An Insurmountable Task; Understanding the Mission

They were a ragtag bunch, but the crew was coming together. Wei had gained the irreplaceable in Ismera and Omera, and saved himself a lot of time as well. While it would take him some time to wrap his head around all the crazy shit Koudo could do and learn to replicate it to a certain degree, he had Ismera and Omera to help carry the burden of making him appear to be at full power. Something he was very far from.

Ismera and Omera stood out like sore thumbs, even amongst the cast of colorful folk that seemed to liter Euphoria tonight. Amidst the flashing strobe lights and the thumping of rhythmic beats, they looked like the bells of the ball. Just their tall stature alone drew heads, but the way they seemed carelessly above it all was what drew attention.

They moved out of the way of the doorway, so that Wei could follow after them. It didn’t take him much time, considering he was the very next person through the portal, and he seemed positive about the situation that he had found himself in. Things could certain be going better, but they could get significantly worse as well. It was better to remain optimistic, even if Wiz hadn’t exactly made him confident with her tone of voice.

Chiyoko was the very last person, pulling herself through the tightening doorway. She just barely squeaked past, having been lost in thought about her failure to achieve such a drastic transformation as her husband had. She wondered if there was something special that Wei had done with him, that he hadn’t tried to do with her. In fact, she felt that Wei seemed more excited about her husband’s transformation than her own. She sighed quietly, at least happy that Wei wanted her to remain with him.

”Finally! Get your ass over here. Damn!” Wiz screamed from across the club at the top of her lungs to make every sure that Wei heard her and could see the table she was seated at; the same one as before. She looked nervous, fidgeted, and in the middle of chain smoking an inexhaustible supply of menthols.

Wei could tell that something was definitely up. He didn’t waste time getting to the table, allowing his party members free time to themselves. They got absorbed into the crowd just as quickly as he dismissed them and seated himself aside from Wiz.

”Where did you get those? Did you steal them or something?” Wiz asked, flicking her robotic wrist to bring up a holographic pad that allowed her to pour through data. She nodded her head specifically to the two tall gentlemen that Wei had added to his entourage. The woman was of no concern, she didn’t seem exceptionally special.

Wei peeked over his shoulder at the lounging Omera and proper Ismera, before turning back to Wiz, ”Lucky find.” He replied with a grin. He was sure Wiz had felt the pure joy of everything coming up her way before too. Gloating was something he absolutely had to do.

“Did you find them in a heavily classified area?” Wiz asked calmly, flicking through a few files on the screen she had positioned to her right side.

Wei’s face sunk, his mood dimmed a tiny bit. Things still seemed pretty alright, maybe Wiz was joshing him. Poking fun at how abnormal Ismera and Omera looked, how otherworldly they appeared to be. It wouldn’t be surprising if they were some obsessive billionaire’s experiment to become closer to whatever he considered a God. “No? Why?”

Wiz pulled her cigarette from her lips and put it out in the ashtray on the table, turning her screen to Wei, “Cuz you have the whole city looking for your ass.”

There was silence.

Stunned silence.

Stunned, disbelieving silence.

Stunned, disbelieving and slightly amused silence.

Then just silence.

Until finally,

"What the fuck!" Wei exclaimed, grabbing the screen that seemed to have some physicality to it even though it was a hologram.

Whiz pulled another cigarette out of her thinning pack and lit it up, "Same thing I said." Whiz told him curtly. It was amazing to her just how much trouble a grown ass man could get into when you left him unsupervised for a couple of hours. She sighed, exhaling smoke, "How did you piss off the entire fucking city? What did you do?"

Wei sighed too, sitting back in his sit and running a couple fingers through his hair in nervous contemplation. He recalled the events of the evening, after leaving Euphoria, and what exactly he had done. To his knowledge, he hadn't done anything to draw attention to himself and he certainly hadn't broken any laws, that he was aware of. This was the first time in his left where the fuzz was after him and he had absolutely no idea why. "Would be believe that I have no idea?"

"I would, yeah." Again, her response was curt, but it seemed a little playful this time. She'd deny it if he ever mentioned. "Ace said you wouldn't know, after all."

Wei smirked, "And an Ace is never wrong, except for when they disastrously are." Which never happened often. According the few memories he retained of Koudo's, Ace liked to predict Armageddon and had never been right about it. He was right about any and everything else he ever predicted though.

"And this Ace has a message for you~" Ace sang from behind Ace, gracefully twirling around the corner of the booth and planting herself besides Whiz, who she was attached to be the hip. "Also, it's because of Her." Ace pointed to Chiyoko, who had lost herself to the music of Euphoria and was grooving with Omera on the dance floor.

Whiz chortled, "She's married, isn't she?"

"Was." Wei corrected. Technically she still was, but as her husband was now two separate beings with their own unique individuality... It was complicated, and we'll leave it at that for now.

Whiz and Ace both looked at each other, before they burst into laughter together. Whiz didn't full on laugh often, but this was rich. It was something her and Ace seemed to see all the time. Foreigners overstepping their bounds and bedding the married natives. It was mainly guys that fell for it, and ended up with a record in the Dusk, but there were a few women that got caught by the trap too.

"You gotta be careful in the big city chief. You're an unregistered Foreigner. You shouldn't sleep with married women, but you DEFINITELY shouldn't do it as a Foreigner. It'd be one thing if Koudo had done it, he knows people, you don't." Ace explained, once she'd regained her composure. It took Whiz a little bit longer to return to her stoic bouncer persona.

Wei sighed again, folding his arms, "I'll worry about it later, tell me your message Ace."

Ace lips curled up into a sly grin as she interlocked her fingers before her and rested her chin upon them, "The other Me sent a message."

Whiz pulled her cigarette out of her mouth and exhaled smoke, "Really? I thought Wei said they didn't have technology advanced enough for such a thing."

"He must have been working on something." Wei chimed in, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Bingo, and he's a total cutie too, but then so am I." Ace said confidently before clearing her throat. "Says Koudo has a mission you have to do, pronto. It'll clear up the mystery of the girl in your picture too."

"Now your speaking my language, what's up?"

"Here. I'll just play it for you." Ace said, commandeering Whiz's screen and typing on it for a while. Once she was finished, she turned the screen towards Wei and allowed her archived video to play. It wasn't like a phone call, but a letter written in a bottle. He'd sent a message out into the multiverse and Veritas Ace was the person that found it.

The video started out as nothing but static and white noise before it fizzled into focus, revealing a man that looked suspiciously like Veritas Ace. Like... no joke. This man looked almost exactly like Veritas Ace. The only key differences were that he was much taller and had distinctly male features that made it easy to tell he was a man like his broad shoulder, square chin and solid jawline.

"Y-y-y...." Static.  

"H-h-he-h-..." Static.

"Damn it, work!" the man yelled, slamming his fist against the side of whatever machine he was talking into. Once he'd done it, the video cleared all the way up and his voice was as clear as day. It was deeper than Female Ace's voice, obviously, but not by much.

"Yo, other world! This is your friendly neighborhood Ace here passing you a message, are you receiving properly?"

"Why does it sound like he's about to shoot a podcast or something?" Whiz asked bit was quickly jabbed in her metal ribs by Ace as a way of telling her to close and mouth and allow Wei to listen. Wei, who was staring attentively to the screen and patiently waiting to analyze the information about to be explained to him.

"Alright! Let the show, begin~! First, to all my cute little doppelgangers, hey~. Secondly, to the man known as Wei, you other Aces will know if he's in your dimension. If he isn't, ignore this message, kay~? Cool. Wei, I gotta another video attached from my best bud, telling you what needs to be done, kinda like an intense info dump, just call me your little Exposition Machine." Once he was done, he clicked a couple buttons before his image faded away and shifted to a different video.

A video with a man crouching behind a few rocks, a ornate pistol raised to his chest that expanded and contracted with heavy breathing, "Wei! I fuck up the timeline for the Tamura in Khrona's universe. You gotta fix it!" The man yelled, as the video zoomed in to reveal this man was a batter and bruised Koudo, taking a break from a severe battle. He took the time to look at what could only be some kind of camera dangling in his face.

