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Story Keeper

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~- Cold Shoulder? -~

Amy stared at Omari's back, trying to figure what was safe to do and what wasn't safe for her to do. She looked around the alleyway they were moving through. Hearing a cry of a raptor, Amy slowed her pace and raised her arm. A moment later a hawk landed on it, its gold eyes staring at her. She could tell this one was a static taking the form of a hawk, but that wasn't a problem for her. It reported its cry, telling Amy everything she needed to know. She caught a glimpse of Omari's tense stance out of her peripheral vision, but it wasn't too important to her for her to cease what she was doing. A short whistle from her, prompting the bird static to continue with its report. Nodding her head, she reached out a hand and stroked its head before it took off into the air again.

Looking at Omari, she intoned, "The Static says the Fragmented made it to the Enix Hotel."

She saw the slightest of twitches at the corner of his mouth, but she didn't outwardly react; knowing that it would just make it worse. Amy was relieved when Omari decided to turn around and continue on his way, it didn't escape her notice of two of the static hiding in the shadows. One was jackal static, the other was a strange mix of animals. She personally didn't know how to describe it, but if she ever saw a Set animal, she imagined this is what it'd look like. Shying away from it, she sped up her pace to get closer to Omari to put space between her and the animal. She did glance over her shoulder once she was closer, only to see that the two statics were gone. It only somewhat set her at ease, but the temporary comfort left her again once the thought crossed her mind that they could still be around.

Amy heard the order Omari gave her, and it did irritate but she found herself obeying the order. If only to avoid him getting angry with her. Shifting her form into a bird of prey, she took to the air to scope out the surrounding area to try and figure out where to lay out the traps this time around.

~- Paper Flowers...? -~

Siam was still shaken by Ally's shield, the face imprinted on it made her want her mother. Yes, she was sixteen, but in her opinion it didn't matter how old someone is, there's just moments when the comfort of one's mom was always appreciated. Although something about the thought of her mom left her feeling hollow, but she couldn't figure out why she felt that way. Taking comfort in Leonard's presence, she looked up at the ceiling and commented firmly, "We need to head back down, we're blocked that way. I'm sure of it."

She didn't mind Ally taking the lead, it was a relief to know she could just take a break, even if it was for a short time. She fell into step with Leonard, still a little worn out from calling the second doll. "Nice sticker, the flames could come in handy," she commented tiredly, letting onto her exhaustion. She took in the design of the hallway, it was gorgeous, or at least the parts that hadn't been damaged from combat. If it was under different circumstances, she wouldn't have mind being a guest in the hotel. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Siam saw the colored dots on the seventh floor area.

She wished she knew what the dots meant. There was about four of them, one dot was white, another was red (Jeane), the third was blue (Dexter) and the last was violet color. Staring at the screen as she walked, Siam felt a pang of dread move through her as she watched the three colored dots. Putting her phone away, Siam tried to think it over on why she'd feel that way. It was only when the distressing thought of some of their teammates being up there fighting a Collector that she bolted ahead, carefully shoving past Ally as she called back, "We need to haul tail to the seventh floor!"

She didn't wait for an answer, instead she took the steps three at a time; quickly closing the distance between her and the lobby. It was probably a good thing she hadn't checked her phone again, otherwise she would have been even more freaked out.

~- Worn Down, Not Knocked Out -~

Sync was mildly impressed with how fast Harmony reacted, he leapt away and landed on his feet. Summoning the second dagger pistol back to his hand, he used the two matching weapons to block her strikes from the staff. The pressure from the blows sending vibrations of power up his arms, letting him judge how hard she could hit. He kept his face carefully neutral, not letting onto anything that was going on internally. Shoving Harmony away, he took a couple of more steps toward the door that Dexter and Jeane had gone through. He could hear the wind that drifted through the vents, and some snippets of conversation. It was enough to get him to investigate the rest of the hotel, searching out power levels.

The wind confirmed a strong presence on the seventh floor, and he was sure that it hadn't been there during his run. Sure, it could have been one of theirs, but what if it was some sort of glitch? His pistols vanished in a flash of light, leaving Sync to block the next strike from Harmony with his hands. Looking at her coldly, he snapped, "Back off!"

Okay, he had no room to talk. He'd been the one to instigate the fight; but to be frank he was getting tired of fighting them. Shrugging it off, Sync looked to the two girls in front of him and spoke coldly, "Why don't you two just go after your friends?"

It was at this point Rain was ready to do something, he saw the attack appear over her head (is this right?) and he braced himself for it. He ignored the two Fragmented, instead choosing to focus his wind, light and pistols on the attack. Wind to buffer himself and reduce the damage, even though it'd still hurt. He started picking the light based aspects out of the attack, weakening it and the pistols? Using them to deflect whatever he could. After he'd finished with it, he looked around to see that the two girls were gone, much to his relief. He was getting tired of fighting. He did notice the cuts in his coat, something that wasn't too much of a concern. Walking into one of the vacant rooms, Sync made sure to lock it behind him to make sure he couldn't be followed.

It was only once he was sure he was safe that Sync let on how much that fight had actually tired him out. Removing the shredded coat, he leaned against the wall of the room for support. He took in a shaky breath and closed his eyes. Listening as his heart pounded in his chest, he really should've pulled out sooner. Whatever, he'd just be more careful next time around.
 
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Ðari

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Give me the juice

Rien swirled a glass in his hand, there he was back in the Negative District. The question wasn't why, but how? Well that was easy enough to answer, Silver didn't exactly close her portals during phases. He simply found the exit point that he fell out of from the neighboring skyscraper that overlooked the alley that the fragments came from. In truth he was in a bit of a slump as far as what thoughts traced through his head.

"How the hell am I gonna tell Sync about this...bad enough so many of us got picked off last cycle, but this would be too much for him."

Typically speaking, by now the fragments had of been closing in on the game memory. Naturally, the invigilator was easily in top form and most likely had a nasty A-class static prepared for them. There was an even scarier scenario that circulated through Rien's mind. When he fought what appeared to be "possessed" or "tainted" static, naturally this glitch clearly wasn't a collector, but could illegally procure rogue static to fight for it's purposes, try applying that much power to one of Topsy's static...the results would amplify into the true meaning of terror.

I suppose you could say it was piteous to give them such a crippling challenge this early. The information he pulled from his paper, it's as if he'd killed something pretty huge without even realizing it. Likely would explain when he dug into Shiro, Selene, and Anna's memories and found scraps (Selene and Anna's memory) and a full blueprint on Shiro. Just from that alone, Rien could confirm what archetype of fragment each of them were, the profiles they had on them...R.3.M gave only names, genders, and pictures, nothing about the type of fragments they were.

Rien flopped over onto the bar counter, this was going to be a boring game. He was lapsing ever so quickly into his lackadaisical nature even faster then ever, this was never done on purpose, just in his nature is all. Its funny, the bargain collector's had to put up with for immortality. Bully some brats that don't even understand why they're even here, don't understand what happened to then, and worst of all, don't even remember the foggiest thing about their past. Where as some did, but in a fundamentally impaired way.

Then there was...what they already remembered. Rien could easily confirm it now, someone was removed from their memory, because there was a boy he didn't recognize that associated with their group, and was even killed in the process. Seeing Topsy completely erase his existence from their memory, leaving a massive gap, was proof enough of his position. His opinion of Topsy, even as a collector, if he was no longer in a position where he was threatening his life despite being on the opposite team at one point, he virtually paid him no mind. Rien had a similar quality to Dexter in that respect, he didn't tie his emotions to the past for very long and moved on rather quickly.

His eyes shifted to Silver who surprisingly hadn't left yet, she was an E1337 for a reason. He sighed, still sprawled out over the counter top, hopefully there would eventually be a lead on the glitch soon. He was hesitant to even really talk about it given it was someone from his last group. Even when you finish this game, surely there was a price you had to pay even if you decided to leave...and to that effect he dreaded what might've happened to Kit, DJ, and Vandiken as he found no trace of them. Tavish was "rescued" by some unknown group in the final phase of the game. Still as sharp as the fragment turned collector was, he garnered his own suspicions...about one of the newbies in particular.

Lifting his sleeve he stared down, at a sticker placed on his arm despite his splinters tattoo completely covering his body, stickers couldn't disappear until they tattoos. This one however...was specific, it actually belonged to Kourtney, which he obtained along with her memories after she was killed by Blaster. It would be useless otherwise, but to put it simply, it was a keepsake that was never activated.

"Hey Silver...mom. Why have you been doing this for as long as you have anyway? I'm pretty sure we don't issue Sherpas until the second district as well since this first district is kind of the proving for them just like it was for us. Leave me off the list, i'm useless."
 

Hazen Gregory

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Rain didn't see any immediate threats when she scanned the area in front of her upon reaching the 5th floor. Her breathing was relaxed, her mind felt crisp and her body felt good. She kind of felt light and frothy. It was a hard combination of good feelings for her to think about amidst just having escaped from Sync. Rain knew this was only the beginning, there were more battles to come in her future and she knew that nobody would be able to survive on their own if monsters and people like Rien, Topsy and Sync were running around getting in the way. Harmony had been right behind her but suddenly Rain realized that she couldn't hear anything at all. She saw Harmony on the stairs but in front of her was the strange man from before.

