Seikou walks into the square and waves to Variance. "How are you today, oh fearless leader?"

Variance nods in reply to the wave, still taking his usual seat on the bench. It's amazing there isn't a depression there by now. "Well enough, though I don't think 'leader' is exactly accurate."

Seikou shrugs. "You're my superior, and Signas mostly stays in his office, so..."

Variance nods again. "Good point."

Seikou sits on the bench for once. "...Variance-sama... I didn't want to say this in front of the civillians because I was afraid I'd scare them... There was a Maverick attack on me yesterday."

Variance suddenly looks much more serious at the mention, not minding to send the glare needlessly in Seikou's direction. "Who was it?"

Seikou looks embarrased. "I'm afraid he never stated his designation. He seemed to have shadow-manipulation powers... He attaked me and unfortunatley succeeded in knocking me out and escaping..."

Seikou blushes and looks at his oversized boots.

Variance takes a moment to try to recall anything remotely like the description... Vice never seemed to use the shadows to his advantage, and he knew nothing of the other high-priority Maverick... "At least there's something to go on for next time."

Seikou says 'I'm sorry that I failed to capture him!'

Variance softens and waves a hand dismissively. "It's alright, no one's expected to take one down the very first time, though the feat -would- be impressive. Mavericks tend to be somewhat elusive, anyway."

Seikou says 'He used dirty tactics like damaging my visual receptors with dirt and the like...'

Seikou seems to be holding some fact back, as he stares at the ground.

You say 'Typical maneuvers for them. Of course, they can't be expected to have any sort of honor whatsoever, at least from my experience.'

Seikou sighs. "I wasn't expecting honour, just mentioning it so we can know it for the next fight."

Variance mutters a short agreement, not really having much else to say to extend the subject.

Seikou closes his eyes and leans back, still seeming more indrawn than before

Variance sends a short, slightly concerned glance towards Seikou, but quickly takes it back, finding it better to not pry into the other's sudden distance.

Seikou sighs and finally seems to come to some sort of decision. "...The virus nearly emerged again."

Variance nods in understanding. "I see." He seems a little far off himself, as if looking deeply into a concept or some other intangible idea. "It's probably just theory, but I'm starting to think this 'Maverick Virus' is more than a simple string of code."

Seikou opens an eye. "How can it be more than that?"

You say 'As I said, it's probably just a random thought that's been read into too far, but... Maybe there's something else behind the Virus, something I can't quite grasp. Like a pure malevolent force bent on one objective...'

You say 'But a force that can be overcome, given proper incentive and willpower.'

Seikou says 'actually I think i just have a good antivirus program... But who knows...? It does feel more like I'm fighting it than anything else...'

Variance shifts a little. "But then we go back to the whole 'do reploids have souls' question and the existentialism starts all over again." A small, cynical smirk shows on him again.

Seikou shrugs. "I really don't bother worrying about that anymore after the conversation with Bahamut. He scared me."

Seikou says 'The thing I'm worrying about right now is.... Why does everyone seem to dislike the Hunters...?'

You say 'A small band of outsiders, imposing a sort of martial law on a realm they don't even belong to. There's bound to be some people against that. It's simply how politics work.'

Seikou says 'It just seems like most people don't believe we're doing anything... One person said we weren't attacking the real problem... I admit, I reacted badly to that one, but still...'

Variance lets out a quiet sigh, adjusting himself on the bench. "Or maybe they think we're not sure what the 'real problem' is. We could speculate about the public opinion all day and never run out of things to say."

Seikou says 'True.'

Seikou says 'I just worry that they're right... We kill one maverick, 2 show up. We need an antivirus that works, but it infects the core program to such a large degree it's hard to remove...'

Variance becomes somewhat distanced again. "If it remained static, there should have been a true cure for it by now... but that's obviously not the case. It's more like a true virus, changing and adapting to whatever's thrown at it, or at least it could be."

Seikou says 'So, what the hell can we do about it?'

Variance shifts uncomfortably, despite knowing it's his thoughts and not the bench that are making him so. "I... don't know. I don't think anyone does."

Seikou says '...We'll find a way eventually... Until then, we'll just do what we've always been doing...'

Variance lets out another sigh, trying to shake the subject from the forefront of his mind with a defeated nod, but failing horribly. "I suppose it's all we -can- do for now."

Seikou laughs bitterly. "I always seem to make the conversation turn depressing..."

You say 'It's not you, I'm just reading too far into something that's probably a false hope. I suppose manipulating the forces of life and earth takes its toll on one's psyche in time...'

