Thread: ʜᴀʟ ❖ ᴄʏᴏn

Maalik raised a brow in surprise at the redhead's treatment of the fallen men—mental note: aggression—but said nothing on the matter. This was, after all, an evaluation period. Anything he had to say, he'll say it at the end of the year.

Without wasting any time, the agent hurried to Gear's last known location. The tracer on the bracelet had seemingly gone dead and the Egyptian was starting to worry. Having an unaccounted synergist appear was not a terribly upsetting event. It was only a minor inconvenience. Having a much stronger, unaccounted synergist was a definite problem.

"It's perfectly reasonable to fight synergists without holding back, right?"

At her words, Maalik looked to Skylar, his brows knitting together in slight disapproval. "This isn't another training simulation or practical, Miss Quilliam. There are real consequences to what happens here and you should—"

And then he felt it, the pushing of an opposing vibration, the pulse of someone else—of someone that gave the agent pause. This wasn't any ordinary Sabulum synergist, but Maalik had to see for himself to be certain. He had to know. "Miss Quilliam," his tone took a sharp, commanding sound—seriousness replacing his entire disposition. "Do what you must, but do not take any unnecessary risks."

He could feel another presence walking—Alarick, perhaps—but the rain was making it harder for him to be sure. He couldn't detect the Sabulum synergist anymore, but he knew he wasn't mistaken.

Coming into sight, Maalik could see Alarick searching the debris. 'This is definitely the work of a Sabulum synergist.' He, however, couldn't see Gear or the other synergist. But the pulse he felt earlier was unmistakeable. The synergist wasn't dead.

Touching his ear-piece, the agent asked, "Gear, what is your status?"

Gear was running out of steam. He couldn't hold the man any longer while also guarding himself. He had to choose. He decided to try to last a bit long and wait for Alarick.

And then the rain fell. Note to self: Thanks Alarick for the save.

Renewed with a surge of adrenaline, Gear pushed the rubble off of him as he heard Maalik's quarry. "Right here, Maal. Not to worry." He said into his ear piece. Once enough of the rubble was cleared away, Gear rushed away from his position, hoping Riley couldn't follow his movements because of the mud. He landed softly next to Alarick. "Hey," he said as if they had just met on a jog. "What's the plan Maalik? The Synergist, who I assume is called Riley, is about 10 meters from your position buried in the rubble. I've bound him for now but I can't keep it up much longer. I don't know where his buddy went but I can only assume he's also a synergist. Right now it;s four on one, so it's your call. Tell me what to do. Release him or keep him bound?"

Gear made sure to speak softly so that Riley wouldn't be able to hear.

The metal and the earth shifted, trembling and shaking as the other man fought to escape the steely confines of roof rafters, beams, and pipes. The metal screeched and scraped against each other, but Riley, caught off guard by the rain and the sense of a nearby resistance, was slow to move.

Reaching for the nearest flat surface, Riley pushed down with his hand, fully expecting to escape, but his feet wouldn't budge. Looking down, the redhead noticed the darkness clinging onto him, keeping him grounded.

"Pointless."

The floor around his person glowed a faint, but brilliant orange and, suddenly it began to grow upwards. The earthly tower stood at ten feet tall and Riley could see all four agents, one closer than the other three. "Who do you think you are, Agent?"

Suddenly, an earthly stair of mixed metal, plates, and earth appeared before him, rising from the debris and the floors to, eventually, reconnect with the wetter dirt. "You can't run and hold me down." He moved to take the first step and the shadows shattered like glass, breaking and fragmenting as he broke free.

When Gear rejoined the team, already prepared to reenter battle, Maalik stopped him.

"Wait, did you just say his name is 'Riley?'" The earth rumbled, shaking in the tell-tale signs of a synergist.

"Who do you think you are, Agent?"

Red hair, red eyes, and unwanted recognition—The Gravedigger. 'Shit.' The Egyptian tensed at the sight, his shoulders stiffening with something kin to fear. This was not what he had signed up for.

"Get back, Agent Reindhart!" Maalik shouted, running forward in a moment of panic and stress. "Don't approach him!"

