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"4... 3... 2... 1... Have a nice day!" the voice said, and something clicked. Next thing Merrick would know, the sphere had burst outwards explosively, though somehow it did no 'real' harm to him, or Shade, or the girl. However, a wave of 'something' crashed into him, clinging to him. It was sticky. And stinky. Very, very stinky. Thick, and clinging. It smelled like the trout, though just about twice as worse. Perhaps it was the same thing?

There was a laugh, coming from far down the street. Everything in a 20 ft radius was covered in that strange slime, whatever it was, and the area stunk, so bad, you'd be lucky you didn't pass out, like some of the bystanders were.

Overhead, there was suddenly a lot of fluttering, and cawing. Shadows appeared everywhere, nearly blocking out the sun over that small 40 ft wide blast area. Overhead, was a flock, no, more like a horde, of sea gulls. Whatever that stuff was, it was drawing them there. Like a sheet of rain they decended upon the area, pecking and eating at everything that was covered in that sludge...

The birds kept buzzing on Merrick, slapping at birds never really did work, it was hard to get a solid strike, not to mention they kept coming in, nipping at him to get the food he was covered in...

Steve, meanwhile, was blocks away. His clothes were in a dumpster. He was now dressed in a flowing black cape, and with a huge sword on his back, just like most everyone else in the greater Barton Metropolitan area. His brown hair was now black, and his small dark eyes were now a brilliant light blue/green. There was a large grin on his face as he stashed away his new 'treasures' and counting out the coins he could pawn them for.

An apple! The glorious red orb filled Sasha's vision, making her momentarily forget the seagulls that were chasing her. Without even breaking stride, the gelding caught the delicious fruit in her teeth, munching on it as she ran. Where had the apple come from? That man! Maybe he had more!

And so it was, that Sasha went from running in a random direction, to pursuing Steve...

Sasha turned, stretching her neck out, then leaped as she realized the distance wouldn't be enough. She and Merrick's stablehands had played this game often...she was good at catching carrots, apples...sugar cubes were generally the only things that gave her trouble.

She caught the apple perfectly in her mouth, then turned back to look for her food source. Finally, she spotted him, much farther ahead than he ought to be. To make up for the lost distance, she took off at a gallop after him.

"Did I miss anything?" Asked a slightly raspy voice from above Chyre. Above her was a floating young male with orange hair. It shaved short save for two long strands on either side of his forehead which were bound near the ends by silver circlets. Watching the scene below him with crystalline golden eyes, he fluttered his two foot dusty white wings a bit as if to keep his balance. He had a slender build, wearing a coloage of different clothing as if he had a bad wardrobe day. All his clothes, however, had the same theme of grey. He tipped his grey hat a bit in greeting and lowered himself down so that he was hovering a few inches upon the ground.

"I hope I'm not too late." He said abashedly looking at the mess that was supposed to be his team mate, "What have you got there?" He asked, tilting his head to the side and raising an incredulous eyebrow.

"Ah," He said with a chuckle as he waved the bird away, "Is that all that's happened so far? Nothing with the quest yet? Oh, by the way, I am Mirror."
With a sweep of his arm he gave a mock bow to her and then straightened his back. His grey wings fluttered a bit as he moved to her and began to help her rid herself of the slime, "Hope you don't mind...Oh, or is this the clue we're looking for?" He asked with another chuckle holding up his slime covered hand.

Shade swore inwardly. He knew he should've known better then to trust a ninja! Now his money was gone, one of his nicer cloaks was covered in stick gunk, (he doubted that the smell would come off for years to come), and the birds pecking at him didn't help either. The only postive aspect that he could gleen from this sudden turn of events, is that no one had noticed his sudden involuntary shift back to shadowform during the blinding light from the explosion.

Throwing up his hood and hoping no one would notice, Shade muttered a brief explanation to Merrick "...I can't believe that Necrotech has gone so far as sending an assasin in guise of a harmless xombie! This shall not go unpunished!!!" He didn't really think that would fool the noble, but he was at his wit's end. Throwing a brief confused glance at 'Mirror' he quickly span around and dashed after Steve's retreating footsteps...