Criminal Activity: Discord Magic Side Mission I/Main Mission II

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[ATTN: Open]

The sprite buzzes down in front of Olivi's face, and she giggles as it tickles her before it opened a message from Lieutenant Gail.

MISSION: DISPERSE AND SCATTER

Thank you, operatives! This is Lieutenant Gail of Senya. Major Acron would like to personally thank Rina Fhang for her intelligence that the scientists would be performing a raid there on that day. He would like to award her with a Spirit of Valor for the information that would lead to many magicians and citizens being saved. In addition, he has received word of Olivi's summoning. He would like to discuss this new ability with her at her earliest convenience.

Returning to base camp will not be an option, unfortunately, not now. Even after the dispatching of the science raid party (with minimal casualties, the message might add), there are more things to do. This sprite contains information about a short mission intended to improve relations with the citizens of Miquelon. Think of it as a bonding experience, except with real people. Recent intelligence shows that Magicians unhappy with the state of the country being "culturally oriented" are rallying now at Caspian Square. The intent of this rally is still being developed, but this uprising has to be quashed at the root. Your mission is simple. Either get the citizens to disperse or apprehend the ringleader. If the citizens retaliate with magic, DO NOT FIRE BACK. REPEAT. DO NOT. FIRE. BACK. Get Olivi to set up a barrier with her potions.

USE OF FORCE IS UNAUTHORIZED ON CITIZENS. USE OF FORCE THAT IS ABLE TO INJURE IS NOT AUTHORIZED ON LEADERS. USE OF FORCE IS AUTHORIZED ON SURPRISE GUESTS WITH INTENT TO INJURE.

Sly smiled, "Ah ah ah. I wouldn't make the stupid assumption that my time away has made me soft," whipping her hand away and jumping up onto the dumpster behind them. So far she wasn't impressed, they knew her better then that, or at least they should. One didn't become a great thief by being that easily ensnared. She then got an angry look in her eyes, "You make it sound like it's all my fault, but let's examine that claim, shall we? I left because I was compromised, and it's all your fault. You were the only people who knew my identity, who knew where to find me. I never shared that information with anyone else, but somehow the military discovered it. It means there was a spy in your ranks. I can prove it too, I know for a fact that one of the other members left at the same time I did. I was offered a choice, and I choose to live." She stood looking down at all of them as they now stood in a semi-circle around the dumpster. "And for the record I didn't want to leave, but I did what I needed to to survive." She said all this with an icy poison to her voice, displaying her obvious hate for their assumptions.

[ATTN: Sinclair]

Duo's mind was a tricky place to live in. Two consciousnesses swam in his head, sometimes drawing apart, sometimes melding together until their thoughts and intentions became one.

But now was not one of those times. Matthew seemed to nudge at Anderson's thoughts, trying to find a way in, but Anderson kept him firmly out.

He turned his infrared vision down another road, finding the faint heat trail she left behind and following it to a bar. He could see several forms inside, melding together, but through the walls their shapes were uncertain.

One, however, was moving quickly, headed towards the back of the bar, and Duo turned to race around to the back.

It's really not that big of a deal if we lose her, right?

Oh, shut up. Duo's face twisted as Anderson saw some of the fantasies running through Matthew's mind. You're disgusting.

He strengthened his hold over their body as he saw the shape darting towards the back, and he pressed up against the wall by the door, drawing his knife.

Anderson? You won't hurt her, right?

The door opened out towards Duo, and he waited until she stepped outside before shoving the door shut behind her and sending a low kick at her legs, intending to sweep her legs out from under her.

[ATTN: Sly]

"Oh, relax, girls, I know she's good..." A very familiar voice appeared from the fog, quickly dissipating at the right time. All the girls, save one who lunged at her, stood down at the voice of a very commanding woman. The only one who attacked tried to poison her with one of her natural poisons, missing completely before jumping behind her and attempting to slip a sleeping dart into her arm. It slipped into her skin, injecting a sleeping serum into her system. Quickly, the woman drew it out, and sighed. "Remember me? The girl you BETRAYED? The one who was your BEST FRIEND since birth?!?" She slashed out with her blade in anger.



[ATTN: Christabelle, Draoi]

The Masks saw this coming, and most of them were deft enough to jump over the roots, with only one of them actually being tripped up. They came at him with orbs, mostly water and wind based orbs. "Sorry, you think we're that easy?"

[ATTN: Duo]

Sinclair's added strength from her... endeavours allowed her to stay standing, though the kick stung greatly. "You think that your hand-to-hand combat skills match mine? HAH!" Sinclair began to fire a list of kicks and feints, all aimed more for power than for touch. Her magic was not focused on enchanting, so the good Doctor was not entranced... yet. Bradford snarkily sneered at her follower, capturing one of his blows.

