Slipstream: Genesis #2. The Unstoppable Force Paradox

[Endgame]

Slipstream: Genesis

What happens when an Irresistable Force
Meets an Immovable Object?

The pain was crippling. Unbelievable. To a child of only twelve, it was unimaginable. Like nothing he had experienced in his entire life: he doubled over in pain, screaming to the heavens for mercy, to anything or anyone that would listen to him. He would do anything to stop this torment. It felt as if something within him was forcing it's way out, and indeed, it was.

But the heavens did not hear his cries. They burned red, silently denying him his answer. He was young, but he knew what red meant. Green mean go. Red meant stop. Ajay screamed again, his insides twisting as they were being tied in a knot. He fell to the ground, the pain of the rock slamming against his body insignificant to that which was dominating his entire being. Wave after wave of primal rage burned through his synapses, his fists clenching. He struggled to pull his fragmented thoughts together, losing himself in the cyclone of rage and pain. His name was Ajay. He held onto that thought. His name was Ajay. That wasn't who he wanted to be, though. He wanted to be called Ajax. His parents had read him a story once. He loved the story of Ajax, a powerful, unstoppable warrior. Ajay was small, even for his age, thin and lithe. Everyone pushed Ajay around. They told him what to do, what to say. If he was Ajax, they'd never push him around.

Ajax was the perfect him. At night, he remembered, he'd lay in his bed, Envisioning himself as Ajax. Muscles bigger then any bodybuilder's. Taller then any human. Massive. Ajax was unbeatable.

Like the one's he'd seen in the park, mere minutes ago. The ones that fought the monsters. He wanted to fight too. But he was too small, too weak.

That was when the pain broke through again, as a massive hand, twice the size of any human's, forced it's way from his chest, his skin parting bloodlessly to allow it passage. It was followed by an arm the size of a tree trunk, the same diamater as his own chest, emerging as if from nowhere, even though there was no space inside him to store it.



One week later

Ajay smiled, letting the pain wash over him. It had become... almost bearable now. From the moment it had first happened, that night one week ago, he had been practicing. Dragging the beast out and in, out and in, over and over. It was almost natural now. Like clockwork.

Ajay and Ajax spoke as he slept. His other self talked in his mind, telling him of the power he now commanded. No more was he weak and powerless. Ajax was his strength. They wouldn't push him around anymore. They wouldn't tell him what to do. They wouldn't tell him what to eat, or what was good for him, or when he could watch TV.

And Ajax had told him more then that. There were others like him. They could still tell him what to do. Ajay didn't like that. Ajay would have to beat them, show them he was the strongest.

Genesis Arc Episode 2: The Unstoppable Force

[Chaotic Dreams]

Waking up to his phone alarm, Alan reached over and clicked the button to make it stop. He checked the time... he'd slept seven minutes past the alarm anyway. Throwing the blanket back, he sat on his mattress, slouching over and grabbing his head in his hands.

It was a week today since the News Years Eve party in Central. It still echoed in his mind every morning he woke up. The flashes of events that happened on that night. He could sometimes hear Jett when he was alone, and once had a short conversation, then left him silent again. He had tried to 'slip' him out one night at a small park near his flat during the week, only to have a group of kids laugh at a twenty year old looking like he's constipated.

Why did it happen? And the others, what do we have in common? Why does he have my nickname? Is he what I want to be? Questions, flooding his mind, but he couldn't answer any of them. He stood up quickly, shaking his head, and began looking for his pants. Grabbing a pair of 3/4 denim pants, Alan slipped his legs through, zipped the fly and buttoned it up. It was way too hot for a shirt, so he walked out of his room towards the fridge.

He opened the fridge, grabbed the milk bottle, and drank right from it... his morning ritual. Finishing off a bit, Alan replaced the cap and dropped it back in the door shelf. Quickly scanning the fridge for food, he noticed the roast from last night in clingewrap, and went for it. Grabbing the plate, and then a sliced piece of meat, Jett suddenly had a quick word... "Mmm, my favourite. Roasted to perfection." A small laugh followed, then nothing.

After a few moments of silence, Alan thought only one thing.Why does you torment me so much....

