[PP - F19 - COMPLETE] an Eye for an Eye <<Hidden, Mina, Morgenstern>>

[tricolor_mina 0]

<<The warehouse>>

Rosa's eyes were still locked onto hidden as she became increasingly angrier and angrier, stating that a measly 5 players wouldn't be enough to stop 20 from killing both herself and Mujo. "And..? I LIKE those odds, kid~ heh heh..." A deranged look crossed her face at the threat, before she ignored the last few moments of Hidden's anger, instead turning to Ain and Mujo, a wide smile on her face. "My friends will be arriving any second now, ne? Much faster than your guild, that's for certain, Hehe heh hehehe!" she suddenly steeled her emotion, before looking to Mujo, the deranged look much less prominent now. "You were right about that message not being for the reason I said it was for, but it was for OUR safety..." Rosa wiggled her foot forward just enough to tap hidden a bit with her boot before continuing. "I must have thrown her off so badly that she briefly lost it, so I asked for my guild to show up to pull off a rescue mission. You, one who is no longer of the faceless, but a normal player... how would you feel becoming a member of My guild instead? since your boss so callously threw you out?" there was the sound of rapid footsteps, Cries of "They're this way! They're this way!" echoing around the building. "We'll gladly take you in, and give you a family again if you so desired it. And to the one holding her down, I'd suggest you duck unless you want to be knocked unconscious." A green suited clown, Club, shot out of nowhere, tackling Ain off of Mujo, while Diamond and Heart focused on undoing the shackles that were on Rosa and Mujo respectively with the lockpicking skill. "Well never mind then, that was a tad bit unexpected~ Thank you kindly, Diamond!" Rosa said softly, giving the white haired girl a hug. "No problem, Boss.. It's the least I could do after being useless earlier..." rosa carefully hugged Shireen, a faint smile on the older woman's face. "Never say you're useless, I'd be lost without you guiding me, Shireen..." she said softly, before standing up. Mujo was untied by glenn, who pulled his mask to the side, and started to heal Mujo, his eyes and hands glowing a sky blue. "Hold still, Mujo... You're gonna be ok. I won't let her hurt you again." he said softly, his brows furrowed as he turned to look at hidden's unconscious form. A red cloaked player entered the room, a relieved sigh escaping her lungs. "Mou, Dia-chan! we haven't been chased, have we?" violet called out, a worried look in her eyes. "From my understanding, no. but I do think we're going to be attacked very soon, I wouldn't put it past hidden to order for reinforcements." she warned, furrowing her brow in frustration. "That doesn't matter now, we need to get the hell out of here!" said rosa, standing up and putting her mask back on.

@Hidden@Morgenstern

Glenn without his mask

Spoiler

[Hidden 1]

Ain look on in confusion at his superior on the ground. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on, but Rosa seemed to be filled in delight. He remained silent despite her promises that her team was on the way to rescue them. His mind was running far too fast, he hadn't been forced to make a decision in a while. He was the one to go out and fight who he was told to. A glorified bounty hunter. He heard faint shouting outside, his eyes drifting to the large doors of the warehouse waiting for them to open. With a flash of green, he was knocked to the ground as a player tackled him away from the prisoners. Mujo's face was in relief as Heart began to undo her shackles. As he was successful she rubbed her wrists which were glowing red from her pulling them to try and break free. 

Hidden's eyes slowly drifted open, tears still welling in them. She was calmer than before and she knew from the surrounding voices that in the time she had remained unconscious that her enemies had arrived. 'Where are the Faceless? Have they already been dispatched? Is it just me?' Springing to life, she would roll backwards away from her opponents and would then leap backwards, drawing her dagger which began to gleam a malicious black, indicating her next hit would be Phase and Paralyze inducing. "Look what we've got here. Some uninvited guests, uninvited but expected." She would watch as Ain twisted, throwing his attacker off and returning to her side. "Sorry Rosa, but I doubt you're gonna keep quiet about me and my operation and as soon as you leave you will move to stop my revenge. I can't just let you leave." As if on cue, masked players began swarming into the warehouse. About twenty players now surrounded Rosa's group. Hidden lifted her hand and would close it in a fist, the Faceless quickly bearing down on the six players in front of her. She expected some of them to teleport out and save themselves, and the rest would be massacred. Despite how well they would work with eachother, her group was hardly lower in overall strength and there was far more of them. She knew herself that her and Ain could each take on one of them alone, the enemy was outmatched. "Let's see how they're cunning will get them out of this scrap." She would standby unless engaged just to wait and see what would happen. Unless more reinforcements were coming from her enemies, the order to retreat was more than doubtful. Her eyes also glanced to the red cloaked one, assuming she was the girl that was Rosa's close friend according to Mujo's statement earlier. If anything, she could at least get back by hurting that one. 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Rosa moved to the center of the room, her allies forming a protective half circle around violet and Mujo. Rosa flicked her arms out, revealing a shield on her right arm, and a long, wickedly sharp dagger in her left hand. A dark blue corridor crystal clasped in her right hand, which she held up beside her face, a blank mask on her face, her eyes returning to the same dull coloration from earlier. "So you say, I'm guessing you're expecting me to be a coward and back out of this..? heh... heheheh..... AHAHAHAHA!!" she cackled, before crunching the Corridor crystal in her hand, opening a sky blue portal behind her that released a total of 3 other players, each of them cloaked in black robes, with masks on their faces that resembled comedy and tragedy masks with festive decorations, a sun, stars, and a crescent moon. Rosa flicked her menu, causing her mask to reappear on her face. "F**k your expectations, kid! Enforcers! Arbiters!" She laughed,  "Leave their leader to me, but feel free to pick off those that try and attack yourselves and end their lives! If the Demon want's to gamble with lives, then who am I to refuse?!" A sadistic smile crossed her face as her own weapon gleamed with a trio of effects, the blade practically dripping from the pre-applied salve that inflicted poison. "Well, Hidden?" she asked, tilting her head, and crouching slightly. "Are you just gonna sit there and wait for me to attack first, or are you going to be ballsy and attack me? I don't bite, promise..!" meanwhile, Glenn, spade, Club, and Diamond were all in offensive stances. Glenn seemed to be more focused on defending Rosa and Mujo, and was actively taunting Hidden, a venomous look on his face, almost daring her to come closer to himself and Mujo. meanwhile, Club had walked over to Ain, snickering at the other teen. "We're gonna enjoy cutting your guild down to size for threatening the life of our boss. But don't worry, we won't kill you or your leader... just enough of you to force you to listen to our.. Suggestion." Club hissed, his eyes glowing a lime green under his mask. Violet was silent, standing in a defensive position instead of the offensive movement from the others. instead, she opened her menu to send Jon a message, a bead of sweat dripping down her face. Things were about to go south real fast, which had her shuddering, her rapier gleaming with sparks that denoted the bleed and burn effect that was on her weapon. Her armor wouldn't be able to save her from dying if someone came after her directly, and hidden seemed to be staring her down, causing a cold chill to run down her spine. 'Jon, please hurry!' she thought, scrunching her eyes shut in fear.

