Year Two

Taiyo: "Oh. That's unfortunate."

At least she didn't say anything. I should've kept my mouth shut.

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She downs the two, who both groan and grunt with the hits.

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There's a few blocks with some small shops, plenty of them with bars on the windows. Most are either closing up or closed.

Dalia ended up turning off into an alley. It was now that Grimm noticed something like a mask tucked into her coat, and he followed soon after her. Dalia noticed that someone was walking behind her when she reached the end of the alley, but did not turn. Instead she began walking down another path. Grimm followed.

Note to self: Acquire smelling salts.

*In lieu of that, she just kicks the one she electrified in the ribs.*

"(Wake up!)"
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A"So, do you want to head back to the dorms?"

T"(Actually, I'm going out tonight. In costume.)"

A"(I, uh, see. Do you...want me to...tag along...?)"

T"(You don't have to if you don't want to. But if you want to help, you can man the computer. Contact me by cellphone if you see anything.)"
===========================
"I, ah, think that she probably knows by now. Wouldn't you?"

Taiyo: "I guess. It seems like it might be kind of weird since they live together. And what do we do now? I don't think we can just pretend today didn't happen, could we?"

Please say yes.

Lightning flashes followed by thunder.

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Don: "Ow, damn it!"

A bottle hits Luna in the shoulder, hard enough to feel the impact despite the kevlar.

From the alley, a person approaches. They're too far away to see clearly, but what can be made out is they're quite tall with a strange purple aura around them.

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I hyped this night up a bit too much.

Azuma stands on a rooftop, a crash of thunder masking any other noises that could be coming from the streets below.

He looks down over the rooftop to see what appears to be a creepy lookimg guy following someone with an umbrella. A potential mugging at best. He didn't want to think of the worst case scenario.

*Luna looks at the figure.*

"And you are?"
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"I guess not?"
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*And so they adjourn. Thiera looks for a secluded spot, free of any observers or potential cameras, in which to activate her costume.*

Dalia walked until she found another quiet path to turn down. Once again, Grimm followed her, but this time found that she was staring back at him.
"Want something?" She asked, holding the mask over the lower half of her face. "You must be crazy, out here getting soaked."
"I'd like to know why you're out here in this storm," Grimm said in a low voice, staring into her eyes. He noticed that she looked nervous. "Are you a Mutant?"
Dalia was a little shocked by the sudden question, but shook her head. Grimm noted a slight hesitation.
"What is it to you, anyway? Are you some kind of stalker?" Dalia asked, taking a half step back.
"In a manner of speaking, I stalk evil," Grimm took a step forwards. "Mutants are agents of evil. Are you a Mutant?"
Dalia couldn't hide her flicker of anger, and Grimm reached past his cloak and cassock.
"Hold up, creep, you better not be going for a weapon," Dalia growled, placing the mask on her face properly. "You don't want to start a fight with me."

Taiyo: "Oh..."

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When the person steps into view, she can see they're much taller than her and quite built, indicating being male. He's wearing a white costume that only leaves his blue eyes and blond eyebrows exposed. In the center of his chest is a bold ID, which matches the same logo on his belt. On his gloved hands is what can best be described as a strip of metal across his knuckles.

???: "Not amused."

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Azuma teleports down to the streets below. Seeing that the one with the umbrella is another Costume, he begins to rethink his choice.

What am I getting myself into?

Dalia noticed somebody suddenly appear nearby and flinched slightly. Grimm raised an eyebrow and looked over at Azuma, one hand still buried in his robes.
"And who is this?" Grimm asked, staring at Azuma. Dalia took a few more steps back.

*Eve goes over to answer*

Kylie:<Um, hi, do you have any powdered sugar? We were making cookies and found out we didn't have any.>

Eve:<I think so.>

*Eve reenters the kitchen, grabs a sandwich bag, fills it with sugar, and then returns to the door*

Kylie:<Thanks!>

Eve:<No problem. It's Kylie, right?>

Kylie:<Yup. That's Cameron.>

Cameron:<Sup?>

Eve:<Eve. That's Jin.>

Kylie:<Well, thanks a lot for the sugar!>

*They head back across the street. Eve closes the door then turns around*

Eve:<Man, we could almost go out today.>

"I don't have time for riddles & games. I have an interrogation to get to."
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*Thiera is still searching for that spot to activate her powers.*
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"I'm hungry. Do you know any good places to eat around here, Taiyo?"
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*Aroma enters the dorm, locks it, & boots up Google Earth on her laptop.*

Taiyo: "I think there's somewhere nearby."

