Aethertouched [IC/PG-16/Not Currently Accepting]

[Dad]

There was a strange presence hovering in the air.  Maurice could feel it attracting him towards the remnants of Skytree Tower.  Perhaps this is what it was like to fall in love.  To always be pulled towards the one you care so deeply for.  But, that couldn't possibly be the case this time.  No, this feeling was much more deeply rooted than love.  Love was fragile, tempting, careful.  This feeling--whatever it was that drew him towards Skytree--was more bold.  It was as if it was expecting him.  Maurice rubbed his chin, as he thought carefully about what this obnoxious feeling could be.  Perhaps, it was the same feeling that nudged him towards stumbling into Yu, some decades ago.

 

 

Running into this girl was not coincidence.  It was fate.  This was meant to happen.  After all, she was just like him.  Special.  Maurice remembered it like it was yesterday.  He was stumbling through the dark and the rain, down a cold brick alleyway, seeking shelter.  His head held low, tears streamed down his face, masked in the rain.  Clumsily, he ran head first into her, falling over backwards.  She raised her head to look at him, and stuck out an arm.  Maurice, being the afraid child that he was, flinched, holding up and arm to protect his face.  But after feeling no pain, he lowered his guard to see an outstretched hand before him.

 

"What's the matter, crybaby?" she asked as she helped him to his feet.

 

Maurice wiped his eyes, as he stammered.  "I-I'm not a crybaby.  I'm just lost is all," he said shivering.  She poked him in the forehead, forcing him to look her in the face.  "Wh--"

 

"You were so crying," she teased.

 

Maurice pouted, slapping the girl's hand away.  He began slumping through the alleyway, when his stomach growled.  He curled over, kneeling beside the brick side of local shop.  He turned his head away from the girl, and closed his eyes as he attempted to sleep off his hunger.  But she wouldn't let him be.  She sneaked over, and shoved a hunk of bread into his chest, causing the boy to heave, and open his eyes.  "Better eat so you don't die," she said as she ate her own bread.  "What's your name anyway?" she said wiping her mouth.

 

Maurice gladly accepted the bread, and with a mouth full of food, he said, "Maurice.  Thanks," he said sitting up straight.

 

"I'm Yu," she said nudging at his feet with a soft kick.

 

"But, I'm me."

 

"No, no.  My name is Yu."

 

"So, you're you?"

 

"That's what I said," she said plucking him in the forehead.

 

Maurice rubbed his head, tilting it slightly.  "I'm so confused."

 

 

"You feel that?" he asked as they stepped into the daylight.  "Gives me chills," he said excitedly.  Maurice could make out the line of people moving towards the memorial site from the hotel garage.  "Let's get a closer look-see," he said rubbing his hands together.  In an instant, Maurice vanished from sight.  "You're more. . .subtle in appearance than I am," he cackled.  "I'll get a good view point, and we'll reconvene shortly," he whispered to her as he sped off towards the memorial.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Suddenly, without any warning, the girl in front of her suddenly grabbed her hand and yanked it towards her chest. It came out so out of nowhere and so sudden that Reira's brain couldn't process what happened before Jun started talking again. There's a slight blush on Reira's face, but that's to be expected.

 

"So like, sometimes when I'm 'round a person like ya or some other random people, I get this weird buzzy feelin' in my chest and bones. Didya ever feel the same thing? Canya feel it right now? It's weird, iss' like'a we're the same kinda… something, I dunno."

Now that she mentions it... Reira's had this weird aching feeling in her chest, something similar to heartburn, but she's been ignoring it for a while now. Since she's felt it before Jun entered her vision, she paid no particular attention to it, thinking it's unrelated to Jun and is probably just a side-effect of practicing so early in the morning. However, if Jun mentions having the same feelings... Maybe there's something more to it? Reira's closed her eyes and put her fingers on her chin, appearing to be in deep thought.

"Now this be a secret b'tween me and ya, but like, sometimes I see this strange lil' floating rope dart thingy next to me, but no one else seems to be able to see it. Am I finally gone crazy? Do you ever 'ave anythin' like that 'appen to ya? Stuff that seems like somethin' straight outta a manga or stuff like that!"

 

"W-wait! You mentioned something about a floating rope dart thing that no-one else can see... Did you see anything come out from my hat earlier besides the dove?" She looked carefully at the girl in front of her, curious to what the "dart" she is talking about actually is. She can't really see anything like that, but who's she to doubt someone who approached her? Waiting for her response, Reira felt the aching feeling in her chest intensify, almost enough to make her clutch her chest to calm it down if she doesnt have enough self-control.

[Sethera]

"Well...my name is Arthur Almark. Nice to meet you too in this pleasant day." Unlike the halting speech from before, these words rolled pleasantly off the tongue in a manner more befitting of a native than a foreigner. And instead of rattling off the name of a location, this...Arthur--wasn't that a male name? Hadn't a Western king called himself that? Regardless, this Arthur woman seemed satisfied with grabbing her arm and dragging her to a nearby bench instead.

 

Truly baffling, Manami thought. Except, perhaps not. Perhaps she was aiming for a different direction this whole time? The other woman's bright, inquisitive gaze led her to believe this was so. Well...this isn't the first time somebody's been curious about my appearance. Many a time a person had asked whether she was part of a movie or feudal reenactment. However, when the brunette took her hands in hers, Manami blinked, looking down at them. One was dainty and pale, with smooth, soft skin, warm with life. The other was metallic, and hot from the rays of the sun.

 

"Um...I'm sorry...it's not really the direction of a place that I needed.
It's time for me to be honest...Manami...I..." Arthur seemed to truly stumble with her words this time, and Manami excused the other's familiarity in using her first name. After all, she was a foreigner, and foreigners didn't know better. And, in truth, she found it didn't seem to matter so much right then. From the clasped hands to the first name, the vicinity felt charged in an intimacy fostered by an electric current, a stream that seemed to flow through their intertwined fingers. But no, this wasn't love. In fact, now that she thought about it, it seemed more like...

 

And then the skin beneath her hands was replaced by metal, and the metal by skin, and for one, brief second, Manami wondered if androids really did exist. And if they dreamed of electric currents.

 

Tick, tock. The cogs in her head started to move, and time, which had seemed to freeze, resumed its pace.

 

BGM

 

"Manami...I am wondering, are you willing to...

 

to...

 

Um...how to word it..."

 

A span of seconds between each line. A span where Manami blinked, pondered, and realized. So she's...like me then. A flash of fear. Like me. Like those who had blown up the Skytree. And then another flash. Of rationality. But not like them. Right? While she pondered that thought, Arthur seemed to gather herself, posture relaxing, grip loosening. Whatever the brunette had to say, it seemed important.

 

"Manami, are you willing to tell me whether you have a special power of sort?"

 

The dark-haired woman blinked. To my ears, it sounds as if she already knows...

 

"Since well...my gaze's been taken by the sight of you the moment you entered my vision."

 

Manami blushed. "Th-that's..." Why does she have to make it seem so...intimate? "I..."

 

I'm sorry for being this frontal...I'm just unsure on how I should I express this." And the brunette truly did look apologetic, but her eyes burned like twin flames. She has it too, Manami thought. An indomitable spirit. I see. There's no way she's like those people...who have done nothing but add to Japan's already heavy losses. With this thought, Manami's own eyes softened and she nodded slowly.

