Magical Teacher Professor Landry! - Episode 3: Bad End?

[Teal Mage]

Like a curtain being pulled back, the darkness vanished.

"Rah, rah, ah ah ah, romah, romamah." Colors swirled madly in the void of space around the Field of Honor, purples, golds and browns dominating the skyline, but punctuated by flashes of reds, greens and blues. "Gah, gah, oh, lah, lah!" The winding sidewalks and gardens had vanished, replaced with alternating marble tiles of black and brown marble. "Want your bad romance." In the corners of the Field, the massive oaks had turned to brown stone, and taken the form of towering pillars that supported an upper-level balcony. Spiral staircases, entirely enclosed by the stone of the pillars, could be seen at the towering structure's bases, seemingly leading up to the balcony-level.

"Walk, walk, fashion baby..."

In the Field's center, another structure dominated. Circular and raised at least three stories off the ground, the platform was surrounded by a spiral staircase of winding steps, open to the air unlike the ones in the pillars. Similarly unlike those pillars, it surrounded by an impossibly tall barrier crimson light, which pulsated like fire. Another structure, though a story shorter, block-shaped, and with a straight case of stairs leading to its platform-like peak, dominated the Field's East-side. As of that moment, no fire surrounded it.

"Work it! move that bitch crazy."

Now at a paino that floated in the mysterious space around the transformed Field of Honor, the Singer continued her song. Though her style was far more melodious than before, she didn't seem to have noticed the change that the scenary had undergone.

* * *

"Shuyin!"

Atop the tall structure that had appeared in the Field's center, Professor Landry stood, clad in a perfectly fresh and clean version of the black dress she'd changed into earlier. The Professor's fearsome finger was leveled at the figure that shared the platform with her. By his azure hair and her words, it seemed to be Professor Shuyin.

It also seemed that he had inexplicably changed his clothes.

His formal suit had vanished, replaced with broad sleeved and loose white robes, with a distinctly eastern feel. The prints of purple clouds and orange-yellow cranes in flight that littered the robes' surface contributed to that. More surprising though, was the fact that the bluenette Professor was sitting cross-legged, while floating several feet above the ground. From his back, four wings extended, seemingly made from oversized folding fans. The golden-yellow paper-like structures framed his white robed form, flapping slowly.

"So, you have revealed your true form!" Professor Landry declared, surrounded by a blazing cloud of black light. She tossed her head, then crossed her arms, "I always knew you were a monster in disguise! You did well to hide your true self for so long, but!" Her arm lashed out, dashing the air before her, "Now I, Professor Landry, your long time rival, will show no mercy as my students and I dash you and your sinister minions from existence!" The woman's finger stabbed forward. "Shuyin! What do you say to that!?"

A flicker of pale pink light appeared around Shuyin's winged form, and a delicate china mug of steaming liquid appeared before him. Faintly glowing pale pink eyes slid open, and he grasped the cup gingerly in one hand. Silently, he brought it to his lips.

"Don't just sit there and drink tea while I make dramatic pronouncements!" Professor Landry shouted, slamming her high heeled foot down on the stone surface that she stood upon. Fragments of marble exploded outward, a crater appearing where her foot had fallen. "This is your last -"

"Professor Landry!" Panting softly, the figure of Hannah Iriumi reached the end of the long spiral ramp that lead to the top of the central platform. A slim fitting dress, split up the sides, now hugged her body. Browns and bright greens mingled in flowing patterns - reminiscent of water - on the main body of the dress. A single sleeve of dark green rubber-like fabric covered one of her arms, while the other arm, and shoulder, was bare. Her blond hair, faintly wavy, appeared freshly styled and washed as it hung down to her shoulders, prestine and bright.

"Ah, Hannah!" Professor Landry clapped happily. "I am so sorry that I didn't call out to you sooner, but the drama of the moment would have been ruined had I broke character, even to say hello to one of my beloved Ex-Students!"

Well, that did make sense.

Hannah's expression, however, said that she was not amused.

* * *

Carved in the likeness of a woman, a pale blue crystal statue of a woman had appeared on the south-side of the Field on Honor. Standing on a pedestal, and with its arms crossed, the decoration had a strong resemblance to the Referee, Selena Brooks - who had vanished along with the blackness covering the field. A few paces in front of the statue, Astarte and Sao stood. Auras burned around their shoulders, yellow and green at the moment, and each girl looked about ready for the prom - their battling costumes had transformed into dresses fit for a ball.

