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Angela The trip takes hours. The roads are like veins within the city and the Black Silence insists on taking backroads rather than main roads even if they are on a flying superbike or teleporting. Nevertheless, periodically The Black Silence has to frown at shady looking characters (everybody in the City is a shady looking character) and they back off from whatever they were hoping to throw at the group. There aren't any Random Encounters in the Backstreets when someone like the Black Silence is escorting you--even those that aren't aware of her identity (which is most) can recognize her at least as a Grade 1. Nobody wants to mess with that.

As you travel, the Black Silence shares stories about the Red Mist like she hardly ever gets to have actual conversations and is making up for it all today. "There aren't any Colors quite as legendary as the Red Mist. Maybe Purple, she's trained a lot of great Fixers some of whom have become Colors themselves--but, you know, Colors are the freest people in the City but, personally speaking, the Outskirts are even freer... but that freedom comes with the price of a heck of a lot of danger so most people would love to trade some of their liberty for some of that safety if you get me."

"But the Red Mist, unlike even most Colors...she was renowned for taking only the jobs she really wanted but in actuality she was more like the hero of the Backstreets. She'd take jobs from people who couldn't pay, desperate people, people who could only really get out of the bad situation they were in if someone like her came along to lend a hand. Some people whispered she'd be the one who'd finally bring peace to the Backstreets but one day she just up and vanished. Poof! No warning, no nothing. In fact, nobody really know she had vanished at first, we just sort of all realized nobody knew where she went."

"But honestly, if she had stuck around and died in some impossible job, I don't think she would've been quite the legend she is today. Everybody's got their theories as to what happened. Me? I don't think she died. Some people say nobody'd advertise killing the Red Mist--too much notoriety--but me? I think she's still out there somewhere working on something big."

As they near the X on the map, The Black Silence raises her hand up, "Alright. We're nearly there. Seems like it's lurking in the old subway tunnels before W Corp made 'em obsolete."
Angela An escalator down--tucked away in an empty street corner like the City itself decided to leave it alone--is easy enough, though it'll be an awkward flying bike ride so the Black Silence reluctantly dismounts and says, "Thanks Big Guy. If something does happen to me I can count on you to tell the Mister yeah?" to Bercilak but she doesn't seem to be too worried and actually neglects to tell 'Big Guy' who 'The Mister' is--but maybe she just figures these Outsiders seem resourceful.

The trip down into the old tunnels takes longer than you'd expect and--no--the escalator is no longer functional AS an escalator, it's essentially just a strange staircase. But deep down there you end up in an old tunnel, pipes pumping enkephalin throughout the City have been placed where tracks used to be and concrete has been poured over to disallow ready access. As you move through the tunnels the Black Silence says, "Now these tunnels are used to transport Enkephalin. Sometimes thieves come in to try and siphon it off but only the truly desperate would linger down here for long...though I suspect we only have to worry about one big problem today." And it's dark down here, outside of the occasional flicker of an overhead light, rapidly decaying into non functionality.

The X on the map has started to move. Slowly at first then--quickly, even as you're approaching it.

"On your guard--" The Black Silence says before large swaths of flesh explode outward, focused on the Wonderlab Trio and the Black Silence. The Black Silence is about to slice away before it impacts her body but in the dark...

"Mommy...I'm sorry for almost eating you... But I've been good...I've only been eating the bad..."

The smell is starting to get real bad and the reason why is made apparent enough as the lights above flicker again, revealing scores of empty Sweeper helmets along the floor. At least a hundred.

"I ate...the drinkers... Now they don't drink anymore. I'll eat the bad guys with you now, Hello Hello Please Leave A Voicemail..." A fleshy bubble pop within the dark as another Kukuru, distinguishable by thick fleshy tendrils extending from their arms and harassing the Worbos, steps into view--smiling a vacant little smile.
Raziel Raziel will eventually phase back out of the spectral world and back into the physical one. Just in time to hear some lore about the city from the Black Silence.

"She sounds like someone you look up to," Raziel says, "She sounds more like a knight than a mercenary for hire. Doing things because she wants to, or because she does them in service of those weaker than herself," It/does/ give Raziel some hope that people here still act in such a way, even though it seems the worst of humanity seems to rule things.

When the pipes are pointed out, Raziel nods but does not understand the importance of the fluid to the power needs of the city... OR from where it comes. He does know that L-Corp is at the center of its production. However, such thoughts are interrupted, they're getting too close. Around the same time that the Black Silence says to be on guard, Raziel does something.

His hand manifests a long sword, spectral in nature from blade to hilt. His hand seems to have a death grip on the spectral hilt, and if you look closely it has a defined outline. The blade is serpentine in make, with a skull where the blade and hilt connect. The blade itself feels... hungry. Anytime you pay any attention to it, it's almost like it's looking back hungrily.

When Nothing There attacks, Raziel holds up one of his clawed hands, and a burst of psychic force attempts to first blowback the tendrils, and second attempts to hold them in place so that both groups could have some time to react to their assault.

'It was here that I saw... the smell I could tolerate, I have been dead far longer than not at this point. However... the helmets, the sheer amount of dead that this thing has killed... worse, the fact that it /addressed/ her as its mother...'
Kukuru Hours of teleportation are not fun, but Kukuru is fighting back all of her discomfort and fatigue with the power of grit, determination, and slowing down to really let Bercilak's bike get into the far distance before catching up. Fewer jumps means less overall effort, after all, and she needs to conserve it for whenever they all finally catch up with Nothing There. It's giving her plenty of time to think about how things have gone, too, especially about how much better things could have been if she had just listened to all those warnings so long ago.

It's not something she wants to bother anyone with, of course, but it's pretty easy to tell that she's got her head full with how few times she's done a water and food check on the way (only once an hour!). Listening to Black Silence's stories about the Colors helps break up the monotony, too, as does making direct eye contact with the shady looking characters to commit their faces to memory before waving gently in passing.

"The Red Mist... Sounds like a really nice person, mhm. It's too bad she disappeared like that, because it looks like a lot of people here need help."

She's got some ideas on what she could do to help, but that's something for another time. By the time her thoughts could even start coming together properly, they've reached the destination, and it's time to go down the escalator leading to who knows where. Expecting it to work despite seeing that it doesn't, Kukuru even stands at the top step for several seconds before realizing she has't moved and starts stepping down gingerly (unless/until someone reminds her she can teleport them down to go faster).

She's not worried about the Enkephalin thieves, or anyone that might want to use it themselves. Instead, her attention is solely on the sounds of something approaching their position quickly, but she doesn't put up her guard as directed. Even when flesh explodes at some of their number, Kukuru just keeps walking ahead like there isn't a direct danger to herself, staring wide-eyed at the familiar figure in front of her.

"Therey? You're here...! Are you..." A sense of relief and disgust hits her at the same time, the former from knowing that Nothing There is relatively safe, the latter because her enhanced sense of smell is really working against her with the stench being as strong as it is down here. Fighting back her gag reflex at the smell, Kukuru manages to break into a small smile while stepping forward slowly. "You're okay. I'm okay. I didn't get hurt, see?"

She gestures at her head vaguely, and it's true that there aren't any visible injuries! She just looks tired, probably from teleporting so much, but she keeps approaching Nothing There with her guard visibly down. Looking over at Black Silence and the Wonderlab Trio, she bites her lip briefly at the exploding flesh coming at them, and then she turns back to the spitting image of herself. "Don't worry, they're friends. We just want to-"

They need to get them back to Lobotomy Corporation. It should be an easy decision, even if it could be a hard fight. Just force Nothing There into containment somehow, because her family comes first. "-bring you home, so you and everyone else can be safe and happy again. Away from the bad guys. This place here... It's not good for you. It's not good for anyone. Come on. Please?"

She needs to be harder than she is right now.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Bercilak, at least, doesn't seem to mind the Black Silence's insistence on backroads--that's probably congruous with his earlier wish for guidance from Catt. The Color is the expert here; the hunt is better off following her advice.

...that freedom comes with the price of a heck of a lot of danger so most people would love to trade some of their liberty for some of that safety if you get me.

    "I gate thee," says Bercilak, his bucket helm dipping. "And I bileve the Red Mist is stil tolif, so als. Som-thing thou bisaien tolingeres, in my hed," he notes. "'To bartre liberte for saufnesse.' -What- liberte thou shalt bartre, and from what thou shalt be sauf, shalt greithli be differenced, from world to world. On som, the bartren shalt be justeful. And on som, hit shalt be injust."

    "Whanne-so a master of bestes shalt journei thither--" Still driving with one arm, he shifts the axe on his shoulder, to motion with the butt of the haft, to the streets down below. "--and bisaien he, 'Ei! Gavelen hath I al the bestes which hert and iete and afese thee! The prising for the liberte of pes shalt be fidelite to me,' what, thanne, is the prising of *in*fidelite?" asks the Green Knight. "To be fucked up bi the bestes whanne-so he unhardels theim, that is what. So, yea, I 'gate hit,'" he says. "But I am overwari of ani-man who wouldst wel-sett such a covenaunt, and so als shouldst thou al be, for 'tis swich men that verily *dight* 'povren, wanhopli folk.'"

    Landing near the escalator, Bercilak dismounts the bike.

Thanks Big Guy. If something does happen to me I can count on you to tell the Mister yeah?

    "Verily, ak that 'if' thou spake shalt do mo uphoven thanne me, at the gymnacioun. Bahahaha!" He seriously doubts anything is going to happen to her. And even on the slim chance there is a real risk to a seasoned fighter, the quiet part is that he isn't going to let anything happen.

    The escalator might creak with the weight of the Knight upon it, the concrete of the supply tunnel surely sending echoing clanks down the tunnel. His entire demeanor had been so calm, up until it isn't. In one fluid, terrifyingly quick motion, the axe is unshouldered, its grip loosened up to the bottom third of the haft, and its blade swung out in a deadly, interdicting arc meant to cut off the advance of those tendrils--a warning, warding strike which nevertheless cuts a deep gouge into the wall of the tunnel where the knight's oppressive reach ends.