 

"Yes," she affirmed. "I can't create a metal glove like you, but..." she twirled her umbrella, glancing upward at the red paper. At the harsh sunlight that turned its surface aglow. "This umbrella...I can summon it, and...make it rain," she finished. As she did so, the clouds in the sky seemed to gather and build before their eyes, darkening into their nimbus forms. Usually, I let this progress more slowly, Manami thought. But she wanted to share this talent with Arthur, who had already shown her a marvel of her own.

 

When the first drops of water hit her umbrella, Manami let herself smile. A tiny smile, but a heartfelt one. Rain. It was a few hours shy of eleven still, but it was never too soon for rain.

[Aman Indra]

" Blast the Heavens...................... and i thought i was the only one and rubbished that rumour " said Asmund in a very loud voice while extremely shocked and baffled seeing the women suddenly control the weather and make it rain. He quickly started acting weird and funny to avoid further attention, both to himself and the situation. Asmund had reached the Skytree a bit early and was waiting and getting bored looking around and decided to just observe the different people on the location guessing their pain and purpose.

 

In midst of doing so, Asmund's eyes quickly got hold of a young women with a bright glow emanating from her left hand, he mistook her for either a intellectual tourist or just someone attracting attention at a wrong place at a wrong time. Asmund started to follow and observe her and the women in the Kimono and umbrella who was equally amusing, although he knew peeping into other people's conversation's was a bad habit but at this point of his career and life, he didn't really care.

 

The conversation and the situation seemed very normal and Asmund was sorry inside for doubting and peeping at that given moment, but soon his eyes were full stretched in shock as he saw the women just use her umbrella to make and pour rain.

 

Asmund was baffled and happy at the same time as he always thought himself to be "The One" or something, and was happy and curious about this development.

 

Feeling scared that the women might have heard or seen him snooping, Asmund decided to approach and break the bubble himself.

 

" Umm......... Hello, My name is Asmund and i am glad to have met both of you. Sorry if i invaded your personal space and i apologize for the same. But what you just did there my lady was a thing of pure beauty. Your gift is far more serene than mine i must say...................".

 

Asmund knew that he was coming off as kind of a weird and the expressions on the face of both the women almost made him feel like that he invaded and interrupted a beautiful conversation. But he was very curious to get in as the puzzle known as the Skytree Disaster was slowly forming into pieces.

[Mr. Hyde]

Hitomu walked down the path that led to the Skytree memorial.  If there were any clues left over from an investigation, it would surely be a help towards him and his...goals.  The incident seemed to hold more secrets than the media had led everyone to believe.  However, that's all the media really was.  A diversion for the sheep walking among him, feeding them stories of fluffy kittens doing dumb tricks, while much more sinister strings were being pulled behind the scenes.  

 

He was on a tangent now...his mind trailed off at the thought of all the conspiracy sprinkled around the disaster.  He had to find the real culprits behind this...the puppeteers of this specific attack.  In doing so, maybe he could add to his forces...which were admittedly a little on the low side.  As a matter of fact..his forces didn't even exist yet.  However, there was one thing for certain that did exist: his powers.  If this little terrorist cell proved to be useless, he would certainly test the limits of his abilities on them.  

 

It was then that he ran into a woman, blonde and foreign-looking.  It sent a shiver down his body when she approached, but he payed it no mind.  

 

"Hey; ya mind telling me what's going? Preferably in English?  I might be able to make it worth your while."  What was she talking about?  Payment for telling her what was going on around the city?  Like Hitomu would bring himself to tell this woman anything he knew, especially in a language he hadn't mastered yet.

 

"Nani?" He smiled.  He continued to speak Japanese, even though he would most likely be able to answer her in English.  "I'm headed to see my loved ones at the memorial!  If you wouldn't mind, I'm in a hurry!" Devious lie was devious.  He rushed around the girl, and the feeling he had felt before had subsided.  "Lot more foreigners around here than usual....how peculiar."

 

As he drew nearer to the site, he felt a chill run down his spine...a chill ran through his body.  What was this other force that was attracting him there?  It certainly wasn't related to electromagnetism, he was sure of that.  He had felt this feeling only a few times before...near school or in the middle of a crowd.  However, this feeling...it was multiplied tenfold here.  What could it have been that was making him feel uneasy?

 

"Heh...probably just the anticipation of getting closer to this goal of mine."  

 

 He had approached ground zero.  As soon as he saw the stacks of flowers and pictures against the memorial...he realized how futile this mission of his was.  All of the evidence had been taken away beforehand by authorities.  It was probably handed off to the government in secret, locked up in some file that would never see the light of day.  

 

"Of course there wouldn't be any evidence here...of course the government wants to keep all of the info sealed.  That just means I need it more then!  Juicy..."  Any secrets he could hold over the higher-up's head was all he needed.  He wanted the system to kneel at his feet!

 

Slipping out of his maniacal thoughts yet again, he was surprised he hadn't seen the viking-esque man talking to two women off to the side.  "What a.....strange day it is today?  Guess this place just attracts the weirdos."  Wasn't he just a weirdo too?  The more he stared at them, the more he couldn't control the tingling sensation running down his back.  "Are...they why I'm here?  Are they...like me?"  Like him?  No, no one was like him!  

 

If they had powers though...they could prove to be useful.

 

Hitomu kept a close eye on the trio, hiking his backpack onto his shoulder from time to time.  

[Dad]

He climbed as high as he could, getting as near as possible to the memorial site of the ruined Skytree Tower.  As he climbed, a powerful jerking feeling attempted to pull him downwards.  "So strange," he remarked, looking over his shoulder.  Being cloaked, there was less than a one percent chance someone could see him, especially at his current height.  However, he had the sneaking suspicion that this force pulling him downwards had something to do with the crowd below.

 

Finally finding level ground to stand on, Maurice kicked his legs outwards, and sat precariously on the edge of a nearby skyscraper, some fifty stories in the air.  Whipping out a pair of stolen binoculars, he peered below to the memorial sight, observing its patrons.  There were many gathered in tightly knit circles, likely mourning the shared lost of a loved one.  Huddled over bouquets of flowers, with memories of their tragic deaths, fresh in their minds.  "How sad," he muttered with a sigh.  His eyes lingered over the crowd, often stopping over the elderly or children.  But when his field of vision became filled by three particular people, he suddenly felt himself riddled with emotions.

 

A lady with an umbrella, a gentleman who awkwardly resembled a viking, and a third, who was anything but average.  Intrigue, caution, excitement, and even rage.  He was overcome by these feelings rather quickly, forcing him to put his binoculars down.  Just as he did so, the sky overhead crowded, a grey overcast appearing seemingly out of nowhere.  Then, rain.  This made Maurice even more curious, putting his binoculars back up to his face again.  He eyed the three curious ones, noticing a very subtle but obvious change to their congregation.  The woman's umbrella.  "Wasn't it. . .a different color?  Maybe I'm mistaken," he said licking his lips.

 

"Fascinating," he said with a smile.  Tossing the binoculars over the skyscraper, he watched them tumble into the distance.  A sudden bolt of lightning struck very near to his position, prompting Maurice to leap up onto his feet, and stumble backwards to the edge of the skyscraper.  He only grew more excited, laughing at nature's cruel sense of humor.

 

"Fascinating indeed!  Ha!"  He flipped graciously backwards off of the skyscraper's edge, his hidden presence falling freely in the rain.  His face nearing the glass windows, he caught himself with a shiv, as he dropped three stories.  Repeating his dangerous acrobatics, Maurice made his way down, until he landed on the thirty-fifth floor.  Maurice made himself comfortable on a window ledge, as he continued to observe his three new best friends from afar.  "I wonder if you can tell me anything about this. . . hot topic."  Maurice kicked his legs back and forth, as he took notes.

