Another Normal Day

Introduction
"Hard to starboard kid! I said starboard!" yelled the stern voice of the grizzled mage as the dark-skinned youth at the controls of the airship jolted at the sound. The airship itself violently shook as explosions sounded outside, the alarms going off. "Shut that damn alarm off already Gunz!" the older mage yelled again.

"It's not gonna shut off until somebody puts out the fire on the second floor" the woman at the side panel said reaching for the microphone in front of her. "Shou, you and the others stop wasting time and head on down already. Freya, Seiji, head to the second floor engine and put out the fire before it spreads outside" the woman said.

"And Ryian stop talking like a pirate. Just say left and right from now" she said. The man stared at the woman before sighing and replying with, "Fine Judith". A smile crossed the woman's face as another explosion rocked the ship. Down in the lower hanger of the airship, a large group of mages stood before the bay doors.

"I swear that man forgets that he isn't the guild master" said a black haired man wearing an unbuttoned red shirt and a black suit.

"Probably because he's old enough to be the boss's grandfather" laughed a rather tall man in a gray suit and beige trenchcoat. The ship jolted sideways as another explosion rocked it.

"If anybodies the actually guild master it's Judith. I mean she does handle all of the paperwork and keeps track of who's doing what jobs" chimed in a well rounded man in the middle.

"Keep your voice down Kain. You let Judith hear that and she'll-" "Didn't I say get on with it already? Move it!" Judith's voice said over PA system as the bay doors opened to reveal.

"Yes ma'am" all the mages responded to the voice. Once the bomb bay doors opened to their fullest, Shou, Jameson, Kain, and several other mages jumped out into the air, as magic energy exploded around them.

"Heads up boys!" Madeline yelled over the rushing wind as she impossibly attempted to light her pipe. Down below them stood the relatively large headquarters of the dark guild Dark Hoof. The side of the headquarters opened up to reveal what resembled a small and cheap Jupiter cannon, magical energy charging up in it's barrel.

"Jupiter cannon beneath us! Kain you mind?" Shou yelled. Tucking his arms in, Kain dove past Shou and the rest to the front of the group. Clapping his hands together, Kain erected a large magical circle before the falling group as the cannon unleashed a blast of magical energy. The blast was repelled by the circle as the falling mages all landed on the backside of the circle, minus Shou who continued to fall downward towards the now recharging cannon.

"Always gotta rush in ahead of everybody" Jameson said requiping a pair of dual handguns. Shou continued to fall towards the cannon, a laugh escaping his lips as he touched his fingers to the temple of his skull. "Memory-Make: Frozen Thunder Drop". Shou radiated intense levels of coldness as electricity built up around him. Shou dropped down past the cannon and crashed into the ground beside the building, ice and lightning exploding outward upon impact. Rising from the icy crater Shou stood tall as Dark Hoof mages ran to confront him.

Paying the encroaching mages no attention, Shou began rolling the selves of his shirt up as his jacket billowed out behind him. The Jupiter cannon lowered down towards him, magic already charging up for another shot. "Memory-Make: Lightning-" The cannon fired it's shot, a large blast of energy rushing towards him. Several magic circles spun into existence before Shou, splitting the shot down the middle. "Took you boys long enough" Shou said as the rest of the deployed mages dropped down around him.

"Not everybody wants to free-fall into the middle of a dark guild Shou" Kain said. "Let's get this over with shall we?" Jameson exclaimed. Facing the assembled darks mages, Jameson yelled "Mages of the Dark Hoof, you are hereby under arrest for disturbing the peace, multiple accounts of theft, arson, and murder. Now you can either go peacefully or we can do this the hard way".

"Oi, who told you lot to just barge into my guild" came a voice from in the crowd.

A man dressed in black and gray stepped forward that Jameson recognized as the guildmaster of Dark Hoof. "Cross Danvers, wanted for multiple charges of murder, assassination…."

"Yeah I know my rap sheet stretch. Now answer my question. Who said you could just barge into my guild like this?" the man interrupted.

