A figure in a hooded cloak watched the duel from the roof of the strip mall.

This wasn't quite as stupid as that sentence just sounded. The cloak fluttered in the wind like fabric, but it's surface was...not there. It seemed less like the cloak was invisible and more like the air had been folded around the hidden figure in the shape of a cloak. As if, except for when the wind caught the fabric just right the figure simply wasn't there.

When the shades showed up, it slipped away.

And then..it dud not speak. It maid no noise at all. But it communicated, all the same, even as it slipped away into the dark of night.

"Subject located. Already made contact with outside contractor. Combat abilities far higher than expected, subject still alive."

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There was a response.

"Understood. Move to secondary target?"

Again, a response.

The shadowy figure was moving swiftly across town now, leaping and darting between rooftops.

"Understood. Returning."

It danced over the rooftops until it reached a particular house, slipping in through the back door and standing still. The cloak fell off the figure, revealing a wooden doll. It had no face, no features, but something about the figure hinted it was feminine, though to say exactly what would have been difficult. Beneath the smooth wooden surface there were crystals, glowing faintly green, carved smooth interlocking circles that indicated the precision of machinery mixed with the magical.

"Power down," its owner said, and it complied. It was a machine after all, built with specific functions. Told to follow, it followed. Told to shut down, it shut down. But it was also magical, something not quite as predictable as machinery.

So though it shit down, it listened. Three voices, only one it was programmed to obey.

"I didn't think he could beat the Moonlight Blade."

"Be a problem if we do end up having to kill him."

"Do we have to? If he's that powerful..."

"It makes him more dangerous, not less."

"Regardless, we're operating blind. We need more information."

"We need to get someone close to him."

"Or CLOSE to someone close to him...now there's a thought."

"How good is the stealth protocol on this thing? I have an idea..."

It was a machine. A thing of wood and glass and magic. It did not have emotions. But somewhere in it's crystal heart,not felt the echoes of what might be called worry.