Welcome to My Abode (Plot Thread)

[Mystic Serenade]

(Plot thread, continuation of "Night of the Full Moon (http://bleachasylum.com/showthread.php?t=3534)")

The clock will soon strike 10:00 p.m, an hour where most call it quits for the day and choose to turn in for the night. But for a certain group of people this is probably not so.

A man the day before gave out three cards and written on them was a location. At this location stands an apartment building that was abandoned a few years past due to accident. A fire that rendered the building unsuitable for anyone to live in. The damage too heavy and too costly to repair. Yet for some reason the city officials never got around to getting the thing torn down.

The structure has an entrance but it lacks any doors as they have long past whittled away. Simple enough for anyone to just walk into and take a look around, or so it seems.

[blackluster]

Sano arrived outside the buildng. He wasn't one for being early, but he was keen to get this unwanted meeting out of the way. The ladies from the other night had not yet arrived.

I could scope out the place myself, but going solo one this seems like it would be a bad idea. I don't know them, but I'd rather have those two ladies from last night for company. The three of us are the only ones who don't think this little charade is funny.

Sano looked around again. There was no one in sight. Not even someone in a window of the surrounding buildings.

Oh well, nothing for it then...

He walked over to the abandoned building, and began urinating on the wall beside the open doorway, painting a very detailed rendition of a cat with the steady stream of fluid.

[Dizzy]

Despite my brain telling me it would be a terrible, terrible idea to go, Arielle's urges are slowly chipping away at my willpower to stay put at the brothel and avoid contact with any of them. Sooner or later, it'll break and I'll just leave anyways, mindlessly following the others like a troupe of lemmings. Straight off a cliff.

So this time, I take precautionary steps to avoid that. Come 9:45 PM, I wander into the adjacent hall, navigate my way into a friend's room, and covertly borrow two sleeping pills. Returning to my own quarters, I pour myself a glass of water and swallow both pills in one gulp before curling myself deep into my bed.

Soon enough, I can already feel my brain beginning to numb and my consciousness fading - this is my first time taking sleeping pills, so I get the full effect. I fall into dreamland hoping that Arielle doesn't feel too abandoned, and that the man from the park doesn't show up to kidnap me in the middle of the night.

[Kolbertt]

Arielle approached the building one would normally avoid with a steady step. This time, she would get her answers. She had spent almost half of her day planning for tonight, and the other half sleeping throughout classes. Last night had been spent in her bathroom, attempting to squeeze answers out of Lero, and her lack of sleep reflected in the eye circles that surrounded her halcyon eyes. She had obtained some nifty facts... but she did not have the time to think about them.

With Lero in her left hand, Arielle checked through her inventory. She had a pepper spray and a big kitchen knife in case anyone got to close for her comfort. Three 1-litre bottles full of water, some special ingredients stolen from both a chemistry class and a nearby gas station. Everything packed in different bottles all along a hand-made utility belt. The Zippo in her shirt pocket was the final element in her scheme… She was missing a gun, but in the short time span given, this was all she could do.

“Ok… time to end this once and for all” – She said as she gently patted her forehead. A big bruise hidden from the casual viewer by her hair made her frown in pain.

As she neared the building, she saw a familiar figure… “Urinating? BAGHH – Calm down Arielle… it’s just Stinko. Calm down and remember the plan”

“Bonsour! Ehm… Sano was it?” Arielle said as she tried to hide her obvious disgust towards the man

“Ehm… before you say anything, I must apologize for the way I treated you yesterday… I was rather moody you know. Let’s just forget it all! Oh! And the name’s Arielle”

She said as she gently extended her hand towards him… but in second thought, quickly removed it and simply waved her hand with an abnormal grin in her face.

“Say, any plan for tonight? Or any sign of our hosts? What about Claire?”

She gave the rustic kitty drawing a quick glare, and wondered if this man's urine was as corrosive as his smell. It would make for a wonderful extra weapon...

[Mystic Serenade]

A figure spies the two from the fourth story window of the building. He merely states, "Hopefully this turns out well," before retreating back into the depths of the mysterious building."

[blackluster]

Sano was still busy watering the wall as Arielle approached. The formal hand greeting seemed quaint to him. He hadn't done it in decades.

Sano greeted as politely as he could while still relieving himself.