"Great one of those types" Shou said reaching into his coat pocket and drawing out a cigarette. A small flame sparked to life at the tip of his index finger as he lit the cigarette, took a drag, and blew out a puff of smoke. A light burst of dust kicked up as Cross disappeared only to reappear in front of Shou, his arm now replaced by a broadsword. Shou's leg intercepted the blow, his foot connecting with Cross's metal arm. "Handle the small fry. I'll deal with Cross here" Shou said taking another drag on his cigarette.

"Very well. Move out" Jameson said as a strong wind picked up around him as he and the rest of the Celestial Dawn mages began attacking the dark mages.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"You Celestial Dawn mages really piss me off" Cross said changing his other arm into a similar broadsword swinging it forward. Shou jumped back to dodge, once more touching the temple of his head.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Memory-Make: Cascading Storm of the Goddess" Pointing his hand at Cross, a magic circle appeared before a large blast of rotating of water roared towards Cross.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Emperor Sword" Cross cut through the approaching blast of water sending a flurry of magic enhanced slashes at Shou. Shou weaved his way through the slashes with ease before launching a blast of fire. Cross dodged the fire blast and swooped in low, his bladed arm digging into the ground. Shou blocked his swing with his leg before he spin kicked Cross in the face. Cross spit out blood, ground his teeth and once more charged Shou.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Jeez you don't give up do you?" Shou exclaimed dodging Cross's next blow. "And for a guildmaster, you're rather weak". Shou grabbed Cross's next swing with his barehand, stopping it with ease. Kicking the man away, Shou once more touched the temple of his skull. "Memory-Make: Lightning Execution" Shou palmed Cross's head and released a burst of electricity throughout the man's body. Cross collapsed to the floor unconscious.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Took you long enough Shou. Somebodies getting rusty" Kain said walking up towards the man.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"I thought I could have a little bit of fun but he wasn't much" Shou replied straightening his straw hat.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"And how does that damn jacket stay on when you fight?" asked one of the mages around him. "He's gotta be using some kinda Jacket Magic to keep it from falling off" "Yeah I've heard of Jacket Magic. It's pretty useful if you wanna look cool while fighting" said Madeline crossing her arms and smiling.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"It's called fighting with style boys and girl" Shou replied with a smile as the guild's airship coasted down to them. The back doors opened revealing Judith followed closely by Evan.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Took you all long enough. We've been flying around for the past 5 minutes" Evan said adjusting his guitar case on his shoulder.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"You mean sitting on your asses while we did all the work?" Kain replied as Judith approached them.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"What exactly did you do fatso?" Evan chided. "Throw around some little circles and hide in the background?"

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Hey! Somebody had to keep your ass from getting shot outta the sky while you plucked at that piece of crap you call a guitar" Kain retorted stepping in front of Evan.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Hilda is not a piece of crap. She's aged to perfection" Evan cradled his guitar case here as Kain begrudgedly cracked a smile at the boy.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Are you two done seeing who's got the bigger balls yet? I've got a boy waiting for me that I'd rather like to get back too" Madeline interrupted.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"For once Maddie says something we all can agree with" Jameson said wrapping several of the unconscious mages up in chains he conjured. "Water Prison" Madeline entrapped the remaining mages in large water bubbles, directing them towards the back of the airship.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"So you're Sid Hiroshi huh? You don't live up to your reputation it seems" coughed out the surprisingly conscious Cross from his water bubble.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"Sorry pal but I'm not the guildmaster. The boss had something more important to take care of" Shou replied smiling at the look on Cross's face at not having been defeated by a fellow guildmaster as the rest of the mages entered the airship.

<p style="margin:0.0px0.0px14.0px0.0px;font:16.0pxHelvetica;color:#3a3a3a">"At least they haven't completely dulled since we left" said a crouching figure in the distant. "Though they're letting more kids in it seems. Not surprising seeing how that prude Judith likes to play pretend mother". The oddly elongated figure beside the crouching one simply nodded in agreement. "Let's report back" and in the blink of an eye, the two figures disappeared without a trace.