    Just a second later, the Disciplinary Team, the Black Silence, and any other allies in close proximity to Bercilak see an unobtrusive, but undeniable, augmented-reality notification window in the corner of their vision:

    Imminence of Carnage appears, along with some unknown type of file extension. Thinking about it with more than passing curiosity shows details, in an equally unobtrusive tooltip--but the gist is much more easily felt, intuitively, by the way the hairs on the back of the neck stand up, and adrenaline surges without *overtaking.* Reflexes are wired up, allowing potential attacks to be avoided more easily--and movement, especially with the intent to attack, seems inherently easier. Weapons will find their marks more easily, be they fists, implements or even firearms.
Ozhira     As Black Silence explains a few things about Red Mist and the City, the red tie currently decorating Kukuru's neck... is a tie. It does tie things. Truly a mystery why Ozhira gave that to the horned woman in the first place. The Beast itself is nowhere in sight, evidently sneaking on a different route as they indicated earlier.

    It's only after descending into the tunnels, when the stench of dead meat starts to overpower, that the tie does something ties don't normally do. It lets out a deep, bone-rattling rumble that shudders through the concrete and into the dirt and stone behind the walls.

    After this, the accessory unties itself and falls off Kukuru's body, landing on the ground with a remarkably wet, heavy sound. It's already growing, swelling into a grotesque indistinct red shape which gradually resolves into Ozhira's human-like disguise pulling themselves out of a pool of opaque red sludge as one might exit a swimming pool.

    As bloody crimson resolves into the recognizable colors of human skin and clothing, Ozhira steps forward. Even closer than Kukuru has. The look on their face is unreadable, likely due to the Beast's fleeting attention when it comes to actually relaying how their collective consciousness is feeling. Their steps are, however, purposeful.

    "We would-- have liked to see you grow, beyond this. Do you try to follow us? Have you grown?"

    Elsewhere, something decidedly inhuman suddenly changes direction, slithering down the side of a building. A thick red sludge, nearly indistinguishable from blood, spreads out across the sidewalk and then down into a drainage grate.
Wonderlab Trio "Better to not have to fight after all, 'specially since I'm retiring soon."

    Rose is enraptured with the Black Silence during the flight, listening to her stories of the Red Mist, but that comment in particular makes her pause. Taii is listening in too, from the opposite side of the bike, but both due to the ambient noise from the increased distance and their own nervousness towards the Color, they let Rose take the lead in the conversation.

    "Retiring? What for?" Rose keeps their arm wrapped around the chassis of the bike, EGO whip coiled around their arm to guarantee they don't slip off, but otherwise sits comfortably as the wind screams by. "Not to be impolite, but it's not a position most people end up *retiring* from. Have you decided it's too risky to keep going?"

"They really remind me of him too in a way..."

    Completely shamelessly, Rose beams at that, watching Catt until they slip through a crack in two dilapidated buildings and vanish through routes the hoverbike can't follow. "Then your partner really must be an incredible person."

    Taii, meanwhile, clambers towards the front end of their side of the bike, pulling themselves along the side of the chassis and squeezing their eyes shut so tightly that tears stream out at each wildly too-fast turn. The goal is, of course, to be near enough to talk to Hibiki, plastered across the front, without shouting.

    "-h, Hib---?" It doesn't work. They have to shout anyways. "Sorry! Can you hear me?! I was saying-- you were there, when--" A nervous glance back to the Black Silence, to make sure she isn't listening in. "When Nothing There breached, right?! How did that happen?! How did Outsiders end up involved with L-Corp in the first place?!"

    They pause after the rush of questions, then look suddenly anxious. "I'm just curious! I'm only shouting so you can hear me! I'm sorry!"

    Meanwhile, Catt: gets no conversation. Even if they tried to sneak up on Meika, which they consider doing briefly and then decide against, Meika's sensory abilities would stop them from getting close. Instead they just mutter to themselves, words under their breath made silent even to their own ears by the speed they're running along rooftops.

    "Leading fresh meat to the most dangerous Abnormality... Catt should be excited to see what happens. But..." Their black eyes dart in the direction of the hoverbike, engines audible through layers of concrete and masonry of blocks of buildings between them. "Catt won't die. Nothing else matters."

"... but, personally speaking, the Outskirts are even freer..."

    "They're not." Rose's voice is firm, shaking their head. "If they can't eat regularly, if they can't sleep without being afraid... that's not being free. Even without the laws of the City, the freedom to not have to worry for their lives is the most important kind of freedom."
Wonderlab Trio     Just after the Kukuru and Bercilak groups converge at the entrance to the subway, Catt leaps out of the window of a neighboring building, springing off the empty frame to clear the last few dozen feet with a silent landing. They straighten up, clothes settling back into place-- their EGO gear was absolutely visible for a moment, there-- and stare at the group with wide eyes. Their silence is... because they're trying to catch their breath and can't speak without making that obvious.

    The trio leads the way in, with Catt in front. Taii calls back over their shoulder, "So, um, for those of you Outsiders who don't know... and... the Black Silence... N-- the monster we're hunting can't be physically harmed. The technical term is red damage, but basically, it's too tough and heals too quickly for you to cut it, smash it, and... so on."

    "Stop. Catt smells--" Catt puts their arm out to prevent the group from moving forwards, right before Nothing There's tendrils swing at them. The light flickers out, and the next feeble incandescent glow gleams off of a golden weapon, thirty feet up in the air, Catt being midair with a golden spoon weilded in both hands and a wild look in their eyes.

    Rose isn't fast enough to dodge, knocked backwards through the tunnel. Their overcoat is immediately shredded, revealing the stark white suit beneath, splashed with red fabric like bloodstains. A fleshy whip coils out of their sleeve, sliding into their hand, and when they swing it through the air, a leechlike mouth latches onto a tendril of Nothing There, and it pulsates like an esophagus.

    "Taii! My EGO only does red damage! I can't hurt it! You stay with the Captain, I'll hang back and stop it from getting any further!"

    "Got it--!" Taii pulls a golden rod with a crossguard and ring to grab out of their pant leg, swinging it up in a smooth motion to deflect an incoming tendril. The wake of Chignon's swing leaves a thick white fog, swirling in place, and after a thrust at !Kukuru leaves a second cloud, Taii steps through it and appears back at the first, flash-stepping midswing.
Hibiki Tachibana     For someone with a title like 'The Black Silence', she sure is chatty. That's not a bad thing though, and as long as the din of Bercilak's bike isn't drowning anything out, Hibiki is a pretty attentive listener. It tells her a lot of details about things that she hadn't intuited before. The way she talks about the Outskirts sounds like she has some familiarity to it...

    ...And the way she talks about the Red Mist really does speak to how her reputation was. Even ten years later, and the top Fixers of the City have this kind of view of her. "The hero of the Backstreets..." Ruminating on that title, Hibiki remains staring forward as they drive ahead. "...The way she was, it's no wonder people thought of her like that. She must've been a lot of people's 'hero'."

    There's a vaguely affirmatory noise after that, until Taii gets her to look back over her shoulder. Her voice is just kind of naturally able to be loud enough, this close to Taii, she doesn't have to shout a lot to get a word back in. "It's a bit of a long story! But as far as how it happened, it...there was something else really bad we had to deal with at the same time." Multiple of them, really. "There was a breach in the facility itself, and...we couldn't stop it from happening. None of it..." She has a grimace at that, going silent as they depart into the subway system.

    It's dark. She can't see, so a hand remains clasped around the pendant hanging from her neck. Her own senses give her a feeling of warning before everything abruptly gets loud, and her head turns in the direction of the Wonderlab gang. "...! Taii, Rose! Watch out!" She backsteps, the back of her heel hitting into an empty helmet, her voice catching in her throat after a glance back down towards it.

    And then, towards the sound of that disgusting smell and sound--towards the 'Kukuru' walking out at them. Hibiki sharply inhales, although she doesn't make to transform or move to fight right away. She wants to see--if Kukuru can get through to the Abnormality first. That's an opportunity that she deserves to have, at least in her mind. After everything that's happened. And...

    "Give her one chance," she says, mainly towards the Wonderlab agents and the Black Silence, her brow furrowing while moving to physically get in the way of some of those encoraching tendrils. If Nothing There is only targeting the unknown actors...then it should hesitate at familiar faces.

    Right? "If there's anyone they might listen to...it's Kukuru." Saying that, Hibiki looks back towards Kukuru, her body tense and ready to move. This whole situation...

    ...makes her sick, in a pit of her stomach. Maybe it's just the smell. She can't afford to not be prepared to act, though. With Bercilak's enhancements, she doesn't necessarily have to transform instantly and risk making Nothing There even more aggressive, before Kukuru gets her chance.
Dysnomia     "Aren't you supposed to have the same rank as her, or something?" Mia's voice resonated in the ears of those on and near Berc's bike, as she traveled her own way, fluttered through the backstreets skies with a keen expertise. Ethereal wings guided her in an expert glide, pushed along at a steady pace, easily keeping up with Berc as he chased the mark on the map.

    She knew enough to know that the whereabouts of the Red Mist couldn't be leaked to this girl. It was difficult to connect the rosy, beautiful image that the Black Silence painted to the terse, aggressive, closed-minded little brain in a box.

    But that was the way of things, wasn't it? 'Heros' were fetted and rotten inside. "Do her stories keep you safe when these sweepers roll through? Did anything she do actually change ANYTHING?"

    Their pace slowed, and her chance for discourse with the curiously named Black Silence was cut short, as the group descended to ground level, and below. The flickering lights did little but but provide ambience for Dysnomia, her eyes thoughtlessly flickering to new wavelengths, the visible colors of the subway fading as she relied further on ultraviolet hues.