"Topsy. Right??" Rain heard her own words again, so she figured that Topsy 'appearing' had something to do with sound negation or something graphic based. She had no idea where any of this was actually coming from but it seemed to make sense. When her reality was make shift and fragile, Rain was willing to take any recollection she had of what had been lost. For a second she thought about her situation again and had the vague memory of searching for somebody before she'd arrived here. This had already happened to her several times since the cycle had begun and unbeknownst to Rain, it would continue to happen many times over while her memories were both re-obtained and made sense of. Her more than valid question was; who was she looking for??

Topsy didn't say anything, instead he motioned to Rain to move toward Harmony. When she did, a light exploded into existence aroud the two, consuming all other sources of light in a split second, spectacular bang. "Huh??" Her eyes were immediately used to the light even as it dissipated, her helmet visor apparently did more than just make Rain look cool. She and Harmony were in a large room that looked something like...an arena?? Rain smiled, seeing that Jeane, Shiro and Dexter were also present. "Oooh that doesn't look good." Dexter was beneath a very large static that had....zippers all over it. The creature roared and snarled while Dexter kept it pinned down.

It didn't look too promising from where Rain and Harmony came in but it was also now 5 against 1. Rain and the other girls could try and combo the monster while Shiro and Dexter kept it in check. Rain figured some kind of tactics were needed and was about to voice her opinion when the creature bellowed again, causing an ear ringing static screech which caused Topsy to drop from the ceiling that was nearly 50 feet above the party of 5. Rain had already had one too many close encounters with Topsy and knew that at this stage he wouldn't hurt them, or she assumed as such.

Topsy mumbled under his breath, thrusting his hanging arms downward toward the group whom was fairly close together, causing the floor to shake and rupture. A white crystal burst from the floor-boards, emanating a ridiculous white light source that anybody around could feel. Power was literally radiating from the crystal. Not only could Rain feel it coursing through her, giving her access to additional command prompts and arts, she could see the light sticking to her comrades as well. Her fondness and fear of Topsy increased several stages at her next though; Topsy had the power to evolve people's abilities or his magic language did. Whatever had created the crystal, such power terrified Rain.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the ****. Live as children of light; For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. And find out what pleases the ****. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light."
Then, he vanished...

"Peeps, let's do this eh??"
 

Story Keeper

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~- What the heck is that!? -~

Siam hit the landing for the third floor, and she started on the steps for the second when she heard the melt start groaning. Hesitating for a brief moment, she could tell that Leonard and Ally were close behind her. It was confirmed when Leonard bumped into Siam and caused her to stumble down a couple of steps, before she'd stopped. Hearing the soft, subtle sound of breathing behind her, Siam glanced over her shoulder to scold one of the two fragmented. Her eyes widened, dilating to the point that the pupil nearly consumed all of the iris. The color drained away from her face, leaving her looking a ghostly shade and the veins in her face practically visible. Her breathes came in short, shallow little gasps. It wasn't because of Ally's shield, she didn't even see it. It was the static that magically appeared behind Ally, standing in the door way.

It didn't look like any creature she'd ever seen, it had long, triangular ears that were narrow at the bottom but squarish at the top where it was widest. Its nose curved downward on its giraffe-like head, the fur of its greyhound type body was blood red with some areas of black woven into it. Its paws were jackalish, and the tail was long and angled toward them on the creature's left side, giving her a clear view of the forked end. Its eyes were focused intently on her, the dark red orbs daring her to run. She slowly turned to face it fully, her fear still clear on her face. Taking a couple of steps backwards down the stairs, she saw the way her two companions almost turned to see what she was staring at so intently. "Don't!" She snapped, her tone leaving no room for argument, and earning a startled jerk from the two other fragmented.

"When I say so, you two are to run. Understand?" She ordered firmly, again, leaving no room for argument but she saw the way their heads nodded. She was thankful when her doll sticker kicked in, the rose ring appearing on her left ring finger. She saw the winged doll from before return to her, it's red eyes staring at her intently as it floated in the air in its gothic dress. Taking another step backwards, Siam was forced to clutch the rail tightly to keep from falling down the steps. Her heart leapt into her throat, both from the near fall and the sight of the static hunkering down like it was getting ready to pounce.

"Run!" She screamed, whipping around and fleeing down the steps. She knew that Ally and Leonard was hot on her heels, the doll was rushing on ahead to scope out the area. Siam could also hear the static racing after them, quickly closing the distant between them. It didn't take long for the third floor stairwell to give way to the second floor, and then the second stairwell turned to the first....

It was then that the faint rumbling from above became louder, and Siam being halfway between the first and second floors felt the tremors through the guard rail. Suddenly without any warning, the stairs collapsed beneath her feet. This sent Siam tumbling down into the rubble, Leonard and Ally landing on top of the pile too. She pushed herself up, her chest and lungs screaming at her from the impact. She had a vague notion that she'd fell from a height like that before, but she couldn't fully remember it. Picking herself up, Siam tried not to stop and wonder how she'd survived it but instead bolted out into the lobby to see the two from before still standing there.

She ran past Icicle Man and Blaster, not even pausing to acknowledge that the winged doll flew over to Blaster and kicked him in the head before it flew back over to Siam. She heard the faint words of Ally screaming something and Leonard telling Ally to get moving, but that wasn't her main concern. The enraged howl from the static? Now there was a problem.

Siam raced up the flight of stairs she hadn't originally gone up. She didn't bother with the first door she came to, she just kept climbing the stairs, passing doors as she went. She hoped she'd come across one of the others so maybe she could get some help with this static, because something told her it'd be strong enough that they'd need the help with it.

If only she knew the truth about what this static.

~- Take a Breather -~

Anna was happy that Selene was there to help out, and that the other girl hadn't been lost in their previous obstacle. She flicked her wrist, sending another gust of wind toward the humming bird static. It worked on scattering them, she "saw" Shiro do something with his sticker, but she couldn't exactly make out what it was. Although whatever it was, it seemed to have helped in driving the static back. Then, to her horror, Shiro suddenly disappeared from the corridor they were in. She saw him go flying toward the ceiling and then...nothing.

Panic coursed through her, causing the wind that was in the area to become more frantic. Looking around at the fuzzy images of the static, she snarled, "Go away!" She couldn't explain why, but it seemed as if Alice reacted to her frustration and proceed to attack even more of the static. In a few minutes, all the humming bird static had been taken care of between the wind, Selene's attacks and Alice. She looked at the border collie, confusion clear on her face from how Alice had been able to handle them so quickly. Feeling the familiar pressure of Alice's weight against her leg, Anna scratched the dog behind the ear before she started to make her way for the sixth stairwell. Glancing up at the ceiling, she thought she caught the faintest of flickers through the floors, but she wasn't entirely sure.

Taking care of any other humming bird static that decided to interfere, Anna was happy when she put her hand on the handle for the sixth floor. She was about to turn the handle when something made her hesitate, the tumors that was approaching the door didn't seem right to just be the tremors from that collector's antics. And she'd been well aware of those, but considering the static, she'd pushed it to the back of her mind for the time being. She glanced down at Alice, noticing the tension radiating from the border collie, she felt Alice press against her leg even tighter. So, whatever was on the other side of the door was bound to be a pain and a half.

She'd take just a brief moment to collect herself before she hopped into the fray.

~- No, Seriously, Take a Breather -~

Sync didn't hear anything outside in the hallway, so it seemed like he was on this floor alone now. Having recovered enough from his fight with Rain and Harm, he decided that it was time to pull out of the hotel for the time being. After all, Topsy was bound to have something lurking on the top floor, right? Opening the door Sync quickly made his way to usable stairwell, and he opened the door to walk down it only to catch a glimpse of a red and black forked tail go whipping past him. Stiffening at the motion, Sync glanced in its direction to see the Set animal round the corner; it was clearly in hot pursuit of something, but he wasn't entirely sure what.

Brushing it off, he took the steps downward toward the lobby. Instead of heading out through that entrance, Sync decided to use the back entrance to the hotel; the area where technically only the employees were allowed to use. Stepping outside, he felt the density in the air change, both as a warning of things to come and a welcoming embrace that he was no longer in the building. He tried not to think about the contradiction that was there, and instead he turned his attention to the matter what hand.

What to do until they reached the second district?

He didn't feel like going back to Collector's Paradise, not that he counted it as paradise. He didn't want to stay at the hotel, but he wasn't sure they were given access to the next district yet. Meh, whatever. He'd just see about getting something to eat. Some fries sounded good, and maybe it'd help him sort some things out that being in the hotel stirred up.
 
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Endless Warrior Sora

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Returning from the portal she had unstitched to [REDACTED], The Witch Doctor hid her Static stained hands in her sleeves. A large grin spread itself across her face. The work would continue. It would continue until she found a breakthrough. Silver's breathing became shaky as she called upon the Needle and Thread to stitch up the portal she opened. It would continue...wouldn't it? As it always had.

"Continue....Continue! Continue! It must!" She chanted, as a tear began welling up in her eyes, her grin still as wide as ever. When Rien arrived, he would find Silver simply staring at the wall in Collector's Paradise, muttering nonsense to herself.

"Nononononononono. This won't do. This won't do at all. Monochromatic blood. Everywhere. This won't do. I must cleanse with color. Color is purity."

