The Long Halloween

"When black cats prowl and the pumpkin gleans, the streets fill with madness and screams. May the Angels be with you, for it is Halloween!"

- A random stranger.

The Lambent Day
Theia was skipping to the Dragon Gunfire guild hall, admiring the life awake in the city this morning. Crocus had always amazed her with its large building, it's large concrete arms reaching into the heavens. The sounds of people exchanging stories and laughing at friendly jokes. The smell of local food stands and restraunts filled her nose, as she was convinced to stop at her favorite bakery to pick up a chocolate croissant. Her Exceed, Albina, grabbed a scone and returned to Theia's side as they had the guild hall's entrance in sight.

Passing through the Jutsu Shiki covering the entrance she descended the steps into the underground passages that was the guild. The glowing lacrima lined the way to the main room where she saw many of her fellow members conversing and having a good time. She wants to go join in on the fun, but know that she came there on a mission; to find a job so she can buy loads of candy for her and Albina to enjoy Halloween To the fullest extent. She goes up to the job board and browses all the flyers, hoping one will jump out at her.

"''Working at a diner"...nah, I don't think my team would like that as much as I would. "Escorts for a delivery"...maybe. "Rumors of Pet Experiments" WHAT?! Someone is experimenting on animals! I can't stand for this! We need to stop this right now, there is no time to ask Master Aether if we can take this. ''Theia thinks to herself and quickly rips the flyer off the board. "Albina we need to get Völsunga together right now, we have a job!" Theia shouts as she rushes out the cave, back up to the surface streets and heads to the east, towards her teammates apartment.

She quickly races to the door of her teammates and slides past the door in a frenzy. She quickly regains composure and starts banging on the door. "Seraph!! Seraph!! Open up!" She shouts, as Albina catches up and pauses to pant at the threshold of Seraph's apartment door. "You need to wait for me next time Theia! Also what is that racket??" Hearing loud noises sounding like music from behind the door, Theia knew that Seraph couldn't hear her. She jiggles the door handle, and notices that it was unlocked. She pushes the door open and is left speechless at the sight she sees.

In front of her eyes she sees the red haired man holding a plate of nachos moving his hips and feet to the sounds of the Afro-Cuban music blazing in his apartment. Theia bursts out laughing, tickled by sight of her partner Salsa dancing with his food. The sounds of her laughter make Seraph jump and drop his plate, as he stands there in surprise.

"Jeez, Theia! You scared me there for a moment---wait, I left the door open, didn't I?" Seraph replies with his eyes wide open, he was honestly a bit embarrassed of the entire situation. "I guess there's only one explanation— I was making salsa and nachos while dancing to salsa", he added with as he chuckled. He notices Albina panting and then looks back at Theia. "Half the team's here and you've been running so did something happen or do you want to go to the zoo, again? If it's about animal rights, I swear to you I am no lawyer." He then picked up the plate from the ground and placed it near the dishwasher. He grabs a mop from the corner and hands it to Theia, "Want to help me finish cleaning this up, so we can get out of this mess that I call my home?"

Theia grabs the mop from his hands with a loud "Hmph!" and begins cleaning up the mix of salsa and chips. She takes a deep breath and begins to explain in one long string of words. "Seraphweneedtogoonthisjobrightnow! Weneedtosavetheanimal! WecangobackforthezooanimalslaterbecausetheydontdeservetobelockeduplikethatandIreallywanttotakehomethatredpanda, butweneedtogoonthisjobrightnow!" Theia finishes and takes a deep inhale, proceeding to pant afterwards. Seraph just sits there with a blank look, pursing his lips together as he waits for her to catch her breath. Once Theia has regained her composure, Seraph speaks up with an eloquent, "Huh?".

Now a bit more calm, Theia explains "We need to go on this job right now!" As she throws the flyer in his face, detailing the expedition they are about to embark on. "It says here that there is a rumor going around that hundred of pets are vanishing from peoples homes to be experimented on by this unknown scientist. We can just stand around while these helpless pets are taken from their owners! We need to find Melanie and go save them right now! Think of all the puppies and kitties!" Theia says and puts her hands to the sky as if asking God for an explaination. The mop hits the floor with a loud clank, and puts another thought into the blonde mages head. "Hey Seraph, speaking of, have you seen Melanie around? I haven't talked to her in a couple days now..."

