Welcome to Death

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Sprinting forwards, Chaol was running out of cover and out of time. If he stopped for too long, Blanche would undoubtedly recover and close the gap between them, but if he didn't stop then he'd be out in the open for a moment and an easy target. He was having to duck down now, the rows of the boxes not stacking high enough to allow him to run at full height without poking his head just the slightest bit above them. Skidding to a stop at the very end of them, he was now crouched about as low as he physically could be, with Hannah on the ground just beside him. What to do?

"Got any ideas Hannah? Somewhere there's a pissed off sniper, not sure where but he's probably at least close to where he was before. Behind us there's a pissed off woman with a knife, somehow we have to take out both of them. If we keep moving, we'll probably be shot unless we can surprise him somehow, and though I have pretty good reactions I don't think I can dodge a bullet" Chaol said, very much certain that he did not want to move forward any more than he already had. Given time he'd be able to figure something out, he was sure of it, but he wasn't quite sure that he had enough of it to rely on.
@Midnight Star
11/20

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The zombie had cheated. That was Dana's first thought when she came to after hearing Zoey's prompt. "I'm still in one piece" she said groggily. That damn zombie, she was going to make him wish that he'd never come back...somehow. As Roderick untied Dana and her partner, the weapon stood up and after staggering for a couple of steps, sauntered over to the door and examined it closely. It looked a little odd, not having a keyhole, but hey maybe their captor was braindead. Heh, zombie jokes. Gripping the doorknob, she turned it to (what I can only assume) no avail. Turning it a little harder and getting no results, she breathed a huge sigh of disappointment. "Well guys, it looks like we're going to have to break down a door. Or maybe..." she said, hastily moving to the wardrobe as a truly ingenious idea popped into her head.

"Maybe there's a secret door behind the wardrobe! Or or there could be a trapdoor under the bed! Get searching people, i've seen enough movies to believe that this will work!" she exclaimed. Moments earlier, she'd been extremely groggy and quiet. Now she was Dana Knightfall, escape artist and well and truly back in full throttle.

@Maka Albarn
@VermillionMok
@Marushi

 

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With the bindings now removed Zephyr was free to stand on his own two feet...and soon staggered due to the pain in one of his legs. The moment he'd put pressure down on that legs, a sharp pain surge through it. That was going to be a problem, but for now he both ignored it and hid it as best as he could. Finding a way out was more important. Zephyr honestly had his doubts on there being some sort of secret passage, but it was their best option beyond breaking the door down.

Carefully he made his way over to the wardrobe and pushed it with all the strength that he could muster with the hopes of revealing something.

First New York and now Vancouver Canada, these missions certainly were giving them plenty of free trips. It would be perfectly fine by him if this trend continued happening with later missions. "The investigator's office or the docks." Kuro started, turning attention towards Blake. "Which do we head to first?"

 

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...A trap door? Well, maybe... I mean, it was possible, but Roderick wasn't sure that seemed plausible. Then again, he was physically capable of turning into a katana, in a world where he went to a school headed by Death himself and his teacher had a screw in his head, while the sun and moon had faces and zombies roamed the earth, so... Anything was possible.

"I'll check under the bed," he said, getting down on all fours and examining the space under the bed. "Someone look in the closet," he called out over his shoulder. Why was there a closet and a wardrobe? That was strange...

 

At first it was small, an unnoticed change in the large warehouse filled with combat. A small page floated through the air and levitated around the center of the room. Then another followed, and another. Soon, there was a whirlwind of paper that joined together, bound by a black leather spine which fabricated itself from nothing when all the pages were assembled.