Because you need to get stronger worm... was all the reply he received.

[Bleeding Soul]

Lane groans in his sleep as he starts to see various images behind his eyelids. The first to show was one of Kazuma fighting against the tree which was quickly followed by the death of the creature. He then notices the sight of Sineed's body in her car, hit head on by a person fleeing from the concert. He then sees a woman's face with short black hair and cat ears, if you could figure. The final image that appears to him is himself being held by the throat of a giant of a man that is the pure embodiment of a sterotypical God to those that believe in that sort of thing. It's that image alone that forced him to wake up in a start which causes the little girl next to him to wake up. He just blinks to himself as he tries to remember if he went to bed alone that night and comes up with the fact that he did go to bed alone. He lowers his gaze to the girl in the covers next to him and blinks.

After a few seconds he jumps out of the bed in a delayed freak-out and yells, "What the hell are you doing in here?!"

The girl groans from being woken up early and looks at him. "Lane, I'm thirsty. Could you get me something to drink?" Lane just sighs as he remembers how he had to go and stay at yet another friend's house since the owner of the one he was staying at died in the chaos. He then thinks about how the guy's little sister seems to have fallen for him, since she doesn't seem to go anywhere that Lane doesn't go, and how his friend has called him a pedo just for fun. Lane just sighs and says, "Fine, I'll get you some water but only if you promise to sleep in your own bed. Your parents would kill me if they saw you in here." The twelve year old girl only giggles and says that she told them already and that they were fine as long as he didn't try anything. Lane just walks out of the room in a slump and says, "No support what-so-ever."

You should take her out on a date. She'd love that. The voice in his head breaks out into a soft laughter which angers Lane. Shut up before I make you. The voice laughs even more and says, How the hell are you gonna make me?! I'm inside your head! Lane just smiles and thinks, That's one of the worst places to be. You have no idea how many annoyin' thoughts can go through my mind and how quickly. And you're right at the heart of it all. Lane listens to the audible gulp and smiles as he walks into the kitchen. He greets his friend Yuki Seto as he gets a glass and fills it with water. "Did you know that Saki-chan is still sneaking into my room at night?" The man nods and says, "Yea, you pedo. And Mom and Dad both don't care as long as nothing happens."

Lane gulps at the look and smiles. "Hey, you saw how tired I was last night. I was out before my head hit the pillah." He then downs the glass of water and refills it by a suggestion from Kazuma. "Oh yea! Me and some of the ninjas around here are goin' to the park tonight. Wanna go and see if you can keep up?" Lane shakes his head but then blinks as Kazuma starts to yell at him for being lazy. "On second thought, I'll go. It might even be fun." He then walks back into the room and hands the girl the water as he gets some of his clothes together to go and take a shower. "You better be out of bed when I get back, Saki-chan." The girl nods and quickly finishes the water just as Lane vanishes into the bathroom that he shares with Yuki.

[Athel]

Jan 7, 2009
7:13 PM


"Last day of winter break" Jonathan grumbled between spoonfuls of cereal. "This sucks. Hardly got to do anything I had planned to."

Hey, you might not have done everything you had planned to do, Lux said from his place next to the window. But you didn't plan me to happen and I did anyway.

"True, true" Jonathan replied after another spoon of Cheerios. "This has been one weird week."

Hey, it's 2009. It's going to get weirder.

"I suppose..." Jonathan said, then slurped the rest of the milk out of the bowl. He stood up from the table and walked into the kitchen. "A lot has happened since New Years" he thought as he placed his bowl in the sink. "Having a Creation is hard. Not hard as in having a pet. Different hard."

Jonathan had, without really wanting to, gotten into the routine of having Lux. Lux got energy from sunlight, photosynthesis style, and had to bath in it for a while every day. Those were pretty much his "meals". He didn't "excrete", thank goodness.

Lux would normally spend most of the day with Jonathan doing various things. Usually experimenting. Lux had no problem being Outside at night because he could feed on the reflected sunlight from the moon. But whenever it rained, he had to be Unslipped and come back inside Jonathan's mind and feed alternatively inside him. Slipping and Unslipping were still painful and hot, but Jonathan was slowly getting the hang of it.

