[Rail IC] Academy City III: Abusive Physics Never End!

[AnimeKid]

Crocell nods as he says, "I have to agree with you there. I haven't raced like that in a long while, and eventually doing parkour just for thrill gets a little lonely."

Crocell then hears the sound of Krystal's grunts as she shimmies up the cable. When she gets to the top he helps her onto the roof. "Hey, you made some pretty good time. Now then Kin-san won the race so she gets the prize. You did good though. Although you might want to get those knees bandaged."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal appreciates the help up. She smiles once she's on her feet again.

Good job Kin! She nods to Crocell. Yeah, I will. And sorry if I got blood on your hand.

[Anyr]

In a trice, Kin was by Krystal's side. She'd almost offered her own hand, before catching herself just in time. Instead she settled for bouncing gently up and down, still heady with the thrill of victory, while Crocell hoisted Krystal up to their level.

"Now do you see why I find it so hard to tolerate those grey little rooms in school? After a few experiences like this, school starts to feel like nothing more than an unusually spacious coffin..."

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo frowned a little. It rankled him that justice was not being served here...But then again, he could not deny the sense in Tobios' suggestion. Criminals really did die on the streets, and as much as Shougo was an avid believer in the rule of law, he knew that he hadn't been the one to kill him, and had no desire to ruin his future by being involved in a sordid murder affair. Bending over to search the body for clues, he removed any identification (if any), before replying to Tobio.

"Yes. That sounds like a good idea. Although, as you know, we should probably not mention this in public."

How cold.

Shougo did not appear at all pertubed by the fact that there was a dead man in front of him, plausibly of his own doing; a state of being that he himself was questioning. Why wasn't he overly bothered by someones' death? Internally, he knew he was supposed to be horrified at the thought, but there was only clinical dispassion.

When they approached Shougos' house, which was, perhaps unexpectedly to Tobio, an archaic Edo-style affair of a dojo, Shougo would have tapped him on his shoulder.

"Do not worry overmuch about it, Ishida-san; It will become clearer after a nights worth of sleep. For now, if you would, please help me learn my schoolwork, and if we have time, I can teach you a little more Nimori-Ryu."

Shougo would not have been the easiest person to teach-He wasn't the sharpest student, but neither was he the most unintelligent. What was difficult to handle, however, would have been his utter lack of aptitude with anything electronic (or even modern), as well as the fact that he was not familiar with modern slang or culture in the slightest.

[AnimeKid]

If Tobio had one thing in spades it was patience. After all without patience things in his life would be a lot harder. So while Shougo had a hard time picking things up he reasoned that it was only the first day. He would eventually start to get the concepts, and what help is that if he memorized the rules of certain principles and equations by associating them with something he cares about or does often then Shougo would had a much better time.

After helping Shougo with his homework as much as he could and giving him some things to memorize to help with future assignments he start practicing Nimori-Ryu with him. As they practiced Tobio's mind wondered back to the incident in the alley. Lately things had been happening around him that made him question his ability to actually stay in Judgement and serve justice, rather that just dishing out murder. All these deaths that had happened around him were...unsettling.
__________________________________________________ ____________

Crocell casually wipes the blood off on his pants as he says, "Ah, don't worry about it Krystal. Actually is it okay if I just call you guys by your names, no suffix? Sorry if it seems a bit rude or personal, it's just that I never bothered with suffixes before. Also yeah I can understand where your coming from Kin. When you started to practically live on the adrenaline that these kind of activities give you, standing still for long periods of time start to feel like absolute h*ll."

Crocell crosses his arms behind his head as he tries to regulate his breathing. Looking at Kin he smiles at her as he says, "So, know what you want your prize to be yet?"

[Anyr]

"No suffix? The horror! My poor maiden heart would surely break from being addressed with such familiarity! How could you even consider being so inappropriate?"

These words might have been more convincing if Kin hadn't bounced over to Crocell and started snuggling him while saying them. She looked up at him with a playful expression which made it completely unnecessary to speak her real answer.

When the issue of the prize came up, though, Kin seemed to be at a loss. In the end, she just shrugged and said:

"I honestly can't think of anything. If there's something I want, then I just go out and buy it; And as for the things that money can't buy, well, I'd say I'm pretty well stocked with those already..."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal nods a little to Kin. Yeah, kinda. I mean, I do like learning a lot of the stuff they teach. But yeah, this is definitely something we need to do more.

