Fiendlord.

“You’re not getting away.” The hunter with violet eyes had muttered as she tracked him and pounded down the street. Her aggression had caused her to pounce on the mage the second her eyes caught him and they had rumbled into a nearby wall. It seemed he was capable of reasoning as his lips moved instead of his fists, What was it that he had said? Caira attempted to pull her thoughts from the raging fire that flooded her veins. The fury of war shouted in her ears letting her body accept only the violence and ferocity that ensued with the battle. No matter how hard she tried, there was no way to make out the words. Or at least she had thought, until his blood-red eyes fell upon her with a steady gaze. ‘Omni.’


Toybox Girl scowled at her partner, not because she was conversing with the enemy, but because the hostility in Caira’s eyes had softened slightly. Couldn’t Caira see that he was very really backed into a corner? The menacing mage was plenty capable of using his words as daggers, just like the one currently hinged in the girl’s robotic shoulder. But Caira doesn’t have the pain to remind her of his current position. Magus was their enemy. Currently he was exercising one of the best tactics used against any formidable adversary: Try to take away their reason to fight. The robot wouldn’t fall for that ruse, even if Caira was human enough to show her opponent the same vulnerability. She felt her circuits continue to aim the bazooka she so easily hefted, aimed at the enemy, ready to fire as she approached. Magus began to stand once more, even after the blow that crumbled a decent sized dent in the same brick house he had been smashed into. Perhaps that they had underestimated him.

“Caira,” Toybox Girl attempted to break through the uneasy exchange that was spoken through only eye contact. The words TBG selected to break through to her ally’s battle-fueled haze were small but had more consequence than even she could compute, “Remember who we’re against.”

With a curt nod of response, her eyes didn’t move from her enemy. Caira had been reminded that things weren’t always as they seemed and perhaps Magus was playing his cards right, for he wore an ever-so convincing pokerface. The female mage stamped her foot into the ground out of frustration and her eyebrows creased into a frustrated grimace.

He had threatened them, threatened to end them both. In the flesh torn by the battle, Caira could no longer remember who was it that had made the first attack, nor could she forget that TBG was painfully injured because of him.

“I gave you a chance,” Caira recalled the two of them in the calm before the storm of battle when TBG had offered a less-reckless option. “To come quietly.”

In the middle of the stampede of action, there was a small silence as Magus’s eyes flicked over to the pink robot, grazing the wound and the same bazooka she hefted that looked at least half her size. It seemed there as reverence delivered with the carefully selected words she had chosen to reengage the tall one’s attention. Damn, she’s well equipped.

“We’re after the same thing,” Magus remained vigilant as the scales of intent weighed in his mind, “We can’t be all that different especially when we even went to the same people for assistance.”

Magus tried his chances with a technique of persuasion while simulations of each strategy of attack that would allow for escape from his corner quickly ran through his mind. He slowly but subtly charged his defenses in leu of the pink one’s nifty bazooka.

Caira had began her own charge as she prepared for the reality of TBG’s concerns but was forced to consider his plea and straightened her form. “I believe the difference has been made quite clear.” She implied the man’s black morality and highlighted her words with incentive, “If you won’t come with us, then we will be forced to defeat you.”

The corners of his lips creased into a challenging smile, as finally, a successful plan clicked into his mind. If this was all they had to dish out, there would never be enough to break him down.

“Try.”

A villainous cloud overwhelmed them, Magus felt the familiar burst of Miasma explode into a dark fog surrounding the area. His aim shifted for a sliver of a second as they were caught in his storm. Magus had decided to go after the slippery one with black hair but after she showed weakness, he quickly realigned his choice to the foe that would be harder to vanquish or persuade, not to mention he didn’t like the look of that bazooka. The same robot that could still move despite the decisive blow he had struck into her, he reasoned, would mean a much easier ending for their duel if she was immediately dealt with. Magus nimbly moved through the dense cloud in pursuit of finishing this.

The last thing Caira had glimpsed at before the air became black, happened to be the glow of his scarlet eyes as the mage plunged into a world of darkness. Her eyelashes wavered against the splintering energy as it surged into her like sharp shards of ice, freely passing through her skin and into her freshLY fatigued muscles. The starchy substance heeded her movements in a fiery torment meant to diminish her senses as the weight of the dark energy seemed to corrode her very bones.

I won’t be distracted by a little smoke and mirrors. Caira told herself and felt his vibrations still touching the ground as his momentum followed through towards TBG, who had let out an explosion from her bazooka. It was a shame that Magus was no longer against the wall, for the very brick had now become fresh dust. Her speed was increasingly diminished by the second, so Caira gave a jump that lifted her from the grating friction of the ground. Despite the misconception that the surrounding substance was just smoke, Caira was forced to realize the very air acted as though it grappled with an unexpected force of traction against her. As the seconds progressed so slowly, disorientation set in and the mage became more aware that she was being steadily weakened. She was glad she had acted quickly in an attempt to calculate his trajectory and tried to remember TBG’s location in the street before her mind became a congested mess. It was almost as though she were floating in the weighted air as she came down on the mage from above just as his clutches were about to reach her injured ally.

[Schwi Dola]

Analysis complete. Name assigned: Dark Ball - Dark Magic attack, charge-able.

Analysis complete. Name assigned: Time Step - User disappears into a parallel plane of existence where time flows differently using this to move freely undetected. Adapting Time Manipulation, Phasing, and Stealth required for use. Adapating Sensory Organs from Caira to compensate for possible detection of enemy coming out of Time Step.

Analysis complete. Name assigned: Dark Cloud - A dark magical substance that affects all inside except the user, impeding vision and strength. Effects cumulative to time spent inside it. User immune to effects, adapting immunity to body. Current effects will disperse shortly, enhanced senses will assist in detection while effects are fading.

Analysis complete. Name assigned: Exploding Dagger - A dagger which is armed as a grenade.

Gatling Bazooka recovered, program ready for use.

What? In this moment of tense combat her system interrupted her with an important discovery. Her self repairs were still coming along and data recovery had pulled out from her damaged files a powerful weapon. TBG couldn't be hasty in summoning it now. She just discovered a bountiful array of powers that their quarry has displayed and Toybox Girl could bet that he wasn't used to fighting someone with an ADAPT system integrated into their body. Caira was closer to Magus as he had enveloped them in darkness, her eyes were already adjusting to see that he was charging his magic, readying to blast Caira.

Caira, stuck in darkness, charged her fists with power static energy shooting quickly around her fist. She looked left and right, but the poison was beginning to dull her senses and make her weaker. She thought she saw a shadow coming at her and her senses tingled at the presence of Magus so she punched with great force, however that power was lost as the static discharged like lightning into nothingness. Had he been there and dodged or was her mind now playing tricks too?

Toybox Girl couldn't let this happen. The pain in her arm as circuits misfired. It was not a serious injury... he has used a weak weapon to perform it. What was painful was the thought of letting one of her teammates down again. It had happened so long ago.. she had gone onto an important mission against the demon force. That day flashed through her mind every day... as she was the only survivor. "Not so fast Magus! I know where you are!" As she shouted, she activated her newly adapted Time Step. Suddenly instead of moving through the air she passed into the parallel world Magus had just used.

She slowed down to hover on her green booster, as her new time circuits based on his magic tracked the time passing in this dimension, she had a few moments to assess this place before continuing. Shadows and darkness creeped about her, and suddenly she felt a spike of fear hit her very soul. Whispers, and a liquid shimmer moved on the edges of her vision. Her enchanced senses only made things worse in this place. How Magus could stand to be in here, Toybox Girl would never know so she shot forward. The shadows around her swirled and followed her, and she stopped again, that irrational fear growing in her. She couldn't concentrate here, so she did what she could, and threw her Handy Bazooka at Magus, escaping the shadows with it.

The Handy Bazooka didn't make a straight mark but the heavy weapon slammed through his hands breaking the the spell he was charging and bruising his hands. Magus was surprised, instantly recognizing his own magic being used against him. What was she, a dark mage in disguise? He quickly stepped back and looked at the descending robot girl. But instead of going at him, she diverted her movement to grab Caira and pull her up out of the poison, quickly landing on the roof before the weight of carrying someone could exhaust her booster, cutting it to conserve energy. Magus took this moment to run once again, as the senses TBG had adapted tracked him moving away and the poison mist fading from Magus cutting the magic.

Toybox Girl looked at Caira, who was effected quite a bit by the poison. She hadn't the immunity that Toybox Girl adapted into her body so the strength was drained from her, but outside of it she was starting to recover. Toybox Girl put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" "Yeaaa..." "Omni is a problem but he attacked innocents, they had nothing to do with Omni." Toybox Girl took her hand away and stepped away, jumping off towards the direction Magus had gone into.

In mid-air Toybox Girl summoned her beam gun in the hand that was injured, and in the other she focused on using her new magic. She formed a ball of shadow energy, focusing on expanding its power while she jumped from spot to spot to catch up with the fiendlord. Quickly he bleeped on her sensors again, in mid-jump no less. He came into view through the buildings and had his own duskstrike charged. He smiled, not surprised that she had copied him again, but this time he had her. He brought up the magic and released it while Toybox Girl hastily brought her own up to fire. Both were fully charged but the shots were no contest as Magus's blast absorbed the lesser magic and slammed into Toybox Girl, throwing her to the ground.

Caira meanwhile, took a moment to recover from the miasma's effects. She took Toybox Girl's words carefully, but she was right. They had learned well enough that the societies here, while not forced here under their own will, were not directly Omni's doing and Magus had committed a crime. Which around here was punished with imprisonment or death. But as death wasn't permanent in this world. TBG had discovered that information on the 'net but having not experienced or seen such could not verify it.

While the effects of the poison were still aching her bones, Caira had to follow and support TBG so she tried to start gathering an eclipse, breathing in sharply as she started to gather the power into a sphere held by her hands. It was a difficult task to perform, but as she did it, she started to move forward, carefully jumping after Toybox Girl, slowly but surely. Her body started to ache and it was already aching so things felt much worse. But the magic was forming and remained stable, a black sphere surrounded by glimpses of shimmering light as the name suggested, almost two dimensional if one were to walk around it.

She walked to the end of another building, to see Toybox Girl lying on the ground, and Magus smiling, approaching her. She didn't have time now, so she took aim at the dark mage, holding just a little longer as she aimed it. He was getting closer and closer and the pain of holding it there grew and grew. Caira was dedicated now to the fight, so she had to make this count. Then she let go, breathing a sigh of relief as the blast shot out at him.

Magus frowned as he spotted the blast being formed on the rooftop. He didn't know this kind of magic, but she had finally revealed what kind of power she has as she charged it. Without much time he started going back with the only resort he had. Judging from that sphere what the little girl had was something that could kill him if it connected. As she released it, he stepped backwards and into the shadows again. But as he entered the realm, he could see that the blast was already about to hit him. That was one damn fast attack. The shadows were around him again with that twinge of light gathering around him, the fear setting in. Hastily he ran forward past the blast as he was sure being close to her friend, and stepped out, dagger drawn and going for Toybox Girl.

However, Toybox Girl sensed the coming presence this time, and while she didn't move knowing that he could see that, she mentally prepared for him, adapting the physical skills Caira has displayed to her own fighting style as well as finishing her analysis of the Thunder Punch she had used.. As he stepped out dagger drawn, she reached out and slapped his dagger hand with the weight of her weapon. He might think he had some kind of advantage with that step, but her ADAPT system could tell that dagger was nothing and he just used tricks to attack closely. She charged the static power Caira had done earlier into her fist and then shoved it into Magus's chest. The wave of lightning and sheer force of the punch, though weaker in TBG's fist, shoved Magus back while it sent Toybox Girl back, her backpack screeching along the ground.

[Magus]

His armor hissed and sizzled where the child soldier struck him; the leather melting and warping around the area where her electrified fist had been. The wizard glanced down at the damage before flicking his eyes up at the girl and splitting his sneer into a small, wicked grin.

He laughed.

It wasn’t a quiet chuckle, but rather a hearty, bellowing, horrible laugh.

“Is that really all you have?” his grin curled back into a hateful sneer as he gazed upon the Toybox Girl. “Your mimicry was quite impressive, though, really. I’m genuinely quite shocked; I’ve only ever met one other person who could enter an immaterial plane without being torn apart,” he paused, glancing up at Caira on the rooftop before returning his gaze to the girl before him. “I do hope you found your time there… comforting.”

He threw up his cape to deflect an incoming knife at the last second, failing to notice the woman on the rooftop throw it at him – the second time he’d been caught by surprise by the same attack. The blade pierced his cape but could not punch all the way through.

Not being stabbed by a flying dagger didn’t much help the arch mage when the dagger exploded, though.

A bright flash and a loud ringing sensation accompanied spears of pain as he scraped face-down across cobblestone. The side of his face and shoulder stung from the head of burns inflicted by the explosion. Rivulets of blood cautiously trickled from his nose and from the various cuts and scrapes he’d received.

Magus rose to his feet and glared up at his attacker. His hair, disheveled by the explosion, draped over his visage in angry violet streaks. He clenched a fist, channeling energy into it before hastily flinging it at the robotic fighter while at the same time, he stepped into the plane immaterial.