"Hey Silver...mom. Why have you been doing this for as long as you have anyway? I'm pretty sure we don't issue Sherpas until the second district as well since this first district is kind of the proving for them just like it was for us. Leave me off the list, i'm useless."

Silver cocked her head over to the side, while her body still stood upright.

"You...are NOT...USELESS!" She snapped. "Please dear...that kind of talk simply won't do. You know you're always on my list..."

It was a strange way of acknowledging Rien's presence. As chilling as it was, Silver's grin grew wider, and her eyes lit up.

"Why, sweetie?," She hummed. Silver summoned her Static wings, and floated over to the bar and laid out on the table, her face in close proximity to Rien's. "Infinite life for finite people dearie. For as long as humanity has been in existence all we have desired to do was one thing: break the rules. Adam and Eve, the 10 Commandments, Zeus, Orpheus, Hera, Global Warming, Cloning, Splicing, Stealing, Piracy, Adultery, Murder, Murder, Murder, THE ATOM BOMB!!" She ranted giddily as if SHE had been the one drinking this whole time, kicking her legs up into the air. "We were not supposed to live forever, honey. But I'll take it. I miss your father very much. I'm sure...he'd like to say hi." As Silver said this, she slowly reached over and her sleeves drew back to reveal her dirty hands. She poked Rien on the nose, her answer as cryptic as ever.

"But enough about me! I've missed you, Son! You were gone for so long! How was your day? How was school? Ya hungry??"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dexter weakly waved back at Shiro, who began striding over to his friends.

"Good to see you too Shiro. Me and Jeane have been up here for several minutes now stalling. You see that light in that glass container down there? It screams 'Game Memory' to me. We can't even touch it until we kick this thing's butt"

Shiro sighed, deflating a bit.

"Yeah of course we can't because why should anything go smoothly today..." He muttered.

I could barely move before...well...it kinda took me out of my comfort zone earlier. I don't think I've EVER been this afraid, or if I was, i sure don't remember. I think the best we can do is have the two of you hit it with attacks while I bind it using my rod. OH! Bro you'll never believe it, but that monster actually split it into two working rods! IDK how to do that again though! Maybe it was a fluke...eh, whatever."

Shiro gasped, excited for Dexter.

"Wha?? Bro that's dope as hell! I still haven't figured this spray can out yet...I just made it shoot fire a few minutes ago!" The turq head replied, holding up his spray can.

"Holy crap man, what happened to you on the other side of the building? You look like you got hammered worse than us! Jeane, can you heal him?"


"Let's just say...I now remember what a paper cut feels like, and I wish I could forget it again."

Dexter then asked Jeane if she could heal Shiro, causing the albino understandable confusion. What did he mean, "heal him"? Then Jeane pulled out a grenade, causing Shiro to jump back, startled.

"Whoa, whoa! I don't know what your definition of 'healing' is but..."

Don't be alarmed, it's a healing grenade. I used Dexter as a test dummy to see if it was safe to use on allies."

Jeane crushed the grenade and a yellow light washed over the trio, Shirt felt a warm sensation as his cuts began to rapidly heal themselves. It was a strangely nice feeling. Kind of like one of those hurt so good things? Like when someone is walking on your back to crack it? Or massaging a knot out of a tense muscle? Yeah like that.

After they were done healing it was back to business.


"Ok, Shiro we don't know how, but earlier this static was...er, it was talking to us. We assumed it was being controlled by another collector or something."


"There was some purple mist before, and a purple circle, but both are now gone, but it's still glowing purple. I don't really know what that means, but I just know we need raw damage to take that thing out. I can use my rod to crowd control and pin it down, you guys gotta do the damage."


So Dex was gonna play support? Shiro mentally sighed. His Spray Can was still virtually useless at this point, but it wasn't like he couldn't do anything. He made fire earlier, he just needed to...figured out how the damn thing works. Dexter and Jeane already started working in tandem. They were a really good pair. Dexter wrapped his rods around the beast legs outside as Jeane provided cover with some well placed sniper shots. Andddddd then it was Shiro's turn.

"Oooh that doesn't look good."

Shiro turned to see Rain present with Harmony. He grinned at their arrival. Finally, some people with REAL powers!

"Rain! Harmony! Yo!" He smiled getting them. "Yeah, y'know we're just here fighting a giant monster. Typical everyday stuff. Apparently."

Topsy had appeared before the trio turned group, and the floor began to rumble as he chanted...something? Shiro couldn't make out specific words, but it sounded like a spell. The floor ruptured and a beam of light pierced Shiro, invigorating him even further after Jeane's healing.

"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the ****. Live as children of light; For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth. And find out what pleases the ****. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light."

Topsy had disappeared but the monster let out another Static filled bellow toward the room as it was falling. Rain was right. It was time for action. He grinned, coming up with a really wild, really dumb idea.

"I'm definitely going to hate myself for this, but....eh, whatever, I've been having a bad day anyway." He muttered, turning his head over to Dexter. "Yo Dex!! You got me?!" He shouted over, running toward the window with the spray can. It was already broken so it was no problem for Shiro to jump out of it. Because that what he did. The creature, although pinned, managed to swing a large arm toward the turq head.

"You know what..." He seethed, dodging the fist in mid-air. "I have HAD IT WITH THIS ENTIRE DAY!" He shouted at the creature, intending to spray it in the face with his fire. Shiro pressed the nozzle on the Spray Can and...something began to grow out of it, while he was dodging the fist. "I've had it with forgetting everything! I've had it with everyone we run into trying to kill us! And I've DEFINITELY HAD IT WITH YOU, YOU UGLY FREAK!!" A large stylized turquoise graffiti arrow began to build itself from the can, radiating a coarse turquoise light, probably from Topsy's influence. Shiro's eyes widened in shock.

"Whoa!!! I did NOT know I could do that!" Shiro grinned, trying to hide his surprise. "YEEEEEEEEEUAGH!" He shouted, plunging the arrowhead into the beast.

"DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Shiro used the momentum of the fall to slide down and cause a continuous slash down the creature. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!" Shiro shouted, starting as a war cry and turning into a laugh. He was sliding down this creature stabbing it and it was...kind of fun. He looked up at the window.

"Anytime now, Dex!!!" He shouted up. Hopefully the rod could extend this far. If it did, Shiro wanted to use it as a springboard to unleash another attack with his now...Arrowsword thing.
 

Ðari

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Y0u/2 P0w3r3d Up 63T I/V T}{3R3!!!

It was a mixed bag.

There was an explosion of flourishing white light that soaked the room shortly after discussing a plan with Shiro. Topsy...TOPSY had arrived with Raine and Harmony, but of all people the invigilator himself moved two of his team mates with him. Dexter was busy, fixated on his grip on holding down the static and Jeane pelted away with shots, he had to ignore him for the time being. That light didn't go away, crashing through the bottom floor was a white crystal, and covering a fixed area.

Alarmed, Dexter did his best to stave, but it wasn't hostile. '????' exasperated in thought, the teen turned to Topsy. Clearly this was his work, but he didn't claim responsibility based on the cryptic message he was relaying? Darkness? This was too much for Dexter to try to process while pinning the enemy down. He drew strength from the light of the crystal and ironically enough, the rod wrapped around his wrist in the similar way to earlier, splitting and attaching to his free wrist. Dexter stood up and contested the static's strength with an even stronger tug and bind from his cyan rod.

Just like that, Topsy disappeared. Jeane noticed it, but as far as how the crystal effected her, it was enough to where it caused her to stop shooting. There was a twinge on her back, it was brief but it felt odd...she shook her head bringing herself back to the present. It was a shame that this light could do nothing to reduce the severity of her blindness, she felt like this was an additional hardship she was thrust in to, there had to be a reason for it. Drawing her attention back to the static, he wrist was glowing, the little dart-like mechanism, probably a different kind of dart, was glowing blue. This basically never happened before, and she didn't exactly know what it was used for. If it functioned like the grenade and the darts, it was possible it was a support skill for her team mates.

Because Shiro was in the midst of attacking, it made sense to try it on him. She would apologize later, but as she took aim from when he slid down, at that moment Dexter's rod uncoiled from the static and under his feet. Turning she made eye contact with Rainee still near harmony. Shiro would need another mobile person to assist him as he was diving the static alone with melee at the moment. Jeane turned and threw her arm forward ejecting a dart from her wrist not rifle that pegged Rainne in the stomach, release a bright blue lightning.

"Counting on you Rainee, please help Shiro!"



  • [Nanoboost. A side dart attached to her wrist whenever Sylvester is summoned, she can shoot a teammate and augment their overall power output by 50% and increase their movement by the same interval. The target glows a bright blue, and the effects last roughly 20 seconds. This cannot be used after it's been cast for a full two minutes from the time it ends. ]

[Test run!]

Dexter responded to Shiro as he was now pretty impressed, having laid into the static with an arrow-sword-thing made out of graffiti, he audaciously complained in the lobby that it wasn't a useful sticker, boy was he wrong! Throwing the second rod upward at an angle, the one under Shiro whipped up, like a catapult and threw him into his vertical rod, catching him like a sling, to reel him backward to prepare him for a springboard launch. Dexter pictured it in such a way, that Shiro was the pinball and he was the spring at this moment.

