Domination Break! IC (Started/Accepting/PG16)

[Jake the Sage]

BUMP

[Magnet Soldier]

((Sorry for not posting. i've had no internet since 13th.))

Michael glanced at Kaito's arm, noticing a slight glitter. He guessed that kaito must have been hit by the flying Xeno crystals. He presumed Kaito didn't want to fuss about it at the moment, so he left it alone. However, when he put down the crystals and walked over to Kaito to get his katana back, he whispered three words. "Need any help?" And sheathed his Katana. He walked back and lifted the crystals again, following Kaito towards the Evan's hideout. He couldn't see the spire, which wasn't surprising as he'd only just been able to see the very top of the very tallest building of the Xeno Crystal plant from the church. Michael turned to face Nimue, Minnie and Andrew, when he realised he'd been saying it alot recently and it probably got annoying. "Noone forgot anything, did they?" He asked instead.

[Jake the Sage]

Kaito was slightly sprised when Micheal walked over to him to retrieve the katana and whispered if he needed any help. Looking slightly at his left arm, twinkling in the small area which the crystal had embedded itsef, and he felt it moving deeper under his skin. Scowling a bit at the annoyance, nor more than an itch in pain, but didn't try to let the others see it. Moving his arm to hide the mark he shook his head and mouthed, 'no thanks'. Once he had handed the katana back they rest continued back to where they had left from.

[encapturer]

"A fool? What do you suggest I do then? Just sit here and do nothing? Go around and trying using this chip you gave me, which doesn't work half the time?" Evan yelled. He knew Zack could be stubborn, but anything about Xeno Crystals seem to just piss him off.

"Just trust me, okay?" was all that Zack could say.

Evan closed his eyes for a moment, thinking on what Zack said. "Then tell me, what's so bad about the Xeno Crystals?" Zack did not respond, and merely shook his head. "Well then, if there's nothing more for you to say, I see no reason not to do this my way."

Zack sighed. "I thought I would be able to stop you; to save you." He drew his blade and pointed it at Evan. "Looks like the power has gone to your head. Best to kill you now before you cause any more damage." There was regret in his voice, which confused Evan, who also drew his sword.

Mia noticed the fight brewing and began moving from her corner to assist Evan. The two blades seemed to swung at each other, neither warrior landing any blows on flesh. As far as swordplay was considered, they were about evenly matched, and although each of them tried to use the enviroment to their advantage; all they did was make a mess of the place. Mia felt it was up to her to tip the scales in Evan's favor, and began preparing a spell, but she suddenly stopped, shocked at what would happen next.

Zack, in the middle of the fight, stopped moving. Evan, in mid swing, swung the blade horizontally at Zack's neck... which went clean through him, without even damaging him. As Evan saw what happened, his eyes widened in fear.

"No..."

That was all that Evan could say before Zack's body began moving again. Zack swung his sword upward, tearing through Evan's cloak and leaving a large open wound on his chest. Zack looked down to Evan, who had fallen down onto the floor in pain. Evan, though in much pain, still glared back at Zack with hatred in his eyes.

"How... why did you do this?" Evan managed to ask between gasps of air.

"I'm sorry," Zack replied as he cast a sleep spell on Evan. The least he could do for him was to give him a peaceful death, after all. Before Zack could figure out what to do next, he heard a piercing scream from the room.

"GRAAAAAAAHHH!" Mia Ranel was running towards Zack from the opposite side of the room with a large fishing spear she found in storage. No longer thinking rationally, she only thought of how to avenge the death of Evan Adarian - [I]her[/I] Evan Adarian. She almost reached him, but seemed to trip and fall, dropping her weapon in the process.

"Can it be?" Zack muttered to himself as he cast his detection spell. Instead of the white aura signifying a Released person, the detection spell caused Zack to see Mia covered in a deep darkness that seemed to absorb her body. He turned of the spell after seeing that; it told him everything he needed to know.

"I can't believe he got that far..."

[hr]

The group made its way back to the rear of the church where Evan was hiding with little problem. Although they tried to stay out of sight; there were a few people who saw them, and found it odd that they were carrying large crystals around. Fortunately, no one knew it was Xeno Crystals they were lugging around. Due to those crystals, however, the return trip took longer... and it was now late in the afternoon. However, while the door down to the basement was unlocked, the pulses of energy from Evan could not be felt, and there was a sort of ominous feeling coming from the basement. It was enough to frighten Doctor Brown, though he kept up a brave front... All for the sake of science, of course.

