Rachel released a sad sigh while walking through the hallway with Jessy on her heels; the girl was peppering her with questions and Nia embracing her edgy design as if it were her idea from the start.

“How do your tights stay in place like that … it’s so cool!” Jessy questioned, hopping down the stairs to the first level in hot pursuit. “The belts are … wait, is that a tattoo … wow, it glows! Oh, is that how it changes shapes?”

Hayan’s jagged smile showed he was ready for action, jumping down beside Rachel with Gisele following.

“Okay,” Rachel mumbled, heading further into the house to the long section her grandfather used as a room for his students. “I’ll answer you when I deal with this, but are you sure you want to join us?” She asked, giving her a lifted eyebrow.

The girl slowed a bit, brow furrowing as her gaze fell to the wooden floors. “You mean … you aren’t joking; there are really people trying to break in?”

“Mhm.”

“Uh … shouldn’t we call the cops, then?” She asked with a nervous laugh.

A small smile lifted Rachel’s full lips, excitement rushing through her veins again. “It depends on how good they are at ducking bullets; I might have to call an ambulance.”

“What … does that mean?” She whispered.

They entered the room, Rachel leading the way, heading for the sliding door that would take them to the large backyard surrounding the house. Her blood was quickening by the step, chaotic energy mixing and exploding within her heart.

Even if Rachel knew what was happening, her will to suppress it was taking a back seat since her White and Coral forces pushed her calming Flush Energy back, even if it was the primary power within her Lunar Pool. White, its competitive drive, fear suppression, and focus, mixing with Coral’s chaotic, instinctual combat to confront anything testing her.

Her grandfather had already fallen asleep on the far left side of the house, and honestly, she doubted he’d be able to hear much with how large the building was, and it was well insulated to keep in the cold air in the hot environment.

“I’m not worried about myself, and I don’t care if you really join,” she shrugged. “It’ll probably get ugly, though.”

Jessy was certainly nervous, but her response only increased the turbulent emotions within her breast. “... You sound like Mason,” she mumbled, using her cousin’s American name, “before he asked me to come over.”

“Mmh?” Rachel unlocked the wooden sliding door and turned to stare at her. “You know why he’s acting like a total wimp?”

“Heh,” Jessy hesitantly stepped outside with her, continuing to keep pace, but Rachel figured the girl wasn’t even taking her statement about intruders seriously. “You’re exactly like Mason’s told me … pretty direct, umm … well,” her gaze darted to her clothes again, seemingly distracted. “He’s been going out at night … I don’t know where, but it helps him not be angry when he comes back.”

“Uh-huh … but one night he changed? By the way, guys … don’t kill them, or poke out their eyes,” Rachel warned with the overhead waxing gibbous moon filling her with competitive life, giving a knowing look at Gisele. Her two pets lost a bit of their excitement. “I don’t need another FBI investigation…”

“FBI investigation?” Jessy was utterly lost, trying to keep up, but stopped dead in her tracks as they turned the corner of the house, spotting five men on the side of the house with a giant ladder, trying to put it up to one of the 3rd-floor windows.

Rachel didn’t skip a step, cracking her knuckles. Let’s go!

The men were grumbling to one another about being quiet and asking if the tall blonde guy with a mask climbing the ladder had the tool to open the window. He was almost 35-feet up, near the top.

She casually pushed forward with her two pets, Jessy freezing at the corner of the house, not knowing what to do. “Yo, wus-up?” Rachel asked, giving them a bright smile.

The men stiffened, hands darting to their pockets for their tasers; the guy above had the gun. Their eyes grew the moment they caught sight of her, a glowing hare girl greeting them as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Richard, the man closest to Rachel, tried to smile. “Uh … yo, we’re…”

Kevin quickly cut him off, gesturing for his buddy to take his spot holding the ladder. “Hey! Uh, I know this looks bad, heh, but we’re just here to fix … the gutters.”

“Yeah,” Joseph jumped in, chuckling while motioning at his fellows. “We’re here to fix some of the problems. Ya know?”

“What … are you wearing?” Richard asked.

The four men were eyeing her body with mixed reactions. Kevin and Joseph were 100% on-board and probably wondered if they should jump her by their muscular activity, yet upon better judgment, took their hands off their tasers. Richard and Zabel were more cautious, vision shifting from her to the two pets and Jessy in the background. Travis, up the ladder, was squinting down, trying to understand the situation.

“Woah … you’re crazy hot,” Kevin grinned, adjusting his defensive posture while licking his lips and running a hand through his dark hair. “I could look at you all night, girl…”

Rachel took center stage, casually closing the distance and forcing their attention, but the young man soon realized Jessy in the background, her mind and frame frozen with panic, and spotted the faintly glowing blob hopping next to Rachel next.

Joseph was too focused on her breasts to notice anything else, easily visible in the faintly lit nighttime yard. “Seriously, like, girl, ya got me shook by the way that body looks; don’t know what your mama took, but damn, sweet and sour like a cook. Know what I’m sayin’? What’s your name, girl?”

“Shut up,” Richard growled, “it’s a monster!”

“Wha…”

“Rachel…” Jessy mumbled, muscles beginning to quake with fear as the situation set in, but Rachel ignored her.

The other two swiftly regained their senses as Zabel and Richard produced their tasers,

“Oh, I totally get it … and what do you mean?” Rachel nodded, clasping her hands behind her back while approaching the group.

Kevin and Joseph were in a similar state as Jessy, but Richard and Zabel were retreating, leaving the ladder unattended.

“The hell’s goin’ on?” Travis hissed, trying not to be too loud.

Their focus instantly moved from her to Hayan as he jumped aside to draw their eyes away from Rachel, Gisele preparing to attack the unaware man on the ladder.

“Yo, get back…” Zabel growled at Rachel, waving her to run.

The men grew tense, spreading out to deal with her little blob.

“Hey … hey. Hey!” Travis shouted as Rachel walked right by the distracted men, now activating their tasers to try and scare off Hayan.

An impish smile lit Rachel’s lips as she set her right foot, left coming out to sweep the ladder’s base, sending it crashing to the ground with Travis’s screams. Panic insured as Rachel turned back to the four men, positioned to protect her.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Rachel chimed, slapping the side of Joseph’s turning face, knocking the man out and throwing him off his feet.

“Son of a bitch!” Richard shot back, waving his taser around in shock as Gisele popped out of the darkness, snatching the back of Zabel’s baggy shirt and carrying him into the air with a sharp cry and making the dark-skinned man scream, dropping his weapon.

They all jumped from the sound of the collapsing ladder, Travis’s cries ending with a sharp grunt, coughs, and moans of pain. Judging by the snap Rachel heard, he’d broken his left leg and fractured his hip on the metal frame; he’d be sore for a while, but it was impressive the man wasn’t shouting his lungs out.

Richard quickly shook his head, looking up to see Zabel slip out of his shirt with a scream to fall seven feet squarely on his back, arms flailing. His chest heaved on the ground, body quivering from shock as he tried to fill his lungs with the air that had been forced out of it, and Gisele dropped the ripped shirt, turning her sights on the retreating man.

Rachel’s glowing four-leaf clover eyes followed her blob as he hopped back and forth, leering at Kevin. “Go get the other guy with Gisele,” She said, advancing on the startled man.

He turned his taser on her. “No, no, no, what … yo, stay the hell back … yo, I said…”

“Am I still pretty,” Rachel snickered, quickly slapping the taser away from the man’s slow-moving lunge attack before swiftly redirecting the back of her hand to tap under Kevin’s chin. His mind blanked from the snap action, stumbling back in a daze to fall to the ground.

She released a sad chuckle with a sigh, shaking her head while scratching behind her left ear. “That was just pathetic…”

Keven was blinking, working around his jaw while gathering his scrambled senses.

Putting her left hand on her hip, Rachel shifted her posture to watch Gisele tease Richard, hoving just out of his jumping swipes, trying to strike the bird’s taunting tail, weaving back and forth like a human dangling a string in front of a cat. He was trying to make it back to the A-style ladder they’d used to get over the wall, but Hayan was drawing his focus.

“I don’t wanna die … please, no, stop … just … just get away … get away!”

Hayan’s speed increased, closing the six-foot distance in an instant while flipping a little in the air, changing directions with a Lunar Step to dodge the taser, and reangling again to smash into the man’s ear, dropping him.

She giggled as he landed on the back of the crumpling man, jumping up and down in victory. On the other hand, Gisele snatched the taser out of the air with her tail before flapping over to Zabel, recovering enough to try crawling away with pained grunts.

Gisele landed on his back, forcing him to the ground, coiled tail pulling the side mechanic on the taser to zap the man a few times; he jerked and screamed each time it struck, trying to flail around when possible but locking up each time it hit. “S-Stop! Stop! Stop! Please...”

“Alright, that’s enough,” Rachel mused, grabbing Kevin and tossing him over by the ladder, “and I wouldn’t reach for that gun if I were you,” she warned, glaring at Travis.

Travis’s body was rigid, breathing heavily with tears in his wild eyes, scrambling back as Hayan hopped over to him.

“Don’t…” Rachel growled.

“Damn … monsters … oh, my, god … oh, my, god...”

His hands fumbled around the grass, looking for the weapon that slipped out of his pants, and he found it, but before the man could raise the gun, Hayan’s mouth opened, tongue shooting out to latch onto the weapon, pulling it out of his grip before it disappeared within the blob.

“Well, that’s new…” Rachel hummed, lifting an eyebrow.

Hayan turned to give her a wicked grin, proud of himself while leering at Travis’s weak whimpers, backing up to the house.

Zabel was lying flat on the ground crying, arms spread as Gisele fluttered in front of him, sparking the taser in front of his face. “I’m good! I’m good! Don’t … don’t, please…”

Richard and Joseph were out cold, leaving Kevin, mostly unharmed, Zabel with Gisele threatening the guy with a taser if he didn’t comply, and Travis, sporting bone breaks, severe bruising, and a wicked-looking white bunny blob guarding him.

Rachel closed the distance to Kevin; he was coughing on the grass after rolling to a stop beside the metal ladder. “So,” she said with a bright tone, picking him up by the front of his long-sleeve shirt and shoving him back against the side of the house, “wanna try this again?”

“W-Who … okay, okay…” He gasped, spinning eyes trying to center on her. “I…” One more glance at his friends, and his muscles were tensing to run.

A chuckle left Rachel’s throat as she grabbed the back of his shirt, choking him with the collar while tossing him to his back. “Mhm … get it all out.”

After a few more gasps, he waved his left hand, right rubbing his throat. “Okay … w-what do you want?”

“Mmh … you just sit there and catch your breath,” Rachel chimed. “I want you to have a clear head when we get to talk … deep breaths, there we go,” she urged.

Jessy was slack-jawed as Rachel smiled over at her. “I told you it could get a little rough.”

“Yeah, but … are they okay?” Jessy stammered, arms tightening against her chest while shying away a bit.

“I’m not,” Zabel cried. “Please … save us…” He cut off as a sharp crack came from Gisele’s taser.

“C-Call an ambulance; I … I think I broke my leg…” Travis replied. “N-No, the police … for the monsters … run for it…”

“Hmm … these guys?” Rachel asked head tilting to survey the scene. “Yeah, they’ll be fine! Gramps is up, though,” she mumbled, rubbing the back of her neck with a forced smile. “You guys were too loud, screaming like girls.”

“I have a broken leg!” Travis yelled. “I fell like … 40 feet! Shit … get this damn thing away from me!” He pressed further into the stone-layered concrete base of the house. “I … I need a hospital…”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Naa, you’re fine,” Rachel shrugged nonchalantly, looking up at Jessy. “My grandpa is coming down the stairs. Can you go grab him and tell him what happened?”

