open The Circulation

[Azura 1,107]

Shrapnel dodged the fiery blast directed at his legs but he was struck in the face with a punch. He didn't know what he could do as he watched Misha charging a rather deadly-looking blast in his other hand, that is until bullets were fired towards him, which gave him an idea. He concentrated with his mind and bent the direction of the bullets towards Misha's legs and arms within a second in hopes that it'll stop his shocking attack.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Azura

[Chickey 383]

As soon as Misha saw the barrier go up he ditched his shocking attack and pulled up a shield as fast as he could, a bullet went into his left arm and another into right thigh before he could get it up. The rest of the bullets disintegrated as soon as they hit the shield. Misha started to look a bit beat at this point, but was still going strong on sheer will power. He sent a kick towards his chest to try to knock him to the floor and then began to draw a rune in the air with both of his hands to speed it up. He pointed both of his palms to the man through the rune and fired off a large beam of energy hot enough to melt though any type of metal put in it's way. Once it would reach him it would explode. It was in range to even hurt Misha a bit, but he didn't really mind at this point. 

 

"Well I'd hate to keep you waiting dear." A voice called out from the other side of the room. For a moment it seemed to come from nothing before something faded into vision, clearly using an illusion spell beforehand. It was Belinda, floating in the air perched upon a levitating broom with her legs crossed. Her large cut from before that Misha gave her seemed to be fully healed. She had a rather deadpan voice and expression, but she seemed friendly enough. She kept herself a safe distance from the other people in the room as she continued. "Originally I was gonna book it after grabbing a few things, but after Misha left it seems like I might get a few more minutes in my beloved house before I have to. To think this day started to dull and then led to all this. It's preposterous." She continued, sounding a bit more playful now. "I'm flattered to see you came to my aid Jason. Such a good boy you are. But look where that got you, pinned on the ground by a little girl." She said with a laugh. 

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

As soon as Misha saw the barrier go up he ditched his shocking attack and pulled up a shield as fast as he could, a bullet went into his left arm and another into right thigh before he could get it up. The rest of the bullets disintegrated as soon as they hit the shield. Misha started to look a bit beat at this point, but was still going strong on sheer will power. He sent a kick towards his chest to try to knock him to the floor and then began to draw a rune in the air with both of his hands to speed it up. He pointed both of his palms to the man through the rune and fired off a large beam of energy hot enough to melt though any type of metal put in it's way. Once it would reach him it would explode. It was in range to even hurt Misha a bit, but he didn't really mind at this point. 

 

"Well I'd hate to keep you waiting dear." A voice called out from the other side of the room. For a moment it seemed to come from nothing before something faded into vision, clearly using an illusion spell beforehand. It was Belinda, floating in the air perched upon a levitating broom with her legs crossed. Her large cut from before that Misha gave her seemed to be fully healed. She had a rather deadpan voice and expression, but she seemed friendly enough. She kept herself a safe distance from the other people in the room as she continued. "Originally I was gonna book it after grabbing a few things, but after Misha left it seems like I might get a few more minutes in my beloved house before I have to. To think this day started to dull and then led to all this. It's preposterous." She continued, sounding a bit more playful now. "I'm flattered to see you came to my aid Jason. Such a good boy you are. But look where that got you, pinned on the ground by a little girl." She said with a laugh. 

 

As soon as Misha saw the barrier go up he ditched his shocking attack and pulled up a shield as fast as he could, a bullet went into his left arm and another into right thigh before he could get it up. The rest of the bullets disintegrated as soon as they hit the shield. Misha started to look a bit beat at this point, but was still going strong on sheer will power. He sent a kick towards his chest to try to knock him to the floor and then began to draw a rune in the air with both of his hands to speed it up. He pointed both of his palms to the man through the rune and fired off a large beam of energy hot enough to melt though any type of metal put in it's way. Once it would reach him it would explode. It was in range to even hurt Misha a bit, but he didn't really mind at this point. 