Krystal waves a hand at Crocell. Don't worry about it. I don't really use them myself, either. I've only been in Japan for a couple months, so I still haven't really Hoffman used to them

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

((OOC: I am home. Just got back from the Gold Coast.))

Shougo was learning. For the first time in his life, Shougo did not feel overwhelmed by the amount of information he was expected to absorb-Tobio broke it down for him, explained it in terms he actually understood. For once, he was capable of visualising the contents of his textbook, and make sense of the jargon his teacher used. For once, he didn't feel like he was going to be dead last again (well, apart from the delinquents in his class).

It was refreshing.

And so was training with Ishida Tobio. As it was refreshing being taught by others, it was also refreshing teaching others. It felt good to pass on his fathers' teachings to a friend-And it felt good to have his mother be genuinely relieved for him, and glad that he was mentally healthy and had made a friend (despite the fact that, unbeknownst to him, he no longer remembered the girl who had changed is life forever).

Tobio and Shougo would be in the middle of having a very traditional afternoon tea with Mrs Nimori when an unexpected and very unwanted guest showed up along with several of his goons. Barging in through the front door of the dojo like the group of braggarts that they were, the leader of this band, apparently drunk on some of triumph, opened his mouth to make a declaration.

"Good evening, my dear woman! I trust you have prep-....."

And promptly fell silent, choking on his own tongue as he caught sight of Shougo.

"W...You....You're-...."

Shougo stood up slowly, placing his cup of tea on the table. His voice was calm, collected-Cold, even, as he interrupted his hated tormentor.

"Dead, Ashikaga-san? Obviously, you haven't done a very good job of it if several of your cronies failed to kill a single Level One such as myself."

"No...You're...Impossible...I...I..."

"You are on private property. I would suggest leaving, before I alert the authorities to the presence of a murderer. Good day to you, Daisuke, and don't forget to close the door on the way out."

Daisuke fled before Shougo could finish, although he did indeed slam the door in fear as he left. He was quickly followed by his henchman, a few of which seemed fearful-The rest simply looked confused, as they had not been present during the attempt on Shougos' life. When all was said and done, Shougo simply sat back down again and continued drinking his tea as though nothing had happened.

[Atrum-Persavor]

Judgement Office 177 Lobby, 5:32pm.

The room is quiet, the Judgment members going about filing paperwork and reports with a minimum of conversation. Today is a peaceful day, indeed. Ren teleports in, materializing in the corner of the room. He immediately walks to Jin, who is lazily finishing off his homework.

"Jin, you said you found something?"

"Yeah, but it isn't convenient to talk about here. Yoroi gave me some pretty... Under the table information."

"Under the table?"

"Yeah, could we use your cubicle for a second?"

The Jin gets up and leaves, walking off to a private room, with Ren following behind. When they enter the 4-person office, Ren shuts the door behind him and locks it.

"Man, Mei-chan's cubicle sure is neat." Jin comments, sitting down on Mei's table and slapping the divider with its palm.

Ren seats down at his own cubicle opposite Jin. "So, what was it?"

Jin pulls out his handphone and starts tapping on the projected screen. "Ever hear of White Caldera?"

"Yeah. They make some of the specialist parts Haruka-oneesama uses for her research."

"They make guns too, y'know." Jin lowers the handphone briefly and nods.

Ren ***** his head to the side and leans back."So?"

"They also run them out of the city for off-the-record arms purchases."

Ren snaps forward, rubbing his own chin. "And Yoroi-"

Jin puts down his phone and claps."Bingo. Anyway, here's a contact number he gave me." He picks up his phone and transfers a number to Ren's. "One of the workers."

Ren leans on the armrest for a moment before responding. "...I think we'll shelf this for now. I don't think we need firearms to deal with Ashikaga."

"Same here. This gives us options, though this is technically illegal."

"It is. Thing being that the Board will intervene if we try to shut this down. Those are export goods in a sense."

Jin hops off the table, dusting it off before turning around. "Always the pessimist, aren-"

Ren's phone chimes. He looks at a video for a while, before standing up.