He gazed at his Duskstrike, seemingly frozen in mid-air, aimed right at the girl. The rocket-launching psychopath wouldn’t be able to predict his movements while focusing on a flying energy ball. Even if she could, she couldn’t possibly move fast enough to deal with both.

The Fiendlord couldn’t rest, though, not now. He had to get up to where the other attacker was. He had to remove her high-ground advantage. Magus raced up the street, into an alley, fighting the shrill shriek of the Black Wind that now seemed to rattle around between his ears. Time was short. Very short.

Not only the edges of his vision swam with strange and upsetting distortions, and the outlines of objects and shadows all seemed to shudder, stretch, and distort themselves. Knowing those… things might lurch at him at any moment, the wizard hastily scoured the alley and found an area with enough debris piled up that he could climb.

The pile of garbage and old furniture nearly toppled under his weight and he fell forward, catching the edge of the roof with his arms and chin. With a mighty groan of exertion, the mage barely made it onto Caira’s rooftop and wasted no time in charging at her. He would finish this, here and now.

With a roar halfway between determination and rage, Magus broke into a full sprint, aiming to hit his assailant right between the shoulders. He leapt out of the Shadow Step and drove his shoulder into her spine, sending Caira careening over the edge of the rooftop.

The Toybox girl propelled herself up and over Magus’ Duskstrike, but couldn’t make up the time needed to prevent her friend from crashing into the cobbles. Instead, she aimed her beam gun up at Magus and send a thunderous blast of electric blue energy up at him, before rushing to tend to Caira.

Magus took the beam head-on, and was propelled through the air. He slammed onto the far side of the rooftop and nearly slid right over the edge that he had first climbed up. The wizard scrambled at the clay tiles as he slid off the side before finding purchase with one of the tiles and preventing himself from falling right off.

He tried to swing himself onto the debris pile as he let go, crashing down into the wood and garbage, obliterating anything of value that might have been left as it all shattered and splintered under his weight. He rolled up, wincing at the sprained ankle he suffered from his fall, and made haste down the alley, breaking left and away from the two women who sought to bring him to ‘justice.’

He wondered how the girl with the purple eyes had managed her fall. It was quite the sucker punch; she might have broken a leg – or her neck. It would have been enormously convenient, but part of him hoped she’d survived. She was clever; almost clever enough to see past the bullshit – almost able to perceive this place as the false construct that it was. Almost.

If not for that damned, half-robot lunatic.

It didn’t matter now. He pounded down the alley and onto another road, sprinting toward the poorer districts in spite of the throbbing ache in his ankle.

- - - - -

It had been a few minutes and Magus had made exceptionally good time. He’d been equally lucky in that he hadn’t come across a single guard in the time he’d been running, which was good, as he’d expect one of those authority types to have a few questions for a sweaty, bloody, out-of-breath man who looked like a vampire who’d just been burned by the cross.

It was convenient, then, that he found himself in a busy flea market. It was obviously a town square, but it had been overrun by shop stands, carts, and people of all kinds. Shiny trinkets glittered on tabletops, smoke wafted from food carts, and fresh-caught fish glistened on canvas sheets on the ground, sheltered from the sun by hide stretched out over wooden poles overhead.

Everything a person could want and more was for sale at this bustling bazaar, and the crowd could swallow a man into obscurity. The tall mage allowed himself a small smirk as he weaved his way into the throng, slowly making his way toward the center of the living mass.

Scarlet eyes spied the various hawkers and shop-keeps, the couriers, the mothers looking for their evening’s meal. It was all so… so utterly mundane. Magus didn’t understand this Omni. No, he didn’t understand the supposed deity of this Omniverse in the slightest.

Why create such a world of boredom, only to fill it with unique and volatile people, and then become upset when they didn’t conform to the dull world he’d dropped them in?

Dull couldn’t describe the two pursuing him. Magus growled as he spotted a silhouetted duo atop a nearby building, looking down into the crowd. No, they were not dull.

Just tedious.

He growled; the little one would catch him out soon. If she could see him as he stepped in between planes of existence, she would be able to see him in a crowd. With that being the case, he reasoned, why not add the random element of fear to the mix.

He looked up at the silhouettes, stared hard at them for a long while, before clamping a hand down on the shoulder of the nearest person.

It was a woman. She was young. She was, Magus found himself realizing, also absolutely beautiful.

“S-Sir, please-” she twisted, fearfully trying to break his grip but seemingly just as fearful of making a scene. “You’re hurting me, please let me go.”

He sighed as he withdrew his karambit in his free hand. What a waste. He slashed her throat and looked up at the silhouettes, before his Miasma descended on the people in the bazaar. Gasps and shrieks rang out. Some had seen the murder; some had only been plunged into darkness. Their combined fear created a cacophony of screams and crashed as the mass of people began to panic.

Magus heard the dull thump of the woman fall at his feet amidst the panic. He looked down at her through the haze and frowned. He knelt down and withdrew a small coin purse. He placed it on her palm and clasped her other hand over it, hoping it would find its way to her family or lover. Or children.

The silhouettes weren’t on the roof anymore. Magus could see clearly through the inky blackness as people panicked. Some ran, crashing into and over one another, some wailed on the ground, curled up into balls, some looted whatever they could. The place was bloody anarchy, and he gambled that the two girls didn’t have the stomach for it.

He hadn’t gambled for the cyborg abomination to leap out from between planes to his right and lash out with a kick to his head. He narrowly avoided it and drove a punch into her cheek, pushing her back just long enough to reach for the nearest weapon and lash out at his assailant.

What a sight it must have been for the Toybox Girl to see the Demon King strike at her with a massive halibut, slamming the huge fish into her face like a hammer. Both she and the fish crashed onto the ground.

“Your friend lost in the crowd?” Magus taunted, leveling his palm at the girl’s face. “I’m going to end you,” he said over the sizzle of profane energy that grew in his open hand. “I offered you the opportunity to look the other way and you refused. I tried to give you the chance to let me go and you chased after me. So this is where your story ends, here and now.”

[Caira Ayryn]

The vivid flurry of action rushed her senses. A blurred fist sprung at the black-haired girl out of nowhere and collided, giving rise to nothing short of a devastating fall.

The weight of Caira’s heavy feet were uprooted by the consequence of motion as she was flung from the finely edged precipice that was where her life hung by a thread. Her heart leapt faster than her body could move.

THUD THUD

Her doomed fate pounded in her ears, louder than the sound of her own heartbeat as her growing silver eyes traced the color of the looming stone. Bodyweight swung her body closer, faster, more steady than the breaths she couldn’t take. The thrill of fear gripped her with the drowning flutter of air. This was it... The everlasting end.