 

"Well I'd hate to keep you waiting dear." A voice called out from the other side of the room. For a moment it seemed to come from nothing before something faded into vision, clearly using an illusion spell beforehand. It was Belinda, floating in the air perched upon a levitating broom with her legs crossed. Her large cut from before that Misha gave her seemed to be fully healed. She had a rather deadpan voice and expression, but she seemed friendly enough. She kept herself a safe distance from the other people in the room as she continued. "Originally I was gonna book it after grabbing a few things, but after Misha left it seems like I might get a few more minutes in my beloved house before I have to. To think this day started to dull and then led to all this. It's preposterous." She continued, sounding a bit more playful now. "I'm flattered to see you came to my aid Jason. Such a good boy you are. But look where that got you, pinned on the ground by a little girl." She said with a laugh. 

 

"Wow, you are a bit of a bi*ch, aren't you? Guy comes to save you and you make fun of him. Wasn't his fault he was overpowered." She picks up the pistol she took from Jason and tosses it out her, "Ready to play Russian Roulette? Which one is the real me?" Several illusions pop up, lounging around the room. "It could be any one of us," one says. "Maybe even behind you." says a voice from behind, before vanishing. "How many bullets do you have, I wonder. You could ask your would-be savior, after all."

[Samurshy 708]

Yellow empty space, a bright neon yellow void. 

Where am I? I feel like I have been here before but my memories aren't coming. Who am I? Has it always been like this? Floating through this empty space? 

Zeke extended his had outwards so as to put his arm into view. Even though the arm should be in full view, it wasn't there. Zeke tried to look down at his body but once again was met with only the same bright yellow ethereal void that he had been looking at for a while now. 

How long has it been? Well I guess that, since I don't remember anything, in a way it has always been like this. I know about the physical realm of existence. I know what it feels to have a body, but... Did I ever actually possess a physical form? Or maybe these memories come from someone else. A life that has been led. A tragic life, filled with both joy and sorrow. I suppose this isn't that bad. Compared to that existence that continues to elude me, this existence has no responsibilities. No sorrow or regret. No anger or loss. This existence is fine by me. I can just rest, and let myself slip away into this void. 

"It is happening much quicker than anticipated."

Zeke could hear a faint voice, as if he was stranded on an island and someone on a boat a mile off shore was calling to him. The words were like a gentle gust of wind, not enough to fully appreciate but definitely present 

"Are you really okay with this? Succumbing to the quantum breakdown of your existence? Allowing yourself to fade away along with me?"

The voice was much more present now. 

Zeke attempted to find his voice, but he couldn't project it. It was as if a massive weight was placed upon his chest, even though he no longer possessed such a physical thing. However, the feeling was still analogous to having no air in his lungs to speak. Eventually Zeke gave up trying to answer the question proposed to him. Of course it was okay to fade into oblivion. Why wouldn't it be? What was so important back in the physical realm that it was so mandatory for him to resume his physical form? This existence, or lack thereof felt a bit liberating.

Is this what they call death? 

If so, then he supposed that death wasn't nearly as bad as everyone made it out to be. Did everyone make death out to be a bad thing?  Zeke was attempting to recall memories that were no longer present, like bobbing for apples. No matter how hard Zeke tried to bite the proverbial apple, it continued to elude him; always barely brushing past his teeth but never quite biting into the flesh. What even was death? I guess it really doesn't matter now? Such trivial things should be left behind. Which is what Zeke thought but not how he felt. Even though he wanted to stop thinking and just fade away, there was something nagging at him, pulling at the very back of his head, and he found it very annoying. This feeling was beginning to give him anxiety and bring him unease. This is supposed to be a peaceful experience, I am supposed to fade away, and yet I can't help but feel as though I am forgetting something fundamental. 

"If you allow yourself to fade from existence, no one will remember you. Your story will never be written. All memories of your meager existence will dissipate as your entire being experiences a quantum breakdown. Are you really content with leaving things the way they are? The quest that you were embarking upon, the family that you were trying to save, the dream you had, all of it will fade away as if you never existed at all. And not just you, but everything that made you will disappear as well. The family you held dear, your father, your mother, your precious sister, they will all fade as well."

I had a family? But even if that were true, why would they fade from existence as well if I am making a decision only about my own existence?
The voice responded as if being able to read the very thoughts that dwelled within whatever was left of Zeke.