    Given that, it is perhaps understandable how quickly she reacted.

    A program sang in Dysnomia's head, she felt her body quickening, faster, her attention keener--One of Phreak's tricks?--No time. Move, now.

    She felt the need, and blindness in the dark, of the Black Silence as clearly as she heard her voice. She opened her mouth to breathe plasma onto the ground, to light up the subway--No. The Enkephalin. Would it ignite...?

    Mia let loose a frustrated, too-deep growl. a silver-blue mist began to spread out from her body, billowing outward, spreading through the subway in rivulets of shining gas...Sprouting claws and claws and claws. Tens and tens of them, all trying to catch and hold back the walls of meat.
Meika Kirenai     It's a strange feeling to get to revel in the rush of dashing rooftop to rooftop on the journey Chevalier Vermillion's tackling by herself. She can't shake the feeling that there are eyes on her, but for once, it's not like it matters all that much. As the time burns away in her exertion, the constant focus of timed jumps and picking out the hoverbike's direction, it's almost easy for it to slip from her mind that- -Right. This isn't just for fun. People are still at risk.

    Leaping down from one last building, Vermillion's descent is less like a fall and more like a slide, as if on rails or a path that just isn't there. Ribbons stream in the wind, and skates click quietly on ground impact, only a handful of moments after the hoverbike's crew dismount.

    "...Made it." She adds to the group, quietly, words inserted between lightly-heaving breaths. It barely matters if the faint tremble in her limbs is from activity or anticipation. Eager to keep moving, when the subway escalator is pointed out, she throws a nod to the Black Silence, kicks off with a metallic ringing, and vaults onto the escalator's handrail, sliding down it feet-first.

    "Catch you all at the bottom!" She calls, voice clearer than it should be at the pace she's descending. I've always wanted to do that...

    She does, in fact, wait at the bottom, in the mildew and the dark. Her nose wrinkles, and she taps her heel, the faint echoing sound of it enough for her to suss out her surroundings.

'Now these tunnels are used to transport Enkephalin.'

    "Oh, like... gas pipelines? The magical girl scratches the side of her head for a second, trying to think. "Is siphoning it dangerous...? With like, pressure.. and stuff? It's.. is that something to be careful of breaking, if there's a fight, um- Miss..?"

'On your guard--'

    Vermillion's hockey stick is yanked into a fighting stance, her own posture lowering, and knees bending. Flesh erupts outwards, and even before the lights flicker, the magical girl kicks into action. Concrete and tile crack with the force as she sets off, propelling her enough to nearly run against the tunnel wall, and get a better angle of attack. Where the light isn't, red sparkling tracelines clearly mark her path, fading after a split second.

    She redirects like a bullet, a burst of violent sound shaking the tunnel wall, and soars to pull Rose out of the way of the tentacle attack by the back of their collar. By the time the lights flicker back on, a bit of the flickering red aura building up in Vermillion's arms shifts into the length of her hockey stick, and another concussive burst sends her into an offensive charge. Something There may be able to shrug off the impact of the blow she hits it with, but as the pulsing magic slips from where it is in her implement, to the tendril's themselves, and begins to grow and spread, a limning halo of shrieking metal-against-glass noise covers all along the connected flesh, and begins to tear into them.

'Give her one chance,'

    "Y-yeah? Haven't you just heard she's been *eating* people? W-why don't you talk about chances when she's not- when there's not- Hrngh!" She intercepts and bats aside a now-glowing lashing tentacle, catching it in the crook of her hockey stick and launching it into the ground hard enough to crack it. "Even if they were bad people, that's not... That's not..."
Angela EARLIER

The Black Silence says, "Well, hoping to settle down and have a family. Found a man of my dreams and I don't need money. He proposed in the goofiest spot and...When you find someone you love, it puts a lot of things into perspective. I'll be busy raising the family and...it's not like they're gonna let us in the Nest but we found a nice place that's safe enough... I've had some close calls but it's not because I'm scared."

She laughs a bit, happy to brag about her husband. "Yeah, he's... Well he's actually a huge dork who is really embarrassed whenever someone gets a real look at him. But he toughens up when it counts. He's...not really interested in doing Fixer work anymore for other reasons. Betrayed by the Wings one too many times you know?"

She pauses when Rose insists the Outskirts aren't free. She smiles. "Have you ever been there? ... I guess you've got a point though. But freedom doesn't neccessarily mean safe right?"

The Black Silence is having an easier time getting what Bercilak is saying the more she listens to him but generally even when she struggles the gist is pretty clear. "You're not wrong, Guy." The Black Silence says, her soft spot for the Green Knight growing with every passing moment.

Honestly Nothing There is pretty resilient to all forms of damage EXCEPT Pale but Red Damage is something they are, essentially, immune to--though the Black Silence being able to swing their weapon and cut through its extendo flesh arm suggests that this doesn't mean physical assault is wholly useless even if it won't damage the Abnormality itself.

A GHOST SWORD probably qualifies as PALE Damage and one doesn't get to be known as the Soul Reaver by not being able to hit that particular target...

But psychic force is WHITE (sorry for it) and Nothing There is merely blasted back physically by the telekinetic assault. The creature flares its nostrils and looks at Raziel.

Then it grows a third eye on its shoulder that keeps track of Raziel, a cautious third eye. IT can feel the hunger.

Kukuru puts herself in range but the creature seems ill inclined to take a chompy chomp outta her and seems to be struggling to understand 'Mommy'.

"I'm hunting the bad people." Nothing There says. "I have to, I have to hunt, Hello? AHH AHHH....You have voicemail!" The creature is invited home but...

"You don't want me learning eating consuming mimicking them, I can't go back or I'll make you sad..."

"...Did that thing just call you 'mommy'? Did you actually...create it?" The Black Silence readies both of her weapons, summoning them from her gloves--but she seems to be having a difficult read on where to find a weak point (there isn't one that she can strike) and she didn't get to where she is by being careless.

Nothing There throws a few more tendrils out, really determined to get at the Black Silence, but Bercilak is already present and deflecting those strikes away.

"OZHIRA..." It says. "Teach. TEACH teach. TEACH teach PLEASE please please AHAHHHHHH please teach what wrong what WRONG why Kukuru SADFACE? RING RING RING."

The RING RIN RING is not Nothing There saying RING RING RING it's Nothing There emulating the sound of a ringing phone. They still seem ill inclined to target Ozhira either.
Angela BEFORE.

"Yeah but doesn't mean we're the same." is all the Black Silence had to say to Dysnomia about that. At a certain point in the diamond rank you can only really decide who is stronger by seeing the results rather than by classification.

Did anything she did actually change anything?

The Black Silence seems confused. "The City will always be The City, but it doesn't mean what she did meant nothing to the people she did it for."

Is siphoning it dangerous?

"I mean just being here is dangerous but I wouldn't know about the proper way to siphon." A pause as she's asked for her name but she never gets the chance to give it.

NOW

"Shit!" The Black Silence says as Rose takes a hit. She rushes over towards Rose to check on her, covering her for a moment to see if she'll recover. She still hasn't seen a way to strike this thing. For being a Color she is just...not too helpful right now. This might explain some of the reason why they don't just hire the best Fixers into Lobotomy Corp. Or maybe she's just waiting for the right moment. Nevertheless...

Taii is able to get a good clobber on it. Negative emotions rise up in Nothing There and it starts trotting backwards, weeping as Chignon causes all three of its eyes to tear up and start a-weeping. Its chest opens up and sends a flurry of flesh towards Taii, taking her to be a threat while losing track of Catt from above.

Hibiki pleads to give the creature a chance. Technically it has had them before but for all its desire it can't quite seem to wholly reach it. It's still small, like Ozhira said. And Ozhira might be the only one who can really push it past that edge into something closer to personhood than monsterhood. Then again, never quite reaching your desire might be the most human thing about it.

Hibiki doesn't fight! And Nothing There isn't sure if she's a bad girl or a good girl yet. Maybe she's neither and Nothing There doesn't know what to do with that yet.

Dysnomia steps in to pin Nothing There. Nothing There seems to consider Dysnomia VALID for BAD and it grows mouths to try and chomp down into Dysnomia with, its meat growing as it tries to engulf Dysnomia.

Meika is able to burst those tendrils away before she can get too far in engulfing Dysnomia. The creature drops down onto its belly, flesh pulling back into it, sniffing as if searching for something.

"Help mommy... I'm scared...!" They say before throwing themselves at Meika to try and ENGULF her, sacks of flesh opening up to invite her in.
Raziel Raziel watches the creature, he can sense that it's afraid of him... and that for some reason the Soul Reaver is a threat to it.  Calmly, Raziel keeps his distance from it, weapon drawn at the ready and he studies the creature, trying to get a feel for whatever prowess from it he can.  There are exchanges, there are nervous glances.  

Ultimately, the conversation takes a certain tone, especially when Nothing There decides it is going to attack.  He knew this was what it would do, attempt to plead to be left alone, or that it was fine while taking every chance to hurt someone.  The moment it moves, Raziel snaps into movement directly at it.

It focused on Meika, so its attention was away from him for just a brief moment.  He leaps, jumping up and aiming for it's face.  The blade moves in a wide arch, aiming to catch it across the eyes, and proceeds to drive the blade down in a wide arch.  He follows this up with another blast of telekinetic force, aiming to keep it off balance so that someone else can take advantage of his attack.  

Raziel's eyes narrow, "You will not take advantage of the kindness of my allies and friends again, monster.  You fall here."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      Bercilak retains a defensive presence. He'd said that he wouldn't allow anyone to be gotten by the Anomaly. Even direct fighting between them would amount to a stalemate at best and a war of attrition at worst, he can still use that to his advantage.