THUD THUD

Echoing her prolonged fall was the hollow sound of broken bones – ribs to be exact – her lungs seemed to shift as the two forces grinded into one sacrificed fatality.

The gush of blood spilled as easily as a shattered glass of water and trickled with a steady roll against the gravely ground. It was with delay of her newfound skill that a few more seconds passed before she felt the chilling shiver of pain splash though her body and coil up her spine.

Smashed bone, crushed ribs. The suffering ache splintered through her body and the sensation survived with every bloodied breath. A quick reflection on her suffering-filled haze allowed Caira only to recall the movements that had caused her this agony. The air had turned gray, wind had stopped streaming through her mess of hair as she had twisted in a suspended moment before breaching the cobbled ground. She had detached from time, yet the maneuver had not saved her bones from the focus of the fall.

In exchange for the steep price of pain, she was allowed a few shuddering breaths to further her existence and her fingers slowly curled, dragging her weight from the comfort of the ground.

Dense air heaved from her choked lungs as her eyelids drew their motion in heavy sighs. Thicker than the blood streaming through her wounds, was the concrete that had slapped into her side. A grimace crippled her expression into one that hung only with despair. Somehow it worked, her head spun from the whiplash as her mind rationalized the evasion of death, a bend of time, her last resort.

A paralyzed sigh escaped her relieved body as the muscles in her arms proved useful and lifted the burden from her injury. As Caira’s knees never acquired the strength to fully stand, the battle had moved to a flee market and with a limp, she soon followed.

People, amass in every direction, smiling with sunshine as heavy clouds strolled through the sky and brought darkness to their light. At the sight of the condensed population, it now made sense to Caira why there had been so little people dwelling on their corner of the city’s grid, it hadn’t been the rush of fire that evoked the evacuation standards. The untainted smiles told her that they had no idea they were under the powerful siege of a single man.

Drained, dejected eyes combed the lively crowd but the odds were against her and her broken side throbbed as her lungs clung to every breath. Distant action grew near as fate had delivered Caira to glimpse at the deadly face paired with the arching curve of a silver blade.

“NO!” The monk screamed with every string of emotion that powered the weak muscles of her beaten body. With all her might, her helpless palm reached out as the faceless bodies swarmed past her hand.

And suddenly, her face was splattered with warm crimson rain.

The pardoned break in throng was no more, as bodiless appendages shoved her and she felt a ruthless bystander’s elbow fly into her ribs. Caira was was thrown down by the agony and lost in a cloud of crushing darkness. Feet stomped overhead as Caira crawled to the crimson colored girl.

Soft skin, cold lips.

There were no words, not one she could say to soothe the mourning crucifixion of death. This blow that Magus had landed devastated Caira’s spirit as her pain-parched lips warbled with faltering waves of emotion. In her palms, Caira held the still warm body of the murdered girl and reminded herself, This was what I was fighting for, to end those who so simply destroys life.

A helpless wail became an interlude in the timeless silence; she mourned the nameless dead as she was engulfed by Magus’s cloud. Death abolished hope, and rivaling the forlorn existence of her numbed hands was pain, the age old motivator.

A ferine expression glinted in her eyes as the silver blood on her hand clasped the one of the murdered girl’s, the two colors mixed together and Caira made a promise. “It shall not be in vain.” Only in this moment did the monk ever truly know what it meant to thirst for someone’s blood. The image played over in her head as she watched the rusted steel blade draw a drooling crimson line on the girl’s neck.

As much as her conviction was lethal, her goal suddenly became all too clear.

...


Pain scalded across TBG’s face as she fell to the weight of the crashing blow. A soundless disgust smoldered in her eyes. Magus’s tactics were nasty, but the mage himself was nothing more to her than the dirt beneath her synthetic fingernails. Frustration and rage swelled within and kept the robot standing, fighting, and thrashing, as she made her way tooth and claw through the dithering crowd.

Soon, the streets were a mess. Swarms of people buzzed between the growing distance of two combatants. TBG took this opportunity to shout commands to those panic-driven humans who still desired to live yet scrambled through the dark cloud. “Run!” she had shouted and used her blaster beam to tear down a wall, only feeding the destruction they had wrought.

Magus had left the corpse to be trampled and now stood still in the wake, gazing into the eyes of his prey. Thr crowd seemed to part around them as miasma hissed in their ears. The two stood still, enthralled by the immortal battle and between their duel of eyes, the suspense reached a climax.

His body, rigid with pain was that of a warrior’s, Magus had endured worse and wiped the sweat mixed with a trickle of his blood from his brow. There was no silence and yet they listened to each other with soundless ears. To his left, Magus heard the distinct crying of a little girl donned in purple, stranded in the chaos, she was shouting, “Mother! Mommy!”

Memories, bittersweet and alive, ached in his chest. His pride flexed with agitation as he bent reality to throw a clumped ball of static energy into the pink robot. Magus was done waiting and seized the borrowed opportunity as a foothold for his next attack. Little did he know TBG anticipated his attack and had already started a counter.

Dustrike collided amidst the calamity into another civilian, crashing violently into those caught in the fray. Despite his strategy, the ball only slid so far between the nooks before steamrolling as he weaved out of the the slowed realm of reality. They fell like bowling pins until the last of the attack’s energy surged into the fallen and burst close to TBG’s mechanized arm. She too, had entered the shadows at the last second to evade his attack but it has been too close.

Determination etched into her steel face and sharpened her robotic eyes. Her circuits smoldered with the explosion of heat, yet it was not so much that it could not complete a colorful transformation. Flashes of red and black paint could be seen across the way as TBG's arm grew into a finalized shape and she charged, rushing forward and lightly shoving the stragglers from her path.

Her batteries and power boosters were low and flashing with alerts, the robot girl was running on the brink of shut down with her fading reserves of energy, but she believed all she had left would be enough to take down the enemy. The crowd had cleared after the latest explosion, paving the way for her oncoming storm.

The weight of her biggest bazooka rested on her stance. Surprise tingled Magus’s mind as he realized she was willing to fire into the crowd. A black head bobbed from behind TBG’s veering sights. She did not let the sight persuade her. Computed pain seeped into her words, “I won’t be defeated.”

In hopes of ending this immortal battle, she raised her final weapon as it had formed from her fizzling arm. The robot held her “breath,” squinted an eye as she took aim and fired.

"TBG used her Tier one supermove “Gatling Bazooka” 2/2 SP"

[Schwi Dola]

The huge weapon held in her left backpack arm started to whirr up and the turret rotated in place. Her booster would not be the best choice to use with it now, her energy supplies were starting to get low and it wouldn't be long before her core needed to rest from the efforts of ADAPTing to both of them. Still, her beam gun had hardly been used in this combat and her forgotten handy Bazooka also had plenty of ammo left inside, their energy cores separate from her own. Even if she ran out of juice to construct their powers, it would be some time before she couldn't shoot the beam gun as weak as it was.