"Well, not me, persay, but a few different multiversal versions of me. Listen, I'm going to die here, on Vescrutia, the Horsemen just decided to finally act and we're losing... bad. I'm fighting the good fight, but I'm not going to survive. The Tamura must, and you have to make sure it happens."

He was interrupted by the sound of gun fire, raging flames, rushing water, tempestuous winds and sparking electricity. He shielded his eyes from a bright flash that whited out the screen briefly before he came back into focus, "Listen. There's an artifact that you need to get. Something held by somebody calling themselves the 'Maharaja.' You have to get it from them. Soon. You don't have any time!"

The video cut off abruptly after his stern warning about time. It seemed like there was more than he wanted to say, but it seemed like he didn't have the time necessary to go into more detail about what this artifact was or where to find this person calling themselves the 'Maharaja.'

The silence came back.

No one seemed to know what to say to what they'd just seen nor what they'd just heard. In fact, what they just heard was much more shocking than what they'd seen. It wasn't surprising to see Koudo, independent of Wei, but what was weird to see was Koudo battered and bruised like he was losing a fight. It was rare for an injury to remain on the man that could heal from any battle wound in seconds. The situation had to be dire.

"Did he say... that's he's gonna die?" Ace finally said, shaking herself free of the stunned silence that lingered between the three individuals sitting at the table. Just repeating it was enough to shock her again, but the thing that really scared her was how level headed, and at peace, Koudo seemed to be about it.

Wei chuckled, defensively, shaking his head, "There's being calm under pressure and then there's just being crazy." Wei could hardly believe what he'd heard himself. That he needed to fix the timeline for a family of individuals he'd never actually met. All he was was an imperfect clone, created by Koudo's mother, who had been absorbed and made 'better' by Koudo. Now, it sounded like he was going to be the only Koudo left that would remember that version of Vescrutia and that Koudo. "At least be upset about dying, dumbass."

Whiz didn't say anything. She didn't really know 'Koudo' persay, not like Wei, who was a part of him, and Ace, who seemed to share memories of him with her other self or something to that effect. Either way, she allowed them to figure out their feelings while she went to work on trying to figure out who this person Wei was suppose to find was. She'd never heard the name, but it could be a moniker.

Ace was finally able to smile, "That's him. That's him all the way. I think Tama would have been like that too. That family... those idiots aren't afraid of anything."

Wei nodded in agreement, remembering when Koudo had chosen to take over the Dusk for a time and look after its citizenry while they had no leader. It was a job so restricting that he started to kill himself trying to fit the role when he wasn't nearly ready for it. The man in the video they just watched though, he was definitely ready for such a responsibility. "Guess that explains why Tama disappeared, one of those other Koudo's must have done something to mess up the timeline."

"Probably accidentally wrote Tama out of existence." Ace followed up. She and Whiz still remembered Tama because, to over simplify, they existed outside of the normal flow of time. They were not immune to its effects, but they retained memories of anomalous events that may have been "corrected" by time.

"Yeah," Wei nodded, "I'll fix it." He said, determined, as he tapped his breast pocket where he housed the photo of Tama. "It's the least I could do, since I think he expelled me to give me another chance at a life somewhere else." There would never be a 'Koudo' for this universe, apparently, so Wei assumed he was meant to fit that role. He decided then that he would try to rise to the occasion.

"Weeei~" Chiyoko whined, finally appearing from the dance floor and draping her arms around Wei's neck and pecking his cheek repeatedly. Her cheeks were flushed and her breathing was a small amount heavier. Drunk, obviously, she rolled around the edge of the booth and planted herself in Wei's lap.

Wei... continued with his conversation, knowing this was much more important. Chiyoko would be fine, Ismera was already acting upon her to lull her. She wouldn't sleep, but she'd remain docile enough for Wei to speak unhindered.

Omera, on the other hand, was no where to be found. He slipped away from the crowd, and his companions, like an ephemeral spirit. When it was time, or Wei called, he'd appear again.

"So. I guess that means I need to find this 'Maharaja' then?" Wei finally said, using an arm to prop Chiyoko up comfortably by wrapping it around her and cupping her butt. He used the other hand to take Ace's screen and replay the video. This time, however, he turned the sound off. He just wanted to watch the video footage to see if he could figure out what Koudo had been fighting. It was futile.

"I've never heard the name," Whiz commented with a sigh, "Ace?" She asked.

Ace shook her head. It wasn't a moniker she had heard of before either, but she was sure that there were others around that probably had an idea. Hell, there was probably someone in Euphoria right now who knew the name or, at the very least, knew someone who knew the name.

Wei thought about it too, searching the encyclopedic knowledge of Koudo's memories he'd be granted. "I... I think I know someone that can help." He finally said, moving his head slightly to avoid another incoming barrages of kisses from the drunk woman sitting in his lap. He loved that Chiyoko had been able to loosen up and be who she wanted to be, but now wasn't the time for carnal desires.

"Oh! That's great news!" Whiz snapped her mechanical fingers happily, "Who is it?"

"Mmm. I... only have a vague idea," Wei squeezed his eyes shut while he tried to recall more details about who this person could possibly be. He did this for a while until a couple of gentle hands touched him. One placed itself to the top of his head, calming his raging emotions about Koudo's future passing and easing his doubts about whether he could live up to the legend. Another hand covered his eyes, concentrating his efforts and accelerating his thought processes. The last hands, placed themselves to his cheeks, which just relaxed him.

Ace and Whiz looked on in awe, seeing Omera, Ismera and Chiyoko all coming to Wei's aid in his time of need. The groups hands, placed upon their master, all glowed with different colored auras of energy, except Chiyoko's. The duo weren't sure what they were doing but-

Wei opened his eyes, as Omera removed his hand to allow his master to see. Wei looked down at Chiyoko with a smile, clutching one of the hands she had upon his cheek. Ismera, removed his hand from the top of Wei's head and adjusted his glasses calmly.

"It's the Golden Bruiser." Wei responded confidently, smiling at Chiyoko and nuzzling her as she had wanted.

"The Golden Bruiser?" Whiz seemed genuinely confused by the name. It was certainly one she had never heard before.

Ace on the other hand, placed a hand on Whiz's mechanical arm, "Bhumi? Yeah, yeah..." Ace nodded, "Maybe this Maharaja got that moniker from the fighting pit at Champion. Nobody knows the ex-fighters of that pit more than the Queen herself."

"This handle two leads as well." Whiz said. "Bhumi is also one of the names on the back of the photo in your breast pocket. Guess Koudo never knew her real name, just her fighting pit name."

"Mira was his student, probably heard it from her." Wei replied.

Whiz looked dumbfounded to hear Mira had a connection to Koudo as well. She looked to Ace for confirmation, who nodded her head. "Fuck. This man had a finger in every pie, didn't he?"

"Okay, so that gives you a goal. You find Mira, then you find the Takers. You find the Takers, then you find their leader Bhumi. You find Bhumi, then you can get to the Maharaja." It was a solid plan. A solid path of actions that needed to take place in order for Wei to fulfill his mission. Ace couldn't have planned it better herself, but then it was probably the other her that helped move the pieces into place for Koudo.

Wei stood, carrying Chiyoko with him as he did so. Without a word, Ismera and Omera were already at his sides, behind the booth, ready to depart with him like the loyal partners they were meant to be. "Then it's settled." He proclaimed, steeling his resolve as he passed Chiyoko to Ismera, who put her to sleep completely. He smirked a little...

"Guess that means I get to meet Koudo's one and only student. Should be fun."

"She'll show up here, eventually, probably with Bhumi and the Takers in tow." Whiz said, standing as well.

"Take a couple rooms upstairs, and rest up. We'll call you when she shows."

Wei nodded, "Thank you, Whiz, Ace. I can see why Koudo and Tama considered you true friends."