"So, Lux" Jonathan said as he walked back into the dining room and stretched his arms back behind his head. "What the heck are we gonna do today?"

[Ulti]

Sarah stood in the middle of a dirt road. It was an odd road. The dirt was drenched in a red light. She turned toward the source of the light. A man stood there. It seemed like the red light was slipping off from his body. He started towards her. Sarah could see nothing but a wide grin on his face. She turned to run but found her feet gone. Her legs as well. In fact, she was nothing more than a head and torso floating in midair. She could not escape from this deranged man approaching her. She tried to scream. Her tongue was gone as well.

Mon dieu...

Sarah started with a jolt. Everything was a blur at first. What happened to the glowing man? Did she have all her body parts back? She felt like she was being smothered. Vision cleared, she saw the ceiling of her bedroom. She rose from her bed, throwing off the smothering blankets. She was in her room. Sunlight was peeking through her shutters, lighting up the area. She twisted her head towards her digital clock, gasped in pain and cursed silently for turning her head too quickly. It was almost eight o'clock.

"Just a dream. Never had one of those in a long time..."

Finalement! You awake.

Not so loud Exe! You know I am a grump when I wake up.

Exe gave a quick chuckle before silencing. Stretching, Sarah rose from her bed to start her daily routine. Make bed. Get dress. Brush hair. Brush teeth ( she did not have a taste for breakfast ). Here she would start any project she had to do. Since it was still winter break and all homework was completed, she was left to play any video games that still interested her.

That is the fifth pit you walked right into. You are in no state of mind to be playing these kind of games.

Of course Exe was right. He was always right. Despite a week after the event, Sarah could not stop herself from thinking about it. Hell, mythical creatures suddenly appeared. Why wasn't anyone concerned how this happened? Society was truly dimwitted. Tossing the controller away, she planned to see how exactly everyone else was reacting to this. It was relatively easy to get out of the house. Both parents were gone for work and god knows what her sister was doing. Thankfully, she didn't seem to care for her reason to leave the house.

"Time to do a little research Exe. Everyone cannot be this oblivious to what happened a week ago."

Be careful mon dieu. As that saying of your kind goes, curisoity killed the chat. Or chaton as the case may be.

You worry too much. I am just going around the city hotspots and see what the buzz is.

You truly believe if you ask about it, they will answer?

Who said anything about asking? Its like my saying goes. Close your mouth and you'll hear more.

[Electropop]

Rachel woke to the sound of her screaming. Images came to mind as she screamed even louder in her one-bedroom apartement. She gasped as she sat up and began to cry. Images she wanted burned out of her memory only seemed fair as it was. She looked at her phone and pressed the number she was hoping never to call again. She needed a fimliar voice.

It rang and rang. Till someone picked it up.

"Alan? Sorry to call you its Rachel. I..need to get out of my apartment badly. My work is destroyed..and Im in my little apartment and I just need to get the hell out! Please. If we could meet somewhere I'll pay for the lunch. Just get me the fuck out of here." She was blabbering when she was nervous..and sweaty from her nightmare.

"We could meet at Star Bucks on 7th Street and 8th. In a half hour?" She whispered hopefully.

You do need to get out dear...

Shut up. She responded in her head.

As you wish. Lightnings voice echoed in her head.

[The King]

Jan 1st, 2009 12:25 A.M.

"No, no I cant help right now...I feel myself slipping. You can't keep me here much longer. Your to weak minded and don't have the will right now. Don't worry I'll be back in time. I'll be in touch until then"
Tony's creation backed a few feet away from him, just far enough so they could still hear each other.

"Umm well....alright. I guess i'll see you later the TK?"
The man smirked slightly and shook his head
"Hmph, that's not my name kid, and if I come out looking like this next time. I'll punch you in the throat. Get it right. And oh..Happy New years."

Tony blinked in confusion. "Not your name? Then wha..." His sentence was cut short when his creation began to charge at him. Tony slung his arms to cover his face, closed his eyes and braced for impact. He was only met by a swift wind passing his body. When he opened his eyes his creation was nowhere to be found.