[Magnet Soldier]

Michael, unnerved by the lack of pulsating energy, dropped the crystals and ran to the door, placing his ear towards the door. He heard two things, something metal, a weapon of some kind, dropping to the floor, and a gasp that sounded slightly familiar. He stepped back a little bit, not looking at the others, and drew his gun. "Somethings happened. I think Evan's injured. Leave the crystals here, hide them in a bush or something, and follow me." He clicked the safety latch of his gun off, and pulled the trigger, blasting the door of it's hinges. He ran inside, towards Evan's cupboard, to find a sight he wouldn't have normally believed. Evan was motionless on the floor, and Mia was nearly crying next to him, while Zack was looking down at Mia with an expression of shock. Michael took all this in in a second, before lifting his gun up in line with Zack's head. At this range, Zack could not escape the bullet, so it was pointless to run. And Zack knew this, as he had seen this man shoot a man in the leg without looking from the top of a mountain. "What did you do? And why?" Michael asked, his cold and piercing eyes staring straight into Zack's.

[spoiler=OOC]Is Evan even Dead?[/spoiler]

[Jake the Sage]

Kaito hadn't the time to think about what was going on once Micheal had put his ear to the door. Before he could get a word out the man had pulled the trigger on his gun, suprisingly releasing a gunshot explosive enough to knock the large wooden door off it's hinges, and then he disappeared down the flight of staires. Rebuffing his position he turned to Minnie and the doctor, ordering them to stay here until one of them comes out to retrieve them. Facing back towards the demolished entry way Kaito frowned, realizing now that he had a second to think, that there was something in the air that seemed amiss and he couldn't place his finger on it; he never imagined it was the pressure being given off by Evan.

Leaping into the stairway he slid on the edges until he rolled out into the large room which Michael had already entered. Drawing both swords as he came to a stop he took in the entire scene quickly. Evan was dead, his limp body being craddled by a woman he recognized as Mia from their first encounter, and Micheal had his gun's sighting trained on an individual's skull; if the round hit it would leave him headless without much problem. Standing up he positioned himself to prevent the murderer from escaping through the only exit and glanced at Micheal, "What the hell is going on down here?!"

[encapturer]

[spoiler='Time: Present Day | Location: Road to Paradox Magic Headquarters']"Augh!"

Linus was almost blindsided by a large truck while he was racing to the crime scene in his own vehicle; he never thought so many things would happen over the span of a few days. The truck was moving erratically, similar to how a truck would move if the driver suddenly fell asleep. Fortunately, most vehicles have safeties installed in them, and the trucks' kicked in after passing Linus by. A large burst of magical energy was expelled from under the truck, stopping the engines and bringing the truck to a complete stop.

Then it exploded in a big ball of fire.

"Damn, was that truck carrying an Annihilation Rune or something?" Linus said loudly to himself. It would be impossible; those runes can only be used with a governmental mandate, and he hasn't been identified of one. Most magical equipment is shielded to prevent explosive reactions, but Annihilation Runes were pretty much the only magical item that needed to be lightly shielded to work at all.

Still, he still needed to get to Paradox Magic in order to investigate the break in. As he continued, he spotted something even stranger than the exploding truck, at least that could be explained away, no matter how odd it was. The people on the street were all on the ground. Not many people; the quarantine was still active after all. But just moments ago the people were up and about trying to make due in their situations. Now they were all on the ground, sleeping. Some were even in the middle of the street. The fact that one or two were still awake as confused as Linus was just as mind-boggling.

"...Screw it," Linus said, as he jumped out of the car. The break in could wait. He had a feeling the sleeping people had something to do with the epidemic, and if so, he had to take action immediately.[/spoiler]

"Sure, I'll wait out here...," Doctor Brown replied, acknowledging Kaito's request. After shoving the crystals behind a dumpster, he returned to the entryway downstairs, his movements becoming more sluggish as he went. He was able to reach the wall and lean on it before falling to the ground, giving as comfortable of a seat that he would get right now. "Minnie..." he spoke, still smiling, though he started to struggle to get the words out of his mouth. "All that walking... wore me out. I think I'm gonna go... nod off for a bit. Could you be a dear and... wake me when we're moving... again?" After saying that last word, the doctor nodded off...