“Y-Yeah…” She mumbled, jerkily jogging back into the house.

“Now…” She aimed a smile down at the cowering man while bending down; he flinched upon catching her glowing eyes. “Are you going to tell me why you chose this house? I’d rather not break your kneecaps, Kevin. Wouldn’t that cause me a bit of trouble? I mean, heh, I might just as well kill you and have my bunny eat the evidence at that point! Right?”

Her smile turned into a smirk as she smelled piss.

“I … we were just … Creed, he … he owes money to … to Kate, and … we’re just trying to make some money … I’m sorry … I’m sorry…”

Rachel popped her tongue, listening to her grandfather dialing 911 while moving through the bottom level. Well, this will get a little complicated … at least it won’t be MPD.

“Uh-huh,” she mumbled, vision shifting over to the dark-skinned man. “Who is Kate, Zabel?”

“Umm … can I … can I talk?” He asked, still refusing to look up at the terrifying-looking bird threatening him.

“I asked, didn’t I?” Rachel returned.

“Y-Yes, umm … she’s a loan shark … we just work on the side to collect, but he’s kind of … we thought he’d have good stuff here to make up for it…”

“Mhm…”

“Rachel!” Her grandfather came rushing around the corner with Jessy behind him. “What … are you hurt? Are … they dead?” He asked, catching Richard and Joseph's still bodies.

“I’m fine, grandpa, and no, they’re fine,” she replied, turning her smile back to the man that wet his pants in front of her. “Well, maybe not completely; you might want to tell the officer on the line to call an ambulance.”

Rachel couldn’t get anything more from them with her grandfather there, and she had them line up against the side of the wall to wait for the police.

Nia was practically singing in her head. “The darkness consumes you; perish among the lost in the iron abyss!”

Okay, Count Nia the Fourth, let’s go back to the cute stuff.

“Aww … I’ve got a really good one, though…” She pouted.

Alright, one more, She sighed, shaking her head.

“Okay! Okay! Heh … ahem…” Her voice became theatrical. “A lot of people die … should have had a Lunar Nia; heh, you want my pretty belts around your neck.”

… Who’s teaching you these things?

“What?!” She huffed. “It was perfect.”

I’m not doubting that … I’m just asking how you’re learning all these things. Rachel mumbled, rolling her eyes.

“Well … there were a lot of edgy things in Scarlet’s head when she wore me, and, well…”

Scarlet … ah, mhm…

“You got a problem with it, well … well, that’s your problem! Humph…” Nia finished, pouting in silence.

Hey, I’m the one that wanted you to be a bit edgier … it is what it is, but … maybe tone down the belts on necks.

A grin split Rachel’s lips as Nia finished with an exaggerated short. “… Okay … the harbinger of death awaits.”

Nice.

Nia returned to her casual clothes, and she had Jessy run upstairs to grab her phone, calling Bree to report the incident. The agent got in touch with the officers on the way, letting them know another agent would be joining the scene to help handle the case since a Demi was involved.

When her grandfather went in to call her parents to give them an update, it gave Rachel a chance to be alone with her prisoners; Jessy was standing further back, arms folded while silently processing the situation, but Rachel wasn’t that concerned about the girl.

Squatting to the criminal's levels, they shivered while eyeing her; the two knocked-out men had regained consciousness. “Alright, here’s what you’re going to do,” she said with a dark smile. “You five came to rob the house, but don’t mention anything else. Understood?”

Richard was holding an ice pack to his swollen face, glaring at her. “Why … don’t you want us to say anything else?”

“Shouldn’t you be thrilled?” She asked, glare turning to him. “Don’t kick a gift hare in the mouth … I’m allowing you to keep your street cred. Do you know why Creed borrowed money?”