"Ah good evening. Arielle is it? Hmm to answer your questions in order. Plan? I have no plan. Experience tells me that plans usually fail miserably in situations like this, so I don't bother with them anymore. Our hosts? I haven't seen or heard anyone besides you. The other woman? Who knows."

Sano peered at the young woman's make-shift utility belt.

"Okaaaay then. Well, perhaps you'd like to look around inside. If our friend arrives, we can maybe call her up from one of the windows as we move up the building."

I have a sinking feeling that these clowns are going to be waiting for us on one of the top floors.

Sano finished up his business, and headed for the entrance.

"Well, anytime you're ready."

[Kolbertt]

As Sano approached the building, Arielle pointed her umbrella at the kitty drawing and with a simple splash cleaned the wall. She did this out of pure disgust with this man's habits.

There was also, no sign of Claire. It was around 10 o'clock, and Claire had been told the time and place. She should arrive at anytime soon... - But Stinko had other plans, he did not await for anyone else and simply went into the meeting place. Arielle could not help but following him... After all, he too was a valuable specimen

"So... There's been some things I wanted to ask you. First of all, I think I've figured out what these two want from us. Both Claire and me can see ghosts and other supernatural beings. Also, both of us have some sort of supernatural weapon. It's my guess that you have both supernatural vision and some kind of supernatural weapon. I'd like the details as to make a proper plan of action..."

As they entered the ruined building, Arielle caught a glimpse of the place.

"It's typical of cheesy villains to await at the top of the tower, so go on, be my guest and lead the steps"

[Mystic Serenade]

Before the two can proceed, a crashing sound can be heard from above and it doesn't stop. Three crashes are heard in quick succession, each louder than the last, until a hollow burst through the ceiling of the room the two humans have just walked into. It roars in pain, but quickly turns it's attention upon the two other occupying the room. A quick meal might be just what this hollow needs to forget it's recent pain.

The tiger-like hollow quickly gets off its back on unto all fours, standing about three meters high and ready to strike.

(OCC: Hollow's relative strength is about 1400 at its peak but just went down to about 800 for battle reference)

[Kolbertt]

Arielle stopped cold- This was sure an unexpected twist of events. But, was this planned or mere coincidence?

The monster looked at them with hungry eyes and obvious intentions. Instinctively, Arielle swung her umbrella and unleashed a small amount of water that circled around her, but then controlled herself and remained on the defensive stance.

"It's too early to use that" She thought as she glanced her belt.

"Hey, Mister Sano, care to work with me for this one?" So I can finally see your weapon and skills??? :noes

[blackluster]

Sano frowned at being indirectly designated the meat shield.

"Lead the way huh?"

His comeback was rudely interrupted by the falling hollow.

Jeez, and here I thought we would just have a chat with our host.

He turned to Arielle.

"Hey, what do you say we split up? Maybe we can lose this guy in the narrow corridors. Just head upwards!"

With that, Sano ran at one of the stairwells that was closest to the hollow. He leapt up giving the crumbling roof a headbutt in order to bring more of it down.

Hopefully the falling debris will hinder its pursuit and obscure its vision.

As Sano ran he rubbed his head. Headbutting concrete while untransformed was definitely not recommended, but he was greatly concerned at the situation. No sign of the guys from the other night, and a hollow to contend with. Sano certainly wasn't in the mood for games, but the complications were stacking up far too quickly. If the other woman arrived now, she'd be walking straight into a trap. Sano peaked his reiatsu a bit, making himself a target for the hollow.

"Here, kitty kitty kitty", he shouted, hoping that the hollow would madly chase him in the corridors.

If that girl is as clever in fights as I think she is, I should be able to make an opening for her...

[Dizzy]

(OOC: Taking over for the moment because Mystic is gone)

The injured hollow growls unpleasantly at the two humans, having realized that they wouldn't be quite the easy meal it had expected. The man in the corridors would probably be a giant nuisance to chase down. However, from reiatsu level alone, the girl in front of him seems to be the superior meal, and he acts accordingly.

He rears back, showing off his dangerous claws, and leaps at the girl, bounding heavily over the floorboards and aiming to slice her into ribbons in one blow. The other one can wait for now.

[blackluster]

Sano came sliding to a halt. The hollow seemed to be more interested in the girl.

Well, that's a bit insulting, but it may be useful...