"So what do you intend to do?"

His voice was dismissive, but regal. It made his question sound as if he didn't trust that the person he was speaking to actually had the wherewithal to give him an acceptable answer. In fact, he knew the person didn't. It was clear in the way he panicked, and the way he scratched at his head while trying to appear in control of the situation.

All he had was his voice, and nothing more. For the Silver Prince to have been reduced to nothing but an isolated soul trapped in the grasp of a mad man; The mighty truly did fall.

???: "Shut up! Just shut up and let me think!

The cloaked figured urged, swatting at the dual souls that floated around him. He'd acted recklessly. He thought that he'd finally gotten over that brashness, with age, but past experiences belied the truth.  He was just a fake, pretending to be better than he was. This was never his mission, but he wanted to be the one it was designated for.

"Think? I doubt you have any thoughts running through that thick skull of yours. Did you really think you could silence me? That you could silence me? That you could be more powerful than me, without relying on cheap tricks? Hmm. My father's girlfriend was certainly a more worthy opponent. That's why you ran from her, afraid she would discover the truth behind your illusions."

???: "I said shut up!"

"To reduce me and my sister to mere pawns in your twisted fantasy. To play with the emotions of my father's friends. I'll kill you myself, if father doesn't find you first."

Jaehaerys's weighted words hung heavy on the head of the pretender to his father's throne. Jaehaerys wasn't privy to all the details of his current predicament, but he did know that mocking his captor was throwing him off his game. The man was off kilter. He couldn't continue the facade in front of someone would had the eyes to see through him. No matter how much he tried to disguise himself. To appear like the man he wished that he could be.

"Hmpf. Laughable really. I'm sure my father already has your downfall set in motion. You'll die a miserable death before being wiped from existence, like your diseased uni-"

Jaehaerys's voice was abruptly muted. In a second the atmosphere of the room changed. Jaehaerys, though only a soul void of a body, felt a constricting feeling squeeze him. The man clutched Jaehaerys's soul, crush it in a vice like grip befitting a werewolf.

???: "I told you to shut your mouth. I'm your father now. I'll see to it that everything is restored to the way it was suppose to be. To bring that universe back."  

Jaehaerys felt short of breath, he couldn't work up the strength to speak anymore. He choked on his haughty words, like the man knew he would. Just a mention of the lost of that world made the man exceptionally mad. He'd lost his entire life to the Horsemen and he would stick to his resolve to bring it back.

???: "My brother was a fool with lofty ideals that no one could live up to. He lived as nothing and died as nothing. So if I have to use that fool's image to get his friends to help me so be it. He'll thank me once I restore him and our family. Then...

The man brought the soul closer to his face. The silvery white hair adorning his head, painting itself blood red and his shimmering blue eyes, being eclipsed by a ferocious golden hue.

???: " You and your sister, Tama, will be put in your proper bodies. Mother will have her grand children, and the Tamura will continue happily!"

"Y-you're a madman... U-uncle."

Jaehaerys was able to squeak out through choking gasps for air.

"Meigaaa...."

"Let go of him!"

Wei jolted angrily out of slumber, shooting up right and tossing the blanket covering him and Chiyoko aside. His vision was a little blurry, and he ached a little because of the hardness of the bedding he laid upon.

Chiyoko: "Hm. Wei?"

Chiyoko groaned, wiping her eyes delicately before opening them to look up at her disturbed partner. She wasn't sure what he had said, but she'd felt him jerk up in a fright. She curled into herself, growing cold do to the exposure she felt from the cover being thrown off.

Chiyoko: "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I..."

Wei tried to gather his thoughts. He felt like he'd just seen some type of vision while he was resting. It was so vivid and clear to him and it was two people speaking with one another. Try as he might, though, the harder he tried to recall what the dream had been the more distant it became until he couldn't remember it at all.

He sighed, "I'm sorry, did I wake you?" He asked, calmly, turning to look at Chiyoko and grabbing the cover to tuck her in again.

Chiyoko shook her head, rubbing her face against the pillow as she did so.

Chiyoko: "No," she lied, "I was... already about to wake up." She was more used to sleeping in on days that followed long nights of drinking. Usually because she could experience some of the worst hangovers and she liked to just sleep through the worst of it. Now, however, she felt fit as a fiddle. Like she hadn't been drinking at all.

Wei smiled, sorrily, "Just a bad dream, I guess."

Chiyoko: "Want to talk about it?"

She asked him, sitting up alongside him and placing one of her hands on his shoulder, while she rested the other on one of his own hands.

Wei shook his head, taking her hand in between his and squeeze it lightly, "No, it's fine. I'm fine," He laughed a little, defensively, "I can't remember it anyway."

Whiz: "Enough of that chit chat ladies. The Operation is beginning. The Eagles had landed. I repeat. The Eagles have landed."

Whiz's voice announce over and intercom system rigged in the private rooms of Euphoria. Mainly, they were a way from Whiz, or Ace, to give wake up calls to drunken patrons who couldn't make it home and needed a place to sleep off whatever they were experiencing. Ace and Whiz could do it discreetly as well, so discreetly that they didn't have to actually speak into anything in order to send the message. It was transmitted telepathically, all they had to do was think about what room needed the message and it would broadcast there.

What the message meant, of course, was that the people Wei and his merry band of misfits were looking for had just come into Euphoria. If Wei missed this opportunity, then he'd have to wait for them to come back again, or search them out. He couldn't have a better opportunity to move his mission forward than right now. The stars were aligning for him.

Wei pulled himself out of bed, "Roger that. I'm on the way." He said aloud to no one in particular. The intercoms weren't dual communicative. You get your message from Ace or Whiz, but they wouldn't get a confirmation until they saw you come down from your room. It wasn't a bug in the system, but was a feature.

Chiyoko: "What's going on?"

She didn't remember the conversation that Wei had last night, partially because she hadn't been a major part of it.

"Don't worry Chiyoko, I'll be right back. Get yourself dressed though, because we might be leaving immediately aferwards." Wei instructed, leaning over the bed to give her a kiss to the forehead before he snatched up his jacket off the back of a nearby chair.

Omera and Ismera, who had not slept, but waited quietly, stood to their feet from the seated positions they'd took around the room and joined Wei, at his sides. They were stalwart sentries. More like tools than people, but they could feel that that was the way Wei preferred it, for now. It added to his intimidation factor.

Chiyoko: "O-okay. By-"

There was the loud bang of the door slamming shut.

"Bye," Chiyoko sighed, pulling herself out of bed as well, "Must be something majorly important. I wonder what it is."

The Takers wadded through the crowded dance floor of Euphoria like they owned the place. The crowd dispersed and split itself like the Red Sea, letting the 5 members of The Takers get through like royalty. They practically were around here. Legends in their own rights, with consecutive fights under their belts. It was rare for the Takers to come to Euphoria for anything other than a bar fight, or business, and main wondered if tonight would be the same.

???: "Ha! I love how they get out of our way. Man it feels good to be the biggest, toughest motherfucker in the room!"

A solid wall of nothing but massive muscles spoke first with a voice so deep it couldn't help but make a couple ladies in the crowd knees weak. He was the tallest of the Takers, the biggest too, and the one that looked as dangerous as he sounded. He lagged behind his friends by a few steps, admiring how his power made the crowd fear him.  

???: "If you're referring to me, 'Big Dawg', then yeah. It feels pretty fucking good."

A second voice chimed in. It was a man's voice. Not as deep as the person he referred to as 'Big Dawg,' but it oozed confidence and mystery. He was a smaller man, shorter than Big Dawg and one other member of the entourage, but was fit and athletic. There was a blindfold tied around his eyes, but he moved in step with his friends without much problem or effort.

Big Dawg: "Ha! Like I wouldn't rip that stupid fucking head of yours off your shoulders 'Creed', and take that blindfold of yours and use it as a wristband."