Some distance to their west, Sean and Jack stood. Like the girls, they had undergone a spontaneous clothing shift; both were dressed quite formally for a battlefield. The cold, smooth stone of the south-western pillar was pressed close to their backs and the boys now stood shoulder-to-shoulder, facing a growling Puma. The creature stalked back and forth, several meters in front of them. It was watching them carefully, though the growls that emanated from its slightly parted maw made it clear that it was anything but benign.

The puma in question did not seem to notice either Sao, or Astarte's presence behind it, but it was hard to tell with pumas.

Whatever would the girls do?

* * *

Dal found his rapier in his hand again, as the blackness vanished. He quickly realized his position had shifted slightly. Now on the top of the eastern-square platform, the Fae was nearly the perfect distance between the two pillars to the far north and south of him. It took him a moment to realize, but his clothes had transformed as well; he was in a suit of some kind.

"You are an abnormality." Flat, and devoid of emotion, a familiar voice sounded in front of him.

Facing him, at the edge of the square platform, was a tall woman clad in a broad-sleeved and billowing white dress, trimmed in deep violet frills. Golden curls tumbled down her neck, extending just past her shoulders and contrasting vividly with the dark purple shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes, the iris of which shone faintly white, were the only visible part of her face. A featureless plaster mask covered much it.

"Tuatha De Danann, Dalbhach Nuada." She spoke, gesturing crisply with a white gloved hand. Her aura flared, "You will be deleted." A wall of crimson pulsing light appeared between them, the barrier reminiscent of the one around the central structure.

Around Dal, three identical matrices of three-by-three, three-dimensional, translucent and dark green cubes appeared. Small pixels of data raced to fill them, taking the form of like giant worms, made of ball-like segments. At their tips' a large mouth, lined with jagged fangs, gapped widely. From it, green liquid dripped freely. The stone the liquid touched was swiftly eaten away - leaving only quickly deepening holes in their place. Each summoned creature came up to Dal's waist, approximately.

Loosing a feral hiss, the north-most of the three worms sprang forward, leaping for the Fae's stomach. Simultaneously, the worm to his south and the one at his back fired thick jets of that green acid-like liquid, aiming to strike where the Fae's illusion hidden wings should be.

Meanwhile, Johanna found herself standing a few paces north of where the stairs to the eastern platform began. Like the Fae, she too had undergone a wardrobe change, and now appeared to be a dress of some kind. Further to her north, Johanna could make out the crystalline forms of two more statues. One, pale blue and in the likeness of a broad shouldered male, stood protectively over the other, a much darker crystalline form, shaped like a woman, which lay prone on the ground.

How strange.

* * *

Hannah vanished, thwarting Shin's attack. The Oni's strength gave out a few moments later, as the loss of the majority of her Demonic Power hit her. Jay felt a similar drain, though to a much lesser degree. The baseball player just found it hard to catch his breath momentarily; his magical reserves had at least another two bursts in them, more if he used them sparingly.

These details seemed less significant as everything went black.

When it cleared, Jay himself in a formal suit, while Shin was clad in more formal eastern wear; a kimono. Similarly inexplicable, where Al and Zet had lain before, statues had appeared, in poses similar to the vanished boys. They were both crafted from pale blue crystal. To the pair's north, a strange pale-blue mist had appeared. Within the confines of which, they could make out flashes of fire and the suit-clad figure of Dean, as he dodged and weaved attacks from a gold-scaled reptile from above him. He didn't seem to be having much trouble though.

A light impact sounded directly in front of Shin.

Tall and slim, one of the robots from the orchestra – which was now nowhere to be seen – appeared a pace before Shin. A black wrap of cloth surrounded the machine's featureless face, leaving a gap where its eye would have been, if it had been human. A similarly coloured jacket and pair of dress pants adorned its frail-looking form, oddly reminiscent of a butler's costume.

A computerized voice reached Shin's ears, as the machine began to rock back and forth, seemingly trying to imitate a brawler. "You are the prettiest girl at the ball." It stated, as large cleaver knife was withdrawn from one its sleeves. It struck a pose! "We must Kung-Fu fight!"

