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Death is a joke...
































[[Sorry guys, I meant to post sooner but I've been exhausted all week. Literally all I've done the past three days is go to work, eat and go to sleep]]

Fleur shrugged at Queen. "I don't know how you'll do. Maybe you'll do well, maybe you won't. Just don't expect me to bail you out of it if you don't." Before she could continue Scarlet put a hand on her shoulder. "Now now, come on Fleur. In order to win we need to work as a team, okay?" She chided gently. "Whatever," Fleur replied petulantly. "Oh Fleur, you are such a pill," Scarlet told her teasingly. She looked over at Queen. "Sorry about her, she's a little shy and prickly around new people." "Oh please, spare me."

Jessica did her best to give Misty a confident nod and smile when she attempted to reassure her. When Misty leaned down and extended her hand Klaudia didn't take it. She merely looked at Misty out of the corner of her eye with a blank expression. One might get the distinct impression that she wasn't happy to be on their team. She looked back down at her doodles again without any other acknowledgement of Misty or Jessica. Jessica grabbed Misty as she turned into her Weapon form. All of a sudden Jessica jolted backwards. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. The resonance force from Misty pounded into her. She stumbled slightly before standing up straight again, her breath becoming labored. "Ugh...okay..." she muttered to herself. She looked down at Misty and tried to give a confident nod. "I'm okay," she reassured her. She slowly got into a fighting position. "S-should we try resonating fully?" She asked.

Ezekiel listened to Zila with a smile. "Really? I'm not sure how history could forget about someone like you," he told her teasingly. "Must have taken a lot of work." She leaned back, giving a slight whistle when he heard her occupation. "Using those vacation hours to win Arena tournaments huh? I thought the DWMA already had a team here." He looked over at the DWMA Team consisting of Herald, Alexis, Naomi and Carmen. "You willing to take down your own students?" Ezekiel's smile turned somewhat unreadable at Zila's last comment. "You could say that. This cross however is a gift from my mother. She thought it would steer me in the right. Honestly I don't think it worked. I've been a wanderer most of my life, never really settled down anywhere. I'll be honest with you, I joined the tournament for the thrills. I love the rush of a good battle. I couldn't care less about the prize; the true prize of this tournament is the challenge of pitting one's own strength against the other. Wouldn't you agree?"

Even as he was speaking the opponent for the next match walked onto the arena. Unlike The Black Swan she had a readable soul. Her dark soul practically oozed power and malice to equal degrees. She wore dark clothes and a bright smirk not seeming the least bit concerned about her opponents or even the crowd that started to cheer again. The next match was starting to gear up.

Death is a joke...


































Scarlet laughed at Queen's response. "Well let's go with obnoxious then," she replied, returning Queen's shrug. "Hey!" "I mean in a good way." "There's no "good" way to be obnoxious!" "You said it not me." Scarlet gave Queen a wink. "By the way, you did a great job in your last match. Two robots for one. Way to go!"

Ezekiel gave a slight shrug, keeping a disarming smile. "What young man doesn't have some kind of lust?" He asked. "Lust for blood, lust for adventure, lust for what-have-you? As for something or someone to fight for, I guess I just haven't found someone who understands me," he added teasingly. "Maybe you could help me look after that one-on-one fight." He gave her a wave as she excused herself. "Farewell then. I look forward to fighting with you."

Gloria turned to face Zila as she approached. "Oh well aren't you forward?" she replied in a sultry tone. "I can appreciate that. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. I guess you're our fourth member? I'm afraid I don't recognize you though. My fault, I'm sure. I don't get out much." Gloria cocked her head to the side, her ears raising slightly as she spoke. "I admit I'm not quite sure what you are either. You don't seem to be a demon or a witch yet you're certainly not a Weapon or a Meister. Not to pry, if you'd rather not say I can understand. We all have our secrets. Ah, I'm Gloria Morado by the way. The pleasure's all mine I'm sure."

Jessica felt the numbness overtake her but she managed to stand her ground, gritting her teeth more out of fear than duress. She nodded slowly once Misty explained the situation. There was no doubt she was scared. Her legs were shaking and Misty would be able to tell that her heart was pounding. She felt like she was about to take a deep dive into a dark abyss, though even then she didn't know how right she was. "Let's just....let's just do it. I'm scared. I don't want to wait any longer or I might not be able to." There was a brief pause and Jessica's breath caught in her throat as she watched the thin barrier between her and Misty's wavelength fade before Misty's resonance force fell upon her like a wave.