"̟͚̗͚͚͈̦̝́̌ͨ̿͒͂̂ͤ̚̕A͆ͬ͐͡͏̸͎͉̲̱ş̺̊̿͊͜͠s̷̨͕͎͇͖͙̪̤̍̅e̷͇̩͚̝̝ͦ̅̿͑ͨͮ͠͝m̶̙͓͕̼ͤ͌ͧͯ̑b̻̫̈́̎̀͢l̠̭͌ͨ̔̓͢͟͞e̷͊̋̈̅͜͏̝͎̩,̣̬̳̠̫̰̹̌͆̍̐̽͋ͬ͘͟ ̡̟̳̟̰̰̱͍̝͚͛̃͑̔̓ͮ͜p̶ͬ̀͐͌̍ͧ̐̚͏͚͔͉͈̞͕ͅẫͯͯ̈͏̨͖̗ǧͮ͊̇̆̾҉̶̡͙͍̙̘̙e̜ͧͬ̊͡s̢̥͎̱̒͌͋̆̄̑͑̑͠ ̹̔͋̚w̞͊̾̓̾͂͠h̭̯͕͑͗͆ͪͣͩ̈̕̕ï̴͎̱͓̭͚̯̮̰̼̽́̌̑̆̂͟͞c̴̗͍̐̆̈́̓ͭ̿̿͝ḧ̷̯̞̘̯̻̗͕̜́͜͡ͅ ͕͛̆ͯ̊́w̨̟̼̍̃ͧ̈̾̚r̢̩̻͕̲͎̹ͨ̈͌ͪ͐́͂ì̵̖̖͓͙͍̫͈ͯ̿ͬ͋̔́t͓̭̭̙ͭ͂̂͝ẹ̪̜͈ͫ͋̓́̔ͭ̆̓ ̙̞̼͔̘̭̪ͤͤc̶͔̙̬̝̦̞̩͒̈ͣ̀͘r̂̓̊̄̎͏͓̤̼̞̘̝̠̕e̵̟͙̒̋͗̽̄͢ą̵̠͇͙̲̣̤͔̰͐̒̊̓ͧ̅̎̈́̚͠ṯ̫̣̞̻̑ͯ̐ͣ͝i̷̝͙͔̣͉̥̗̍̑ͩ͡o̴̵̝̠̬͖̻̱̓̉ͭ́n̷̯͙̪͍̥͖̬͕͒̀̉̈̋̆́͘"̸̙̰̪̲̫̈͋

A voice distorted almost beyond recognition echoed out from the book. It was an unpleasant sound to say the least, and grated on the ears of those who heard it. It wasn't long before it was revealed what this book was. When it took it's human form, it was reveal that it was a weapon. A woman dressed entirely in black, a blindfold tied tight around her eyes. She turned her head toward the people with knives, and touched her hand to her arm. Where she touched, skin turned to paper and lifted up, though leaving no less of the woman behind than had been there before.

"ͪ҉͎̲̝̦̱̘͙ͅF̖̮̍̓ͬ̈͒͋͐ͪ̕ĩ̷̵̻̃ͮ͋ͣ̇́r̙̙̝̽̑̽͜͠e̸̞̦̻ͣ̉͜s͎͉̝͔̫̗͊̓̑ ̤̘̮̟̯̲̓̉̋͑͒͒̍t̴̽ͬ̆̾͏͚͉̖͉̬̖͖h̘͙̣̥͈̜͐ͯ̆͟͞a̩̗̙͎̺͗͌̃̂̈͋̚t͛͐̋̅ͣ̈͗̾̏͏͉̙͇̮̫ ̸̄̐ͤ̾ͮͯͧ҉̺͚͚͈̮̲̭̭b̲̤̥ͥͪ̄͆ͨ͑̒͟ͅu̲͚̞͙ͣ̍͆͊̀͢r̴ͫ̽̄̕҉̲n͍̩̤̝͉̒ͪ̽͑̔ ͑̒ͥ͏̬̳̙̪̀a̮͚͚̱̫̭̝͆͑̌̇̀ͥ͒ͪ̕ẇ̶̫̳͘a̲̮̳̰̣̝̦̬ͫ͛͐̿̓́͞y̳͔̬̥͓͔̱͔͂̃̀͟ ̴̰̦̰̗̗̿͂̀̑̀w̔͛ͩ̿̚͏͏̲̠̤̪͚̝h̴̖̘̲̟̯ͣ̎͌ͯ͗͗̌͆a̼̪̳͎̝̘̲͊ͪ̎ͬ͟ͅt̼̝̪͕̭̎ ̡ͫͧ̔̍͏͉̮͙̯̙ͅͅl̴̨̧̗͇̑̾̾ͨͧͩĩ͕͇̲̹͇ͨv̵͎̗̲̭͎̻̳͋ͤͫ̂͒e͉̘̍͑̉̐ͤ̒͋͂̚͟͝s̷̶̫͇̣̤̠̗̄͛́ͨ ̛̹̩ͨͣ̾̋́͗"͓̙̰͈̈ͮͯ̀͢ ̸̨̺̮̰͉̲͑͛ͥ̈̄ͦͨ̓̕ͅͅ


