“Alright kid, here’s the deal,” one of the tenured security guards began as he walked with Shouri, their Resonators following close behind.

“Most of the time we’re dealing with drunks. They’re pretty easy to pacify, then we can take them into holding cells until they sober up,” the guard explained.

Shouri raised a brow, skeptical of that claim. “We can detain people?” he questioned.

“You got your Hunter’s License right?” the guard fired back.

“Yeah.”

“There you go. Drunk and disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor, and Hunters can act as law enforcement in the absence of any VdV members.”

Shouri nodded slowly, having used that as the basis of his argument for his take-down and apprehension of the Feroce-abusing Maestro from the other day.

Rebecca tapped Shouri’s shoulder.

“Hm?” He glanced back.

“VdV?” she whispered.

“Volontà di Valore, they’re the law enforcement arm of the government. Basically, just a fancy way of saying cops,” he quickly informed her as the guard they were walking with kept talking.

“Anyways, we get the fun job of being on the move and keeping an ear out for trouble. Though a perk of this gig is the vendors usually give us food and drinks so we can keep on the move. It’s good stuff,” the guard chuckled heartily.

“Yeah, great,” Shouri failed to hide his lack of enthusiasm.

Almost as if to prove the security guard’s point, one of the food vendors waved them down. “Here boys, on the house!”

And now Shouri was the proud owner of a large, toasty pretzel and a soda. He wasn’t hungry though, so when they were out of sight (the security guard wandered off to take care of a call) Shouri shared the spoils with the rest of the party. “You two want this?” he asked.

“Yeah!” they both declared. Instantly hostilities were up as the two fire Resonators met eyes. Liza's brows raised with worry at the conflict, while Rebecca glared daggers at her.

“Oh, stop it.” Shouri shook his head. He tore the pretzel in half and handed each half off to the Resonators.

Liza shook her head in protest at the offered treat. “You don’t-”

“Nope, take it,” Shouri demanded, forcing it into the dragon’s hands. “You need to keep your strength up in case we do have to fight.”

“O-okay…” Liza squeaked, acquiescing to the Maestro’s request.

Rebecca maintained a scowl, angrily chewing on her pretzel half. Shouri shook his head and rolled his eyes. He was an expert at defusing his fiery vixen though. Placing a hand on her head and gently stroking her hair instantly calmed the fierce fox and got her tail wagging.

The third wheel averted her gaze, chewing on her snack – why was she here again?

Sudden cheers from the colosseum drew their attention, causing Shouri to gaze into the main arena. The battle had started from what he could tell.

“Oh.” He scowled. As they already knew, Emily was participating in this round as one of the combatants. But her opponent-

“That guy,” Rebecca sneered.

Shawn Hawk stood Emily’s opposite. On the field at the present was Soot who was facing down Shawn’s Lightning element tiger. Small pools of lava dotted the battlefield, with Shouri musing to himself about the difficulty of cleaning that up when all was said and done.

“Hrm…” Rebecca studied the field from their high vantage point.

“Whatcha thinking?” Shouri asked his combat expert.

“She needs Ritika in there. Soot is too slow for this,” the fox mused.

“It looks like she’s slowing the tiger down though,” the Maestro countered.

“That’s about all she can do with Soot in play like that. Albarich might be able to deal some chip damage if he hangs out in the air and takes potshots at him.”

Liza stared in awe at her former teammate. Was she always like this? When did she become a combat expert? Thinking back, she couldn’t really recall Rebecca saying much of anything while in Lyle’s ownership…

In fact, this Rebecca was a totally different person than the fox she had previously known. How had it taken her this long to notice?

“I dunno bossman… this seems like a really bad match-up for Emily,” Rebecca admitted, though it pained her to do so.

“Yeah, let’s-”

BEEP BEEP BEEP!

Shouri’s tuners rang loudly, interrupting his thoughts. Pulling one of them from his side he found he was receiving a call. There was just a second where he considered allowing it to ring, but ultimately decided to answer (since he was being paid for this after all.)

“Hey, this is Shouri,” he spoke into the receiver.

“Hey! Get down to Entrance F4, Ketura’s fighting one of those robed guys!”

“We’re on the way.”

He didn’t need to say anything to the pair in his company, they were both determined and ready to go.

“Where is F4?” Rebecca asked.

“Uh, fuck.” Shouri quickly looked up a map of a facility. “We’re near it, this way.” He motioned for the two Resonators to follow along. They knew they were heading in the right direction as there were plenty of onlookers pointing and talking about what was happening outside the stadium.

Rushing down the stairs, it became doubly apparent they were definitely at the right section. The chatty gossip had given way to sounds of panicked masses and spellcasting right below them.

Rebecca jumped down the stairwell, jetting out the front entrance and hitting the ground with an expertly positioned roll that dispersed her momentum safely. Liza followed along, opting to use her wings rather than the fire ad-Lib her fellow fire had utilized.

Shouri made it halfway between the ground floor and the second floor. He stopped at the mid-point to catch his breath, but also to take a look at the situation to dole out preliminary spells since the two Resonators he had access to were already nearing the scene.

