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The blonde gave a small snort at the exchange of words between Bazzi and Bishofite. "Yeah yeah.. Watch the names and be on my best behavior. I'll behave, I promise." She mumbled, resisting the urge to wave him off or make some stupid comment about 'Oh you'd miss me too much."

She twitched, and failed miserably to keep herself from messing with her hair when Bazzite sniffed it. Just what in the world was he smelling in her hair? ...Her shampoo? "You'll have to show me where you normally hang out so I can come visit.. Ya know, when I'm not busy." Her glance flickered back to the general for a moment. "That way I'm not wandering around he like some lost puppy."

That glance turned into a flat out glare aimed straight at the back of said Generals head when she got stuck on help duty. Okay, well in all honesty she was fine with being the help. But being assigned a partner? She really hoped he wasn't saying she needed to be babysat. Ugh. Lellouch crossed her arms and grumbled something under her breathe. The senshi then finally turned her glance to the purple haired agent that had been speaking to Bazzi. She didn't seem to happy about being stuck on detail work either.. Oh well. Too late now.

Lieutenant Aluminite had been ferried to the Rift by Captain Labyrinthite who had insisted that the newbie attend this youmathon to put himself out there. The seasoned soldier thought it rather pathetic that, even with all the networking resources the Negaverse offered, Aluminite only properly knew two agents. While the captain initially intended to leave after escorting his companion through the Hall of Shadows but upon seeing the crowd that had gathered, along with hoards of youma, he opted to stay.

Aluminite could hardly manage himself in a spar, he knew better than to leave the man alone.

The youma would eat him alive.

Laby's hand found the small of Aluminite's back and shoved him forward. "Go, they're not going to come to you," he snarled. "Well, the youma might because you seem nervous," he added, a dark grin curling on his lips.

"Oh, because that's soooo reassuring," Aluminite responded, rolling his eyes and shooting his captain a glare. "I don't see why this is necessary. I can't get personal youma and frankly I don't think I want one." Youma gave the older man the creeps.

"Because, you need to mingle." Great advice coming from a man who didn't really have friends. "Go." He shoved him forward again, towards the crowd with more force.

Since Aluminite was a tall lanky man, he stumbled as he came upon the rest of the gathered agent. "Uh. Hello."

He was pretty awkward too.

A devious smile took Bischofite's features after he stepped down from his short speech. Mostly lieutenants mingled in this pace, with the addition of a few captains. The majority of the human populace appeared inexperienced - greenhorn lieutenants milling about in a desperate attempt to understand the rigid military structure governing a new half of their life, or fresh captains looking to flex their authority over their posthuman predecessors. Schörl, he recognized, met with him previously; her understanding of youma likely surpassed most of the captains here now, if not all. Xenotime exceeded most in terms of experience, but Bischofite never heard her speak of youma before. Perhaps she fostered as much ignorance for them as the rest.

Corrupted senshi managed their way here as well, which fascinated him along a different vein - why would their kind meander to the Rift to study youma, knowing they could never command one as their own? Or had they so well adjusted to Negaverse ideals that their lack of authority mattered little?

Lieutenants and captains. Corrupts and supers. No one present matched his rank - this bade well.

Bischofite's golden gaze settled on the blue-tinged youma treated Lellouch with a modicum of respect. Slowly he approached, placing a hand on the much taller youma's shoulder to garner his attention. "Bazzite, I haf' an order for you," he mumbled softly. "I will issue a command to zis lot, and when I do, you will haf' a choice - ze order is meant for zem, but you are a special case as Benitoite's youma. You are not part of it. As his youma, I want you to choose - when ze time comes, whose side will you assist? Or will you spectate for ze ensuing cacophony?" Piece said, his hand slipped from its grasp on rough carapace and he parted from the locust youma's company.

"Youma!" Bischofite called, voice laced with authority as he turned to the thick, black ring of warped bodies beyond them. "Our count is small, and yours is great. Show us ze pinnacle of your better evolutions! Attack all of ze agents you see wis' any bitter fury you fester for us! Should you fell one of us, you are entitled to zeir starseed! Devous anyone who tries to retaliate!" Now issued an order, the youma previously awaiting his order now mobilized themselves through thick scales, spiderlike arms, and even clusters of fingers as they surged toward the small populace of officers.