"Animals, again?" he raises his eyebrow as he remembers the time when he tried to help an animal who was experimented upon. "Last time I tried to help a suspicious looking gorilla-borg (cyborg), it blew up in my face. Like literally, I punched him and he blew up. Like I always say, Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. " Brushing his bangs behind his ears he asked, "Melanie? Nah, she dumped me and here I thought I was supposed to be upset. By the way, do you like my new undercut? I am really diggin' this discontinued undercut thing but let's not talk about it---you clearly want to go and save these pets and I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Ahem, if I may interrupt. Chase told me while we were at the guild hall, after you rudely took off," Albina says with a glare towards Theia, "that Melanie had decided to get some space and go on a personal job. So she won't be joining."

"Oh, thanks Albina! Sorry for abandoning you back there." Theia says and leans down to place her hand on top of the Exceeds head. "Now I am sorry if this is mean, but I think you should stay out of this job. If these people are kidnapping pets to experiment on, I wouldn't want them to mistake you for a cat and hurt you. I hope that's ok?" Theia asks and receives a nod a smile from Albina.

Turning to Seraph she smiles brightly and says, "Well I guess it's just you and me! And yes, you don't have a choice. We need to help these poor creatures even if it kills us." she slams her fist into her palm with determination. She begins to turn and walk out the door, but the quickly spins back and goes to Seraph to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek. She giggles and says, "Your haircut is very cute by the way. Now come on silly we have to hurry if we are going to make it to the city before dusk!"

"H'okay! I see a lot has changed after that night. I am really not comfortable with the part where you say, even if it kills us but I guess I'll have to roll with it" he replied in a nervous tone. Seraph was dumbstruck after getting a kiss on his cheek, he was almost incapacitated and wanted to savor the moment but he knew, he HAD to get over it as time was running out. Seraph grabbed a cross draw belt holsters and loaded them with a pair of striker-fired semi-automatic pistols. He looked back at Theia before leaving the apartment, "Don't look at me like that. I never said I couldn't use one." He slowly walked out his apartment along with Theia and locked the door. "I don't trust myself. You mind keeping them safe for me?"

"Your guns?!" Theia said in surprise as Seraph placed them into her hands. "Uhhh I guess if you need me too, but they kind of intimidate me...you may know how to use them, but I don't! But if it mea stop won't shoot yourself in the foot, then I'll wear them." She gently places them into the holster she hooked on.

Seraph stands there in shock, just staring at Theia. A blank stare, without a single facial expression. Okay, that happened..., he thought to himself as he burst into laughter. "You and I just had our first misunderstanding, little bird. The guns are for me, ha-hahaha!" He continues laughing. "I know you can't handle guns. I can. Always could. Now, if you're willing to carry it for me, fine. Let's go! We have a long way to go and time is running out. I must ask this though---" he paused momentarily. "Why doesn't the job request paper thing say where is the lab or anything about the people involved? How are we supposed to track this evil person?" He began walking down the stairs and waited for Theia to come up with a reply.

"Oh! Were you talking about your house keys?! You have to me more specific next time! Trade me, I don't want these guns!" Theia says as she takes off the holster and shoves it at Seraph, then snatches the keys and places them in her pocket. Clearing her throat, she continues, "Well the flyer says the rumors are originating from the coastal town in the Country of Sin. I figured we could walk there? I'm not a big fan of trains...but my Light Wings will get me there fast, as long as you could keep up." Theia teases as she elbows Seraph lightly in the ribs.

Grabbing the holster and strapping it to him. "Ha, ha! Very funny. Do you really think you're the only one who can fly?" he says in an angry tone. Seraph then quickly runs off and in a flash disappears from everyone's sight, only to appear above Theia; in the sky, a few seconds later. However, more amazingly, it was not him who was flying but rather a flying vehicle. A technologically advanced, car-like flying machine. "Like it? I call her, Q-Tip. Mostly because she runs on zero-point energy produced by the quantum vacuum lacrima wired to a top notch ICE with a light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation-ish ignition system, an modified electrohydrodynamic thruster and flexible swept wing made of carbon fiber reinforced with aluminium and finally, it really has a sharpened nose which of course is made from pyrolytic carbon wrapped in anti-magic disruption mesh; a tip if you will. For maximum aerodynamic advantage. Hence, the name. This baby can go transonic within ten seconds and oh, it has a system that can control the trajectory of a vehicle without constant hands-on... yes, that's mostly because you can be very distracting at times." He explains with a sly smirk as he steered the vehicle towards Theia. "Need a ride, princess? Just so you know, I have an electroacoustic transducer installed in this thing. Refuse and I'll race you. If I race you and win, I'll tell everyone who won the thing. Your choice. "

"A light amplification ICE? So does that mean I'll have to give you a jump of this flying tin can gives out?" She laughs out. "I am just messing with you; I know how boys are with their cars. And I will have to pass on the offer, vehicles are not my thing...unless you want me to get sick all over your dash. I'll stick to my wings, thank you very much." Theia says as she begins to condense her light magic into the form of wings on her back. She levitates up to Seraphs eye level and smiles. "Ready to go?"