Lightning flashes.

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Don staggers to his feet.

???: "Rob and Don Stenko. These two don't have a brain between them. You're not a detective. You're a thug."

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Azuma: "Someone who looks like they're in over their head."

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The foliage on the university grounds isn't really clumped together, so at best she can go behind a tree. As no one else is dumb enough to be out in the rain, she's alone.

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She sees blurry images of the streets because it's raining hard.

*Ven furrows her brow. She tries very hard to resist her urge to snipe at Taiyo about lightning allegedly not being a concern.*

"Well, can you lead the way to it? Please."
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"And you have one Hell of a superiority complex. If you aren't going to make yourself useful, then rethink your gall in attacking me. The next time, I will not hesitate to defend myself."

*She transfers her spear to her other hand, keeping it pointed at this asshat. With her free hand, she grabs Don by the collar, & pulls him to where she can see both asshats at the same time.*

"This meeting of yours. You are going to tell me everything that you know about it. If I don't think that you're lying, or guilty of any crimes, you're free to scamper away."
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*Once she's in the clear, she activates her costume. In addition, she lengthens the stem on her "umbrella," widens the leaf, & strengthens them both. It is now capable of acting as a proper umbrella. Not wanting to be seen waltzing around campus in this getup, she releases a cloud of spores from the grass that perfectly mimics fog & walks briskly to the nearest street out of campus.*

Grimm pointed at Azuma with his free hand, "You're a Mutant, aren't you?"
Dalia flicked her eyes from Grimm to Azuma, considering just disappearing into Alternate Space and leaving.

Taiyo: "Sure."

Taiyo picks herself up and slowly, almost dragging her feet makes her way down the aparatus and off the playground back to the pathway.

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Don: "There ain't no meeting until word is out."

Sirens wail in the distance, closing in followed by another flash of lightning.

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Azuma: "No, I'm a fucking astronaut who fell off the space station."

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That would be the same path Spring and Aroma were on that Spring stayed on as she left campus.

"You are marked by evil," Grimm said, still pointing. The temperature around him, in a four by four meter area increased to about 40 degrees Celsius and he took a couple of steps towards Azuma. "There is only one way to cleanse you of this."

*Ven follows.*
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*Then Thiera goes that way.*
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*She tosses Don to the ground.*

"If I were your average Tyranno Boy, all 3 of you would be pumped full of bullets right now. And I don't have freakish magic powers that allow me to stop bullets. So I strike first, & ask questions later. If you don't like it, then I strongly suggest that you rethink the company you keep."

*She looks at the asshat who attacked her with a bottle, specifically.*

"That includes you. If you ever strike me again, there will be no warnings or philosophical debates. I will bring you down, & then you can tell the cops how righteous you are. See if they care any more than I do."

*With that, she climbs the fire escape.*

Eventually they make it to some coffee shop. The get strange looks from the patrons due to their attire and the fact they're soaked. The dim lights make it difficult to read the menu which is difficult enough as is due to the odd name choices of things. It's possible they're in a Starbucks.

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???: "You're welcome to try."

He takes off back down the alley while Don attempts to collect Rob.

Don: "Real coo', Rob. Go all billy on me and miss Iron Duke."

The sirens go off as the police cruiser pulls up, two uniforms exit.

Uniform: "Great, these clowns. You know the routine, in you go."

The police put the two in the back and drive off.

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Azuma: "What are you, a Mutant hating Mutant? You need to cool off."

Azuma teleports in front of Grimm, grabbing his coat and teleports to the park putting them knee deep in dirty stream water.

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She's now walking down a fairly deserted street where nothing is happening. Most of the stores had closed early due to the storm.