Quote

To: Morg

From: Mina

Jon! Hurry the hell up, we're in the middle of an ambush! use the corridor crystal to get here faster, I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold out, so please hurry!

-Mina

@Morgenstern @Hidden

[Hidden 1]

The war had begun, a battle of both will and testament. Two people, defending their ideals of which was most important to them. Revenge and Family. She watched in interest as a corridor crystal brought three more of their players to the fray. A corridor crystal was the only one that she herself didn't carry. On her side underneath her cloak was a teleport crystal, Antidote crystal, Healing crystal, and finally a custom made shadow crystal which billowed a dark smoke from the crystal when used that would cover a large area. All four of them were great additions to her battle-ready inventory. That makes about eight or nine enemies in total? With about thirty total people within Faceless, they would eventually become overrun. While she would experience some losses, there was the absolute promise that they would be wiped out in the end. 'That means she is going to try to get me to submit before they get to that point. I don't want to sit out of the fight though.... My forces won't back down, most of them all they have left in this world is to follow my commands.' 

She turned to Rosa, who was egging her on to attack. She was actually interested, was she just the woman in charge? Or did she actually fight too? She doubted the girl matched her skill level or in-game level, but she would attempt to make up for it with her quick thinking. The last time she had fought a player in an actual battle like this was Itzal, a person who far outmatched her. "Umbra" she simply said, a shadow creeping out of the one she had made. Unlike last time, there wasn't much light on the battlefield so her familiar's strength was stronger. She was in far better standing, but would Rosa fight alone? Was there some form of plan to distract her and have someone else land the finishing blow? "I suppose we can have a dance." She crouched down, activating her hide skill, forcing the woman to have to look for her once more. While she didn't have the Shadowed Path unique skill, she had watched it used enough to know how it worked. A almost constant dance of throwing yourself into passive hiding and back out to confuse the opponent. Darting forward, she wouldn't head straight at Rosa. Instead, she leapt upwards and kicked off the body of one of the newcomers to vault herself into the air. Then, whilst in the air, she began to rapidly spin, making herself into a cyclone of destruction. This cyclone came  down on the woman who would be forced to either block her attack or dodge out of the way. 

Ain watched as the player moved forward towards him, snickering and hissing his threats. A smile appeared on Ain's face. "Are you saying you can give me the challenge I've been looking for?" He pointed his sword at his opponent. That was the only thing he had looked for, the reason he joined Faceless. To find someone who could match him in ability. His favorite thing in this world was to fight. He leapt forward, his sword striking simultaneously. His attacks were fast and vicious, giving the poor player in front of him little time to be able to react to them. A dark purple aura periodically outdoing the normal blue aura as the Fallen effect activated. 

The rest of Faceless would quickly begin to team up on each of their opponents, surrounding them with at least three members on each of their opponents with a small force trying to push through to the center where Heart, Mina, and Mujo were teamed up. Their goal was to push each of the Arbiters apart, secluding them before going for the final blow. This is what they were taught to do to fight Laughing Coffin, making this essentially a scrimmage for the end game. 

Mujo, standing beside Mina and Heart would most likely be unrecognizable to her former allies and would pitch in by picking up the iron picks and throwing them in the direction of her foes with very precise motions. While the damage was unbelievably high, it would serve as a distraction to the group that was pushing its way through the center of their small force. 'All is lost' she thought. 'There isn't any way that we can take all of them on. They're trained to take out players, they've been working on killing players for about a month now.' 

[Morgenstern 1]

'They invited me to come and then they left me'. After a few minutes he would open his menu and take a look at Mina's location. She was on the seventh floor it appeared, moving through its mountain range. He found himself sprinting towards the Teleport Gate shouting "Floor Seven!"With a flash of a bright blue light he was whisked away, reappearing on the seventh floor. He used to hang around on this floor a lot and once had his alchemy shop based here. It took him several minutes to finally arrive to the place that he tracked Mina. It was a large metal building hidden within the mountains. There was quite a bit of noise coming on from the inside. 'Tch... how much problem could a single player cause' He peeked through through the ajar door, finding several masked players fighting other masked players. With a myriad of light effects created by various sword arts that were commencing at the same time. His eyes caught the figure of what he thought was Rosa fighting Hidden. That was the main target. If she was in charge here as soon as she was dealt with than the rest would crumble. That was in the center of the room however, and he was at the edge. He would have to fight to make his way to the center. 