Sly lept back, then using that momentum, launched her self into the air, snapping out a pair of wings to catch herself, staying just above their heads. The wings would only cause about ten minutes of sleep, so they were definately worth the trouble. "Since my birth as a human maybe," she spat. Sly had never really considered herself human. She had been abandoned in the forest at birth, and raised by a vixen. She didn't leave the forest until she was six, so in short, for the first six years of her life, she had truly believed she was a fox. "And I didn't betray you. I would have never betrayed you!" She stayed above their heads, but she could feel the beginning of the serum taking effect, all she had to do was fight it off until she could leave. She got a sad look on her face, "I never wanted to leave, it was the hardest decision I ever made. But I guess I was a fool for thinking you would still care. I bet you don't even know how many nights I walked the streets, debating on whether I should come find you. The only reason I didn't is because I was afraid. Afraid for your safety, afraid that I was being watched by others who would harm you."

[ATTN: Sly]

"Fifty two." The woman said coldly. "Fifty. F***ing. Two. Of course, I had to give up at some point, but did you really think that I wouldn't be at least LOOKING OUT for you?" She choked out, sniffling. This was hard for her. Not new, but hard. Friends were hard to come by, especially ones like Rina, but she wasn't giving her an inch. It was partly her fault, but the unmasked Mask sheathed her sword. "LOOK. The Masks have changed." With all the fog melting away, now the masks were clearly seen. It was true, their uniforms had changed. Instead of the hoodies they donned before, now they wore tattered t-shirts, representative of their roots: they were city, through and through, though the masks were the same.

"Remember the three of us? We were inseparable... and NOW where are we? The Masks aren't just thieves and scoundrels anymore... we're liberators, and we have YOU to thank for that... We need you more than ever." Deftly, she threw her hat at Sly, injecting the antidote into her. "Please. For me."

[ATTN: Sinclair]

Duo impassively dodged around her, slamming a kick between her legs and wrenching free of her grip. "This is ridiculous," he said, rolling his eyes and reaching inside his jacket to pull out his pistol, stepping back out of her reach and aiming it at her. Anderson!

"On your knees, hands behind your head," he said coldly.

Christabelle kept running...she didn't have any weapons or anything to fight, nor did she really know how to fight. She had her power, but...it was kind of useless as far as combat was concerned. The boy told her to keep running, so she did...but part of her willed her to stop. She couldn't just leave him. She ran a short distance more, and stopped, leaping behind a tree. She peeked around and watched the boy facing their attackers...the "Black Masks" were they called? She saw vine roots shoot out from his staff...she wanted to be useful, but what could she do?

Rina landed on the ground, folding the wings slightly, and looking at her old companion. After a minute, she gave the smallest smile, and pulled a tiny square of fabric out of her pocket. She unfolded it completely, forming it into a completely unharmed, unwrinkled mask, made to look like the top half of a foxes head. She held it out to her old friend, "Perhaps it's time I donned this old thing once again?" Of course, this would probably be considered deserting, but Rina wasn't a frightened 13 year old anymore. And she wasn't going to look back. It was time she moved back to where she belonged. Rina waited for her old friend to make a move, but she did want to hurry. That man had been dressed like a druid, and she had smelled smoke on him. She feared the worst.

[ATTN: Sly]

"WHOA WHOA WHOA, let's not get hasty. Personally, I don't want you anywhere NEAR us. Acron doesn't want ANYONE to know that riff-raff like the Masks are working with the Army. It would undermine the entire idea of Magic superiority..." Odd, How does her friend know Acron? Anyways, she smiles and helps her up, taking the mask and weighing it in her hand. "You'll still need this, but I'm gonna tell you something now: Acron and I, we're cut from the same cloth when push comes to shove... he just doesn't know about our little side operation." A fist clenches, and immediately, the Masks vanish from the area along with her. She smiles as she throws one of the black bandanas onto the floor. "You'll see me sooner than you expect."

[ATTN: Duo]

Sinclair gulped. Fuck, a pistol? she didn't want to have to do this, but she rolled her eyes, and put her hands behind her head, facing up... and her eyes turned an ominous shade of Pink. "I don't think you REALLY want to do this, shooting me. After all, I'm more than a one-trick pony..." And with that, a pink beam of light emitted from her eyes. "I'd move a little bit to the left if I were you, lest you get hit by this."

[ATTN: Christabelle]

The masks turned their attention to her. Easy pickings, after all, right? They quickly surrounded her instead of the Druid, who would be more difficult to fight, and one of the male Masks fired first, throwing his glove at her and gripping it from further away. The glove clenched Christabelle's slender wrist, and pulled as if he were actually there... That is powerful magic...