Earlier when Misty had attempted to resonate with Jessica's soul only slightly it had started to melt. This time there wasn't even a pause and Jessica's "soul" dissolved like snow next to a fire. What was inside suddenly activated. What was under the fake soul was not a real one but rather a swirling mass of madness. Misty and those with soul perception would be able to see the madness take the form of multiple large gears. Immediately the gears began to whir and grind when Misty's resonance force touched them, drowning out Jessica's sudden cry of pain. Jessica collapsed face-down onto the arena floor, motionless. But that didn't stop what was happening. The gears clashed together within Misty's and Jessica's soul room causing Misty's chains to go wild. They lashed out of Misty's control and began to wrap around and between the gears. Within several moments the flurry of madness had coalesced into a bizarre, mind-rending engine of insanity and resonance force. No sooner had it formed than the gears began to grind against each other, starting up the massive engine with a screech of chains and roar of fire and smoke.

Outside of their soul the audience and contestants watched in shock as Jessica suddenly seemed to collapse on the field. Even Klaudia looked over at her teammate in surprise. Only Scarlet seemed to take this in stride. In fact she watched the seemingly unfolding emergency with a grin on her face, something Fleur picked up on right away. "Scarlet, what in the world is going on!?" She asked, genuinely alarmed. "Did you sabotage our own team??" Scarlet shook her head, the grin never leaving her face. "On the contrary, I'm improving it." "What!? By knocking out two of our members?" "It is a bit of a gamble since the process isn't perfected but it hasn't killed them so so far so good!" "Process? Perfected? What are you talking about?" Scarlet turned to face her two teammates fully. "Wellll, it's a little project I've been working on. You see, after the Machinist Mobile Headquarters was destroyed I took a field trip to ruins to have a little look-see. While I was wandering around I found something REALLY interesting. You see, being regular humans The Machinists can only really get power through experimenting and using technology to fuse themselves with the souls of other beings. Naturally The Machinists quickly learned that by injecting madness into a soul they could do all sorts of fun and interesting things to it while increasing its power. Over time this research led to some more....refined results, one of which you see before you now: The Infernal Engine. It'd take me hours to go into detail about how it works but the simple explanation is this: It is a device used in place of a soul that can be triggered when someone attempts to resonate with it. A perfect example being a Weapon attempting to resonate with a Meister who has this device within them. Exhibit A." Scarlet pointed at Jessica. "Resonating with the Infernal Engine is essentially the ignition process for it. Once it's activated it will use the resonance force of the one who ignited it as a fuel source to power itself, in the process amplifying the power of the Weapon and Meister many times over using the madness stored within it. Of course, there are a lot of risks involved with this including the madness overwhelming the user which is why only certain Weapons and Meisters with an affinity for pain and madness have a chance of controlling it. Misty is the most qualified candidate I know with this particular, ah...skill set. She's the perfect test subject to fuel the Infernal Engine. All I needed was a method of delivery. That's where Jessica comes in: an empty shell without a soul capable of keeping the Infernal Engine within her without the risk of activating it by accident. And it worked!" Scarlet spread her arms proudly as if putting Jessica's prone form on display. "Ahh...I think your engine is broken..." interjected Fleur, not seeming too impressed. "Oh yeah, the ignition can be a kick in the teeth but hopefully once the Engine gets going it'll be more than enough to pick them up again and get them in fighting shape." "Hopefully?" "Well, I mean, it's the Engine's first test run so it might fail and fry them alive with its raw madness wavelength but I like to think positively about these kinds of things." Fleur gave a long sigh, her exasperation clear. "Though since it's Misty I have high hopes for its success. She has the best chance of controlling the Infernal Engine without it consuming both her and Jessica." "I guess there's only one way to find out." "Mmhmm."