----------------

Hanekoma smirked, offering a bit of a lackluster snicker followed by a sigh.

"Your odd mother, oddly kind at that. You know what we had to go through last cycle I'm sure."

Rein's eyes darted off to the side as he folded his arms over the bar counter, as if pouting. Entrenched by memories that are hard to dismiss, more so now that it was clear Shiro and co. had accessed a life memory with him, sync, and the rest of his team. This was interesting information, it was a bit of a cheat for them more than anything else, he didn't get to meet all of the fragments, but something was already bothering him.

"You know, the only reason I even took this deal in the first place was because...well, I didn't exactly have the best 'LIFE' that I was looking forward to going back to. Lingering here, living with the age i'm at sounded a lot better off, even if it means working to earn your keep. Can't argue with going from empowered to powerless...more so after becoming an actual- meh."

He cut himself off and turned his head upside his folded arms. Hanekoma was just restless, not really motivated, but there was stuff he needed resolved, as well as some answers. He thought hard...remembering the BOSS decommissioning their fearless leader before the game even started. Once you got decommissioned, the only one that could re-instate you would be R.3.M itself. If special permissions were given to someone like Topsy, who really knows, a great deal of his empathy was sunk after Kourtney and Kael were killed, in addition to the mind games and emotional burdens everyone expressed from a specific encounter.

"So mom...do all collector's use memories to manipulate fragments in such a way that they turn each other? It's a barbaric tactic...same with memories themselves...can't they be...fabricated? To a point where because they don't remember, they'll believe anything if it's wrapped up like a memory of any kind?"

You'd think the most unmotivated collector would be furthest away from these kinds of thoughts. Forcing trauma on fragments in the form of pretense wasn't outside the realm of possibility. Every collector had the skill, but in moderate variation. Hanekoma's "Memory Theft" was directly related to cognition, he could pull memories, and make the users conscious of all of his actions, while they are snared in a hypnotic trance and completely immobile. Removal was base technique they all had, the different manipulations are what set their skills apart. Vandiken could weaponize people from memories, as a static/memory/fragment hybrid to perfection. These intrusive skills could make a soft-hearted collector feel like the worst manipulator or a godsend depending on motive. He was thankful that the glitch wasn't in their league. Hanekoma never exposed his wings, as there was never a need, but they made the difference in scaling up their power margins substantially.
 
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Lunarmaster54

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Leonard had hoped it would be a quiet, uneventful trip to their desired destination. Sure he had finally activated his sticker and yeah he was kind of itching to test out his new powers (that Siam complemented!) but he wasn’t so battle hungry that he had to fight something right here right this very minute. He was content to just walk at an easy pace, eyes peeled for danger that wouldn’t actually come until everyone was together again and could properly deal with said threat using the tired but true strength in numbers strategy.

Those hopes were brutally dashed of course.

Siam fell, Leonard had obliviously ran right into her and he’d turned around to apologize when he noticed that her attention was on something a lot more important than he was. She was telling them not to look but he couldn’t tear his eyes away.

A static.

A very mean looking static. It’s crimson eyes demanded their blood. Leonard’s ran cold.

"When I say so, you two are to run. Understand?"

She couldn’t see it of course, but Leonard’s face scrunched up in distaste at that order. Run? Sure he was afraid and yes he’d never actually been in a fight before but how was he supposed to run away and let her doll handle this? That completely went against his strength in numbers plan he’d just been contemplating! Especially when she damn near fell off the railing right after giving the order! Sure with his fire Leonard could probably swoop down and catch her (he hoped) but still!

“Run!!”

He didn’t want to run but when the girls shot off he didn’t really have too much of a choice, even when he saw that her doll was going on ahead and not staying behind to do battle with the static that was taking savage glee in chasing them down like rabbits.

It was around this time the stairs collapsed.

In a perfect world Leonard would thrust his hands out, fire shooting out of them and allowing him to make a controlled descent to the ground, looking very cool on the way down. He’d land on his feet and stare up defiantly as the monster hot on their heels fell down on it’s side, pitiful and vulnerable. What actually happened was he flailed, panicked, and fell in a heap, piling on top of his companions. The static landed on it’s feet just fine.

With a growl for Ally to “keep moving!” Leonard struck, hurling two searing balls of flame at the beast and causing it to rear back with a pained grunt. Then things blurred. He saw an image of the static coming back down and lashing at him and he shivered as the image passed harmless down his chest. It disoriented him really so he was just standing there dumbly as the monster actually came down, something painful tearing down his chest and causing his knees to buckle.

It hurt, god did it hurt, but Leonard was okay enough to turn tail and run. He had imagined his fire would do more than it did. He had thought at the very least the fire would burn the damn thing and slow it down, but instead all he really did was piss it off and get himself hurt. Leonard shot after Siam and Ally, ignoring everything and everyone else as he ran, a hand on his chest, he took the stairs a few at a time. He could tell the static was howling in rage behind him. He cursed.

“I hope we run into some help soon!”

He hoped that but he wasn't exactly counting on it. If they were having this much trouble then everyone else was probably tied up with stuff too. This entire hotel was a death trap and Leonard had a fire covered punch in the face for any and every single person responsible for making it this way.

Provided he didn't get torn to bloody pieces first.
 

Story Keeper

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~- Was So Scared -~

Siam pushed herself up the last couple flights of stairs, hesitating only when she reached the final flight to the seventh floor. The rumbling of the building returned to the forefront of her mind, making her stomach twist itself into a knot. Walking down a couple of steps, she saw the winged doll float down with her, a look of terror on its face as it seemed to work its way back to the two fragmented she'd attempted to leave behind. Catching a glimpse of Leonard and Ally, she started to call out only to notice the sudden absence of the static. Surprise coming to her face, she ignored the shield in Ally's hand as she pointed behind the two and asked, "Where did it go?"

Ally glanced over her shoulder to see that the static was gone, making her get a quizzical look on her face as well. Turning to look at Siam, she was clearly about to say something on it when a more pressing thought apparently entered her mind. "Forget the static, we should get to the seventh floor to help out!"

Siam nodded and stepped to the side, letting Ally take the lead back to the seventh floor. Reaching the door to the seventh floor, Siam reached out from behind Ally and was immediately greeted with the chaotic scene that was going on. "Wh-What did you guys do?" She asked, her eyes being drawn to the ball of light that was inside the glass container.

Is that the game memory? She thought to herself, before dismissing it and running into the hallway to help out. The winged doll flew in too, swarming around the zipper static's head and attacking it with feathers. An idea coming to her mind, Siam spoke to Ally and Leonard, "Leonard, try using your powers on it. Ally, can you give me a little bit of cover?" After getting their answers, Siam stepped back and closed her eyes, turning her attention inwards so as to pull off the stunt she was thinking.

She just needed a few minutes of focus.

~- Still Have the Letters I Wrote -~

Aiden was hanging out in his room, it was fairly basic. Plain blue walls, a basic twin bed shoved against the far wall. A dark wood dresser was by the foot of the bed, a plain light wood writing desk by the head of the bed. It was reminiscent of his time in the mental hospital, but he didn't mind at all. It was a relief actually, it helped to anchor him to what was real. The most decorated thing was the writing desk, there was dark blue table lamp on it, and next to the lamp were two pictures. One was of three people, him, his best friend and the girl that meant the world to the both of them for different reasons.In it the girl had two-toned hair, the main color was pink with streaks of lavender woven in. She wanted to have blue in it, but her mother had put her foot down on that thought. The girl's eyes were a bright, playful hazel that seemed to be laughing at some kind of joke which matched the smile on the girl's face.

The other girl was a little more simplistic, she had dusky skin, chestnut brown hair and kind blue eyes. There was a black drop in the middle of her forehead, symbolising her religious and her status in her culture. He only knew that because she'd told him when he'd asked on it. Where the first girl had worn a short sleeved hoodie, this girl wore a plain sleeveless top, something that he'd needed to convince her to wear because of her beliefs. He closed his eyes, memories of the two girls drifting through his mind. He heard the faint buzz of static, making him open blue eyes and turn to look at the one that had interrupted his thought time.

It was the red Set animal static that had been bothering Siam's group. He saw the inquisitive look on the static's face, and he read its heart to understand its motives better. Shaking his head, he reprimanded it softly, "You know you can't terrorize the Fragmented until stage three. Now, quiet down and report to Seth on what you found." He saw it huff, but the static slipped away to do as it'd been told. Glancing back at the pictures, Aiden frowned a little bit before he turned off the lamp on his desk. There wasn't much of a point in getting involved in the game yet, heck he was usually still asleep until stage three.

He decided to return to sleeping.
 

Vibrant Fervor

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In a place of beauty, a young teenage boy sits with legs crossed in a beautiful flower field
surrounded by a huge waterfall. The sky sunny and bright. The boy breathes in and out
slowly. This is our inner sanctuary, where all of life's tribulations melt away. A secret getaway
from all the lack, pain, and struggle that one endures on a daily basis. What happens if this place
is taken from us unwillingly? Everything goes dark and blurry. David wakes up lying on the ground.

Leaning against a wall to pick himself up, David looks around and finds himself in a empty parking lot.
He dusts himself off and pats himself to make sense of whats going on. "Hmm, I'm not dreaming but how in tarnation did I end up in this place?" He finds a phone on him and a strange book with a sticker in it.
This sticker appears purple and has a silver orb surrounded by yellow moons, blue planets, and orange stars. "Hmm, what a pretty sticker. I'll hold on to this for now. I guess my name is David Rosendor. Why cant I remember anything else?"

Suddenly, he hears a strange beeping noise coming from his phone. David takes the phone out and notices he received a text to enter a gate to learn more about what was going on. He looks around and a notices a gate that popped out of no-where. "Well, this is getting a bit where but what evs." David jolts to the gate and ends up in a different part of the town. He walks around and receives another text."R3@ch ROOM 707 of the ENIX HOTEL t0 r3ciev3 y0ur firs+ MEMORY. R3f3r t0 y0ur MEMORY MAPP for g30gr@phica1 l0cati0n. Us3 y0ur STICKER t0 d3f3nd y0urself. G00d Luck."

Before he could take the time to process the information, a strange static noise is heard and a creature appears out of nowhere from the ground. David looks to his sticker that the message refered to and proceeds to equip it. A orb floats above his left palm. It takes the appearance of a blue gas giant planet with rings and moons surrounding it. A deck of cards also orbit around the orb. He points the orb toward the creature and a beam of light fires toward it, incinerating it into dust. David feels a bit tired from using the sticker. "I better get used to this just in case I run into more of those things".

He decides to look around for more creatures and begins doing some target practice with his Astro Globe. David takes his time and moves from one creature to another, not overdoing things.He takes out his phone and brings up the memory map app mentioned in the text. A map of the area pops up and it leads Enix Hotel with a memory marker showing in a room on the seventh floor. "I guess that's where I need to go. I wonder if there is anyone else here, I keep hearing voices and footsteps all over the place but no people". Following the map, David finds the Enix Hotel but the entrance was destroyed from a recent explosion or something. "Hmm, I need to find another way in".

(Need a bit of help integrating character into the story)
 
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Ðari

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The static was feral in nature, it stood guard just outside the building. Likely a creation of some sort from "that man" that he knew so well. Looking down from the 8th floor balcony, the young man doddled looking at his phone. Seems the "memory map app" wasn't working for him anymore, and he quickly pocketed it placing it away. His violet eyes were a bit listless, as if he'd had a crack in his remorse a long time before. Stepping off the edge he fell at a great speed, catching glimpse of what appeared to be another player.

His back was broken by the sturdy surface of the static placed just in front of the building. His heels digging into it's neck, and a scratching noise as it kicked it's neck upward throwing the young man into a slide just infront of the lobby. It was wide open, having a vertical slice, some broken windows (from when Rien threw Raine through the front doors) the static was irritable and flared up without remorse or wait. As the teen glowed purple, a heinous expression of murder was written across it's face.

"Just more scum that needs to end...fine!"

A puff of purple smoke, as it sapped under "Horn", splitting in two physical bodies taking the momentum of it's leap and body tossing it through the doors to crash directly into the people who were still preoccupied in the lobby. Cracking his fingers and his knuckles, his eyes turned around and cut directly at a young man who was standing outside the hotel on the other side of the street. This world didn't have random NPCs unless it was tagged, and there was a good chance he was a new arrival, WAY behind the initial group. He decided to give him his full attention, as he turned and cracked cracked his knuckles. Right now however, seemed like a bad time to just "bully" fragments when they were infantile, they didn't know anything, they were as confused as everything and everyone else here, and therefore he couldn't manipulate them to serve his means.

"You lost or something? Entrance is that way, careful not to get trampled over by that thing I just threw into the lobby, but I'm sure the guys inside will handle "it". You might wanna get a move on."

The young man threw up his right hand and pointed towards a ladder leading up to the first floor via fire-escape on the west-side of the building. (ironically the side that is not collapsed by the 4th floor)

"Get your ass in gear and go."
 

Vibrant Fervor

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As David was pondering what to do next, a stranger showed up out of nowhere. David hears him call out to him, "Are you lost or something? Entrance is that way, careful not to get trampled over by the thing I just throw into the lobby, I'm sure the guys inside can handle it. You might want to get a move on". The stranger pointed to a ladder off to the side. "Get your ass in gear and go!" The stranger disappears and David starts climbing up the ladder to the first floor. When he arrives, there are more of the creatures he fought early scattered about. He starts blasting a few at a time while looking for the stairs to the next floor. However, David notices that he was overexerting himself as he began feeling very weak." I don't know much more of this I can take. This place is so bizarre with all these creatures roaming around willy nilly. I need to find a room to take shelter in until I feel better". He stops moving for a second and notices a dog looking coming out one the hotel rooms. He blasts it a couple of times and it fades away. David bolts for the room and closes the door. He proceeds to lock and block off the door with various cabinets, armoires, and other durable looking furniture he could find. David goes into a empty closet and closes the door. "I need to take a break and regroup myself. A 20 min nap should be ok." Before he sets his alarm, he ponders about something the stranger said about there other people experiencing the same thing he was going through. "So there are others like myself here. I hope at some point I run into. The more the merrier. I'm vulnerable right now." He sets his alarm on his phone and dowses off for 20 mins.
 
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Hazen Gregory

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It had been several minutes, maybe even 5 or 10 since Blaster had said anything, Tavvy at this point wasn't expecting too much. There had been denial, trash talking and that was about it. Typical i these situations.Out of nowhere, Tavvy looked up to see a large shadow moving forward from the area of the smashed hotel entrance and a loud roar. The ground began to shake and groan with the applied pressure of the huge static that had been outside the entire time. Maybe it had started to get restless??

He didn't even need to take the time to pinpoint what the creature was, as if came nearer, Tavvy saw that it was none other than Horn. He had been trying to avoid getting into any type of skirmish with that thing because he knew for a fact that eventually it would mean a definite fight with the Invigilator. "Wait, oh no!!!" The light streaming off the body of Horn as it came falling into the already mangled lobby, alerted Tavvy to the great danger present from the mere size of Horn's body. "Ugh." Tavvy opened his closed eye again, staring directly at the upper edge of the stairs as Horn crashed into the lobby sideways.

Debris immediately began to litter what wasn't already covered in dust and other random building materials such as plaster, glass and the marble that made up the once beautiful lobby and the entrance nearby. Tavvy looked down at the scene below, most of the dust had yet to settle, but he didn't see any trace of Blaster in the wreckage. "No doubt that prick survived but for now I'll follow up on my current active task." There was yet another fragment in the area that was close by, then randomly...

"How's that happen??" The blip targeting the fragment on Tavvy's phone app blurred out, then showed that the fragment had instantly appeared in another area of the hotel, two floors further up. "Geez." He thought back to how annoyed everyone in his group had been when Kourtney figured out her kukuri and started to over use it....

Tavvy rolled his open eye and snickered. "God damn teleporters. I might as well head further up and see how serious this is getting." Horn was already bellowing and standing up, thrashing about with the lobby s its plaything. "Why does Topsy even have that thing out?? I would have expected Meta or Palma." Tavvy took one more look at Horn which noticed him and surprisingly, winked at him, making a scary cooing sound. Tavvy only knew it was a wink because the glowing pool of light that was Horn's right eye completely pulsed out for a second when it happened.

"What. The. Hell?? Interesting to say the least."
 
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Story Keeper

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~- Willfully Ignorant -~

Several things happened in the span of a few minutes. A pulse of power, the sound of an explosion, the dust flying from the building in response to said explosion. Sync got a bewildered look on his face, trying to figure out what had just happened. He could sense that there was two presences that didn't belong in the game, the two presences feeling familiar from the last Cycle. He wanted to investigate, he honestly did, but something told him not to do it quite yet. Thinking about Blaster, he sent the older Collector a quick text that read, How about you haul tail out of there and move on to the next section? I think it's clear the Fragmented are busy enough right now.

He turned his back on the hotel and started walking toward the second district. He could always just go back to HQ and see if Rien had headed back, but at the same time...

Those anomalies.

He glanced back over his shoulder, only to hear the crunch of gravel in front of him. Glancing back in the sound's direction, Sync saw two collectors he remembered meeting with briefly last Cycle. Weariness flickering across his face for the briefest of moments, Sync quickly put on a nonchalant expression as he asked Omari, "What do you want? The Fragmented are already facing a static at the top of the hotel in order to retrieve the game memory, there's nothing more for us to do here but get ready for the next stage." He was pretty sure that was the case, based on the brief chirp that had come across his phone a little while ago.

He walked toward Omari trying to seem confident but not threatening, something about Omari screamed wild animal to Sync. The only ones that were more wild were Blaster and Silver, or at least on the collector's side. Some of the Fragmented last Cycle had been pretty crazy. It was also probably why he was willing to turn such a blind eye to whatever had happened a little while ago. Amy, or at least he believed that was right, watched him with blue eyes, seeming to be analyzing him for something. Although what that something was, he wasn't entirely sure. Dismissing her from his mind, he commented harshly, "Whatever, I'm ditching. You two can be idiots and try to get yourselves killed."

Walking away, Sync didn't pay attention to where his feet were taking him. All he knew was that he'd been walking for quite awhile, and he wouldn't be surprised if the Fragmented had gotten the Game Memory or very close to it. He was pretty sure he'd crossed into one of the other districts, and there was a little food shop. A smile coming to his face as he stepped inside the familiar shop, he ordered some fries and tried to resist the urge to let his mind drift back to the last cycle. Although something did keep hanging out at the edges as he walked over to sit down, something about one of the fries being stolen and him asking for it back?

He didn't know for sure. Pulling out his phone again, he scrolled through to Rien number and sent out a text that read, Hey, do you want to meet up at that one food joint to talk about things? There's a couple of inconsistencies I've noticed, I want to know if I'm the only one experiencing this weird stuff. He set the phone on the table, within his line of sight so he'd know if Rien texted back.
 

Ðari

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Rien slid his glass across the counter, he was finished here. Silver had gone silent, the minutes that past coupled quickly and yet agonizingly slow. He sighed, perhaps these questions were just detrimental to the young collector, but he wasn't unaware of the nefarious things that came into play from last time, and that he'd probably be forced to do some of he same now.

So the question here really, what was the line of separation between fragment and collector? Power? Cause? The answer was irrelevant, certain lines could be drawn sure, but at the end of the day Rien served his own interest in living and trying to avoid killing any of the kids until it was unavoidable. Vandiken set the record straight the first time during a group conversation had with the invigilator and everyone that survived. This game wasn't for them, the rules screwed over anyone that wasn't in favor, leaving the rest of us S.O.L.

So his questions were so he knew the rules, he was playing this game on the opposite team this time. Why wouldn't he want to know the rules and conditions that applied to him, this limited freedom was just that afterall...limited. There was a buzz and vibration from his pocket. New Message: Sync.

Rien sighed, looking at the clock, there wasn't a timer for them first phase, but they'd be screwed cutting it this long and having to forfeit their memories to a whopping reset, not even remembering each other. Kinda sucks, but thankfully this was a situation that Sync, himself, and co. managed to avoid last game. Opening his inbox, and the text itself read

Hey, do you want to meet up at that one food joint to talk about things? There's a couple of inconsistencies I've noticed, I want to know if I'm the only one experiencing this weird stuff.

Rien began to type a reply back,

You may want to put that on hold for the time being, eat your fill. You'll need your strength for when the fragments progress the game any moment now. I'm gonna head over to the next district, feel free to meet me at the coffee shop across the street from the Enix-Arcade.

He harbored the knowledge that he was indeed still around, without question so was the other one that fled...rather, was "saved" if he had to guess. If only Vandiken were still around, perhaps they could do something about everything going on, he seemed like the only one the person in question actually somewhat relied on as well as listened to. It was almost as if they endure a completely separate hell together that the rest of the group just didn't know about. Nothing could be done about it now, this was months ago after all, and he was most almost positive he grew more dangerous. The two of them committed the very same taboo after all.

Something else bothered Rien...he tried to suppress it after all, his urge at an old rivalry that would now never be quelled. That stupid game, if he didn't remember it even taking place it wouldn't irritate him from time to time...even more plain with Vandiken gone...the only one he gave a damn about as far as settling the score.For those that weren't aware, Vandiken was reportedly decommissioned and remove from play, as came from an enigmatic text message from R.3.M, but right before his first game..? More was going on in this situation, but Rien already had enough shit to deal with as he had to babysit...again...

With all this talk he'd left the negative district to the location that was described in his text to Sync. He wasn't really interested in the coffee to be completely honest, he just needed to blend into to blend into the background for now.
 
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Hazen Gregory

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Rain once again tentatively rubbed her fingers over the hard protruding spot on her visor where the piece of crystal that had been summoned by Topsy during the fight with the boss static in the Enix Hotel. She had to admit that it actually hurt quite a bit, probably because she wasn't used to any of this just yet, none of them were. Their powers all seemed to be growing eve if in small amounts but Rain was certain that Topsy had purposely tampered with the magic of the crystal he used to accelerate any powers the fragments currently had. Originally when Rain had first activated her sticker and called forth Fortinbras, she had thought that whatever type of thing he/it was, had something to do with whatever twisted game that R.3.M and Topsy were regulating but now she thought differently.

After she'd touched the crystal and the piece had broken off and attached itself to her visor, her abilities with the HUD changed granting her further deductive features using the visor. It had been then that she'd been shot by the dart from Jeane and her powers shifted into something she didn't understand. Fortinbras did however, maneuvering her within the 'suit' and transitioning all available powers into a single attack input. It had gotten intense and after a devastating attack display, something strange had happened. After the last blow of her attack that was performed, a vibrant message had formed over the static before, dropping down and slamming it to the ground.
GOLD ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
'1-TRACK-MINED'


Inside her HUD Rain got more information bout what had happened. The description read, 'Kill any boss static with Hyper Art finish. Only one art input is allowed. Must be more than 9 art inputs.
Rain kept trying to shake off what she'd seen with the visor helmet in her angel costume but couldn't seem to do so. That memory had almost become more important to her than the memory she received after the static monster went down and Shiro had rushed in to 'scoop' up the game memory. "Damn." She rubbed the crystal on her visor once more, looking around as far as she could see but it was pitch black behind the Enix Hotel where Rain had been dropped from the long twisting chute she and the others had taken from the 7th floor memory room. Using her visor she could see that all of her 'comrades' were present within a 100 meter area, signified by the white markers above their heads.

Topsy had warned them all by stating that the 1st district was more rigged than they noticed and that the 2nd district might require more teamwork, sacrifice and intelligence than they as a group could handle. This would turn out to be a nightmare if Topsy Kretts was being completely serious in Rain's opinion but for now she wouldn't get too ahead of herself or the situation. Nobody had said much of anything afterward, but alas, Rain wasn't surprised one bit. She was completely shaken by the information or rather chain of memory that revealed several things to her.

1. Her first feelings about looking for someone were about her brother.

2. She had been living in Tokyo with her brother.

3. She was a game designer and tester.


All these pieces of information made her smile a bit as she noticed low saturation lanterns lighting up with a green light fully exposing the next available area of Enix City to the group whom were all scattered about in the immediate area. At about a 90 degree angle, the back-lot of the Enix Hotel extended outward to a torn down fence that looked like it had been that way for years. Beyond that was a decommissioned grid station(Rain only knew because her visor deciphered all the strange symbols) and another fence that was rusted to hell. It was a short walk through the lot to the northeast where the leveled fence led to the wide street area that was much more detailed than the alley had been. "Detailed??" Rain said the word aloud, questioning herself for using that term. "Geez, like we're really trapped in a game."

The group was silent as they all walked, staggered, moped and dragged themselves across the lot and onto the street where it was a short distance to reach what appeared to be an arcade. Rain rubbed the crystal and looked at the neon sign glowing with green misty light. 'Breaking Bonds Arcade.' "Hmm, why does this place seem familiar??" Rain thought hard but really couldn't get beyond the fuzzy surface. "Might as well go insi...." Rain looked at her HUD to see she'd gotten a message from R.3.M. Pings and short bursts of sound etc showed that all the other fragments had as well.

Rain suspected that the non-leet display for her text was the visor's doing.

Welcome one and all to the Breaking Bonds Arcade.
Explore the floor to your hearts' content.
Win or face these games' lament.
Beware the dare of the games you find.
Lament your memories but save your time.
The last man standing, the memory unwind.


"Jeane I'm going in, come with me??" Rain stepped to the sliding door, and it open automatically, Rain stepped inside and gasped in a bit of shock and awe. She was literally amazed. The place looked like a freaking space station.


 
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Vibrant Fervor

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Some time passes and David eventually joins up with the main group of fragments as the next area reveals itself through low saturation lanterns lighting up. Behind the Enix Hotel was an area with a torn down fence revealing an alleyway. There were other things there but he couldn't make out what they were as time was not kind to them. As the group moved on, there was nothing but silence. Each fragment have seen better days as they pressed to push themselves forward.This new venue was a lot more animated than that parking lot and hotel ever was. There was a pier attached to a building floating in the middle of a massive lake. He looks around and finds a billboard a map of the area.

Before moving on, David takes a picture of the map with his phone for future reference. He also decides take in the scenery as he follows the group over the arcade. He breathes in and out slowly to calm his nerves and mind. From the tranquil sounds to the cool breeze, he zone out. All cares, static and whatever else that was going on at the moment melted away as if he had no care in the world. Nothing much was going on and hardly any unsettling noises protruding in the area. David gets a sense of impeding doom as the groups draw near the arcade. A sound pings from his phone to reveal the message

"Welcome one and all to the Breaking Bonds Arcade.
Explore the floor to your hearts' content.
Win or face these games' lament.
Beware the dare of the games you find.
Lament your memories but save your time.
The last man standing, the memory unwind".

David looks at the message and ponders for a moment what it was trying to convey. One of the fragments ask another if they were coming in with her and proceeds to walk through the sliding doors. David continues following the other into the arcade as well. The sense of doom he had be melted away as he was struck with glee as he saw the plethora of various video games. He felt like a kid at a candy shop. He loved video games and he temporarily forgot what was going on and ran off to find some games to play. It was like as if he was in a trance that was difficult to get out of.

 
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Ðari

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[Memory]

The trepidation was intense.

Raine from Dexter's vision was nothing short of a dive bomb in combination with Shiro. The damage that he and Jeane did from earlier that seemed negligible, it was equalized by Shiro's arrow/spear made out of graffiti and a mean dive from the two of them. The oblong static was brittle and fractured before phasing out into it's signature sound that shrouded the hallway in it's ghastly shriek. Dexter's pole jabbed back into Topsy's crystal cracking a significant sized hole through it, and the pole resonated briefly before detracted to sticker form.

Raine was also the first one to touch the 'Game Memory' and what happened next no one could've anticipated...

That knocking at Dexter's head from the alleyway seemed to clear up. The area itself from the seventh floor, no throughout the entirety of the area that housed the game memory seemed to shift everyone in the locale. Blinded, Dexter flipped down his shades in an attempt to avert some of the disorientation, but to no avail. Everyone however seemed pretty fixated on Rainee who was using her visor to navigate for them, there were some visual cues (lanterns) that could be seen from the seventh floor window that weren't there before (was anyone paying attention during the chaos? unlikely.).

[Memory End]

[Present]

In a move that shocked no one, there was another area. Looking around, there was the crashing of waves, apparently a pier of some kind. Dexter was honestly waiting for a text message from the administrator, and true to form, this one was loud. Checking his phone out, Dexter was a lot more confused this time around.


Welcome one and all to the Breaking Bonds Arcade.
Explore the floor to your hearts' content.
Win or face these games' lament.
Beware the dare of the games you find.
Lament your memories but save your time.
The last man standing, the memory unwind.


The text wasn't in any kind of strange language that relied on them having to squint their eyes and read multiple times...this time anyway. Arcade, keyword here and likely the next place to start on this pier. Admittedly this cryptic message was far out of the way of 'realistic' and why the hell was "lament" used twice in the same message? This guy had an alteration fetish, but the teen sighed. Jeane however wandered off behind Raine, he had to wonder what she was thinking, the rest of the group had to be in similar situations without question.

There were now four guys, himself, Shiro, Leonard, and now David. "Guys...group meeting." Dexter said cupping Shiro and Leonard by the collar and dragging them along to David who'd they'd only just now got the chance to interact with. "So Leonard right? And David yeah? Didn't get the chance to say it before, but I'm Dexter and this is Shiro, it's nice to meet you guys."

[Rien - Collector]

It wasn't farfetched to see what he was seeing.

"It's about time Leonard and David kept pace with the group. Can't have slackers while, Selene, Harmony, Siam, Ally, Anna+Alice, Dexter, Jeane, and Raine slog ahead doing all the work."

A little bit of irony coming out of the least invested of the collectors. Slumping over he was observing from the cafe, actually partaking in a colombian brew among other things. He sighed, pulling out his phone and looking in particular at the memory map app. For the next event to even get started, all recipients of the fragments party would need to enter the arcade. The cute thing about the message was that there was a hefty requirement for the game memory to even appear here. Traps and ambushes are cool, but for once the collector's wouldn't have to do much "stomping" this time around.

"Sometimes I wonder where this R.3.M. even comes up with these themes."

This wasn't going to go well for them if they knew each other outside of this, Rien wasn't impressed. Looking over his shoulder he just couldn't seem to understand where the hell he went. It was just irritating him, too many things were going on at one time. They'd all be here soon, he could just tell.

The old team.
 
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Endless Warrior Sora

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Honestly if he was going to die, this would be one way to go out.

Catching onto the coil that Dexter had laid out for him with Six-God, it thrust Shiro back even further up into the air, like a pinball. Using the Graffiti Arrow as a drill, Shiro impaled the giant Static, in fact, tunneled straight through the beast's body. Exiting the beast's torso like a bullet, Shiro could see Rainee unleashing a powerful attack upon the beast, enveloping the static in a multicolored light. When the spectacle was done, nothing remained of the creature. However, the Game Memory appeared, and began a free fall. Shiro did the same, cradling it in his arms before crashing back into the seventh floor and rolling to a stop. After recovering the turq head held up the polygonal substance, before it glowed and exploded into a flash of light. Everyone in the room would feel a slight warmth, followed by relief, and images that were theirs would begin to play in their heads, eyes glowing with flashing pictures of their memories flooding past.

Suddenly, the memories stopped, and Shiro's head jerked out of it's comfort, as if someone or something was barring his mind from gathering more information.

"Whoa..." He exhaled. "...That's it?" Shiro muttered, disappointed.

Rainee lead the way to the next area. It didn't look like they were gonna get a breather anytime soon. Lanterns appeared to lead the way, another strange occurrence, but honestly what wasn't strange about this day? Speaking of day...exactly what time was it? Would it be night soon? No one really spoke on the way to the next area, everyone was more than likely fatigued from the intensity of this crazy day. Soon, they came to what appeared to be a pier. The sound of waves crashing could be heard as they came upon a wide building. It looked like two restaurants put together. Everyone's phones began to ping at the same time, another message from the crazy orchestrator.

Welcome one and all to the Breaking Bonds Arcade.
Explore the floor to your hearts' content.
Win or face these games' lament.
Beware the dare of the games you find.
Lament your memories but save your time.
The last man standing, the memory unwind.

...What?

"What?" Shiro spat. "The hell does this even mean? Speak English, dude!"

It was strange. No weird text or type this time. Just a cryptic message. Was it a haiku? This wasn't the MO of the other guy. Maybe it was someone else?

Guys...group meeting. So Leonard right? And David yeah? Didn't get the chance to say it before, but I'm Dexter and this is Shiro, it's nice to meet you guys."


Dexter had grabbed Shiro and Leonard by the collar, huddling them close to the new guy, David.

"Sup?" Shiro saluted the two with a grin. David had took off, too enthralled by the video games to stay in the huddle. Shiro frowned. "Well, I guess that's to be expected when there's a kid here. That's gotta be messed up, putting kids in this terrible competition or whatever this is." He rambled before turning to the other guys.

"So...we just not gonna talk about this? I know you guys got some memories too right? No one's said anything."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Your odd mother, oddly kind at that. You know what we had to go through last cycle I'm sure.You know, the only reason I even took this deal in the first place was because...well, I didn't exactly have the best 'LIFE' that I was looking forward to going back to. Lingering here, living with the age i'm at sounded a lot better off, even if it means working to earn your keep. Can't argue with going from empowered to powerless...more so after becoming an actual- meh....So mom...do all collector's use memories to manipulate fragments in such a way that they turn each other? It's a barbaric tactic...same with memories themselves...can't they be...fabricated? To a point where because they don't remember, they'll believe anything if it's wrapped up like a memory of any kind?"

Too much. Toomuchtoomuchtoomuch. The Witch Doctor sighed.

"Mind movies are such trifling things. Who is to say that only collectors use them to manipulate? There was once a time when, even with all mind movies unbroken, that the unbroken would still remember things that never happened. Rememories can be fabricated in all sorts of ways. By us or by the owners. The mind is a maze dear...And all who wield it, study it, simply rats...."

Silver monologued to no one in particular, Rien having already left the Collector's Paradise. Rolling from off of the table with a sigh, she decided she'd pour herself a drink. She deserved it, in any case. Reaching within her bosom, she withdrew a picture in her solitude. She studied the words scrawled onto the photograph in blood.

Don't forget to remember. Remember to not forget.

Silver grinned, putting the picture back into the bosom pocket of her jacket.
 
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Story Keeper

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~- Round Two Anyone? -~

Anna had no clue what just happened to be honest. One moment she was sensing Shiro and the others fighting a static, the next she was on her knees due to a sudden flare up of pain in her head. She could sense the memories that were playing in her mind; the distant warmth of a parent holding their child and talking to them via of touch. She felt them signing words onto her skin, and one word in particular stuck out to her. Shiro. A frown dancing across her face, she felt someone grab her arm and guide her toward something. She didn't fight them, especially when the fuzzy colors registered as being Siam's aura. The girl was mainly surrounded by blue, pink and another color (it's the color for responsibility).

She could sense the static that lingered around the area, but none moved to attack the Fragments as they made their way to the next area. She took comfort in Alice remaining close, although her mind was still caught on the man they'd met back in the hotel. Something about his aura seemed familiar with how freaking chilled it was. Does that guy smoke something to be that chill? she thought to herself.

Anna felt the vibration of her phone in her pocket, she could also tell from her aura that Siam was reading it. Waiting patiently as the girl looked the message over; Anna didn't move as Siam signed the basic jist of it into her palm. A frown coming to her face, Anna mumbled, "We should proceed with caution, whoever's in charge of this death game is freaking insane. They're also probably a sociopath too, just considering of what we've experienced so far." It took a moment or two, just long enough for the words to register, before Siam nodded in agreement. She watched as Siam turned to speak with Ally, and watching the auras of the two girls, she saw that the two seemed to have an underlying connection.

Beneath that though, Anna noticed that something was eating away at Siam. She was pretty sure it was whatever Siam had remembered after the hotel, although she didn't want to press on it and make the girl uncomfortable. Scanning the area with unseeing eyes, she had a rush of relief when the fuzzy aura of Shiro's swirled into her mind. He was okay, and to her at the moment that was one of the few things that mattered. She wouldn't care if she got all her memories back as long as Shiro made it through the game.

Turning her attention in the rough direction of the Arcade, she asked out loud, "So who wants to be brave and walk into this next probable death trap?"