Now was not the time to dwell upon that idea. Magus watched as Toybox Girl pulled out another weapon, an ace in the hole. This bazooka wielding psychopath had pulled out an even bigger, more menacing looking bazooka than she had before. But he hadn't the time and energy to retreat to the other plane again. While he wouldn't admit it, this fight was more draining on him than it was on them. Fighting two combatants back and forth gave him less time to rest than they had. He had to move now to avoid this attack, so he started to run.

Too little too late, the Gatling Bazooka started launching projectiles. The much smaller bazooka bullets compared to her handy Bazooka ripped apart the ground as they struck one after another making a fast line to the retreating fiendlord until he was engulfed in explosives and a cloud of dust and debris. The smaller scale of the individual bullets didn't throw Magus, but the searing heat tore over his body as one bullet after another hit at random on different parts of his body. Toybox Girl walked forward as the attack continued. Not every shell struck Magus, as the pattern of the gatling weapon was spread out, but as she got closer she narrowed the miss margin.

Before both knew it, the shells stopped flying and Toybox Girl dropped the weapon with a loud thud as it landed, then dematerializing in a blue glow. Caira stumbled out next to Toybox Girl, a clear area in the fog as Magus had focused on bothering the masses knowing Toybox Girl was unaffected by the mists earlier. Quickly, Toybox Girl's humanoid arms reached out to support her. It was clear she was hurting. Between the effects of the miasma cloud and the injuries she sustained, Caira was in much more dire straights than the robot girl was. "Wasn't that a bit much?" Caira knew their goal well, but she couldn't help but feel that TBG had gone overboard on her last attack. Her own awakened bloodlust aside, Toybox Girl's heavy assault could have affected the innocent people nearby had they wandered into the crossfire. "He has threatened civilians, we can't hold back now."

In the cloud of dust Magus shook a little as pain covered his body. The explosions had burned every exposed part of his body and on top of that the projectiles had bruised with every hit as they punched hard before detonating, but he couldn't stop now. He felt the adrenaline rushing, a life or death situation always got the blood pumping. Last time he had to deal with others meddling in his affairs he had all of his power to fight against them. He may have lost to even that damn frog he had polymorphed, but they came to an understanding with a common goal. This insane technological creature was not so reasonable. These two were too strong to handle any further, if he was going to get out of this he had to use his wits.

The fiend lord gritted his teeth and hid in the shadows of the cloud. He doubted it would prevent them from tracking him, they had shown an infuriating ability to follow him even into another plane and back. So far they had managed to follow and anticipate his moves every time he tried to flee. But the camouflage wasn't for them, he had a different plan in mind to deal with these two. He couldn't be so sure that it would affect the pink haired menace, but her partner seemed to have a soft spot and that was a weakness he could exploit.

"Are you still alive in there? If you have had enough we will take you in now." Toybox Girl could still sense his presence with the adapted senses she had so he was probably still there and alive. But he could be unconscious from the concussive force of one or more shells. She frowned but hesitating in going in close before the field cleared. He could still have more tricks up his sleeves and she did not want to walk into a trap now. They had the Beezle pair wandering the perimeter of the area and Magus should be hurting now, so Toybox Girl could afford to wait a moment and let her core start to regenerate her energy supply. If only she had a Cosmic Energy outlet right now she could focus all of this excess that she had made during the battle and launch it at Magus. Cosmos Energy was something from her world that everyone generated as a matter of course during combat and other times of high emotions and that energy was a potent source used to summon Wonder Bits, power Aura systems, and as a direct supply for specific weapon designs. However she had not yet managed to repair those systems.

Suddenly Caira nudged TBG. "He started moving." TBG's senses focused and immediately started track him, going off again. He liked to keep trying to get away from them. Toybox Girl thought that he would have figured it out by now that he couldn't get away from the two of them. She started trying to fire up her booster automatically. The green flared out of her booster but warning signs blared into her head and a few electrical sounds spurted from her booster until the green flame cut out. She had used that lightning fist move that Caira had but the recoil had impacted her booster pretty heavily and now it was too late. "Come on, let's catch up!"

Magus favored one leg and he tried to run through the street and back into the miasma that he had left out earlier. He looked back and forth through the dark mist looking for a potential victim. He needed someone to hold onto and use as a bargaining chip for his life and freedom. In those mists he found a small children's park and in there he found a little girl unconscious from the effects of the Miasma. He grabbed her and held her against his chest, wincing at the pain his wounds felt as he started trying something new. Then he dismissed the miasma, he needed both of them to approach and not just the pink haired one.

The pair approached and Caira felt her heart sink while Toybox Girl steeled with cool anger as he saw what Magus was about to try to do. He held an unconscious little girl and one hand was wrapped around her tiny neck. One twitch from that hand and he would add to his death toll. Magus hissed out his words. "You know what this means. Leave me alone and don't come back, and this little girl gets to see her mommy again. Take a few steps towards me and she won't see anything anymore. You and I might come back from death, but I doubt she is a Prime with the same luxury."

Toybox GIrl lifted her beam gun and pointed it at them. Caira looked at her sharply, was she really going to risk the little girl to take him down? There was a limit to what Caira would allow and in this situation she had control of that, so she put one hand on the beam gun. "You know we can't risk this." Toybox Girl sighed. "In the Union the policy is not to negotiate with hostage situations. Wait for backup and a sniper to take out the enemy. We don't have that option here." Still, she couldn't pull the trigger. Earlier he had threatened and attacked civilians but her guns were not going to hurt them, not on purpose. This was crossing the line, there had to be a way around the hostage. No backup except the Beezle and neither of them were geared for this. She eyed him furiously. "You are only delaying your fate!" Toybox Girl lowered her beam gun, thinking as quickly as she could for a way to secure the hostage and capture him.

[Magus]

Magus held the unconscious girl against his chest and glared at his assailants. “You did this,” he hissed. “All of this. All this damage; all these lives lost. I had a job to do – I was tasked with getting rid of some terrible people and instead you’ve turned this neighborhood into a war zone. You have a chance, here and now, to end it. To prevent anyone else from-”

“Shut up!!” the cyborg demanded. “We don’t want to hear it anymore. You’ve been beaten! Put the girl down and just surrender!”

Magus just flashed a sinister smirk right back at the rocket-launching lunatic. He wasn’t beaten; he’d had the upper hand ever since he moved the fight into the bazaar. “Why don’t you just ask me nicely? Maybe we can just shake hands and put all of this ugly business behind us,” he chuckled. “I’ll not surrender to you would-be bounty hunt-agh!!”