The rain was obscuring but the rubble was even harder to get through, and honestly Alarick couldn’t make heads or tails on where the building began or ended. The tracking device that was attached to all of them showed that Gear was a little ahead, but it was hard to tell given the fact that the entire landscape of the area was different now. He had put his foot down on what he had thought was firm ground multiple times only to have it shift out from under him. Yes the agent realized that the rain was counterproductive, but if enough of it managed to soak the area then it is plausible that the synergist’s ties to the earth would loosen. It was also fair to say that this was decent cover for the both of them as it created erratic vibrations on the earth along with obscuring one’s view.

Gear found Alarick first, and the agent glanced him over for wounds before addressing him. “We need to leave- now. Agent Maalik and Quilliam are making their way here- we need to regroup and refocus.” What went unsaid was: ‘from the sheer size of this destruction what we are looking at is high class synergist that we are not prepared to take on especially with a new recruit’.
Yet there was only a minute pause before they were greeted with both Maalik and this unknown synergist. Alarick pressed his eyes against the red head, and then came back to his fellow agents. The rain came to a small patter before dissolving into nothing more than a fine mist that coated clothes and flesh with a sticky residue. Alarick wasn’t about to waste all his energy keeping up his cover if they were staring their opponent straight in the face. Those eyes went to the puddles of water that had collected during the rain and he began to concentrate. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to use them, but their current situation seemed a bit dire.

"Oh? You must be the other Sabulum synergist," Riley said as he reached the ground level, a thin layer of mud sticking to the bottom of his boots.

And, without warning, spikes protruded from the ground, forcing Maalik to roll left—away from Alarick, but right into Riley's trap.

Metal cut into his right arm and blood spilled onto the already wet, already damp floors. Biting back a scream, Maalik instinctively reached for his wound. 'This isn't good.'

Alarick pulled hard to the right. While he was no spring chicken to synergist fights- Sabulum synergists were far from his forte. As a Pulvis user he was more knowing on how to fight Accendo users, and pair with Imbre users- water and earth were never really a powerful or feared combination.

He managed to just miss a ground spike as it erupted near underfoot. In that process he dropped his cane- not like the sword within it would be helpful for someone that could control metal. Alarick pulled his body up as best as he could and brought focus back to the water puddles as Riley was intent on Maalik. He would need more water than that, and would be open while attempting to both summon and manipulate- still he needed to get Riley off of his fellow agent.
While there were multiple puddles- Alarick only concentrated on three. Pulling extra moisture from the misty atmosphere he sent three high-powered jets of water towards Riley- two for his legs and one for the center of his back. It wasn’t a continuous stream, but it should be enough- if it connects- to knock him down.

When Riley broke out of Gear's entrapment Gear felt the shadows smash as if they had smash into his chest. Then he realized how powerful this man really was. No one breaks out of a bind like that. Usually.
Then another realization came to Gear’s attention. He was running out of energy. He didn't realize how much it took to bind a man from so far away- or how much it took to lift a few hundred pounds of rock. He may have a few more shadow essences left in him-probably three or four- but that was it. After that it would be hand to hand or retreat. And Gear knew from experience that you didn't want to get into close combat with a Sabulum who is trying to kill you. It was suicide- especially if the synergist in question if probably of A-3 to S-2 level mastery.
This was not a mission to start with. Why the hell do high powered synergists want ancient artwork? Shouldn't they be going after huge amounts of money or causing massive panic just for the kicks? None of this made sense.
And then Gear saw Maalik go down and then Alarick try to attack Riley with water. But he didn't really have a lot. So Gear decided to look around for a new source of water. He found a dilapidated water tower that he was sure a shadow essence bolt would bust open. He decided to wait a bit before he did it so that Riley was off guard and wouldn't be able to counter. He figured Alarick wouldn't be able to manipulate all of it, but having extra water wouldn't hurt.

Riley drew another spike and Maalik tumbled to the side again, the rocks snagging the ends of his uniform. The redhead was relentless with his attacks and Maalik, unable to do more than play defensively, was forced into the proverbial, but metaphorical wall.

"You can't win just by—" Something wet, but hard connected with his person and suddenly, Riley was knocked off his feet and sent ten, maybe fifteen feet backwards, into the pile of metal pipes.

And Maalik, seeing the chance, encased the other man with the pipes, bending them around Riley's body. 'This might be our only chance to kill him.' The blood lost, while not profuse, was nothing to laugh about. "This is our chance!"