It looked stupid.

But it had a knife!

* * *

The second level of the transformed Field of Honor consisted of spacious, dimly lit, stone corridors. A solid wall sealed off the outside edge of these hallways, while the wall around the inner-edge was little more than a railing-lined balcony. Three figures stood in the north-western corner of the balcony-hall.

Clad in a slim-fitting, thin white, sleeveless and vee-necked gown, Hie giggled softly. Her short-cut sandy hair was once more crowned with a pair of black-tipped, tan, triangular ears, and short, curved, tail of similar coloration extended from her backside, visible through a perfectly fitted hole in her dress. A dark blue sash was belted at her waist, covered in the same white patterns that had adorned the bandana that she'd sliced off earlier. A pair of similarly coloured bands of cloth rested on each of her upper arms, while a pair of empty knife sheaths hung off the belt at her waist. An aura of, almost white, pale green supernatural light hung around her shoulders, as she danced in place.

To her west stood Diana and Kohana. Both of them had undergone spontaneous changes into formal clothing like everyone else, Kohana into a suit of some kind, and Diana into a more feminine piece of formal wear. At the backs, the two weapons Hie had stolen before remained imbedded into the wall.

"Hahahahahahahah!" Seemingly caught up in her own world, Hie twirled, her dress's hem twisting her body as she moved in circles. "Heheheh!" Her laughter, while not quite constant, seemed almost brittle in its tenor, as if she wasn't quite in her right mind.

Before Diana or Kohana had much time to think of this however, her pale aura flared, and a faint white-blue haze of light seemed to fill the air. Behind them, the stolen weapons shivered. The trident-turned-pretzel seemed to melt into liquid, running down to collect into a thick coil on the marble surface below. Moments later, the head of a white and gold snake rose from the center of the strange mass, hissing softly.

Meanwhile, the sword thickened and condensed. A pair of black, bat-like wings, flared from its hilt momentarily, before flapping powerfully, as the animated weapon broke free of the stone. Four newly formed feet landed heavily on the floor, beside the snake. Fixing its red reptilian eyes on the backs of Diana and Kohana, the small black dragon breathed out a wisp of smoke from its nostils. It seemed to be thinking.

They were surrounded!

[Astral Harmony]

Astarte's new clothes apparently also changed her back into one of the unliving. It was strangely comforting to only be able to see out of one eye again (the right eye was blocked off by bandages).

Astarte wore a radiant black silk dress with dark gray frills. Both the dress and Astarte's hair were decorated with lovely red roses. Instead of sleeves, Astarte's dress was complemented with black silk gloves that went halfway up her arm and long black stockings, both also decorated with roses. Finishing off her getup were two black stilleto boots and, to really spice it up, a small silk top hat with ribbons worn slightly tilted to Astarte's left.

Quickly, Astarte altered her wrappings to be outside her gloves. She wouldn't be able to use her Astarte Drill any other way. And looking at the puma sizing Sean and Jack up, Astarte was going to need that power.

Pumas were indeed large cats. Astarte's knowledge of them extended only as far as the second episode of Red Vs Blue, but she kinda felt that this creature was a little more agitated than how it probably should be. Astarte knew that food would work wonders here, but finding a kitchen in the middle of a battlefield was impossible. So it all came down to blows.

Astarte raised her right arm. The mummy wrappings swirled up the length of it and extended a foot beyond the tip of her middle finger. And, aura flaring, the wrappings began to spin in rapid succession. The Astarte Drill was a-go.

Astarte advanced on the puma slowly and purposefully, using the noise of her drill to hopefully attract its attention. Her mind began to wonder. If she couldn't kill the puma with her drill, it was going to turn into a wrestling match, her strength against the puma's claws and teeth. Hopefully the others could save her before the puma ripped out her throat if it turned out to be stronger.

Either way, Astarte would get rid of a dangerous enemy and ruin a dress that she didn't really care for. Win-win.