With a flash of yellow light, he charged in to the nearest masked player and rapidly slashed, the precise cuts appearing as red gashes on the targets body. At the end of the Sword art he drew his katana back and thrust forward throwing the player a distance to hit the ground. The player was still alive but had taken a bit of damage. He lifted his weapon up allowing the yellow light to die. His armor was glowing a dull red, ready to punish any of those who touched him. These opponents were far under his level, hopefully they would just surrender before they got in his way. 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Spade was jumping in and out of stealth, cleaving into the enemy as Diamond landed the finishing blows on two of them, and forcing a third to retreat and heal themselves. Meanwhile, Club was doing his best to keep up with Ain, who was displaying strength that he hadn't expected. He was hit twice by the attacks, though his armor flared to life, inflicting a slight burn on his opponent. Glenn had flung a reddish orb over at Rosa, before throwing a bloody red crystal at her feet, a red aura eating away at her armor, but boosting her damage at the same time. Glen crushed a different, pale red damage crystal, and applied a dark purple salve onto his gauntlets, the weapons glowing with a toxic looking reddish purple color, before he sucker punched one of the soldiers with his strongest sword art, knocking them easily into the red, and inflicting bleed, paralysis, and poison on the person, leaving them defenseless on the ground. Violet was preoccupied using Mass-healing, MIT, and damage crystals on her allies, a determined look on her face. Every so often, players would nearly break through the defensive circle, only to get a pair of flying fists, and a burning blade shoved at them, occasionally causing some of them to die. Violet grimaced, thanking her lucky stars that they were mostly orange players that were killed, and that she'd only hit one of the people with lethal damage. She noticed a familiar blonde running through the crowd of enemies, occasionally whacking them with his blade. "Jon! Hurry, Please!" she shouted, a look of panic in her eyes, before a weapon smashed into her mask, causing her to go flying backwards.

Rosa pulled out another crystal, a black and silver Incarceration song, which she immediately proceeded to crush, throwing the effect at hidden when she reappeared, before immediately flowing into a guard, taking a heavy blow from the weapon. Rosa's weapon glowed with an emerald green, silver, and dark red light, the weapon biting into hidden's armor, and inflicting a powerful poison effect, and restoring some of the health that was taken away from her. a loud hooting could be heard, as Athene flew out of the portal, boosting her damage. "There's a reason that I have Ace as my moniker, kid... If you're underestimating me, that's about to be the biggest mistake of your life. You can still call it quits if you want to, but you're probably too prideful to even think of that as an option, ne?" she murmured sadly, shaking her head. "If you want to keep going, then so be it..." Rosa suddenly slammed her shield into hidden, forcing her to dodge or risk being paralyzed from the impromptu shield-bash.

[Hidden 1]

Hidden had to admit, the song of Arbiter's Hand was well versed. Despite being far outmatched they were putting up a brilliant fight. Their teamwork almost made up for the lack of numbers. She watched in almost awe as buff upon buff was applied to each of them and as their life slowly began to fall a mass healing crystal was used. She took a mental note of how it was done. If there was someway she could incorporate this tactic in her attack on Laughing Coffin it would increase their potential by so much. However, with Rosa's extremely buffed state, she out powered her by quite a number. She had underestimated the woman a bit, she might be the strongest of the Arbiter's. 'If I don't kill her, perhaps she could be of use in the end.'  She quickly backed away from Rosa, her face almost expressionless. This woman was a worthy opponent of everything she had. She was strong, but was definitely no Itzal or Adrian. As she charged at her with her shield, forcing her to leap back, using her hands to spring her back farther. 'Tch, I've always hated shield users' A bright flash of yellow light caught her attention, her eyes catching a blonde player wielding a katana. She knew the face of this player from boss fights. "More back up, and a frontliner none the less. Always unpredictable with you, how'd you manage to get someone like that to join your ranks?" She snapped at one of her fighters who quickly bounded to her side. "Give me every buff you have" The player nodded and frantically began using crystals like mad, boosting her damage, mitigation, evasion, accuracy, and even took the time to heal and remove her statuses. "Thanks" she muttered to the player, returning her full attention to Rosa. "Ace. Its a pretty good name, I admit. You're right though, I won't be retreating just yet. That would ruin the fun we are having, wouldn't you agree?" She darted at her opponent, slashing with speed and power, but with the girl's weapon and shield it was making it difficult to actually deal any damage. She began to dart around the woman, rapidly changing directions to try to throw the girl off. "Umbra" she called during the middle of it. The fox began to listen to her, listening from its hiding place within her shadow. "Shadow form" In the same instant, she would duck down and enter a passive hiding state while her familiar in the shape of her would bound up and make a downwards attack on her opponent, hopefully bringing the guard of her opponent up. It was merely an illusion though, the familiar's energy being placed into the illusion instead of its attack. Hidden would lead up, slashing viciously with her dagger at the body of her opponent. 

Ain was... not impressed with his opponent. The target's armor had begun to flare up, damaging him a bit but the skill level and power difference was very pronounced. Sighing, he would make one final slash at Club, a power attack that would knock the player onto his back. Sheathing his weapon he would look down at the man. Removing the mask that covered his eyes. "Sorry bud, I'm only looking to fighting stronger opponents. Get better and we'll go at it again sometime." He turned away from Club, his eyes noticing the figure that had come in late, a blond player who seemed strong. "I'm gonna go fight someone else now, since I spared you, I'd ask that you just remain out of the fight now. Pretend you've been eliminated or something like that." Had the man come at him with allies at his side he would have killed them, but he didn't kill those weaker than him in one-on-one battles. 

[Morgenstern 1]

He looked onward to the center of the room where the Arbiters seemed to be holed up and attacked on all sides. 'Not good, they seem to be fine now, but what about when they run out of consumables?' He made his way towards the center, whacking all the players who came at him with the flat of his blade. He was almost there when Violet's voice caught his attention. His eyes drifted up again to them and he watched as one of the enemies slammed into her face, forcing her to fly back through the air. Activating the charge skill, he pushed off the ground, moving quickly to catch up to Mina, catching her in his arms before setting her down gently, a dark expression in his eyes. "Celes!" he shouted. A proud white dragon familiar would soar through the air. "Ice wall" The dragon would began to circle around Mina, a white mist emitting from its mouth. Once she was completely surrounded with the white fog it would close its mouth, forcing it all to instantly freeze, forming a barrier of ice around Mina. "Stay in there." he would state plainly. "Celes, don't let anyone near that wall" his dragon sat atop the wall proudly, his eyes almost daring anyone to approach. It made a quick glance at Mina here and there, ensuring he wasn't try to break out. 

Activating the <<Charge>> skill once more, he burst forward at the man who had hit her. Electricity gathered on his weapon and her thrust it into his opponent, sending the man flying with the single strike. "Only I can touch her" he stated plainly. He looked around at the Arbiters. "Move over to that chunk of ice." he demanded from them, taking two quick strokes of his blade to send a few enemies back. He noticed a player slowly approaching him, one with a mask that only covered his eyes, a smile on his face. 'How can you face a frontliner with a smile on your face?' His eyes drifted for a second over to Rosa who was fighting the cloaked player, Hidden. After he sent the majority of the enemies running he would join her in defeating and capturing Hidden. It should't be too hard. 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Violet grimaced, holding a hand to her head as she stood up inside of the ice wall. Jon had apparently moved to listen straight away... and ended up having his familiar case her up in a wall of Ice. there was the sound of movement in her bag, before Akame, her familiar, poked her head out of it, letting out a quiet chirp. Mina sighed, before plopping down on the ground, an aggravated sigh escaping her throat. "I said help me, not lock me up in an ice wall barrier, you dummy..." she mumbled, stroking Akame, as a faint blush dusted her cheeks. She certainly appreciated the effort, but it was somewhat aggravating, especially since she technically counted as one of their "healers" at the current moment.

Meanwhile, outside of the barrier...

Club had managed to limp away, over to the ice wall, his eyes darkened with rage at the behavior of the player he had fought. It was like he still believed this to be a game, where it didn't matter if anyone died. His weapon was far from being suited for combat that was up close and personal, especially given the type of weapon that other person. As he sat there, whenever anyone came to close, he lashed out at them, easily cutting into them, and making them back off. Meanwhile, spade was still bashing faces in, doing his best not to kill anyone, and to keep Mujo protected. His eyes were dark with rage, furious at the actions of her former guildmates. Over with hidden and Rosa, Rosa shrugged, re-applying the incarceration debuff on hidden, along with a mis-perception debuff, which would cause her to shimmer slightly to hidden. Her shield seemed to glint slightly, the paralysis enhancement giving it a deep yellow glow. She was still stronger than hidden in terms of buffs, and given that her group actually had two dedicated healers (One of her enforcers, Moon, was actually focusing on keeping her healed in between helping her teammates.), and that was negating a lot of the damage that was being done to herself and her allies. "I see... yer a stealth user, ne?" she said, her feral smile returning. "I think someone's takin' after a certain Shadowy player that does that Shtick a whole helluva lot better, doll. Bit prettier than you, too now that I think 'bout it~ C'mon, C'MON! Beat my face in kid, I wanna see if you can do anythin' with that dagger that's better than some stupid party trick! Ya ain't gonna make it if you don't fight better than that~" Rosa was taunting hidden, her feral grin still present. While she was pissed that she had been kidnapped, and that Hidden had attacked Mujo, she did have faith in the kid's abilites. Otherwise, she doubted that she would have even bothered trying to attack the other girl, and would have just used a teleport crystal to get out of there instead.

[Hidden 1]

Rosa seemed to merely shrug off her attack, the actions of her guildmates healing the damage almost immediately. 'That is really annoying' Hidden thought to herself. The woman even took the time to reapply the debuffs, this time applying one that made Rosa's body shimmer from place to place. 'Like my old cloak, Shadow's Mist. That would get annoying to look at really quick' Instead of attacking, her opponent turned into taunting, instead of bringing up anger it only brought confusion. 'Who is she even talking about? Either way, with the debuffs and constant heal, she still has a leg up. She probably has an antidote even if I hit her with the Paralytic Venom. Choices... Choices' 

"Party trick? Well, I am glad someone was enjoying the show." She twirled her daggers in between her fingers. "All done with the appetizer, ready for the main course?" She opened her menu and opened the inventory. Switching out her daggers, she equipped Nato's Might. "Since you know so much about me, I would wager you already know what this one does." She darted forward, her normal orange aura becoming one of a bright white. A grin would be visible underneath her hood. 'Let's make this fun' She let out her breath all at once, the cold allowing to condense in the air. She kicked off the ground, closing the gap in between the women. She would flow her energy into her weapon, a brilliant light flowing from the dagger like a sparkling diamond. She would thrust the weapon at her opponent rapidly, each one of them causing a separate torrent of air into the warehouse. She minded to keep her blade from connecting with the shield for far too long in case of the paralysis affecting her. To finish her assault, he would dart back, completing a back-hand spring to make distance before making on large slash in the air that would send and energy slice of pure-white light at Rosa. She took a defensive stance and noticed that her energy meter was about a quarter-gone. 
(doing Ain's Part in Morg's post)

[Morgenstern 1]

Jonathan's eyes turned to the player that was approaching him. "I am just gonna come out and say to turn around. None of you really can stand on level ground with me." He watched the player grin and point his sword at him. "Fabulous, that is exactly what I am looking for. No holding back, alright?" The player charged him head on, bringing surprise to Jonathan's face. It was all he could manage to throw up his weapon and begin deflecting the weapon that was coming at him directly on. 

Ain charged the blond player viciously, a violet aura surrounding his weapon. With each and every thrash of his weapon, sparks flew into the air causing the battle between them to become a dance of light and metal. His grin became almost menacing as his attacks became faster and more violet. So far, unlike the other player, he hadn't managed to touch this one yet. Ain loved to fight, especially those who were stronger than him. He was obsessed with finding new boundaries and toppling them.  Activating his Martial Arts skill, he would send a swift kick just to create distance between the two and leap up, allowing the momentum to increase the power of his next attack. With the momentum added, when the blades struck again a powerful vortex would sweep across the room. The stood there, weapons interlocked. "So who'd you put in the ice block? Somebody important? Mind if I pay them a visit?" 

As they interlocked swords, Jonathan's eyes darkened after listening to the masked man's words. "You touch that ice block, and I will be the last thing you see" Jonathan pushed off the man, quickly taking a second to focus as Baldur taught him. Opening his eyes, he would become focused on his target, the myriad of colors around him becoming a blur. His weapon would crackle with electricity, a hum emanating from the steel. A yellow hue escaped from the weapon, making it obvious exactly what element he was taking after. He charged forward, becoming a blur as he activatedhis strongest Sword art <<San Ge>>. His weapon struck against Ain's weapon a few times before making its mark, cutting deep gashes into the man's avatar. The man rolled back, escaping his reach. Despite taking damage, the man's smile still remained. "Satisfied?" Ain extended his weapon. "Not in the slightest." Jonathan shook his head. 'I need to deal with him. I can't let this guy or Hidden near her.' 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Violets fingers were flying around her menu, sending mass healing, antidote, accuracy, and damage crystals over to Club and Spade, who were using them liberally. Meanwhile, Star and Sun, alongside Diamond and Spade, were capturing as many people as they could, and keeping them out of the fight. Somehow the focus had gone from murder, to capture and restrain. There was no point to eliminating a full on guild just because they attacked them, they were still by most means a green guild after all. 

Meanwhile, Rosa was getting wailed on by hidden, forced to either side step, allow herself to get hit, or block/parry with her shield or blade. It was a vicious cycle that would have chunked a sizable piece out of her health were she not being constantly healed by several of her teammates. She thanked the fact that her teammates had antidote crystals, which were making her life easier since she occasionally saw the paralysis status effect pop up, before Moon either used purify when it was up, or used an Antidote crystal on her. She stepped backwards a bit, before yanking away her robe, revealing her glimmering silver and leather armor for all to see. She only had buffs from her shield, armor, and dagger, so the cloak was merely a cosmetic. Something that simply added along to her aesthetic of being a powerful herald of light. Her eyes were glowing, and her feral smile had returned. "You done..? Good. Now its my turn, kid." she said, launching forward. She gracefully danced around hidden, slashing with her dagger, and immediately following up with shield bashes when it wasn't on cooldown. She saw paralysis effects and poison effects, but wasn't focused on hitting her now. This was mainly just a show of power, more than it was anything else.

[Hidden 1]

Hidden's dagger slashed her target, bringing her health down considerably before it was raced back up from one of the recovery crystals used by her teammates. However, Hidden could tell that Rosa wasn't worried about stats or even dying anymore. The woman was far to enthralled into the battle to care. She was here to fight. The woman's eyes appeared to be glowing, a devilish smile playing on her face. The air seemed to still in the brief intermission before the woman turned back on her, using her shield as a weapon as much as her dagger. She took the hits from the dagger and did her best to dodge the shield from slamming into her ever few seconds when shield bash managed to come off of its cooldown. They were intertwined in battle, the area around them greatly effected from their battle. Vortexes whirled through the air after each of their blows, the ground cracked from after shocks of the attacks. Sparks flew through the air along with red shards from the open wounds. 

Leaping away from Rosa, Hidden would make an attempt to end the endless onslaught that she was caught up in. 'Wow, she's pretty good. I didn't imagine this to be this... fun' She flipped her dagger into the air and caught it. "Looks like we are going all out huh? If I don't now I might not get the chance too" She took a deep breath. She hadn't actually used the technique she was about to use in an actual real fight, only when training with Adrian. The young boy had shown her a new way of fighting that would use Aincrad's passive hide mechanic near perfect with the dagger. She could manage to use the technique, however it was difficult, mentally exhausting, and without having it mastered she wasn't even sure it would work properly. The technique was named "Demon's End" by Adrian and he used it as a last resort fighting technique since it was designed to end a fight whether it be a win or loss. 

A devilish smirk would be caught through her hood as she lifted her dagger to point it at her opponent. This was beyond exciting. A red and black aura flowed from her dagger, seeping from in until it surrounded the outline of her body. Her energy was now synced with her entire body instead of just the weapon. It would use her energy bar far faster than any other technique, but it would increase her physical abilities. "Let's Dance" She hissed before pushing forward towards her opponent. Her movements were now faster and sharper than anything she had produced earlier in the battle. As she came close to her opponent she would duck into hiding causing her image to fade and shimmer in her opponents eyes. After this first movement she would begin to constantly dive in and out of of the passive hiding stance, each time leaping across her opponents body and slashing into it. Each attack was brutal, creating long gashes across her opponents body. With a few seconds, over thirty slashes would be made, gashes covering her opponents body. Each slash becoming more powerful than the last, a rush of wind was sent every time she changed directions. As her attack finished, she leapt away but held the black aura that surrounded her to hide her own weakness. Despite having managed to pull off the powerful attack, her energy bar was nearly depleted and a headache from the strain beginning to arise. The key to fighting in Aincrad was focus and emotion and once you lacked one it was hard to properly fight. She had given everything she had and was using the rest of her energy bar for an added flare but even that would fade and she would be unable to activate any active mechanics. 

She stood, a dark aura resonating from her body and licking the air like a wild fire. Hidden held her blade at her side, a dark smoke drifting off of it and into the air. Her own men had stopped their advance on the Arbiters and now stood watching her in silence. The only noise found in the room was the sound of battle coming from Ain and Morgenstern's battle. She snickered at Rosa. "Are... Are you satisfied yet? My pride pains me to admit that I am reaching my own limit. You are a worthy adversary." As each second passed, the aura flowing from her began to slowly dissipate and within the next minute the entire aura would have vanished. Her body's capabilities and her dagger's natural power would be reduced and returned to their normal state.

As her aura faded, she sheathed her weapon into her sleeve. A small smile formed on her face. "I must say, you are amazing. Well... not you. Your group. You were outmatched and overwhelmed but you managed to match the odds through seamlessly cooperating with eachother. Perhaps the key to beating the Laughing Coffin isn't just through raw numbers and my own ability." 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Violet was standing up in the icy hole, the sounds of fighting having ceased save for two pairs of people, one of whom she figured was Jon, while the other must have been Rosa. She squeezed her eyes shut, fear gripping her heart as she listened to the sound of clashing blades, metal on metal screeching and clashing with probably a bunch of special effects. Her weapon glowed with a blazing heat as she leaned against the wall, the ice quickly yielding against the almost burning hot weapon. She wasn't some fragile doll that needed to be protected anymore, not a weakling. She was slowly but surely catching up to her friends, and she had already prepared for becoming a much stronger player. Even if she was weak now, she wouldn't be for much longer. She closed her eyes again, this time images of her former guild-mates standing in front of her, beckoning, calling for her. 'I won't be left behind anymore!' She thought, standing at the front of the Ice. Akame crawled out of her bag, the diminutive familiar hissing out a soft, bluish breath of flame, further melting away the leftover ice. She watched over Morg with careful eyes, ready to heal him if she needed to. Akame sat attentively on her shoulder, watching Jon's familiar with an intense gaze.