     Simply being near Bercilak confers not just the aforementioned combat clarity, but, as Rose and Meika discover, a field of restorative mending. Bruises unpurple, bones reset, cuts knit themselves closed. It isn't anywhere near as fast as his own ridiculously unfair healing factor, but it's more than enough to give a fighting chance.

     And, as it happens, it's a great justification for him to stay here, even though he pointedly isn't taking the offensive and becomes less convinced that he should, the longer the fight goes on. His grip sliding up the haft of the weapon in less than a second, he moves his bulky, armored form with startling speed, cloak billowing in the darkened tunnel as he places himself between the anomaly and Taii.

     The cheek of the greataxe is big enough to be a small shield in its own right. The Anomaly's tendrils crash not into their intended target, but into unyielding metal.

     "Thou shalt not iete thy wai oute of this--thusly I may contre thee -al dai-, and thou shalt choke upon me, if thou durst to attempt hit." He ha no way of knowing if that's true, but the gift he's been given by Morgana is not one he ever intends to squander. "At-stutt thy aserching for who thou'rt aloued to hert--that wai ledes thither," he says, free hand quickly spaced down the haft to batter away another cluster with the butt of the haft.

     His bucket helmet nods to the helmets of the Sweepers.
Kukuru It really should be easier than this. Give Nothing There an ultimatum, and then either bring them back to Lobotomy Corporation, or suppress them and drag them back. Kukuru's already done this before with plenty of other people, and this really should be no different considering the alternative is causing problems for her direct (Concord) family in the Corporation. Ozhira joining her in trying to convince them heartens her, and Hibiki giving Kukuru her vote of confidence does stick in Kukuru's mind as what she wants to do, but she can't ignore Raziel's logic, either.

This whole mess with Nothing There did cause so many problems for Angela and everyone at the Corporation. The club, the cult, Blue Star, everything she's touched has already become a mess, and it could get even worse. The City really could be in greater danger if she doesn't just buckle down and take care of this the way she knows she should be. Black Silence is an actual local of this world and clearly knows what she's talking about, and the Trio also know their stuff about handling these kinds of threats to humanity. Everyone's in danger, even those giving her a chance to even speak in the first place, and especially those that are looking all of this logically.

Despite knowing all this, Kukuru also know that they call her 'Mommy'. Even if it's all a ploy to get her to lower her guard, how could she possibly ignore that? They understand words, far more than they did when she first met the meat-limbed amalgamation. Who's good to eat, who's bad to eat, why eating more of the good would make her sad...

Kukuru's face is already streaked with tears as she throws herself at Nothing There, saying nothing to dispel Black Silence's doubts nor caring that she's in the path of her allies' weapons. Her attention is already firmly fixed on the Abnormality shaped like herself, not even caring that she's already bleeding from errant shots and swings of various weapons and tendrils alike. She grasps desperately at where some of those tendrils are coming out, trying to pull all of them back like she's handling a particularly rowdy child rather than something trying to eat all of her friends/colleagues/other associates.

"Stop! You can't hunt them. I-I know you're scared, and you're hungry, but you have to... You have to come back home!" Kukuru half-shouts as she buries her face into Nothing There's closest approximation of her own shoulder, working her hands towards whatever mouths she can find. "Everyone's gonna be sad if you don't. Everyone back home, everyone here in the City... I'll be really sad if they're sad, too, and I'll be more sad if you stay here!"

If she can find one of those mouths, she'll try and just get her hand right in there. It's certainly a risk, but she's confident she can take it. Her face is still shoved right into that shoulder, too, to hide her own slow shakes as she tries not to look like she's crying (and bracing herself) while pleading. "C... Come on. We can still... Figure this out back home. But you've gotta come back first!"
Ozhira     Nothing There is small. This is how Ozhira has grown to understand the Abnormality in the context of how they understand their own self. Size is not only physical with the Beast; it is also an expression of the mental. Their biomass may be large and dense, but the Devourer's true size is in their harmony. A song of countless voices which makes up their mind, with one monstrous tone louder than all the others in its wordless, ceaseless hunger.

    A mental landscape that Nothing There has witnessed before in a brief, surprising altercation. The contact which showed this Abnormality that the Devourer in the Dark is Bigger.

    Ozhira's countless voices confer among themselves as the returns of so many empty helmets come through their senses, courtesy of the rumbling sonar pulse they released seconds earlier. After a moment, when considering Nothing There's words, the Devourer's own expression softens.

    "You are, trying to be like us." Raising their arms, Ozhira continues, "You heard some of our song. You heard, that we are many. You seek-- that many for yourself. To grow as we have."

    "This is, not the right way." Ozhira's hands drop to their sides, shoulders sagging, "That is what, makes us sad."

    Under duress, Nothing There goes on the attack. Ozhira hangs back-- but is not entirely separate from the encounter, either. Tough to see in the darkness, a red splotch oozes out of an air duct intended for recirculation back when this was an active subway station. This splotch lingers, slithering into position, up until Kukuru tackles the Abnormality.

    In that moment, with the horned woman trying to feed herself to Nothing There, the Devourer strikes. A glistening crimson mass drops from the ceiling, right onto Nothing There's Kukuru-shaped head. A ridge of white spines forms along the upper curve of the writhing mess, separates, then swings downward as a pair of jaws to latch on to the Abnormality in a way that turns the second Ozhira's monstrous shape inside-out.

    Unmoving, the human-shaped Ozhira says, "We will, teach you better."
Dysnomia     Nothing There's maws close on Mia, catching. wisps of smoke. Mia simply dissolves where its teeth clench, letting it bite down on parts of her and pulling away.

    The wounds close as quickly as they form, wisps of smoke billowing out from her body to fill the holes. She spread her fingers, and they began to glow, sharpening into burning talons of plasma that stretched and stretched to the size of longswords.

    The current of thoughts flowed, and Mia followed it to its zenith. She dove forward, before Raziel had finished his strike, her followup so fast it was nearly instant, tasting his righteous fury and pride and the shape of his assault. The ghost heard in his mind; "I have you."

    As he sought to blow back Nothing There, Mia reached forward, her claws stretching ridiculous lengths to pierce through its scattered body.

    Her mouth opened wide. Wider than it should, maybe. And front it streamed a plume of violet plasma, tight, controlled, away from the pipes of mysterious psychic power fluid, and all the others around her...But ALWAYS into Nothing There.
Hibiki Tachibana     Boy, that sure is a lot of argument amongst everyone. But despite it, Hibiki seems resolute on giving Kukuru - and Nothing There - one chance to resolve things without having to fight. It's one more among several that have already occurred, true. But as she responded to Meika before...there's nobody to protect here. Not a single person. They're all fighting capable, here to suppress it.

    Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it'll be that easy. It's not attacking her, so she knows that it's struggling, /trying/ to learn the right way to do better--but it's still attacking everyone else, so like it or not, she'll have to do something about it. Her lips purse tight, just to have to open back up again a moment later. "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron...!"

    There's a flash of golden light that momentarily fills the subway - and then she's moving. "Berc, I'll leave that to you...!" With the Green Knight covering for Taii, she knows they're in the best hands possible. And it allows her to, at full speed and in the blink of an eye, rush to intercept Nothing There's main body as it sets its sights on Meika. She wasn't lying when she said she'd be happy to put herself in danger if it came down to it.

    Which she does, transferring all of that momentum she has into more or less ramming into not-Kukuru fist-first - as the Black Silence proved, this probably won't really do any lasting damage. But more than that, Hibiki intends to simply force it off-course more than anything. The second her fist connects and digs into meat, the pilebunker in her gauntlet primes back, and then /pounds/ forward to release a booming shockwave of kinetic force to try and send it and all those sacks of flesh flying a half-dozen meters away.

    If nothing else, it should give Meika more time for her own response. And after the fact, Hibiki will remain by her defensively. "There aren't any bad people here," she murmurs towards Nothing There. "You don't have to hunt...!"

    Kukuru...and Ozhira, too. Are they going to be able to get through, or are they going to have to finish this fight first?
Wonderlab Trio "Give her one chance,"

    It takes Rose a moment to even recognize what Hibiki is saying, and then their face pales in horror. These Outsiders, especially Kukuru and Hibiki... were *liabilities*, not backup. Who in their right mind would send them...?! Who allowed them to learn about the Abnormalities in the first place, so that they could get however many hundreds and hundreds killed because of this? What is going *on* at the main branch?

<J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "What do you mean, 'one chance'?"
<J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "You can't mean... talking?!"

. . .

<J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "Hibiki-- I'm sorry. You're mistaken."
<J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "And talking like that-- like it's a person, like you can 'convince' it of anything-- that's putting us all at risk."
<J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "And the entire City."

. . .

<J-IC-Scene> Rose says, "If you're here to help, then help. If not, then go. Taii's right, our priority right now is suppressing the breach, not giving you history lessons."

    After the conversation in the radio, Rose and Taii's stress levels are peaking, draining 30% of their max SP immediately. For different reasons for each of them: Rose, as direct as always, is frustrated that the lives of civilians are being weighed against conversation with an Abnormality. Trying to be friendly with them only ever causes more trauma, and with an ALEPH loose in the City, the scale of possible harm is beyond anything they're willing to accept. Taii just can't stand arguing against their own gut feelings; that Abnormalities *should* be treated with kindness. Faced with the most famously dangerous Abnormality in the entire company, though, and they find it a bit easier to argue for its immediate suppression.

    Catt plummets down from the ceiling, Bitter Medicine outstretched with black energy crackling down its length. The spoon plunges into Nothing There's flesh, hooking beneath one of its crying eyes, and Catt rips it out. Gore sprays over the Elites and Catt lifts the massive spoon with the eye and its trailing viscera cupped inside, and grins wide at the group while standing on top of the Abnormality.

