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Every so often, a young man needed a change in his life. Something different to get out of the rut he might be stuck in.

Howl had been feeling the wear-and-tear of Hillworth life slowly creeping up on him. It was a mild pressure at first, that was just more annoying than anything. However, that pressure began to grow as he added more and more responsibilities to his daily routine. Today, it was just overwhelming to the point where it almost felt like he was suffocating.

Of course, the teal-haired boy knew that he, in fact, was not suffocating in any sense of the word. Yet in all his wisdom (at least he hoped it was wisdom), he decided that perhaps today he should spend his free time off campus doing something relaxing. It was then that the idea hit him. In all of his half a year in Destiny City, he had never found the time to visit the park. Certainly, he had occasionally walked past it, but he had never gone through it to fully enjoy the environment.

Franz was unfortunately busy cheering at some school event (Howl seriously needed to make a schedule or something to keep track of his roommate), so Howl needed to drag his fencing equipment bag with him. There was absolutely no way Howl Wickham was going to be seen outside of the school with his Hillworth uniform when it could be avoided. And so, Howl walked down the pathway in the park, duffle bag slung over his shoulder, casually observing how the weather had affected the plants during this particular season.

Soon enough it will really feel like spring he mused to himself before taking up residence in a nearby bench. For the brief moment that he had decided to rest, he set the bag on the ground in front of his feet. His eyes drifted to the sky as he enjoyed how still everything around him seemed.

Wherever Zinkenite went, Scheelite was sure to be close behind. Today was no exception! The entire way to the park he had babbled about this and that, the latest ramble being how awesome it'd be to go play on the swingset.

Clearly, Zink was not as amused.

"Cmoooon man! I'll push you and everything! It'll be fun. And EVERYONE knows that if you swing over the top of a swingset you vanish into a portal and are never heard from again so don't you DARE swing too high! You have no choice, I'm getting you on those swings sometime today whether you like it or noooot~"

Rather than attempt to calm his raging partner, it seemed more fun to simply fan the flames. Grinning (that grin that was hard to tell whether it was clueless or just a hidden kind of devious...), Schee reached out one gloved hand to pat his smaller companion on the head.
"So chill, we'll get in some practice time, maybe steal a starseed or something, and then swings! It'll all work out!"

Or so he thought.

Apparently the serenity was not to last. The quiet was soon enough interrupted by what seemed to be a rather playful banter. He had managed to glance towards the source of the noise, spying a tall and a short figure a ways away. The way they interacted seemed to be rather familiar, in a fashion similar to how Howl had always imagined siblings would interact. He had no siblings of his own. Their outfits were quite strange, nothing he had ever really seen before.

Casually, he brushed his long bangs out of his eyes to try and get a better glance when another voice interjected rather pointedly. In all honesty, the effeminate young man had never been a fan of neon, but he was not about to outwardly complain about it. That would be rather rude, as this strange young lady seemed to be.

However, the main thing that managed to get his attention was her label for him. He was well adjusted to being called a young lady. However, he definitely did not dress the role for a young lady with loose moral standards. He could not help but turn to the voice and blink. And blink a second time.

His lips parted, and in his elegantly accented and blatantly male voice, he almost seemed to insist upon clarification for the accusation. "I beg your pardon, Miss?"

Scheelite had been content to ignore any others at the park and simply torment Zink. This should have made -everyone- happy, afterall he could be extremely annoying and once he had set his sights on someone it was damn near impossible to get him to leave.

So it was when a comment was made on his outfit that Scheelite's acid green gaze shifted to take in the newcomers.
"Ffff, neon? Out of style? What the hell rock have you been under? Not that I want everyone copying my style, because that would like...suck, you know? But sheesh, at least I -have- a style, unlike some people."

He folded his arms, offering all around a "HRMPH" before turning his attention back to Zink.
"Both, of course. More starseeds means....well more starseeds for the boss-man right? Boss-man needs more starseeds or he'll be pissy and quite honestly I'm tired of him being pissy with me so let's go!"

Schee didn't seem bothered by the 'whore' over on the bench, but really they didn't matter beyond the fact he was about to steal their starseed. That's all regular people were good for anyway!

The card morphed, and the dark shadows twisted into the shape of bright, shiny green. The shape was feminine, with sharp curves and even sharper ivy-green boots. Her short dress hugged her body. Her eyes were gray, large, and looking about before focusing on the group about her. Mantiz grinned, a wide row of sharp choppers. “MANTIZ!” Her hands reached forward, of what SHOULD have been hands. Armed up the elbow, her limbs went out into two long curves with a shimmering blade under each arm. She brought them together as if to take a moment to think of what she would do with the three humans, and the look in her eyes meant these ideas went from small bits to finely diced.

Crouching, she sprang up, her spiked boots propelling her up to quickly come down before Howl. While the boy had long, lovely green hair, her hair was short and white, and she clenched her teeth. Someone was jealous.

“MANTIZ!” It seemed her vocabulary was limited, but her claws spoke for her as she brought them down to slice the bench the boy was sitting on in half beside him.

"... aren't the monsters supposed to be on OUR side?" Demanded Zinkenite taking a step back in alarm and fumbling to put smoke bomb to slingshot so that he could fire off one.
"Perhaps we can just... let it finish the trap on the bench... and we can collect -that- star seed... um... I don't think we -really- need three so lets just avoid that...Mantis thing as much as we can yes?

"Mantiz," called Ilie from her place in the air, "Work a little faster, I don't have all day!" She took off her hat, exposing her beautiful ears with their delicate points; she flipped the felt creation in her hands. It was awfully beat up, maybe she should replace it soon? Ehh... she didn't want to have to deal with more humans than she had to.

She sat down on invisible ground several feet above the boy's heads, leaned one elbow onto her knee. "Just get their energy and have done with it!"

If there was one thing growing more painfully obvious, it was that Howl was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. It it was not for Mantiz, it sounded as if the two swing-boys had plans for him. He hadn't caught much of their conversation, but he heard the mention of starseeds. Hadn't Miss Virgo mentioned to him that was what the monsters ate?

Perhaps it was this distraction which caused him to not notice the green creature's attack. Then again, he would have been damned if he had noticed. Any plans of using the duffle bag to parry were destroyed as the bag itself was destroyed. All of his fencing gear (sans sabre, epee, or foil) clattered to the ground. It was a flurry of white, with the exception of a glint of silver for his protective face mask and his Hillworth school uniform, which had been tucked underneath all of the other contents. Some of the protective wear seemed to be ruined, but Howl did not really have enough time to assess the full damage. All of this seemed like a blur as a flash of green threw itself at him, forcing him to the ground with a harsh THUD. He tried to move, but the sleeves of his jacket were firmly stuck against the ground.

He struggled under her like a trapped animal, taking no notice of the strange glow that began to emanate from his body. His efforts were getting him nowhere, and after a very short time, his body seemed to feel weaker. He had been struggling rather hard against this strange creature, so he logically decided it had to do with his efforts (and clearly not the glowing).

The creature's voice was right at his ear, and it honestly sent a chill down his spine, but he tried to play it off as nothing. "Miss... Miss Mantiz, was it? Please... please cease and desist..." At least he could truthfully say he attempted to escape.