Rosa was barely even bothering to actually block hiddens attacks with her weapon, instead opting for her shield, blocking a bunch of the major attacks that would almost certainly kill her if they connected, granting enough time for Moon or Club to heal her and purify any status effects that were inflicted on her. This was the first time in many, many years that she had felt the boil of her own blood, the will to fight. It was a lovely blood-lusting madness, which had her grin widening, her eyes brimming with excitement. She let out a giddy peal of laughter, almost seeming insane with her attitude towards the situation. Eventually, hidden seemed to wind down with her attacks, and ended up stopping. Rosa held up her hand to prevent anyone from healing her again, her health stuck in the yellow from the attacks of Hidden. Rosa pulled away the mask hiding her face, her eyes gleaming slightly as hidden asked her if she was satisfied. "Most definitely... that.. was the best fight I've had in quite a few years, kid... I don't think I know anyone that can give me a run for my money like that aside from people I worked with IRL." she said, her grin changing from the feral smirk, to a sardonic one as she looked at hidden. "I'm looking forward to working with you, provided you keep your men away from mine until your little plan gets put into full throttle. I can't go losing my arbiters and Enforcers, that would just be pure rudeness would it not? For now, we'll pull back, there's no need for any more fighting. After all, I learned everything I needed from clashing my blade with yours. I'm sure you learned just as much as I did, right?" Her crowd was gathered over by violet and Mujo, forming a protective circle around the pair. Rosa backed up slightly, before sheathing her weapon, and placing her shield on her back, before materializing her cloak once again. "Thank you for the fight, Demon. It was a pleasure to clash blades with you."

[Morgenstern 1]

As the two players interlocked blades he noticed a powerful wind sweeping over him and his own opponent. His eyes moved over to the battle between Hidden and Rosa, a fierce one that proved each sides determination. A punch to the gut would send him flying back and bring his attention back to the fight. "I don't know why you are looking over there. Your opponent is me". Picking himself off the ground, Jonathan would wipe his face with his hand and hold his blade in front of him. "I guess you are right." Closing his eyes, he would take a deep breath, inhaling deep and slowly exhaling. Calming his breathing and heart rate, he would focus his mind and body to sync perfectly as one. Baldur taught him to use his emotions, but to use them with control unlike fiery inferno. Inferno's burned down everything, including the one that gave it life and everything they loves. A controlled but passionate flame singed those that opposed its wielder. The blue hue that encircled Jonathan's weapon would close into his blade, becoming a bright electrifying yellow that sparked within his blade. 

Charging forward, he would close the distance between him and his opponent almost instantly, his weapon bringing in an attack not long after. A look of surprise sprouted on his opponents face as the blade flashed towards his body. Ain managed to block the attack in time, a bright flash appearing as the clash of blades sung together, the resonating sound of metal filling the air once more. He felt the wind and energy coming off the duel next to them though his eyes never adverted from his opponents. However, Ain's eyes drifted off to the other battle, his face dwelling in shock. "She was holding back when she fought me? I never once seen her do anything like th-" Jonathan's blade cut him short and the man slammed into the wall, his weapon clattering to the ground. The metal building they stood in creaked as the force of the blow threatened to push it over. 

Celestane sat proudly on his fortress of ice, the princess remaining safe within as the guards fought gallantly to protect the fortress from harm. His eyes watched the battle between the man that brought him food and some masked fellow though he had no worries. His personal chef was far better at fighting than bringing him gourmet meals. To be honest, he wasn't that good of a cook. Feeling a tremble he flew up form his seat on his fortress and looked down. No way could anyone have breached through the rank of knights! Wait... the princess was escaping! Huffing angrily, he watched as the girl broke through the fortress with the help of some silly pet and pokey stick. The dragon would swoop down, encircle the girl twice before giving up and sitting on the girl's shoulder. 

Jonathan walked forward, his blade held out on his side as he stepped forward. "What is the reason you fight battles that you know you can't win. What is there to gain?" Ain looked up at him, a sneer playing on his face. "Strength. All the Detriment in this world comes from an individual's lack of Ability. Any weakness that you may have can be your undoing." The man cast his eyes over to where Mina now stood. "Speaking of weaknesses" In a flash, the man stood, retrieved his weapon and then charged at Mina, full speed preparing to slash her to ribbons. A flash of memory embedded itself in Jonathan's vision of the guildmates that he lost that day. "Not her." he whispered. Activating the charge skill, he would race after his opponent, catching up to him and managing to get in front of him right before he got to Mina. "All who touch her will know the end of my blade. She is not my weakness, she is a part of my strength." He lifted his weapon up high, bringing it down with such a force that a shockwave of electric energy blasted into his opponent, knocking down and stunning his opponent. The ground in front of Jonathan now remained charred from the electrical energy that spouted forth from that attack. With his opponent down, he turned his attention on Hidden who seemed to have wrapped up her fight with Rosa. They now seemed... content? Gritting his teeth he pointed his Katana at Hidden. "I'm sorry to interrupt your chat, but as a member of the APD, I will be bringing you in for questioning on the account of suspected murder and for endangering the residents of Aincrad by releasing a dangerous criminal. Come with me quietly, or I shall be forced to deal with you like I did you friend" He gestured to Ain who was struggling against paralysis. 