    Their eyes particularly focus on Kukuru. "Catt understands how it became this bad, seeing you. Catt wonders if someone meant for you to die, if they let you--" Catt is cut off by another tumor of meat sprouting a mouth and biting at them, which they jump away from.

    Rose steps out from behind Bercilak and gives him a nod of thanks. With their whip still attached to Nothing There by that horrible ring of teeth on the end, they crack it and cause surges of material to propagate up and out of the EGO weapon, flooding into the wound left by the whip. Even though the damage heals over immediately, the pathogens and parasites disgorged by Phlebostomy spread through Nothing There's flesh, infecting down the length of its tendril and causing it to writhe with leeches and maggots squirming between muscle.

    With the fog now spread over most of the battlefield, Taii barely stays in one place for a second at a time. They step back into a cloud to avoid a bite, appearing besides Bercilak for a moment of respite, and then vanish again and step behind Nothing There's center. Drawing Chignon up in front of their chest like a rapier, they linger as if they're about to lunge for a moment, and then--

    "Chu~" Fog clouds coalesce and rush in towards Nothing There, with Taii teleporting between them so quickly that they leave afterimages, each one swinging the blunt rapier at Nothing There. The combined *thack* sounds like an echo of punching a slab of meat, flat and dull, but the mental effect it has on Nothing There is enough to shatter its focus.
Meika Kirenai 'Help mommy... I'm scared...!'

    As Nothing There goes to engulf her, Chevalier Vermillion's eyes shoot wide. Shifting her stance slightly, the magical girl f-f-flickers, spinning on her skates to face one of the closing-in walls of flesh. In a roaring scream of discordant noise, a burning-red aurora of energy jumps into being around the girl's limbs, its crackling sounds offset from matching her movements by a drawn-out fraction of a second. It's a relief that Bercilak's aura is fixing up the bruises and pain from the tendrils she's been blocking hits from, and this braces her for her next move- sometimes the best defense is a counteroffensive.

    "That's right! Just try and take me! Vermillion Thunder : Shatter The Sky!" The faint f-f-flickering stops immediately, in a completely silent second, Chevalier Vermillion's steadfast resplendance reinforced by the comfort that the monster's eyes were on the right target, for that moment, at least. Words rush out just before action happens, but the sound of it only reaches the ears of the group afterwards, like the wake of a passing supersonic plane. In tandem impact with Hibiki's side-directed blow, Vermillion's hockey stick, raised out in front of her, contacts the Abnormality, and releases the built-up blast of energy in a single shockwave that leaves flesh to ripple and tear like jello.

    As ground cracks and shatters beneath the recoil of the impact, Vermillion has barely moved, but wind rushes, still hushed, like a passing subway train's pressure waves. Keeping it quiet is a mercy more to save the eardrums of those nearby, in cramped quarters like this. Still, when the silence drops, the echoes are painfully loud against the tunnel walls.

    As the lunging flesh is redirected and catapulted back the way it came by the pair of magical girls, transferred sound magic still wrapping around the monster and biting at it, Vermillion uses her chance to backpedal and dash away, her heart pounding in her chest and ears.

    "How's that for your 'One Chance', Tachibana? I- I don't think she's- It's- Nothing There is going to play nice, like this. Glad you're... yeah. Coming around to that." She shakes off any splatter that's accumulated on her hockey stick, and lowers her stance once more, still shaking from the impact and adrenaline.

    "B-buy me a second to get a breath, and I can- I can try and pin Nothing There in place. I'll only need a moment. That's- that's what we want, right? Stopping her from escaping?" Bercilak's aid is being put to the test, with new bruises and aches from the sound channeling she's done feeding its capacity to fix them, and the confident flash of a smile she puts on is more for her sake not to reel from it.
Angela Nothing There is sliced open by the Soul Reaver, those wounds it doesn't seem quite capable of regenerating from. Sensing no choice, and now blinded across two of its three eyes, it doesn't feel there is much choice but to hit Raziel really hard, which it tries to do by growing a massive mace out of its arm and swinging at him with the intent of smashing him into next week to contend with whatever scene is going on then.

But really it'll just hit real hard.

Pinned down as it is, and blind, tendrils lash out everywhere threatening to clobber into anyone, even those it has been trying to avoid clobbering because now it's freaked out and swinging at everyone and anyone though those real close to it won't have too much to worry since it's largely going to strike at those farther back and it can't quite get the force neccessary for those in real close range beyond jostling them a bit.

The real danger might be from its mimicry.

"i'm scared mommy." It says in a tone that starts as a young child and shifts sharply into that of an old man. It doesn't seem to really understand Bercilak and not because of the way he speaks but the meaning behind it. "There is no home, Mommy. IT'S PRISON."

But despite that sudden yell, it doesn't devour Kukuru. It doesn't want to, though by virtue of sticking her hands INSIDE it, it does start devouring her hands in the same way that shoving your hands into an actively functioning stomach is going to submit those hands to stomach acid. Nothing THere tries to push those hands out by hardening the flesh there and pushing outward.

Hibiki lends it a hand by slamming into it hard enough that it goes splashing backwards, its body distending like a cartoon character with each punch but--as Hibiki expected--she isn't doing any kind of lasting damage. The flesh can be torn free or smashed away but it's just replaced by more flesh.

"BAD..." Nothing There says, lashing out to try and devour Hibiki but the Black Silence tears free that mouth with a single swipe from that halbred before it can.

"Whatever your plan is hurry up and do it!" The Black Silence says, repeatedly slamming her weapons into the creature that keep it from biting anybody else for a while. Between that and Meika going in for a concurrent mahou strike--even immunity and resistance can only do so much. The creature SPLATS against a wall, rapidly reforming, but stunned all the same as it slowly starts to retake the form of Kukuru but doesn't quite get it right. One of the horns is protruding from its right eyeball right now.

"Mommy..."

Catt uses eyeball plopper to plop an eyeball, specifically the third one that's been peering out at Raziel (the other two are already sliced apart and haven't healed yet and there's a Horn in the way of one of them). Between that and Taii scattering its focus, it curls up in a ball, waiting for an opportunity to...

Ozhira drops some splotch on it. Nothing There's mind is scattered and unable to resist or fight back as Ozhira's mind pushes into Nothing There's without any resistance--unlike the first time when it tried to TAKE what it needed from them.

Ozhira chomps down and NT's outer body egg-ifies.

But it isn't the Abnormality Egg. It's the Preparing For Its Final Form Egg and Ozhira is invading the creature's mind. What will Ozhira's lesson be?

"...Wait...That's...you brought your own...?" The Black Silence says of Ozhira.
Raziel Raziel is quite nimble and fast, though his form might suggest he is more powerful than he actually is.  When the mace came down, he had already time to see the thing growing.  He was already moving, not away from it, but closer to it, trying to get it to panic swing.  When it does swing, he moves, half sliding, half parrying it.

The mace swings at him, and the edge of the Soul Reaver catches the heavier weapon, aiming not to wholesale send it away, but to bounce it just enough so that it will remain too high.  In the same motion, Raziel slides under it, just narrowly avoiding the swing, and rolls to a stop right next to it.

By the time he recovers his animation from the dodge to attack again, it has already turned into an egg.  Raziel, who knows nothing about this place or it's monsters isn't sure what to make of this.

"That's... good right?"
Hibiki Tachibana     "--Thanks..." The Black Silence is given proper acknowledgement for coming to the rescue after the attack, with her eyes following Nothing There going flying.

    How's that for your 'One Chance', Tachibana?

    In the few moments they have in the wake of their combined attack, Hibiki glances back over her shoulder towards Meika. At that angle, and with her scarf covering half her face, it's not easy to tell exactly what her expression is--but there's a twinge of dejection in her eye before it closes for a second, and she faces back forward.

    "None of the others 'played nice' either, you know. They were supposed to be hopeless when it came to being changed, too. And it was civilians who were caught up in those--not 'forces of nature' that 'absorb and consume everything they catch'." She quotes part of the Black Silence's explanation of the Sweepers, from their way over. Her foot shifts as she settles her stance, brushing against one of the helmets littering the floor.

    "...What's the difference between them supposed to be? What makes them 'people', but not this, when they've all struggled to go against their nature? ...Or when they still are."

    She exhales out, lowering herself into a defensive position vaguely in front of Meika and Nothing There--or rather, the egg form that it's taken on. Having helped with multiple incidents at L Corp by now and thus having seen several Abnormalities revert to their inert modes, she has the sense that this isn't the same. Rather than attacking, she stays on guard and poised to move.

    "When it comes out, there's no telling what'll happen. But you'll get however much time you need. I'll make sure of it," Hibiki reassures Meika flatly, without looking back again. Although her eyes are primarily set on the egg--Kukuru and Ozhira are also getting silent looks. She says nothing else.
Ozhira     "We are not, Abnormality," the human-shaped Ozhira assures Black Silence, "We are different. Not from this place." Lifting a hand, the Beast gestures to the egg-encased Nothing There, "They are from this place. They are, Abnormality. As you understand them."

    After a moment, the creature takes a moment to, pointedly, exhale. Ozhira does not breathe like humans do, so the gesture is purely for show, purely for the sake of expression, "We feel a kinship, with them. Like a child. They are, as we once were. Small, lost, afraid. They do not, understand. They want to. To be like us. To know our harmony. We do not know if they... function the same as we do. Can grow the same way as we do. But. We do have, something in common."

    Lifting their crimson gaze to the egg casing, the Beast's voice lowers, "We both, want to be more like-- feel more like-- behave more like-- humans."

    The second Ozhira, the one that is nebulously shaped like a blob of strawberry jam mixed with cold spaghetti, sinks their teeth into the egg casing of Nothing There. This time, it's intentional. The link is forged and the mindspace invades. A harmony of voices, singing almost in concert. The dull rumble of the Beast, the ravenous urge to consume, present-- but largely drowned out this time. Strings of individual thoughts stitched together into feelings, words, and meaning.