"I'll talk to you later. I have something urgent going on."

Ren unlocks the room door with his key. And with that, he vanishes.

Spoiler

Show

He's teleporting to Shougo's house.

[KoboldofDoom]

Tentei stares out his small apartment's window, watching people rush by. BOOM He looks up and sees an object......no, a person falling from the top of his building, who lands and the ground, brushes herself of and rrushes away. Tentei stares at the point of impact for a bit before mumbling out "Dear Kami I hate this city."He then leans back, and slowly falls asleep.

[Duos]

Inside the G.E.A.R. laboratories, technicians and scientists scurried around, activity reaching a fevered pitch as the word spread: The base of operations had been compromised; pack up and get ready to move to the next location. Trucks were packed to the brim with equipment and file cabinets full of data, and the drivers gunned the engines and roared off through underground tunnels to locations unknown. The building began to empty out as everything important and sensitive to the project was either destroyed or packed away for transport.

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

Moroe's breaching device works without a hitch-the acid sizzles and hisses as it eats hungrily through the wall; although it takes quite a while-the wall is unusually thick, nearly a meter of steel. Inside, it's nearly dark, save for a dark, bruise-colored glow.

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

Back in the security center, a red light blinks on. The officer in the booth nearly doesn't notice it, so busy is he in coordinating people with the move via his all-seeing nest of CCTV screens. But it eventually draws his gaze, and his face whitens. There's a breach in the wall of the Gravitic Containment Unit.

"Boss to Sec Office immediately. Repeat, Fukui Yori to Sec Office immediately."

No sooner does he stop leaning on the intercom button then there's a tearing noise in the air above his head, and Yori drops through the ceiling.

"Again? This had better be important, I'm in the middle of moving the EIR production prototype into safe transport."

"Something's wrong with the Gravitic Containment Unit, sir. There's a breach in the wall; if that thing gets out..."

Yori cuts him off with a wave of his hand. He gives the worried looking man a predator's smile.

"We're expecting guests, remember? Unlucky for them they chose that spot to try to break in. If it's Antiskill, we get to test the FENRIR unit. If it's not... well...they'd better be pretty well armed if they want to get past that thing. All I can say is, I wouldn't want to be in their shoes right now."

He pats the security officer on the shoulder.

"Keep me updated, let me know if whoever that is makes it out."

There's a snap, and a hiss, and a faint flare of near-ultraviolet light, and then he's gone, leaving nothing but the faint smell of ozone.

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

Inside the darkened room, a failsafe shorts out as its power is cut by the dripping acid. Near the center of the room, deep in the darkness, an artificial gravity well flickers into nothingness, a hundred Gs slowly dissipating. A hulking mass, formerly restrained by the massive pull, stirs, bony plates sliding over each other as it stretches. It smelled prey...

[Anyr]

Moroe bit back a curse as she peered into the darkness.

"Typical. I bring night vision goggles on a hundred missions, only to have them do nothing but take up space in my bag. But I leave them behind one time, and suddenly there's darkness in the very first room. Why does this always happen? Every time I leave some tool behind, it turns out to be exactly the one I needed."

Which was exactly why she usually erred on the side of caution and brought every tool she could think of, possibly including a laser-guided, remote controlled kitchen sink. Unfortunately, there was no way she'd have been able to carry all that and the arsenal of deadly weapons that currently burdened her. As such, she'd been forced to pare down her kit to the essentials, which (since it was daytime) didn't include night vision goggles.

Ah well, no sense in dwelling on that now. There was nothing to do but open her ears, stay alert and advance nearly blind into this completely unknown room in an enemy stronghold.

On second thoughts, that might be something worth dwelling on after all.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell was more able at controlling his blush this time as he decided to hug Kin in return as he said, "Aw, you talking like that and your going to give us diabetes. Seriously there should be a law against being that sweet."

With a grin at his two companions Crocell looks at Krystal as he says, "We should probably get you back to your dorm so that you can put something on that. Wouldn't want it to get infected after all. Plus it wouldn't be right to make you continue. Do you want me to carry you down? I wouldn't want your to have to crawl down that cable again."