Big Dawg scoffed, reach out his massive hands to grab Creed from behind by his collar. With the size of his hands and the look of his body, it wouldn't be surprising if Big Dawg's threat wasn't as empty as Creed might have thought it was. However, it could be told, just by looking at Creed, he was already ready for a confrontation. In fact, it was hard to tell which man actually would have an advantage against the other in martial combat.

???: Hey! Hey! Hey! We're friends guys! No in-fighting!

A third voice finally chimed in. It was light and springy. Playful and very bright. And the body it belonged to was very fitting. She was the shortest of the 5, with the bright blonde hair anyone had ever seen. It was almost like it was glowing, or coursing with energy or something. She was a fit girl, not too young, but young enough to not normally be able to get into Euphoria. Despite that, who would stop her, when she was riding on the shoulder of the giant known as Big Dawg, grabbing at his arm to stop him from snatching Creed up in his grip and starting a fight.

???: Listen to Varya guys. The last thing you wanna do is get her worked up.

A new voice said, the second tallest member of the group. She had a very mature speaking voice that disclosed just how much more intelligent she was than the others who'd spoken up so far. And as they settled down, just from her speaking once, it showed they respected her. In fact, it could be that they were... afraid of her.

Varya: "See, you got in trouble Kahlil. Apologize."

Varya commanded with a pout, tapping Big Dawg on his head. He scoffed.

Big Dawg: "My bad alright, geez."

???: "It's like he's her puppy, huh, Bhumi?"

The final voice finally said with a laugh. It had a level of maturity to it, like the woman she's called Bhumi, but still had a youthful exuberance that made it more akin to the voice of Varya. She was somewhere in between the two other women in terms of height as well. Much shorter than Bhumi, but significantly taller than Varya. She was fit as well, built like a fighter because that's what she was. She grinned, up at Bhumi who sighed quietly to herself.

Bhumi: "Don't even start, Mira, you know he hates when you say that. Don't get him riled up again."

Mira: "Of course. I wouldn't wanna disobey our fearless leader."

Bhumi: "Shut up, stupid. Oh and Big Dawg..."

The leader called out, finally finding her groups way off the dance floor and to the booth that she was looking for. A booth that cleared out the closer they got to it. She turned to look over her shoulder with a smirk and pointed to herself,

"I'm the biggest, toughest motherfucker here."

She finished with a laugh. The others all grinned and laughed along with her as they seated themselves at their booth and the dance floor returned to it natural state of chaos.

It didn't take Wei and the twins to get down to the main floor of Euphoria from the private rooms upstairs. With his entourage steadfast at his sides, and his jacket resting casually on his shoulders, Wei could be easily mistaken for some kind of shady business man, or mafioso. This... would probably be an appropriate interpretation, if what Wei had in mind decided to go well.

He passed a booth a rowdy group of individuals, who seemed to have just arrived, looking for where Ace and Whiz were stationed. While he didn't pay them any mind, he heard laughter and comments about who was big or bad or something or other. It gave him even more reason to keep his distance. The last thing he wanted to do was start something.

Whiz: "Over here!"

He heard Whiz call out, scanning the room to see Whiz and Ace seated in a booth opposite of the dance floor. The music had slowed down, considerably, from the frantic energy of House to more of a classy experimental R&B groove. It was kind of funky, and it made it particularly easier for Wei and his crew to wad through the dance floor without causing too much notice to be paid to them.

They shuffled through the groove and sway of bodies rubbing against each other. Coming out the other side no worst for wear, as Wei seated himself in the booth with his friends, and his companions stationed themselves, standing, to either side of the table to prevent anyone from getting close.

Ace: "Sleeping Beauty finally awakes from his slumber."

"Long night."

Whiz: Try week. You and your buddies went upstairs and didn't hear anything out of you for days. Would have thought you were dead if-"

Ace: "Doesn't matter~!"

Ace interrupted, placing a finger to Whiz's lips and pointing back towards where Wei had just come from. Pointing specifically at the booth with the rowdy bunch from before.

Wei turned his head to look, but did so carefully. He didn't want to make it obvious that he was looking, though it was obvious that Ace was pointing at them. He eyed the group of five, interestingly. They appeared fairly strong, not stronger than him, but he'd been wrong about first impressions before.

Ace didn't speak any words after that, and neither did Whiz. Instead, they rapped on the table softly.

Knock. Knock Knock. Knock. Knock Knock Knock. Knock Knock.

They continued doing this for a while, and Wei nodded his head.

"Hahahaha."

Bhumi laughed wholeheartedly with her allies, finding Big Dawg's affirmation that he was, indeed, the biggest toughest motherfucker in the club the funniest thing she would probably hear all night. The laughing got even more intense among them when Kahlil even went further to say that he wasn't only the baddest motherfucker in the club, but the baddest motherfucker in the world, bar none.

Mira: "Hahaha, Dawg, now I know you're trippin'. You ain't even stronger than I am."

Dawg: "You wanna bet? 20 gold pieces says I can throw you into orbit. You and that armor of yours."

Creed: "Oh. I'd love to see that. I'll put 20 gold pieces down for that."

"Hahahaha you guys are fucking nuts."

Bhumi sighed, trying to catch her breath as she fiddle with a few strands of her hair. Sitting on the end of the booth, with Mira and Creed on the inside, across from Kahlil, Bhumi had a pretty good view of the club from where she was sitting. When the music slowed up and got a little more sensual, she thought about talking Mira into dancing with her, but decided against it. They still hadn't recovered from the last time, and their relationship was still a little strained.

Varya: "I'd toss in 10 gold pieces that says my Kahlil could at least last 5 minutes in the ring with you."

Mira: "Oh yeah? So that's what..."

Creed: "50 gold for you if you put him in the dirt within one minute."

"Aye, double it."

Bhumi interjected, tossing her arm around Mira's shoulders and patting her head,

"100 gold says Mira puts Big Dawg down in 30 seconds."

Mira: "Totally. 100 gold, each. 300 gold total."

The others looked at each other, mainly Khalil and Varya who looked uneasy. Creed made no motions to look at anyone. He just folded his arms and shook his head.

Bhumi laughed a little to herself, patting Mira's head again before,

"Come on, K-dawg. I thought you were the biggest, toughest motherfucker here. Can't beat up a little girl?"

Everyone started laughing again, and Bhumi motioned to speak again before she felt her shoulder get brushed by someone walking past. She moved it out of the way, finding the way the guy's coat slid across her cocoa skin uncomfortable, to say the least. She looked away from her friends, to see who this person was.

She didn't get a good look at his face, the club was dimly lit and he was moving at a fairly steady pace. By the time she looked up, all she could see was his back and the two people following him like some sort of bouncers or security or something. She scoffed, and looked at her friends.

Mira: "Yeah. I saw him too."

Mira clenched her fists gleefully.

Dawg: "Now there's a motherfucker that thinks he can contend. Too bad he picked the wrong night to party."

Creed: "Never a dull moment at Euphoria."

Bhumi straightened up, tapping the table with her index and middle finger to get her friends' attention again.

"300 gold says Mira can take him out in one hit. If, we can get him to throw hands."

Dawg: "Oh he'll throw fucking hands. Once I snatch up one of those pretty little things at his-"

Creed: "That's Ace and Whiz."

Bhumi rose her eyebrow, making accidental eye contact with the man that her crew was eyeballing. If he was sitting with the matron of Euphoria and her lap dog, then he had to be someone of some kind of importance. It made this bet even more worthwhile for her friends to have some fun. They'd get banned from Euphoria again, but they could help picking on people. It was in their nature.

"500 gold then."

Varya: "I'll down him in one hit then."

Creed: "I could use the coin too. I'm in."

Dawg: "Fuck it. He's mine."

Before Bhumi could muster the words to stop him, Kahlil pounced, rushing through the club like a bulldozer juiced with nitro. He smashed through furniture and the short walls that separated the dance floor from the bar area. Bum-rushing other patrons and dancers as he came trucking for the mysterious man.

"The Hellhound's huntin' fresh meat!"

Knock. Knock Knock Knock. Knock Knock. Knock. Knock Knock Knock. Knock Knock.

The information being told to him by Whiz and Ace wasn't much, but it was invaluable. Everything that they could possibly know about Bhumi and her Takers, along with a free key facts about the Maharaja they were able to bait out of informants who liked to come for drinks and share all the dirt that they had gathered with one another.

They continued their series of knocks to keep the information just as secret as it had been before they discovered it for themselves, and they trusted that Wei could keep the information to himself as well. They were right to assume that too. Wei didn't plan to share anything that he learned here today with anyone who wasn't already in the know. It was the reason he'd left Chiyoko upstairs. She didn't need to know what he had going on, and he knew she was just happy to be along for the ride with him.

BOOM! CRASH!!! *SCREAMS*

The knocking came to an abrupt halt once they heard the ruckus. Ace and Whiz were on their feet in no time, Whiz wrapping Ace up in her arms as she dove out of the way of the hulking mound of man that was stampeding his way right towards Wei.

Wei, who was just a little bit quicker than Whiz, was capable of getting out of the way, but he did not move to dodge. Instead, he stood to his feet, letting his jacket flutter off his shoulders and into the waiting hand of one Omera. Ismera, had already moved ahead of him with a hand outstretched. From it expanded a mini barrier of sorts. It would stop this rushing madman in his tracks without much effort at all.

"Guess this isn't gonna be a peaceful conversation then?"

Wei commented wryly.

Big Dawg, like his moniker would suggest, had devolved into a barking and growling mess of an animal. His eyes were crazed and blood thirsty, and he was foaming at the mouth like the rabid dog he was. He growl and snarled like a beast, trying to bite through the barrier that had protected his target so effortlessly.

Varya: Good boy, keep em busy!"

Varya whispered from behind the her tag team partner. She used his back for leverage to front handspring over him and small barrier created just to keep him at bay, putting her in the air right above the man her puppy was snarling at. Gleefully, she clapped her hands together before electricity sprung to life at her individual finger tips. As this happened, her hair flared into the living lightning that it looked like as she dove for Wei. Just a touch from one of her hands as able to make even Kahlil docile, she wondered how it would work against a man much smaller than him.

Whiz slid across the ground, metal fingers dug into the concrete as she skid to a halt with the smaller Ace shielded safely underneath her. She clicked her tongue sourly, knowing that she had wanted to avoid a conflict, but had gotten exactly the opposite. Sharply, her gave cut across the panicking crowd to where Bhumi and her Takers had been seated. Guess they couldn't keep their werewolf on a tight enough leash.

Ace: "Goddamn it Bhumi and Mira. I try to be nice, but you always wreck my shit! No amount of gold is gonna be good enough this time!"

Ace spat venomously as she crawled out from under Whiz and looked at who, exactly, was engaging Wei. She knew Kahlil was the behemoth that charged through her club, and she could guess that Sparkle was right there with him, but the Takers had been known to switch it up and pair Creed with Kahlil instead. When she saw the lights dim, like they'd short circuited for a second, she knew it was Sparkle.

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

Wei could see Ismera had his hands busy keeping the snarling beast of a man from sinking his dangerous sharp teeth into him. Ismera didn't look like he was struggling at all, but he was deathly focused on making sure that his barrier held against the being who was more beast than man. Wei let him be.

Omera: "Aren't you precious. I'll play with you."

Omera broke his vow of silence, just this once, grinning like a devious cat, as he appeared in the space between Wei and the airborne girl of lightning. Casually he fanned out Wei's coat, like a muleta, before raising it to wrap the tiny girl of lightning up into it like a baby and tossing her halfway across the room. The coat, of course, remained in pristine condition, as he draped it back over Wei's shoulders. Any residual electrical energy that coursed through the jacket was absorbed into Wei's body.

"Next."

Kahlil's features began to morph and change, the more violently he thrashed against the barrier in front of him. In his frenzied state, he couldn't even distinguish anything that was happening around him, or the fact that he could have easily gotten around the barrier by doubling back and assaulting from the sides. He didn't care about strategy because to him, EVERYTHING could be muscled through.

So he submitted himself to transforming, becoming a hellishly nightmarish werehound right before the eyes of everyone who hadn't fled the club. As his face elongated to form a snout, his teeth got bigger and sharper, his body doubled... no tripled in size and fur burst from his skin, ghastly green flames fumed from his mouth.

Varya squeaked with surprise as she was tossed across the room by the black companion to the figure of white that was protecting their mark from Big Dawg. She slammed into a wall, hard, grunting in agony as she fell to the ground and her lightning like hair settled itself back down into the normal golden locks she had. It grew dim in her unconsciousness, the energy that sparked through it slowing.

Mira: "Varya!"

"Wait."

Bhumi commanded, holding Mira in place as she continued to watch what transpired on the other side of the club. She didn't move, or think to lift her finger and she didn't want Mira to fly off the handle either. The man and his body guards seemed capable, but Bhumi wanted more information before she allowed Mira to join the fray and before she decided to do the same. It was better to let their friends do the work for now. Big Dawg as a frightening beast when he was frenzied and Varya would recover fairly quickly if given the time. She looked to her left, to see if Creed was still beside Mira. He wasn't.

Creed: "Cocky, aren't we?"

Creed slipped pass the barrier, coming in from the right of his werewolf friend, as oppose to the top like Varya. He moved fast, really fast, so fast that he'd cleared the distance between where he'd been seat to here in little more than an eye blink. He was speaking to the man in charge, raising his hands to touch his companions. He touched the back of the one in white and the chest of the one in black before he tensed and pushed. Energy left his hands, very small traces of energy, but packed with enough force to send both the men flying. The white one, right into the jaws of Kahlil, and the black one, past Whiz and Ace and through the bathroom wall.

Ismera: "!"

Ismera showed no visible emotion, he never did, but he was a little shocked by the sudden transformation of the hulking animal being subdued by his barrier. He though to increase the potency, perhaps even turn it into a crush weapon that would weight down on the rabid dog with strength greater than he could ever muster. Unfortunately, before he realized it, he felt his feet leaving the ground, and his body force pushed towards the beast before him. He kept the barrier stable, increasing the strength so that he could push the snarling werewolf away with him and avoid an unwanted encounter with his dangerous, fiery maw.

The barrier quadrupled in size with enough defensive energy that Ismera, and it, shouldn't have any problem moving the ravenous creature along with him with the force from his friend's repulse to carry them.

ismera: "Hm."

Then with a thought, and a change from an open palm to to an extended index and middle finger, Ismera commanded the barrier to encircle the werewolf before him and constrict down upon him. He whipped his arm above his head, the trap ball following his finger motions without any delay, before he threw his arm forward, tossing the trapped werewolf towards where Omera had sent his female companion. The size of this werewolf would certainly crush her if he landed on top of her.

-----

Omera: "Shit!"

The more emotive of the two cursed, covering his chest just in time to block direct contact from the newcomer that no one saw coming, but heard coming from his comment. If he'd kept his mouth closed, he might have been able to get the one up on Omera, like he had Ismera, but it didn't matter now. Omera was able to block direct touch contact, but he was still pushed off his feet and propelled backwards towards Whiz and Ace. He whizzed past time and crashed through the wall of the men's bathroom. The force carried him even further than that though, causing him to smash through the walls of each individual bathroom stall of the men's bathroom before he finally crashed through the wall of the women's bathroom and laid sprawled on the floor. Needing a little time to recover, much like he'd done to the electrical girl on the other team.

-----

Whiz rose her arm and turned her body to shield Ace once again from the flying partner of Wei, and the debris that he created from crashing through the walls of the bathroom. With all that was going on, she could still see that the two largest threats of the Takers hadn't actually moved a muscle. She couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Whiz: Probably enjoying their handiwork.

Whiz was ready to jump into the fray, now that Wei seemed defenseless and she knew Varya would be getting up pretty soon. She was about to move, but Ace grabbed her elbow and shook her head.