Two vehicles drive by, a silver SUV like the one from the burger joint shooting and a red pick up truck, the back fenders sporting some rust.

"What an annoying ability," Grimm growled. The temperature climbed up to 60 degrees C, beyond being humanly bearable. "And no, I'm no Mutant. I am the hand of God!"
He finally pulled his hand from under his robes, bringing a short sword out. The temperature was now approaching 100 degrees C.

Dalia blinked, looked around, and went on her way. She tucked the mask back into her collar, assuming that nobody was watching her.

<Are you alright?>

*Eve loks slightly worried*

<Here, let's head up to my room.>

*Eve motions towards the stairs, and heads up them*
---
*Cameron exits his room, coming down in his heroing outfit*

Kylie:<What are you doing?>

Cameron:<Heroing?>

Kylie:<In the rain?>

Cameron:<Why would-OH.>

*Thiera opts to follow these vehicles, sticking as much in the shadow as she can.*
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*Ven looks for a sandwich to order.*
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*As nothing else is going on here, Luna begins vaulting across the rooftops.*

A server approaches looking like she picked the shortest straw and got stuck with them. Taiyo orders orange juice. Ven finds what could be a sandwich. The description says sandwich, but the name says it could be almost anything.

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Not much is going on except for a red pick up truck driving by.

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Poor choice in attrite.

Azuma teleports to the shore.

Azuma: "So God made Mutants. Good to know."

He teleports on out back to the roof of his apartment where he rips the bandana off his face, gasping for breath.

Mimiru: "Got your ass kicked, didn't you?"

Azuma looks over to see Mimiru standing by the door under an umbrella.

Azuma: "You could say my goose was almost cooked. How long have you been out here?"

Mimiru: "Too long. Hurry up and get inside, I'm freezing."

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The two vehicles go in different directions. The SUV goes right and the truck left.

*Thiera keeps after the SUV.*
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*Ven orders whatever that is & a hot tea.*
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*Luna electrifies the tip of her spear, using the light to scan the shadows of the buildings. That's when she notices Thiera.*

A new Costume?

Dalia briefly watched the pick up drive by, but was not particularly interested.

"Bastard," Grimm spat, sheathing his blade and stepping out of the water. The steam that had begun to rise around him subsided as he lowered the temperature back to its regular level. He looked around to see how far he had gone from his original location.

Jin followed after her and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

The server returns shortly with their order and buggers off.

Taiyo sips her drink in silence.

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The two stand at the top of the stairs.

Azuma: "I dun goofed. Up and encountered some old Mutant and he damn near cooked me alive. He wasn't in a mask or anything, so I don't think he's like the rest of them. Seemed to have a hate on for Mutants."

Mimiru: "Stop talking."

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He's quite far.

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Elsewhere across the city on the docks, a person who appears to be some kind of special ops, spook, or something of the sort is set on breaking into a warehouse when a butterfly shaped shuriken strikes the door frame.

He turns around, hand on a pistol holstered on his right. His hand doesn't leave his side when he sees it's Inquiry and Aeka.

???: "What do you want, Inquiry? I'm working here."

Inquiry: "Save it, Black Ops. What are you doing here?"

Black Ops: "Working. Those Tyranno Boys are getting gear that makes me jealous. Yesterday was their last shipment and last I recall this is Triad territory and even they don't come around."

Inquiry: "I'm aware. And you're in the way."

He was aware Inquiry packed heat, but it didn't matter much when the pixie lurking to his left would cut him down before he could do anything. He stepped aside and moved on to another warehouse. There was no reasoning with the bastard or his mute assassin.

*Thiera receives a text message.*

{Something up at the docks. Be careful.}

How do I get all the way over there? Can't very well take a cab. Unless....

*She looks about for a fire escape to climb. Figuring out what she's doing, Luna finds the nearest object to hide behind or shadow to disappear in, aiming to keep an eye on what Thiera is doing without her seeing.*
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*Ven eats, in thought. She looks around to make sure that no one is within earshot.*

"Do you think Thiera is a vigilante?"