The wizard dodged a blast from the dark-haired wizardess. He’d been momentarily surprised that she would take such a risk. By the time it clicked that she’d missed him deliberately – having aimed high – it was too late.

With a jet-propelled flying kick, the cyborg warrior appeared from behind him with her stolen Shadowstep and drove her foot hard against his spine. Magus consciously let go of the girl, for fear that by holding onto her he’d clench his fists and mistakenly break her neck.

It was a mistake. As soon as the girl hit the cobbles, a glowing rope coalesced from Caira’s hand and propelled itself forward, wrapping around Magus as if of its own volition, pinning his arms to his sides. The Fiendlord struggled against these new bonds as a blast of blue light crashed into his back, sweeping him forward and off his feet. Unable to put his hands out to catch himself, he crashed painfully and miserably onto the ground.

With a great deal of effort, Magus shifted onto his knees and was able to free his karambit from his belt. He slashed upward, slicing the rope before immediately dive-rolling to the side as Caira’s Eclipse blast crashed into the spot where he had been.

The wizard rolled up to his feet and hurled a blast of energy at the Toybox Girl, forcing her to dodge out of the way as he stepped back into the plane of shadow. Magus charged forward across the narrow distance between he and Caira, leaping back into the material plane with a flying knee. He connected with the girl’s chin, sending her reeling, before following up with a blast of dark energy. The Duskstrike exploded, catapulting her into the wall of a nearby courier’s office.

The entire building trembled with the impact and the girl slumped from the wall – which now bore a deep impression where she’d struck it – to her knees, before falling onto her side.

Magus moved closer but was forced to duck as one of the cyborg’s rockets whistled just over his head, exploding against the wall and further marring the courier’s office. A huge stone gargoyle up on top of the building suddenly shifted off-kilter, kicking pebbles over the edge of the building.

The wizard whirled around at the Toybox Girl, his eyes on the unconscious child between the two of them. The cyborg took this to mean Magus was up to something, and opened fire again. He sidestepped the rocket and it slammed into the wall with another explosion, further tilting the gargoyle over the edge. It seemed to glare down at the child below, perfectly poised to fall down upon her.

“Stop!! Don’t you see what’s-?!” Magus began, before another rocket was loosed into the air. Too tired to step into the plane immaterial again, the archmage knew there was no dodging this attack, as another blow to the building meant certain death for the child.

He crossed his arms in a defensive ‘x’ pattern and tucked his head down as the missile screamed toward him, hitting its mark with a fantastic blast. The impact propelled Magus against the same wall that had been peppered with bodies and explosions, rocking the building just hard enough to shift the gargoyle once more.

Magus looked up at the finely crafted statue, his breath caught in his lungs. It tilted again, now clearly looming over the street below. Another spray of pebbles peppered him, but the gargoyle held fast.

He grit his teeth hard. He didn’t know why he was so concerned about the well-being of the child; he’d annihilated swathes of innocents to serve his own ends and for all he knew this didn’t even exist in any ‘real’ sense.

The stone monster shifted forward again, casting more dust and debris down upon him. Finally, it broke free and tumbled forward, free-falling directly for the unconscious child.

With a growl, Magus stepped back into the plane of shadow. He looked up at the gargoyle, now slowly rotating through the air as it appeared to gently float down toward the child.

It wasn’t a large distance. No longer than he’d taken to strike out at Caira, but this time, it felt as though the weight of the earth was pressing down on his chest. Dozens of apparitions stood all over the road and the edges of his vision swam worse than before.

Magus charged ahead through the monochrome wasteland, toward the girl. He reached her and scooped her up, turning to see several of the shadow people suddenly lurching toward him. Too tired to maintain the Shadowstep, he tossed the girl toward the cyborg and returned to the material plane. He tried to leap out of the way but one of the gargoyle’s wings clipped him across the back as the rest of the statue crashed into the cobblestone street, imbedding itself into it and pinning Magus beneath its wing.

The cyborg had caught the girl and set her aside on the ground before approaching Magus. Before she could gloat, she realized that the gargoyle had been holding a spear, and that it had pierced completely through the wizard’s torso. Magus looked up at her with crimson eyes, struggling to speak, but succeeding only in making a gurgling, gasping noise, before he coughed a smattering of blood. It trailed down on his chin and he collapsed, too battered to move.

Caira made her way to her feet and quickly checked for a pulse.

“Alive,” she said to the cyborg, before casting a glance to the little girl. She was beginning to stir. Caira looked back down at Magus. “…barely.”

[Caira Ayryn]

“Alive...”

The enchantress’s steel eyes hardened with the chill as the words rolled from her tongue. “Barely.”

Even death was not to be delivered to a murderer, Caira had decided and immediately her aggression had flipped to some misplaced sense of mercy. Ironic. Her fingertip thumbed against his skin, Everyone had a choice and he had simply made the wrong one. But that didn’t make it right. Her eyes narrowed. It didn't make any of it right. Still, something seemed too morally ‘aware’ with what the man had said, but then, villains weren’t always prone to wearing dark, hooded cloaks and having bright red eyes. And now through her own silver eyes, justice had lost its definition and the world had never seemed more gray.

Yet, all too suddenly, with the pooling warmth on her hands and staining her skin like crimson dye, was the thick blood of an immortal man - whose life had been thick with death - and who, by her own justice, was undeniably guilty.

They had come into this battle with the resolve to kill him. Yet now, he lay on the cobbled ground. Tempting fate’s eternal kiss. And the girl simply could not turn away.

Meanwhile, ToyBox Girl held in her hands the most innocent of all in this blood-soaked mess, a nameless child. Fallen into the destruction that was the consequence of inescapable choice and cast into slumber that was too close to becoming eternal; the child now now lay in the arms of a robot.

Dark eyebrows creased together as Caira’s searching gaze turned to TBG, who seemed to be doing a vitals scan on the little girl. Streaking before the monk’s own eyes was the blur that had happened. Perhaps uncharacteristic, and perhaps the girl had even caught a glimpse of the real man beneath the ominous cloak and elusive visage. He had saved the child’s life. And to her, those who valued life deserved to live.

Magus wasn’t fully conscious and stirred as his hand went to feel for the spear shoved though his chest. Thick goop drooled from his fingers as the reality of the plunged spear flickered in his distant eyes. A heavy breath sucked through his punctured lung as the blood dribbled in a fresh surge from his chest, and oddly in the fiery pain, his body felt numb.