One Week's Pass
Tony paced down the sidewalk heading......well anywhere really. His headset on and his music blasting, it was a fairly nice day outside and he loved being out when the sun was shining. It made him feel like he was being productive. He sported his AE shirt and jeans along with his Nike's. The streets where busy with people heading many places. Work, stores, or maybe they where just enjoying being outside like he was. But why would anyone feel safe outside after what happened? Those monsters came out of nowhere, who's to say more wont just fall from the sky.

Tony still hadn't heard from his creation. Was that a good or bad thing? He was aware that the fact that he didn't know his name was a bad thing, maybe that's why he hadn't shown up again. He tried numerous times to communicate with him but nothing. Maybe he was just ignoring him. Either way, he knew that if he had this power inside of him, he wanted to harness it to the fullest.

"What could his name be? Hmmm?" Stepping off the edge of a curb something kicked in. His surroundings seemed to slow down.The music and his thoughts had drowned out what was going on. Tony had stepped out into active traffic and was about to be hit by a speeding car. Well not speeding anymore. He jumped back onto the sidewalk barely avoiding the car. People around gasped and rushed to see if he was ok. Others laughed and pointed. Was it really funny? People could be so ignorant in the most critical times.
"Im fine, im fine. Thank you."
Tony brushed himself off and turned his music down.
"It would be nice to see the outside world a few more times before you get us killed."
"Looks like I figured it out at the right time. Huh Rei?"
"Yea....you got it right."
"Alright so...you want to tell me a little something about this situation. I got all day."

Tony continued across the street and headed into a small convenience store to buy a drink.

[Rikken Omnious]

"Time for you to wake up sleepyhead," He thought he heard someone say inside his head.
"You know its really annoying when you say that,"

"That's half the reason I do it you know," The voice inside his head replied with a note of sarcasm in its voice.
Chris exhaled deeply before sitting up, His hair was untidy from sleep. He sat on the end of his bed and had a yawn before standing up.

"Lack of oxygen to the brain again Chris?" mocked the voice.
"Shuddup." replied Chris as he walked to the kitchen to fetch himself something to eat. He was going to text Jett shortly to see what they were upto today. He walked over to the table and took some bread and fed it into the toaster. He walked to the fridge and removed the butter and some ham before closing it again.
Uggggh, Your going to eat that? said the voice disgusted by what he'd pulled out of the fridge.
"Yes im going to eat this, your not the one eating it so get over it." He said to the voice before shutting the door. Grabbing the now cooked toast from the toaster, he continued to butter it and put ham on it. He ate his breakfast and put his plate on the sink. Before going to the bathroom to have a shower and get changed. He txted Jett before he entered the shower. He'd most likely have a response by the time he got out.

[sephiroth2]

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

"Well cya Simon, talk to ya tomorrow!" some of his friends said as Simon smiled a little and replied back with a slight wave of his hand. Placing his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, the 20 year old walked away from his friends, trying to keep warm as the snow started to fall softly around the area, bringing the cold with it. Deep within his thoughts, Simon couldn't help but be constantly drawn back to what happened a mere week ago.

Simon always liked mythology, even when he was younger he always had a fascination with all the many kinds that existed around the world. From the many Shinto types that existed in Asia, to one of his favourites as the great wars of Norse in Europe, and though there were many others he loved to read on, these two, were what stimulated him the most.

Imagining the great earth shattering battles of Thor and the Leviathan, or Susanoo and the Yamato no Orochi, such awe inspiring epic battles could do nothing but grow his imagination. Though Simon was quite a quiet person even to the age he was now, his thoughts and imagination could be described as nothing but dark and destructive, though he would never do it himself, leaving them to only gather within his mind.

This proved useful, as Simon became quite interested in writing and so applied for a college where he could use his knowledge. The characters, the environments, the atmosphere he could create with only a few simple sentences, showed that Simon was to be quite a promising student. Leaving the college a little later then like what he did most of the week, Simon found that it had already grown dark and so found the cold night air even more annoying.