Kevin swiftly shook his head, arms folded tightly around his chest. “N-No, we were only told to get around 10k.”

“I figured … and tell me where Kate usually hangs.”

“I ain’t no snitch,” Zabel growled.

He dropped his gaze as she eyed him. “I have been very tame with what I could do to you … how would you like to have bad luck for the rest of your life? One horrible event after another … day after day … cursed forever.”

Kevin shook his head. “I’m done! She hangs out at Club Balto’s; it’s some new place out of this warehouse … it’s pretty private…”

The mens’ gazes fell with shame at his response.

“Wonderful. You’ll never have to see me again … unless you’re lying.”

Kevin quivered. “N-No, ma’am…”

With that, she played guard until the police arrived to cart them away; Jessy remained silent through the exchange but had heard her inquiry. She left their ladder and tasers where they had landed, having her pets drop them where they were, and her little blob spat the gun up a ways away, leaving slobber all over it.

Her two pets drew a lot of attention from the cops, and Rachel spent a good thirty minutes explaining things to a few officers while they took everyone’s story.

The new agent in the area sent to represent the new Demi branch was a man in his 40s named Jordan. He asked more questions than the police, being far more thorough; a report was made on her new pets, their threat level, how they were tied or connected to her, why she didn’t report them with her extreme hearing, and why she didn’t notice them sooner.

Typically, she would have zeroed in on conversations around her long before they came so close, but these guys had no real clue about where they were going until arriving, and they hadn’t explicitly said they were going to rob a place.

If she could have avoided this, she would have; the exchange was far more complicated than she liked. Ideally, she would have instead dealt with the party far from her grandfather’s place.

However, something pulled her focus away for a moment; during the explanation, she heard Mason get picked up on the side of the road three miles away from the house.

“... Na,” a man mumbled, talking to a girl in the front seat of his SUV, “Lost Boys is a way better song…”

“Hey, Nate! Yo, stop the car!” The woman shouted. “Look, it’s Creed!”

“Yo! My man!” He rolled over with the woman rolling down the window. “Bro, what’s up! You goin’ ta Balto’s?”

“Yeah, we were thinkin’ about checking it out tonight; wanna ride?” The girl asked.

Her cousin released a low growl. “Eh … I was just … know what, yeah … yeah, let’s go!”

“That’s it!” Nate shouted. “We got the Mad Bear in the coup!”

The girl jumped out of the front seat to get in the back. “Man, you’re so big, Creed; for real, like I know three girls that want to jump you! Your girl’s not around, right?”

“Let’s just go…” He grumbled, causing the car to make some noise as he pulled the seat all the way back and dropped the support to fit.

Rachel’s eyes narrowed. What have you gotten yourself into, cuz…

She went back upstairs with Jessy after getting through all the questions and seeing her grandfather back to bed, assuring him there wouldn’t be any more trouble.

Jessy walked into their room, rubbing her arms as Rachel shut the door; the girl was trying to work up the courage to talk to her.

Rachel patiently waited for her to build up the nerve, dropping into the armchair again while scanning every conversation within ten miles, searching for any information on the club her cousin went to. It was shockingly scarce, yet after some time, she realized people were using code words to describe it, generally keeping their discussions suspiciously vague.

“So…” Jessy began, continuing to stand, “you’re still listening to things, right? I heard that agent guy say you can hear super far away … like, crazy far…”

“Mhm,” she responded, giving her a neutral smile. “These big ears aren’t just for show.”

“Right.” She swallowed, taking a deep breath. “I just … I didn’t think you’d actually … well, be so…”

“Brutal?” Rachel offered, petting her white blob with Gisele resting on the chair’s back above her.

Jessy’s lips tightened; her vision fixated on the floor. “Kind of … you were just so comfortable. How … how can I be more like you?” She whispered.

“Excuse me?” Rachel’s eyebrows lifted. “You … want to be more like me?”