"Ready when you are!" he exclaimed with a small grin on his face. "I really meant L.A.S.E.R ignition but who cares---she wants a race. I'll give her a race!" he murmured to himself, closing the door. He started the engine and accelerated towards his destination. He couldn't believe his eyes, his invention was actually functioning just the way he thought it would, perhaps, it was his luckiest day or was it? "Are you sure you don't want to join? This really does have an artificial atmosphere and wasting your magic isn't a good idea" he shouts on a loudspeaker that he recently installed in the vehicle.

Flying behind Seraph and his car, Theia thinks about his offer. "Artificial atmosphere? So I won't get sick? I guess you do have a point about conserving magic... I'll join you in the car, just please don't crash. We need to get to those animals and save them!" Theia says and opens the door sit in the car, her wings dissipating into the air. She smiles brightly at her partner, "Alright, let's see what your baby can do!"

"Hold on tight!" Seraph says with a smirk. Flying at speeds of 650 mph, the two mages make it to the country of Sin in a matter of seconds. The country itself is laid with foliage and coastal wildlife that is flourishing beyond the borders of the cobblestone towns. They land close to the port side city of Strogas, which is known for its exquisite seafood and friendly residents.

A few minutes after parking the car in a desolate area, Seraph finally stepped out of it and exclaimed, "Land, sweet land! I missed you!" He looked at Theia signalling her to get off and move quickly as they had work to do. He looked at this watched and pressed a button, causing the vehicle to turn invisible all of a sudden. ''Great work, Seraph. Three months and you still can't figure out a way to make it actually invisible, can you? Camouflage is good but this really won't cut it'' he thought to himself before finally turning back at Theia. "So, what's the plan?"

Theia rolls out of the car and hugs the earth with a deep sigh. After a few seconds she stands up quickly and brushes off her black shirt and dark wash jeans. "Now that that terror is over, I say we go ask the local townspeople where they have seen most of the pets disappear. That way we can localize the posibilities of where the culprit is. Because they probably couldn't have carried the pets far before they began to make a lot of noise to alert the neighbors." Theia pauses and puts a finger to her chin. "That is unless they drugged them...anyhow, I think it's best if we start asking around and gather information."

As the duo finished their conversation, a bunch of suspicious looking men ran out of a building; a skyscraper to be precise. One of the four men shouted, "Now that bastard will pay!" as he activated a remote detonator causing an explosion to go off in the building and instead of running away, the men stood there admiring their work. The fire on the twentieth and twenty-first floor spread quickly as people tried to escape from the building.

"Okay, time for a little detour. People first, animals second." Seraph said looking at Theia with a serious demeanor. "You go and help the people stuck on the two respective floors and help others evacuate the building. I'll take care of those jokers and the fire!" Without wasting his breath, he dashed towards the four men, attempting to pull them out of the path of the falling debris. "Go!" he shouted tackling two of the men out of harms way. After moving them from the path of the crushing debris, he hurled them like javelins and jumped towards the third man, grabbing him by shirt but to his surprise, the fourth man had managed to escape. Choosing to focus on the situation at hand, he pulled the man away and then knocked him unconscious with a single strike to his neck. ''Now to take care of the fire. It's chemical in nature and the sprinklers are only making it worse. Think Seraph, think!''

Theia nods quickly and reactivates her Light Wings, which appear swiftly as she begins running towards the skyscraper. She leaps up about 10 feet away from the building, and her wing send her quickly to towards the top of the building. As she approaches the twentieth floor she can feel the radiating heat from the flames. Luckily she had a lot of experience dealing with fire, having sparred with Seraph many times, and uses her magic to create a thin layer of light over her skin to protect it from the radiant heat. She dives into the broken windows of the building and sees that there are people huddling under desks and chairs. ''This must be an office of some sort... now where is the exit? ''

Theia peers around and sees in the back north side of the room is the fire exit, but it had been blocked by a collapsed area from the roof above. She purses her lips together as she uses her wings to hover over close to the doorway. "Illuminating Whip!" She shouts as a long concentrated stream of light falls from her hand. She whips it forward, and the light strand wraps around the debris. She quickly pulls back the whip and send the debris flying out the window behind her. She uses the whip again to rip the door from its molten hinges, and screams, "Everyone out of the building now! Through the stairwells! Don't touch any metal surfaces until you reach a lower floor!" The dozen or so people scramble out of the burning room through the threshold to safety.