As soon as he reached the apartment he rented further down the street, a sudden explosion of noises filled his head for the briefest of moments, causing him to swerve around in all directions, trying to see what he just heard. Nothing, nothing at all, no matter how hard he looked around or into the air, nothing could be seen to explain were the sounds came from. Dismissing it that it could have been just his imagination, Simon shuck his head, and so proceeded up to his apartment. Just as he was about to take off his jacket, the same noises from before appeared again, only this time there were even louder then before.

Running out of his apartment and back down into the street, Simon constantly heard the sounds coming from somewhere within the direction of the park, though as soon as he came close to the area, a sight he never thought was possible suddenly was seen infront of him. Mythical beasts, huge obviously powerful creatures were fighting against others in huge fights across the area. One of these beasts in particular was interesting to Simon, as he knew exactly what it was. Sleipnir, the great horse of the Norse God Odin, one of his favourites in mythology.

Staring from a distance at the magnificent creature, Simon suddenly got a humongous sharp pain in his skull, causing him to clutch his head trying desperately to make it stop. Stumbling out of the area still holding his head, the pain seemed to ease off the further he got from the park, and as soon as he arrived to the doorstep of his apartment, the pain was all but gone. Feeling as if his energy was completely drained, Simon fell unconscious onto the doorway of his apartment, not waking up until it was morning once again.

Breaking out of his thoughts as he came to the end of the street, Simon sighed softly before crossing the street to the apartment he had close to the college. Every day that week since he saw what had happened, Simon had gone back to the park, but it looked as if nothing had happened. Taking out his keys, Simon opened and entered his apartment, quickly closing it to keep what heat was left inside. Hanging his jacket up, Simon made a small sandwich for himself, before sitting down and trying to make sense of what happened that night.

Clutching his head as another pain went through him, Simon tried and succeeded in finishing the sandwich he made for himself, before finally deciding to once again go back to the park to see if anything had changed. something to show that what happened there, was real and not just some simple hallucination. Putting on his jacket again, Simon left his apartment and walked down the street towards the park, feeling the pain that continued to appear and disappear within his head get ever more persistent the closer he got, but he knew, if he was to have any chance of figuring any of this out, he needed to push through it.

[Jopari]

Will stood on the roof of his family’s flat, staring up at the clouds and letting his mind wander. A flicker of fear and pain crossed his face as his mind slipped back a week unbidden. He reflexively grabbed his left arm, remembering the break. In his mind’s eye he could see the Manticore tense to leap at him.

“Calm, my creator,”

Iverum’s voice was there in his head again. It’d been like this since she’d killed the Manticore and melted away into little bits of light, and he’d been able to hear her. “Ive?” Will asked, blinking back the memories.

“Always here,” William smiled, comforted slightly by her presence. “What are you?” Will had a hunch, but he wasn’t quite sure yet. He’d been putting off the question, wanting to be sure that he hadn’t gone insane in the mayhem. Ive smiled, but Will wasn’t sure how he knew that.

“You.” There was a pause as Will thought this through, but before he could speak Ive began again. “At least, what you want to be.”

Will wasn’t sure how to take this. Had he just told himself that he wanted to be a woman? He started to laugh, scaring away the few birds roosting on the roof. “Are you saying that I need a sex change?” William asked, incredulous.

“Not as such. I meant that I represent what you desire to be, perhaps there is something about a female nature that inspires you.” Ive was right on some level, William conceded in his thoughts. When he’d first seen her he’d been stunned by the beauty and strength of her, and frightened by the power she held. He knew that she was something not earthly before seeing her demon arm. His left arm itched again as he thought of her.

“Well, we’re partners, correct?” he asked. Inside his head he felt her nod and smile at him. “Then we should go find out what happened on New Year’s.”

“Agreed, William,” Ive said. Together they headed off to see what information they could find about that night. The first stop, Central Park.

[Joy]

A week. It had been a week since Dillon had created another being from his own mind. The complications behind such a creature were enormous... and his mind coudln't stop racing to comprehend the effects of such a being. How? How could that have happened?