Meanwhile, within their soul room Jessica and Misty were feeling the effects of the Infernal Engine. Jessica was on her knees, arms wrapped around herself as she tried desperately to stay conscious through the searing pain and the sound of screeching metal chains against grinding gears. While the initial moments were complete havoc, Misty would be able to feel the Infernal Engine begin to form fully around her and Jessica. Misty's chains were wrapped up in the gears but rather than trapping or constraining her Misty would be able to control the machine itself by pulling her chains, moving the gears in whatever direction she chose. Misty would feel the overpowering madness exuding from the Infernal Engine but being who she was the Weapon would have a strong chance of controlling it. In the real world Jessica lay face-down on the ground but within their soul room she was still on her knees. She looked up at Misty who was wrapped within the grinding machine. "Misty, help me!" She cried out desperately, tears in her eyes. "It hurts so much!"

♥ OoC:

Death is a joke...


































Fleur glared at Queen. "Oh I dare you to try!" She told her angrily. Scarlet ignored Fleur, giving Queen a nod. "I know and it's great! Don't worry the other teams will know to take you seriously now. I mean, two robots! Come on who can blow that off?" Fleur was about to make another comment when she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned to face Zila with a somewhat annoyed expression - in other words, her standard one. "Oh look it's my favorite mythical reptile. Did you come here looking for more treasure or is it officially Annoy Fleur Day?" The pink-haired girl suddenly broke into a grin. "Ooooh who's this? I didn't know you had any other friends Fleur," she said teasingly, leaning on Fleur's shoulder. "I don't. And you're not my friend either," she explained coldly. Scarlet merely chuckled in response. Fleur turned back to Zila. "So?" She asked, arms folded.

Meanwhile, as the strange man on the bench began to laugh it seemed to send a signal for the rest of the crowd to join in. The arena filled with laughter and jeers at the fallen WeaponMeister team. Klaudia actually gave a slight sigh as she listened to the mockery, seeming to feel vicariously embarrassed for Jessica and Misty. Even the Arena Master seemed slightly taken aback, unsure what to do. He rubbed his chin for a few moments before looking over at Scarlet who merely grinned and shrugged. He gave a sigh and turned back to the Arena. "Despite current events, we have no choice but to begin the match!" He called out to the crowd, whose jeering quickly turned to cheers. He held up three fingers. "In three!" He announced. "Three!" He lowered one finger as the crowd echoed the number along with him. Scarlet turned back to the Arena as she felt The Infernal Engine truly come to life. "Come on..." she muttered to herself, clenching her fists in anticipation of whether or not her plan would work.

Within their Weapon room Jessica slowly looked up at Misty as Misty raised her chin up and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Misty...I don't...know what's going on..." she replied, holding back tears as the grinding of The Infernal Engine wracked her with pain. She felt herself being lifted up and carried away. For some reason unknown to Jessica the pain began to lessen, ebbing away bit by bit. She slowly unclenched her teeth first and then her hands as Misty lay her head on her lap. Finally she managed a smile as the pain lessened to a barely tolerable level. Misty seemed so confident, even smiling. That meant everything was going to be okay, right? "Y-yeah....I'm alive..." she finally managed as she looked back at Misty hopefully.

As the two had their conversation, The Arena Master was still counting down. "Two!" he called, lowering another finger as the crowd counted down with him.

Back in their Weapon room Jessica slowly nodded. "Okay," she replied to Misty's prediction as she felt Misty stroke her cheek. Misty had to be in pain like her, probably even worse but still she seemed so calm and collected. She wanted to be like that. She tried to feel the same way but she couldn't. "Misty...I'm still scared," she admitted.

The Arena Master only had one finger remaining. "One!" He called out. On the side of the Arena Alexis was wringing her hands nervously, clearly worried for the WeaponMeister team who had suddenly collapsed. Naomi was watching the events like a hawk, seeming ready to jump into the Arena if Jessica didn't awaken in time. Gloria and Herald both watched with disinterest while Ezekiel had a look of genuine concern on his face. Aris seemed completely flummoxed by the current turn of events and the Machinist Team were clearly bored with the entire affair. Klaudia seemed resigned to the fact that she would be facing her opponent alone. The Spitze Madchen licked her clawed fingers in anticipation, eyeing the collapsed Jessica as if she were some tasty morsel ready to be eaten.

Jessica's eyes widened slightly as Misty reminded her that they were in a fight. "I'll do whatever you say," she agreed. She took a deep breath, doing her best to focus. We'll be okay...right?" she asked hesitantly. "Get up you lazy bums!" Scarlet's shout seemed to cut through the buzz of noise that was coming from outside in the real world. She was still on the sidelines watching and shaking her fist angrily over her head.

♥ OoC: