Year Two

*They totally are walking to Taiyo's house, like they said they would.*

V"I doubt very much that it matters."

""We're inclined to agree.""

T"Besides, my picture might be going in the news soon with the caption 'crazy plant lady.'"
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"When you blatantly lie to me, yes, I do. There's a simple question you have to answer: Are you one of us or one of them?"

*Dr. Tantus arrives at Jin's house and opens the door*

Eve:<Thanks for coming, see you tomorrow?>
---
*Then Cameron flies off in a random direction, looking for anything interesting*

Taiyo: "I'll be sure to watch. "

Outside Taiyo's house, a light in the living room is on, Kitters in the window.

Taiyo: "See you, later."

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Azuma: "What a vague question. And what's it to you that a total stranger is doing on a roof?"

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The kid becomes more unresponsive when he goes into shock.

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Girl: Great, he talks to himself. Why'd he have to be a loon?

The girl follows, frightened by the apparent schizophranic she believes to be hooking up with.

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He sees some traffic. Not much, but some. Not much happens in suburban residental areas.

"Useless," Dalia sighed. She considered calling an ambulance, but decided instead to just leave him and left.

"Yeah, sure, I'm almost always free," Jin nodded and climbed out of the car. She looked to Eve's mother. "Thanks a lot for the ride."

"You can go back, now," Grimm said without looking at her, but stopped walking. "I gave you the money only because I was the cause of that beating. I don't want your body."

*They say their goodbyes to Taiyo & head off.*

V"So I guess this is it for the night. I'm going home to go to bed."

T"Alright. I think I'll do a little...homework."
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"Humans can't fly. The fact that you are up here, at least in this city, means you are either angel or demon. I can tell you're not a Tyranno Boy, but they aren't the only danger to the humans down below."

Azuma: "You can't fly and appear to have been on several roofs. I can say I came up the stairs and out the service door just over there. May not be true, but I can make a believable story for my ending up here."

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The girl looks both shocked and relieved as she takes the money.

Girl: "Uh...thanks."

She gets the hell out of there.

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A police cruiser drives by. It doesn't stop or go near the alley. If the scene is discovered it could be a day or more.

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News Anchor: "This afternoon at a Bogie Burger, members of the Tyranno Boys and Russian mafia were engaged in a firefight in the parking lot resulting in the deaths of two Tyranno Boys and thousands of dollars in property damage. When members of both orginizations entered the building, an unknown Mutant vigiliante intervened putting the Tyranno Boy asleep and restraining the Russians. No one got a glimpse of who could possibly be another vigilante in this city due to a thick cloud of pollen that appeared before they took action. Nothing was confirmed about why the shooting took place, but police suspect Kyle Malkovich is still seeking revenge for the murder of his nephew. The Tyranno Boys had issued a statement regarding the Russians."

The scene transitions to a grainy video similar to that they released some time ago.

Raptor: "The Russians are weak. They cannot hope to destroy the Tyranno Boys. We will kill the Malkovich family one by one. I myself will personally kill the women in his family, but not until I've--"

News Anchor: "And the rest of the tape is not fit for broadcast. In other news, three drug related deaths have been reported today. The first at the North King's Mall where a man, after running around the food court, proceeded to disembowel and try to eat his own intestines before bleeding out. The second came in shortly after when a man entered the Church of Our Holy King, rambling about bones, died having choked on his own vomit, and lastly an unknown woman appears to have died of a bacterial infection. At each scene were dominos which police have identified as the shape in which this new drug has been manufactured in. Neither officer in charge of the investigation was available to comment."

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On the east side of the city in a high rise, a large man in a black suit sits behind a desk, a television set showing the news during the segment about the burger joint shooting and the Tyranno Boys tape. He speaks in a heavy Russian accent, a look of rage on his face.

Kyle: "I want him dead. I want every last member of his gang dead. I want anyone who came into contact with one of those freaks dead!"

His assignment, a Korean woman stands by. In contrast to her employer she remains calm, unphased by Kyle's outbursts.

Sun-Hi: "His whereabouts is unknown to everyone, but the Tyranno Boys. And they're not talking. Perhaps doing something besides kill them indiscriminantly may be in order."

Kyle: "Or perhaps hiring some employees who have brains in their heads is in order!"

Dalia kept walking through alleys and the less crowded streets, keeping a keen eye out for any Tyranno Boys.