Sly smiled and picked up the bandanna, folding it up along with her mask. Now, back to business. She took off, scanning the city for the man and girl. It didn't take her long to find them and their pursuers, and it looked like it was starting to get out of control. She landed suddenly in the middle of the action, causing everyone to lose focus and turn their attention to her. She stood up and spoke with an authority she didn't often show. "Stop. All of you, lest you want to attract attention to yourselves." She turned to the ring of creatures surrounding the tree, they weren't very impressive since they were in the middle of a city. Just a bunch of rodents, and a few stray dogs and cats. She turned to the man claiming to be a druid and stared at him, "You and I have things to discuss." Then she jumped up and landed near the tree, pushing the roots and branches aside, offering a hand to the girl. "I'll take you somewhere safe, ok?"

Everything happened so fast. Christabelle felt the glove clench her wrist, pulling her towards the bad people as they surrounded her. She screamed, and was just about to put up her barriers when the man with the staff did it for her. The branches of the tree she stood behind curled and wrapped around her protectively. There was a lot of noise, but it was hard to make out what was going on through the branches...then, the branches were opened and the girl from earlier was there, offering a hand to Christabelle.

Christabelle took it hesitantly, and climbed out of the barrier, "Th-thank you..." She said.

[ATTN: Open]

Duo’s eyes widened as her eyes began to glow, and he darted to the side as she shot off a beam of light at him. The laser just barely grazed his arm, and he stumbled at even that small impact. Still, he kept his gun trained on her.

“That’s your trick?” he said flatly. “Impressive. Really. Anything else?”

"Oh, you'll see how this works." She smirks as the pink laser flashes into the sky and begins to turn on lights inside surrounding buildings. Oh, crap, a crowd was beginning to form and she knew it. The girl showed a scared look and tried to shrink away. "HELP ME! HEEEELP!" Playing the poor little victim was her role in making men look bad as she feels drained...

Anderson, come on… Duo’s face darkened. Just let her go?

What did she do to you? It wasn’t natural, couldn’t be, and frankly, it p*ssed him off.

He looked around as lights started to go on, lunging forward to grab her quickly and training his gun on the back of her head. “We’re leaving,” he growled, his gun hand shaking as Anderson struggled to maintain control of their body as Matthew protested.

Sinclair gulped. She was screwed now, and really, she didn't have any sort of leeway now. All her bag of tricks were exhausted, and she could only hope that the crowd would come early enough... fortunately, it did. "HOLY LORD, WHAT IS THAT MAN DOING?!?" A very shrill female voice pierced the night air and suddenly, people were looking at the spectacle, some getting out.

Anderson, just let her go!

Shut up! Duo looked around, dragging Sinclair back with a few steps with him as the crowd started to form around them. “Ladies and gentlemen!” he yelled. “This woman is a magical fugitive! Stand down!” He tried to draw her back another step, but found himself frozen. ENOUGH, MATTHEW!

Sinclair could only smile as the crowd began to loom around... now was a risky play, if he had a badge, she was screwed. If he didn't, she could be the luckiest girl in the world right now. "HELP ME! HE'S TRYING SOMETHING WEIRD!" Some looks of disapproval started to appear on the faces of the mass group and murmurs of disapproval began to rumble. Sinclair felt the gun against her head and began to fake sob a little bit. The waterworks always helped.

Duo scowled, feeling the crowd start to press in. He pressed the gun harder into the back of her head as his other hand released her, patting around inside his coat in search of their badge. Anderson wasn’t as used to using their body as Matthew was, he usually let him be in charge seeing as he had the better training, but now…

Where did you put it? Matthew instantly drew back on his attack, his consciousness drawing back like the tide away from Anderson. Matthew! Answer me! Not a word from him as Duo started to search his coat more and more desperately…

There! He felt the billfold in his inside pocket and whipped it out, flipping it open and flashing his badge. “There!” he said, almost triumphant. “This is official state business, return to your homes!”

Sinclair feels a pit in her stomach and feels horribly bad. "Stupid scientists..."

As a sign of insolence, she quickly turns and slaps him in the face. "You should NEVER treat a lady this way!"

Duo stood frozen for a moment as she struck him, seemingly stunned by the blow. Inside his head, however, the real war waged as Matthew redoubled his attack at her words. She doesn’t deserve this, Anderson, you know what will happen to her!

His face twisted into a scowl, and as the crowd finally started to disperse he regained control and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her close. “Say another word and I shoot you in the foot,” he growled under his breath. H*ll, this was enough of a struggle without her getting Matthew riled up.