[(GigaDrillBreaker)]

---

10:57

 

Continuing his walk through Tokyo in the vague direction of ground zero, Katsurou rolled up his sleeve, glancing down at his watch. "Three minutes to go. Looks like I won't make it in time." Shrugging as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets to help resist the chill present in the air, the young man felt a sudden jolt from behind, almost as if his skin was tapped with a cattle prod. One of them is there... Turning around suddenly, his eyes met those of a younger boy, with a mop head of blonde hair and a scarred lip. Clenching his fist behind his back to prevent himself from immediately lashing out at the stranger, Katsurou adopted a half-grin, looking the American up and down again. "Am I the first you have seen, aside from yourself?" Another spark hitting the side of his head heralded a quick glance to his left, taking note of a dark-haired girl around his age, seemingly making a considerable effort to go in the opposite direction of his destination.

 

"She is one of us as well. Kinda funny how we all end up together, even when we resist it, isn't it?" Looking back at the excusably confused American, Katsurou lightly chuckled, "You don't have a clue what is going on right now, do you, kid? I'll give you a hint: you aren't special. Well, not as special as I'm sure you think you are." Holding out an open hand, he materialized his own soul, a small pronged club, before it vanished. "Fun party trick, eh? Now, how does yours work?" Gritting his teeth, he put his hand back down at his side. That's one second down... Wasteful.

 

11:01

 

Before he could receive any sort of response from the American, Katsurou felt the vibration of his phone in the pocket he stowed it in earlier. Pulling it out and glancing down, he saw the emergency announcement: 

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

Frowning, Katsurou looked back to the stranger, making sure to maintain track of the Aethertouched girl who passed minutes earlier. "I guess we can catch up later. For now, we should probably do what the announcement says."

 

---

 

Tilting his head to either side, eliciting audible pops from his joints, Indra sat down on a desk, looking around the room he was in. The government had designated an elementary school as one of the evacuation locations. A closed area with plenty of cover. They were ready for a fight, it seemed. He could detect at least 2 more Aethertouched in the building with him, as expected, but was unsure of how many else were in the area. For a supposed accident, the government had done well to prepare for a repeat attack. Closing his eyes to focus, he scanned for the precise locations of the nearby Aethertouched individuals, feeling one of them approaching him at a brisk pace. "Let's hope they are a nice one..."

 

[spoiler=GM note]

With a repeat attack matching the Skytree Disaster, Tokyo officials have quarantined the city, evacuating all individuals to locations spread across the city. There will be 4 locations characters can be at. 

Location 1 is a movie theater

Location 2 is a hospital

Locations 3 and 4 are both elementary schools

 

You choose where you character is after the timeskip for evacuation, but try to have them spread between the locations fairly evenly. The Skytree memorial is about equidistant between points 1 and 2, so characters at that location can be distributed between them, whereas characters not present there can go to the other 2 points. After the evacuation, just continue interaction in the new setting, there will be another advancing post soon enough.

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Yes,"

 

It finally happened. After a long search, Arthur finally found it.

 

"I can't create a metal glove like you, but..."

 

She was the one. This girl, Manami...she was definitely the one she's looking for all this time. Or one of them, but right now Arthur was drowned in euphoria as she finally found her success in this land. In the end, her hunch to go to Japan, to this place, to find others like her paid off. The fact that she managed to be right just this once was...

 

"This umbrella...I can summon it, and...make it rain," Manami finished. As she did so, the clouds in the sky seemed to gather and build above the two. And just like that, she made it rain. She had just manipulated the weather before them, and replaced the sunlight with drops of rain. The situation of the memorial area became gloomier to fit the context of what was being remembered today. She was very happy with the revelation, to the point of ignoring the fact that she became drenched with the rain.

 

"Ah...so you finally confessed...So...in that case...let's-"

 

" Umm......... Hello, My name is Asmund and i am glad to have met both of you. Sorry if i invaded your personal space and i apologize for the same. But what you just did there my lady was a thing of pure beauty. Your gift is far more serene than mine i must say...................".

 

Before Arthur could continue with her dramatization of the situation, someone approached the two and stole her thunder. He looked like a Viking from age-old, which was something unusual to see. Perhaps he's from one of those remote villages that were on the news some years ago...? That's a possibility, but right now all that Arthur did was pout due to being interrupted before she could make the situation even more dramatic. It took her a minute to calm down, and as soon as she did, she started to reply to the VIking-looking guy, hoping to break the awkwardness. Though, the Viking himself seemed to feel awkward too, which was understandable. The tingling sensation she felt when she met Manami returned as she looked at the Viking, and with how Manami had been proven as an "Aethertouched", as how they called it, he would be one of them too.

 

"Well...hello there Asmund. Perhaps I should introduce myself too.

 

My name is Arthur Almark, and this young lady here is Manami Saito. As you can see, she's the one that summoned this rain with her umbrella, while I myself..." As she said this, she let go of Manami's hands, and turned around fully towards Asmund as she summoned the manifestation of her soul on her. Within seconds, most of her body had been fully covered by the plate armor, and her face was concealed by a helmet. The design of the armor was something more fantastic than realistic - it seemed as if it's taken from an anime or comic book. Another second passed, and the armor dissipated, leaving Arthur behind, her eyes still glowed red. "Have the ability to manifest this armor, as you can see just now."

 

Finishing her introduction, Arthur turned towards Manami and repeated what she and Asmund said in Japanese just in case she didn't get the two of them talking in English, before she returned her gaze towards Asmund again.

 

"I assume you're here because of the tower too, right? Having a similar power like us...perhaps you're trying to find the truth behind the incident, just like us- I mean myself.

 

In that case-"

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

"A-another attack?"

 

That came all of the sudden. Looking panicked, Arthur soon noticed people that looked like they're from the government were guiding the panicked crowd near them towards a nearby shelter, though she couldn't see it for now.

"It's...it's happening again, huh?"

 

 

Thirty minutes had passed since the announcement, and Arthur and Manami were now in what looked like a movie theatre - now had been converted into a shelter. The two hadn't seen Asmund yet after they're guided into the place, but he would probably be here too, so soon they'd meet again. Something was weird about how the incident was handled, however. Sumida would be more than 15 kilometers away from Shinjuku, but everyone was made to be evacuated to the shelters while it seemed like the City was brought into a lockdown, if the info she got from Twitter was correct. Only reason they would do this is so they could hunt down whoever caused the attack. That's the only rationalization that could work.

 

But that begged the question of...how would they even hunt down the terrorists?

 

"Manami...I'm not sure if you're in a condition for this, but please lend me a hand. The entire situation is suspicious....I...don't think us staying here would be the greatest idea for now.

 

But...that felt like jumping to conclusions...ugh, do you have any ideas on what to do?"

 

A hint of desperation was present on her voice as she talked to the girl with the umbrella. Her intuition felt like screaming danger at the moment. She should find Asmund soon too, so they could start investigating.

 

Or something. Perhaps it's just her being overly paranoid out of panic due to the situation, but Arthur had a hunch that if they stayed there longer, they might get killed, or worse.