[Hidden 1]

She was more than relieved to hear that Rosa was through with fighting. She couldn't keep up it anymore as her energy bar was completely empty. As Rosa told her that she would happy to work with her down the road, as long as they left their guild members alone Hidden would give her a kind smile. "I couldn't agree more. I'll do my best to make sure that you remain out of the sights. It was a battle that I didn't know I needed until I had it." The last battle that she tried that hard was with Itzal and she had improved since then. She wasn't on his level, but shortly enough she would take the nuisance down. A bright light caught her attention and when it faded she found that it originated from the frontliner on Rosa's team. Ain was sent sprawling backwards, paralyzed and left on the ground. 'I should have guessed he of all people would have gone and fought the strongest on their team.' She watched as the man pointed his weapon at her and spoke of how he was going to take her in. "I'm afraid I really don't have time to deal with anything like that now. Perhaps later." 

Her eyes turned to Mujo, the green haired girl still clinging onto Heart. "I really hope you can find some real friends where you are going. Sorry, I wasn't the best person for you to meet. I sought to use you, not to befriend you." Friends were never her strong suit, she burned down just about everything she touched. Sey was the only exception. He somehow breached to the deepest of her own heart. She gave a quick wave and said, "So long, Ace" She pulled out a crystal of pure black and shattered it in her hands. A black fog gushed around the entire area and in the moment that her opponents couldn't see her she snatched up Ain and teleported them away from the battle to their true base of operations. When the fog cleared, the Arbiters and Morgenstern were the only ones left in the warehouse. 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Mina didn't bother even flinching as Ain charged her, the stronger player easily getting plowed down by Jon before he could even get close to her. She heaved out a sigh of relief when she saw that both fights had been concluded, though it seemed like everything was at a standstill while Rosa and Hidden spoke with each other in the center of the room. Violet noticed that Jon was starting to shake a bit with anger as he spat out a demand at hidden, something that was almost certainly guaranteed to never work. Violet walked forward, and put a hand on his shoulder, digging her nails into him, before speaking. "Hidden isn't going to let you catch her so easily... she seems... almost too content with the situation..." violet muttered, looking Jon in the eyes. "I don't think she's going to stick around too much longer, and you saw how brutal that fight between her and Rosa was... You really think it's a good idea to try and catch her right now..? Hidden has the advantage, like it or not. Once they're done, we just need to-" the crystal in hidden's hand went off, billowing thick black smoke around the whole area, causing violet's eyes to widen in shock. when it cleared, only herself, Jon, Mujo, and the rest of the Arbiters, including Rosa, were left behind. Akame fluttered into the air, before settling down on Jon's head, a content chirp escaping the diminutive dragon. Violet simply stood there, before moving forward a bit more, and putting her hand on Jon's katana, tilting it downwards. "Jon, put it away... they're gone..." She murmured, shaking her head. "No point in chasing them, either... I think... I think Rosa must have reached her agreement with hidden, if she didn't decide to just let her flee like that..."

Rosa smiled as the room was filled with smoke, and she closed her eyes, listening to the faint sounds of footsteps and rustling coming from people skittering around in the darkness. It was pleasing to the ears, and had her filled with a sense of peace. Eventually the smoke cleared, revealing that it was now just those that were a part of her guild, Morgenstern, Violet, and the outlier, Mujo... the green-haired girl was clinging desperately to Heart, who seemed to be whispering reassurances and calming things to her, a sad look in his eyes. Rosa pulled her hood up, and placed her mask back on her face, masking her emotions. She walked forward to the circle of people around Mujo, violet, and Morgenstern, Her guildmates immediately standing at attention aside from Heart, who she left alone. Her heeled boots clacked across the ground as she moved forward, echoing in the empty silence of the room, making them sound louder than they really were. She eventually stopped moving, staring Jon dead in the eyes, her eyes seeming to glow with a dark light. "Violet's right, kid... chasing them will only piss off hidden, and it'd defeat the purpose of our current agreement, causing a lot more needless deaths." she said calmly, before walking over to Heart and Mujo, flicking through her Menu window with a single hand, eyes scanning for something in particular. She eventually found them, materializing the objects in her hands. the first object was very obviously a clown mask, festively decorated with green and black coloration. The second object was a folded up costume, red, black, white, and green in color. Visible on the top was what seemed to be an emblem that had the Joker card art placed on it. She held them out to Mujo, her eyes shadowed and hidden from view as she did so. "As promised, I'll extend the offer of family to you, Mujo." Her eyes seemed to gleam once again as she continued to speak to the girl. "Would you be willing to complete my team of Arbiters..? Would you become my wild card, my Joker?" she asked, watching the girl to see how she would react to what she said. Athene fluttered over to her, the white and tawny owl hooting softly as she landed on her shoulder.

[Morgenstern 1]

His stare unwavered even as Hidden promised him that she wasn't going to allow herself to be caught that easily. He shook his head, according to the stories he had heard, she was far too dangerous to allow on the streets. Now, she was the leader of some criminal group under a new alias. He hardly felt the hand on his shoulder and ignored it all together. He heard Violet's words but disregarded them. "Perhaps, but she is exhausted of options and I am almost fresh." He watched as the target grabbed something from her belt, a black crystal. Eyes widening, Jonathan's weight shifted forward, but he remained put as a smoke billowed from her location covering them in fog for a good minute. As the air slowly cleared, he looked frantically around, finding all of their enemies were gone. Mina placed her hand on the hilt of his weapon, pointing it downward telling him that it was over. He nodded, the sharpness in his eyes clearing as he stopped focusing his body for battle. The yellow light that gleamed from his weapon dispersed as a Sword Art was deactivated. Sheathing his weapon, his eyes would turn towards Rosa and his hand would move to scratch the chin of Violet's familiar. "Hmmm. Agreement, a short one at that. More of a Pact of Neutrality. You promised her to leave her alone and let her go in exchange for her leaving your guild alone? Just going to let her run rampant and have her murder other random people? She's got a bunch of people under her now, how long before thats turned on the innocents of Aincrad?" Jonathan looked away. 'How long before someone else has to go through what I did?' He scratched the back of his head turning to Violet. Personally, he didn't like her having been there, but she was her own person and was free to make her own decisions. 