Sano turned, and disappeared up the stairs.

[Kolbertt]

Arielle watches in amuzement as Sano headbutts the roof and goes running through a corridor. It's a hell of a funny scene after all. Any other time, she'd rolled over the floor laughing her ass off. But right now, she needed to concentrate.

First thing to do, was to dodge the incoming slash. The circling water around her placed itself below her feet and moved her backwards at a dazzling speed. The crude dodging tactic was effective, but had slammed her on the wall behind her. At the same time she felt the bottles on her belt pressed hard against her skin, she raised her umbrella and the water path she had used to slide backwards raised in a pressured spiral, slamming the monster's head in the ceiling.

"Now, Sano has already rushed away, and I really doubt where he's going. But he's had a hell of an idea"

Fighting in this stage, where the tiger could leap, dodge and attack at his leisure was just stupid. So, following Sano's advice, she threw herself under the kitty and surfed aiming at the door Sano had went through, hoping to find either a flock of stairs or some kind of corridor.

[Dizzy]

Despite the newly placed dent in the roof, the hollow is unfazed by the attack and merely snarls, shaking himself to be rid of the water. Eyes glinting, he stalks after the trail of water, a telltale clue as to the whereabouts of his meal, and ambles into the corridor, more than slightly annoyed.

The hall is rather narrow and is rank with the odor of mildew, though not a problem for the tiger to maneuver itself through. Despite the water dulling his senses, he has by now become accustomed to the scents of his prey and is following them slowly, his padded feet giving it the advantage of silence.

[blackluster]

Sano was now three floors up. He had managed to locate the hole the hollow had made on the way down. He peered down the hole. Things had gotten awfully quiet on the ground floor.

Shite, the party has either ended or moved elsewhere.

The building was all still again, like nothing had ever happened in the first place. The only evidence of the commotion was the massive set of holes spanning the floors below Sano. Above him was one more hole.

"That must be where the big cat fell from"

Sano jumped up, just enough to catch the edge. He did a short lift, so that only his head emerged through the hole, into the room above. He looked around as he hung silently. The room was still, and pitch dark. There didn't seem to be any evidence of where the hollow came from or what caused it to fall. Sano lowered himself slightly so he could see down the corridor he had just come from. It was also quiet. He let out a short sigh as he dropped back down, and proceeded back the way he came looking for Arielle, or any evidence of what happened to her.

[Kolbertt]

Arielle continued to surf throughout the corridors. Pitch black dark was the only thing she could see.

There was no way to tell if the kitty was still following them, Sano also, had dissappeared long time and there was no way to tell what had happened to him.

"Fuck... situation's bad - Sano has dissappeared. Claire dared not to show her face, Tom there is a hell of a problem... I guess it's time for that"

After she had stopped her movements, Arielle opened up one of her seven bottles and dropped it's content in front of her. "I cannot control liquids other than water... but it's no real problem if you can still move it around as you wish" - Using the zippo to see what she was actually doing, Arielle trapped the dark toned liquid in a bubble hard as stone.

With her "familiar" floating above her head, Arielle moved up the stairs in look for Sano, Kitty-cat, or any of the freaks from the other night.

[Dizzy]

After about two minutes of careful stalking, the tiger hollow has just about caught up to the man who had disappeared right away. To be fair, his scent is much more ... evident than the girl's. Skulking in the shadows, he approaches from behind ever-so-quietly and tries to get him into a corner, where he won't be able to escape. The pitch blackness of the building works to his advantage, as the man won't even be able to see him until he gets within twenty feet of him. His features rearrange themselves into a malicious snarl, a drop of drool sliding from his lips and onto the floor.

Suddenly, from behind Sunami, a faultily-placed floorboard squeaks, its echo resounding through the halls. The sound of claws scuffing on wood is heard, followed by the hollow lunging out at him from the darkness.

[blackluster]

Man, how did I lose her so easily, I only left for a moment...

There was no trace of Arielle. The stairwells were quiet, so she must have come up some other route, or he just kept missing her. Sano scratched his head for a moment, wondering what to do. A floorboard creaked somewhere, though Sano didn't pay much attention to it. He was surprised that the building didn't make more noise considering how dilapidated it looked from the outside. He got a terrible surprise though when the hollow from earlier came lunging at him. Not actually noticing it, Sano bore the full brunt of the attack. A great deal of blood flew up everywhere, staining the walls and adding to the spookiness for the building.