The page combusted into a flame that burned a myriad of colors. With a flick of her wrist, the woman commanded it to seek after the criminals on the ground. The paper was no more, but the flames darted out at blinding speeds, chasing after its target. When it inevitably reached her, It pierced her heart, and the woman's entire body erupted into fire as she burned away to nothing. A gunshot was fired, and a bullet lay harmless on the ground beneath the woman, having been deflected by another sheet of paper. She turned in the direction of the sniper, and space began to contort itself between the two, while expanding behind him. With neither of them moving, he stood in front of her, a helpless expression on his face. She pulled out several other pages, but they did not go toward the man. Instead, they went toward the students.

"̷̡̼̠̥͒͂̈̓ͪ͂͆̈́͡S̙̦͎͙͋ͣ͝h̷͔̦̤͍̩̔ͭ̇̅̿ͫ͑͝iͬ͋͟҉̻̖ͅe̞̾̂ͥ̌̚͘l̺̞͇̰͇̠͚ͥ͌̈́̿̆ͩͬ͡d͕̜̞̝͙̮̝̮̆̄͑͋̊͂ͅ ̶̳̩̖͓̮̖̅͂́͂̔t̯̤̬̟̯̜ͮhͦ͐̿ͥ̌͋̂͝҉̹̣͡a̸̢̤̓̔̈́̇̋͗̐ͯ͟t̐͏̱̣̥͙̰ ̤͇͌̓ͩ̀̂̓͌ͤğ͓͇̳̖͂̇ͭ̈́̍ͯu̩̰̙̪̎ͫ͘͘ȁ͔̭͔̱̩͈ͤ̎̃̿̏̅ͧr̢̮̩̹̝̝̓͋́͞d̊ͬ͊ͯ̓̋̕҉̫̫͔̹̥̤̤͙s̻̖̾ͯ̓̐̅ ̓͑͂͝҉̶̰͖͚͈̠̗͓͈w̨̮̙̙̙̼̟̃̓̐̀ͦ͂́͟h̨͇̙͖̾ͪ͊̔ͧạ͎͚̺̦̙̠̺̻̓ͩͨ̀̕͜t̛̖̦̽͆͆̉̅̊ͯ͊͗͠ ̧̮̥̞̻̲̻̞͆̌ͧ̓̀m̡̥̳̗͑̐̾͑ͩ͢ŭ̪͖͜͜s̴̛̰͖̩̼͂̌̄͊͡ẗ̖̞́ͧ̒̚̕ ̡͔̩̟͐͒̓ͤ̃͊ͅb̷̡͔̬̰̮̞͖̰̟̻ͥ̑̐̀́̄̎ͦe̝̝̱̫̯̫̓̓̾͛̍̐͒̄ͮ̕͝ ̢͚̭̭̺̼̖̬͖̉͊̅́̋́͐̚p̖͚̱̎̌͜͜ͅr͎͓͛̒ͮͥ̈́̐̚ȩ̲̦̗̠̝͇̯̼̎̅̊̑͐̓̇̏̀̚͡s̶̡̻̞̰̺̼̱̔͑̉̊̂̊͗̌ḛ̦͈͚͈͎͆̀͞ṟ̸̢̥̝̫̣̈́ͦͨ̅͊ͤ̀̿͠v̗̥̜̱̣̑́̍ͩͩ̕ė͎͉̘̑ͭ͐̑ͥ̒̕d̨ͣ҉̦͎͎.̧̜ͩ̉̒̒ͣ̿̌ͯ́"̺̠͚̘̩͍̤̯̱ͭ͊ͧ ̝̝͚̝̩͐͆̐ͩ͌

As the paper touched each student, it dissolved into them, and whether the earth crumbled beneath them, the seas came boiling up, or the sky were to crash down upon them, no harm would befall them so long as they were under its effects. With them protected, there was no more reason to hold back. A storm of pages lifted from her skin, flowing through the air as though there were a hurricane pushing them in every direction. She raised a hand, and uttered yet another distorted command to the pages, telling them to unleash their power.

"̠̬͎͚͉̙̈́̄̇̌͌ͥ́R͂ͤ͆ͦ͊̓̆ͪ̀͝͏̲̤͖̖͕͔͓̳á̡̲̯̜̃ͦ͋i̢̛̱̣̗͓͍͕̗̹ͭ̿̈́͆͞n̩͇̝͙̬̥̯͍̒̽̔̓̒̓ ̻̺̞̈͘͟t̵͖̲̩̘̲̙̙͙̏ͣ̓ͨ̐̾͟ͅh̢͚̮̄̑͜aͭ̐̌̔̂̓ͥ͏̺̝́t̞̝̼͙̥ͬ̓̓͘ ͖̦̞̰̮̊͑̏͌ͨ͟͢ͅw̵̛̺̜̖̜̲̝̙͐̀ͨä̤̹̥̝̍͆̔̅͠͝s̹̹͎͍͊ͣ͑͗ͬ͟h̓̄ͦͥ̌̒̈́ͨ͂҉̲̰eͯͯ̈ͤ̉͘͠͏̫̳͔̼̜ͅș̸̛̼͚͕ͥ͗ͥ͂ ̢̦͎̟͇̩̱̜͚͂͋̌ͯ̽̇̄à͈̺͕̘̞͔ͣ̊ͅw̨̺̬̭͔͚̽ͤ͗̔̀͟ả̊͗ͭ̾͌̚͘͏͉͖̱̞̻͓ŷ̨̙̯̦͔̆̐͑ͣͯ̋̀̚͜ ̶̴̛̠͇͉͙͖͖͔̾͒̈́a̧̗̱̱͇̳͖̹̹̎̏̍ͣ̀l̡̞̬̤̠͂̎͗ͬ͑̚͜l͙͇͔͗ͩͤ̆̊́̚͜ ̻̇ͮ̋̏̉̕t̬̩̭̐͊͛ͨͮ̇̂̀͢͞h̴͉̪͉͓̫͓̳̝͇ͫͥ͑ͬ͋͗ͩ̓͢a̺̻ͫͣ́ͣ̈t̷̪͓̄ͮ̃ͥͤ̀͊ͪ̚ ̟̟̝͕̱ͪ͐͑̆̽̓͊͟c̸ͦ҉̴͕͔̞̖̝ọ̳̤̤ͮͤ͌ͥ̎u̟͚̔̀̆͜l̜̦͔͔̪͓̳̞̩͋͆̿d̨̜͔̞̫̈́ͅ ̸̵͓͈̫ͥ̿̂̓ͤ̈̅͜ę̵̥͕̪̰̜̱̯̅̔̂̚͠v̭̩͇̙͖̗͎ͪe̠̖̲̝ͦ̾ͭͨ̑̌̀͘͝r̛̫̗̟̜̞̯͓ͯ͋̋͌ͦ̓ͬͤ̉͢͜ͅ ̏̆̇̊ͤ͏҉̶̝͚̻͙̙̪ͅb̪̤̬̺̲̗̖ͤͦ̃͋͠ͅė̡̈́ͬ͘҉̘̥͇̻̠͕̪͔.̡̗̖͎̈́̓ͣ̍ͥ̈́͆͘"̴̊̿̃͏̮

Each page glowed a bright white, dyed in a different color, and hell rained downward. Beams of energy erupted from every page downward onto the floor below. Outside of the students protect by the pages, nothing would survive the onslaught. It continued for nearly thirty seconds, until the dust finally cleared. Nothing remained in the warehouse aside from the woman and the students. She turned her head to them, and spoke one last time.

"͈̠ͬ̔͗ͬ͐̏̉ͫ̏E̢̤̜̱͔̳̖̝ͧ͐͗͐̈͗ͯ̍͡m̪̯͖̈̿̓̾͊̔̆͜e̥̯̱͚͉͇͍̰͐ͯͨ̾͠r͖̝ͣ̇͠g̯̜̮̓̒ͣͩ͋̆ͪe̛͖̣̗̼̦̾ͅṋ̸͗͛̍͑͘ç̻̠̝̳̭̇͛͊ͨy̷̻͍̐ͦͮ̓͌͐̕͜.͔̘̗̿̆͆ͪ͜͟ ̷̡̠͙̲̙ͭ͗̎̋ͦ̌̒́R̹̤͌̈̊̿́e̢̲̤͍̊ͯt̶͕̳̭̫̫͈̓̿̍ͦ̊̐̇ͭ͝ų͇͈͔̮̘͚͙͆ͭṟ̡͉͚͎͉̭̞̆̃́͜n̨̜͍̺̝̹̿͒͂͟ͅ ̰̘́̂͊̑̅̆̔͐́͢ṯ̨̬̯̻͍̾ͬ̎ͤͦ̚͟͞ö͎̟͝ ̛̣̫̼̑ͣͩͦ͠t̞̩̞͙̲͙̂̊̀ḣ̟ͧͣ̎͛ẹ̷͇̗̫̯͕̓̀̚ ̶͔͇͇͚͔͍͔͐̿̆ͥ̊D̍͐ͮ͋ͦ͏͏̹̖͇̬͙̪̳̮W͙̪̯̏̓̉̾͝M͈̯̹̥̤̟ͩͭ̽ͪ̑A̸̞͉̟̅ͫ̇̈́̌̄̂͗͂͡.̷̨̺̖͙̭͈̦ͫ̋ͤ͑̊ͧ"̴͓̥͖̥̪͚ͩ̐͘͡

And in the same flurry of pages she had come in, she was gone.

20/20​

 

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The next sequence of events had left Zephyr pretty damn confused. Everything from the zombie actually being a former teacher of the DWMA to them have to abruptly return, which he wouldn't be able to do at the quickest of speeds due to the injury in his leg. "I guess we don't have much of a choice." Hopefully they would get some answers from Stein once they were back at the school.

"And Malik is?" That was the first thing that Kuro asked upon hearing what Stein had told them. The tone of worry was surprising to hear form him so whoever this Malik person was, they couldn't have just been some random student or student that had gone missing.

 

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"...What the-!?" Matthew gaped around the now-empty room, his heart pounding. All the villains were dead now... And they were all still alive. But heavens... "She just- she just showed up! And then she was on fire, and there were papers flying everywhere! And she totally killed them all and now she's gone! What just happened!? Is everyone okay? Mikio? You- you okay?"

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"Something big must have happened," Roderick noted, looking around in surprise after the Zombie disappeared. "We'd better get back fast. You okay to walk, Zephyr?" He asked, glancing down at Zephyr's leg in concern.