Almost like a lightbulb appearing in his head, Jonathan would move to his inventory and return the bouquet of flowers to his hand and hold them out for Mina. "Returning to the normal part of my day, I got these for you. There no roses, but they're still pretty." 

Having clung to the backside of Heart for the entire fight, it seemed to be weird for Hidden to suddenly put her on the spot again. Though unlike minutes ago, Hidden was softer. The kindness that very rarely came from her. The kindness that made her believe that there was something deeper within the cloak that the girl kept down as a defense mechanism. "I hope you find what you are looking for" she returned in reply. As the battles came to an end, they were left as the only people in the Warehouse. She wasn't sure if the battle was considered as won or lost. She watched as Rosa began stepping forward towards her. Was she going to subdue her? After everything that had happened? The girl pulled an outfit from her inventory."Would you be willing to complete my team of Arbiters..? Would you become my wild card, my Joker?" Mujo stood aghast. She had thought the woman was kidding. She hadn't done anything nice for the Arbiters. And now they were going to take her in? "Wait, but all I am is a liar, cheater, and thief! In the beginning of the day, I was taunting and tormenting you! There is no wa-" She stopped herself. If there was anything she observed from Rosa in the short time they had spent together is that she was never without a plan. She was never without a reason. There was something for her to do as well. She gingerly grabbed the garments and added them to her inventory. Bringing them back up to her inventory, she qould equip them. In a flash of blue light, she had transformed from her normal clothes into Joker, the wild card. She took a moment to assess her new outfit. "This is way cooler than my last get up!" She sighed. "Could use those bladed throwing cards though, that would bring it all together. All right! Count me in!"

Mujo's New Appearance:

Spoiler

 

 

[tricolor_mina 0]

Violet placed a hand on her forehead, a frustrated look on her face. "Kami, jon! you're being too stubborn!" She moaned, her voice laced with exasperation. "Rosa would Retaliate harshly if Hidden even Tried to eff with her guild again, and Hidden damn well knows that now! We were outnumbered 3 to one, and not a single person died because of how fluid Rosa's guild is! Hidden's group was the only one that suffered actual casualties!" Violet gestured around the room, her hand sweeping around at the members of Arbiters hand, all of whom were standing straight and tall, save for club, who was fuming at having been defeated so easily by Ain. Violet turned back to Jon, about to continue when he held out the bouquet of flowers from earlier, causing her to stop mid speech. ". . ." there was a brief pause, before she flushed with embarrassment after taking the flowers. "Wha- Oh, Kami! you came to bring me flowers then I dragged you off to here like a jerk! I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, putting her hands over her face in horror. "Now I feel really bad about dragging you into this!"

Meanwhile...

Rosa had a faint smile on her face as Mujo seemed to have a crisis about whether or not she should accept her offer to become an arbiter, which had her laughing silently. 'There's always a method to my madness, m'dear, you should know this by now!' she thought, amusement becoming more visible on her face. 'This is an agreement that neither of us lose from, we will only gain from this.' Her smile grew wider once Mujo seemed to overcome her crisis, and actually accepted her offer, changing into the Uniform. Glenn quietly stood up, dressed in his own uniform once again. The rest of the Arbiters and Enforcers gathered around Rosa and Mujo. A few moments later Rosa waved a hand in dismissal. "Go back to Riker's Edge, and await further orders for now. Heart. Joker. I want you two to remain here, I need to converse with you two in semi-private. Club, you need to go re-evaluate your strength in combat, even violet pulled her own weight and she's a full 20 levels behind you." She snapped her fingers, glancing at Diamond and Spade. "For being one of our newest members, Diamond, you did extraordinarily well. Spade, you could have done a bit better than you did, but i wont complain since you made it out of the few blunders you made expertly." now she turned to Moon, Sun, and Star. "As usual, you three excelled in combat, and in keeping everyone buffed and healed. Good work." A few moments, the rest of her group left, teleporting out of the area, leaving just herself, Jon, Violet, Mujo, and Glenn.

@Morgenstern

[Morgenstern 1]

It seems that his words angered Violet and her retaliation upset him a little. Perhaps a bit too forcefully, his eyes dug into hers as he spoke the words, "You are forgetting about the rest of Aincrad. Whether one guild is safe isn't the same if the rest of them are." He didn't care who suffered casualties are not. Hidden's group was strong enough to take on someone if they really wanted. 'Rosa's guild was just prepared. I doubt whoever they are knows that she is coming.' His eyes dulled a bit as he lost focus with the world around him, receding into his thoughts. 

He refocused his attention, Mina's face now red as a beet. 'Was it the flowers? Really that all it took?' A smile settled on his own face. "Eh, really its fine. I like to help where I can. Also, remember that I had a second motive coming here. Even if I did end up failing in the end." He rubbed the back of his head, a feeling of guilt sweeping over him. 'I failed to do just about anything. I guess the Green-haired girl could provide some intel, but it might be hard to press that out of her'

He refocused on Mina, a smile lighting up his face. "So, what are you doing? I'm free all night not that you won't be at my house already buuuut" He chuckled. A hearty one that hadn't been heard from him in a while. She didn't know it, but he was putting a lot on her. On one girl, he had placed his hopes, his dreams, his happiness. In the hole that caved in his soul, he had filled her into it. The reason he had attached himself was so quickly because he began leaning on her, the weight of everything being lessened by her. He held out his hand for her to hold. She was a rose, simple in nature. However, he had become entranced by he flower and was willing to accept any of the thorns that she possessed. 

 

Mujo's eyes widened as Rosa asked her and Heart to say. The way she spoke to her, she called her Joker. It was almost odd to hear the name come out of the girl's name so casually. She shook her head.With this group, at this time she was Joker. 

'Joker' she mouthed, closing her eyes. A smile took place on her lips and when her eyes opened they were a little cheerful, a little sad, a little crazy, a little wild. She assumed her new identity, taking the name to the fullest. She was a master actress, able to assume any role to her way. She would use that ability to help her new friends, her new family as they called themselves. "Whatcha need, boss?"