__________________________________________________ _______________

Tobio looked up at Daisuke and friends as they entered, and then quickly left as Shougo showed his vitality. With the kind of wounds he had suffered Tobio would have been surprised to if he had seen him standing up the next day like nothing had happened. When Shougo sat back down Tobio took a sip of his tea before saying, "Are you worried Shougo-san? That they might come back? I mean I don't know what the powers of Daisuke's gang are, but i do know that he is a powerful gravity master. I don't want him to retaliate against you."

He takes another sip of his tea before putting it down. As he did so he stared into his reflection in the calming liquid. "What they did to you was horrible, and if what I have heard about Daisuke is true then he might be willing to try it again. If anything happens...please call me. I want to be able to help you, like you helped me today. Please?"
__________________________________________________ ____________

Ryuji's eyes narrowed as he looked at the lead girl and her gang. While they were not unattractive Ryuji absolutely loathed rape and molestation, no matter which gender was the victim. He was not about to let himself be willingly raped. Plus there was no garment that they would keep their word and let the girls go. So Ryuji clenches his fist and calms himself.

He concentrated on the manhole cover that was behind them. painstakingly unsealing it quietly. Ryuji didn't need to move his hands to used his ability. It was all mental. However it was a habit he picked up that he tended to do. the Sukeban leader still with a smug and lecherous look on her face says, "Well? I ain't got all day hot stuff."

Then girls were trembling in fury at what this delinquent was trying to pull. Kikio's red hair was flowing in the wind as she clenched her fist as her power wasn't really useful in a combat situation. The blue haired Ringo was giving her all not to just start busting heads. However the brainy brunette Seko was currently coming up with an escape route.

Then Ryuji unsealed the manhole cover...and sent it barreling through the girl gang that was accosting them. Quite a few got hit while others were surprised. The leader managed to escape unscathed but was furious as she saw the cover come to a stop by Ryuji. "Why you little! I give you the deal of a lifetime and you spit in my face! Girls ge...!" The leader was then cut off by Ringo charging forward and slamming a hardened fist into her face, quite possibly breaking her jaw.

Projectiles then were flung. Fire, water, was that an electrokinetic? Well Ryuji had taken over defense as he manipulated the manhole cover to take the majority of the attacks which were focused for the most part on him, as he was deemed the bigger threat. Ringo however was on an offensive rampage, using he light frames full speed potential as she start to pummel the gang with one-hit KO's. Seko to make sure that things did not get to hairy grabbed Kikio and then used her powers to phase them through the alleys walls.

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo chuckled darkly.

"You do not know Daisuke, Ishida-san. He is a coward at heart. That is why he picks on the weak. By the time he finds the courage to return, I will be ready for him. But...Your help would be greatly appreciated, Ishida-"

His mother, however, waved him away and gave a little laugh. Seeing the brat that had ruined her life fleeing with his tail between his legs was quite a cathartic experience for her.

"You won't have to worry about that, boys. Daisuke won't be bothering us anymore-By tomorrow, he'll be in court, and then jail. Or so Anti-Skill tells me."

Shougo heaved a sigh of relief.

"That is good to hear, mother. It is good that that criminal is finally being brought to justice...And fathers' memory avenged."

He then closed his eyes. He was conflicted. On one hand, he was glad that Daisuke was finally paying for his crimes. On the other hand...Shougo wished that he could have delivered justice personally; before reminding himself that vengeance would not only be a violation of the law, it would also be foolish. There would have been silence for a little while, unless Tobio had decided to say something, before Shougos' mother spoke.

"Say, isn't there supposed to be a System Scan test at the beginning of next week?"

[Anyr]

Crocell was more able at controlling his blush this time as he decided to hug Kin in return as he said, "Aw, you talking like that and your going to give us diabetes. Seriously there should be a law against being that sweet."

Kin actually groaned a little at this sappy line. Fond as she was of cheesy dialogue, even she had her limits. When the suggestion that Krystal be carried was raised, she peered up at Crocell (while still hugging him) with a little concern.

"Maybe I'd better carry her instead. I know it's a risk because of my power, but you don't look well. I know I'd try to avoid any heavy lifting if my face was that red. Besides, I didn't have any sticky trouble anywhere in that entire run, so this is definitely one of my good days."