Theia then flies through the collapsed roof up into the twenty-first floor and surveys the scene. It appears that most of the people made it to the doorway before the flames took over their floor, but now the floor lie broken in front of the people's only means of escape. She smells a faint scent of two people in the furthest corner, although it is fairly masked by the scent of smoke. She quickly flies over and hears cries of two women hidden under a desk in a corner office. "Listen, I am a mage of Dragon Gunfire, I am here to help you!" Theia yells, and quickly flaps her wings to disperse the smoke in the room. "I am going to get you out of here I promise." She says with a smile, as the two women stand up, a sense of desperate fear on their faces. The door is a no-go, so the only option I have is to fly them out of here...There is no way I can carry both of them, and I don't know how fast I am to be able to go one at a time... Theia thinks, and glances towards the ground. What shocks her is that she can see cracks begin to form in the hardwood floors, as it becomes uneven. ''It's going to give out soon! I need to hurry!'' Theia thinks and quickly grabs the woman on the left and picks her up en route to the windows of the building. "I will be back! Don't worry!" Theia shouts to the other woman. The look of fear and panic that was painted on the other woman's face sent a wave of guilt over Theia as she exited the building and began dive bombing towards the ground. ''I have to be faster. I can't break my promise to that woman! ''

Theia pulls up quickly just as the woman's feet are about to hit the ground, and Theia places her gently down. The woman cries out in relief and Theia wastes no time in shooting back up into the air. ''I have to go faster. I need to save that woman. I can't let her down. I can't let her die.'' Theia repeats as she quickly gains speed, ascending towards the flames at lightning speed. She takes a sharp turn into the twenty-first floor and spots the woman coughing hard against a wall of thick smoke. Blazing in, Theia sees the floor give out and the women begin to fall. With a burst of magical energy shooting from her feet, Theia speeds up and manages to catch the woman before she hits the ashy ground on the lower floor. Doing a quick 180, Theia speeds towards the window and glides gently towards the ground to place the other woman down. She heads back to circle the building and use her keen senses to detect any more civilians trapped inside.

Concurrently, Seraph thinks to himself. ''But what kind of chemical? Unless I know, I really can't help--Oh wait, gotta run!'' As soon as his chain of thought hit the end mark, his feet began acting on their own as he ran towards the escapee and gave him the chase of his life. He dived over a magic vehicle and chased the man in the middle of what seemed like a bazar. "Really? Going to try and blend among the people? I can hear your breathing, your movements, your heart beat!" he announced following the man but just as he was about to grab the man, the man turned around and tried to blast a random civilian with Sand Magic. "No!" shouted Seraph as he made a run for it jumped in the middle of the sand attack and the man, taking the hit directly to his chest. He coughed and held his chest with his left hand, "Ouch!" To everyone's surprise, he got back on his feet the next moment and took a stance. Performing a front-flip to avoid a bunch of civilians, Seraph landed gracefully but unlike a true acrobat who always turns to his audience, he turned his back to them and continued the chase.

"Did I lose him?" the man questioned after he had already traversed a great deal of distance. "Did you?" replied a voice and as the man turned his head, he noticed Seraph on a line as he swung by a line and approached him from above but it was already too late for him and he ended up receiving Seraph's boot to his face, quite literally. "I am in a hurry, so you better tell me-- what did you use for the fire?" he interrogated the man in a rough tone. "Uh.... magnesium" the man replied. "Good boy!" he exclaimed signalling his flying car as it appeared before them in a matter of seconds. ''Magnessium, hmm---so it must be around 800 kelvin. Can't use water thanks to the electricity and fire won't cut it. Only if I--Oh, how convenient!'' he thought to himself with a smirk as he looked at the man as he dragged him inside the vehicle and the duo took off.

The car hovered over the skyscraper and Seraph asked Theia on the loudspeaker, "Did you evacuate it? I have a way to stop the fire!" Looking back at the man inside the car. "You try anything funny and you won't see light for the rest of your life, buddy."