[Overcast]

Jay was breathing heavy for a minute, ready to turn and see Hannah ready to whip his ass after he put all he had into knocking Zet out of the fight. Then darkness. Didn't last long though, when he came out of it he was in some new digs. A sharp pure black suit with dynamic double breasted jacket and a bright red tie, a patterned white shirt underneath and a pair of shiny dress boots. Honestly it looked rather good on him, and he certainly enjoyed it. But not when he was sweating like he had just ran a mile. This was the kind of outfit he would have preferred if he were chilling at a dance, some light sweat from some impressive dance moves, but this was just terrible. He pulled the jacket off revealing a pair of suspenders and tried to look around for somewhere to put it until his body got rid of some of his nastiness.

Then he noticed he wasn't the only one who had changed outfits. There was shin in a kimono, honestly with her size it still didn't make her look any less threatening than she was. Kinda like putting a pretty dress on an ogre, only prettier. He smirked a bit until the robot came out of left field and took to threatening her.

He didn't much like that at all, she looked like she had spent herself trying to take care of Al, and was in no shape to fight anyone no matter how stupid they looked. Though he was still breathing hard from that last effort so it might take him a minute to get back up to speed, still he took a deep breath and tried to force out a confident little yell,

"Now that is no way to talk to another man's date!"

His wiped the sweat from his brow and took in another breath as he pointed at the thing,

"I demand satisfaction! We shall fight you lout!"

Then he tossed the jacket at the creep, which was sad because he really did like the jacket. But if he was going to fight he certainly didn't plan to wear it. He summoned his bat back to his hand, without really thinking about where it might have come from and ran to strike.

[Riin Whitewind]

Were Sao in a better place mentally, she might have wondered.
There were many things to wonder about, certainly. The situation had devolved into a dreamlike haze, filled with bright colors, soft lighting, and the rustle of expensive cloth.
But as it was, she couldn't bring herself to care. Details like that were a luxury of those with clear heads and unclear goals.

She spared only a glance for the mummy and the statue nearest her, dismissing them from thought. The statue bore a resemblance to her teacher, Selena Brooks, but was in no actual danger. Sao could see that she was needed elsewhere - Shin lay prone, menaced by a metallic enemy.

Padding to the north in soft, low-heeled black shoes, the swimmer crossed the battlefield with purpose in her stride. Her seafoam-green dress swirled elegantly around her ankles, weighted at the bottom with a band of patterned dark leather.

A mountain lion paced back and forth near her path, but it was deemed a lesser threat - two of her classmates were on the other side of it, and they were well-equipped to deal with a mere cat. To skew things even further in the humans' favor, Astarte headed that way, making a din. The whirr of the drill was irritating, but didn't keep Sao from hearing a distorted voice issue from the robot standing over Shin.

The swimmer broke into a run, cursing mentally at her clothes. A black half-jacket, which covered her arms down to the wrist, pulled slightly at her shoulders as she ran. Beneath the right sleeve peeked a charming little watch. The band appeared to have the same patterning as the trim on her dress - white and blue stylized waves, embossed into the leather.

Light grew and reflected off twisted silver jewelry, a choker of metal twining over dull emeralds clasped at her neck. Earrings in a similar style dripped from her earlobes, swinging almost to her shoulders. Blue and green reflections shimmered in front of her, outlining what appeared to be a sword grasped firmly in her hand.

A tired-looking Jay drew the mechanical butler's attention from the opposite side with a toss of his jacket, and readied himself to strike. With her opponent distracted, Sao didn't bother losing any of her momentum. She struck from the side at a run, with a slide-tackle to its legs that would make any soccer player proud.

[Girasol of Chaos]

Shin's efforts had poured into the attack, only for Hannah to spin around and dodge, looking simply pissed before gasping. The exhausted oni's attack caused her to land awkwardly, not anticipating the dodge, and she collapsed onto her knees. Leaning on her club for support, she panted, returning the glare up to Hannah before darkness fell upon the field.

For a brief moment, Shin wondered if she had passed out and not yet realized it. The screaming reply in her limbs assured her that she was still, unfortunately, plenty awake. An unsettling feeling filled her, one she recognized. One that screamed that she was in a place that she wasn't supposed to be.

As light revealed the field once more, Shin was suddenly very, very aware of how close she was to losing her illusion. How had she not noticed this before? She squinted around the field, restraining her ogre-features as best she could while trying to stand, only to discover that she...was wearing a kimono.