Gear saw Riley go down and Maalik encase him in pipes.


"This is our chance!" Maalik said and Gear didn't need to get told twice. He pulled up his cross bow and shot two bolts- one made of shadow essence and the other of metal- simultaneously at the downed man's head. He then used his smaller crossbow to fire another shot at the man- just in case.

There are two types of agents in the world: agents who hope for the best and agents who have seen enough to simply know.

Maktub Maalik is of the latter.

Even though he wanted everything to work, he knew better than to think it would. Things with people like The Gravedigger never went as smoothly as hoped.

The shots Gear fired never landed. Both connected with the redhead's guard, trapped inside metal and earth. The metal pipes around Riley unbent and Maalik felt winded from the countering force.

Blood trailed from Riley's lips, dripping onto his clothes and falling onto the floor. "So, not completely useless, I guess. Still not good enough though."

Spikes flew up from the ground again, spreading from Riley in five different directions. They moved faster than before, more fiercely than before.

The next few moments were quick and jarring. By the time that Alarick had pulled himself from the ground he saw that Riley was roped back by metal that Maalik had manipulated, and that Gear was getting ready to deliver the kill shot. They were agents of Siderus- not murderers or assassins.

“No,” Alarick stated a moment too late as the two bolts clicked off. Why was the man here? Who did he work for? Why was he with Errol- or if they weren’t with Errol why was he interfering with his operation? Of course he was far more valuable to them alive than dead- but then again he was trying to kill them. Still was it worth a man’s life because they were poor agents and failed their mission?
He probably shouldn’t have been surprised that the bolts never connected- even if the water was pulling itself from their puddles to intercept Gear’s shot. It fell back down just as quickly.

As Riley literally peeled himself from Maalik’s encasement- there wasn’t much time between that and the next volley of land spikes that erupted towards them. There was no pattern to this set either. So once Alarick dodged one he unfortunately fell straight into another one. Had he been younger- and less damaged- he probably would have managed to overcome them easily enough. Instead it clipped him quite nastily in the side and could feel half of his body weaken before he felt the pain. Truth be told had it not hit his scarred side he would have yelled out, but the nerves there had been burned away so many years ago and never recovered.
Blood trickled from his side and then began to pour into rivulets.
‘Concentrate just concentrate,’ Alarick thought quite steadily as he just attempted one last shred of power. If he couldn’t deliver direct and powerful hits- maybe he could just- yes- that is what he would do.

Large masses of water were had to work with, but Alarick wasn’t trying to manipulate them in a detailed manner. He was just attempting to tug the water from the tower and flood the area.

Maalik didn't have the time to jump out of the way as the onslaught of spikes started up again, coming at him faster than he could read the patterning of the grounds.

In response to the oncoming spikes, Maalik raised opposing walls, but the colliding spikes had its own set of problems. Rock and metal shards flew on impact. Some of it cut superficially, but a few found their way to his wound, making things worse.

Gritting his teeth together, the agent looked to Riley, who had managed to extricate himself from the holds. Riley wasn't unharmed, but his movements were still steady and his powers were still unfathomably strong.

He was so incredibly strong.

Clutching his injured arm, Maalik took cover behind some rubble, trying to get a few seconds to regain his breath and, hopefully, come up with a plan.

There was a lot of water there- and Alarick didn’t need to manipulate all of it to do his bidding- just enough so that it would strain the metal plating and come toppling down on top of them. Mind you he was attempting to stay aware of where his compatriots were and shield them from the inevitable deluge. He had preached Riley’s safety earlier- and to be honest he would rather capture the man that just knock him to the side knowing that he would live and come after them once again. But the situation was becoming more and more dire, and they had to save themselves somehow.

‘One more tug,’ Alarick thought and the rivets squealed before busting off and the metal paneling gouged open. It sent massive amount of water hurtling their direction with only a bit of help from Alarick. Who needed to help gravity? Yet he had to make sure it wouldn’t harm the others, and that is where all his attention went too.
He was completely vulnerable right now, but it didn’t seem like Riley was paying him any attention anyhow.

"Not bad," Riley coughed, flecks of red flying out. "Not bad." More blood. The fight was slowly taking its toll. He had to finish this soon, before things could get any worse.