Making one final pass around the building, Theia lands on the ground and her wings disappear. "The building is all clear! I double checked to make sure!" She shouts up to Seraph in the car. She then makes sure everyone has backed up far enough from the building, should the fire flare up.

"Don't look at me, amigo! Do it!" he said looking at the man as the stood up, still bound to shackles and touched a lacrima inside the car. Man, that absorbing lacrima is coming real handy now and he said that it was a bad investment! Seraph thought to himself while the lacrima absorbed the man's elemental magic; rapidly draining him in process and released the absorbed magic in the form of actual sand on the respective floors. "Stop!" he shouted looking at the man as they were over doing it. Soon the flaming building was covered in sand and smoke. "Phew! I almost traded death by burning for death by asphyxiation."

Coughing at the smoke made, Theia shouts out, "Is everyone ok? Please head to the nearest hospital if you are feeling any discomfort or pain breathing, or if you suffered any serious injuries!" The crowd of people make their way towards the town, giving thanks to the two Dragon Gunfire mages as they pass. Running over to Seraph, Theia pokes the man in shackles, looking at Seraph. "Glad that was taken care of, and no one was seriously injured. So now what should we do with Mr. Sandman? Do you think he knows anything about the missing pets we came here for?"

"Sandman? Here I thought I was the only one who loved comic books, heh! Why don't you ask him yourself, Theia? By the looks of it, Mr. Sandman here, unlike the three other idiots did not have a personal motto behind this. A hired gun, if you will. His demeanor and all the running gave it away. Anyways, you going to give us what we want or what? I'd like to know more about your boss" replied Seraph turning away from the man. The man stood up, somehow managing to resist the effects of anti-magic shackles. "Ne govorit' na vashem yazyke. YA Bogdan, vysokopostavlennogo chlena v bratstve demonov ! I, ya ne zapugat' podobnymi vam ! Krome togo, chto ochen' Gal mozhet sosat' moy chlen , mne vse ravno." The man shouted with extreme contempt looking at the two mages and even though he spoke in a foreign language, it was clear that he was cursing them. "Otpusti menya, osel" he added and his facial expressions changed; it was cleared out that very moment that he would be more than happy to murder the Mages if he could.

Theia looks at the man confused, tilting her head sideways, as if that would do anything to help her comprehend the words that were just said. She leans in closer to the Sandman and puts on her best and brightest smile and says, "Listen, I don't know what you just said, but we are really trying to help these animals here. Do you think you could tell us anything you know about it? Maybe in a language we understand? I would really appreciate it!"

Seraph turned back sighing, he walked towards the man and gave him a blank stare as he pulled the man close and whispered in his ears, "Vy ne khotite eto sdelat'! Dover'tes' mne. YA sdelayu vashi deti sirotami, i ya proslezhu, chtoby nikto ne naydet svoye telo" and then held him by his collar.

The man suddenly panicked and started babbling, a few moments later, he managed to calm himself down. "I don't know a lot. Our gang went to work with this crazy lady and there was this weird guy talking about animals and the next stage to something evolution... ugh... I don't know. Please! Trust me! I just know he was looking for someone to financially support his project... I don't even know his name. I only know her!"

Theia was delighted to see that he was speaking in a language she could understand now. She turns to Seraph and smiles, "See Mr. Sandman isn't so bad! What did you say to him?" She then turns back the captured man and begins digesting his words, tapping her finger on her chin. "Evolution... interesting word choice. I am going to have to come back to that... And a man and a woman, you say? Who is this woman you know?"

"S-Sahar!---please, let me go! I don't know anythin---" before the man could continue he received a quick nerve pinch, causing him to be incapacitated and slowly lost his consciousness. ''Out of all the people in the world, it had to be her. Of course, it had to be her!'' turning back to Theia, Seraph smiled saying, "I said, pretty please. Let's go!" as he walked opened the car door.

We All Die At Dusk
Back at Enca, a big, plump, purple haired lady looked down on two unconscious bodies inside a casino. "Look, I am not going to lie, I do enjoy beating people to a pulp with my own to two fists but boys, if you can't get the job done, what's the point?" she said in an angry tone as she stepped on their bodies, crushing them and slowly walked away. She walked into a lounge by accessing a door from inside the room; a private room, that is. A small and subtle lounge but nonetheless, with audience, her audience to be specific (goons). She sat on a large sofa and wandered to herself, if she needed to add another aquarium to the place. By the looks of it, the place could be entered from only place, a steel door in the front guarded by two men in suits.