Grimm left to stalk further through the alleys. He looked up towards the roofs of the buildings around him and furrowed his brow. Maybe there were Mutants escaping his reach up there? He would need a way up if he wanted to see.

<It was a metaphor. Demons are criminals, angels are heroes, and humans are ordinary civilians. Ordinary civilians rarely come up to rooftops at night, especially when they are the frequent scenes of battle between these 2 opposing forces. So I will ask once more: Which one are you?>
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*Aroma has the news up on her computer. She frowns at it as Thiera drains some juice out of the coconut into a petri dish on her desk & looks at it under a microscope.*

A"Looks like the evil organizations in this city just doubled."

T"Raptor might be traceable. If I can get a hold of a Tyranno Boy for at least 45 minutes, uninterrupted, I can see if a truth serum will work. Until then, this domino is our only lead. I'll have to see what it's made of, then we might get somewhere."

A"Which do you think is the bigger problem?"

T"The dominoes themselves are potentially more dangerous. We have no idea what they are, what kind of side-effects they might have. But if they're just some experiment cooked up in a local meth lab, they should be pretty easy to shut down. Like I said, I'll have to figure out how these things work to know whom we're dealing with."

Azuma: "Why can't you talk like a normal person? Or as normal as someone decked out in kevlar, vaulting from rooftop to rooftop with a naginata can be. As for your question, I have done nothing to be labled as such. And I'm burning nightlight. So I'll get back to you then."

He teleports to a rooftop across the street.

Azuma: What a loon. Certainly not everyone is like that. I should've asked her where to get some kevlar.

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Three are banging up a taxi. The driver having fled leaving three kids to wreck it up.

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The contents of the pitri outside of any residual plant matter is entirely alien to her.

*Well, since the molecules are obviously big enough to see, she looks at their shapes.*
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*Luna vaults back to the rooftop she was on previously, descending the fire escape.*

Dalia took a deep breath and put on her masquerade mask. She approached the three boys, hiding her apprehension behind a smile intended to be pleasant, she called out to them the first thing to come to mind, "Hey, boys."
She renewed Alternate Space.

Grimm looked for a fire escape.

A woman screams. Another purse snatching. As the mugger flees, Azuma teleports a few feet in front of him.

Mugger: "What the hell is this?"

He flicks a switchblade open.

Azuma: Damn it. I bet the same trick'll work twice.

It doesn't, the mugger swings around when Azuma gets behind him, hitting with the purse. Holding the purse, Azuma teleports him to a roof, a wave of nausea hitting the mugger.

An ice crystal forms in Azuma's hand which he stabs into the muggers shoulder, so he drops the knife and punches him in the nose. When the mugger releases the purse, Azuma takes it and gets back to the ground below.

The woman is on a cellphone with the police when Azuma returns it to her. He believes she'll hang up and thank him, but instead continues talking mentioning a Mutant saved her and the mugger is nowhere to be seen. The implications alone are enough for him to leave.

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In the alley she sees a junkie freak out over something and scram, tripping over himself and whatever's in his way. Aside from the junkie she's the only one in the alley.

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Fire escapes being more common than they probably are in reality, it's not hard to find one.

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When she speaks, they each raise their weapon. Pipes mostly except the one who draws a 38. Special.

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The parts that make up the drug look like blood drops.

Grimm began hauling himself up a fire escape.

Dalia casually lifted her hands into the air, betraying the fear that nearly had her fleeing into Alternate Space, "Come on, now, I'm not here to mess with you. I kind of wanted to join in the fun."

Dr. Tantus:<No problem!>

*Eve waves and they start driving away*
---
*Cameron flies off towards the slightly worse parts of town*

"Hmm...it couldn't actually be...could it?"

*She pulls off a piece from the coconut, which quickly grows back. She just stares at the plant for a long time, trying to feel the adaptations it made to block the drug's chemicals.*
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*Luna goes to see what's freaking out the junkie &/or what he tripped over.*

Azuma: That felt good. Being a hero. Makes no difference, but it's a start.

A pair of laser sharpened blades are leveled at his neck and stomach. He didn't hear their owner approach nor can he feel their breathing.

Inquiry: "Stand down, Aeka. He's no threat."

The blades are withdrawn, Azuma turns around to see Inquiry and the woman known as Aeka.

Inquiry: "You made your decision."

Azuma: "Am I that obvious?"

Inquiry: "I keep tabs on all Costumes in this area. You're a new one."

Azuma: "I have."

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Some garbage cans are spilled over, the junkie nowhere in sight. She's now the only one in the alley.

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The roof is vacant except for the usual machinery and accessways present. The streets below are full of neon lights from late night establishments and the hustle and bustle of night workers.

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The Tyranno Boys smirk. One wielding a pipe in a purple jacket makes a throat slitting motion with it.

Purple: "We slicer dicers. We'll show you our kind of fun."

The one with the Baretta shoots her. The bullet grazes her left side. It tears through her disguise, taking some meat with it. It hurts and will bleed, but she'll live.

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It had to go into overtime to try and resist it. It's shell being comparible to stone.

Dalia dropped to her knees and held both hands to the wound. Through a colossal effort, she manage to keep from screaming or crying. At the same time a Homunculus appeared behind the Tyranno Boy with the pistol and punched him in the back of the head, easily knocking him unconscious. A second appeared in front of Dalia to act as a shield against any further attacks.

Grimm stood at the edge of the rooftop with his hands held behind his back and watched silently. For the most part it truly was a Godless city.

Jin went inside and greeted her parents, who were watching television together in the living room.

*Luna runs off towards the scream she'd heard earlier.*
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T"What...this doesn't make any sense."

A"What is it?"

T"Most of this is bark. Really thick bark."

A"So, that means...its weakness is bark?"

*Thiera turns around.*

A"Bark is dead cells. It's like this drug is designed to kill."

Azuma: "What do you know about the Tyranno Boys?"

Inquiry: "Those noisy kids? Not at the top of my list. The corruption in this city's government holds priority."

Azuma: "Looks like I'm on my own for that then."

Inquiry: "Your vendetta is your own burden."

Azuma: "As is yours."

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The street the scream had come from his empty. On a rooftop, some guy is calling for help.

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A car blaring music loudly down below passes, standing out from the rest of the traffic.

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Cameron comes to a street where outside a liquor store, a Tyranno Boys vehicle idles. Someone sits in the drivers seat, presumably waiting on whoever's inside.

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The two turn around swinging at the Homunculus.

*Something in her tone indicates to her that the guy isn't worth saving, so she slinks back into the shadows.*
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*Aroma & Thiera both begin looking up chemicals that cause necrosis.*

A"Should we put in word to the police about what we've found?"

T"Yeah. Leave a message on the internet. Use a proxy."

A"What should I tell them? What will make them take it seriously?"

T"The truth. Say we discovered it with our mutant powers. Leave it at that."

*Aroma does as instructed.*

As the Homunculus is made from steel, the pipes do little but knock it back slightly. It responded with a high kick to the jaw of another Tyranno Boy. The Homunculus guarding Dalia reached under her trench coat and tore a long strip out of her shirt, which it then tied around her to bandage the wound.

Grimm watched the car pass by.

The three part ways, Inquiry and Aeka roof hopping and Azuma teleporting.

Azuma: At least someone is taking the big jobs.

He teleports to the park, leaning against a tree, the distance tiring.

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A red Viper drives by. A silver SUV turns into an alley and a brown sedan bearing the TB for Tyranno Boys also passes.

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The music eventually fades as the car gets further away. Sirens wail and tires screech.

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The Tyranno Boy left standing scrambles to retrieve the gun his comrade had.

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An error message pops up saying the process could not be complete.

A"'Process could not be complete?' Don't they mean, 'completed?'"

*She keeps trying, using their various channels. Thiera keeps looking up those chemicals, trying to find a class that forms similar liquids.*
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*Luna points her spear at the tire of the TB vehicle, shooting an arc of electricity into it.*

The Homunculi leaped onto him, pinning him to the ground and holding a hand tightly over his mouth. The Homunculi tending to Dalia turned it's forearms to blades and began carving out the area of ground on which Dalia had spilled blood. Meanwhile, Dalia began shakily advancing towards the Tyranno Boy being restrained.

Grimm frowned deeply. He needed a new way of finding Mutants. He had only found his last kills by chance, if he was honest.

*Cameron settles on the roof, waiting for them to come out*
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Dr. Tantus:<Eve, is something wrong?>

Eve:<Not at all, I just have a lot on my mind.>

*Dr. Tantus pulls up in their driveway, and they both enter the house*