He walked through the streets , oblivious to those around him. In the week's time, he had trained himself to ignore them. If he didn't... he would have to fight her. He'd have to fight the urge to slip her and stop their arguing, stop their pitiful acts of agression. The hypocrisy. He had wanted this type ofa ction... he wanted to be able to attack relentlessly and quell any enemy that sat before him... but now having this power... it was too much. Her strength, it was unstoppable. He had to not think about them in order to pacify her. He had to.

Within the week alone, she had slipped 28 times. 28 times where someone came so close to being hurt. He stopped her... he did. But it came with the price of blocking himself out from the outside world. Trapped... trapped within his own mind. He needed a way out. But she... she, nothing worked. She talked to him constantly, and he had responded for a while. Testing her... figuring her out.

Her thinking was predictable to him now. He was able to read her through his past desires and needs. She was everything he wanted to be in a way. He needed her out... he did. The horrible thing was though... he truly didn't. He liked having such power... but it scared him. He couldn't let people get hurt. His anger... his feelings of wanting to put an end to the people's quarrel's around him fueled this beast.

Oh the irony in her presence. Beautiful as she was... she was destructive. Learning... learning how to control her was becoming easier. He had to feel threatened... or he had to piss her off in certain ways. He had to strain his mind to the ends of the earth to be able to quell her beastly actions.

Oh, and lest we forget of the pain it took during those 28 slips. Still hadn't fully gotten used to it. The flashes... how they racked is mind. His entire being seemed to momentarily flare and catch flame only to die down and repeat hundereds... thousands... trillions of times. It hurt... but he had numbed the pain.

As he walked the streets, he felt assured he could looka t the poeple and feel happy of their presences. Their... bickering did not hold in his mind as bad. He had overcome that. Need spawns innovation.

The need for her now resided in his protection of them from themselves... particularly the one's he cared about it. To have them hurt... he needed to protect them.

But if he did... they may die. He needed a way to pacify her... control her. If only he knew a way. Oh god how it hurt.

Slowly... without an expression on his face, Dillon traveled towards the park... wanting so desperately to find a way to control her.

[Ulti]

"Well, this sucks."

After a few hours walking around the city, Sarah deemed her previous hypothesis true. No one seemed to remember any mythical beasts. They didn't even seem to care about the meteor. It was a new year. New beginnings. New possibilities. Time to keep moving forward. Those who dwell on the past are left behind. Such are the risks of a high tech society. There is no time to think, to look around, or even to breath. Chugging towards the end of a dark and endless tunnel.

Sarah decided to do a little investigation at the first crime scene; the park. Of course, she should have checked this place sooner. Maybe there still would be the marks of the battle or the remains of Sleipnir or Bashe. But as luck would have it, the park did not hold any answers. It even appeared that that event didn't occur. No holes. No bloodstains or rotten bones. Even the plants were in proper condition. How was this even possible?

Someone or something does not want others to know about this. I wonder who. And why. Curieux...

Curious indeed. But there was no one to ask or even to debate with about this. Actually, there was. Cody and Josh. They both were present. Maybe they found out something new. Oh what was the use! Sarah had no idea where they were. At least that was Josh's case. Flipping out her phone, she dialed Cody's number. That boy better not be busy today. She had to confide in someone other than Exe ( much to his displeasre ).

"Cody? Its Sarah. Look, if you can, can you come to the park? I need to talk with you about what happened a week ago."

[Chaotic Dreams]

The next hour seemed like an eternity to Alan. His mind raced with thoughts of what Jett had left him with. You need to get stronger worm... He was about to snap when he heard his phone begin to ring.

He pulled it out of his pocket, and before he even got to say hello, Rachel rushed him with a quick burst of words. He managed to catch her whisper to meet at Star Bucks in half an hour.

"Righto, just slow down and take a few breaths. I'll be there, ok? Cya." He hung up the phone, and a quick beep told him he'd got a message. Opening the message, it was Chris, seeing what he was up to. He replied back that his morning had just filled up, and he'd catch up later.

Heading back to his room, Jett let out a cruel sound, one similar to a pervert on the street. Ignoring it, and finding his shirt and thongs, he dressed quickly, and grabbed his shoulder bag for carrying whatever he needed. He walked towards the door, and grabbed the keys on the way out, locking the door as he left.

