"You know, you look kinda cute like that," 'Nightclaw' laughed. "It's like a live-action game of dress-up!"

"Yeah yeah," Albert replied sullenly, slung over Eris's shoulder once more and looking miserable.

My illusion was only visual, but apparently Eris had put in the extra mile to actually douse him in her perfume.

And that didn't go without some grumbling.

I hurried along behind them, struggling to keep pace as I maintained the illusion on Albert and Ichigo at once.

The amount of mana that I had was considerable, and I wasn't really hurting for any more, but maintaining two different illusions while they were in motion while keeping myself invisible was mentally straining. The drain was relatively minor at first but slowly ramped up, especially since we needed the illusions to make Albert and Black Star's plans work.

"Did you seriously have to throw me off a goddamned building, though?!" Albert complained, a grumpy expression on his face.

I felt pretty terrible about that part myself — he was the only one without superpowers or a transformation, after all. At least the three of us had our enhanced auras to cushion our falls, but Stella had straight up dropped him off a rooftop.

The way he looked up at me when Ichigo caught him had felt like it had left my heart in a vice grip. I could see through my own illusions, so the image of Albert's face was all the more pitiful.

"Oh shut up already! I did warn ya. And besides, we've only got this chance. We've gotta improvise," Eris laughed in response.

"Pscht," Albert grumbled with a frown. "Fine..."

'Nightclaw' giggled mischievously as she kept jogging along. "You know, you're kinda adorable when you're embarrassed."

Albert went silent, and I couldn't help but blush in embarrassment on his behalf.

"What's next, Black Star?" I asked, changing the subject. "Do you have any more tricks up your sleeves?"

"Not much else, unfortunately," Black Star sighed, his voice slightly muffled from within the hood of his cloak. "We've just gotta move forward as planned. We're already on a strict enough time limit, so no more detours. Hopefully we can get out of here before they can properly regroup."

"Understood. We'll be ready."

The group was quiet as we breaked for a second, taking a moment to get our bearings. After a few moments, Albert broke the silence.

"You know, I feel bad about all this." He shifted uncomfortably, and I could see a hint of discomfort in his eyes.

"Don't," I replied quickly.

"No, really," He shook his head. "I mean, I get it's necessary, but it still feels wrong. Even if they're cutthroats and supervillains, I'm sure they have families or people they love too."

I bit my lip, thinking about that for a second. It was true that these people weren't all bad guys. Red Masque was known to hire people who wanted to be able to provide for their families or who just didn't have any other choice.

A lot of them were probably forced to become criminals because of circumstances beyond their control. In that sense, we weren't so different.

Although he was a crime lord, Red Masque was a big believer in treating his men well and paying them well. He had a reputation for running a territory with the least amount of civilian casualties in the entire country. For that reason, the Knights largely left him alone unless he was actively working with other Team Busters. He was very much the noble demon archetype, as rumors went.

Even when he was trying to kill me, there were very clear limits he didn't want to cross.

But I couldn't afford to sympathize too much. These people were our enemies, and they would kill and/or kidnap us if given half the chance.

"It's not like that," Ichigo chimed in, shaking her head. "You came up with a strategy that would let us take down someone we couldn't take head on in a straight fight, and we took him out without killing him or anyone getting hurt. That's not something to be ashamed of."

Albert nodded, but his frown deepened. "I just hope we can make it out of here without anyone dying today."

"Me too," I replied, nodding. "That's why it's important to stay focused. We can't let them catch up with us. Once they realize what's happening, they'll probably start hunting us down in earnest."

"Right." Albert took a deep breath before continuing, "Let's just get this over with then."

"Where are we going next?" I asked.

"We can try to stick to the alleyways and side streets for now, but it's gonna slow us down," Ichigo replied, glancing around as her ears twitched. "If we get spotted again, it'll take us longer to lose them, and we might not be able to do so again."

Black Star sighed, "The fact we've gotten this far is a miracle. We should count our blessings that we didn't run into El Mago. If he catches us, we're fucked. Literally fucked if he's in the wrong mood. He can do weird things that can even mess with high level knights."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I shivered. That was not a pleasant thought. "What can you tell me about him, then?"

"Well, he's a guy. Rail thin, has white hair, a creepy smile, a really weird accent, and an outfit that looks like a reject from the circus. Eccentric dude. And for the love of god, don't let him get close to you."

"Great." I sighed. "So, basically, stay far, far away from him."

"Red Masque kept him on a leash, but since he... disappeared, El Mago's been pretty much running wild," Black Star added, shaking his head. "Someone who goes out of the way to learn occult arts is by definition a Pioneer, but El Mago's a mage among modern mages. Guy dug into some Mayan ritual magic, and it's the worst kind of blood magic. It's why he's also called 'The Sanguine Sorcerer'."

I gulped, feeling a chill run down my spine. I'd heard of the Sanguine Sorcerer and his exploits. The stories of his cruelty and sadism had spread far and wide, even reaching the ears of the average civilian. "Well, that's terrifying..." I muttered.

"Sanguine Sorcerer, huh? He's the only guy I'd be scared of in that faction." Albert nodded. "And not just because of his creepy-ass magic. Dude's got a real sadistic streak to him by reputation. I'm sure Black Star knows the real story behind the tabloids and rumor-mill though, eh?"

Black Star sighed, "Well, to be blunt, the tabloids didn't do his sadism justice. He was a serial killer, plain and simple. But Ric- Red Masque earned his loyalty by making a deal with him. One, he gave El Mago a steady supply of victims to get information out of. Two, he had his best chemists create a super-drug that helped him with his, um, condition."

"Condition?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Black Star sighed and rubbed his temples, as if he were dealing with a particularly annoying migraine. "His biggest weakness is that he needs to use his own blood. It's what allows his magic to work. Our best engineers were able to come up with a protocol to deal with the chronic anemia he induced in himself. Red Masque got El Mago to swear an oath, but with the man gone..."

"Let's hope we don't run into him then," Albert grumbled.

I nodded. "Let's just focus on getting out of here alive, shall we? Stella, do you sense anyone with your sixth sense thingie?"

Stella cocked her head to the side and closed her eyes in focus. "I don't sense anything nearby, but I think we should move now before someone does track us down. We're close to a main street, though. We should be able to blend in through the crowd."

"Ready for your makeover again, Al?" I asked, grinning mischievously as I looked at Albert.

"Fuck off, Lux," Albert muttered, a blush forming on his cheeks.

"Aw, come on. You make a pretty cute body double, honestly," Ichigo teased, a slight smile appearing on her lips.

"Criminy..." Albert sighed as he shook his head in resignation.

I couldn't help but snicker as I began casting my illusion over Albert once more. It was nice to see him acting like his usual self again. After everything he'd been through, I was worried that he might have become a bit traumatized.

The image of Stella Matsudaira shimmered into view around Albert's form, and the three of us shared a quick glance before turning to Black Star.

"Hey, how 'bout I carry you this time then?" Ichigo offered, a playful grin on her face as she looked at Albert. "I bet it would be more comfortable."

"Man, where did all that anxiety and shyness go...?" Albert grumbled under his breath, but I saw his face turn a bit red. "I mean... You're like five foot four and a buck ten soaking wet. Besides, we're going to be carrying a duffle bag full of all the stuff we bought too. I think it'd be more manageable for Eris."

"Hey now," Ichigo pouted, her ears and tail twitching in annoyance. "I'm strong enough, you know! Magical girls are a lot beefier than they look." She flexed an arm for emphasis. "I could totally bench press a couple of dudes, even if they're big and heavy, easy peasy!"

Black Star snickered. "You're the one who came up with the plan and volunteered to play decoy, buddy."

"Fine, fine," Albert relented, shaking his head in annoyance. He looked up at the night sky and muttered something inaudible but Ichigo's ears twitched in response.

"What?" she asked innocently, as she approached him. "Something about being a damsel again?"

"I'm a damsel, and you're the handsome princess who rescues me from the tower, then?" Albert snorted in amusement. "That sounds like it'd make for an interesting fairy tale."

Ichigo just rolled her eyes as she scooped him up in a bridal carry, a mischievous grin on her face.

"Let's get moving, big boy," Ichigo chuckled, and Albert let out a yelp of surprise at the unexpected contact. "We don't have all day."

"R-Right," Albert stammered, blushing furiously as she threw him over her shoulder.

"And you!" Ichigo suddenly pointed at Dark Princess Eris, who tilted her head in faux innocence. "Don't get any ideas! We need to be able to escape without drawing too much attention!"

"Awwwww," Stella pouted, a devious twinkle in her red eyes. "But I want to play with my princess too!"

"Ugh, you two are going to drive me up a wall..." Albert muttered, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"You've kicked my ass twice, Eris, so I'm pretty sure you can handle carrying the bags," Ichigo scolded the other magical girl, her ears flicking back and forth in annoyance.

"Fine, fine," Dark Princess Eris replied, rolling her eyes as she picked up the duffle bags. "Spoilsport."

I smiled at the exchange. Despite everything that had happened, I was glad to have friends like these to keep things light.

Ichigo had taken Stella's dual identity as both Elysia and Eris surprisingly well, given their first encounter involved Eris embarrassing both Ichigo and her brother in an absolute thrashing. It seemed to be water under the bridge now.

I shook my head in disbelief. The girl was a saint, to be honest. She was a tough cookie, but her pink aura was a dead giveaway for the kind of person she really was. She had a good heart, and I could see it in her actions.

And if she was willing to look past the things that Stella did in the name of getting the heat and attention off us, then I owed her a huge favor.

"Okay, enough chit-chat," I cut in, bringing everyone's attention back to our mission. "We need to keep moving." Everyone else nodded, and I felt a sense of urgency wash over me.

"Luminary Mirage," I whispered. Light swirled around us, enveloping us in a field of invisibility.

"Come on, we have to hurry," Black Star said, gesturing for us to follow. "Invisibility alone won't be able to hide us from all the shit Arsenal and her team has to find people."

"Got it," I nodded, following Black Star's lead as we began moving through the alleyways once more.

The others followed suit, keeping pace as we moved through the shadows and back alleys of downtown Kaleidoscope.