Seikou says 'I've been curious about that... How do you do it? I thought it took a human mind to use magics...'

Variance raises a hand, idly calling forth a small bit of the energy known here as 'mana', flicking it about out of a lack of something better to do with it. "I suppose reploids are close enough to use magic if they put effort into it..."

Seikou says 'Hmn... maybe I'll try to learn someday...'

You say 'And then there's the fact that it's practically what I was made for, though I'll admit that it's likely much stronger here than it ever would be in a training room.'

Seikou says 'Hmn?'

Seikou looks curious. "Why would you be made to use magic in a world with no magic?"

Variance dismisses the tiny ball of energy, going back to a state of mostly inactivity. "I never said it didn't work there, but what I -did- get out drew more on my personal energy reserves than the environment itself like it's supposed to."

Seikou leans back. "Interesting..."

"Isn't it?" It came more as a statement as a question. Variance's gaze turns to the sky, having found the fountain a little monotonous. "But you do raise an interesting point."

Seikou says 'Hmn...? I did?'

Variance nods in place of breaking his train of thought. "Most of the land around the city is dead anyway, and I'm sure the FMS can't draw on what isn't there..." A short smirk makes its way onto his face as he brings his gaze back to earth.

You say 'But Shima always was a bit of a strange one.'

Seikou says 'Was Shima your creator?'

Seikou looks interested. This is the first he's heard of Vari's past, after all.

Variance nods again. "Shima Faldrien(don't ask). Bit eccentric, but knowledgable in her field." He pauses, brow furrowing. "...Make that -really- eccentric."

Seikou grins. "My creator - Dr. Hitomi Fujimoto - was a bit odd herself... Apparently she designed my appearance on that of a character in a videogame becaus it would make me "shinier".

Variance breaks into a grin of his own. "Sounds like she and Shima would get along quite well."

Seikou grins more. "I wonder if they know each other... I mean, the scientist community is pretty close-knit. Probably spent hours together squeeing or something..."

Variance lets a short laugh escape him, valiantly trying to keep it to just that. "It's definitely possible, especially since Shima spends hours -alone- 'squeeing'."

Seikou says 'They're sounding more and more alike with every passing minute. That's kind of frightening, tell truth...'

You say 'Yeah, I know what you mean~...'

Variance composes himself, looking a little more relaxed than before.

Seikou watches the shimmering water fall into the fountain basin, still smiling a little.

Seikou says 'Should we get out of the rain?'

Variance vainly shakes off some of the pooling rainwater from his right arm, starting to stand. "That would be a good idea, I'm sure."

Seikou pulls himself to his feet, grabbing his staff from where it had been resting against the wall. "Off we go!"

Variance takes his own polearm in hand, closing his eyes and focusing briefly...

<HP:1053/1053 MP:1767/1767>
A crackling white sphere of mana surrounds you!

Variance surfaces from the casting, looking slightly upwards. "...Why did I -ever- think that would work?" He sighs and starts off on a slight run towards the base, feebly shielding himself from the rain.

Seikou says 'Nani...?'


Maverick Hunters Headquarters
A rather large room, the logo for the Maverick Hunters is in blue
letters on the back wall. A few service robots are operating phones to
respond to calls of distress around the area. In the back is a large desk
with papers shuffled around, obviously the desk of the Hunters themselves.
Two guard robots stand at the front door to keep out any unwanted
intruders.

(] Exits: south west [)
Signas, leader of the Hunters, is here overseeing the headquarters.
Seikou has arrived from the south.

Seikou runs inside, hair dripping everywhere. "Ugh... Bloody rain..." he mutters.

Variance walks towards a particularly uninhabited corner of the room, proceeding to at least attempt to shake off as much water as possible, not minding how much blackmail material could be procured from how -stupid- he looked doing so.

Seikou is still dripping water everywhere, but this is temporarily forgotten. He pokes the mana bubble interestedly. "What the heck is this thing for?" he asks.

You say 'Oh, that. It's a Manashield, and it's -supposed- to use magical power to prevent damage, though I guess it only protects me if I'm actually getting -hurt-.'

Variance mutters something about loopholes irritatedly, waiting for the spell to, well, dispel itself.

Seikou sighs and attempts to squeeze the water out of his hair. "My armor is going to rust..." he mutters.

On that note, Variance starts taking off what armor he can, leaving only his bodysuit to cover him, even though he really didn't even need that.