[KerfuffleMach2]

Wow. I got two people fighting to carry me. I feel so special. Krystal grins, then chuckles.

You know, I could take the stairs down. Or elevator.

Unless we'd get in trouble for being on the roof. Then, yes, carrying.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell chuckles at Kin's groan. Maybe he over did it with that one, but it gave her a taste of her own medicine. Though at Krystal's words he thinks for a moment before he speaks. "Well I doubt being on this roof is illegal. But I can't imagine that the people inside want a bunch of kids in thier building. SO yeah, best to have someone carry you down and no offense Kin, but I don't like the idea of you guys scaling down the building. I get the feeling you guys are going to fall just thinking about it. I don't doubt your abilities its just that you carrying Krystal down might overbalance your or put to much weight on you, and before you say it Krystal no I am not calling you fat."

Crocell looks at the setting sun as he says, "Besides going down via Crocell Air will cut our time down. Again not trying to offend you Kin."
__________________________________________________ _____________

Tobio thinks for a moment before he says, "Oh my! your right Mrs. Nimori. I had almost forget with the things that had been happening lately. Wow, guess I should start double timing my Esper training."

He takes a sip of tea before he taps his chin. "Actually is that why you were practicing your ability at the school earlier Shougo-san?"

[Duos]

Yori snapped his fingers, letting the space around a particularly large vat of mutagens relax as it settled into it's place on the back of a transport truck. He looks down at the promotional pamphlet he was holding that the marketing guys had thrown together for the various G.E.A.R. production units, reading to himself, flipping idly through the pages.

"The FENRIR siege unit was designed to completely and utterly destroy stationary or slow-moving targets. Chimerized primarily from the DNA and AIM signatures of a gravity manipulation ESPer and a density control ESPer, the FENRIR unit is unmatched in it's ability to deal heavy damage to anything it can reach."

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

In the dim, bruise-colored lighting of the room, as Moroe creeps silently through the darkness, a massive shadow glides across the hole in the wall, plunging the room into pitch-black for a second before it passes.

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

Yori cracks open a root beer and takes a long pull, scanning the pamplet.

"To further enhance the unit's longevity, ceramic/bone plates and combat spines are grafted to the FENRIR's carapace, granting it the durability to shrug off even a direct hit from a light tank."

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

The room is silent, save for Moroe's level, controlled breaths, and the faint scraping sound of something sharp on metal. A massive talon hooks gently over a steel beam overhead, far above the meager lighting the massive room offers, up where the walls fade into the darkness.

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

"This unit's unique combination of ESPer powers allow it to tear through steel, concrete, and people with equal ease. Due in part to the unit's ability to manipulate it's own density and general gravity field, it is also surprisingly fast and agile for something the size of a car."

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

Eyes, engineered for lowlight vision, peer hungrily from the rafters, a maw filled with sharp teeth drips with saliva, and keen ears listen to the heartbeat of a small girl.

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

Yori drains his soda and flicks the can into a nearby waste basket.

"Discouts available upon the purchase of a group of six or more. Pff. Those weasels will say anything to make a sale.""

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

Claws open, loosening their grip on steel beams, and the only sound made is the faint whistling of air through bony limbs as it drops down onto it's prey.

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

Yori turns the sales material sideways.

"Huh, there's even a picture. Dunno how they manage to get the thing to stand still for long enough to take this."

Spoiler

Show

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo shook his head.

"No. It is just that I need to..."

He frowned. He honestly didn't know the reason why. He just knew that if he pushed as hard as he could, this time, he would break through. For the first time in his life, he believed in himself, because somebody believed in him. Somebody who was there for him, even in his deepest, darkest memories. Somebody who cared. Even if he couldn't remember their name, their face-Anything. Just the memory of the memory of a voice.

He shivered, suddenly feeling cold for no reason.

"There is no one reason, Ishida-san. I have just decided to succeed, this time, for my own sake and to honour my fathers' memory. I do not seek fame. It only brings misery and false friends."

It was getting dark outside, and the air slowly became more and more chilled as a northerly wind leeched the warmth out of it. It was an unusually cold breeze for this time of the year, and Mrs Nimori moved to turn on an old, antiquated heater. After she had done this, she looked thoughtfully at the kitchen, then at Tobio.