 

---

[Aix]

Walking down the busy metropolitan centre deep in thought, Masahiko felt a bump to his side. It was a girl wearing a blindfold with eyes crudely drawn on. His first instinct was to think this was some sort of new trend teenagers made to go around a busy city blindfolded, but on closer inspection and with some further thought, he found it more likely that the girl was actually blind and simply had the sense of humor to draw eyes onto her blindfold.

 

"Ah sorry," said the girl. "I wasn't paying attention."

 

Masahiko automatically smiled despite that the girl had no way of discerning his expression. "No, I should have been paying attention myself," he said. "My apologies." He paused for a second, he felt something strange about this girl. "It's very impressive that you can navigate through downtown Tokyo like that. How do you do it? You must have special powers." His tone made it clear the last sentence was a joke, but Masahiko wasn't entirely joking. Some intuition told him that this girl was like him.

 

Before she could answer, his phone vibrated. "Ah just a moment..." He glanced at it and realized it was a text, not a call, but the contents made his eyes widen.

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation."

 

Masahiko looked around at to see that everyone else had gotten the same message. "The city has issued an evacuation notice," he said, glancing back at the blind girl. "Would you like help getting to a shelter? It will be difficult for you when everyone starts rushing to safety."

 

The girl answered in the affirmative. Masahiko took a second to ponder before bending over and picking the girl up into a princess carry. "Pardon me."

 

It was only a minute in before Masahiko noticed weird looks in his direction. He did not suppose they were the usual looks he got, and more likely a result of the article in his arms. Nevertheless, he soldiered on until he reached the nearest evacuation center pointed out by the police, a movie theatre.

 

"Here we are, it seems they've converted the theatre into an evacuation centre," said Masahiko, settling the girl down. "Yare yare daze, of all the places to bring a blind girl. I... hope you don't mind."

[Cosmo.]

Walking through Tokyo

Charlotte was walking through the streets of Tokyo at a fast pace, looking around. As the city slowly started to pick up it's pace, more shops began opening and it started gaining more life. 

 

After the 15 minute walk, Charlotte arrived to the Skytree, or well, what once was the Skytree. "Too many people, why must there be so many persons in one location." She said to herself as she took off her earphones, it would be rude to leave them on in such a place. She suddenly started feeling something strange. It was like a loud buzzing in her stomach. She was walking around the group of people, trying to find the source of that feeling. Since she awoken her special powers, she's sometimes felt a similar feeling, but never this strong. While she was walking, she saw it, a girl summoned a set of armor out of nowhere. As Charlotte tried to approach her, she looked down at her cellphone, she received a message.

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

"Well, that's just an a-hole move, attacking again on a day of grief. It's kind of shameful when animals have more respect for each other than humans. Anyway, i better follow that girl from before." she thought, as she started following the mysterious girl. The security spot she ended up in was a movie theater. "At least here they'll probably have food, or maybe some form of entertainment." she thought, as she looked around in the group of people. There she was, the girl with the armor from before, she was talking with a woman wearing more traditional clothing.

 

"Ehm, sorry. I know this is a bizarre question, but did i just see you summon a magical set of armor before at the Skytree?" she said. "Oh, don't worry, i have some sort of power like that too." Charlotte said as she summoned her grimoire with the golden deer on top. "Sorry if i bursted in your conversation, my name is Charlotte Greenfield. I just was curious, i thought i was the only one in the world to own this sort of ability." she said, trying to smile, but failing. "Welp, there goes my hope to actually be from Gensokyo."

[mitchermitcher]

Tokyo

Father Kujikawa

 

Before he knew it, Father Kira ended up in a hospital. It wasn't that he was injured and required medical aid, nor did he know someone in the establishment, patient or staff or otherwise. He had no real reason to be visiting a hospital in fact, yet he found himself there.
 
"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation."

 

On his way to the Skytree, such an ominous-sounding text message appeared in his cell phone. Unlike the mass majority of people living in the modern era, he still had a flip phone that did little more than calls, emails, and songs. After reading the contents, Kira decided to head back to the church, but accidentally bumped into a policeman who 'escorted' him to head to the nearby hospital, one of the shelters.

 

"Kujikawa-san, please stop trying to run away and just comply with the evacuation orders..." The officer groaned upon spotting Kira attempting to leave the hospital again.

 

"No, you got it wrong, officer! I was just, er, heading to the bathroom...you won't buy that, will you." Kira raised his hands in resignation upon being caught again. "But alright, fine I'll stay here like a good priest. Don't want you to grow gray hair at such a young age, officer."

 

"Thank god..."

 

"Yep, you should thank Him alright."

 

"Huh?" The man naturally wasn't Christian and didn't understand what Kira was referring to. "Come on, Kujikawa-san, let's get you back to the lounge area. And if you're actually a priest as you claim to be, I would appreciate if you could help calm down any new evacuees that come by."
 

"Very well. I'll do that then." Kira complied. Joking aside, he decided he might as well stay in the shelter for the time being. He wasn't too sure what was going on and should the worst happen, he does have that supernatural ability of his....That would probably come in handy. Kira went to sit on one of the many, many chairs in the hospital lounge, to observe the few but rapidly increasing number of people already in the shelter.

[Makο]

Conner realized his front bike wheel was wobbly, probably bent from when he wasn't paying attention and crashed into a light post; a foolish mistake of which he was not all that proud about. It wasn't enough to really discourage him from riding it, but it was just enough to piss him off a little while riding. It made turning left much more of a chore than usual, and turning right way easier than he'd appreciate. Despite this, however, he made fairly decent time, making his way further and further downtown. Though, there was a strange feeling in the air. Stranger than the air of grief that there was before. Something more... insidious? No, that's too dramatic. More like, off. Something was off, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was.

 

However, it didn't bother him too much. What did bother him was the incredible lack of people nearby, despite him going deeper and deeper into the city. Occasionally, he'd see a wide-eyed individual moving along, or a small family, none moving at a pace any slower than a job, and oddly enough, all away from where he was headed. Now he knew something was up. Though, he didn't have any particular means of finding out, and it was most certainly a dangerous idea to move on his own. He'd need an active internet connection, or maybe a-

 

"...Oh yeah."

 

He pulled out his mobile phone and turned it back on. He couldn't figure out exactly why he didn't like having his phone on, but it never bothered him all that much. After all, he didn't have too many people to talk to anyway. Despite that, the moment the main menu loaded, he phone began blaring with messages and alerts. Reminders to eat and sleep properly, texts from his parents, one of them might've been a bill, and...

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

"Shіt. Now, of all days? People'll be cowering in their boots more than usual, and that's the last thing this city needs."

 

Action time. The closest designated shelter area was just south of him, as he was near Oshiagentenso when he stopped. Kneeling down, he reached into his pack, and piled the contents out onto the floor: four black rectangles, one black cylinder, and another black metal piece with a strange shape to it. It took a few moments to re-assemble; stick the strange shaped-piece beneath the tube, flip up the trigger guard and unfold the stock, and stick one of the black rectangles into the left side of the device after checking to make sure it had ammo in the magazine, placing the rest of the magazines back into the pack. He cocked his newly-constructed STEN and slung it over his shoulder, before hopping back onto his bike. Obviously, the first place to go to would be the government center, right? Those responsible must've still been around, right?

 

"..."

 

It was too simple to think that way. Those with clear malevolent intent certainly had no interest in taking out single buildings, one at a time. It would do too little too long. However, if an attack like that could gather a lot of people into single places... He made a beeline south on his bike, heading straight for the third designated shelter area; he had no clue if any foe would actually make way to all the people there, but he certainly could guarantee that if someone did, they'd regret it for sure.