During the entire walk, the same thought came to Alan's mind. Why? Why was everything happening the way it was? He couldn't understand it, so maybe talking to one of the others might help. Plus, itd been a week since he'd seen Rachel...

[Jopari]

((OoC: Advance warning: This post absolutely sucks. >.> I despise it. Sorry. For clarification, Will bumps into Sarah.))

William looked around at the park, but it was normal. Even the street where he had fought was normal, no mark from where the Manticore had fallen, and absolutely no body. Will wondered if the owners of the cars that had been crushed that night noticed anything at all. He gave up and wandered back into the park, not paying attention to where he was walking. His mind wandered with him, debating how to go about the next bit.

"We could watch the news," Ive suggested, but they'd tried it once already. No one seemed to have any clue about a myth running rampant on the street and killing a poor girl. Will had been sure that would have attracted attention, but no one matching her description was reported missing for the whole week. William sighed inwardly.

He couldn’t be the only one with someone like Ive, could he? Will hoped he didn’t have to handle this all alone. He needed someone to talk to about things, other than Ive, who was just as helpful as he was. Will had stopped paying attention to where he was walking and had focused inward entirely when he bumped into someone.

“I’m so sorry,” Will said quickly, apologizing to the girl he’d just bumped into. “Are you alright?” He hadn’t knocked her down, so he assumed she would be, but he had to be sure. Interacting with a stranger made him nervous, obvious from his slight constant shifting, but he had to be polite.

[Bleeding Soul]

Lane walks out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of navy blue jeans and a pair of white socks. He quickly finishes drieing off his hair with the white towel and looks over to the Japanese girl sitting on the foot of his bed. "I thought I told you to be out of my bed by the time I got out?" The girl just giggles and says that she's on his bed since she isn't under any of the covers. Lane just sighs as he thinks of how terrible it is to be outsmarted by a little kid when the adult has an IQ last meassured in the low 200s. He finally just shrugs off the thought and grabs his newest shirt, a brown long-sleeved shirt with three buttons on the neck. He quickly slides it over his head and down his torso before putting on the leather belt that he always wears and the pocket knife that was a birthday preasent. "Hmm. That blade isn't going to do much good for a man with your skill, Lane. Go to a store and get a new one. Lane mentally sighs at the words being spoken to him and thinks, "As if that could ever happen. In this world, Kaz, people don't suddenly attack with swords unless they're mentally insane." Kazuma laughs softly and says, "They don't summon super-powered creatures from their blood, now do they?" Lane thinks about the words for a second and says, "I'll get back to you on that one."

He then looks to the girl and notices how she's fully dressed in a Chinese dress style shirt covered in purple and apink flowers and a pair of black capri pants. "Hey, Saki-chan? You want to go with me to the park for a little bit? I need to check something out along the way." The girl nods and jumps up as Kazuma says, "Scoping out the terrain for the challenge with Yuki, you pedo?" "Hmm. I wonder what the square root of pi would be if it had an end to it. Come to think of it, didn't Chuck Norris claim that he knew what that last digit of pi was? I think it kinda interestin' that he didn't say what it was. He always claims the have counted to infinity twice. I wonder how long that numbe... ENOUGH ALREADY!!! DAMMIT YOU'RE GIVING ME A MIGRAINE!! Lane just smiles as he grabs his wallet and thinks, "Round one goes to Lane Daugherty with a flawless victory. I'll get you for that. Just you wait.

Along the way to the park, the two stop at a small store to get something to drink. Lane just happens to look outside of the store after paying for the drinks and notices Jet walking and looking a little bit like he's in a hurry. Curious, Lane takes Saki out of the shop with her coke in hand and yells across the crowd, though smaller than on the night that Kazuma and the other appeared. "HEY, JET! WHAT'S THE HURRY?!" Lane then makes his way to cut off the older man while keeping Saki close to him. "Hey, dude. What's the rush? And please tell me that you remember who I am." Lane admits to himself that it would be a little dissapointing to find that someone he fought with forgot about him, but he'd get over it. Wuss. You need to get in touch with your emotions a little more and use the hurt that you feel to train. Just shut up.