[hr]

"It's just as it looks like. I killed him." Zack simply replied, answering both questions at once. His right foot felt the area on the ground nearby and kicked away the book that Evan was reading before Zack arrived. It was a book on various myths and legends; Zack figured that it was that book that gave Evan the idea to try Xeno Crystals.

He looked at the people who he had helped a scant few days ago. He knew what each of them was capable of. Except for that new guy, but he was more worried about Michael's crack shot and Nimue's magic, anyway. With Evan's book no longer under him, Zack could phase through the ground easily, but there was a high chance he would get killed from any one of their attacks.

He then felt Evan's familiar energy pulse - the last one he would emit. "Look, the results of Evan's death are showing," he said, pointing to Mia who was still near Evan's corpse. Only now, she laid motionless on the ground, no longer crying, no longer moving. A close examination would show that she was still breathing, but besides that, she was functionally in a coma.

"Unfortunately, he was unable to save humanity without getting... corrupted," Zack continued, not flinching at the fact that Michael held a gun to his face. "That is why this is happening. But if you want to continue what he started, head to the Paradox Magic branch in Capital City. Tell them I sent you." After telling the group that, Zack had no intention of sticking around and answering any more questions, and started to slowly phase through the ground. Due to the way his power worked, he could not go faster, and while phasing, it leaves him a wide open target. He would probably die if he was attacked. And somehow, that thought made him smile.

It would make things even more interesting.

((OOC: Well, I'm going to be dodgy here and say that Evan, was indeed, [i]killed[/i]. Is Evan [i]dead[/i]? Weeeelllll..... this won't be the last time we'll hear from him, at least. ))

[Magnet Soldier]

"Bastard." Michael muttered, but he dropped his barrel away from Zack. "If this is a trap, or if I see your face again, well, lets just say that cheesy line that everyone says in the movies. 'Your gonna wish you were never born.'" And with that Michael dropped to look at Evan, but his face was bright white, and his breath had already stopped. And, sure enough, when Michael placed his hand on Evan's chest, there was no heartbeat. "Lets go." He said, emotionlessly, before walking back up to the surface. He was going to say goodbye to the Doctor, the crystals weren't needed now, but Andrew was asleep. Minnie was next to him, about to wake him up, but Michael noticed something else. The noise from the harbor town that he'd heard on the way in had vanished, it was silent. There were no cars or anything. He was about to wake the doctor up when he heard an Explosion from the town.

[Jake the Sage]

Kaito kept his eyes on Zack as he slowly phased through the floor. Just as his head remained Kaito grabbed it, Micheal having turned around and examining Evan's corpse, pulling him slightly out of the ground he scowled with deep piercing eyes. He felt that, since he had him now, he should just kill him for what he had done. It would be easy with his hea din his hand, just keep squeezing until his head pops like a over rippened tomato. In fact as Kaito thought about this he found himself acting on it, nearly breaking Zack's skull until he realized what he was doing and let go. The time Kaito took to recover was just enough for Zack to lip completely through the ground while Michael called to him, "Lets go."

"Yeah," he merely replied solmnly, knowing he let the enemy go because he couldn't bring himself to kill the man in such a manner. Turning around he followed Micheal up the stairs until they reached the top, Minnie ready to wake Andrew up; the doctor having fallen asleep. Suddenly Micheal's head snapped the other way, looking after hearing an explosion which only he had heard . . .

[encapturer]

Zack grinned as he was allowed to sink under the ground, though deep inside he still wanted them to go through with their threats. Of course, the fact that Johnathan was still up there meant that he would have reason to return to the surface . He had to give up Evan, but all that meant was that he had to start over. Whether it would be Johnathan, or one of the other Released, it did not matter. Someone was bound to continue where Evan left off.

[hr]

Andrew's eyes shot open before anyone could wake him. He was just tired moments ago, and now he felt refreshed - rejuvenated, even. And just in time, too, since everyone was now outside again. He worried about what actually happened down in that basement, but with the way everyone was looking right now, he decided not to ask about that.

"So... what are you going to do now?" Andrew asked instead. He knew that it was probably none of his business, but he wanted if there was any value for him sticking with the group a little while longer. At least until he got out of town; hopefully getting to Capital City will be simple after that.