One lonesome Oak tree stood by the lounge swaying in the wind and as the wind swept by the tree whispered to the air and its surroundings. Even though, it was barely dusk, the air was cold and numb and with every breath the stray animals outside drew, a misty, chilly exhale followed. The lounge was perhaps the only decent place in the neighborhood, considering it was very close to the slums and the next best thing to a brothel for men living there.

Theia and Seraph hover over the area, peering through the slight fog on the cars windshield. Surveying the area, this matches the description that the Sandman gave of Sahar's estate. Theia turns to Seraph and states, "I only smell two guards down below, they seem drowsy judging by the levels of melatonin I am detecting in their sweat. Should be easy enough to knock out, so we can go in and ask questions. I have a feeling this women may be connected with the missing animals..." She says with such seriousness, that Seraph can't help but feel her determination for this job.

"You want to do it stealthily? Let's not. I have a feeling that she'll let us in if we ask nicely" Seraph said with a blank face. ''Stealth is a good route but I am no assassin. At my core, I am a performer--- I always was. She probably has sensed us already. It's no good anyways'' he thought to himself as he stood up turning his head as he tried to concentrate on the sounds around him with his superhuman sense of hearing and noticed to relatively calm heart beats and came to the conclusion that they were either sleeping or knocked out cold. "Seems like you missed two people. That's usual."

"Stealth would allow us to enter without harming the two other people you sensed. We don't want to draw much attention to ourselves; because based on the heartless goons she sent to that office building, I don't think she would be so kind as to let us in if we asked..." Theia said, with concern in her eyes for the extra lives Seraph thought they would have to encounter. "But you're the one who is familiar with this women somehow...so I'll follow your lead Seraph." She said, and cracked the door open, ready for what comes next.

As the duo knocked down the door, they were greeted by a dozen of robots who were apparently expecting them. Every single one of them locked their guns on the two dragon slayers. "Well, this explains why I couldn't hear breathing sounds and heart beats." Turning to Theia, "Don't. I know, I know. Stealth. We'll talk about this, later" he added as he maneuvered himself quickly and grabbed onto one of the robots as he tossed it on the other robot, causing them both to crash and explode. He quickly reached for his belt and managed to draw out his twin guns and pointed them each at the robots. "Quick question, where's your bo--Oh, never mind! I don't even need to turn around to know that's you, Sahar. The unique scent of that undercarriage just wafts through the night air. That and food. Lot of it."

"Hello, there! I see, the little dragon has decided to drop by. What brings you here punk?" questioned a rather large woman standing behind Seraph. The woman easily towered the robots and Seraph and was at least four times heavier than normal humans. She took out a revolver and pointed it at Theia. "You are friends with kids now? Wait, is she what I think she is? I never thought you were a pervert. Dating young kids, jeez."

Theia turns around to see the robust women, and gasps. The women could easily squish her with her index finger, based on their size difference. "Woah! I am not a kid! I am just short ok! That's not nice at all!" Theia huffs.

Seraph rolled his eyes in frustration. This again? he thought to himself. "Wait, did you just call me a pedo---" he paused as he shot down two of the robots and proceed to shoot down another one. "Five down. Seven to go!"

Theia charges up her magic in her palms, and generates a high energy photons. "Light Dragon Scatter Shot!" Then sends out seven streams of light that hit the robots in the chest. The high energy photons dislodge the outer electron of the metal, generating a large current of electricity that surges over the robots body, causing them to short out and fall to the ground.

"For the record, she's nearly an adult!" Seraph exclaimed shooting another robot, the bullet travel through the robot's face and lodged itself into the skull of another robot. "Now that we are done with the machines---" but before Seraph could continue, Sahar appeared above him within a blink of an eye and tried to punch him.

"Seraph! Above you!" Theia shouts and sends off another Scatter Shot aimed right at Sahar's fist. The attack causes her to miss Seraph, and instead tumbles down.

Seraph grit his teeth as he jumped back, performing a triple back flip and released a fraction of his magic aura to propel himself backwards. "Next time, make sure there's a time delay. I may be fast but not nearly as fast the speed of light and unlike your opponent in that wannabe Slayer tournament, I don't use lame excuses or sheer stupidity magic."

Sahar landed as she opened her hand, almost blocking every strike from the scatter shot by directly talking all of the impact to her hand and while she missed one, causing her to be hit by it from behind, she appeared unfazed for the most of the part. However, her palm on the other hand, received major burns and some tissue loss.

