The Secret's Aftermath

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Madotsuki sighed. That hadn't been what she'd meant, but oh well.

----------------

To say Beatrice was mad was an understatement. She wiped a large amount of slime off of her face.

"When I get done with Tree, you're next," Beatrice threatened before breaking off into a run again. As she ran, the slime eventually all came off, though she still felt fairly nasty. And these were her only clean clothes at the moment.

She made it to the gate of town and stood on top of the sign, waiting for Tree to arrive. She didn't have to wait long, as within a few minutes, she saw the approach of someone very familiar. A bat girl wearing incredibly thick glasses and a very poofy coat, carrying a fish and being followed by a gerbil with a scythe.

"...Finally," Tree said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Why does it take so long to get everywhere in this stupid island?"

"Because you are too lazy to make crap with alchemy to make this faster?" Snowy suggested.

"Because yoo a foo who need too lose some weight?" Todd suggested.

"Did you just do that because of the alli--"

"TREETUNE YOU BITCH! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" Beatrice yelled. Tree looked up at the sign and waved.

"Oh, hey! Beatrice! It's been a while! Digging the new duds!" Tree called.

"STOP BEING ALL BUDDY-BUDDY! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS TODAY AND I MEAN IT!" Beatrice yelled. She took up a battle stance. "I'M GONNA GET MY REVENGE FOR THAT DAY HERE AND NOW, BITCH!"

"Oh yeah, that was some party, huh?" Tree asked. "Hey, no hard feelings, right?"

"SHUT THE HELL UP YOU BIIIIIIIIIITCH!"

Beatrice jumped down from the sign and punched down at Tree, who dodged the punch and swung Todd back around, which Beatrice dodged. Tree jumped back and braced herself before shooting out a stream of flames from Todd's mouth, which Beatrice jumped out of the way of. She lept back onto the sign, at which time Tree launched a spectacularly large stream of fire that could be seen from anywhere in Bonsai Village.

So much for staying incognito. Granted, that ship probably sailed back when Beatrice got her heart cut out.

Back to the action. Beatrice dodged out of the way, and ran straight at Tree, punching her in the gut. Tree responded by slamming Todd down on Beatrice's head. It had turned back into a brawl fest.

-----------------------

Taffy sat up in bed, and stared at a stream of flames somewhere in the distance. A stream of flames he really couldn't see that well because he wasn't wearing his glasses. But one he recognized.

For probably the fifth time that night, Taffy ran downstairs. He was in the middle of putting on his jacket as he ran through the room Magus and Metal were conversing in.
"I'll be back in five minutes for the love of God don't burn the house down while I'm gone," Taffy said as he ran out. He had No Name with him, which meant he was probably preparing for a fight.

[gantzgun74]

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"What was THAT about?" Metal asked with a anime sweatdrop.

Kosumu looked outside to see the jet of flames rising over the buildings of Bonsai Village. "What going on?"

Metal merely shrugged. "Probably Beatrice, that musclehead." After a second, he shook his head. "Moving on though; Fujin, I'm sorry about sending you off earlier, but I feared that Magus would try to attack..." He turned to Magus, secretly giving him this emoticon ';<' which one could tell was a quick wink. "Turns out he's harmless though, which is more then I can say for some of our other friends right this minute."

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With the epic Beatrice vs. Tree fight, Climber and Nutcase had just shown up to see the two going at it, in what could've been considered a more extreme version of a common cat fight.

He momentarily winced at the fire, but afterwards, looked on in confusion at what was going on... ... ...

"I thought miss Beatrice and Miss Tree were friends."

[mugenginga]

Magus made no indication that he had noticed Metal's twist of the situation. He told himself he would have to acknowledge the gesture in some way or another later. Especially since Schala seemed pained, almost as if she knew he was lying. Back when she knew herself as Schala, she could always see right through him. Even the efforts he had taken as the Prophet of Zeal thanks to his memories had raised suspicions. He wasn't even entirely sure she hadn't figured it out but had kept it to herself. What a role reversal. He glanced down at Madotsuki, who was remaining in her fearful hiding position. Schala was looking down at her.

"She fears you for your similarity for a person she knows," he stated. He seemed to have regain his composure, but realized he had said the wrong thing when pain washed over Schala's face.

"I... I can not say I am not," she tried to force a small smile, and sat down so she didn't appear as tall to Madotsuki, "But if I have harmed you in the past, I hope you will forgive my for my digressions.... You said his name was Magus? I know not my given name, but Kosumu here has given me the name Fujin. Your aura reminds me of something... that is perhaps why I mistook you for someone I once knew. I mean neither of you any harm."

Magus turned away, choosing to focus on Madotsuki. Fujin looked pained, but worked to keep it inside. Under other circumstances it might have been comical. It seemed the two had a lot in common... Magus chose to focus on something else, "I am not harmless, do not make that mistake. I can summon fire just as severe as that tower out there."

Fujin's eyes widened, "You can summon fire as well?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Beatrice and Tree both managed to hit each other in the face with these latest attacks before jumping back. Though it was hard to see through her glasses, if anyone got a good look at Tree's eyes, they could see that they'd turned yellow, like those of someone overloaded on Doom energy. She was taking this fight very seriously.

"Come on, Bea-Bea! I said I was sorry!" Tree yelled. She didn't seem very sorry, though.

"I was a Fluffy for two years! I got stepped on, chewed on, and things you don't even want to know got done to me! All because you were drunk and thought it would be a great idea to test your new formula on me!" Beatrice yelled. She punched at Tree again, which Tree easily dodged.

"You were drunk too," Tree retorted.

"You're 14!"

"You're 19."

"I'm 20 now."

"Oh, really? Happy birthday!" Tree said happily. She brought Todd back down on Beatrice's head. "You're still not old enough to legally drink either."

"I-- SHUT UP."

Beatrice and Tree launched into a flurry of attacks that flowed from one attack to another so quickly, it was hard to see them both very well.

Taffy walked up next to Climber and Nutcase, and facepalmed. "This was what I was afraid of."

Finally, it ended with Tree and Beatrice both punching each other in the face simultaneously. They both fell to the ground, and Snowy floated down in between them, holding a stopwatch. She hit stop.

"...Two minutes and forty five seconds. Not bad." Snowy said. She snapped the watch shut. "Now are you two imbeciles done or are you going to go back to beating the crap out of each other?"

"...We're done." Beatrice said.

-------------

Madotsuki shiverred. She still didn't like Fujin much.

[nutcase17133]

Sighing, Nutcase walked up to Beatrice and said, "You REALLY need to sort out that temper, missy. Tree said she was sorry, and she seemed genuinely apologetic."

[gantzgun74]

It was possible Magus looked at Fujin confused when she said this, but Kosumu came in, smiling up a storm. "Fujin summon fire! Did it... Back at cave! It cool!"

"So you two know how to use magic." Metal surmised that was the case. "If that's the case you two must have some pretty good magic about you. What kinds of elements can you control and how well can you do that? Gantz himself, when I last checked, was able to control quite a few, and he knew how to control them well." At Magus' odd look he held up two hands defensively. "Forgive me, simple curiosity."

-----------------------------------

Taking in the scene of the struggle, Climber could only scratch the side of his head, looking at it with some curiosity. He really hadn't understood why Beatrice had been fighting Tree, at all really; that's just how he was. "Besides... I thought you two were friends... ... ..." Noticing the odd looks, he sputtered a little. "Or... You know... Something like that..."

[mugenginga]

Magus looked back at the young woman and paused. Despite her aura she could still access her magic? However, Kosumu's energy level meant he could get out his question next.

Fujin blushed at Kosumu's compliments but quickly shook her head. She seemed flustered, "N-not on purpose. It just sort of seemed to happen on its own..." she trailed off.

Magus was mildy surprised again, but recovered far quicker. As a kid he had put a block on his own magic. He'd been called weak by most of the kingdom, but hadn't cared as long as Schala was safe. He shook his head and turned towards Metal.

"I can control all types. Light, Fire, Water, and the combination known as Shadow. That last one is the one I excel the best at," he replied. It was pointless to hide a fact as trivial as that. He was not stupid enough to think the magic in all worlds fell into that, however, and chose to elaborate, "Light tends to employ lightning as opposed to anything holy, and Water covers ice as well. It's a common mistake to think Shadow implies "evil". Its more cosmic in origins."

He waited for Metal's response, but Fujin got out something first, "Is that why you have such an aura about you...?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

Beatrice stood up and brushed herself off. "Hell no, we're not friends! Didn't you get the whole 'she turned me into a fucking plushie' part?"

Tree punched her fist up into the air. "I REGRET NOTHING!"

"See? She ain't apologetic about nothin'." Beatrice said.

Taffy groaned. "They were roommates back at Alchemist Academy. And they were the best of friends back then too."

"Were not!"

"No way!"

"And then the Christmas Party happened, Beatrice turned into a Fluffy, and Tree ran off to go make Todd-- that's the fish--"

"'Sup foo?"

"--And she burned her house down. And then assulted the old lady who lives in a shoe--"

"SHE TOTALLY DESERVED IT! SHE WAS A CANNIBAL MAN! AN INFANTICIDAL CANNIBAL!"

"--And then moved into Fox Haven. And had her guardian angel's house carried away by flying fish. While she was in it. And then fought a fleet of ghost rodents. And then got attacked by a mutant squirrel. And then fought a hedgehog who's totally not Sonic, and THEN fought the ghost of her old pet fish while taking New York with her... Jeez, Tree."

"I. Regret. NOTHING."

"Obviously." Taffy said, facepalming again. "Do you want me to go on, or is that enough?"

[nutcase17133]

"More than enough. I'd say we have her locked up. Let the law sort her out." Nutcase said as he threw some cuffs on Tree.

[gantzgun74]

Climber only stared at Treetune with a look of confusion... ... ... ...

"Old lady... In a shoe?" He thought a moment. "That almost sounds like something... You'd find back at Everafter..."

He shuddered a little as the memory, (And a dark, deep, evil chuckle) passed through his mind.

---------------------------------------------

Metal nodded at this. "Don't you worry, I got it." He points to his cranium. "Also, I'm not so dense as to mistake darkness for evil; as a matter of fact, it's almost sad to see people make such mistakes. I myself, would like to know when darkness was suddenly mistakened for evil, when it is really misunderstood."

Kosumu, surprisingly, was the one to answer this. "People... Afraid of dark..."

Metal chortled at this, "Yes, that could be it. People are afraid of the dark, and often times fear is enough..." Putting that aside however... He turned back to Fujin. "Forgive me, but aura? I'm but a machine, so I can't sense magical aura's." He tilted his head a little. "What does his aura feel like Fujin? Care to clarify?"

[mugenginga]

(OOC: Was that a Snafu comic reference? That... would be dark deep evil chuckle-worthy. Quite the epic webcomic, but yeah.... methinks that would make even the Grimm brothers go D:)

"In my world, Shadow is the most powerful magic. And magic is all but lost to humans, so it is unknown. It is the unknown that make people fear darkness, and the unknown that makes them fear magic," Magus replied. The fear of magic, Shadow, and darkness were all things he had employed in ~600AD, so he was well aquainted with those kinds of things.

"Fear... the unknown..." Fujin looked away. Magus was correct. She feared what the truth of her past might bring. She looked up as Metal asked his question, "...um... I don't want to insult him..."

Magus shook his head, "I assure you that I have heard every description you could come up with. Few of them are flattering."

Fujin nodded, "Um... dark... kind of tainted. But strong too... and... I don't think its always been that tainted. Am I correct?"

Magus sighed, "It is what I have been told."

And what I know. I suppose it occurred back when I lost you the first time. I doubt the time I spent as Fiendlord helped it any, Magus though, his expression remaining somber.