Whiz: You're stopping me?

Ace: "That arm isn't ready yet. I told you its just a prosthetic."

Whiz: "Trust me, I don't need this arm to rub that mutt's nose in his mess."

Ace still shook her head, and continued to watch on without moving a muscle. This was something that needed to happen and she was curious to see just how much power Wei actually wielded. He was definitely a different version of Tama, who was powerful enough to take Bhumi and her crew with her eyes closed, but it didn't mean he knew how to wield that same power effectively. Bhumi and her crew were a group of knuckleheads that only responded positively to strength. If he couldn't beat them, then he wouldn't get any information from them.

------

Wei had had just about enough, and he'd gathered enough information on the variables involved in this scrimmage. Omera and Ismera were as strong as he expected and the opponents they chose to tackle were at a tactical disadvantage. Good judgment, without Wei having to tell them what to do, meant they were good partners to have indeed.

Wei smirked now, reaching a hand out to touch the shoulder of the man who stood before him. Up close, Wei was much taller than this man and more muscular as well. A menacing force that this blindfolded man would realize wasn't to be toyed with once Wei got cranked up.

"Not as cocky as you, it seems."

Wei said lightly tapping the guy on the shoulder. The motion commanded a decent amount of gravity magic that would act upon Creed if Wei was able to lightly tap him like he planned on doing. It would immediately slam him down to the ground with a force of gravity greater than he should be able to muster the strength to break out of. It wasn't too much gravity for Wei because Wei had memories of Koudo being able to train in it and move just as quickly as he normally did. Just to be safe, Wei increased the potency of the force, causing the ground to fracture and a crater to form where Creed would have been standing.

Then he looked up, past the werewolf and Ismera, past the lightning girl passed out close to the bar, and locked eyes with Bhumi and Mira, with a smirk. He was egging them on, calling them to the battle field. He hoped that, at least, him and Ismera were able to show them that their friend's "best" wasn't good enough.

Big Dawg, mind clouded by mindless aggression and battle lust, didn't have the wherewithal necessary to comprehend what was happening to him. Once the transformation took hold, he was nothing more than a wolf acting on impulse and instinct. It was rare for him to meet anyone, or anything, that he couldn't just barrel through without much effort. This barrier guy and his utility wasn't something that he could deal with alone.

He felt the constricting force of the barrier encapsulating him, struggling against it with all his might and howling as he did so. With his howls, he expelled violent hell-fire from his lungs, filling the ball he was trapped in with enough flames to melt the flesh off of a normal man's bones. Kahlil himself, was immune to his own hell-fire. Seemed that was the trick he needed though, because once the ball was thrown away by the man in white, Kahlil's hell-fire reached the maximum capacity of the ball and began to burn the barrier away. He was free!

But still barreling through the air towards Varya, and couldn't stop himself. This weremutt would land on its owner without any outside help and Varya was still too far gone to recover quickly enough to get out of the way herself.

----

Creed was surprised. Even with his blindfold covering his eye, he could feel the imposing nature of the man that he and his friends had so carelessly challenge to mortal combat. He froze in his place, out of fear, paralyzed by Wei's presence alone. He could comprehend what he was afraid of, considering Kahlil was the largest man in the building, but it wasn't just Wei's size. It was everything about him. His swagger, demeanor and that... power. Creed was a very low level sensor. He hadn't been able to see the well of inner strength Wei was sitting on, but he could feel it in full force by standing right next to him.

Before he knew it, his knees buckled and he was, face first, to the ground. He assumed it was Wei actively manipulating his paralyzing presence to force Creed down to the ground. Creed snapped out of his funk right at impact with the ground, and tried to fight against the force crushing against his body, but to no avail. It only seemed to get stronger the more he struggled.

Creed: "Gah! Ahhh!"

He screamed in agony, at least trying to reach for his blindfold, if he couldn't get up. If he could just get his blindfold off, then he'd be able to fight. If he could just get his blindfold... before he began to.... lose consc...ious... ness. If only he could... if only... the blindfold.

Creed was knocked out cold.

----

Mira was trembling. Rage, excitement, anticipation, fear. It all mixed into this perfectly blended intoxicating cocktail of emotions. She was ready to do battle, regardless of what Bhumi wanted to do and when she got fired up like that, there was no holding her back. She got jittery, shaking in her seat as she tapped her foot and shook the ground with each and every tap. Showing an amount of power that her smaller frame belied. It all came to a head when Creed was incapacitated without much of a fight, Kahlil was about to smash Varya underneath his massive weight and Wei.... made mocking eye contact.

Bhumi: "Mira... I don't think anyone is gonna get that gold."

But her words fell on deaf ears. Mira was already gone, slipping out from under the table and, like a guardian angel, appearing between Kahlil and Varya. To Mira, and anyone with fast enough eyes to see, it was like everything was moving in slow motion. She took the time to make sure Varya was still breathing, before she rose a hand to stop Kahlil's momentum in its tracks, without much effort, and lay him down on the ground beside Varya. She knew once he got a look at Varya, he'd calm down and lay there until Varya came to.

Then, Mira cut her eyes towards Wei, appearing before no time later, like a specter, cocking her fist back with a magnitude of strength that should be unheard of in a girl her size. Just the motion along caused distortions in the wind around them, whipping them around her fist like a hurricane while her fist remained the eye of the storm.

"CHES!!!!!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs, a thin aura of radiant pink aura igniting around her as she did so. She planted her feet firmly, turning her foot and stepping into her gut punch with perfect form.

"TO!!!!!!!"

It was only now that one would realize, she was standing in Wei's gravity well, the very same one that knocked out her friend, and seemed completely unaffected by it. She'd trained in intense gravity too!

----

Bhumi sighed quietly to herself, rolling her neck and rising from her seat. If Khalil, Anasenko and Zhao were neutralized so easily, then she supposed she couldn't leave this man and his companions to only Mira. She was glad that Zhao had been able to take out at least one of the men, which meant the numbers were even between the groups now and she would challenge the man in white. She just hoped Mira would be alright, and not let her emotions get in the way...

"Heh."

She smirked, raising a hand and pushing it forward, causing a tidal wave of the concrete, Euphoria's floor was constructed off, to rush the airborne man in white. She knew it was an obvious attack that could be easily avoid, so to his side a hand made of the same earthen material would form and pull back its middle finger with its thumb to flick him back towards the bathroom with his partner in black.

Who was she kidding? Mira letting her emotions get the better of her was the best way to ensure that she won a fight. She hoped instead, that the man would make Mira even more angry, so Mira could draw more of her power out.

That's what Wei wanted to see. He wanted to see the two kingpins spring into action and boy did Mira spring into action. She was almost like superhero as he watched her zip across the room to check on her friend and stop her largest friend from crush her smallest one under his monstrous weight. He was curious to know exactly where they'd met these friends of theirs, but he didn't have the time to really dwell on it.

Mira was already in front of him, like she'd teleported there in all her max fury. Wei smiled at her, spreading his arms out to the side and tightening the muscles in his gut. To anyone watching, who knew Koudo, this was always what he did to close combat fighters that had more physical strength than brains. He'd done it to Mira, many times on Vescrutia. He'd done it to Chita. He'd even tried doing it to Kham with... mixed results and a dying will flame that increased his defensive power by leaps and bounds.

He didn't need that for Mira.

---

Whiz: "Is he crazy? That punch will kill him!"

Ace still held Whiz's elbow to prevent her from interfering.

Ace: "Quiet. Watch."

Was all Ace said to Whiz, hoping she wouldn't have to tell her again.

-----

Ismera was more than aware that Bhumi had decided to join the fray and could guess that she was the brains behind the entire operations. After all, the leader should never raise their hands until it was absolutely necessary. He had single handedly decimated the powerhouse of their group, his twin had destroyed their wild card and his master had taken out their speedster. Her hand was forced now, and Ismera wasn't sure if Wei wanted him to engage her.