[Jake the Sage]

Kaito thought about what was next for him, and Minnie subsiquently, and honestly didn't know. He had only joined Evan's crew to help dispell the rumors of a plague so he could get out of the area, but now that Evan was dead there seemed to be little reason for him to continue on with these folks. Then there was the part about Minnie herself, he knew no matter where he wandered off to she'd end up following him; thus making any dangerious voyages impossible to undertake with a clean conciousness. Sighing he felt his arm twing in pain from the shard, something he had almost forgotten, and decided to answer first, "I think Minnie and I will continue on our own. My original plan was just to leave the area . . . I suppose we can still do [i]that[/i] at least."

"What about the rest of you?" he added in.

[encapturer]

"A pity," Andrew said. "Minnie was a great assistant." He stood up and stretched, surprised that he was feeling that energetic. "I guess I'll head down to Capital City, since I can get all the tools I need there to continue my research." He walked over to one of the hidden crystals and picked it up. It was still as awkward to carry as it was before. "I must ask, how are you leaving? Do you plan to sneak past the Disease Control?"

Before Andrew could get an answer, he heard a loud thump from around the corner. Placing the crystal back on the ground, he raced over to the corner and peered around. He could not believe what he saw. In front of him was a unconscious young man, who was apparently leaning on the wall just moments before. As he approached the man, he could not help but notice the rest of the scene. No vehicles on the road. No standing bodies on the sidewalks. The few people on the streets were crumpled onto the ground.

After calming himself down he noticed that the man was wearing a DC uniform. Whatever was going on, affected them as well. His mind recalled the quarantine placed on the city, and the Disease Control's involvement. Believing the man to be sick he quickly backpedaled, not wanting to catch whatever was going around.

"I... I think I'm going to get out of here... as quickly as possible..." Andrew was starting to crack. He didn't believe the disease would be this serious, since the DC didn't gate off the city completely. He picked up the crystal again and turned to the others, still smiling, though it was unstable. "I suggest you all... leave now as well."

[Magnet Soldier]

"I'll do what Zack advised. Although he betrayed us, he never lied once, and even if it is a trap, I can handle it." Michael said. "And since Evan didn't answer anything I was confused about, maybe the answers are exactly where Zack said they are." Michael looked towards the street. "Nimue, you coming with me? We'll see if we can find Harald along the way. For all we know, the next stop of that boat might have been Capital City." Michael asked, hoping that Nimue would come along. He looked towards the city, noticing the others didn't hear the explosion, which means it either was far away or not very big.

[Jake the Sage]

Kaito gave a sigh as he ran his fingers through his brunette hair. Thinking about how they were going to get to where ever they were going changed wehn the DC officer was found . . . well . . . diseased. Glancing over at Minnie he could tell she was worried about Andrew and he knew he'd have to put her mind at ease. Walking up to the professor he held out his hand, though not the one containing the shard, and offered it to the man, "I think Minine and I will be accompanying you for a while though I can't guarantee when we'll have to be off on our own way you understand."

Shaking Andrew's hand he then turned to face Micheal who had been pondering what to do as well. From the expression on his face he was deep in though and, once he mentioned he'd attempt to follow what Zack had said, even Kaito got a bit worried. Nodding his head he wished him luck until he mentioned he'd be going to the to the Capital City as well. Smiling a bit, "Well I guess that means we're all going to the same place then . . ."

[encapturer]

"...Sounds good. Let's go." Andrew was starting to regain his composure, although he still was a little spooked by what just happened moments ago. In the end, he was glad to have familiar faces with him - who knows what would happen once leaving Nesland, after all....

[hr]

[spoiler="Date: 3/12 | Location: Nesland, Mercado"]

The town of Nesland never did recover from the events that happened over a week ago. There have been no further reports of people falling into comas, but the DC's kept themselves busy by keeping a vigilant watch over the rest of the population. Most of the governing structure has shattered, with most of the higher level officials succumbing to the 'disease' as well. Among those few who still walk the streets were a pair of people; a news-lady and camerawoman, who had entered the city on the day the mass comas occurred, still recording their news footage.

"...Finally, the body found inside the basement of The First Church of Nesland was identified as terrorist Evan Adarian. The circumstances surrounding his death is unknown, but is believed to be in relation to the theft of the Xeno Crystals from the Paradox Magic plant in town. We will keep you updated on any further developments."

"Cut!" The camerawoman said, turning off the transmitter on the camera. The newswoman sighed and sat down on a foldable chair behind the camera, and took a drink of water.