Man, that was pretty amatuer...

Sano slowed his heart rate to control the bleeding but it was still pretty bad. He leapt into an adjacent room. The wound was on his back, making it difficult to treat. The room only had one entrance, though its size would by Sano a little time.

Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to wreck the party a bit...

Sano released his transformation. The increase in reiatsu helped him cope with the wound a bit better.

"Let's add some bass". Sano managed a smirk before unleashing Feral Roar on the building super structure. The defeaning noise resounded through the entire building and into the street outside. As the shockwaves built up they began reverberating in the room. Sano began altering the tone of the roar. If he found the resonant frequency of the main supports, the entire building would come down. The structure began to shake violently, as parts of floors and walls began failing.

[Kolbertt]

The building sudden shock almost took Arielle down. The falling debris was dangerous, adding even more elements to the already deadly building.

"Ok... at times like this, I'd really like to hear a word or two from you my purple friend..." She said as she looked at Lero. She hated to think this, but in this situations, Lero was more of a tool than a companion.

After everything had settled down, or so it seemed, Arielle realized she would need Sano. Not as a specimen, but as a partner. The only problem was to find him. "The sudden roar in the upper floors could only mean a thing, the tiger had found Sano and had seriously injured it. There is no other explanation to it"

The floating bubble followed obediently as Arielle backtracked her steps into the entrance of the building. Neither Sano nor the tiger was there, but given that the roar had come from the upper levels of the structure, it was not a surprise.

With Lero heading the way, Arielle raised through the floors in a watery elevator that took her to the fourth floor. There was no hole in the ceiling. But in a nearby room, bathing at the moonlight, Arielle saw them both, the tiger and a monstrous werewolf.

Arielle held Lero in her left hand, and in her right hand, the second of her seven bottles.

[Mystic Serenade]

The noise was quite deafening to the hollow's sensitive ears. It could care less about the building but instinct told it to stop the noise, and what better way to do that than to stop it at it's source.

Despite the extremely loud ringing in it's ears, it made for a mad dash towards the now transformed human, jaws open wide to rip a healthy junk of flesh from it's body.

[blackluster]

Sano's transformation failed before he could find the right frequency. He had lost too much blood from the first bite. He reverted back into a human and fell over forwards, unwittingly dodging the flying hollow. With some his strength, he crawled over to some of the cracked floor, and gave it a weak thump. This sent that bit of floor crashing down, Sano along with it. As he went tumbling down, he saw a strange image of a girl balancing on a water spout.

What a strange place to put a fountain....

[Kolbertt]

With the content of her second of seven bottles now floating around in a smoking bubble, Arielle propelled forward. The monster she had glimpsed seconds before was none other than Sano himself. “Strong imagination, maybe?” – Anyhow, the enormous tiger was very much real and that was a very serious threat itself. Since Sano seemed pretty much out of the fight, Arielle decided it was time to use her triumph card. “I guess the previous roar was not from pain… Was it actually an attack?”

First, she pointed with her umbrella at her victim. A spiralling torrent guided her inside the room, over the roof just above the tiger and into the place where Sano had been seconds before. As she passed above the tiger, Arielle pointed at its face with her umbrella and a small torrent of water got into the tiger’s eyes, blinding him for seconds. Valuable seconds she would need to end her plan. Arielle caught the falling Sano and encased both of them in a bubble. Now, they were both trapped inside a floating stone-like structure with two bubbles the size of a small watermelon. All that remained outside was Arielle’s left hand, which held a Zippo lighter with a small flame on it.

Arielle pointed at the first of the floating bubbles around her. It shrunk to the size of a marble in just fraction of seconds. The liquid inside it was now at it’s greatest pressure possible, and had penetrated the smoking bubble and remained in the exact middle of it. The second bubble was also considerably smaller, but this was not because of Arielle’s work. The strong acid inside was vaporizing the bubble at an alarming rate, releasing enormous quantities of heat as it did so.

“Yo! Mister Sano!”