"Would you like to stay for dinner, Ishida-kun?"

[AnimeKid]

Tobio looked shocked at Mrs. Nimori at her invitation. He had obviously never been invited to stay for dinner at a friends house before. After a second of shock Tobio goes into a low bow as he says, "Thank you for your kindness Mrs. Nimori, it would be an honor to say for dinner."

Tobio came up from his bow with a happy look on his face. Looking toward the kitchen for a moment he looks back at Mrs. Nimori as he says, "A-Ano, would you like me to help? I-I'm rather good at cooking myself."

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mrs Nimori smiled at him.

"No need for that, Ishida-kun. You are a dear friend, after all. And of course! If you don't mind, that is... I always appreciate help in the kitchen."

If Tobio had indeed decided to help her cook dinner, he'd have found their kitchen to be very...Traditional. It had all the utensils and tools to create very traditional Japanese food-The most modern appliance they had was an oven, and an old one at that. Mrs Nimori looked sheepish as they entered.

"My apologies, Ishida-kun; my late husband was very fond of traditional Japanese food. It's been so long since I've really been in touch with the modern world, and I've been meaning to try out new machines, but we..."

She looked away. The reason why would have been fairly apparent-The Nimoris didn't have enough money. While the kitchen had obviously been cleaned recently, everything looked heavily used.

"We haven't had the time!"

That was clearly a lie. Mrs Nimori, unlike her son, was not a very good liar and it obviously pained her to have to make up some falsehood for Tobio to swallow.

[AnimeKid]

While Tobio's social skills were a little rust, he knew people very well. After all, watching people interact from afar had left quite a few impression on him. Seeing that the reason for their homelyness was a bit of a sore spot Tobio just smiles as he says, "I see, well I don't mind Traditional food. Besides if you don't have time you shouldn't rush yourself. After all, the lack of the usual technology gives it character and uniqueness."

Tobio would then walk forward before turning back to Mrs. Nimori with another smile. After ward he would pull back his sleeves with a determined expression on his face. "Yosh! Lets get cooking!"

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Mrs Nimori laughed, and they began.

She was a good cook, and a good teacher, too. Even with the rather outdated equipment they had, they were capable of quickly preparing a good meal-Rice donburi, soba; traditional Japanese dishes. She often chatted about how she had to learn these things when she married Nimori Harada; who sounded simultaneously like a very strange and very valiant man, bursting with life in every step. Nimori Harada even dominated the pictures on their walls. A large, muscular man, with an equally large grin, a huge mass of brown hair and a long red scarf perpetually around his neck, he looked and apparently acted nothing like his son, Shougo. Where he was explosively loud and boisterous, caring nothing of what people thought of him as long as he did the right thing, Shougo was quiet, reserved, and was extremely self-conscious.

Speaking of which, Shougo sat in the living room, constantly flicking a coin back and forth with a curious expression on his face. It appeared as though he were deep in thought about...Something.

Regardless, the effort took just under an hour before dinner was ready.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio helped her set the table for dinner after they finished cooking. With the way she talked to him, Tobio felt very comfortable around Mrs. Nimori. After serving Tobio sat down at the table respectfully. "Itadakimatsu."

With that Tobio digs into the food. He makes sure to restrain his appetite when he does so. After all, it would not do to ruin dinner by indulging in his ravenous hunger. After a while, making sure that his mouth is not full, Tobio says to Shougo, "Shougo-san, why does Daisuke seem to hate you so? I mean to try and actually...well you know. I can't see how someone can become so hateful based on what my friend Mei-chan said. A-Ano if it is to personal then please ignore what I said."

[Lord-Cao-Cao]

Shougo stopped eating for a moment and answered in a monotone.

"My father. He hated my father. He and my father got into a fight, once-To prove that martial arts still had a place in Academy City. Obviously, my father lost as he had no time to prepare. However, he still managed to strike Daisuke on the face, and Daisuke broke his body and then killed him for it later. Even my fathers' death did not appease him, and Daisuke appears to have carried the hatred onto my mother and I, however. As to why? I do not know, and it is not my business to know."