[Mr. Hyde]

Hitomu tried to read the trio of character's lips the best he could, picking up bits and pieces of information here and there.  He managed to read the word ability coming from them, also the names Arthur and Asmund.  Strange such a hodgepodge group of individuals would be talking about abilities, and even in broad daylight.  They must've been fools...

 

But even fools would be welcome in his rank, if they weren't complete idiots that is.  

 

Before he could gather anymore intel on the strangers that were supposedly like him, his phone vibrated in his left pocket.  

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

A text from the Government?  Disgusting.  Hitomu almost ignored it all together, but he simply couldn't ignore the fact that another attack had already happened.  The feeling he got in his stomach shook his body to its very core, like he was waiting for this very moment his entire existence.  He headed East, to see if there were any routes that would lead him closer to Shinjuku, but the swarm of panicked civilians had already taken to the streets.  

 

"I gotta find the culprits!  I gotta join their ranks!"  Desperately, he tried to make his way through the mass of screaming people, but to no avail.  He was washed away by the crowd.  If he were to use his powers now...it'd only halter his plans.  He decided that his pride could take this slight blow for the meantime.  After this was all said and done, he would be sure to make it to the aftermath on time.  

 

---

 

He was taken to the nearby hospital building close to Skytree.  Family's were looking for their missing children, and groups of people were all hobbled up in the corners, shaking with fear.  What if they were next?  That's what they were probably thinking.  However, that's all Hitomu wanted.  He wanted the culprits to come to him.  Look at all these sheep corralled up, waiting for the wolves to easily eat them all at once.  It would be crazy not to think to attack a shelter...if they wanted to get anywhere with their plans that is.  

 

Again, a shiver was running down his back, the same shiver he had received standing close to those three hooligans.  Was there another one close by to him?  If so...he was doing a very good job of blending in...not so like the viking back at the tower.  However, one man did catch his eye.  A man sitting in a lounge chair, his eyes devoid of interest of the situation.  Had he seen terrors far greater than the minor terrorist attacks?  Like before, Hitomu watched from afar.  

 

This shaking feeling didn't plan on leaving, as long as that man sit in his chair.   

[VCR_CAT]

Yu scanned the crowd, looking for anyone of interest that may have something to do with what happened to the Sky Tree before. So far, most of the tourists had been normal folk; nobody really stood out. Soon enough, several tourists began to stick out like sore thumbs; possible people like her, but who made little effort to conceal what made them them. Interesting, but they lacked any restrained, and most definitely didn't seem like the kind of people to burn down a historical monument. Yu pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Mauice.

 

"Nobody interesting. Might've been a waste of time."

 

Hopefully he had more luck.

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

Yu looked up an around. The city was on fire? Since when? Did the man responsible strike again, but they had looked at the wrong place? There was a hospital only a block or two down from the skytree that Yu was being ushured along with a big portion of the crowd to. Hopefully Maurice would get himself to safety before it was too late.

[King K. Azo]

Mac was confused beyond all reason right now. He was jogging for a good portion of the morning, letting his thoughts wander, when he felt it. He wasn't sure what it was, but the best way he could describe it was a taser being stabbed into his chest, although somehow painless. Looking up, he saw a Japanese man with a sort of half grin on his face. The grin would have put him at ease, but he noticed how the man tensed up, which made him stay on guard and tense up as well. 

 

"Am I the first you have seen, aside from yourself?" First what? He obviously didn't mean being the first American, for the obvious reason that the man was not an American. And there was no way he could have known he was a boxer, unless he actually followed foreign boxing. Honestly though, boxing was not as big as soccer... or football... whatever they called that game. He felt that feeling again as he noticed the one speaking to him heralded a quick glance to his left, so he quickly took a look as well. All that really stood out was a dark-haired girl, heading off in some sort of random direction. Oh well.

 

"She is one of us as well. Kinda funny how we all end up together, even when we resist it, isn't it?" The confusion must have spilled onto his face, because the man lightly chuckled, "You don't have a clue what is going on right now, do you, kid? I'll give you a hint: you aren't special. Well, not as special as I'm sure you think you are." Holding out an open hand, he materialized a small pronged club, before it vanished.  "Fun party trick, eh? Now, how does yours work?" Mac noticed the man gritting his teeth as he put his hand back down at his side. So... it must have been stertorous for the man to manifest that. That was weird, as he could manifest his boxing gloves without issue.  

 

Before he could form a response, the Japansese man pulled out a cell phone and glanced down, a frown forming on his face. He looked back to the American boxer."I guess we can catch up later. For now, we should probably do what the announcement says." and with that, he walked off, leaving behind a very confused Mac. What was all that about? You can't just pull out powers and... gah!!!

 

"Announcement? What announcement?!" He chased after the man, but lost him as he entered the elementary school. He looked around. So... what the hell was going on? He could see the fear in almost everyone's eyes. What happened...? He then felt it again. Was that... some sort of sense that told him people like that Japanese man was near...? Gah! He was so confused!

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

---

---

 

"The hell does that have to do with...? He-HEY!!" Jessica yelled as the green-haired boy turned to leave, but it was too late for her to stop him, "Tch, rude,"

 

...

 

Three hours later, Jessica found herself at the Skytree trying to find this green haired boy again. How dare he try excuse himself from a conversation that Jessica wasn't done with? Unfortunately, the boy was nowhere to be found just yet, but Jessica did note three people standing together; a guy in Viking armaments, a girl in a kimono that was carrying an umbrella in broad sunlight for whatever reason and another that seemed... relatively normal in comparison. Jessica was about to approach them and ask if they saw a green haired boy recently when all of a sudden, she happened to see the boy in question out the corner of her eye.

 

'Oh, there's the jabroni!' Jessica rolled up her sleeves as she moved to confront the green-haired boy, only to stop in her tracks as another announcement was broadcast. She tried listening to the announcement, but once again thanks entirely to the fact that had been broadcast in Japanese, it ended up going straight through one ear and out the other. Next thing she knew, most everyone that was around Jessica had scurried away to four separate locations.

 

"...alright, just what the actual funk is going on?!" Jessica yelled out to no-one in particular as she walked in the direction of the trio whose presence she noted earlier.

[Astolfo]

---

Jun / Reira

---

At Reira's question, Jun just tilted her head, not understanding."Whaddya mean? There was a knife and it somehow turned into a bird, wasn't there?"

“You saw the knife?" Reira gasped in surprise. "That… I’ve never seen anyone see the knife before! Like, everyone else I asked, they just saw me raise my hand and a dove comes out!”

"How do people not see that knife when it's right out in the middle-a' open daylight?" With that, Jun materialized the rope dart in her palm. "Something's weird I thinks, canya see this?"

Reira instinctively moved the hand on Jun’s chest to grab the rope dart on her palm. “I see it! This is, this is the rope dart you were talking about earlier, right?” Jun nodded excitedly. "See, you can see it but nobody else can, ain't that weird?"

Picking up the dart to examine it closer, Reira twirled it between her index and middle fingers, bringing it up close to her eyes as she hums to herself. “Well, this is a real dart, like not some kind of ‘metaphysical materialization’ or whatzits… So if I’m the only one that can see that, that’s definitely weird!”

Before either of them could make another move, a blaring alarm rang out over the entire city, with some female voice broadcasting a message to what must've been pretty much all of Tokyo.