"Your mother and father knew the implications of quantum breakdown fully when they created you."

CREATED ME?

"Yes, even though you were born a natural birth, you were also an in utero experiment. Your parents were scientists and magicians, when your mother found she was pregnant they couldn't have been happier, not because they knew their marital sex had produced a child, but because the child that was being produced was a perfect test subject."

NO! YOU ARE WRONG! MY PARENTS WERE MIDDLE CLASS WITH CAREERS IN PUBLIC SERVICE! MY MOM WAS A NURSE, MY DAD WAS A POLICE OFFICER! The thoughts just flowed from Zeke, even though the majority his memories were gone, for some reason he was still able to recall this much. 

"No, your parents were fringe scientists working on discovering the origin of magic and esper abilities. They discovered ancient manuscripts that described how God created Quantum Beasts. Beasts that existed outside of space and time. The Manuscripts stated that these beasts were the ones directly responsible for manipulating quantum physics. The beasts are the ones responsible for making photon waves become particles when observed. The beasts are the ones that allow conscious mind to change the way the world works when being observed. The beasts are the ones directly responsible for overseeing quantum physics and fine tuning it. Your mother was indeed a nurse and your father was indeed a police officer. However, that was the result of their remorse, their form of repentance. Your parents were attempting to combine a Quantum Beast and a human together in order to create a superhuman. When they performed the hybrid scientific-magic ritual on your mother, they caught a glimpse of the truth. The truth was that a Quantum Beast exists outside the confines of space and time, and for it to be contained inside a physical vessel should have been impossible, it should have immediately caused a quantum breakdown of all of your existences. But, because all of the quantum beasts pitied the child inside the mother's womb, they decided to alter the laws of physics to allow the body to house it. Because of this miracle, your parents vowed to seal their research and do their best to give you a good life. Because they were convinced that at any point, you could experience a quantum breakdown and wipe your family from existence."

No, this can't be true. My parents were good people, they would never do human experiments on an unborn child.

"Unfortunately, they did. And their deaths were a direct result of this. Because, if you did not possess the Quantum Beast who manipulated physics for you in order to keep you alive, (an ability that was called Limit Evolution by the humans) the level 5 esper would not have slew your parents and your sister in order to test your strength."

That's right, my parents, my sister. They were killed. I was going to try and bring them back with God's Hand. I was going to alter reality to save my family. 

"In order to alter reality, you must first have a firm grasp on your own existence. Now that I have imparted the truth of your origin upon you, are you truly content with allowing your essence to fall through the cracks and drift forever in a sea of quantum foam?"

Zeke cast his gaze upwards and set his eyes upon the massive white bird that had been talking to him, and he knew exactly what he had to do. His journey was not yet finished. The instant he locked down his conviction, his body began to materialize again.

"No! I will make my dream a reality", This time, Zeke's voice worked. Zeke paused a moment after realizing that he somehow knew the bird's name.

"Just remember, that as long as you have your conviction I will hold your form the best I can. I will make sure you do not experience another quantum breakdown in the future."

"Thank you, Niveus", And with that, Zeke left the ethereal plane. 

Zeke opened his eyes and realized he was lying on his back under a small overpass with a couple of hobos. Some of the hobos were warming their hands over a barrel fire, others were leaning against the wall of the overpass drinking out of bottles wrapped in brown paper bags. One of the hobos was helping himself to whatever was in Zeke's pockets and backpack. 
I wonder where I am Zeke thought as he sat upwards, taking stock of what he had. He was still in his mountain outfit with the blue mountain jacket, the hiking boots and thick winter pants. It was then that he realized he was very hot. Taking the jacket off and tossing it to one of the hobos, he looked around for his phone and wallet. One of the hobos was sitting in a corner playing Plague Inc. on his iPhone. Zeke approached him

"Um, hey bro, can I have my phone back?" Zeke asked. 

"I-in a minute," The old hobo said with a raspy voice, "I only need to infect one more continent and I will win!"

"Damn it, hobo give me my phone!" Zeke exclaimed. 

Apparently the hobo and his friends didn't like being called hobos because he quickly put the phone on the ground as he stood up. The rest of the surrounding hobos decided to drop what they were doing as well as they formed a circle around Zeke. 