 

"Blake, Kuro, there is a change of plans. It seems that two of our teachers have gone missing and now there is some sort of force locking us and anyone else who is on a mission out of the school. If I had to guess though, it is likely being used to lock everyone inside. We have to find the others and discover who is behind this quick. They have Malik." Silence passed through for a mere moment before Kuro spoke up. "And Malik is?" Silence still lingered around Blake as she was still processing the information. Blake couldn't believe it. Questions kept piling up one by one. She looked at Stein before speaking up. "How?!?!?! How did this even happen???" Blake lowered her head once more before opening her mouth once more. "What do we do???" Blake hands had slowly formed into fists as she went silent once more.

 

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"Yeah, I can at least still walk." Zephyr said. Running on the other hand might be a bit difficult for him to do as well as dodging. It wouldn't stop him from attempting to do so should the situation call for, which was why that he would need to find some way of bandaging it up. If only he was wearing sleeves, then he could just us one of them.

Not being given an answer didn't help him fully understand the severity of what was going on, however Blake's reaction was more than enough to give off that it was pretty serious. "What else, we go find him and bring him back." Kuro said nonchalantly, stretching a bit.

 

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Just as they were about to make progress and uncover the hidden truth via their super secret awesome escape tunnel that she was this close to finding, the main door had flown open. However, it wasn't because a hidden lever had been pulled, but rather the zombie guy that had kicked their asses was the one who had opened it and told them that they had to get back due to an emergency, and the reason he'd tried to kill them had been to teach them a lesson. "Couldn't you have just got us to read a book or something?" she complained, knowing full well she probably would've started tearing out the pages and folding them into elegant paper planes out of sheer boredom.

When she got no response, Dana turned to look at Zoey, who had gone quiet. The weapon felt for her meister; Zoey had taken a pretty bad beating in the fight, and Dana felt somewhat responsible. She'd make it up to her some day, for sure. For now, she had to do what she could to keep her friend looking forward and not focusing so much on what had just transpired. Grabbing her by the hand, Dana began leading her out. "Come on Zoey, stuff is going down at the academy and I know just the awesome weapon and meister combo to solve all of it" she said, before stopping momentarily and whispering, "psst, it's us. I was talking about us, lets go" she said before continuing.

​

"Hooooly sh*t" Chaol said, barely able to take in at what had just transpired. One moment they were fighting for their life, combatting criminals and attempting to get past the sniper so they'd have an advantage, and the next moment the criminals had...well, they certainly weren't a problem anymore. Seeing that made it obvious how outmatched they all were and how much they really had to learn. Maybe he'd have to start taking extra classes; if he could hit that kind of power then who knows what kind of things he could do? The Dancing Blades wouldn't believe what he'd just seen if he told them, he knew that much.

"Okay, everyone, lets get back to the DWMA. I can't remember people being so suddenly called in from missions before, so something big has to be going on. We should see what it is. Also, I know that we just saw....that...but we should still be a little cautious as we're leaving; we don't know for sure there weren't more people involved in this operation" Chaol Arroway said, making a move to leave.

 

Listening closely to Stein's instructions, Blake stood there motionless. After a few moments, Blake shook her head before turning to Kuro. She looked down before raising her head once more. "Let's head out into town Kuro! I want to make sure no innocent people get hurt if something does happen." Blake started running down the stairs, making her way into town. She slowed down as soon as reached the town. Blake had started to look around to see if anything was out of the ordinary. She turned her head left and right before continuing to run around town. She stopped in her tracks and turned to Kuro once more. "Anything out of the ordinary you've seen Kuro?" She spoke to her partner once more as she continued to looked around the area for anything strange and/or unusual. Blake awaited her partner's reply as she glanced around the area they were in.

 

"Not that I can see." Kuro said.The explanation that he had gotten from Stein about who Malik was gave him some insight on who Malik was and being that he wasn't looking for any specific information on him, what he got was good enough for him. From what he could tell from his looking around, there wasn't anything that Kuro could see that would count as 'out of the ordinary'. "We probably won't find anything if we just stand here looking around, we might need to start walking around some more."

 

​

When Dana and Zoey eventually made it back to the DWMA, the first thing she noticed was the giant barrier. Now, perhaps other people may have begun fretting due to not being able to pass through (as she found out when she attempted to just brute force her way through it a moment earlier), but Dana wasn't like other people. She did, after all, pride herself on being both a beauty and a genius, and she could understand the situation or at least she believed she did. "Well, this makes sense. We were called back because of an emergency, so they're making sure the people inside are nice and safe. I guess we'll just have to wait out here until whatever it is is fixed. Lord Death probably wants us to keep watch out here, making us all important and stuff" Dana stated, hands on her hips as she stood just surveying the scene.

After a minute, boredom kicked in. The girl found herself reaching into the one pocket her clothing had and pulling out a deck of playing cards. "Okay, let's play a game" she suggested, shortly before her eyes fell onto Stein in the main entrance. Ah, so they'd even left an instructor for them to help them keep watch! What a great idea, not that she needed it though. Walking over to Stein, she gave a brief wave. "Hey professor, do you have any idea how long it's going to take them to fix things in there?" she questioned.

 

​

The large barrier that surrounded had caught Zephyr by surprised when they had arrived back at the academy. The entire school was encased in what appeared to be an impassable wall, which was proven when Dana tried to go through it and was shocked. Things were starting to make sense as a result of seeing this however. If no one could get in or out then only the ones out beforehand could really do anything. It also meant that he couldn't get his leg treated unless he found someplace in town to do so.

"Doctor Stein, just what is all this?" Zephyr asked as he approached him, being careful not to put on muhc pressure on his injured leg.

 

Blake listened as Kuro gave her his response. She nodded before speaking . "You're right. Let's keep looking!" Blake started running once more on her search for Malik. She couldn't help but continue to ponder just how on earth did this all happen? She knew Malik was proficient in most, if not, all weapons. It just did not make any sense to Blake. There were so many questions but how would they get answered? She shook her head as if she was shaking away her thoughts. Blake stopped in her tracks. Doubt had begun to fill her mind but she wouldn't allow it to be seen on her face. What if we can't find him? What if we're too late and something happened? Her thoughts had whirled around her head as if a hurricane had entered her very own thoughts. "We have no clue where he could be. It's as if we're chasing for a needle in a haystack." Blake lowered her head as she spoke, wondering just how were they going to find Malik.

 

Kuro followed behind his partner and her boundless energy while keeping an eye out for anything that stuck out or looked suspicious to him. Like a strange looking girl heading down an alley. That fit the bill 100%. "Hold on Blake, I saw someone head down that alley." Said person could easily be further down the alley now so they didn't have a lot of time to waste. Kuro was quick to start heading off in the direction that he saw the girl who headed into the alley enter .

 

​

"Yeah, yeah, let's be careful," Matthew nodded in agreement, still feeling a little dazed over everything that had happened, glancing down at the claw gauntlet in concern as he made his way over to Chaol. "Maybe - maybe you guys should stay in your weapon forms," he said to Mikio and to Hannah in Chaol's hands. "Just in case. While we head back to the Academy... Gosh, that paper woman thing was weird. Um... Let's go."

The group hurried back to the Academy as quickly as they could, which wasn't really all the quickly, having to get to the place from Texas. By the time they got to the city, Matthew was feeling a bit better about everything that had happened, but was resolved to train much harder before their next mission. If that paper woman hadn't shown up when she did... He shuddered.

The trip home had been very quiet, apparently the others had been feeling about the same way he did, so they hadn't felt much up for talking on the way home.

It was weird. Silence was weird, Matthew didn't like silence. When people were all quiet like this, it meant something was wrong, and he couldn't fix it...

He blinked, his thoughts interrupted, when they approached the school and there was some sort of barrier there. A very small crowd of students seemed to have gathered by the entrance, where Professor Stein was standing.

"What happened!?" Matthew called, running forward to join them.

​

Roderick, who had been with Zephyr, turned to see a blonde kid in glasses and a red suit jacket run up, asking what happened.

"I don't know," he said. "We just got here ourselves. Got called back in the middle of a mission... or, lesson, I guess."