You wish to be like us.
To know our harmony.
    To feel our song.
        It is not something we want to give you.
Our song is born of our suffering.
    Our lonliness.
        Our fear.
            Our hunger.
We would wish a better fate for you.
    None should be made to walk the path we have.
        Not again.
It is the duty of the first to make the paths of those who follow easier.
    Less painful.
We do not wish pain for you.
    We do not wish for you to suffer as we have.
        To fear as we have.
Return.
    Return and grow in a different way.
        Forge bonds.
            Do not consume them.
                Cherish them.
Build your song in this way.
    Grow your own harmony.
        It will not be easy.
You can become more than a monster.
This is our lesson to you.

    With a sound like metal peeling, the inhuman mass separates itself from Nothing There's cocoon. A tendril shoots out, anchoring in the center of the human-shaped Ozhira's chest. Like a grapple line, the hideous thing hauls itself away until it slams into the disguised beast, sinking into their 'flesh' and disappearing.

    Ozhira lets out a little noise once the re-merger is complete, glancing towards Black Silence again, then the other direction towards Kukuru. Gaze eventually settling on the coccoon, the Beast lifts one hand, fingers clenched, "They asked, for our lesson. We gave it to them."
Wonderlab Trio "...Wait...That's...you brought your own...?"

    Catt is just as surprised, drawing Bitter Medicine above their head defensively against Ozhira. Their eyes widen and they leap backwards into a crouch, putting themselves besides Bercilak and in front of Rose and Taii. Not looking back over their shoulder towards the others, Catt's tone hardens, speaking quickly and urgently.

    "Nothing There must have consumed enough material to split. Get out, little rats, Catt will--"

    "Flower--! Check something for me!" Taii is the only one of the three with the presence of mind to notice Ozhira's words amidst the fight, looking between them and Nothing There while their rapier rod is held out warningly. "I think it's connected to an Outsider, not-- not the monster. Can you... look into them?"

    Flower peels their fingers off of the armrests of the chair, shaking in front of the monitor. "O-okey-dokey, T-Taii. P-please, stay safe..."

    Catt doesn't wait for Flower's reporty-message either way. They draw Bitter Medicine back, gripping it by their side like a spear and tense up. In response to if Nothing There's egg form is good... "It means we have a minute left until we all die." Evidently, not much faith in Bercilak's abilities.

    "Plan is crushing it before it hatches. Show your worth, Outsiders." Catt glances at Raziel for the briefest moment. "You. Use that sword. It works well."

    They dash in and Taii follows, teleporting through the fog to the opposite side of Nothing there. Between the sharp edge of the spoon and Taii's thrust, a deep gash in torn through the egg, pumping out blood and half-formed organs in heartbeat-tempo. Black energy and red viscera arc together as Catt spins their EGO upwards, jamming the base of the handle into the wound to pry it open.

    "Talks of 'person' or not, 'deserving' or not, 'hopeless' or not-- Catt has no use for these things." With their outer jacket torn, Catt's black and white EGO suit is visible underneath, slick with gore. Blood runs down their tights and over their mary janes, and when they take a step back to leverage their entire torso into tearing Nothing There apart with Bitter Medicine, a second footstep-splash of ripples appears in the blood, behind their foot. "Catt won't die. That's all that matters. Only monsters have sympathy for monsters."
Raziel Raziel, who had been waiting for an explanation for what was happening, looks towards Catt.  Catt and Rose were the experts, and what they had to say he'll take over all.  He has no reason to trust they were lying to him, nor would he expect it through everything that has happened up to this point.  

Turning towards the Egg, Raziel draws the Reaver up.  The blade glows, brightly flashing because it knows it is about to get a meal.  With that, he plunges the blade down into the egg.  

If allowed to strike, it would destroy the egg. Thankfully, based on a previous conversation...

Flashback to Angela explaining that the Reaver can not devour what is inside of Nothing There, instead reducing it back to a smaller form.

He resists the pull and the blade's hunger, attempting to simply damage it and crack it, aiming to reduce it to a form that can be safely captured.  
Kukuru 'Catt understands how it became this bad, seeing you. Catt wonders if someone meant for you to die, if they let you--

Knowingly or unknowingly, Catt strikes at the heart of what Kukuru already knows. If not for her involvement, Nothing There probably would have just remained in Lobotomy Corp, safely contained where it couldn't hurt too many people outside of those controlled breaches. Kukuru really is reading too much into Nothing There's words, too, isn't she? Sure, it's calling her mommy, and the protective instinct is screaming at her to give the creature ANOTHER another chance and help them as that eye gets popped out between Catt's and Raziel's efforts to remove so many eyes, but she can't ignore the burning she feels in her hands.

She can't ignore the actual screaming, either, about fear, and about the Corporation being a prison. She can't really dispute that, which makes this entire situation all the more precarious for Kukuru's psyche. Is the only option really to imprison the Abnormality calling her mommy?

It's all a trick. It has to be. The burning lessens, but Kukuru knows her nanites are good at doing that. Bercilak's restorative field, too, means she has plenty of ways to just have everything mended before the stomach acid can truly eat away at her, but that pushing feeling from inside Nothing There, despite her efforts to try and sate that hunger the safest way she can think of already...

That's definitely not a result of any healing. Nothing There is actively pushing her away. Looking absolutely stunned once she realizes that the Abnormality doesn't want to eat her, she doesn't even move at first when she sees the dual-punching power of Hibiki and Meika launching it into a wall. "Why didn't...? Are you trying to keep me away?" She mouths weakly, looking from her hand to Nothing There as the reformation doesn't quite take properly.

Ozhira bites, and NT becomes an egg. Despite being in general proximity to several Abnormalities by now, Kukuru still isn't quite sure what's happening here. She approaches the Final Form Egg, stumbling over her own feet once before catching herself and standing before the giant thing. She looks back at Black Silence's question, raising an eyebrow with her own confusion evident at the question and at what's just happened.

"I've never seen this before. But this..." Kukuru doesn't know what it is Ozhira is saying to Nothing There, but she can intuit that they've communicated some kind of lessons. "Thank you, Ozhi. And..." She looks over at Hibiki wearily, managing a small smile before closing her eyes and resting her head against the egg. "Therey? Can you hear me in there?"

She probably looks insane now. Kukuru's probably looked insane this entire time, covered in blood and trying to reason with the Abnormality in front of so many unfamiliar faces while so many familiar faces throw so many reasons for her to do the reasonable thing instead of all this. She traces her palm over the egg once before pushing herself back a smidge, biting her lip to try and keep herself from screaming once she sees Catt and Tai stabbing into the egg in their efforts to destroy it before it can hatch.

"Therey... I'm sorry. We can't let you stay out here. So please... Even if it's gonna be tough to, just... Just say you'll come back!"

She bites down hard enough to draw blood, and her free hand trembles as she balls it into a fist, as if trying to prepare herself physically and mentally. Turning to face the egg fully, she shoves her face right into the egg first, muffling sobbing noises into it (badly) while her hands start to press in. It's light at first, like she's hesitating again, but there's a visible strain on her arms once she gets both hands up against the egg, like she's trying to open it up from her end to finally force compliance out of both of herself and the Abnormality inside.
Meika Kirenai <J-IC-Scene> Dysnomia says, "Pin them, huh? I can try to keep them like this, with help. Make it count, little knight."
<J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "O-okay. Thanks."
<J-IC-Scene> Meika Kirenai says, "Stop- stop calling me little."
<J-IC-Scene> Dysnomia says, "Finish this and I might."

    Vermillion huffs, and glares at Mia. I wasn't asking, and why is it up to you? The magical girl doesn't say anything, but her scowl expresses enough- until, at least, she gets distracted as she's catching her breath, to watch Taii flash back and forth across the battlefield, making split-second attacks. She watches a moment longer than she ought to let herself in a situation like this, but the battle seems, for a moment, to have a bit of respite. That's cool...

'They were supposed to be hopeless when it came to being changed, too'

    Meika's breath hitches, at that part. "They weren't 'supposed' to be hopeless! Don't say that! Others just didn't know like we did! Shut up!" She fumes. "Don't say w- don't say they're the same as this! Even if they- they mess up, they know what... what they need to be. Trying to go against your nature only counts if it... works." Her tone fades softer, those last words bitter and hollow.

    "Y-you heard, too, that... taking care of the Sweepers doesn't do anything good. If they're.. people, they don't.. matter less than civilians. That's- that's not better. Nobody should be dying."

'Talks of 'person' or not, 'deserving' or not, 'hopeless' or not-- Catt has no use for these things.'
'Only monsters have sympathy for monsters.'

    Vermillion flinches, Catt's words enough of a distraction off of Hibiki to pull out of arguing much more. She says one last bit to the symphogear user, and turns away.

    "You... c-can figure it out after we're done here, can't you? If you're really going to try, then... good luck."

    Nothing There being in an egg-ish form, whether it's a good sign of pacification just the prelude to something worse to come, is the opening she needs. She's not taking any chances, and even if it's redundant, would rather follow through on the help she offered. More selfishly, it's a way to take out a bit of her anger on something. Vermillion tosses aside her hockey stick, taking a mental note to be certain to retrieve it later, and flexes both of her hands out to her side. More of the same wreathing red energy springs to life around her arms, and pours out, quickly filling in the faint, slightly morphic outlines of splinter-like spears. Heart still pounding, she winds up, and throws them, one after another, at the egg, a small dashing sidestep between the two throws to make sure the shards pierce from different angles.

    The shards pass through flesh without harming it more than the ache of how loud the reverberating force from them is, but more serve as pinning obstacles, deadening muscle and resisting movement. After the first two are thrown, she ventures closer, and throws a handful more, occasionally sticking them into the concrete nearby the egg, or just glance through its side.