He circumvented her wave of earth by creating a force field under his feet to use to jump higher into the air, almost touching the ceiling. From this vantage point, he could see Wei and the encounter he was facing, but he only needed to see his master's eyes. Once he got the signal, he'd know what to do.

--------

Wei didn't take his eyes off Mira, but he nodded his head.

---------

Ismera saw Wei nod his head and, with his eyes closed he turned his body towards the sneak attack Bhumi had prepared for him. With arms outstretched, much like Wei below, he welcomed the flick from the hand of earth that was angled in a way to send him barrel through the second and down into the bathrooms. Where he submitted himself to laying their with his twin, who had been close to recovering, but didn't move a muscle.

----------

Now it was just Wei and the two head honchos. Good. It would mean more this way. Mira's fist connected with his gut. The impact was loud, booming even, with enough force behind it that bones should shatter and Mira's opponent should be liquefied. She was a decent fighter with a massive well of strength that she could draw from. Wei could see that she was well trained, but hadn't lost any of her street smarts. She was the strongest member of the Takers, more than Bhumi, but wasn't very bright. Good.

The force behind her punch, as soon as it met the belly of Wei was snuffed out. Entirely.

There was only the loud boom of confirmed contact, and then nothing. Wei didn't budge. He wasn't pushed back. His bones were shattered. His body wasn't liquefied. He spit up any blood, nor was he coughing like all the wind had been knocked out of him. He looked completely fine. Natural. In his element. It was like Mira's cock back, wind up, chesto hurricane punch was nothing more than a love tap to him.

"Do you know, Tama Tamura?"

Wei asked, taking Mira's wrist in his hand and pulling up, hopefully lifting her off the ground as he did so. Whiz had told him that Mira and Bhumi's names were on the back of the photo in his breast pocket, and so he thought to make it a point to ask if they had ever heard the name, before he asked about the Maharaja.

Something... was definitely wrong. Bhumi quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. Her gambit was sneaky, but not nearly so sneaky that someone of the man in white's caliber should have been done in by it. He "fought" Kahlil with no effort and dispatched him just as easily, so there was no way that he shouldn't have been able to see through her little misdirection.

She supposed that she should count her blessings, for now, but she kept the man in white, and his partner in black, in mind. For now, she refocused to Mira... who wasn't looking too hot. Their mark was impressive to be able to take one of Mira's blow head on and not feel any pain, but he was a fool too! Bhumi smirked and chuckled to herself a little bit as well.

She whispered, "That fight isn't over you know, she's scrappy." To herself.

She then walked over to the deserted DJ booth to shuffle through the music.
---------------

Mira gritted her teeth, hard, pissed that she hadn't made this nerd poop his pants with her solid connection. Instead, she felt something weird at the point of impact, like he had absorbed the blow or something. She had definitely hit him, and hard, but she couldn't see any damage on him and it made her panic a little, which gave Wei the opportunity to seize her wrist.

"Like I'd know someone with such a shitty last name."

Mira groaned and grunted, tossing her body backwards in an effort to break Wei's hold on her wrist. She head Bhumi laugh, causing her face to grow red with embarrassment. She thought Bhumi was laugh at her, not at the situation Wei had willingly put himself into. She couldn't embarrass Bhumi anymore than she already had by not taking this man out in a single blow. She was the strongest Taker after all.
-----------------------

"Yeah dude, she's being truthful. My Mira never lies."

Bhumi chimed in, snapping her fingers as she finally found the record that she was looking for. It was a really obscure, underground hip hop mix that she liked to think didn't get enough play time in Euphoria. It was always House music this, or experimental R&B that. Bhumi and Khalil just wanted to listen to a little Trap every now and then.

Gently, she placed the record down on the turn table and spun it up, looking at Ace and Whiz for approval, but waving it off. It wasn't like they were going to let her do it if she asked, and it seemed like Ace was pretty adamant on keeping Whiz out of this. Must be more personal than she originally surmised.

Bhumi looked off to the side, wagging her finger, "And she never loses either."
----------

Quickly, while hopefully the man was distracted by Bhumi, Mira used her core muscles to lift her legs and wrap them around the arm that was holding on to her wrist and shifted her position until she could get a more comfortable angle for an armbar. Once she had, her power started to build, swelling within her to the point that it expanded outwards and burst from her in a flaming pink aura of Soul Energy.

"HA!!!!"

She screamed, snatching her wrist from Wei's hand and using all her Soul Energy Augmented strength to pull the man to the ground. Once she had, she locked in the submission hold, fully intending on taking his arm.

Fight she did, struggling to escape his grasp, but Wei only tightened his grip to keep her helpless, for now. He just wanted a few answers to the burning questions that he had. If these girls were friends with the girl in the picture, then that meant that they could probably tell him more about her. Where she stayed, who else she knew, and if she had any problems with anyone. That last question was particularly important because... it could narrow down who the masked assailant from his vision had been.

He spit with laughter though at Mira's answer, finding it too hilarious not to burst into laughter. He supposed the alliteration probably wasn't for everybody. She surprised him.

Bhumi surprised him even more. Deescalating herself so that Mira could handle him... he guessed? It didn't really make sense, from a tactical standpoint, since both of them might have a better chance against him together, but the memories he had from Koudo reminded him that Mira was really prideful. She didn't like being helped in a fight, and Bhumi seemed like the type who would never help. She waited until her other three friends were decimated before she lifted a finger.

So he smirked, "Never lose-" The smirk was short lived, because Mira exploded with speed and power right before his very eyes. He tightened the muscles in his arm to try and prevent her from finding the position she seemed to be looking for, but she was like a monkey or something.

"Oh no you don't!"

He screamed along with her, fighting to remain standing against the overwhelming force of the new level of strength Mira was displaying. He didn't need to be a genius to know that if she was able to take this to the ground, he wouldn't be able to escape her with using a lot more of the power he was still unsure about. He didn't have the same level of skill as Koudo, but was really good at pretending.

No avail though, she was able to knock him off his feet and his back hit the ground with a loud thud. He kept his muscles tense in his arm though, preventing Mira from locking in her submission hold. In fact, he began to move his arm, fighting against her monstrous strength with the draconic strength he'd been blessed with. Before long he was able to lift his arm entirely in the air, and he slammed it towards the ground as hard as he could, to slam the little grappler against the ground to get her to let go.

Mira felt good now, confident even. She successfully knock the man to the ground, good. She had an excellent ground game, probably much better than her fisticuffs. The problem, of course, was this man was fighting against allowing her to lock in her armbar. It was frustrating. Vexing. Exciting. More Soul Energy swelled inside her and exploded out again causing her aura to become more energetic and raw! Her strength increasing alongside the strength of his resistance.

"DAMN IT! STOP RESISTING!"

She screamed, not noticing that Wei wasn't resisting anymore... he'd won their struggle. It wasn't until she felt her body quake from being slammed against the ground that she came to this realization. She felt pain shoot through her body like she'd never experienced. It wasn't often someone, other than Bhumi and ****, were able to hurt her.

Wait... who was **** again? She tried recalling, but the more she tried... the harder it became to identify the name she was thinking about.

She groaned in pain again, her back arching away from the blunt instrument being used to beat her. She had to do something... something... something... oh!
---------------------------

Bhumi leaned against the table the turntable was sitting on the watched as Mira struggled against the man she and her friends had started a fight with. She could tell that they'd made an error in judgment. This guy was strong. Really strong. Stronger than Mira strong, and Bhumi wasn't nearly as strong as Mira could be at peak excitement. Instead, she watched them, noticing the joy on Mira's face that the young girl probably wasn't aware was painted across her face.

She thought about the name the name asked about too. Unlike Mira, however, Bhumi could vaguely remember at least hearing the name somewhere before. In fact, now that she was thinking about it, she might have said the name a few times, but she also didn't remember ever knowing anyone with such a peculiar name. It was really weird.

"Yo, dude, is this Tama... like your daughter or somethin'?"
---------

"Not. Now. Bhumi!"