Bischofite rounded on the agents with chakrams in hand for one final offering. "If you cannot stand against zem now, run! For zose zat stay, proof' your wors' in ze Negaverse over zis cluster of mindless monsters!" The words hardly left his throat before some of the youma descended upon him.

Aloysius had been somewhat in the background since Natron had dropped him off, he was simple observing the interactions between each other. There were a few people he recognized, but he was not sure if he should approach them as they looked busy with their own affairs. He noted Lellouch and a cat which had stopped by his door one day. Taking his notebook out, he scribbled a few drawings of those he did not recognize in case he ran into them in the future. He listened to the conversations and reunions that seemed to be happening around him. Lellouch had gone up to the main person who seemed to be running the event.

Everything went to hell moments later, that was when he decided to go for the main speaker and the cat he remembered. Little did he know that he was bringing a horde of 11 youma behind him. He looked through his notebook quickly to see if he had any notes that would deem useful in this situation as he turned to punt the smallest youma away. His foot met the poor youma with enough force to bust it in, he was surprised for a moment but then the rest were soon on him as he backed away using his bow as a shield for his torso and face. He fell backwards almost into the general as he reached them. He looked down at the cat for a moment, definitely recognizing it for the most part. "May I assist?"



[10/11 Youma]

(OOC: since they were the same I switched their orders...)

Labyrinthite hadn't been paying any attention to what the general was saying, because he'd been too busy marveling at the sheer number of corrupted senshi that had joined them. He thought them fools really, to be so eager to mingle with the youma. There was a reason they couldn't enter the Rift alone, a reason that the hands in the Hall of Shadows reached for them so greedily.

Nothing was more tempting than a senshi's starseed, chaos-aligned or not.

It didn't matter, youma were beasts with only one thing on their mind. Feral ones anyway.

He was also too busy being amused at the nerves of far too many of them gathered. Those that weren't noticed, he was proud of. He, himself, was completely comfortable in the Rift. A second home to him as it were. (Despite the overwhelming threats of death...)

It was only when the general said Attack, that his attention was grabbed. Immediately his eyebrows knitted together and his body tensed, scythe materializing instinctively in his hand. Oh how he wished he had been promoted already.

"You only learn properly through experience!" He barked back at the cowering lieutenant scrambling towards him. He didn't pay the taller man much attention, because he was too busy preparing to duel with his own army.

One of the eight lunged at him, but his scythe cut right through it as he dived out the way and attacked in return. A smirk was forming on his lips as the youma turned to dust but it left quickly as he was attacked from behind, the beasts beginning to circle him.

Claws dug into his back but he threw himself to the ground, slamming into the attacking youma with his body weight. It wasn't enough because, even as he rose the beast did too.

He cursed under his breath and hurried to Aluminite, grabbing him by the hood and dragging him towards one of the other officers. "We can defend better in a small group. Fewer blindspots," he barked very much aware that by doing this the oncoming youma increased in number.

[7/8 youma remaining]

The captain had cast narrowed eyes out towards the growing ring of youma. She was counting them, sizing them up, taking in what potential they might have to offer individually. All shapes and sizes, very small to gargantuan, thick, skeletal thin, muscled, insubstantial, amorphous. Whatever the imagination could concoct; Hell, whatever lurked in the deepest reassesses of a troubled mind's nightmares. They were, if nothing else, captivating. In the same way snakes held a tiny bird's attention. But, of course, Xenotime was no helpless bird.

Attentive as ever, her attention snapped back to the general among them as he made his way over to Bazzite and spoke in low tones to the youma. That was the second hint the captain caught that said this would be no peaceful gathering.

The first, well. Considering who had organized this little get together.

So Xe wasn't surprised as Bischfite gave the order to attack. She was ready, arms unfolded and held at her sides, weight balanced and feet apart. She waited for the horde to charge forward with a manic gleam in ashen eyes that spoke of excitement. This was so much easier than sorting thorough her own complicated feelings. This was simple. This was raw violence. Life and death.