Theia casts her head to the side and says, "Tsch. I am still a little bitter about the results of that royale...But now I have a new found resolve to get even stronger! And I am not going to let this heavy lady get in the way of me becoming the best I can be!" Theia says and then clenches her fist, covering it in a golden light. "Light Dragon Blinding Fist!" She then jumps and aims for the face of Sahar, landing an extremely hard hit that causes her fat to ripple down to her feet.

While the hit was a successful and it did bring Sahar on her knees, the attack apparently only gave her a bloody nose and caused her to be blinded for a moment. She got back up and smirked. "I actually felt that. My entire body hurts but little girl, that won't be enough to--" but before she could finish her sentence she was shot twice in both of her quadriceps, causing her to fall down. "Yeah, no. Didn't think so!" Seraph remarked.

Theia then quickly acted to pin her down to the ground. "Light Dragon Photon Shield!" She shouts and then constructs a box of highspeed Light Magic, creating a barrier around Sahar to keep her trapped within a box of light. "Now tell us where the animals are!"

"Who do you think you are? Ordering me around?" Sahar replied in a rage filled tone. "Calm down, Sahar!" Seraph said pointing the gun to Sahar's head. "Now, answer or the next new attraction in this place will be your brain turned into mush".

Sahar mumbled at first but ultimately decided on giving the duo the intel they needed. "Fine! His name is Valentine. He lives a couple of miles away from here. It's a three storied gray building by the station. I don't know anything other than that. He promised me soldiers. That's all."

Theia's throat goes dry, as she freezes up at the mention of that name. ''Valentine...No. It couldn't possibly be the same guy. Although he would be capable of something this cruel... Nevermind that, we need to focus on completing this job.'' Theia thinks to herself and turns to Seraph. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

Seraph kicked Sahar in her face, knocking her unconscious. He turned to Theia, "You sure you want to do this? You have that look on your face again. Are you okay?" he interrogated. ''What is she not telling me. Does this have something to do with her past?'' he thinks to himself.

"I'm fine. Let's go." She says with a stoic expression. She then rushes out of the lounge towards the car with a fiery determination.''If it really is him, I am going to hit him with the full force of the collective pain he caused me. There is no way I will let that mad man continue his cruel deeds...''

Seraph drove the car on the streets instead of the air, trying to get as much time with Theia as possible. "Listen, I have always respected your privacy and I know, I shouldn't be forcing you to do anything but if we are going to do this, I need to know. I mean not this but THIS. You and me. We really haven't addressed it since the night you and I, uh...kissed. So, if there's something that's bothering you, you can tell me."

The sudden emotional statement brought Theia out of her haze, as she turned towards him in confusion. "I know I can tell you anything, and I promise, I do feel comfortable talking to you about whatever is on my mind. It's just...It's just that the name that lady mentioned, Valentine; it's the same name of a terrible man that performed those experiments on us in Shattered Dusk. I am very thankful to have had your help in stopping them, but I just don't want to relive that pain again..." Theia sighed heavily, and looked towards Seraph for a sense of understanding.

"I understand how you feel. I know what it feels like being used. Being vulnerable and helpless. Know this, Theia. I am with you. You don't have to do this alone, ever. Don't thank me, we are more than just guild mates...I promise you, you won't the same way, ever again..." Seraph replied trying his best to comfort Theia. Only if I could tell you what you mean to me... he thought to himself.

She continued on saying, "What do you mean, we need to talk about us? I kind of thought we were just seeing where this took us...I mean I talked to Melanie after we kissed, because I knew your breakup was recent, and she said that she had always thought of me as a better fit for you. So I feel relieved that there is no hard feelings between Melanie and I, but I can never tell where you stand, so I thought we were just going with the flow..."

Feeling uncomfortable with Theia's statement, Seraph tried to change the topic. "No surfaces where fingerprints would show. No carelessly discarded identification cards. Not even a confession signed in blood. No rumors about him catching animals. He's good. In a city like this, it only makes sense." Seraph lost the glow in his eyes. "This place is hopelessly lost to corruption and injustice and violence. I'm going to like it here", Seraph added with a fake smile.

"Uhhh...okay." Theia said with a very confused look on her face. ''And this is why I never know where you stand Seraph...you get the courage to bring the subject up, but then change it just as quick. Oh well, this is no time to worry about that; we need to focus on stopping Valentine.'' Theia thinks, and then decides to get their minds back on the job. "So do you have any idea how we are going to stop Valentine?"