"Glad that Evan's dead," the newswoman said. "Now maybe we can go back home."

"Yeah really," the camerawoman replied, packing up her equipment. "I don't want to stay in this Xeno Crystal infested town any longer.

"Tell me about it. Maybe they'll get around to banning the stuff someday, since everyone knows how bad it is."

"Of course it won't get banned. Paradox Magic is paying off the government."

"You always say that, even though they don't even lobby. They already did a thorough review of Paradox. Someone else has to be doing it."

"I'm sure they have someone on the outside doing it for them. After all, they're the only ones who profit from keeping them afloat."

"And everyone else who uses enchanted items."

"Hah, I'm sure we'll find some way to survive..."
[/spoiler]

[Date: 3/12 | Location: Capital City, Mercado]

Unlike Nesland, Capital City was a huge metropolis, even larger than Eldwund. Tall skyscrapers rose into the sky, peppering the sky with their lights every night. On the ground level, vehicles and pedestrians alike travel from place to place, trying to live out their daily lives. With the news of Evan's demise, everyone in town seemed to be a little happier; finding comfort in the fact that an international terrorist was no more.

This early evening, a certain bus was unloading its passengers at it's final stop, the Mercado Transportation Center. Truly, the symbol of this city's importance to Mercado, and the world. Among those passengers being unloaded were those who had their hand in the events in Nesland; Michael, Nimue, Kaito, Minnie, and Andrew. Andrew himself was now carrying a backpack, filled with crushed Xeno Crystals, carefully wrapped in order to preserve them during the trip, and to protect others from their effects. As he stepped off the bus, he thought about his upcoming experiments, unaware that one of his companions would be a perfect specimen, since although the wound was mostly healed, shards of Xeno Crystals still coursed through Kaito's blood.

Andrew's thoughts were pulled away from his research once he did finally get to look around. He considered himself a city boy, but Capital City was an entirely different beast than Nesland, where he grew up in. Countless planes flew in the nearby runways, with magic assisting takeoffs and landings. He could hear the many trains traveling on their rails, going every which way within Capital City, and beyond. Although he had seen Capital City on news shows and the like, seeing it up close...

"...Wow." That statement was usually reserved for when he makes startling discoveries. His wide open mouth soon changed into a grin - the largest grin he made since he decided to seriously study Xeno Crystals.

"We're finally here!"

[Jake the Sage]

"Oh wow this is too much," Kaito said staring at everything that passed by with amazement. He didn't want to admit it but he had grown up a kind of hermit and only came into the relative unpopulated villages when he needed too. In fact he'd never been to a city before never the less one of this size and magnitude. Kaito thought he could get lost just by turning the next corner and never be able to make it back to the train station, he only could imagine how Andrew'd navigate through this ammount of steel and iron. Then it dawned on him this was more or less like a jungle, just got to know the lay of the land. A bit more confidents and feeling better, the Xeno Crystals having played havock on his body the past two days and nights, he patted Minnie on the head with a grin, "Guess we need to keep close to each other so we don't get seperated hu?"

"Hey Andrew, where are we heading now?"

[Magnet Soldier]

Michael, standing next to Nimue as he trusted her more than the others, was also quite shocked, but having lived in something closer to this than any of the others, living in Eldwund for the last few years of his life, and somewhere nearly the size of Eldwund for the first bit, was used to the bustling streets and such. But the [i]noise[/i]. It was too much for his finely attuned ears. Every step that anyone took was also took by atleast ten others around him, and it echoed endlessly off the steel buildings on either side. The smoke, although not as much as our earth, was enough to make his eyes water and his throat clog up. The light was bouncing off buildings left right and center, and the fact that he couldn't look at a tv for that long was forgotten here. Every corner had a screen advertising the same product over and over again, just with different names. Every around him was talking, a senseless muttering into head sets almost eternally plugged into their ears. He couldn't stand it, and almost fell onto the floor, grabbing onto a sign post for support. He knew he looked out of place, a rugged, injured man, in torn and dirty clothes, a gun at each side of his waist and a sword down his back. His hair was wild and strewn about, and he seemed to be one of the only guys in the city with long hair. He noticed eye's glancing at him as they walked past, and he even saw a police officer turn and grab his gun, but he was slow and fat, and was already out of breath so turned into a doughnut shop. Michael sighed and attempted to stand up straight, and he succeeded partially. He managed to stand up, and could move, but he was off balance, as all the noise was getting to his head. "I dont like it here. It's too noisy, too many people." He said to Nimue.

[encapturer]

"...Yeah. There's too many people," Nimue replied while watching the crowds go by. She wasn't worried about herself; rather, she was worried about Michael, who she immediately noticed was having difficulty in this area. "We should probably get to where we need to go," she added.

Doctor Brown, as if on cue, turned to the rest of the group and began speaking, answering both Kaito's and Nimue's concerns. "I'm going to rent a room at a motel to rest at, then I'll head out to Paradox Magic in the morning. I know you two are heading there as well," he said to Michael and Nimue wearing that eternal smile of his. "So you can come if you have no where else to stay the night." He then turned to Kaito and Minne. "And of course, I wouldn't mind if you two decided to stick around a while longer..." Fortunately, while they were deliberating their next move, most of the people nearby had moved on towards their destinations, easing the strain on Michael's senses just a little.

[Jake the Sage]

Kaito turned and gave a polite nod to Doctor Brown. Since he didn't know where anything was in this big of a city he felt like the only sensable coarse of action to take was to remain with the group he had been with. Once they had left the city however, and if their paths allowed it, he felt it would be best to leave them and head their own way. Looking around Kaito was sure Minnie was excited by the way she was pulling on his arm and pointing at everything they passed by. He didn't like walking in the city, you couldn 't go a couple feet without bumping into somebody and having to apologize for it. As they neared the place . . . the motel . . . they'd be staying at Kaito wondered what kind of fancy place it would be. He had only slept outside and in local homegrown inns before this so he had no idea what to expect.

[Magnet Soldier]

Michael sighed with relief as the streets emptied as they approached the inn. He was worried about how he'd handle the city. It hadn't even been the busiest time of the day, and he'd nearly collapsed. He was worried that the next time he went, he'd end up fainting. He felt so weak, the weakest he'd ever felt in his life. Atleast he was out of the noise now, hearing only a few people wandering about the streets, and stray animals up alleyways. "Seems not even a 'Utopia' like this can be truely perfect." Michael noted, looking towards the drunkards and bums littering the alleyways. He looked for the Motel - he was sure he'd be able to notice it - but he couldn't find it anywhere. He just hoped they could get there before anything happened.

[encapturer]

"This is the place. Not so bad, huh?"

Andrew stopped walking when he reached the motel, it wasn't far away from where they were dropped off, after all. There were cars pulling in, all full of people looking to get a room for a night. The motel itself was rather unique, instead of being small and wide, the motel was at least eight stories tall. On the front side were windows signifying rooms, and the rear housed cars; combining parking and rooms in a manner fitting for the urban sprawl of Capital City. Andrew was glad he was able to get a reservation before coming; ensuring himself and his companions rooms for at least a few days.

"I've reserved us two rooms," he said, shifting the bag on his back a bit. He was a little nervous that they would prefer their own rooms; but that was something he couldn't set up. "I hope it'll be satisfactory, haha."

While he spoke, Kaito felt a strange feeling in his blood - it felt like it was circulating faster; as if he has an instant of complete clarity and alertness. At the same time, Michael could hear something metal fall to the ground directly behind him, the sound reverberating off of the paved floor even over all of the traffic in the streets...

[hr]

Inside an empty office building a single man wearing all black runs through the dark halls. He did not have much time. With only the light of his flashlight to guide him, he had to reach his position before it was too late. The large black case he carried was weighing him down, but it contained what he needed in order to do his job. After climbing five floors, he turned off his flashlight, and entered a room. Empty, save for a few desks left. It was the perfect position.

Quickly, he opened up the case, and began assembling what was inside. A scoped rifle, magically enchanted to silent, and similarly enchanted rounds meant to disintegrate on impact. Perfect tools for carrying out assassinations. After assembling the weapon, he slightly opened up one of the glass windows and aimed his weapon down to the roads below. He quickly found his targets who were all stopped in front of a motel... as expected. Three men, two women. One of the men carried a large backpack - which meant he needed to be taken out first, but not while that backpack was in the way. Instead, he aimed it at one of the other men, targetting the one called 'Kaito' in his reports.

He fired the shot, and as expected, the weapon made no noise at all. However, Kaito did not go down, not at all. He could not see it, but the bullet stopped mere inches from Kaito, and simply fell straight downward, all momentum removed from it. As it did not penetrate anything, the disintegration mechanism did not work either, leaving the bullet laying there on the ground. The sniper, unsure of what happened, scrambled to load another bullet into his weapon, sure that the first one fired merely disintegrated before striking the target...

[Jake the Sage]

"Wow this is . . . amazing," Kaito said trying to keep his jaw from dropping on the ground. The Capital City was something in itself that he'd never imagine being immersed in, but staying at something like this was beyond his expectations. He had in all honesty thought they'd be cramped up in some backwater lot filled with cockroaches and flees, not at a hotel that appeared to cater to the highest of society. While he was elated to be staying here, he also felt a little put off as well. I mean, he wasn't exactly 'high class' looking and could easily be mistaken for a bump by their standards; after all he had stayed around small frontier villages his entire life. While he thought Andrew walked up onto the steps and stated he had reserved two rooms and hoped they were satisfactory, "Uh yeah . . . no problem as long as we have some place to sleep. We'll ber waiting out here . . ."

Watching Andrew head up the stairs something tingled down Kaito's spine. It felt as if some part of his mind . . . or possibly his body itself . . . was alerting him that something was amiss, yet he couldn't place it. Squinting a bit he focused his energies until he noticed something momentarily, Andrew and everything else seemed to slow down, but then before he could confirm it their speeds returned to normal, [i]"Is my mind playing tricks on me or something?"[/i]

Then the sound of a gun being loaded reached his ears, something that in this ammount of noise he shouldn't've been able to hear. It was directly behind him and that was good enough. Spinning on his heels he stopped and faced the opposite direction, unaware that the gunman was above him the entire time, "Micheal I think we have a problem . . ."

<OOC: *applause* very nice encapturer!>

[encapturer]

Date: 3/4 (8 days before Phase 3) | Location: Nesland, Evan Adarian's former hideout

For all of their differences, Zack had to give Evan credit, his setup was well thought out. Basically he caused people to subconsciously stay away from the church, and put up a barrier that suppressed his waves, making it hard to track him. He then had a loyal assistant to be his eyes and hands in the outside world. The news of the epidemic was helpful too, but Zack was sure that all was coincidental.

After the other Released left the day before, Zack spent the time cleaning the scene; his phasing ability coming in handy to clean up the blood and remove the body. In fact, Zack figured in a few days Evan's body will be found in the Paradox Magic Fabrication building, and the news will spread like wildfire. But it would not be over for Zack, not yet. In his hand he held a small electrical chip that attaches directly to nerves in the arm. It used to be Evan's, and Zack was planning on giving it to the unconscious Johnathan that lay on the floor in front of him.

The two of them were in the main room under the church, with the same carpets that served as Evan's bed being used as Johnathan's. Mostly everything was removed, only leaving a few chairs, the table, and the food, since they were all blood-stained. For now, Zack sat in one of those chairs, waiting for Johnathan to wake, ready to continue his plans even after Evan was killed off.

[Magnet Soldier]

Michael nodded. "I know." He heard the bullet drop, instantly aware of what it was - he'd heard it every time he reloaded his gun - and heard the gun reload, aswell as a shocked gasp from the hitman. He turned, faster than the gunman thought, although he'd been told to be warned, and drew his gun, all in a second. He leveled his gun with the hitmans head and fired, the blast waking the whole building and creating a small shockwave that only Michael - because of his enhanced senses - and Kaito - because of the weird thing - could see. The bullet tore through the air and skimmed past the Hitman, ripping a small hole in the Hitman's ear lobe. "I never miss." He said, before anyone could say the opposite. And sure enough, a pain-fulled cried ripped through the air. Michael smiled and lifted his gun again.

[Jake the Sage]

Now knowing where the enemy was held up, thanks to Micheal's quick reactions, he readied himself for any return fire and waited. He was suprised at how quickly his ally had amanged to locate and return the shot sent to them, also that he was able to figure out where the bullet had come from without ever having seen it coming as well. Pointing his hands towards the window the hitman had been near he uttered a single word 'Exarmatio' and a powerful gust of wind shot in that direction. As if controled by Kaito himself the wind ripped into gthe building, knocking away bullets, and wrenched the gun out of the man's hand. That had bought them some time as Kaito began heading towards the building, "You coming Micheal? I personally want to talk to our would be assassin . . ."