Mira interjected sourly. She didn't want her "boss" interrupting her fun. She felt like she could really cut loose and she was just about ready for it. More than ready actually. She did the smart thing and let go of the man's arm, hopefully slipping out of his reach when she slid across the ground to put distance between them.

She spit a little blood off to the side, wiping her mouth afterwards and snapping her fingers. Then, she posed. Arms pulled back to her sides, with fists parallel to her hips, and her knees bent slightly.

"LIMITER RELEASED!!"

She called out, waving one of her hands across the air before clenching that hand back into a fist while in the air. In response, her soul energy flowed out of her before causing the aura shrouding her to grow and expand. It morphed and transformed before it solidified itself around her as a sort of suit of armor made from her soul energy.

"HERO MAN HAS ARRIVED!"
------

"You're a girl... dumbass." Creed mumbled in his sleep.

Why would he ever do that? It was childish to even think that your opponent would take your advice and submit to you in the first place. If she couldn't lock him in, then she wasn't strong enough to use this method to beat him.

Seemed like she realized that, slipping out of his reach with that troublesome agility of hers. It gave Wei time to get to his feet and dust himself off. He planned on changing clothes anyway, so getting this outfit dirty really didn't matter too much. Not that it really would have anyway.

He whistled. Summoning your power to the surface like a transforming hero? That was something you didn't see everyday, especially not from someone that was suppose to be second in command of some street gang. It was cute though, and he could tell, just by the amount of energy surrounding her, that she had increased her strength again.

Wei decided to get a little serious as well. Play time was over. He wanted his answers. Now.

He slammed his hands together in front of him before simply saying, "Sage Mode."

There was a lull in the air, a certain silence. All the energy Wei gave off seemed to vanish for a second, before it exploded. Around him, a circle of visible chakra scorched the ground, rapidly whipping around him as he drew from his massive supply of chakra to activate a power up of his own.

Wei's black hair grew longer and dyed itself shimmering white in color and his natural blue eyes lightened to a more familiar color. The color of the eyes of the man he spawned from. The amount of power he had on display was astronomical, much larger than anything anyone had been able to sense before.
----------------------------

Ace gasped, choking on the pressure of the chakra Wei was releasing. She stood firm in the thick atmosphere, but Whiz didn't fair so well. As soon as Wei activated the transformation, Whiz lost consciousness. She didn't have the physical stamina or mental willpower to stand in such a smothering eruption of chakra. She collapsed on Ace's shoulder, who did her best to prop the larger woman up.
----------------------------

"Something like that. But wait, like your friend asked." Wei finally answered for Bhumi once he was finished transforming. He didn't look in her direction though, instead focusing on Mira and only Mira now. "I'm going to K.O. her with this next one." He rose a hand and beckoned Mira forward.

Mira smirked, "I'd like to see you try." She wasn't being cocky, she was being genuine. She could feel the pressure of his transformation and how it trumped her own by leaps and bounds. Comparatively, her "transformation" was like a child playing make believe, while this man's was the way a seasoned warrior stepped up their power to another level. She was excited to see if he could.

So she slid her foot forward a little, just a little, before pushing off the ground and crossing the gap in less time than when she first took action against this man. She used the same tactic though, cocking her arm back like readying the hammer of a six shooter and launched it forward with all of her might for an epic gut punch!

"COME OOOOOOOON!!!!!!"

She grit her teeth, grinning as she launched her attack. She no longer cared about the friend's he'd so effortlessly dispatched, nor the club that her and her friends destroyed by picking a fight. She didn't care about Ace and Whiz being upset, nor about Bhumi would only wanted to talk. All she cared about now was this one moment. She wanted to see if this man was strong enough to actually KO her in one hit. The only person she knew that could was,

"TAMA!!!!!"
---------------------

"Tama...."

Hearing Mira scream it at the top of her lungs knocked something loose in Bhumi's memories. It wasn't a clear memory, or anything like that. It was hazy, fuzzy like a picture printed by a printer without enough ink. The more she tried to make the image clearer, the cloudier it got until she couldn't see anything at all.

One thing was for sure that, she definitely knew the name. She didn't know how, and she didn't know why, but she wanted to. They had picked a fight with the right guy after all. Now all Mira needed to do was survive him.

Wei didn't make any unnecessary motions. This was a little jarring to him. He'd never actually used the Sage Mode technique before, but Koudo's memories told him how too, and it seemed like the strongest transformation Koudo had in his arsenal. Because of his inexperience with it though, he had to be careful.

He hadn't been declaring his intention because he was confident he could down Mira in one hit. He declared it because he only had this one shot in Sage Mode before it deactivated. He needed to make the most of it.

So he waited. He waited until Mira made her move. He sensed her before she moved and knew exactly when she would close the distance. Sage Mode enhanced all of his senses past the already incredible levels they rested at in base form.

As she threw her punch, he didn't make any aggressive motions to counter or evade her. Instead, he calmly reached out to catch her flaming fist of furious Taker justice. Once they'd made contact, he used his enhanced energy perception to read the flow of her soul and understand the frequency of her wavelength. Then, he whispered to her,

"Hiden Senpo; Rei Kō Kyō Han Shō."

His eyes glowed with an intense amount of chakra before a concentration of energy built up at the point of contact between Wei and Mira, his palm and her knuckles. The build up grew with the amount of energy Mira had thrown into her punch, including her armor aura. It was all sucked up into the point of contact before Wei pushed Mira's fist away. The motion turned all of the power he'd siphoned off Mira against her in that very instant. Making her most powerful technique her own downfall.

It was all clear. In the bright pink flare of her soul energy, Mira could see what her mind had been so clouded to. She wasn't even mad that she walked into this obvious set up, in fact she was elated. It reminded her of something. A very special moment in her life... when she met her two best friends.

Tama, that little sneaky assassin. Because of her aloof and carefree personality, she usually got picked on. Mira was the first to come to her aid, try to be her friend rather than her enemy, and Bhumi followed along later when fighting proved too much for Mira to handle alone. It was her idea that Bhumi and Mira team up and work together as a group. If it hadn't been for her, the Takers wouldn't even exist. Mira remembered this, and she smiled. Tears welled in the corner of her eyes and she sniffled back the snot that tried to escape from her nose.

"Just like Tama," She reached out her free hand, stripped of its pink exoskeleton, to touch Wei's longer hair, "Those weird eyes and pretty white hair..." She was able to say to Wei before she was engulfed by her own energy.

It was an eruption of power that devastated her body. She didn't scream, there was too much pain for her to express her discomfort audibly. She couldn't believe that she had packed so much power into such a blow, but she had always gotten reckless in her fights against Tama. It was the overwhelming pressure.

The pressure of knowing that she couldn't win, no matter how hard she tried. Wei had that same pressure about him. This overwhelming presence of obstacle that Mira couldn't barrel over and couldn't break down. It was her stopping point, the end of her potential, and she could always feel that Tama had much more room to grow.

That pressure never got her down. It never made her want to give up. It inspired her! Her friend, the one she could remember, was an inspiration to her. The more the pressure squeezed down on her, the more determined she got to surpass the person that exuded it. All of these emotions welled up in her as her energy arched throughout the room, blinding everyone in the area with its pink hue.

Then it was gone. Her energy swept away and Mira was left standing. Her head cast downward and her arms limp. Her body relaxed and slumped like she was able to fall over, but she didn't. She was down for the count, but she never touched the ground.

She stayed standing.
-------------------

Bhumi looked on in silence. She wasn't upset about Mira, but in the pink radiance of her energy Bhumi was able to see the same visions. The history that she and Mira shared with this girl, Tama Tamura, that this man was looking for. They knew her! They were friends with her. They were only as strong as they were because of her.

"How could I have forgotten you, Tama. Without you, there is no us."

She sighed quietly, whispering the hook to the song that echoed through the empty club.

"Nothing's gonna stop me... nothing's gonna stop me."

Then she locked her eyes on Mira, allowing the orange glow of her Terra Forma magic to eclipse her eyes.