"We are almost there. We need to get the area of surveillance. Try to suppress your magic power. I am going to hide this car around the corner. We need to walk. We don't know what we're dealing with....and don't worry, we will catch this guy" Seraph replies with a certain confidence in his tone. "I am pretty sure he couldn't do anything without the coppers knowing, so they must know. They must be helping him. Hmm, guess we'll have to do this on our own. That's what we're for -- when the law doesn't work."

Nodding, Theia says "I will do my best. And that's right, let's do our guild proud." She says with determinations and begins to mask her magical energy, even before they park the car.

The Darkest Night
Seraph parked the car on around the corner and stepped out of it along with his partner as they suppressed their magic power and walked towards the building. ''Hmm, how convenient! A skylight on the top!'' Seraph thinks to himself as he stealthily walked next to the building. The sun changed its shades from bright yellow to orange-red, the sky turned rich amber and then gradually mauve. As the sunset ended its glory it was soon twilight. The birds ended their journey and were back to the warmth of their nests and soon the lamps outside were turned on. A few minutes later, the stars were the only source of light up in the sky as it was the day of a new moon.

He walked back a couple of steps as he then continued to run towards the building, building up momentum and jumped from one lintel to the other while making sure, he doesn't make too much noise. On reaching the second floor, he noticed an unused fire exit and climbed upwards until he reached the roof and waited for Theia. He didn't want to look through the skyline all by himself but he deduced that even if he is somehow able to see what's going on inside on the floor beneath, he wouldn't be able to hear any of the interesting conversations that might be taking place. "Theia, quick!" he whispered through his communication lacrima. Signalling her to get on the roof top.

Theia nodded and got close up to the side of the building. Although she wasn't as tall as Seraph, she was much more flexible, and a keen user when it came to acrobatics. Finding a protruding brick, Theia grabbed on with both hands, and began swinging from left to right. One her momentum was fast enough she swung her legs to the side, giving her an extra push, as she lept and grabbed on to the lowest lintel to pull herself up. Following a series of jumps and grabs, Theia managed to make it onto the fire exit and made her way to the roof.

"Here's the idea, I cut the glass and you catch it before it falls, okay?" Seraph whispers as he puts his glass cutter to use and stars cutting a piece of glass from the skyline. This would enable the duo to listen to the sounds and conversation below them.

As Seraph finished cutting the glass, Theia positioned her her hands over the spot. As soon as it began to drop, she created a large gust of wind beneath the piece with her magic and lifted out of the skyline to place it gently on the ground beside them. Turning to Seraph with a cheeky smile, "Well that was a breeze!" She giggled and continued. "Now let's see what these goons have to say..."

"Hey, did you check out those full sized man-bats, bruh? Those are kinda mad freaky!" said one of the ruffian, as he walked up to his fellow guard and began chatting. "I know, right? This place really creeps me out. Man-bats, teleporting pit bulls, walking-talking electric cats, flying fishes... talk about weird. Specially the hell hound on level two, man!" the other guard replied.

Seraph looked at Theia with wide eyes, "Teleporting pitbulls? What kind of psycho creates teleporting pit-bulls?" he whispered. ''Really Seraph? He said a goddamn freaking hell hound and you choose to talk about pitbulls---wait, on a related note, is she a dog person or a cat person?'' he thinks. "What's the big idea?" he asks Theia.

"I don't know...but I don't like the sound of anything they are mentioning... I don't understand how someone could be so cruel to animals. They are some of the most innocent creatures!" Clenching her fist, Theia turns to Seraph with a serious expression. "I bet you anything that this Valentine guy we are looking for is on the second level where that 'hell hound' is. Let's go before he hurts it any more." Theia then cupped her hands together, and when she opened them there was a small ball of light floating in midair. "You might want to close your eyes for this Seraph." Theia smiled. Pushing it down the hole in the glass, it gently floated down into the middle of the room, where it burst into a great flash of light, blinding the guards present below.

When the light subsided, the guards could be seen on the floor cringing with their eyes hidden in the crooks of their elbows, temporarily blinded by the flash. Theia then hops into the hole in the glass, and before she landed, she let off a gust of wind to cushion her fall. Looking up, she motions with her hand for Seraph to join her; being careful that she doesn't make a sound to alert the guards of her location.

Trivia

 * This role-play was originally supposed to named, "The Hellhound Gets a New Leash" but was reconsidered by one of the authors.