A single Maestro and Resonator - just like before. The Maestro was hooded, obscured from immediate identification in the same manner as his predecessor. The Resonator was some kind of common dog breed, fire element based on the reds mixed into their hair. They were up against several members of security, however even with the numbers advantage they were on the back foot. They couldn’t make any further advance against the perpetrator, since they were taking defensive positioning to protect the general public who had gotten mixed up in this mess. From the initial observation of the battle line, there were quite a few injured Maestros and Resonators, security and non-combatants alike.

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Grabbing Liza and Rebecca’s tuners, Shouri scanned the battle line one more time before doling out commands. As the dog cast black flames over the few Resonators who tried to resist, it all but confirmed their worst fears.

“Liza, Raggia del Sahara, then Bolide, Piano Staccato, stay airborne and support Rebecca!”

“Rebecca, Scottare, Rubato – give ‘em hell!”

They had their orders and executed them. Rebecca jumped over the defensive line, not slowing at all, Liza right behind her in the air. As soon as they were within range, Liza flew higher and fired a red orb of light into the sky. Instantly the cloud cover parted and the sun’s rays intensified over the battlefield.

Rebecca meanwhile continued her rush down. Her intense focused gaze and unwavering form instantly cracked the enemy Maestro’s cool.

Panicked, the hooded Maestro cried out a spell to stop the charging vixen, “Grave Delirio, Feroce!”

The dog took in a deep breath, but unfortunately, Rebecca had experienced this spell in the past and would not allow its user to complete their attack. She aimed a kick at the Resonator’s mid-section. Her hit landed true, winding him without allowing the spell to be released and wasting the enemy Maestro’s rhythm in the process. The dog flew backwards like a cannonball into his Maestro taking the two to the ground.

“Get up!” The opposing Maestro’s panic only grew, tripping over himself as he struggled to stand back up. The dog jumped to his feet, snarling like a beast. Tears poured down his face, which was contorted into an almost demonic visage of agony. His skin grew darker, slowly taking on the shade of black bore by the Scherzando.

Rebecca’s eyes widened. Flashes of Cecil’s demise played in her head.

No!

Not again!

She could not let another Feroce spell be cast!

The Feroce Maestro took a breath.

She had mere seconds. No thoughts, head cleared, only action remained.

FWOOM BOOOM!

“WUAAAAAAUUUGH!!” the sickening scream originating from the Feroce abusing Maestro who now held his shattered wrist, tuner sent skyward like a bullet. Rebecca had blazed past the Resonator and aimed square at the Maestro, kicking the tuner out of his hand and launching it straight up.

“LIZA GET IT TO SHO!” Rebecca screamed now pivoting her body around and firing a blast of steam back at the opposing fire Resonator.

Liza was barely able to spot the device shooting into the air. She only managed to spot it as it was making its return trip to Riterra. Catching the device before it was out of her reach, Liza twisted her form to fly parallel to the ground, zooming towards Shouri who had made it to the defensive line with the other security guards.

“Shouri!” the dragon cried, dropping the red tuner off with him and shooting back up into the air to arrest her remaining momentum.

Finally, Shouri knew what had to be done. He scanned the list of spells available and found the perfect one, “Famiglio Incendio, Presto Staccato!”

The other security guards looked at Shouri in pure horror. That spell could be used offensively!

A horde of fire puppies appeared all around the field, however they stood still for a moment before playing amongst themselves and otherwise milling about harmlessly.

The Feroce Resonator continued casting more and more of the dogs as the rhythm was forced into his body. The pain on his face slowly began to subside until finally, he slumped to the ground with a resounding thud and all of the rhythm beasts vanished.

With the Resonator safely dispatched, the gathered security guards and their Resonators charged the enemy Maestro, easily apprehending the howling man as he continued to roll around and clutched his wrist in pain.

“What the hell did you do there, kid?” The head of security they had met earlier was there, no surprise.

“Hang on.” Shouri held his head, slowly shaking it before falling backward onto his rear.

“Woah kid!” The older man dropped to his knees to steady the young Maestro.

“That stunt took a lot of fucking rhythm,” Shouri said with labored breaths. His hair slowly greyed, showing the security guard the truth of the situation.

Shouri's gaze fell upon the unmoving dog Resonator who was being bound up by the security. “Hey!” he barked. “Be gentle with him! He’s a victim!”

The guards disregarded the younger Maestro and continued their rough treatment of the dog.

“Hey! Are you assholes deaf!? Get that dog to a Viva Unit!” the guard captain shouted, causing the rest of the security to actually follow Shouri’s demand.

The boy sighed and leaned back, still trying to catch his breath. “Rhythm carries intention. Famiglio Incendio is made using Maestros’ rhythm and is maintained by the Resonator who carries out the summons,” Shouri began to explain to the captain. “I simply forced him to summon dozens of rhythm beasts, enough to knock himself out, while getting my rhythm flowing through him.” His gaze remained hard-focused on the dog man being carted away for treatment.

“That’s a crazy plan.” The older man shook his head in disbelief.

Shouri let out a soft chuckle. “Wasn’t all my idea,” he admitted.

“Oh?”

Slowly, Shouri’s hand rose and he pointed at Rebecca who was limping back on her burnt legs and no shoes. “She knew she needed to get the tuner to me and I’d handle the rest. Couldn’t let her down now, could I?”

The head of security had no words. There was a reason the Klein family had an eye on this boy.