Her posture set, and she nodded, forcing herself to make eye contact. “I’m … I try to put myself out there, but … it’s always so hard, and I try really hard, but … but every time I’m so awkward, and I start talking too much, but I can’t stop, and then…”

Rachel’s giggle shut her down. “Look, Jessy … I can’t tell you how to be like me. This is just who I am. Is there a reason you want to be like me?”

Jessy’s fingers slid over the back of her head, scratching her scalp with agitation while glancing away again. “Well … I just want to be more … less … how do I say it?” She groaned, walking a few steps to her right and stopping. “I’m just … I hate how passive I am … and I just … I can’t art—articulate … I think that’s the word … see?” She finished in exasperation.

Figuring what she meant, Rachel rested her arms atop her cute rabbit blob, giving Jessy a forced smile. “I’ll be direct, Jessy, and I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to embarrass you … okay?”

The girl folded her arms under her chest, taking a deep, apprehensive breath. “Alright.”

Rachel motioned for her to sit in a nearby chair. “Take a seat.”

“How can you be so calm after all of that?” She grumbled, pulling the chair to the side with a bit of effort to face her.

Once the blonde-haired girl was in her seat, Rachel crossed her legs. “Jessy…”

“Mhm…”

“Do you want to be more direct, confident, and articulate to impress my cousin because you like him and you want him to notice you?”

Jessy’s face was utterly still, mind checking out before her cheeks darkened. “... I … umm … why would you say that? I mean, yeah … he’s really handsome and big and tall and strong … he’s just so … no-ho-ho … am I that transparent … and he doesn’t even care?”

“Jessy … who do you think you’re talking to?” Rachel asked with a smirk.

“I … don’t really know you, though…” She grumbled, thighs tightening as she played with her bare feet. Her muscles suddenly locked up, voice becoming a squeak. “Wait … you could hear me in the bathroom?”

“Like I said, I’m not trying to embarrass you,” Rachel tried to reassure, but Jessy’s legs were pulling up to her chest, burying her face in her knees.

“I can’t believe this is happening…” She cried.

Rachel drew in air before letting it out in a long sigh. “You’re a girl … and you’ve got needs, too…”

“No-ho-ho … please, kill me…”

Gisele’s head darted up in confusion, turning down to stare at her.

Trying to push forward with the conversation, Rachel repeated her question, but it took a moment for the girl to calm down enough to respond.

“... I do,” she whispered.

“How long?”

Jessy poked her bright red face up, glaring at Rachel’s feet. “Forever … well, middle school … but how am I supposed to compete with someone like Clare? The stupid hoe … and when his cousin’s a damn supermodel Demi that can take out men like it’s no big deal…”

Well, spread the flames.

“Uh-huh … so, you like my cousin, and you’ve been trying to get his attention for a long time, but he hasn’t noticed?”

“Obviously,” she grumbled, hiding her face again. “He’s always talking to me like I’m one of the boys … he asks me what to get Clare and … and I get so mad, but I can’t let him down … then she hates what I’d like, and he gets frustrated with me!”

Rachel nodded. “I’m sensing some tension … look, Jessy, I can’t tell you how to make him like you, but if you want, I’ll help you tell him.”

“No! What if he says he doesn’t like me?” Her arms tightened around her legs, terror swimming in her hazel eyes. “I’m not pretty like … well, you’re beyond pretty … you’re a freaking anime character … perfect, and look at me … I’ve got … yeah, I’ve got a lot less … of everything…” She murmured, glare sweeping her curves.

Hayan jumped down to hop over and look up at her with big eyes, wanting to comfort the hurting girl, and Rachel adjusted her long hair across her front, hanging over her left shoulder.

“It’s up to you, but it is what it is; either he’ll say yes or no.”

Jessy’s muscles were winding tighter and tighter. “Do you even have a boyfriend?”

“I suppose,” Rachel shrugged. “A potential boyfriend that I’ll be going on a few dates with soon.”

“... So you’re saying I’m a loser…” Jessy growled.