Arielle spoke out loud “This can be a harsh ride, and I’m not sure if we can make it out of here alive… but I guess it’s an all or nothing bet! FILL YOUR LUNGS AND BREATH DEEPLY!!” This was the last thing she said before the bubble filled with water and all her words ended up muffled. She threw the Zippo to the merged bubbles, which now were nearing the size of a small lemon, and in a quick movement, took from her utility belt the only black bottle. A deodorant spray.

With her left hand, she used the deodorant and the Zippo as a crude flamethrower, engulfing the bubble of heated, pressurized gasoline inside the marble like bubble. Her right hand held her umbrella with all her possible strength. She had condensed all her power into a bubble with solid walls, and water to reduce shock impact. Everything had gone according to the plan, the explosive marble was just in front of the tiger’s face, flames were all around it, and at the exact second she wished for it, the bubble that confined the gasoline would just explode. She threw the deodorant bottle away, got her left hand in the bubble and just left everything explode.

The explosion was massive. Arielle had expected something much less massive than what happened. The tiger was engulfed in flames; the whole building had received the whole shock of it. If the previous shock had damaged it, this could very much be the end of the building in which they stood.

As they bounced around, barely seeing anything as the protective bubble started to crack, Arielle gave her plan a second sight:

“I guess I overdid it… but why!? It was just perfect; the pressurised gasoline would explode at the moment I released the bubble. Pressurized gasoline wouldn’t explode from just the heat caused by that rustic flamethrower, so I used the exothermic reaction of strong acid with water to rise it’s temperature and then spark the flame to unleash chaos. The timing was perfect, any longer and the acid would have evaporated all the bubble around it, was it just too pressurized? Did I go wrong trying to overcome a lack of skill with brains?”

But her thoughts dangled as she hit her head hardly against the very same bubble that was intended to protect her.




(Author’s note: Yup, all here is true. Pressurized liquids need extra heat to explode, and strong acids can be stored in plastic bottles without melting it. The reason behind this is that acids react violently with water, they release such large amounts of heat that they burn away flesh when they get into contact with the water from the body --- Who would have thought chemistry class would end up being used for this –P)

[Mystic Serenade]

The tiger hollow was at a loss what to do in the current situation. It was beyond his comprehension how such a small sphere could had hurt him so badly. Thrown back by the shock of the blast and engulfed in flame, it became consumed with rage with confusion. Soon however despite it's condition, it could tell that the girl had momentarily lost focus and the watery shield around her wavered. Instinct told it to strike, and strike now. So the cat pounced toward the bubble with a feral cry.

It never did get to reach the girl though, it's attack never connected. A crescent of energy that erupted out of the floorboards beneath it saw to that. As it cut through the hollow's neck, effectively decapitating and incapacitating the beast. It's body laid smoldering where it feel, blood simulatenously pouring out from it's wound and evaporating from the heat of the flames.

"Honestly, as guests you guys should really learn your manners and not try to collapse my home every chance you get," called out a voice from the darkness below them. From the hole caused by the earlier energy burst arose a familiar figure. The man the two humans had met last night and their reason for being here. "So you two, welcome to my abode."

[blackluster]

Sano didn't register what Arielle was planning. Being suddenly submerged took him by surprise. The experience went from bad to worse as apart from being drowned, he was also sent bouncing off the sides of the watery barrier like a ping pong ball. The ordeal came to a sudden and violent halt, as the barrier broke. Sano looked around, rubbing his head, trying to get some awareness of what was happening. Arielle was laying still for the moment. Hopefully she wasn't too badly injured.

The hollow that had given so much trouble earlier lay decapitated, its last heart beats sending blood spurting out sporadically from the gaping neck wound. Sano, through his dazed confusion heard someone speaking from below. As he listened, he rolled over to the hole made by the man's attack, looking down at him. Sano was well beyond irritation. He removed his scarf and bound it as tightly as he could around his waist. It would have to serve as a temporary bandage for the wound on his back until he could get some treatment.

He rolled over into the hole, dropping through and landing rather ungracefully on the same floor as the host. He rose slowly, wiping the blood from the newly opened wound on his forehead.

"Learn our manners huh?" Sano asked disdainfully. "You have some fucking nerve my friend. Maybe if you didn't want your house wrecked you should have taken care of your pest problem before your guests arrived instead of burdening them with it." Sano removed the card he received the previous evening. He crumpled it up and tossed it in the man's face.

He looked up to address Arielle. "I don't know about you, but I'm off to the hospital. I just met this guy and I've already had enough of his face for this evening."