"What'd you call me?" The hobo asked in an angry condescending tone. 

"You know what, I don't have time for this, NIVEUS!" He yelled as his birthmark burst to life with a bright light blinding the hobos. He used his increased speed and agility to jump over the ring of hobos and grab his phone. He also quickly grabbed his backpack and then leaped onto the overpass and onto a freight truck that was heading into town. It took him into town a couple of blocks, and then Zeke jumped off. Zeke found a bench on the sidewalk and sat down for a bit, his birthmark deactivating. He looked through his backpack and to his delight found his wallet, which he tucked in his back pocket. 

Zeke then unlocked his phone and noticed that he had only been gone for a few hours, even though it felt to Zeke like an eternity. He sent a call out to Hikari hoping she would answer to tell him where they went. The phone began ringing-

 

[Chickey 383]

Belinda didn't flinch, just sitting on her floating broom as Sayaa used her spell. "Oh please, don't be coy. Misha's a talker, I'm sure you've already heard what I did to him after he helped me for years." She said. "Though if I would've know he would of turned into such a monster I probably wouldn't of tried to kill him in the first place. Plus I've been rather lonely without him." She continued with a fake comical sob. "I have no intention of fighting, just a little chit chat while I have the chance. It's not often I get to talk to anyone." Belinda finished, not making a move for the gun. 

[Concerto Dusk 240]

"Damnit. How can he do that. That was more bullets than any esper should have been able to deal with." Thonking ti himself, "I need a way to distract him, my attacks are useless against him, not enough plastic in a car bidy to risk that, hmmmm. Thats it." Dropping the magazine from his Glock, he loads in a clip of rubber bullets. He has Ticky do.the same. "Painful, but not a speck if.metal, this shoud.be better."

[Glaceon 793]

Jason remained silent and watched the situation unfold. His gun fell on the floor next to Belinda. His phone was behind the couch and Sayaa's demon still remained on top of him; still pinning him to the floor. The situation he was in kept on getting more and more interesting. 
He had two more magazines on his person, one bullet was discharged in the current clip, so that made it 33 rounds total. The situation reminded him of his target range back home. 'Oh you'd be surprised on how quickly I can shoot.' He thought to himself as he watched.

[Chickey 383]

"However, I have no problem with other people fighting in front of me in my place." Belinda said as a large black book flew out of her bag by her waist and stopped in mid air, pointed towards the demon and Jason. It froze in place before it abruptly opened and aggressively flipped through pages. It stopped at a large black runic circle for a moment before it to loudly suck in air like a void. After a few moments of charging a black and purple beam shot out with a bang right towards the demon on top of Jason to knock it off of him. "Now dance! My puppets!" She exclaimed with a excited giggle as she watched from her perched position.

[Glaceon 793]

Jason watched the book point at his direction and immediately braced for an attack. The attack however just knocked the demon off of him. "Sorry to disappoint, but I don't dance." He remarked before making his move. In one fluid motion Jason rolled towards his gun picked it up broke the window by shooting a single round and jumped outside into the darkness. 

Jason quickly made for a nearby stream and quickly dove in. He soaked himself in water and mud to mask his scent in case the demon tracks with it's nose like a regular canine. As he did he continued his path making an effort to leave deep footprints. As soon as the ground was solid he quickly doubled back this time walking in a way to leave no recognizable footprint. He approached the house again and hid in a bush about 100 meters away and turned to his watch on his wrist.

After a few button presses the small screen of his watch display in real-time the floor under the couch where his phone was. Thankfully it landed at an angle where he could still see. His earpiece also synced to his watch and he began to listen to real-time audio as well.

If anyone were to look at the phone it would seem to be turned off and not functioning.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Glaceon

[Chickey 383]

Now stuck with just Sayaa, Belinda's face grew sour. "See, this is why I don't help people, they're boring." She commented before she shot out of the broken window with her broom all while exclaiming, "Wheeeeeee!" giddily. She hovered a good distance above the street to watch from the above for a bit. She tried to use magic to sense Jason's presence, but since he didn't use magic or Esper abilities, he didn't give off any noticeable signals to her. She sighed and simply waited.