Seikou leaves his own armor on, instead just attempting to find a towel or something.

Variance leaves the discarded articles in the same corner he was standing in, running a hand through his still-wet hair and letting another annoyed grumble escape him.

Seikou says 'Why does this base have no cloth inside it?!'

Variance looks to Seikou, mild irritation still plain on his face. "A base built mostly for machines and a once-again suffering budget. Two and two."

((Lines missing here 'cause I'm an idjit! ;.;))

Seikou finally succeeds in squeezing the last of the water out of his ponytail, leaving a large puddle on the ground. "Ugh..."

Jetgarr starts pounding on the doors to the Hunters' base, sending a loud echo through the halls.

Seikou looks startled. "Nani...? Is someone out there...?'

That, however, quickly brought Variance out of his little vacant trance and straight to attention, grip on his spear tightening reflexively. Normally people didn't knock -that- loud...

Variance slowly approaches his armor in the corner, pulling on as much as he can without drawing attention to himself. Perhaps it was just a job-induced paranoia, but something didn't feel right.

The door begins to buckle as Jetgarr persists.

Seikou tightens his grip on his weapon. "Whoever it is is trying to bust the door down..."

Suddenly a fist is thrust through a door making a hole, soon after the face of Jetgarr can be seen, his eyes red with the madness of the virus.

Seikou readies his staff. "Shit! it's the Maverick from yesterday! Ready for battle!"

Jetgarr begins to force the door open slowly

Variance doesn't even need prior notice to bring his guard to maximum, spear in front of him as he immediately begins channeling energy in preparation to attack.

Seikou drops into a battle stance, waiting for the Maverick to make his way in...

Jetgarr suddenly stops and looks at Variance, then the room slowly begins to fade into darkness as Jetgarr disapears into the black.

The darkness fades as Jetgarr has seemed to disapear.

Seikou remains on guard, scanning the area for Jetgarr, mostly focusing his hearing to try to detect footsteps or the like.

Variance takes a step back, eyes widening. So this is what he meant... He quickly chants a few words under his breath as quietly as possible.

Variance takes another quick scan of the room... still nothing. 'Where -is- he?!'

There is suddenly a slight glare behind Variance and Seikou. Could it be Jetgarr?

Seikou notices the sheen. "Variance! Behind you!"

Variance whips around almost a full one-hundred and eighty degrees, holding his left hand out towards the glare and shouting a few choice words. A beam of what looks like moonlight streaks from his hand towards the glare...

Jetgarr is struck by the beam of lunar light, the light begins to distort around him and then fades away, causing minimal damage.

Jetgarr strikes at Variance twice quickly at short range.

Seikou suddenly lunges at Jet, armor shining in the light, and stabs at Jet.

Jetgarr ducks barely out of the way of Seikou's stab.

Variance immediately brings his spear up, haphazardly stepping back and swinging both strikes harmlessly away. Okay, maybe Lucent Beam was a bad choice...

Seikou feints towards Jet's head, changing his direction at the last moment to instead strike for the stomach.

Variance keeps his weapon in front of him defensively, trying to find something, -anything- he could use against his opponent...

Jetgarr dodges in the wrong direction and is knocked off his feet, but immediately flips up off the ground, flinging debris at Seikou's face.

Seikou is struck and staggers back. "Shit... Visual receptors damaged..."

Variance takes another step back for himself, looking somewhat distressed at the only answer received from all his inward searching. The only thing that might be even remotely useful, and he barely ever used it. Wonderful.

Seikou hangs back, hoping Variance can bear the load while he waits for his autorepair systems to fix the damage the debris caused.

Jetgarr fades into the darkness once again only his red glowing eyes visable, then soon those fade out of view.

Variance suddenly perks up again as another realization dawns on him. That's it! Confidence renewed, he looks around himself again, looking for any sign he can catch of the Maverick as he starts another Charge.

There is a sudden whistling sound as an arrow flies from Jetgarr at your arm.

Seikou hears the sound and leaps, managing to catch the arrow... With his arm. "Shit..."

Variance immediately strikes the ground with his spear, a great arc of lightning springing from it in Jetgarr's direction, amplified further by the expenditure of his previously collected energy.

There is a shimmer in the darkness just as the lighting strikes Jetgarr, he stumbles from the darkness and falls to the ground.

Seikou says 'Did we do it?'

Variance keeps his spear blade trained firmly on the apparently downed Jetgarr, eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't count on it."

Seikou gets up from his dramatic lunge and joins Variance in training a spear on Jet, his vision apparently having returned.