The ground was still moist from the earlier shower, no doubt the handy-work of the Pulvius synergist, but it wasn't enough to stop Riley. It wasn't even close to enough.

Without any warning, the ground started to shake again, the tremors increasingly more worrisome. Loose pipes came unhinged, rafters slid off nearby rooftops, and the earth started to rumble. It groaned under the force and roared as the surface started to crack.

"This ends here."

“I think not.” Alarick remarked when the brunt of the water finally found its’ way to them. He managed to keep the four of them shielded, but was practically unable to do anything else and the deluge hit them. It was nearly ten feet in height and roaring much like a river rapid. It flooded the place, but it would quickly lose height and power due to the cracks that had been ripped into the earth. Hopefully it would be enough to take care of Riley- somewhat temporarily- and offer them an escape.

It was a failed mission, but at least they were alive.

The earthquake subsided under the pressure of water and Riley, unable to withstand the currents, crumbled under its strength.

---

Maalik watched as the redhead vanished under the force flood, the flaming red hair disappearing into the currents. Still clutching his injured harm, Maalik turned to give the brunette a nod of gratitude.

"We should get out of here," he whispered, wincing slightly as the pain in his chest and arm worsened. "It's okay that we didn't finish the mission. Some times, things happen," he explained to Skylar, his expression truly apologetic. "We also had some extenuating circumstances. I mean, The Gravedigger," he paused, shook his head and changed the subject. "Point is, this wasn't a mission we should have been given. I'll let the agency know it made a mistake."

---

Riley opened his mouth out of instinct, but that proved to be a mistake. Water rushed inside, burning his lungs with a kind of pain he had never known before. His scream was soundless and he could feel his body slowly shutting down, slowly turning off.

He was too frazzled to conjure the floor for elevation or even a basic barricade. His mental constitution was in no state to piece itself together.

But he didn't want to die yet. He couldn't die yet.

He still wanted to live.

---

The water stopped moving completely, but Maalik, preoccupied with his team, didn't notice. He didn't even notice when the water seem to reverse itself.

"Not... yet..."

The water parted and revealed Riley on his knees, coughing and choking. His hair clung to his face in wet, sticky tendrils while his clothes were ripped at the shoulder seams. He spat up blood and his breathing was labored. He was so many things, but all Maalik noticed was the odd orange glow outlining the other man's kneeling form.

"What?"

"We're not done yet."

In the next second, Maalik was crushed into the floor, his face meeting the ground with a sickening crack. Blood pooled from his forehead as he laid on the floor, motionless. "I told you that you couldn't beat me, Agent Maalik."

Riley coughed again and blood—black and red—came up. It trailed down his chin and dirtied his clothes, but he didn't seem to care. Instead, the man turned to face the remaining three agents, his smile turning feral. "You must be new"—he pointed to Skylar—"still wearing a student's uniform. Well, Miss, today is going to be a treat. You get to see someone manipulate gravity."

Not being well-prepared and aware, Skylar lost her balance when their rival deformed the ground. "Shit," she fell down as parts of the land were displaced and the spikes popped out from the concrete ground like bamboo shoots. No serious injuries were caused nevertheless. That Sabulum synergist really is something, she got up and was slightly surprised to see how Agent Maalik was attacked. The other men also joined the fierce fight and somehow gained the upper hand again.

The redhead felt great shame in her chest. If only she had stayed focused, she would have, at least, made a move. With remorse, Skylar hopped back onto the ground level to meet up with her seniors. Yet suddenly, the floor moved again and cracks stretched out across the floor. The already wounded Agent Maalik was crushed into the ground in a flash. Turning back, "He's still alive?!" Skylar spotted the blood-tainted face of Riley. Her eyes widened when he heard the man made a remark about her.

"Well, Miss, today is going to be a treat. You get to see someone manipulate gravity."

"Yes, it is," the man irritated her so much, "It's a great learning experience." Although she disliked her supervisor, it was a pain to see him being assaulted like this. He was her comrade and senior after all. She raised her hands and created a giant fireball above her head. The heat produced strong air currents around her, sweeping dust and small rock fragments into the hot air. She was not good at aiming, so she threw the massive flame onto the man without the slightest hint of hesitation.

He dropped the cigarette to the floor and, with the toe of his boot, crushed the still-burning embers into the ground. Smoke creeped from underneath the gaps between his sole and the dirt. Riley was late.

Shaking his head, the blond picked up the briefcase and made his way towards the edge of the dock, his stride decidedly unconcerned. After all, the world belonged to the strong and those too weak to live didn't deserve another day. "The Gravedigger, was it? Guess even gravediggers need to be put down some day."

"That's an awful thing to say about your partner."

Tommie stiffened at the comment and his fingers instinctively tightened around the handle. "What's it to you? Wasn't this what you wanted anyway?"

---

A gloved hand reached down for the fallen, but not forgotten briefcase. "I'll be taking this now."

And as he walked away, wind catching in his hair, the other man laid still in a fan of fire.

---

"Child's play," Riley laughed as the fire swerved to the left, ramming into the side of a building. "You're weak," he remarked, giddy with some sort of unshared humor. "You're nothing."

The earth trembled again, shaking under Riley's control. Parts of the floor collapsed and other parts rose in jagged, uneven fashion, growing up with every intention of burying the agents alive. He was going to drive them into the ground, submerge them more than twenty-feet under.

"They call me The Gravedigger, agents." He laughed, but his moment was cut short by the shrieking of flames.

A phoenix, shaped and molded from flames, shot towards the ground, its beak aimed straight for Riley. And Riley watched with surprise and then fear and then anger. The emotions flashed through in rapid, uncontrolled succession as he raised his hands in a vain attempt to protect himself.

"No, I've—"

Fire, the heat of likes never known before, washed over the redhead, breaking through his shield, and then eating him alive. It swallowed his final words, but not his screams. Agony and anguish rang in the area, but relief and mercy was no forthcoming.

"I believe this was what you were looking for." A man with long blond hair tossed a briefcase at the agents' feet. "You should radio for DiD to do recovery, he won't last long like this." He nodded at Maalik's still and unmoving form before turning his attention towards Riley's crumpled body, which had turned silent.

The flames vanished and the remaining embers floated slowly to the ground, disappearing as soon as they touched. "Trash like him doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as us." Kicking the burned and charred body over, the man knelt down and, from Riley's hand, slipped a still-glowing ring off. "I'll be taking this as payment for saving you guys and doing your mission for you."

Gravity-?
Riley was hurt that was apparent, but the sheer force that he was conjuring even in his state was enough to make Alarick blanch. Yet the epic crescendo was cut short by the screeching of a bird made of flame. It immolated everything in its path.
Riley went up in flames and smoke and became nothing more than a smoldering and desiccated corpse. It all happened so fast that Alarick was barely able to pull himself upwards before it was al over. Their mysterious helper threw the briefcase filled with the stolen paintings their way and left as quickly as he came.

Alarick just stared. It was all he could muster with his side gouged and bleeding like it was. He was exhausted and spent- which was obvious given the fact that all the water around him did was shift and churn with the upturned ground. It drained away quickly.
Taking away something from what their savior had stated- he changed the channel of his headset and called in for backup. “We have an agent down.” Alarick stated firmly. “We need medical aid and a quick evac.” Those words escaped his lips as he made his way over to Agent Maalik and he leaned into the man, “wow he really ate our lunch didn’t he?” He stated warmly into the other’s form. This was out of their control, and he damn well didn’t much care for the odds when they were so hazily stacked against them.
Alarick was a man of dignity and what he assumed to be technological prowess. He hadn’t wanted Riley dead- he had wanted information. Yet the smell of burning flesh mixed in with wet concrete was all that entered his nostrils right now and filled his lungs. The man hoped that he had caught something of the blonde’s face through his glasses (who had enough memory imbedded in them to allow for a few hours of documenting), but honestly he hadn’t been fixated entirely on the other’s form.

He peeled them off and tucked him in his pocket as he went to administer aid to Maalik- the best way he could. Alarick new that it would be in the agent’s best interest if he didn’t move him too very much, but at the same time the other was bleeding and pretty much compressed into the ground like sardines into a can.
Alarick chided himself at that moment as it was a pretty poor analogy.
“Agent Gear make sure the DiD can find us in this rubble- it might be hard to track our position from overhead considering the mess that Riley made.” His attention turned to the new recruit, “Agent Quilliam help me move Agent Maalik- we need to get him upright and his feet elevated. The best thing for him right now is not go into shock. So when I do that- I need to you compress the wounds to the best of your ability- think you can do that?”