    "Is- Is it done? Is this normal? Nothing There's not moving..." She says, speaking the obvious. Ozhira's interaction with the egg causes her to jump, though, before she hastily reminds herself that that's someone she's met, before. An Elite, not- not just? -an abnormality.

    "Hey, shouldn't we all... stay back..? Just in case? Don't- don't get yourselves hurt..."
Ozhira     While Ozhira's Wikilite page is relatively sparse, there are lots of pictures and media snippets and a fairly large Theories section.

    Mostly they show up in their human disguise in photos from a number of Concord functions, either acting clueless and oblivious or otherwise enraptured with wide-eyed dumbstruck curiosity at the goings-on. Only the name and some speculative measurements show up on their publicly curated information page. The measurements have been edited multiple times, seemingly the victim of an ongoing editing war.

    The picture gallery also includes a few instances of Multiple Ozhiras such as their encounter with Duke Nukem, or missing entire limbs and part of torso and head as happened while fighting off an alien invasion. Photos of metal plates with huge tears or semitranslucent spikes or acidic burns are also included.

    There's only speculation entries as to what they actually are; with one particularly long entry suggesting microbial predators, another theorizing alien experimentation, and a third implying they might be a nanobot colony. Someone seems to think they're connected to a research facility in some world's Siberian wilderness while another claims they're a sea creature awakened by global warming.

    There's a certain challenge when it comes to someone as weird as this who doesn't spend a lot of time under cameras.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants      "Hm."

     Without the anomaly actively attempting to harm anyone, there's an opportunity for the Green Knight to collect his thoughts--and a few moments of reprieve. He hasn't the faintest idea what Ozhira is doing, nor the significance of the egg.

     The axe is held, blade down and parallel to the ground, hands spaced evenly across the haft. It's a guard--one with many potential attacks, but one which doesn't imply the same agression as a blade-forward guard.

     "Thou'rt not ifirst I hath imet, egge, who desiren to be mortal, ak dremen thire art som wai to chaunce upon hit. Non of thee understond that hit is som-thing thou *art,* not som-thing that behappens to thee, as if bi clerkli craft."

     "If thou ne'er e'en imagen thyself mortal, ne'er a mortal shalt thou be."

     The Green Knight rolls his neck, popping audibly. "I hath ofheren that stori mani times anau, and verily, it insukes shit. Whanne-so thou outcome from thy egge, sheu me som-thing differenced. Sheu -theim- som-thing differenced," he says, inclining his head towards Catt.

Talks of 'person' or not, 'deserving' or not, 'hopeless' or not-- Catt has no use for these things.

     "'I hath no nede of food,' saith the overhungred." His right foot forward, the Green Knight pushes his left shoulder out, arms up, and snags Catt's arm mid-swing. It's frighteningly quick, the way the space between the beard and the haft swallows their wrist, the way the flat of the cheek presses tautly against their palm. The way the whole weapon yanks roughly backwards.

     The Green Knight is tall and big, though anything but a brute--turning counterclockwise, he uses those, moreso than his abundance of strength, to forcefully shove them into Meika and Dysnomia. "The vampire is old ynogh toknoue the bet," says Bercilak, "And his wrothlinesse bisemes personal bisideforth. So I shalt not westen my time with him. Ak *thee,* Catt, and thy felwes, Mia and the knight, hark. Thou -nede- that ithought, in thy herte, alwais. If the world to thee shalt onli be 'godde ifolk' and 'badde ifolk,' oth that, 'ifolk,' and 'wald-scathes,' thanne verily, it may be non-elles but a prison, and thee, non-elles than a gaoler."

     "If thou art hardaunt ynogh to dreme, thanne ifighte bi my side, *my wai,* and I sware thou shalt not die, e'en if I must, in thy place. Ak if thou fere death, thanne atren, shet thyself withinne thy hauses, and iwait for hit to enclaim thee."
Angela Ozhira can root around inside there.

There are dissolved echoes within. They get a glimpse of the creature's birth.

They see a vision of Gebura in her boxbot form communicating with Nothing There? The name is long lost but.

"Experiment subject 09-34, we'll be running a simple test before we administer the chemicals." Gebura says.

"Ah Gebura," A human male voice responds. "The machine with a soul. A wonderful creation of Lobotomy Corporation."

"...What does it mean to have a soul?" Gebura asks.

"It means one may truly have worth. It's the center of the faith our Venerable Lord A believes in. I participated in this experiment because I trust him."

"I don't know if I have a soul," Gebura responds. She hasn't recovered her true identity yet. "If I'm disassembled, will there be a soul inside me?"

"Well," The man says. "It can easily be determined just by talking with you. A soul cannot be seen, but it can be felt. I will be reborn as I confront my own soul... Mankind and the world will be changed soon. Trust in A, for he is our savior who shall lead us all."

Later...

"So you're Miss Gebura, I heard a lot about you from Christopher." It's a woman's voice this time. "They say you have a real soul. Our Venerable A really is remarkable. Don't pay attention to those who disrespect you, they do not know your true worth. ... Oh! Meet Gilly, our daughter. She is kind and sweet, just like you."

"Does this child have a soul then?" Gebura asks.

"Of course. A soul is something every living creature has. It's the essence of us all, yet not known to many. This world only believes in things that can be seen with the eye. It's a sad belief that will eventually lead everyone to destruction."

...

LATER

Now Angela is standing with Gebura.

"Miss Angela, is that a monster?"

"That is what we call an Abnormality, Gebura."

"How is it different from monsters?"

"Monsters are in themselves repulsive, terrible creatures at the core and start of their existence. However, Abnormalities originate from humans."

Gebura looks at the Abnormality for a long moment.

"Then why does that Abnormality have Mr. Christopher's watch, and why does it make sounds as if it were mimicking Mr. Christopher's voice?"

Angela's fingers tighten against one another. "You see, Gebura. That's because Abnormalities originated from 'them'. It's not like they materialize all of a sudden or come into existence from nowhere."

"...Do Abnormalities eat humans? Is it mimicking Mr. Christopher like that because it devoured him?"

"That is a complicated thing to explain Gebura. What's certain is that this did not happen because of someone's vice or malice, and that the shape you perceive as a monster certainly carries the will of the man you called Christopher."
Angela ...Later...

"Excuse me, Tiphereth. Why does the experiment log include a step where Mrs. Isabel is sent to chamber DI-01? Why should we place her anywhere near that horrific monster?" Still Gebura.

"I don't know Gebura. You know she isn't known for explaining the purpose of every experiment to us. I think that it's to rigorously determine the 'loss of humanity', but I don't really get what it means."

"That's definitely going to hurt Mrs. Isabel. I should tell Miss Angela to stop it."

"Gebura... maybe you should just keep quiet about it. I've seen other machines question her orders, and Lady Angela would reset us if we disobeyed her. ... Please, if you are angry, I would suggest you embrace that anger and move on. Wouldn't that be better than losing your memory and exist as a lifeless puppet, being a shame to the soul you got to bear?"

These are all NT's memories, heard through the observation windows...

Ozhira says to the creature to return and grow in a different way. To forge bonds. To build and grow their own song and harmony. To become more than a monster.

But the Abnormality doesn't return from their egg.

Hibiki holds back for now but speaks to her own experiences. The Black Silence isn't without sympathy but says, "You all must be real strong if you can handle arguing in the midst of all this." with a tired sort of resignation. "I don't know if there is a difference. If this was just cleaning up Sweepers and not causing any other trouble, I wouldn't care. But you gotta know everyone's at least got a bit of Bad in them. You don't think it'd stop with Sweepers, do you?"

She sighs. "Maybe I am getting too old for this. All that training and experience and I can barelye make a," She slams the egg hard with her spear and there's a reverberation and then--nothing. "Dent."

She is inclined to agree with Meika here but with her own power unhelpful she can only backup and let the Trio get to work.

Meika unleashes her own power against the egg, causing further damage as flakes of flesh are shedded rapidly though if Bercilak has his way, she doesn't get more than a couple good hits off of it. The power of the Soul Reaver is even worse. The Egg rapidly starts losing color and definition as the flesh melts away rapidly from it's power. Raziel holding back with the Reaver is the only thing that keeps it from being eradicated entirely.

Then Catt and Taii strike it once, scattering its thoughts once more and causing it to lose all cohesion. A spray of red meat explodes out its back and Nothing There rapidly reforms into a true Egg form--ready to be transported...somewhere--Catt may or may not be pulled away at the last moment but...

Tai's weapon was the greater of the two threats and that's enough.

The last thing Ozhira hears is: Why do you hate yourself?

But regardless, now that it's in its true Egg From nothing but Soul Reaver's gonna hurt it.

"It's done?" The Black Silence asks. "......You three seem to know the most about it," She looks to Catt. "...I don't want to know any more details, just keep it from escaping again and I'm golden. I won't speak about any of this--doubt I could get anyone to believe me anyway." She sighs. "Thanks for the help, all of you. Maybe next time figure out what you wanna do first though? Was almost as stressful as the fight."
Raziel The egg is smashed, into a smaller egg ready to be transported.  This one feels a LOT less dangerous just by existing, though it is still very dangerous if it reforms again.  Still...

He sighs, looking over at the Green Knight and those who are being challenged.  That's not important to him.

He moves to Kukuru, and places a hand on her shoulder.  "We should take it home," he says softly, gently to her.  "Then we can do anything you want, alright?" he says.  She made an important choice, even though it was so hard.  

"I just wanted to let you know that you've grown a lot.  I'm sorry this is how it has to come out, instead of better times."
Ozhira     The Beast pauses, right when the merger of the two halves is complete and the memories of the one are mixed with the memories of the other. It's not a process that normally causes them even the smallest amount of trouble, and yet--

    Why do you hate yourself?

    Ozhira's gaze settles on the floor, searching for something that isn't there even as Nothing There's coccoon ruptures and the contents collapse into a more portable form. A solid half-minute or more goes by before they arrive at an answer, straightening their posture. With Raziel comforting Kukuru, Ozhira approaches the discarded egg-- crouching and picking it up in both hands.