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

Expectedly, both of the two girls were caught entirely by surprise, and began to have a small freak out. Reira began to look around quickly, her breathing pace quickening, and started unconsciously biting on her fingernails, unsure of what to do. Meanwhile, Jun wanted to go and fight off whoever those villainous people who must've been responsible for this new event were, but was torn between going to chase after them and staying with Reira, who looked almost entirely lost. Unconvincingly telling herself that the local firefighter squad must be taking action at that very moment and driving away the criminal, Jun decided to evacuate like everyone else, following the street signs and roadway police guiding people left and right to different shelters. Grabbing Reira's hand so it wouldn't slip loose, Jun grinned at Reira with an encouraging nod, who only had a confused look at Jun having grabbed her hand.

"Let's go to a shelter, why don'tcha say? And if any of those darned villains or his lackeys come after us or the people there, we'll give them a real butt-kicking!" Reira just blankly nodded, with an expression that just had a "what the hell is going on" written all over her face. Before Reira could speak, Jun turned and began to run in the direction everyone else was pulling, tugging her newfound friend along, while being careful not to yank too hard. Hearing that the closest shelter was a movie theater which was pretty much right around the corner, they began to head that way. Soon enough though, after arriving there, it was full of people trying to shove each other out of the way and screaming and panicking and generally a messy stampede of people. Too many people there. Sighing, Jun looked back at Reira and shook her head. No go.

The next two closest were the hospital and the elementary school, from what she could hear, but the hospital was in the complete opposite direction they just were going, and it would be closer to the elementary school now probably. In addition, if the terrorists decided to attack the shelters, the elementary school would be full of vulnerable kids who'd be in deep trouble, to say the least. Getting to go back to an elementary school would also be a sort of refreshing experience too, almost like reliving the childhood years. After a quick discussion with Reira with both of them coming to the same conclusions, they both decided they should head over there quickly. Holding Reira's hand so they wouldn't get separated by the crowd, the two of them began to run side by side as they headed for the school.

Getting there, the school was still luckily in one whole piece and it didn't seem like any big bad guys had come to destroy it yet, and children and people from the streets were coming in and taking shelter. Seemed fairly normal for now. That was good. It wasn't over yet though, and the storm would still be yet to strike. Tokyo wasn't quite done with its traumas yet.

[Aman Indra]

"Well...hello there Asmund. Perhaps I should introduce myself too.

 

"My name is Arthur Almark, and this young lady here is Manami Saito. As you can see, she's the one that summoned this rain with her umbrella, while I myself..." A "Have the ability to manifest this armor, as you can see just now."....................................In that case-"

 

Asmund was thrilled and excited to finally get to the bottom of the "Aethertouched" mystery and get some of his life long doubts cleared and the beautiful ladies in front of him only added pure grace to the situation. Asmund was surprised to see the manifestation abilities of Arthur as well and took real pride in their talents as he somehow felt connected and considered both of them one of his "Quick Friends". The armor seemed quite majestic and Asmund would already have challenged Arthur to a bout but stopped because of the awkwardness of the situation and the fact that Arthur was a girl, although Asmund knew it would have been a tough fight anyway. Asmund was happy that both the women accepted him and he was very desperate to show them his manifestation but pulling a big hammer out of nowhere and accidently turning the Skytree memorial into a miniature desert wouldn't be subtle. Asmund was determined to not let this golden moment go to waste so he decided to converse further.

 

" Well, it was extremely nice to meet both of you. Glad to know that i am not the only freak here, Hahahhaha, umm, no ? Sorry i am a bit lame at jokes. 

As far as my ability goes..........let's just say that this is not a place to......

 

Just an Asmund was about to get the formality underway, a alarm conveying a devastating news for Tokyo rang over the entire city......

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

"What.............. again...........How could they............Trying to strike Tokyo while it's wound's are still fresh ? No....NO!!!!! This time i will stop them, i will bury them in my very own desert " I swear to the heavens i will................"

 

Just as Asmund was about to get barbaric, a huge swarm of panicked people almost went through him and fazed him out. Asmund got his senses back together in few minutes and realized he had been taken to what seems like a movie theater while he was knocked out.

 

Asmund circled his way through the fear prone environment, he finally found Arthur and Manami and made his way to them determined.

 

" Glad to see you both are safe and sound. Oh, me ? yeah i got knocked out royally, but that is not the issue here, look i will be a bit blunt but i need your help to investigate, this should not happen again at any cost and i won't be able to do it on my own. So, you two in to smash this ?....."

 

Asmund then, suddenly felt a chill in his body and turned back and said these words in the most ominous manner possible....

 

" And i feel like we are being watched from each and every corner ".

[Dad]

Maurice found himself rudely interrupted, by the sounds of panicking masses and a sudden buzz from his cell phone.  The first, was an emergency broadcast, likely being received by everyone within the city limits.  Apparently, a government building was up in flames.  Likely caused by the same culprits who burned Skytree to the ground.  Citizens were being urged to report to emergency shelters.  But that wasn't in Maurice's plans.  "Emergency shelter?  Sounds like a rat trap to me.  I think I'll have a gander around this 'Metropolitan Government Office'.  Maybe I can catch the bastards in the act."

 

Before a daring leap off of his high perch, Maurice's phone buzzed again.  It was Yu, and she had sent him a text message.

 

"Nobody interesting. Might've been a waste of time."

 

"Hmm.  Her eyes are as good as mine.  No sense in dwelling on these commoners," he thought to himself, standing to his feet.  "Well.  Now that the heat has dispersed, I should check on the main course."

 

With a daring leap, he twisted agilely off of the edge of the skyscraper, contorting as he fell.  He whistled through the wind in a corkscrew, now sliding down the side of the building in an invisible blur.  "Next stop, the Metropolitan Government Office," he whispered to himself.

 

 

"If you'll look to your left, you'll see the local Metro Government Building, with its roof on fire.  I'm not sure who released a new album, but apparently it's all the rage," he joked once more to himself.  It was a smooth run.  He was able to easily skirt around the civilians, even after uncloaking himself.  But for fear of being discovered in what was a closed off area of the city, Maurice re-engaged his stealth.  He quickly found a vantage point, not too close, but not too far from the scene of the crime.  The building was engulfed completely in flames, and below, its origin led police onwards.  He couldn't quite make out what the man was wearing, but his charred hair, scorched clothes, and soot covered skin suggested that he was indeed who Maurice was looking for.  

 

He was very well built, frighteningly so.  In image alone, this man was quite disturbing.  And that means a lot coming from a clown.  Maurice grinned, as he took a mental image of the culprit, as he watched him dance with police officers, casually jogging away.

 

"He even looks like a hothead," Maurice joked to himself.  He tried to zoom in as close as possible, but at this distance, the resolution wouldn't cut it.  He grabbed what he could, a mildly blurred headshot of the suspect in question.  "Yu is going to enjoy this," he said sliding down from his high point of view.

 

He opted to send her a quick text message, in order to get her location.

 

"Send me your coordinates.  I've a pie to deliver."

 

"And, send," he said pressing the green button.  He quickly dashed away, with his cloaking lasting a few more minutes.  

[👀 REP 👀]

While walking around the area around the casino, Rose noticed that everyone was running for some reason. She also noted that people were leaving from the casino that she had just left. Bothered by this, she grabbed a young man from the shoulder, his face full of panic.

"Excuse me, sir, but why is everyone running?"

"Didn't you hear the news!?" The man snapped at her, pulling his shoulder away from her. "Those damned terrorist are back! They attacked the Government Office!" he started to run away from her "We're evacuation to the nearest elementary school!" Giving her no time to further inquire, he ran off towards said evacuation area. Rose stood there for a reason "Another attack?" This was the only thought in her head at the moment. As she followed the crowd towards the elementary school, the thought lingered in her mind.

 

---

 

The Elementary School was packed with not only children but also with adults. She even noticed some familiar faces from the casino - one in particular was the dealer that gave her the stink-eye and prompt her to leave the casino in the first place. She simply smiled at the man, which he replied with a sneer. The aura in the school was tense and full of fear.

[Sethera]

A lot has happened since then...as if days have passed instead of a mere half hour, Manami sighed, twirling her umbrella out of habit.

 

They had been interrupted by a man who seemed vaguely familiar, or at least his appearance. He reminded her of a video game one of her university friends played. Ragnarok something... She couldn't recall the details, however. Regardless, he looked as if he had walked out from the video game itself. Add on the unusual knight armor Arthur had just manifested, as well as her own traditional clothing, they made for a motley trio.

 

And then the emergency announcement. The evacuation. The press of bodies, the buzz of the crowd, the patter of rain, and a soft hand, connected to the face of a familiar brunette.

 

Shortly afterward, a loud voice. Manami turned to the source, flinched at the sight of blond hair, and bowed in greeting, "Emergency...Office in flames. We go...to shelter." Her English was broken. She had never had much of a motivation to learn it, after...him. Well. That wouldn't be the first mistake I have made, she thought. And it wouldn't be the last.

 

And when they arrived at a movie theater, now a shelter, Arthur turned to her, voicing concerns bred of intuition, a lingering thought in the air that Manami herself could feel.

 

"It is the same with me..." she said. "Still, I don't know what it is we could do...I suppose I could try and help put out the fire, but..." She was no more than a woman. And worse yet, a woman who had been found wanting in every way. There wasn't much she could do against terrorists.

 

And then a twin-tailed girl with unusual cherry-pink strands and eyes that seemed a bluer reflection of her own. Another one... Manami thought. And then the man from before. It is as if there is an invisible bond tying us together. Like a red string of fate? Perhaps this is meant to be. Had that been the reason for the charged atmosphere from before?

 

Then... she thought, observing the assembled group. Is this destiny? If that is so, then it is only right I hurry it along. She nodded to herself. Yes. She wasn't studying to become a marriage counselor for nothing. Relationships...she herself wasn't meant for one, but these people...she could practically see the cloak of fate hanging from their shoulders. I wonder who matches with whom? The ratio was imbalanced. Three girls and one boy, but love wasn't something that should be limited by one's sex anyway.

 

Of course, I won't force them, she thought. But if I see the first few buds of affection, well...it is only my duty to encourage them to bloom.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Valerie bobbed her head to the music as she kept up her brisk pace. The song was catchy as hell, even if the singer was a complete douchenozzle. Val wouldn’t let the person behind the song ruin a good jam.
She also wouldn’t let this tugging ruin it. She could feel it trying to drag her in the other direction and so she didn’t even bother turning to look. Though she had a feeling she was being talked about. Well, whatever, if they wanted a fight she’d let them get the first blow in. Then she could go all out without any issue.

Suddenly, over the noise of her music, a

went off. She had made sure to give herself an extra loud ringtone for messages just for such a moment when she was already lost in a song.

She dropped her bag and bent over, digging through her stuff until she pulled out her phone. One look at the message was all it took to get the idea. Another attack? This time while she was in the city, the nerve! Val’s first instinct was to head wherever that bastard probably would attack...unfortunately she had no idea where that could be. And so she decided to check to see which the most likely target for the next attack would be amongst the evacuation areas. Hospital seemed a good bet but probably TOO good a bet. She guessed it would be one of the schools. She nodded and set out for the closest school to her location.

And got a bit lost. Well, not entirely lost. She had started in the right direction but then realized that the strange tugging seemed to be leading her right to her destination. And so she took a couple alternate routes to shake the feeling to no avail. Then it hit her. This must be her heart guiding her towards the culprit.

With renewed vigor and purpose, Val shouldered her bag and headed to the school. It seemed pretty well protected, for a school that is. She remembered back home one of the schools was meant to double as a bomb shelter, so when she thought about it it did make some sense. Shrugging she entered the building. She had one earbud in and the other hung out and dangled around waist-level. Her music, now playing a rather inappropriate

for a school, could be easily heard by the people around her. They gave her dirty looks as she passed but she kept her head high and continued on, directly for the source of this tugging. She felt extra confident, perhaps due to the song, perhaps because of how close to whatever this feeling would take her to, but she was ready for one hell of a fight if she had to. She was prepared to beat the ass of whoever was the source of this, getting ever more certain they would be involved.

It brought her into one of the classrooms, and right to the desk where a young man sat. Dark skin, grey hair, not all that special. He didn’t look like much, certainly didn’t look like some kind of dangerous criminal. Nonetheless there was some reason her heart, gut, or whatever brought her to this guy.

He seemed to be expecting her, or expecting someone. That was no good, she couldn’t have this guy have any sort of upper hand. “Oi, you!” She said, grabbing the guy by the jacket and pulled him closer, glaring at him and staring into his eyes. “I have no damn idea what you’re planning but I do know that you’ve got something you’re hiding. I wouldn’t have bothered following this gut feeling to this place otherwise. Spill it now before I wring your neck.” Meanwhile her right arm was stretched to the side, arm in a position that indicated she was ready to grip something in it.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Gareth just walked along, still near the site of Skytree...when it happened. It came almost as a surprise to everyone who was around, but especially to Gareth.

 

"Metropolitan Government Office in Shinjuku, Tokyo up in flames. City borders closed. Please report to evacuation shelter for the proper authorities to handle the situation"

 

This caught Gareth off-guard as he was ran things through his head. He originally was heading straight to Tokyo to tour about it. Had I originally just gone... he thought, before beginning to make his way with the scrambling crowd to get to the safe zones. Man...things would've definitely had been bad if I went there without stopping...

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

It was a pretty long walk, but Gareth finally arrived in the 3rd shelter location: an elementary school. To be honest, he tried the first two locations, but both were filled to the brim with evacuees, trying to escape the chaos and not have a nervous breakdown.

 

Nevertheless, Gareth found himself leaned up against a wall, watching the others in the building scurrying around in a mad panic. He studied each of them carefully, making sure none were acting out of the ordinary. Then again, this was Japan...a country he really didn't know much about, so their "out of ordinary" behavior might be normal for them.

 

However, he noticed four individuals that, to him, stood out among the others. A young woman with a tanned complexion and silver white hair, a young man with brown hair, a obvious Japanese school girl with blond hair, and a young woman with brown hair which seemed to be covered by her red hood. These four were not together in a group by any means, well, save the Japanese school girl and the silver haired woman. Naturally...Gareth decided that talking would be the best option to pass time.

 

"Excuse me, ladies." Gareth said, approaching the two girls with a slight stride. "Have to say, with there being quite the trauma out there...you two seem like your holding up a lot better than most of the others." he smiled before chuckling. "Oh jeez...how rude of me, forgot to introduce myself. I'm Gareth Apollo."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Ehm, sorry. I know this is a bizarre question, but did i just see you summon a magical set of armor before at the Skytree?"

 

Huh...that makes four, eh?