You say 'Designation. -Now-.'

Jetgarr quickly and quietly emerges from the shadows behind the two Hunters distracted by his doppleganger, and backstabs Variance.

A sharp cry of pain rings deafeningly around the room, Jetgarr's blade biting deeply somewhere into Variance's back. He's not quite sure where, but it must be somewhere important from the sudden flood of internal alarms and the like...

Seikou looks shocked. "Bloody hell! Variance!" His eyes narrow as he turns to look at Jet. "You will -pay-." He taps one finger against a tine of his staff and it produces a low, clear note that begins to grow louder...

Jetgarr pulls the dagger from Variance's back and aproaches his doppleganger, it turns into a fine mist that is absorbed by Jetgarr.

Seikou keeps the staff trained on Jet as he walks.

Jetgarr throws his daggers at Seikou then suddenly charges in and delivers a furry of punches called Comet Punch.

Seikou jumps back, the blows missing by inches, and grins. "Too late now, ninja-boy." The note becomes louder, even deafening, and then an invisible wave of force flies at Jet...

Variance runs into what he's pretty sure is a safe corner, almost literally, though he has enough ability to turn around before falling face-first into the nook. He throws up another Manashield, a few colorful curses escaping him.

Jetgarr is struck by the blast, the blast sends him flying into a wall, the strike sends cracks all across the wall as Jetgarr slids back down to his feet.

Jetgarr slowly stands back to his feet, dazed from the blast.

Seikou says 'Hmn... Impressive. most reploids are killed from the internal damage alone...'

Seikou sighs and lowers the staff again. "Back to stabbing, I suppose..." He charges and attempts to impale Jet upon the tines of his staff.

Variance would stare in amazement at the silent assault if his attention wasn't being snapped up by his still-complaining systems, though that was probably a -good- thing, considering the severity of the damage...

Jetgarr jumps on the head of the staff then quickly rebounds off the wall and striks at Variance with both daggers.

Seikou attempts to knock Jet out of the air mid-lunge, although the manuever is clumsy.

Seikou misses Jetgarr, Jetgarr lands on his feet behind Seikou, pulls out a bow and shoots.

Seikou is hit by the arrow in the chest, and falls to the ground

Seikou says '...Agh...'

Variance lets loose with another curse as the usually dim barrier around him flashes and shimmers brightly twice, one for each dagger. The drain from the manashield is plain and obvious, but not quite enough to keep him from building up for another spell...

Jetgarr starts to aproach Seikou, as a red aura begins to flow from his hands into his daggers.

Seikou grins and lunges upwards with the staff, catching one of the daggers between the tines and attempting to twist it out of his hands. "You keep falling for the same trick!" he says grinningly. Something about his eyes seems... wrong...

Jetgarr thrusts the second dagger into Seikou's gut.

Jetgarr says 'Really, Hunter...'

Variance raises his spear again, a thin aura of light gathering around his person in the telltale sign of a Charge...

Seikou looks angry for a moment. "You..." he begins, but then he collapses, unconcious...

Jetgarr picks up his dagger and turns back towards Variance.

Variance thrusts the end of his polearm on the concrete floor with as much strength as he can muster in his condition, another arc of lightning flying straight and true towards the Maverick, set to discharge if it somehow manages to miss its target.

The lighting hits its mark sending huge surges through Jetgarr as the energy arcs off him and sparks fly through the air, his eyes begin to flicker in the light.

Jetgarr falls to the ground after the energy passes through him his systems reboot and he stands up, body charred, and circuitry exposed and sparking.

Variance drops his spear, another spasm of pain cueing another brief shout. The walls behind him are neatly coated in deep red fluid, usually called blood for the sake of simplicity. Wonderful shape -he's- in.

You say '...Seikou...'

Jetgarr scans the room real quick for any signs of energy from his opponents.

Seikou barely manges to climb to his feet, clearly about to collapse. He manages one last stab before he falls...

Jetgarr is struck in the back by an unkown attacker. He falls to the ground, but slowly stands to his feet again.

Jetgarr backs himself into a dark corner out of view and you can hear the soft sounds of beeps as he hits buttons on his left arm controls.

Variance doesn't bother getting up to stop him, not that he's in any condition to do -anything- at the moment. A grazed generator tends to do that.

Seikou is just plain unconcious, both the chest and gut strikes having hit vital components.

With the last beep you hear a hum as you can see the red eyes of Jetgarr in the dark begin to brighten.