Sano turned to the host one more time. "Adieu", he said cynically, and limped off to the exit.

OOC: Just a note. Sano's transformation is not drastic. The main changes are in his teeth and eyes. There are no other distinguishable changes in his appearance besides slight hair and nail growth that would make him look any different from a normal human. (It's only a 1st form transformation afterall)

[Kolbertt]

Arielle recovered just in time to see Sano leave the building. Bleeding, wounded cursing every single member of their host's family.

That's when she realized she was in front of the man who had her answers. The one who had ridiculized her last night, and the sole cause of the beating her mother gave her. She gathered all her strength in getting up, using her umbrella once more as a walking stick. -

But after noticing her left hand had been severely burned, all she could do was let it go and fall once more on the floor, this time shrieking in pain.

"YOU!" She shouted while trying to stand up, to cope with the pain of the burns, Arielle had encased her left hand in a bubble filled with cold water. But before she said anything else, she made a visible effort to calm herself down.

"I guess that, since you have summoned us here, and your timely appearance makes me really doubt that monster over there was just a coincidence. Now it's time to take care of your guests, don't you think so?"

Arielle's umbrella pointed straight at this man's face.

"It's too late to eat something, so why don't we just have a pleasent conversation?"

[Mystic Serenade]

"I thought I told you to watch where you point that thing," the man said as he pushed the tip downward this time with his pointer finger. He then addressed the man who's intention it was to retreat the building, "Hit a nerve did I? I'm sorry but unfortunately I have very little control over what rats decide to enter this part of my home," the man said nonchalantly.

His manner then suddenly turned rather serious, "unfortunate for you two, now that you have come here its rather impossible for you to leave without my aid, you've been followed." That said, his two guests would soon find they lacked the simple ability to move any part of their body. "You'll be coming with me and don't worry Sunami, this place is as close to a hospital as you'll be able to get to in a while."

Via the dark black sphere that the man had materialized in his hand, he lifted the two up so that they hovered above the ground. He kept them like this, dragging them along behind him as he himself began his long descent deep below the floor ground of the building where he truly resided.

Carefully placing them down, he continued onwards past a mechanical gate of sorts revealing his rather humble home depending on your definition of the word. Taking a seat on one of his couches, he motioned for Sano and Arielle to do the same. He then called out to his female companion of his that was also there with him last night, "Masaki, mind tending to our guests wounds?"

"Lazy punk," was the reply.

"I know I am." He then turned back to the other two, "So, ask away."

[Kolbertt]

"So, this is the part in which I ask... Just what I wanted"

Seeing no other way around the situation, Arielle sat down in one of the weird couchs. She extended her left hand towards the woman, still encased in a cold bubble water, and looked straight at the man's face.

"First of all, I'd like to know the reason why we were summoned here - Is it because of our supernatural powers? Or is there any other obscure motif behind this whole theater? - Also, you seem to know an awful lot from us, it would only be fair that we learn a little bit about you both"

Arielle glared at the woman's bone ornament. After the fight with the tiger, she realized why did it look so familiar.

"So, mind telling us exactly what you are? And what is your relation with those masked monsters?"

[blackluster]

Being dragged underground and treated with an attitude was not on Sano's to-do list. The man's offer to take a seat was greeted with a snort. Sano was decidedly in non-cooperation mode. He lay right where he had been left, bleeding slowly all over the floor. He looked around critically.

"Psh, what a dump..."

Sano couldn't help but think though that he was stupid to ever come here. He lived the way he did specifically to avoid crap like this.

Damn, the smartest one was that woman who stayed away. Now there's a life decision you can boast about....

Even though he was weakening due to the blood loss, he felt obligated to make a nuisance of himself.

Since we're having a party, I suppose a party trick is in order.

Sano adjusted his body odour accordingly. The entire room they occupied filled with the stench of rotting corpses, human excrement, and a variety of rotting foods.

"Ah, a special blend for a special occasion..."

[Mystic Serenade]

"Well," the man formed another dark sphere in his hands, "the reason I brought you two here is yes, because in short you have special powers."

"Me, the name is Mani and I too have special powers. Specifically I can control the gravity in a specified space of my choosing," to clarify he entrapped the one named as Sano in such a space and rose him above the ground. The order he emitted was then noticeably gone. "You see, I can even create a dead space around him, but I'll make sure he has enough oxygen to breath," he said with a smile.

"As for my friend here," he said pointing to the woman who just finished tending to Arielle's hand, "she'd rather not let her origin be known. Besides, it'd take a while to explain."

"And as for my relation to those masked monsters...I kill them."

[Kolbertt]

"Mmm... So, you've got powers yourself... And it's interesting that you can use them without any kind of weapon. For myself, I carry Lero around, and all the people I've seen with any kind of supernatural powers carry meelee weapons or bow and arrows. You indeed are interesting."

Arielle gave a quick stare at Sano, he was floating inside a dark sphere. "Too bad he won't be listening the conversation, if he's trapped in his own space, sound won't reach him. Pity. I wanted to tell him that if he didn't stop that foul odor, I'd instert my umbrella through his filthy anus and pump water directly into his belly until it bursts... Oh, excuse my manners, I'm rather moody, you know?"

Arielle bent slightly forward and looked at Mani with her best intimidating face "It's just that I'm not used to being manipulated around. The fact that someone else is pulling the strings makes me sick. I'd like some more information Monsieur Mani, not about our companion here, but I'd really like some truths"

Taking a more informal tone, Arielle relaxed and smiled

"Otherwise, coming here would have just been a whole pointless thing, and I will get beaten once more just for nothing :)"

[Mystic Serenade]

Mani leaned back into the couch. "Hmm, well if anything...this body of mine is my weapon. Much like our friend over there," he added in, pointing to Sano. "You'll probably learn more if you talk to him."

"Anyway, if you want some more truth, lately my companion and I have been having some problems taking care of this town's current "pest" control. You two seem to have potential, though you both could use some training, so it'd be nice if you could help." He then tossed a card at the girl and a bottle of pills. "You can contact me through the number written there, and as for the bottle, give it to Mr. Sunami. It would help someone of his special constitution more than some bandages ever could."

He then proceeded to control the gravity around Arielle as well, "Well, it seems those who followed you here seemed to have left, so it's safe to send you both on your way I suppose. Do make sure to treat Mr. Sunami kindly, it will be in your best interests to have a good partnership with him if you want to successfully survive against what will come after you," he said smiling. "Oh, and please inform him of everything he missed out on, bye bye now."

That said, he launched both out the main corridor and up to the 1st floor of the building.

Once they were alone, Masaki decided to speak up, "Sure left out some convenient details about exactly what is going to be after them."

"It's best if they don't know yet," Mani replied, "them and that girl that decided not to show up will find out sooner or later...hopefully later."

(Note: end of plot thread, feel free to wrap anything up if you wish)

[Kolbertt]

No answers. After all this time, all her effort, all her pain, everything, had resulted in vague answers and little information revealed. This really pissed Arielle, but she would not show it, after all, mainly because Mani had a good point. With a smile in her face, Arielle turned to Sano (Who still smelled like rotten corpses) and tried to explain the situation without throwing up. A considerable mental and physical effort was required for this nauseating task.

"Say, Monsier Sunami, that's the overall situation." Arielle casually said. He had already received the bottle and the little information she had...

"Well... I guess I'll just go now. Mom thinks I'm still in bed, and got school tomorrow, you know. It was my pleasure working with you! (Despite all that happened) Just take care of yourself! According to Mani, we are being followed... By what? I cannot tell. Mani casually forgot to tell us"

She turned her back on him, and walked a few steps away. "OH! How incredibly rude of me!" She balanced over her heels gracefully spinning to face Sano once again "Is there's something you want to ask me? Cause I was about to leave right now. Your wounds look pretty bad, you need some help with that? It's my duty to help you, after all, it seems we were just made partners" :)

[blackluster]

Sano was generally irritable. The girl's explanation of events simply meant that things were exactly as bad as he thought they were. It was one of those few times Sano hated being right. He couldn't bring himself to vent his anger at the girl though.

She's in this crappy situation, same as me....

Sano simply bowed slightly after hearing the girl's question.

"No thanks, I'm fine", he said tiredly. "Travel home safely...."

With that, he turned to leave. He gave one last look at the building.

You'll pay for this Mani-san ......, time has taught me some things as well.

He spat at the building's entrance, and made his way to the hospital.