[Azura 1,107]

Shrapnel knew that he wasn't going to walk away with just a few scratches if he took that hit from his attack, instead, he decided to be play a little bit more defensively until Misha runs out of energy or dies from blood loss. He double-jumped upwards by using the metal that was inside his shoes and stood on side of the building that Hikari was on which was only two floors high and had a flat roof. 'He wouldn't dare shoot anything towards me as long as I'm around this girl.' He thought as he glanced at her.

[Concerto Dusk 240]

"Damed coward. Settle this like a man. Get back down here. You broke my car, you burnt me and now your threatening a hostage? You, magic boy. I will be right back, I am getting a crane. Ill take that building down, then I am gonna run him over. I just hope sue can get away safely." Kenji runs tiward a construction site nearby, clearly pissed after giving an order to Ticky.

[Chickey 383]

Misha stopped, almost doubling over at this point. He took a few deep breaths before he heard Kenji. He stood back up with an angry expression at this point. "CRANE'S ARE MADE OUT OF F**KING METAL. AND HIKARI IS PROBABLY PASSED OUT!" He called out to him before he went back to breathing deeply. He looked up towards Shrapnel. "Well... seems you aren't gonna make this easy for me Refrigerator." He said as he waited. "Whatcha gonna do now... sit up there with you cheap shoes and your butter knives... huh?...." He continued.

[Concerto Dusk 240]

Yelling back, "I kniw they are made if metal, that's the plan. His powers for one have t be more draining than simply telling a machne what to do, and hell, look at that monster." Running the rest of the way, he finds the biggest cranes he can and proceeds to hack them. Tbinking, "if this works, that moron will be too busy on these or the special surprise. Allowing the ither to catch him."

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Now stuck with just Sayaa, Belinda's face grew sour. "See, this is why I don't help people, they're boring." She commented before she shot out of the broken window with her broom all while exclaiming, "Wheeeeeee!" giddily. She hovered a good distance above the street to watch from the above for a bit. She tried to use magic to sense Jason's presence, but since he didn't use magic or Esper abilities, he didn't give off any noticeable signals to her. She sighed and simply waited.

 

Sayaa looks out the window, watches Belinda fly away, takes about two seconds to figure whether or not it's worth risk her hide to chase either, then shrugs. Studying her nails for a bit, she locks onto Belinda's signature and shoots Misha a text. She's back, and she helped that Jason guy escape.

[Chickey 383]

Misha pulled out his phone, looking at the message. He typed back with bloody hands. "A tad bit busy right now. You and Pizza-Boy take care of it." Misha looked over towards Shrapnel and readied himself. He didn't exactly know what to do now, but he had to figure something out. 

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Misha pulled out his phone, looking at the message. He typed back with bloody hands. "A tad bit busy right now. You and Pizza-Boy take care of it." Misha looked over towards Shrapnel and readied himself. He didn't exactly know what to do now, but he had to figure something out. 

How exactly. She's not fighting back and she expects me to just go off and chase Jason. Soooooooooo, you know, suggestions. Here, we can trade! Don't die. See, advice. Now you can give me more helpful advice, because I swear if you tell me not to die I will teleport over there and kill you myself.

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari removed the knife and tied up her wound with her shirt to stop the bleeding. Her phone started to ring, so she crawled towards her cellphone that was lying on the floor a few steps away from her and answered the call. "H-Hey Zeke.. Where are you?" She said in a rather exhausted tone as if she was out of breath, feeling light-headed from blood loss.

 

----------

 

Shrapnel knew that his opponent was capable of putting a hole straight through him, but only within a close range based on his assumptions. He looked around and spotted a construction site, near the area where Kenji was hacking a crane. There was a frame for a skyscraper that was being built out of metal, which was rather convenient for an esper like him.

 

He pointed his hand towards the top of the construction site and picked a few of the metal bars on the top and shot down downwards towards Misha, purposely missing him. "Did that wake you up from the fact that I won't be beaten by a magician like you that easily?" He shouted down at him from the building. There were eight steel bars that were struck into the solid ground are around 6 meters long.