Rachel chuckled, getting to her feet. “I’m not going to play this game, Jessy. If you want my help, then I will, and yes, he might not say yes, but you need to sort out your own feelings.”

She paused at the door, glancing back. “By the way, my outfit’s name is Nia, and she wanted me to thank you for complimenting her; that being said, she’s one of a kind right now.” With that, she left the room, heading for the club.

Nia wanted her to go back and help her more, but Rachel didn’t have anything else to add; she needed to sort out her own heart, and her being there would only distract the girl.

“She needs our help! Why wouldn’t he notice her for so long? I’d be so, so, so mad if someone ignored me like that! I’d give him a piece of my mind and tell him he sucked; I’m gorgeous! Have you seen me?”

Mhm … you’re awesome, Nia. The prettiest living denier in the world.

“Damn right I am; my curves put in work! Look how much ass I can cover … look!”

I’d rather not look at my own ass, but yes, you do … are you calling me an ass again?

“Hehe … okay, seriously, though … What’s his problem?!”

Rachel rolled her eyes. He’s a dense boy.

“Duhh … say something less obvious.”

Teenagers…

“There you go with the … oh, he disappeared?!”

Rachel paused at the end of the stairs, ears twitching and shifting a little, scanning for her cousin; he’d entered a large warehouse that blasted music, and it was difficult to filter through to hear his voice, but he’d walked down some stairs before entering a room. The room was sealed … soundproof. If she wanted to bypass the dampening, she’d need to get closer.

Well … isn’t he full of surprises…

From what she’d discovered, Balto’s was a big club hit that had just taken off within the last week; in fact, it was simply an abandoned factory in a rundown part of town until it was suddenly bought out; renovations were made at insane speeds, but it had been active days before the buyout.

It was somehow linked to a big gang in the area, drawing in many criminal groups and many Demi. Money was passing between hands, which drew Rachel’s ears. Based on what she’d discovered, it was probably some kind of underground fight club. It made sense; her cousin went out at night and came back satisfied. He was gaining fans based on the random couple’s reaction to him.

Rachel smiled, leaving the house. Okay, cuz; let’s see what you’ve been up to. Why are you borrowing money when you’re taking part in the fights, betting on yourself? It’s a lot more interesting than you turning into a complete pussy.

“Oh, are we going to show them the smoke?” Nia asked with excitement.

If it comes to that, well, as you said, we’ll put in work.

Nia’s voice darkened as they stepped into the night. “I am the storm that is approaching, provoking … dark clouds in isolation, descending misery that inherits the nightmare … my crest is the rabbit of death … and I have awakened!”

A smile brightened Rachel’s lips with the moon’s rays touching her skin. Keep walking the line between the light … led astray, I summon the strength of mayhem … two souls once lost, and now they remember.

“Oh! That was awesome!” Nia cheered. “We’re good at being edgy!”

If you say so, Rachel giggled, jumping over her grandfather’s gate as Nia changed into their battle outfit to begin their journey. We might just have to become the nightmare prowling in the shadows.

“Fu, fu, fu … a phoenix’s ash in the dark divine … lurking under the veil of night while dancing through the graves of those who stand at our feet!”

A derelict of darkness.

“Bury the light deep within; an animal emerges; burning chaos in winter’s wind!”

Alright, alright, my little edgelord! Let’s go.

“Yeah!”

Rachel was a little taken aback by how much her speed and control had increased with Nia’s aid; it wasn’t only her stats, but the grip of the flats she wore was better than anything she’d used up to this point.

Her earring burned with pride at Rachel’s thoughts.

“Yes, praise me! I am the greatest! Mu-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

No joke … you really are awesome, Nia, Rachel laughed, playing into the girl’s mirth.

Gisele flew overhead, trying desperately to keep up, but she would be late to the party; on the other hand, Hayan seemed to teleport to her when she got too far away. It wouldn’t take her long to reach the club at this pace, and she was excited to discover what lurked beyond those sealed doors.