"Kosumu here has a softer one," Fujin smiled, "It reminds me of a night sky... in the good sense."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

(OOC: Actually, Climber was a participant in an OC Tournament run by the guy who does Everafter. :3 Fun stuff.)

Suddenly, there was a sizzling sound. Beatrice turned around and saw Tree giving another one of those damn grins, and her hands not handcuffed. She tossed an empty bottle and the handcuffs, which had melted down the middle, at Nutcase's feet.

"Hydrochloric Acid. No alchemist worth their salt leaves home without it," Tree said. Snowy shrugged.

"And besides, the last time Tree got locked up directly lead to the blowing up of New York in the first place. So yeah. Bad idea," Snowy said. "And in case this scythe wasn't enough of a clue, I can reap immortal souls, so I'd prefer if you don't mess with Tree."

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"What's my aura like?" Madotsuki asked. It was in a more curious tone for once.

[nutcase17133]

"Oh yeah? Tough rocks, pal. Tree's clearly too dangerous to be in civilized society so if you value anything that's good and holy, you'd take her soul here and now." Nutcase said without flinching at Snowy's words.

[gantzgun74]

Metal mentally took notes over what Fujin had just said; being a robot had such advantages as a robotic brain that caught factors and sealed them in. "I see... Very interesting..."

Kosumu giggled at Fujin, blushing lightly. "Aww... Thank Fujin." He smiled a little more before he turned to Madotsuki. "May I Fujin?" He motioned to Madotsuki as he said this before examining the girl closely...

He immediately wished he hadn't.

As Kosumu examined Madotsuki closer, her aura really seemed to shoot out at him. He was aware of sadness, a rather extreme amount of it honestly. It felt like there was so much of it, he would never be happy ever again. But deep deep down beyond that, he could feel something else. Beyond all of the sadness and grief, he could feel the soul of a good person; tainted to be sure, all hope for innocence gone, even more true. But beyond all of that, he saw that Madotsuki was a good person. Her aura felt down, depressed... But she seemed to have a good heart.

Outside in reality, Kosumu was shivering as he sensed Madotsuki's aura... Finally, Metal pulled the boy away. "Kosumu! You okay?!"

Kosumu continued to shiver, as he opened his eyes again. "S-sad..." He wobbled back to his feet. "H-her aura is... sad..." He looked to Madotsuki frowning sadly. "S-so sorry..."

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Climber was NOT liking where this scene was going. If this kept up, another fight would probably start up where the old one ended. Sighing at such a prospect, he lifted his pick-axe, before turning to Nutcase. "Do we have to fight?" This was asked more in curiosity if this could be avoided rather then in curiosity on if it WAS happening.

[mugenginga]

Fujin smiled softly at Kosumu. She hoped he didn't think she was being flattering. It is really how it felt. She looked up at Madotsuki as the girl asked her question, grateful the child had shifted opinions enough to speak to her. She had begun to focus even before Kosumu offered, but she was cut off by his request. However, she felt nothing from the girl. She blinked and tilted her head sideways. All this went away as Kosumu started shivering. She quickly stood and held out a hand.

"Kosumu, are you quite well!?"

Magus seemed caught on something. The slightest twitch. He'd seen Schala look at Madotsuki oddly. He turned towards the girl as the sadness spread on Kosumu's face. He picked up traces of aura from her. It was rather Zeal-like, really. But it was horribly faint. The fact was, Madotsuki's aura was more "normal" than "magical" - The only reason Magus could pick up anything was the dream base of the thing. But the fact that Schala seemed to pick up nothing... she was stronger than he. While Magus' senses tended to pick up on the strongest and the magical, Schala could pick up on all types. But that look and the reaction to Kosumu, it seemed she had picked up nothing.

Magus was watching the scene, and had jerked a bit as "Fujin" jerked to her feet. It was extremely clear he felt it his duty to protect the girl. Metal if no one else would see that. He obviously cared deeply for her. What might have struck Kosumu as interesting is it was likely Madotsuki's aura would flare around Fujin. More fear than sadness, really...