He then continued eating, an empty look in his eyes as he reminisced bitterly over the sweet memories of his past. In his left hand, the coin which he was flipping back and forth suddenly snapped upwards, embedding itself violently in a thick wooden ceiling beam before dropping onto the table, horribly crumpled.

Shougo appeared to be more astonished by these turn of events than his mother or Tobio would likely have been. That had, without a doubt, been a manifestation of his psychic power-Apparently, Shougo could use his momentum manipulation ability with projectiles, too.

"Wha...My apologies, mother, Ishida-san-I did not intend for it to-"

"It's okay, Shougo-kun. You are getting stronger as an Esper. Your father would have been proud. Besides, no harm done, right?"

[Anyr]

Moroe advanced slowly into the room with careful steps. She would have done so even if she'd known for certain that there were no enemies around, because sometimes the environment could be just as deadly. She'd once known an experienced operative who'd survived numerous combat missions, only to be killed by tripping on a loose brick. In a place like this, you couldn't to be too c-what was that?

For a second the light level had dropped. A power fluctuation? Hmm, maybe. For once, though, Moroe didn't need to spin around and watch her own back. She knew that Hajime was behind her, no doubt devoting more effort to guarding her life than his own. The poor, deluded clone actually believed that she was worth the trouble. But truth be told, she needed someone like that right now.

*Drip*

Moroe flinched. A drop of liquid had just fallen on her shoulder. So in addition to being dark, this place was also wet. Fantastic. She automatically glanced upwards, knowing even as she did it that it would be too dark to see anything useful.

That glance saved her life. Without it, she'd never have managed to roll away in time. Bullets sang through the darkness, from a rifle that was already aimed squarely at the...whatever it was...that had just descended from the ceiling in a flurry of claws and teeth. Moroe had no idea what it was, but she knew one thing: It was hungry. That liquid had been drool.

Crocell chuckles at Kin's groan. Maybe he over did it with that one, but it gave her a taste of her own medicine. Though at Krystal's words he thinks for a moment before he speaks. "Well I doubt being on this roof is illegal. But I can't imagine that the people inside want a bunch of kids in thier building. SO yeah, best to have someone carry you down and no offense Kin, but I don't like the idea of you guys scaling down the building. I get the feeling you guys are going to fall just thinking about it. I don't doubt your abilities its just that you carrying Krystal down might overbalance your or put to much weight on you, and before you say it Krystal no I am not calling you fat."

Crocell looks at the setting sun as he says, "Besides going down via Crocell Air will cut our time down. Again not trying to offend you Kin."

"Well, if you're sure..."

There was still a slight edge of doubt in Kin's voice. Nevertheless, she disengaged herself from Crocell, with the same reluctance she usually showed when ending a hug, and waited for him to pick up her friend.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Krystal nods a little and walks to Crocell. She looks to Kin for a moment. If it makes you feel better, you can take me climbing later.

[AnimeKid]

Tobio nodded as he says, "She's right Shougo. After all she is your mother after all. Plus Daisuke-san won't be able to bother you any more. That's something to be happy about. Also it's quite amazing that your progressing so handily. I've been practicing my powers myself." Tobio then continued eating with a blissful look on his face.
__________________________________________________ _________________

Crocell makes sure not to agitate her knees as he picks her up in a bridal carry. "Alrighty then. See you on the ground Kin." With that Crocell runs forward and jumps off of the building. While in the he makes sure to keep his legs straight as flames com out in a continuous stream from his feet. Crocell and Krystal would then proceed to float down to the ground in a reverse rocket fashion.

[Anyr]

Kin ran to the roof's edge and called down worriedly to the descending Crocell.

"Let's not race this time. Go slow and steady!"

With that she clambered down after him. Any inhabitants of this building that glanced out of their windows at the right time would have been greeted by the sight of a girl in a Tokiwadai uniform looking in at them from the other side. Whenever this happened, Kin always paused a moment to wave and give a friendly nod. Politeness cost nothing, after all.

[AnimeKid]

Crocell looked up at Kin as he said, "I know Kin I'm not gonna race when I'm holding a life in my hands. I'm competitive not reckless." True to his word he and Krystal were floating down slowly. Actually they were only a few feet down from Kin though they were slowly starting to separate. Eventually they would reach the ground and Crocell would let her down gently.