Alarick would hold to this plan until help came- ignoring his own wounds in favor of the situation. Later he would have time to reminisce over this moment, and to recollect his thoughts. Apparently he had been out of Sidereus for far too long.

Gear was shocked to hear that the man before them could do the unthinkable- manipulate gravity. No one could figure out how to do that, not since Adler. He didn't take long to show his skill either. He dropped Maalik and Skylar- broken out of a stupor of sorts- decided to hurl a massive fireball at him- which he deflected. Then the Screeching Bird came and killed Riley, along with the mysterious man with the suitcase.

Who the hell is this guy? Gear thought, but before he could verbalize this query, he was ordered to, by Alarick, to make sure they were noticeable.

"Got it" He said and got to work, getting up high and pulling out his flare gun that he had brought just in case. Gear really dreaded the fact that Maalik had been hurt so badly. Helena will not be happy.

The attack did not hit the target. It was a big failure. Her flame caused damage to the already vulnerable building, making the affected area collapse. Skylar clenched her teeth as she looked up. I should have burnt the whole thing instead of shooting a fireball, she tsktsked and her eyes widened at Riley's insult. As she was about to dash towards the rival and vent her anger recklessly, someone appeared and killed Riley right before her eyes.

The mysterious blonde appeared out of nowhere and tossed them a suitcase. When the man proceeded to take off a ring from Riley's burnt corpse, she stepped forward to protest. "I'll be taking this as payment for saving you guys and doing your mission for you." He froze her with a casually spoken statement. Indeed, they had almost failed their mission - my very first mission - and without the mystic intruder's 'help', they might not have successfully found the paintings.

“Agent Quilliam help me move Agent Maalik- we need to get him upright and his feet elevated. The best thing for him right now is not go into shock. So when I do that- I need to you compress the wounds to the best of your ability- think you can do that?” Agent Reindhart's voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to the man and nodded. Agent Maalik was badly wounded. The sight of his unconscious face, blood, cuts and bruises was not pleasant. The redhead carefully did what she was told and tried her best to help.

It was about ten minutes before the DiD came to their aid. When Gear saw them he shot his flare up and the agents came running to his position. He rushed down to the others who had successfully gotten Maalik into proper medical position.

"DiD is about twenty meters out. How is he holding up?" Gear asked hopefully. He was already dreading telling Helena about his injuries.

---

(Note: All DiD agents are dressed in a manner similar to the image above. All agents have their faces concealed and their voices obscured.)


"Flares?" One of the agents noted in confusion. "Why flares?"

"Broken NAV-system?" Another agent hedged, but sounded equally uncertain.

"But we can... see them?"

"It doesn't matter," a third agent answered, her tone stiff. "There's an agent down. Let's move."

The group was quick to reach the stranded field agents and even quicker with the recovery units. It took only seconds for the three to setup the stretcher, secure the fallen agent, and then activate the stasis shield. It was, at most, a two-man job, but there were five agents present.

One of them, a dark-haired, dark-eyed male approached Alarick. He was taller than the Pulvius Synergist, but had the presence of a shadow. "Agent Reindhart, I am Special Agent Kayne." His voice was low and raspy with a touch of technology—voice distortion. "The DiD is very interested in the data you have collected. May I?"

The man pointed towards Alarick's glasses, but waited for permission.

“Thank you Agent Quilliam,” Alarick remarked and gave her an endearing look. He attempted to smooth the situation over with some sweet return on her actions. Here they had gone against a power far more overshadowing than their initial goal, and she was holding together particularly well. It was never easy to be faced with a downed companion- especially when it was the strongest out of your group.

Alarick was exhausted, pained, and without a doubt probably in a far more critical condition than he was letting on. It was amazing what adrenaline did to someone, and currently he was basking its’ glow.