It was a pretty thing, she would admit upon seeing it on anyone else. It was bright orange, trimmed with gold and a matching sash constricted her abdomen, but not enough to keep her from moving. Pink and white flowers flooded the bottom of the sleeves and body, reducing in number until they no longer existed past the sash. There was a second, thinner layer below this, but it was not visible at the moment, consiting of a plain white kimono underlayer. Much to her disappointment she could feel the 'do was down. In fact styled with goldish pins held a shimada hairstyle. She wasn't pleased to be dressed like a Geisha, and hissed a curse.

Adding more insult to injury... a robot butler appeared before her. The tall, lanky thing looked stupid as it danced in place and struck a pose.
"You are the prettiest girl at the ball." And with that, it revealed a cleaver from it's sleeve. The rocking motion made sense now, and it stood poised for combat, although it looked quite rediculous. "We must Kung-Fu fight!"

"Oh bull-fucking-shit" Only then did the oni carry herself to full height, mustering the strength to prepare for battle once more. Her tusks and horns were prominent enough to be easily seen, but she retained humanity otherwise, spitting at the butler. "I'll smash you to pieces for that!"

A yell came from past the robot, and she focused on..Jay in what appeared to be a suit, just with the jacket off. "Now that is no way to talk to another man's date!"

"What!?!" Her roar was equally shocked and offended, not sure how to react to a statement like that. He continued confidently, ignoring her searing gaze, "I demand satisfaction! We shall fight you lout!"

The baseball fanboy tossed his jacket over the robot's face and charged, effectively stealing her opponent! Tired but enraged, Shin hoisted her club upwards.

Only to be startled by Sao rushing past, in a rather pretty blue and white dress, with an embossed jacket. Apparently these didn't restrict movement much, because the girl rather brutally slide-tackled the robot.

For once in her life, Shinobu felt completely useless. Mustering strength she opted to step forward and gave a hook-punch with her off hand towards its mug. Jay was tired too, and she wanted to be sure this robot JERK would go down.

[Steel Shadow]

Diana wondered for a moment if the mysterious woman had somehow managed to knock her out. Everything had gone black, and her head was swimming uncomfortably. Feelings that had been muted suddenly jumped back to full volume, staggering her with the intensity. It was bad enough that when the lights once again rose, it took her a few moments to notice that her casual clothes had been replaced with a formal prom dress, dark blue, fancy and backless.

From the outside it was a pretty view, and then it got prettier. Her camera, now in it's new convenient wristband form, began filming, and triggered her Self insert ability. Suddenly everything about Diana was spectacular. Her dress caught the light at the perfect angle, and hugged her curves (Where had she hidden those, anyway?) just so. Her hair shone, her eyes sparkled, and her mouth seemed to glimmer as she opened it...

"Uhgle," she said, except somewhere between her mouth and everyone else it passed through her aura and became: "Oh dear, what was that?"

A small shake of her head and some rapid blinking later, and Di finally managed to take in her surroundings. And what surroundings they were! Hollywood had to pay top dollar for a set like this! The editing fees alone would bankrupt an independent film maker like herself. This really was turning out to be her greatest opportunity to film ever! Where were the others? Were they here somewhere too? Should she be filming them? Part of her was insisting very loudly that yes, she should, but it was competing with the rest of her that said she should be filming the ones she was already with. Absently she noted that this included the boy who'd interrupted her interview with Adeline the day before... And he'd called the girl something, hadn't he? Hey? Hi? Hm, she would have to ask. But clearly they knew each other! Which might explain the ears, now that she thought about it.

Her head swam again, as warring factions of instinct began to draw up battlefields and invaded each other. She was in the right place. Here was where she needed to be, with... Kohana, some half-made memory of the day before told her, and the girl and... A Snake? And... A Dragon? What? What?? Did that make sense? No... Yes? She'd seen stuff like this before, hadn't she? Ahh, why wouldn't her head start making sense!

Hie shone brightly, pale green light bathing everything around them as she spun on the spot, laughing like a mad woman. Was she the cause of all this? Without really knowing it, Diana slid closer to Kohana, moving to stand back to back with him. She needed to fight... no, what? She needed to finish her interview with... No, she had to escape, get down below... No, she...

She shook her head again, still not entirely together yet. Despite her confusion, her face showed only a calm confidence. "Hey, so, what did she call you, Koh?" She asked, her voice cheerful and melodic to everyone's ears, "What's going on here?" She paused for a second, considering something she'd heard before, and decided to throw it in. "Does she normally glow like that?"

Whatever the answer, Di shifted her feet, trying to get into a wider stance, only to find her gown in the way. A sudden cheerful smile broke out on her face as she reached down and pulled, a loud tearing sound signalling the tearing of the hem. It was a move she'd been wanting to try for ages, after seeing it in god knows how many movies. Actually, there were a lot of moves she'd been wanting to try... Her feet, now free, fell into a balanced stance without any further direction.

Inside her head, an uneasy truce was declared. Treaties were drawn up, territories divided, a course decided! The uneasiness dissolved away, and determination took it's place. Diana knew what she had to do! It was a little more... hands on than she was used to, yes, but a Director must do everything in their power for their work.

"Ok Koh, I have an idea," she grinned, her eyes flicking between their three opponents. The positioning had to be just right for this. "Follow my lead! Oh, and mind the scaley guys. They might bite." And then she moved.

Her body acted almost entirely by instinct, and despite the fact that the girl was pretty much entirely untrained, it did it well. Diana launched herself forwards, away from Kohana and the odd creatures, heading directly for his cousin. Her feet hit light and swift, allowing her to shift her weight as she pleased at a pin drop. Not that she was aware of this as she slid around an attack and jumped, her right leg coiling behind her and snapping around so fast you could almost hear the sound barrier straining around it. She was just copying something she saw on tv last week...

The fact that her camera had disappeared had not seemed to occur to her.

[SinrXIII]

The shift to pitch blank left Kohana, much like everyone else, disoriented and confused. His tail flicked from side to side angrily, and he clenched his fists.

"Goddamnit... Hie if you're fuckin' around with me, I'll kick your ass all the way back to the village!"

There was a sudden tug, and he felt... winded; like he'd flash stepped somewhere. The hell? He sure as hell wasn't moving when he couldn't see two feet in front of his oh hey, the lights turned back on.

Kohana found himself watching Hie, in sort of prom get-up, spinning around and laughing her head off. A wrongness flared off of her, like she wasn't quite all there. He stepped forward and reached out to ask her what the -hell- she through she was doing with her tail and ears out, but stopped short when he realized he was wearing a suit jacket. He looked down at himself; now dressed in a white button-down shirt, black jacket and slacks, and some sort of confining dress shoes, he was firmly convinced that he was in some kind of hell. His bandana was missing as well, though a black tie with the same white patterns now hung from his neck.

"Oh dear, what was that?"

Kohana spun around, surprised. He hadn't -completely- forgotten about Diana, but he didn't remember her looking so... radiant. Or wearing a prom gown, much like his cousin. He opened his mouth to say something, but the sudden glow of Hie's aura drew his attention.

Which then shifted to the snake/dragon duo that now threatened he and Diana.

He felt Diana's back press against his, and he couldn't help but chuckle as the director extraordinaire started asking questions.

"Hey, so, what did she call you, Koh? What's going on here? Does she normally glow like that?"

"No," he responded, reaching up to loosen his tie; why the hell did people insist on wearing those? Fuck it, he took it off and wrapped it around his head to keep his hair out of his face. "No, she doesn't normally glow, or laugh, like that. Or dress like that. I'd like to know what's going on myself, girlie." He grimaces, eyes darting from Hie to the summoned monsters and back. "Something is definitely wrong with my cousin."

"Ok Koh, I have an idea," the directess grinned, her eyes flicking between their three opponents. "Follow my lead! Oh, and mind the scaley guys. They might bite." Kohana simply growled, unbuttoning his jacket and the first few buttons on his shirt.

Diana sprang forward, aiming for his cousin with a kick Kohana had to stop and marvel at before leaping forward himself. He grinned, moving the opposite of Diana to flank his cousin; he kept an eye on the summoned creatures, hoping they'd stay the hell away or find someone else to bother. He widened his stance and lifted his hands, letting Diana press the attack until he had an opening to restrain Hie.

"C'mon cousin, let's put you down for a nap, let you sleep off the crazy..."

[Arhra]

Jo stood with Vanilla fallen at her feet, Gorgeous rushing in to protect the fallen girl. Behind her, Dalbach threw his sword at the machine, Marisa called out in horror if he had any idea what he'd just done.