This is what Xenotime did best.

There was no need to think, she moved automatically as the mass closed in around her. Nearly a dozen dark figures rushing in, and she merely smiled. Twisted and eager. Silver flashed along her knuckles, weapon summoned as she brought an arm back and swung it forward in a wide arch. She threw her whole body into the punch, toe dug into the hard ground under her foot, hips turning, shoulder rolling, and finally, that petite, lethal little fist turned as her hand connected with something that looked like a cross between a cobra with a flared hood and some wicked mix of legged reptile and predatory cat.

It never saw the blow coming. She'd caught it by surprise, and it went spinning across the crystal littered ground with a scream that reminded her of a jaguar. Xe never saw where it landed. More youma were closing in, circling her and demanding her attention. The ones with the longest reach swiped as they neared, slashing at her with meaty paws and claws like daggers. She dodged what she could, but even she couldn't protect herself from all sides, and a scythe like appendage came down across her back to tear into her uniform and flesh alike. It made her his, sucking in breath through her teeth as she dropped to her knees to avoid a thick tail swinging at her head. There were too many, and they were too close, she needed to get out of the circle.

Kicking out prove a few of the bodies back, and the captain took advantage of that small gap to put a little distance between herself and the mobbing youma. She jumped, using that wonderful strength chaos had given her, clearing even the tallest beast. She just had to keep them from swarming her, then she could pick them off one at a time.

[13/14 Youma remaining.]

(Stupid six)

Lellouch mad a small noise, whether if it was annoyance or surprise was unsure. There was a small moment where she wondered if she had seen this coming, or if she expected to seriously just be some learning session. Either way, she was quickly learning the meaning of 'Expect the Unexpected.' She took the involuntary step away from Bazzite as a small group of youma approached the senshi. No more then half a dozen in total, and for right now, the corrupt was happy to deal with such a small number.

One launched itself at her and the senshi smashed the heel of her hand into it's face, sending it back to the ground. Lellouch jumped when she heard a few people scream, whether it be in pain or the name of some attack. But she couldn't worry about that now. She had to focus on what she was doing and take care of the youma in front of her. Just because she had a 'handle' on her current group now, did not mean she wouldn't be in some serious s**t later down the road.

(5/6 Remaining)

While Cinnabar thrived in combat and had somewhat been anticipating tussling with a few of the circling youma, a full out attack by the mass came as a surprise. And what's worse, she was pretty sure she had heard that general with the skulls commanding them to attack. What the hell?

As the mass surged towards the group, Cin jumped backwards to put a little breathing room between herself and the snapping jaws, trying to work out what she was going to do. On one hand, she was no slouch in combat and would love to exercise some anger management on the monsters... but on the other, she had to wonder at the reasoning behind this. There were easier ways to combat train your troops, ways that didn't involve the death of potential hundreds of allies in the form of the chaos-fed beasts. It was one thing to spar with an ally, killing them was stupid in the extreme.

Still... it was hard to argue with the facts of the situation, especially when six big youma peeled off and headed straight for her. Varying sizes and forms, all eyes were fixed on the black-hair lieutenant as she dodged a spit ball of something sticky and foul smelling as it rushed past her, performing a move that looked vaguely matrix-like. Unfortunately, moves like that were not as good in real life as they were in the movies, leaving the tall woman off balance and in retreat. Her moment of hesitation left her open for a slash from something that had far too many eyes and limbs for her comfort. The almost-metal claw cut through her leather coat and scored skin, the finishing sweep of it sending droplets of blood flying to hit the crystal floor. The smell of fresh blood only exacerbated the problem as the youma howled for more.

s**t, this was bad... nothing for it, then. Dodging more flailing limbs, Cinnabar ducked into close range and got her arms around its neck, jerking the monster forward and over her body with a snap of breaking bone and carapace. It was dust before it hit the floor, but the damage had still been done and the lieutenant dripped blood as she quickly scanned her comrades, searching for the best means of dealing with her attackers.

(5/6)