[Concerto Dusk 240]

Having gotten the cranes operational, Kenji turns towards the esper. "So, tell me, how much metal is in that fancy suit of yours? Because we are about to find out." Sendingbthe cranes at him, tbree if tbem have a powerful electro magnet hanging from the hook. "Like them? They will cause your defeat. Or will it be the robot with the lasers that can melt your face off? Or maybe, somethig else? You see, that is the problem when fighting another esper. Neither of us knows the others limitations, for all you know, I have a nuclear war head at my disposal. And the same goes for the opposite. But that will not be a problem soon, for you shall die."

[Chickey 383]

Misha heard himself get another text but ignored it for now. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Well it's always better to win a hard fight than an easy one." He commented as he fired off a yellow blast towards him, once it reached halfway it blew up in a blinding flash of light. In the meantime Misha fired another curved blast that hit the floor next to him. Instead of exploding it burned a runic outline in the ground. He used the runic circle on the ground to teleport up there and attack while he hoped the man was blinded. His hand lit up and a yellow energy outline in the form of a blade extended from his arm. He swung it down at an angle towards his shoulder. 

[Samurshy 708]

The phone was ringing for so long that Zeke began to wonder if the answering machine would pick up. But eventually, after the 14th ring there was the familiar click of the answer from the other line. Hikari had answered, and Zeke noticed that her voiced sounded not just fatigued but exasperated. 

 

"H-Hey Zeke.. Where are you?"

 

"I am not sure exactly where I am, but I believe I am still in the city. Some things happened and I ended up waking up under an overpass with a bunch of hobos. But that isn't important right now. Are you okay? You sound like you are in some sort of trouble. Where are you guys, what's going on?" Zeke asked. 

[Azura 1,107]

Shrapnel quickly covered his eyes since he cluelessly assumed that the yellow beam was a flashbang due to his previous flash attack that was shot at him a few minutes ago. When he uncovered his eyes, he noticed that Misha was rather close to him, and before he could react to his blade attack, it struck down into his flesh. Before the blade went any deeper, he used his other hand and pushed his hand along with his blade away. He groaned in pain as he shot half of the metal pieces on his body towards him like a shotgun.

[Concerto Dusk 240]

"Hey magic dude. I hope you can doe mire than light shows. I don't see enough metal anymore to try my plan. I mean a magnet seemed.like a good idea but now I am not so sure." Sounding serious, almost like a different person now that he is focusing on the fight. "Damn it, I am going in. Ticky, get over here, throw ashard as you can at him. The only thing I can think of is actually fighting myself.

[Chickey 383]

Misha quickly morphed the shape of the energy blade coming from his arm into a shield. It blocked most of the metal, burning them up as they touched it. However a piece of metal still missed the shield and hit him right above the knee on his left leg, leaving a slash there afterwards. Misha morphed the shield again into a long spear straight towards the man's stomach afterwards, hoping to skewer him. To finish his combo off he drew a quick rune in the air and shot a slim beam straight towards the mans head. The beam traveled at breakneck speeds and made a gunshot sound as it went off. There was still time to block it with metal, but Misha had to take the gamble.

[Azura 1,107]

As Misha was preparing a rather killer spell of his, he was doing something in the background that Misha couldn't see, or at least was too busy focusing on his gun-like spell to notice. Shrapnel split the steel construction parts that were stuck in the ground on the road that was placed down before Misha teleported up and created 12 needles per bar and shot them at Misha. 96 deadly spear-sized needles flew through the air at the speed of a Gatling gun that headed straight towards Misha and Hikari, who was immobile from her wound. "Watch out!" Hikari shouted with her dying breath before she used the last of her energy to throw herself behind cover, which happened to be some sort of vent.

 

Shrapnel knew that he was in for a treat that was going to go straight through his head. A huge grin emerged from his face as he hopes that his last attack was a worthwhile one before the beam went straight through his head and back out, creating a hole through his face, blood spilling from his head as he fell backwards. A puddle of blood formed from the gaping hole between his eyes. The needles started landing nearby, one of them which landed on Shrapnel's chest which pierced his already-dead corpse like a marshmallow on a stick. Six of them were heading straight towards Misha and the others shot straight through the building.