Everything turned black.

Jo founde herself alone. Her slight form was engulfed in a pure white fur over-robe, hanging all the way to the ground. Loosely shut, short loops of cord and toggles of age darkened wood held the front closed. There was a hint of blue as she moved to look herself over, taking in her changed outfit.

The jotun girl treated her new surroundings with an equitable eye, reserving further judgement for the moment. One did not solve mysteries by getting too excited.

It was time to find out what was going on. Jo retrieved one hand from the fur muffler it was buried in. Her coat's voluminous sleeve slid down almost to her elbow as she raised that hand to her head and plucked a few strands of hair free.

The temperature dropped around her as she whispered something into that hand and then she separated the hairs into two and then let them fall to the ground. Mist spread from them as if they were made of dry ice. Daggers of frost formed in mid air around Jo. They orientated themselves and imploded inwards to create two hollow humanoid effigies. The ice spread in a sudden rush, the statues filling in and taking more definite shape as the mist closed over Jo and them.

As quickly as it appeared, the mist died back to nothing. Three Jos stood back to back. Without a word they separated, moving purposefully off in entirely separate directions.

The Jo facing the stairs climbed them. On top, she found Dalbach facing off against a tall, masked woman. A wall of fire separated the two, while weird worms made of bunched together balls struck at Dalbach, vemon drooling from their gaping mouths. The tall youth had somehow gotten his rapier back.

"Excuse me?" Jo called, looking at the tall, blond, strangle familiar witch. "But might I ask if you have any idea what Dalbach has done?" It was worth a try the jotun felt. "Secondly," she stamped the ground to indicate it was the topic of discussion, "is this structure the Amaranthium machine?"

The others Jos walked apart. The northern one headed for the closest pillar and stairway while the southern one angled towards the wall of fire around the center, intending to examine it and then give it a good poking and prodding.

[Krylo]

"Do you have any idea what you've done!?" Marisa yelled at Dal, as the smoke cleared from her.

"Well, not precisely," the Fae began, "but where's the fun in..."

And then everything went black, and when sight returned, everything had changed. Including his clothing. His pragmatic combat shoes were replaced with more fashionable 'Macon' style tuxedo shoes, and he found himself wearing a slim fit jersey blazer, reminiscent to anyone who would be in the 'know' of something from the Armani Collezioni's casual selection.

He pondered for a moment immediately removing it, but he actually rather liked it and found himself deciding to keep it around. Not that he had long to think about that as the woman in front of him suggested he needed to be 'deleted'. A suggestion that might normally drive him to arrogant rage, but coming from a sorceress with this much power it was a very real threat, and so he reacted as such.

"But what fun is life, without abnormalities?" he asked with a slight grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. An honest one, not created purely of bravado. This, before him, though the most dangerous thing he had yet faced since his release, was a real tangible threat, with the masquerade already broken all around him.

His glamour faded, revealing his true form, as he spun out of the way of the leaping worm, and charged past it, like a running back avoiding a tackle.

"Though it seems your sense of fun is lacking at the moment," he gasped out as he dashed toward the wall of fire, avoiding the bursts of deleting saliva in the process. He spun and stopped in front of the inferno, facing the worms again, his stance defensive, ready to move at a moment's notice.

He turned his head to speak behind him, even as he kept his eyes on the worms, "Perhaps we can do something to fix that."

[Bard The 5th LW]

"What...." Sean muttered in a bit of pain as he moved himself to a sitting position. That shouldn't have happened. Flash Step was supposed to be the ultimate dodge. How could anyone get him? He only recalled someone running after him and... Jack alerting the referee. This had to be Jack's fault.

He was about to shout for the guy, when he felt someone just next to him. Speak of the devil. He was going to flatten this guy, when he heard a growl. Fuck, a puma. This was not his day. Her was also wearing a white tuxedo and a green bow-tie in place of his blue polo-shirt for some reason. This was still not his day.

"Jack," he said through clenched teeth as he kept an eye on the big cat, "I plan on wrecking your shit later, but there is sort of a problem right now. Got any experience with Big Cats? Not sure of the effectiveness of the same old ice/wind thing on a wild animal." What was this thing even doing on campus!?