Fortunately they didn’t have to wait long for the DiD to show up- they were prompt and quite talented in their work. He stood up and away from Agent Maalik’s form, and watched somewhat aimlessly as they hauled their wounded team member away. About that time he became aware of a throbbing ache in his arm, and he gripped it tightly. After a moment of uncomfortable pressure he pulled his hand back and saw it glistening with the red of his blood. “Tsk,” he blew through his lips.
A DiD member approached him shortly afterwards, and Alarick found himself staring for a moment before focusing in on the person before him. “Agent Kayne,” he remarked. His clean- but pained- arm pulled upwards and he snatched his glasses from off of his nose. ‘Dammit I wanted to go over the information,’ he inwardly remarked. Unfortunately it was not a particularly good idea to hold back giving the DiD information. “Of course- but I will be getting this back correct? They do have quite a bit of personal information tied into them from my phone.” Aka that newest picture of Wen. “And I would hate it if you were shown something you didn’t much care to see.” With that he straightened his mouth and offered a sterner response. “The finer mission details are on there, and while the video recorded it might be a bit blurry if hard to read in some places. I didn’t have many chances to stand still and get a clear shot.”

AGENT KAYNE : DiD AGENT

---

Agent Kayne, trained to observe the tiniest of details, didn't miss the signs of growing pain as the other agent shifted uncomfortably in his spot.

Evidently, it hadn't escaped the eagle eye of his colleague either.

"Agent"—a pink-haired woman with guarded, doll-like eyes approached the two, her demeanor just as clipped as Agent Kayne's—"May I see your injury?" The question was merely a gestural formality. She didn't wait for the man to agree before taking his hand, careful to keep the injury to a minimum.

Ignoring the medical agent, who was now scanning the limb with a handheld device, Agent Kayne received the glasses. "It will be returned to you at the soonest time possible." Translation: You will probably never get it back.

"When you encountered Jonathan Riley, did he say what he was doing here?"

The DiD agents were as observant as ever- and just as damn touchy.
The woman’s hold over his arm didn’t hurt, but he had to fight back a reflexive wince as she grabbed a hold of it. Alarick studied her for a moment and offered a sweet smile in her general direction. He wasn’t trying to butter her up because he was well aware that she would probably respond as positively to it as if he asked her thoughts about the socioeconomic effect of a radical movement on China and the Eastern Indies. It would be nothing but silence.

Agent Kayne on the other hand was a bit more intrusive of Alarick’s personal space- and furthermore his property. “Usually I at least have three successful dates with a man before he takes home my personal property. How about we call it even with just one.” He proposed- assured that his forwardness would ignored as if he was nothing more than a brick wall.
“No,”Alarick stated shortly. “Or at least nothing of interest- mostly just how he was going to kill us and that Agent Maalik was a child with synergy. There was mention him being the ‘Gravedigger’, but beyond that I didn’t get much. You should ask Agent Gear for the finer points- he is the one that riled the man up.”

"You actually got the jist of it Agent Reindhart. He and his friend, Tommie I think, gather Markus Errol the money, who proceded to run off with it. then i entered the building through an open window and the devastating fight insued, Riley destroyed the building, the rest of our group arrived and then the redhead played his trump. He manipulated gravity. He used it on Maalik just before a long haired blonde showed up, incererated Riley and tossed the stolen paintings at our feet. Then promptly left."

She just stood there and watched as the efficient DiD recovery units came and took the wounded man away. That was merely her second time to see DiD agents, given that she had never left Halcyon before the mission. What's with the masks and digitalised voices...? the youngster rolled her eyes. They might even look more mysterious than those SA carrying out secret missions, she assumed.

Then she overheard the conversation between the DiD agents and her other two teammates. Skylar almost found their overly formal tones annoying. Folding her arms, "The blond also took a ring away from the burnt dude," she added after Agent Gear's recall.

AGENT KAYNE : DiD AGENT

---

"I apologize for the inconvenience, Agent Reindhart," the brunette spoke evenly. "But this is of great interest to the DiD."

The jokes went unanswered and the agent was business-as-usual—typical of the Discovery Division.

It was then that another one of the agents spoke, his retelling of the events to-the-point.

"I see," Kayne nodded as he recorded the information the brunette offered. Giving the agent a quick once-over, Kayne added, "Agent Gear, after your medical examinations are over, please keep your schedule available for further questioning."

"The blond also took a ring away from the burnt dude."

Kayne looked to the new speaker, a younger redhead still wearing graduate clothes—in-training. If the man was surprised by her presence, he said nothing and his eyes reflected nothing. "A ring? Can you describe the ring?"