Colors merged together as he drifted in and out of the intangible plane, and through it all was the pale light of familiar shadow in that girl’s colorless eyes. His ears could not perceive the sound bumbling from her moving lips. It wasn’t important, then, if he couldn’t hear it. A man too close to death could only hear the sound of either angel song, hellfire’s thrashing flames, or pristine silence.

He wasn’t at peace, and even fought to hold onto his dulled body while shadows of light escaped through his fingers. With the sound of a gently whisked breeze, the world itself turned black.

...

“I can not- I will not leave him to die.” Caira admitted to herself it would be so much easier to let death take him, moments ago they had just risked their own lives to stop him, and undoubtedly he had even come close to killing them both. “Let him live behind iron for his life instead.” The girl insisted to TBG, who had now shifted the weight of the girl over the father’s shoulders.

TBG agreed, but only for one reason, and nodded after remembering an ounce of data that had flashed to her when it all began. The Omniverse. The rules of this world had been spoken by Omni himself that assured to Primes that after death, “You will be reborn.”


A man who had emerged as though he had climbed up from hell, and had been crushed by rubble was covered in black dust. Sharp, villainous eyes stung into Caira’s flesh as her chin curved over her shoulder to see the source. A man, in an honorable captain’s uniform was indebted to them, a grateful father, but there was something more in his eyes.

“She’s alive.” TBG echoed to the man, informing him of the soft breaths taken by the unconscious child.

“Thank you so much for saving my daughter.” A repulsive formality, carried by a toneless voice, almost insouciant. Hairs shot up on Caira’s neck and with it, the fleeting touch of danger.

ToyBox Girl didn’t seem to notice, as the name of the man flashed underneath her visor. She stared at the name, and the rank assigned to him, Captain of the city guard in Minas Tirith. It was exactly who they would need to see, as bounty hunters looking to turn-in a wanted criminal.

“Captain, this is-” ToyBox Girl began to explain, only to be interrupted by the man, who intercepted her exact train of thought.

“I am on leave this month, and as you can imagine,” He held a weakened expression, promoting the sympathy of the girls by emphasizing the nonexistent heft of his daughter over his shoulder, “This is a bit much for me. If you’ll excuse me, my wife is missing.”

Perfected words chimed in their ears. Yet, his eyes suspiciously fell on Magus, the criminal who had nearly decimated an entire town and burnt down his house. Buildings had broken around him, and now the Prime had been stopped by a simple stupidly accidental spear. Popping out of a conveniently placed pocket was the unmistakable edge of a notebook. Familiar only to its owner, Heironymus Lex, whose eyes widened in a gasp and he quickly looked away. Averting his quickened gaze from the mage, Heironymus took one long look at the two girls who, after memorizing their faces, flashed decisively with malice before turning his back on both of them. And leaving Magus to die.

The formalities weren’t really relevant and to TBG that was the best the man could have done as a father and husband so as to not get in the duo’s way. Today the captain was a civilian, and she wasn’t about to argue with him. Yet, even the robot questioned the guard’s elusive behavior, she imagined he would at least want to apprehend the criminal that did this to his town and nearly killed his daughter. It seemed however, Lex had acquired something much more valuable, information, the gold of his trade and was willing to let the other guards swarm in and clean up this dying mess. It was such a small, small price to pay. The captain had other plans. And Magus, even if he lived from the ordeal, was now compromised..

Why had he felt the need to lie? Caira took a lasting look at the man’s uniformed back, almost every sentence the man had spoken seemed to be false. He did, however, seem sincere about his daughter. It was hard to tell the truths in the turmoil, and Caira was torn back and reminded to stay by her injured bounty’s side. Calling her back once more was the sound of her enemy's failing body.

Caira applied pressure to his caving chest cavity, as TBG did a scan. The robot’s schematics weren’t used to organic, humanoid anatomy and it took her twice as long to figure out the functions. Meanwhile, Caira, who could clearly sense every scrape they had caused him, and improvised a few skills while shouting desperately. “IS ANYONE HERE A DOCTOR?" She shouted to the chasms of the leveled town. “Someone, anyone...Please.”

Magus’s heart was failing just beneath the girl’s bloodstained palms and Caira couldn’t do a thing to save him.

Someone rose from the back, Caira’s attention didn’t move from the dying mage as a voice announced, “I’m a doctor.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Save him!” Caira pleaded to the very average man, who stood idle.

“H-He just killed my girlfriend. Before I could even blink, he killed her in cold blood. Her neck... Right before my eyes. Her neck... Snapped. And there was nothing I could do, no way I could even do anything... She didn’t deserve it! She didn’t deserve ANY of it. And YOU let it happen.” Ice shivered in Caira’s bones at the broken voice spoken by a similarly broken man. Sternly, his fist clenched as his tongue tasted malice, “The way I see it, he deserves to die.” The face of that beautiful woman flashed before her eyes. Caira blinked away the sorrow and forced life on Magus. But her efforts weren’t enough. And the rhythm in his chest began to fade.

“I'm going to save him. TBG I need your help, he’s... He’s going to die.”

“I won’t let you save him! Let him die, or I’ll kill him myself!” The aggression and grief-blind doctor charged at the kneeling Caira with a chunk of rock and the girl defensively swept the man from his feet, as her heel met his ankles and with his balance failing, his skull bashed bloodied and into the ground.

“Move over.” TBG spoke, commandeering the monk’s weakness and traded places with the shaking girl. Without blinking, the robot pulled the impaled spear from Magus’s chest and following the violent removal was the spray of blood that showered them both. Quickly, TBG played surgeon as the lung collapsed. Air would need to be pumped, however Magus’s body began to convulse, going into shock all while he was still knocked out from the pain. The shaking slowed, and his body began to shut down. It wouldn't be long now.

Caira held out her hand and nothing happened as the girl met the painful reality of her powers not working in this verse. TBG relied on skill, and somehow, with a little luck, together the duo worked a little “magic” and Caira held her hopes in the palm of her hand as a radiant light smoldered in Magus’s darkest hour.


Dawn.

The interrogation with the guards was over, and Magus’s condition was stable. The two had been informed that after he had been stabilized, they transported to a prison on the west side of Minas Tirith. As if that meant anything to them.

"What did you say your name was again?" The Guard asked the mysterious brunette.

"Ayryn."

"And you are TBG?" He confirmed taking another look at his last minute notes. Toybox Girl nodded. “The trial is a week from now, if you girls want to show up as a witness to his crimes.”

Caira’s eyes swept the man’s, in her world, this was not a commonplace procedure. “What will happen to him?” She was prompted to ask and TBG frowned.

“Depends what the verdict is. If you show up to testify in the court, there’s a good chance the state will banish him. He has caused a lot of trouble for the Kingdom, even killed that doctor kid, ya know, I heard he was the best in the Verse. Kid had a gift and went to some fancy school in his home world. Science supersedes magic, they say.”

Caira cringed at this, she didn’t know which was worse: The fact they were trying Magus for a death she had caused, or that she had taken a life that could give so many other people life in return. It didn't matter if it wasn't intentional, it had happened, accident or not. And a whole town had been made into rock soup. This would get the levels talking. TBG cast a glance over to Caira, seeing the reaction written in the tremors of her eyes and the despair sink into her face.

Time was like that, it made people weary. And the robot guessed Caira would never be the same. She had committed murder. It was self defense, nothing compared to the heinous crimes Magus had committed in cold blood to earn him a bounty in the first place, but still, death couldn’t be taken back. And Caira was just too human.

“So what happens next, TBG? What will you do?” Caira asked her, as the guard turned away from them both but suddenly, turned on his heels and looked back at them. “Oh yes, I almost forgot your reward.”

Caira froze as the guard shoved a heavy bag into her free hand, “There ya go! Good job kid! You’ll soon be one of Omni’s best.” A toothy grin was left etched in her blinking eyelids as Caira felt the weight of the money resemble the same nauseating lump of shame that had formed in her stomach. “Good luck in the future, girls!” The cheery man called behind him, Caira froze as TBG read the girl’s expression plain as day. The purple had returned to the monk’s eyes, dark and luminescent in color. Yet the timid naivety once very relevant in her demeanor, no longer remained.

“So what are you-” Caira tried to ask again to TBG, who interrupted with a soft smile.

“I hear Coruscant has quite a few bounties for the taking... However, I guess you won’t be joining me.” The robot could see it in Caira’s eyes. There was nothing quite like death, and similarly, nothing would ever compare to murder.

“I have something I have to do... What do you think will happen to Magus?”

“If his trial goes well, they might banish him. Which seems to be the equivalent of death to us Primes.” TBG reset her bazooka and it seemed to begin a bright charging sequence.

“Thanks Toybox Girl. Without you, I think I’d be dead.”

“We make a good team. Call me if you are having any trouble with the bounties out there, and you know I’ll come to back you up.”

“I’m only a call away.” Toybox Girl brought attention to her machine frame, while Caira mutually showed the pink-haired girl her phone. Now synced, they could message anywhere if they needed to. Trusted friends were hard to find in the Omniverse. And even harder to find was a friend like ToyBox Girl.

They each exchanged a grin before parting to go down their own path.

...


The world spun in patches of light around him. Magus saw stars everywhere he looked. “Gah- Tch." His grated teeth together as his hand reached for the hole his his chest, now vacant of any spear. He was covered in gauss and bandages which limited his movements, he rose up from his prison bed, which was less comfortable than a coffin, and glanced at his mummified bandages in the lightless room.

"I need to-" He began, only to be interrupted by an old fool.

"What, escape? That's not the most original thought for this who wake up in jail, sonny!"

Magus's eyes grew wise to the slot in the door in which he could see the old coot. "You got skills sonny, I hear you gave em' hell. But now, you are here. In my prison. Don't even think about escaping.."

The guard's voice narrated the mage's next action.

"That's right. Magic proof. Spellbound and you’re trapped. This place ain’t like thems Coruscant prisons. The walls have a barrier, so for even the most gifted mage who could travel to the astral realm, you can’t escape this room. The only way you’re gettin’ out of here... Is with this here key. I'd swallow it, but then I ain't up on me shots.” The guard said, flashing a shiny golden tooth and waving it with flaunting gleam in front of the mage’s glowing red eyes.

Sure enough, Magus submerged himself in the realm of the in between, and unable to slip through the wall, he was met with a hard reality.

"Fuck."

...

A startling bell was rung before a plate slid into the cold cell. “Chow-call.” Some voice spoke and Magus looked at it distastefully. Ravaged from his injury and lasting fight, and yet he could not bring himself to eat the food.

“Not eating it,” He voiced out loud.

“C’mon,” It was a girl’s voice, a flash of red hair flickered out of the corner slot, but he could not see her face, “It’ll help get you strong. The walls here are magic, but so is the food. ‘Sides, I made it myself.” The hospitality seemed familiar from somewhere, there was even a little pride in the voice. Taking pride in cooking for criminals was not something a usual prison guard would do. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Quickly Magus rose to match a face to the wisp of hair he had seen, but by the time it took his still-weakened body to stand, the entire hallway was empty. Even of the gold-toothed guard.

He had his doubts. Poison. It had to be. One of Lux’s henchmen had come to kill him, or free him. For a reincarnating prime, either would do. Still, it beat sitting in this cell waiting for a ‘verdict’ which could sentence him to the banishment.

Eventually and reluctantly, he succumbed to the growls of his stomach calling him to the sandwich. Squealing rats crawled from their place in the shadowed corners of the room and Magus battled with their annoying presence from his sandwich, and fed them a piece to confirm poison. Their cheeks bulged and they didn’t immediately collapse. It was good enough for him. His scarlet eyes watched the creatures for a moment before his lips met with the fresh bread. He inhaled the scent of sourdough and sunk his teeth into the savory meal, sighing into the relaxation he had earned. It was almost peaceful, a world away from those who might seek to hunt him in the future.

Magus had bitten the sandwich, chewing a bite of the surprisingly delicious blend of meat, cheese, and lettuce; only to feel his front tooth nearly break as his jaw clamped down on the sandwich and his tongue met with the cold and rusty taste of steel. It didn’t taste like poison, and yet his body elicited a gag reflex.

After spitting out the taste, and probably a piece of his tooth, the cold iron rattled to the ground, made of the same material as the door. In the shade of the room, Magus could clearly see the shape of a key had fallen before him. As his hand went to grasp the same key the old man had held up, so triumphantly, that now it seemed pitiful. A seal glowed upon the side with a name that had been etched in with magic. And lighting the pitch black cell was a name that meant absolutely nothing to him.

Ayryn.

Turning it over, he could see the glowing words, Find me, to find Omni.

[spoiler]...

The sound of pitchy whistling was heard down the hallway as the gentle jingle of keys swung around the ring carelessly in ol’ gold tooth’s boney hand. He rubbed his nose and did his rounds, opening the slit of an eye hole to check on the status of the prisoners in the morning. There weren’t many who hadn’t been executed, and there was only one Prime in toothy’s cellblock, so the surprise that grew on his face when a dim candle light revealed the very empty cell of convict two-two-nine was as priceless as the sound of his shocked gasp. The old man's protruding knuckles rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he checked again, and again... And again.

Impending doom crashed down on the guard’s shoulders, as he shook with fear. Fear of consequence for his failed responsibility, fear of what would become of his life, and the fear of death itself.[/spoiler]