The next thing she felt was Siam's fingers dancing across her palm, signing out, "Hey! Don't word it that way! You're going to scare people!"

Shrugging her shoulders, Anna commented, "It's the truth Siam, don't be mad at me for saying what everyone else is probably thinking. Now come on, let's get a move on." Without waiting for too much of an answer, Anna carefully made her way into the Arcade, deciding it'd be best to get moving before something got shipped in their direction to force them inside. Before the thought could fully abandoned her mind, Anna called back to the group, "Get your butts moving, you don't want to meet up with static do you?" Before she could get an answer though, the doors to the arcade closed behind her; cutting off anything the others could have said.

Although that didn't mean she wouldn't be able to feel their auras still.

~- Distant Faces -~

You may want to put that on hold for the time being, eat your fill. You'll need your strength for when the fragments progress the game any moment now. I'm gonna head over to the next district, feel free to meet me at the coffee shop across the street from the Enix-Arcade.

It took a couple of minutes, but a reply did show up on his phone from his teammate. He read it, processing the message from Rien. He sent back a quick reply of, Understood, see you there. He didn't think that Rien wanted the coffee, because he didn't really remember Rien drinking coffee in their run; but he never knew with the other collector. He finished what he wanted of the fries, and then refilled the glass of water he had before he headed out to the second district.

It was on his way over that his vision blurred. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing. He was acutely aware of the buzz of static in his ears, and he would have run for it if he could see. He heard the low murmur of voices, only for it to get louder as the images manifested in his mind's eye. It wasn't something he was used to seeing, given the fact he'd been a headphones during his Fragment run. He saw a girl with dark hair and blue-violet eyes, and they were talking about things. He could see that she was upset about something, although what exactly he wasn't sure.

He didn't let himself get fully submerged in the memory, even though he could see the small stone bridge he was sitting on, he could feel the bag of bread crumbs and hear the ducks. Sync was sure that it was either late summer or early fall based on the temperature. He allowed the conversation between him and the girl he was talking to about to drift there his head loud and clear; and he quickly came to regret it.

"So, uh... Class today was kind of boring huh? I mean how many mathematical formulas does one REALLY need am I right?"

"Who knows? Maybe you'll need it one day."

"Yeah, like I'm gonna use the quadratic formula to file taxes!"

"Siam...can I ask you something?"

"S-sure, anything."

"Um...Do you...You still like hanging out with me, right?"​

"What? O-of course I do..."​

"Well, I don't know. You seem fine, but something's off. Like you're here physically, but mentally you're somewhere else. I know you've been kind stressed lately..."

"You remember when we lost Mia in the mall? And she kept crying and crying, but because she couldn't see it was hard for her to find her way back to us? I remember panicking so much. I felt like such a bad sister. And then you grabbed my wrist and assured me it'd be okay while Solstice forged ahead. The three of us played detective until we found her. We convinced her it was just a game haha."​

"That was a crazy day. I can't believe you remembered that so vividly."​

"Of course I did. The way you held my wrist....I felt so safe. It felt like everything was going to be okay. You and Solstice have always been there for me...The two of you...you...you mean the world to me."

"Well, you mean the world to me too. And I'll always be there. I'll always keep you safe, Samara. Just like that day. Always. I promise."

"I-"

Even though it was just a memory, he could still feel the way Siam's lips felt on his. He also felt as if his heart just shattered into such tiny pieces that he'd have no hope of finding the pieces. Eyes snapping open, his breath caught in his thought as one thought kept circling in his mind: How was he supposed to oppose the Fragmented as of now?

He couldn't do it.

If he couldn't oppose them, the R3M was likely to punish her for his insubordination. Which was something that he couldn't stand the thought of; it'd be worse than why he chose to stay here. He knew the truth on why he'd chosen to stay behind, and it's not like he really had much of a choice on the matter. Sync locked away his unease as best as he could, Sync started heading toward the coffee shop again. He just wouldn't think about it, not now and not ever if he could help. He just had to do what he could to make sure she survived. Although the first task was meeting up with Rien to talk about the crazy things that were going on; and then he’d worry about how to manage the rest of the game.
 

Ðari

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Y0u +@Lk t00 MUcH

[Rien + Rhys]

The smell of sea salt from the ocean was evidenced in the traveling air. There was a nervous fidgeting twitch from the young man, he was clad in a black wrapped turban and dropped from the building onto an umbrella. Popping out onto the wrap of the pier, the arcade was a far ways off, where he could see the collection of kids as dots in his line of sight. Turning his attention to the buildings closer to him, a poor fool was sitting alone at the coffee shop.

He kicked the dirt, and rolled his eyes. Under his turban he approached the man, and pulled out a seat before sitting and folding his arms.

"So wheres the other traitor? Doesn't have the stomach for the job?"

Rien cut his eyes due fashion, before shutting them. The waitress moving from the shop near him, accommodating the new visitor.

"Mr. Hanekoma, a friend of yours?"

"Never seen him before, that mop on this gentleman's face can really misdirect a person's memory you know. Jokes aside...I know this person relatively well."

"You know he'd be disappointed in you two more than me, at least I tried to escape the penalty and survived. What did you two idiots do, other than coddle to survival simply because you were elected as a winner last time."

"Sound about right. The rules change all the time, usually having the most impact and understanding it, then changing nets you the best chances, but lets be fair here. The game is rigged...or at least it felt rigged for us..."

"Didn't we already break a rule we weren't supposed to do and yet did it anyway?"

"Hell if we didn't, we wouldn't have survived. Who knows what Are Three Em has in store for the kids this time."

The stranger put his coffee down on the table, and noted that Rien did not take one sip of his. Breaking his concentration right at that moment, Rien finally did.

"Had to opt for Hot Chocolate, takes a few minutes to cool without marshmallows. If you remember correctly, I don't exactly like to drink coffee, I was never a fan of it in the first place."

"I'll humor you Rien, but I want information-"

"Being an illegal player is enough for me to detain you. Let alone hear what you have to say, you being here right now is just putting me and these kids in jeopardy right now. You tried to kill them!"

"Isn't that your job? You weren't very invested in actually playing to escape, you out of everyone talked little to none about what you remembered. Was it even worth your time? Was is it so horrible you vacantly checked out of being as social as you are right now?"

Rien placed the empty cup on the table and slid from out of the table.

"Lets take a walk. I think I waited long enough for him to show up for you to scold him. It's irrelevant now."

Truth be told Rien was there for a while, so much so that the kids were already conversing amongst themselves and he had gotten here long before them, waiting on Sync. At this point he didn't care about the coffee or the conversation, he needed to lure "him" away from the children. If he was being this cooperative, then it was easy to assume that he wanted information.

Rien adjusted his scarf and drew his green hair back into a ponytail. The two headed off, way off towards the water until the two stopped on the deck just short of the water.

"Anytime you wanna talk 'old friend' Where's Vandiken, this is the only time I'm going to be friendly."

His fist clasped tight, burning with a purple vapor from his acid wind's tattoo.

"Sometimes, you really should stay gone...Vandiken isn't here, but he didn't go home. More than that, we don't know what happened to him."

"Well...someone's in a bad mood. It's not like you at all."

"Tch...look going AWOL in the middle of a delete is a serious offense. I almost erased your ass when you pinged on my phone as an illegal player. Your troublesome as it is, at least tell me what your trying to accomplish."

"Isn't it obvious? We got screwed big time, how we got here, Kourtney and Kael's deaths, and yet only 3 from our group got get out of jail free cards, and anyone who didn't want to die just filled the void of the collectors we had to kill. What kind of bullshit is that!?? Aren't you pissed off?? Thats why you all need to go down, it doesn't even matter who you are anymore. These brats are going to get screwed just like us, and the survivors aren't even guaranteed to fucking get out of here! Might as well give them a swift death before they stab their friends in the back like you fuckers did!"

Rien sighed.

"You really don't understand anything...and thats why you ran away. Van told us you know, when you and him got separated from the group near it's end. He told us what you never told anyone else in the group, what you remembered that you never told us. Being the accomplice to a serial killer. We tried to save face, but no one honestly was able to look at you the same way after that. Seems we were right in doing so, theres no trauma bad enough to turn against everyone, and even taking this stance was the only vehicle to survive we could think of. Guess when your a killer you just follow your nature I'm guessing."

"SHUT. UP."

Rien scratched his head, a bit nervously at that. "Don't throw a tantrum, he ain't here man. Sorry. As for you, I gotta put you under."

"What!? What do you mean by that?"

"Don't tell me you didn't notice the water around you...you remember what we did."

A chill ran up both of their spines. Whenever they converted their bodies to their tattoos this made them exceptionally vulnerable to namely water and an open flame. Their bodies get stiff when being mere inches from water, and they burn when when converting themselves near an open flame. Rien stomped is foot, transmuting the boards of the pier into complete paper and collapsing it specifically underneath his former friend. As he fell through the floor he cursed out at the collector before hitting the water, and getting swept into the current like a rock.

After repairing the pier, the collector stood there for a few moments getting the wax out of his ears and turned to head back to the cafe.

"That'll get him out of the way for this phase, can't let him attack the kids...geez."

Pulling up an empty chair, he sat down.
 
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