 

Arthur snickered a bit as the girl approached her with the question, and the all-familiar tingling sensation touched her again. She's a fellow foreigner, it seemed. Accent-wise...might be a fellow British? Perhaps, but she couldn't be sure just yet. While she waited before, she had changed into her Emerald Maiden attire, complete with the green hair. Her eyes were crimson, filled with eagerness of the prospect of what would happen next.

 

"Oh, don't worry, i have some sort of power like that too. Sorry if i bursted in your conversation, my name is Charlotte Greenfield. I just was curious, i thought i was the only one in the world to own this sort of ability."

 

"Well...it's fine, really. Most of us here thought that we're an isolated case too before today. Anyway, I'm Arthur Almark a....cosplayer, I guess. And right here is Manami, also having similar power to us. So basically, right now we're thinking that-"

 

" Glad to see you both are safe and sound.

 

Oh, me? Yeah i got knocked out royally, but that is not the issue here, look i will be a bit blunt but i need your help to investigate, this should not happen again at any cost and i won't be able to do it on my own. So, you two in to smash this...?"

 

"Well..." Soon afterwards, Asmund arrived, and immediately connected with the three's conversation. It Seemed that he's pretty eager to investigate further, and Arthur was definitely glad he's not as detached to the conflict as she thought earlier. Turning a bit with an awkward look on her face towards Asmund before returning to Charlotte, the young woman then continued to talk. "Yeah, that's pretty much the plan. Glad you're already in it, Asmund." 

 

"...And i feel like we are being watched from each and every corner."

 

...So you're feeling that too, huh?

 

Somewhat surprisingly, as she thought that she was just being paranoid before, Asmund was also seemingly sharing the same suspicion and concern that she thought about. The circumstances behind this entire mess were suspect at best, and with how the group behind the terror acts claim to be just like them...wait, wouldn't that mean...?

 

That's not something that Arthur really wanted to think about.

 

"It is the same with me..."

 

Ah, so she felt it too, Arthur thought. That would mean that it's really something to be concerned about.

 

"Still, I don't know what it is we could do...I suppose I could try and help put out the fire, but..."

 

"Hey, hey..." Manami looked quite gloomy. It's understandable with how the attack would have affected her, especially with how it happened exactly two months after the previous one. But right now, they should get moving. Perhaps they wouldn't be of much help, but staying in the shelters wouldn't change anything...and it could probably threaten their lives. Though, Manami probably haven't heard what Asmund and Charlotte said earlier since theyr'e speaking in English. She seemed like she's thinking of something else right now however - spacing out as she looked at the crowd of people around them. Concerned about her, she decided to talk about this directly to her.

 

"Alright, Manami. Can you hear me?"  Arthur started to speak in Japanese, trying to make sure that Manami's on the plan. "So, what I'm certain right now is that Asmund and I will be going out soon. The bad feeling abo ut this place is getting stronger for us, and it's probably better if we go out there and try helping in investigating or catching the culprit. The evacuation's probably supposed to mean that the police are hunting down the criminals that were on the run, no? But...something else feel like it'd make the entire deal worse sooner or later.

 

But yeah. Maybe there's a ride outside that we can borrow.

 

So...I guess let's go now." 

 

Having said that to Manami, Arthur then repeated what she had said to Asmund in English to make it clear on what she would do next. And then, she turned around to look at Charlotte again. She's just a teen...but having the power, with the fancy grimoire she had on her hands, that would mean she'd be dragged to this no matter if she'd like it or not. Sighing a bit, Arthur decided to address the current issue to her.

 

"We'll be going out to find out more about this mess and probably helping the police capture the culprit of this entire mess. You've seen the news about the attack earlier, right?

 

And also...it's probably a bad thing to stay in here for longer. It's fine if you feel like staying now, but right now we'll be going out. We'll wait for you there if you're interested."

 

And without waiting for Charlotte's reply, Arthur started to move out. She passed through a blonde teenager...she's an Aethertouched too, it seemed. Getting the tingly feeling again with her, Manami stopped her steps, and took some time to whisper something to the annoyed and confused-looking girl. That's the fifth Aethertouched for now.

 

"You...I think you're just like us. If you have any questions, you can follow me outside."

 

With that said, Arthur left the girl alone as she continued her way out of the movie theatre.

 

 

"I don't...bloody hell officer, could you just...?!" Not long after, Arthur was stuck with a debate with the officers in charge of the place. They said that they couldn't let anyone leave, and she started to get annoyed and yell in English at them. She soon realized that they wouldn't understand about it at all though. Then again, it's quite a weird sight already that what looked like a cosplayer was debating against some officers in such an emergency state of now. She'd be quite ashamed about it, but it';s not the time for that.

 

"Ugh...just...pleaaaaase?" It took her ten minutes to beg at the officers, but they finally relented (probably just so she could stop nagging), and allowed her and the other three she had mentioned to them to go out of the shelter, but with a warning that they wouldn't be held responsibility for whatever would happen out there. Not that it'd be problematic.

 

"It's hero time."

 

---

[Makο]

Calling it an intense stare down would be quite the understatement. A panting Conner, standing in front of a nervous guard in front of the school. The tension in the air was thick as pea soup, with their eyes locked and glaring. Occasionally, the guard would break the lock, glancing at the STEN slung over the sudden intruder's shoulder, before going back to a stare down.

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

"Let me in."

 

"No."

 

Conner's eye twitched a little. He unconsciously shifted the position of his weapon, to make it more comfortable.

 

"Why not?"

 

The guard's expression changed, suddenly looking a bit more... irritated, rather than nervous.

 

"Because you have a machine gun slung over your shoulder."

 

"Sub-machine gun."

 

"Same difference."

 

Conner took a step forward, causing the guard to flinch slightly.

 

"And? Why does that prevent my entry?"

 

"Permit nothing, do you realize that fully-automatic weaponry are illegal in Japan?"

 

"Of course I do. This is a semi-automatic model. Fires 9mm rounds, perfectly legal."

 

The guard crossed his arms, giving him a shifty glare.

 

"Prove it."

 

"What?"

 

"I said prove it. Prove it's semi-auto."

 

Conner looked down at his ammo pouch, counting for a moment.

 

"No."

 

"No?"

 

"No. I need this ammo. I can't waste it."

 

The guard shook his head.

 

"Then I can't let you in. In fact, if we weren't in the middle of a terrorist attack, I'd have already tried to check for a permit and confiscated your weapon upon the realization you don't have one. Plus, you're not allowed to brandish it like that anyway."

 

"I'm just here to protect you spineless fools. You never know when a terrorist might show up."

 

Conner suddenly found a finger pointing directly at his face.

 

"How could we tell that you're not a terrorist?"

 

"What?"

 

"Think about it. A man suddenly shows up at one of the designated refugee points, brandishing a machine gun–"

 

"Sub-machine gun."

 

"...sub-machine gun, and asks for entry. What would you do?"

 

"I'd likely shoot him in the kneecaps."

 

The guard made a contorted face, gesturing towards Conner.

 

"...I'm not a terrorist. So I wouldn't shoot me in the kneecaps. If I were actually trying to get inside to perpetuate some massacre, would I actually brandish my weapon for all to see? Isn't that counter-intuitive?"

 

"But what if the terrorist thought of that and decided to use reverse psychology?"

 

"What if the terrorist also thought of that, and decided to reverse it again?"

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

They both seemed to arrive to the same silent conclusion that silently staring at each other would be a more productive use of their time.