Without magic, she was powerless to stop him, and her ability to get him into her would not come any time soon. She shut up and rolled her eyes, as they trudged to the base camp of the scientists. "Gonna throw me into Captain Sierra's arms, aren't you?"

“Shut. Up.” His jaw was clenched tight as he focused, his grip on her excessively hard.

Matthew, something's wrong, you’re not yourself, now back off until I can fix this!

Much to his surprise, Matthew did back off – drawing back far from his consciousness, as if sulking in the corner. He stumbled for a moment, surprised at how quickly he’d given up. …Thank you. He’d see reason soon enough, he was sure.

[ATTN: Sly, Christabelle, Draoi]

A sprite buzzed down beside them, nestling into the shoulder of Sly and bringing up a rather spirited voicemail from the Major. "We've received news that the Masks were in your area, chasing two unknown individuals. Bring them in for some intel questioning. Gently." After delivering the message, the sprite buzzed away into the night sky, now sad that its work was done. It left them alone as the creatures returned to whatever they were doing... in a short word, the dogs began chasing the cats who began chasing the rats and it was a confusing affair.

Sly held out her hand to the man, pulling both him and Christabelle into her arms. She looked at the man, "You smell like fire and nature. That worries me. To answer your second question, I'm taking you to base." She looked up at the sky and smiled, "And, just as a warning, you might want to hold on." With that, she whipped out her wings and lept into the air, taking the girl and man with her. She flew them to the base and landed in the courtyard, making sure both were steady on their feet before letting go. "Welcome to base. If you'll follow me, I'll bring you to the Major." She started walking towards the door and then looked back at them and smiled, "I'm Rina, by the way. Rina Fhang. Although... Most just call me Sly."

[ATTN: Duo]

Sinclair could feel some power coming back to her system, but she could not charm what she presumed to be another personality of the boy pointing a gun at her head. Looking to make one last plea for freedom, she turns to the boy and falls to her knee. "Please..." Some more realistic water works start falling, as she thinks about her family across the border. "Think about my daddy... he wouldn't want his little girl in any jail, let alone one that tortures and abuses people... What you do here is horrible! Terrible! Spare me..."

[ATTN: All at Base]

Acron sits at his desk, with his door open. He is waiting with his sprite in hand.

Christabelle held on tightly as the girl sprouted wings and leaped into the sky. She had never flew before. It was the most amazing feeling ever, even though she was still scared she might fall, so she held on tight.

When the girl let her and the other man go, and introduced herself as Sly, Chrstabelle spoke, "I'm Christabelle...but you can just call me Belle...that's what everyone calls me." She felt a bit safter with Sly, and with the unknown man, although she was still a bit nervous and hesitant to trust.

(Attn. Christabelle, Major Acron, Draoi)

Sly smiled gently at Christabelle, "Belle it is then." After the man introduced himself, she led them up through the halls of the base and to the major's office. She poked her head around the door first, just to make sure the major wasn't busy. "Major Acron, Sir. I brought the two just as you asked." She led the two into the room and stood to the side. "Major Acron, This is Christabelle and Draoi. Christabelle and Draoi, This is Major Acron."

[ATTN: Chrissie, Draoi, Sly]

"Yes... I'm not busy at all, come in, already..." He gets up in a grandoise manner, smiling at Sly. "As usual, good work, Sly." The Major walks over, with his staff in hand and his other hand stroking his beard. As he walks over, he notices Draoi literally rooting himself into the Major's hardwood floor. His eyes widen with delight, he has never seen a real-life druid with his own eyes. "FASCINATING. Truly fascinating." His eyes begin to glow with a freakishly bright green light, as he analyzes the magic occurring. "Did you know that your magic uses the same signature that most sprites use?"

[ATTN: Sinclair]

Duo took a step back as she turned and fell to her knees, glaring down at her again. Anderson froze at her words, simply standing there with his gun pointed at her kneeling in front of him, waiting.

...Nothing.

Had Matthew finally given up? He shifted his grip on his gun. "You're a spy. You knew the risks. Now enough of your - "

He gasped, as if he'd been struck, and his grip on his gun tightened. "Don't move...!" he growled, as Matthew suddenly redoubled his attack. His hands were shaking.

He gasped again, realizing for a moment he had forgotten to breathe, and feeling his heart skip a beat in his chest. Idiot! You'll make us malfunction!

Sly stood, ruffling her wings slightly, and watched at Major Acron talked with Draoi. Draoi then said something about wanting to get some rest, and she stepped forward. "I don't mean to intrude, or seem incosiderate, but before you go off, I would really like to know why you smell like both smoke and nature." It wasn't hard to see that sly was extremely tense, her normal friendly demeanor having completely fallen away. The forest was her home, and she was beginning to fear the worst.