Variance shoots a sideways glance to where he assumes Jetgarr is(the glowing eyes are kind of a giveaway), raising his hand slowly. He's on the verge of emergency shutdown, has almost no mana left... just lost his manashield, but he wasn't going to let -this- guy off him, dammit!

Jetgarr clumsely dodges Vars attack and knocks him to the grownd with a THUD. ((Which is weird, considering I didn't attack. o_O))

Jetgarr looks over Seikou's bleeding body and Variance bleeding like a stuck pig as well and seems to come to a conclusion.

Jetgarr walks up to seikou and rips one of his hunter emblems off and then proceeds to Variance.

Variance musters up a burst of vigor and actually manages to do something besides sit there and bleed, namely swing his spear up towards Jetgarr, sneering defiantly.

You say '...Never.'

Jetgarr catches the spear in his hand the makeshift blood begins to trickle down his arm.

Jetgarr reaches down and clutches one of Variances emblems as well

Variance pulls up another burst of strength, despite the alarms within him intensifying and another gout of blood renewing the stream on his back, thrusting his hand into Jetgarr's midsection and spitting out another spell chant, this one a weaker form of his usual Thunderstorm.

Seikou begins to talk in a quiet, oddly-toned voice. "Damage to unit #5235 critical... repairs needed soon..."

Jetgarr convulses from the shock but still manages to rip the emblem off Variance's shoulder.

The blood pours from Jetgarr more rapidly now as his systems begin to warn him of critical damage.

Jetgarr begins to fiddle with the buttons on his arm once again as you can clearly see his systems have entered a critical state, he then raises his arm as the room is soon filled with darkness again and he is gone.

Seikou is still unconcious and what's more seems to have almost stopped breathing.

Variance looks to Seikou, vision starting to fade from massive energy loss. Despite this, he still forces himself to push himself over to the fallen Hunter, leaning against the desk.

Seikou remains silent and still, eyes closed, looking more like he's sleeping than anything else.

You say '...Perfect time to not have a medical ward.'

Seikou manages to open his eyes a little. "...Vari...?"

Variance starts to drift into a faint sleep, but still remains conscious enough to speak. "He's gone."

Seikou nods. "That's good...."

Seikou says '...I think this is the end...'

Variance manages a faint cynical smirk. "Looks like it, doesn't it? Then again..." He pauses briefly, trying to keep up his pathetic excuse for a motivational speech, "It's not over unless you want it to be, and I'm sure as hell not giving in yet."

Seikou is slowly starting to fall back into unconciousness. "...So what do we do?"

You say '...I'm not sure.'

Seikou says '...Is Signas in... his... office...? he... could... come...'

"I don't know. Lemme check." Variance's words slur somewhat in the throes of near-shutdown, amazing himself as he limply grabs a weighty object from the desk behind him, tossing it against the wall he speculated Signas' office was behind in a half-assed attempt to get the General's attention, all while staring vacantly ahead of him.

Signas steps out of a one of the back offices, brushing something off his shoulder.

Variance looks up to the man in the Spiffy Hat, smirking cynically. "Hey, Boss Man... Lovely evening, isn't it?" This said while still bleeding, mind you.

Signas stops suddenly, noticing the carnage in the center of the room. ".. What's going on here?!"

Signas shouts to the guards. "What do we pay you two for? This is the sort of thing you're supposed to stop! One of you, get a medic immediately!"

Variance releases a thin sigh, head resting on the edge of the desk, eyes closing slowly. "About... time..."

Signas notices Seikou's unconsciousness, and leans down to Variance. "Variance, what on earth is going on in here?"

You say '...Maverick... liked to stab... A lot.'

Signas says 'Maverick? Where? You two managed to destroy it, right?'

Variance amazingly gets a glare in amongst the inherent sleepiness that emergency power-saving puts one into. "We tried... Left... in shadows..."

Signas glances suddenly towards the door, as one of the guards bursts through it, followed by a team of medics. The guard salutes. "Sir!"

Variance pulls another miracle of will, fist clenching, albeit weakly. "I was slow... and Seikou suffered for it."

Signas says 'About time! Quickly, get these two to the infirmary! Be careful, though, they're damaged enough as it is.'

Signas says 'Better that it got away, than it killed either of you, I suppose..'

Placing the two severely-injured Hunters on stretchers, the medic droids begin to cart them off, back the way they came. Signas calls out after the barely-conscious Variance: "I expect a full report! .. Not right away, I suppose."