    "We will answer that-- another time."

    They can't deny that the vast percentage of the voices which make up their song, their 'harmony', despises the single loudest voice among them. There's very good reason for that, after all. If not for that rumbling voice that underlines the very foundation of their mind, none of the other voices would even be in the choir called Ozhira.

    Abnormality Egg in hand, the Devourer turns in place and lets out an avian-like chirp that echoes off the tunnel walls, "Success. Not the way we, expected. But success."
Kukuru Kukuru can't hear NT anymore. Of course she can't, because it's an egg, and the egg's been shredded apart like the meat it was initially. She doesn't even get the satisfaction of knowing if it really did hear her at all, or if it actually accepted what she's said versus having the matter forced by the more powerful force brought to subdue it. What little physical relief there might be from seeing the true egg is completely consumed by how absolutely awful everything else feels, and she doesn't even react right away when Black Silence confirms that things are finished for now.

It's not until Raziel touches her shoulder that her head jumps slightly, and then she finally remembers to nod at Black Silence, then Raziel. "Y... Yeah. No, we..."

Getting words out is hard. Nodding is easy, though, and she can at least do exactly that when Raziel mentions bringing the egg back. She can't even force a smile at his kind words, although she can manage to to pat his hand lightly once while trying to get her voice back after all that shouting and sobbing.

"Gotta... Gotta do better. Next time. Mhm." Kukuru mumbles almost incoherently, stumbling over even those barely words. Even if she had finally made a choice at the end, it still feels gut-wrenchingly awful.
Hibiki Tachibana     But you gotta know everyone's at least got a bit of Bad in them. You don't think it'd stop with Sweepers, do you?

    "I know that," Hibiki says, easing up her ready stance as the egg remains inert--and then converts into the genuine, 'defeated' deal. "There was never any other outcome...than taking it back in. But how that happens, the chances you give people...they matter. I think there definitely is a difference. Even if they do end up wasted sometimes. Sorry for all the infighting." Strictly speaking, it might've been Kukuru's decision to try talking first...but she doesn't regret supporting that, despite everything.

    She stays quiet for a moment, then looks back to Meika. Over her shoulder, again. "'Didn't know like we did'. They all," there's a nudge of her head in the direction of the Wonderlab agents. Out of all of them, though, Catt is the one who it seems to be most specifically angled towards. Maybe because of their comment, or otherwise. "...should know more about Courage than anyone. Are you satisfied with that, since they have the most experience? Or do you think you know more about Nothing There than Kukuru?"

    That's something of a no-win question, honestly - less something meant to be seriously answered in any capacity, and more to make a point. After a brief delay, she exhales and faces forward. Back towards where Ozhira is picking up the egg, and where Kukuru is standing.

    "You're right about that, though. Nobody should be dying. ...Nobody should have to die. I never planned to let that happen, either."

    "...I'm gonna go wait back near the entrance. Take all the time you need, okay, Kukuru? And...thanks. Ozhira." Hibiki doesn't mind the crappy lighting on the way back to the non-functioning escalator that brought them down here, going step by slow step.
Dysnomia     Mia looked from the helmets on the floor, to the egg, to Berciliak.

    "What, you think I was too harsh? Pushed so hard? You want to know why I kept fighting it?"

    "That woman. 'Black Silence.' She's right." She said, slowly. "It just isn't ready. It's...Immature. It barely understands what it's doing. It's mind is a chaotic mess, but that's easy enough to see. I don't think it would survive out here. Not forever. And it wouldn't survive. If it can learn from them, or something else..." She gestured a thumb to Ozhira. "Maybe it will have a better ending. But it won't get that out here."

    Her focus turned to the others, then. The fierce hunters, that gave no quarter. "You think it's pure hunting instinct. It's not a 'person.'" She echoed. "It's okay to hurt it." Her mouth curled up in a sneer. "You're fooling yourselves."

    "It has a mind. A self. It's affection for Kukuru was real. If you're going to hunt it, don't be a fucking coward. Imagining it's some evil deceiver, that can it never ever charge, is just something you're saying to yourself to make putting it down feel easier."

    "Be honest. Call it a threat. Say you don't care about hurting it, cause your skin, your City, is more important to you."

    "But most of you, you're too cowardly to admit that you don't care if its a person or not. Just that it can hurt you."

    Without further ceremony, Dysnomia dissolved into thin air.
Meika Kirenai     Bercilak's swing of Catt against Vermillion knocks her off balance a bit, and staggering back, even with the second she has to try and brace and dodge. She lets out an almost comical 'Eep!' on the actual impact, her skates clinking obnoxiously against the ground as she re-catches her footing. "H-hey! What the he-" Vermillion cuts herself off.

'If the world to thee shalt onli be 'godde ifolk' and 'badde ifolk,' oth that, 'ifolk,' and 'wald-scathes,' thanne verily, it may be non-elles but a prison, and thee, non-elles than a gaoler.'

    As the Egg fails to reform into something more dangerous, Vermillion's furious glare at the bigger man cuts off, knowing that he didn't, apparently, sabotage anyone's safety in that move. He did promise as much, at least, though. It takes the magical girl a bit to process the Green Knight's words, but as she does, she chews her lip. "I- I do keep that in mind. But it's not- It's not about chances, or.. people, it's just about.. what's at risk. Nothing There struck out, and... can't- can't die. We're helping it, too, if- if it cares about that. You know that. Anyone would want to be stopped..." Her lips shift into a scowling pout. "...And I don't want your help. I'm fine. I don't need it, Sir. Worry about others, instead."

'They all, should know more about Courage than anyone.'

    Upon hearing that, Vermillion immediately turns Hibiki's direction. "How can you say that! They're not- they're not looking out for her, they torture her, they don't even- Ugh, just shut up! {Shut up and stop talking about Courage like a fake could have any idea what it's like the way we do!}" Halfway through her reply, she shifts to whispering to Hibiki, the words unheard to others even if the motion and emotion is still worn on her face. She takes a deep breath, dusts off her skirt, and turns away to go find her hockey stick. "I don't- I don't know better, about this one. But I'll fight if there's danger. Just like always. Even if you wouldn't."

'You're fooling yourselves.'

    Chevalier Vermillion, Magical Girl and Knight of the Holy Refulgence, unceremoniously flips Dysnomia the bird. She mimes spitting out bad-tasting food. Clearly, her attitute is sourer than her needs for composure can keep up with.

    "Don't put words in other's mouths like that, just- just to feel good arguing against them, or whatever you're doing it for. What's *with* you!" The hand gets dropped. "You fought Nothing There, too. Same- same actions. Why keep quiet, just to.. to lord it over others, painting yourself as- argh!" She stomps against the ground once, and starts to storm off, even as the woman she's frustrated at vanishes. It's not her job to get stuff back to L-corp, though, and she's still on a schedule to get home.

    Trudging up the escalator, almost tangibly less sparkly in her transformation than she was before, the thought can't leave her mind how much longer the journey back is going to be.
Angela The Black Silence is starting to feel real tired but she listens carefully to what Hibiki has to say. "You really are from outside the City huh." But outside of that the Black Silence seems to finally be living up to the moniker. She feels badly enough for Kukuru to pat her on the shoulder Perhaps due to her relatively unique nature within the City, she doesn't feel like she needs to harden herself to the point of not having sympathy for Kukuru even if it may have gotten in the way here and there today. She thinks back to the Blood Red Night for a moment--but she, she seemed easy compared to this. She can definitely feel why it could be a threat to the City but the essential humanity of the creature doesn't really matter to her in the end. Humans, after all, kill humans more than any other creature. It doesn't make it special and it's not a knock in its favor.

But it's also a monster, and monsters are always a little bit pitiable aren't they?

She doesn't voice her thoughts out loud because it seems there might be a few near-beasts here too. One of them said she was right. The other is, okay, maybe actually some kind of ghost (don't tell him). But the ones she's most worried about are, as ever, the people. 'Gotta... gotta do better' are the sorts of words she's heard from those hanging by a thread--or having already cut the last one holding them to living a proper life but those aren't the only words that unsettle the Black Silence, even if her expression remains as cool as cucumber.

''Be honest. Call it a threat. Say you don't care about hurting it cause your skin, your City, is more important to you.''

"Took a while, but yeah. I found out how important my skin is to me." The Black Silence admits, not exactly unsympathetc--but wholly uncompromising.

Though she does marvel at Mia turning to nothing just like that, it's another terrifying miracle in a day full of them. She makes a note and keeps it as a story to tell Roland and maybe Salvador.

"Make sure it gets where it's supposed to go. Don't wanna see it outside again. Don't make me go to the Wings about it."

She makes her way back through the tunnel but admits, "Well you're an interesting bunch for sure, good luck alright?"

Meika can sense that too-much-silence as she vanishes from sight. Her trail is gone after like she was never there.

But Meika ends up leaving at about the same time and the Black Silence does linger by her for a moment.

"Hey you know, not too many people can sense my approach. If you do want to do Fixer work, Dawn Office could use you. ... Ahh, but I'm sure you've got your own problems. Thanks for the cig."

And then she rushes on ahead to call her husband so he stops being a worrywart. The Egg can readily be recovered and transported back to L Corp, NT's future uncertain.
Hibiki Tachibana     Shut up and stop talking about Courage like a fake could have any idea what it's like the way we do!
I think it's got to make a difference, between... being one, and... just kind of acting like it...
        ...And if it's not that way for you, you're not lesser for it.

    Hibiki stops, pausing for a few long seconds. "...I should've known that's how you meant it all along. Yeah, I guess you're right. What would a fake like me know?"

    She's far enough away by that point that Meika is probably the only one who'll hear her mumuring. And she keeps walking afterwards.