Rrrraaaawwwrrrrrrr

A loud roar echoed through air of the city. Bursting through surrounding forest as trees cracked getting louder towards Crocus. A tall male with white hair, fox tails and ears who seemed in a panic carrying a young  female with long red hair over his shoulders. He running as the girl faced a huge lion creature with a Scropion tail. It roared and looked angry. They or the kitsune distrubed the creature in it's sleep. "HANS I FUCKING HATE YOU!! I TOLD YOU THE CLUE SAID IN THE CORE OF THE CITY. NOT IN THE FLIPPING WOODS! LET ME DOWN" cried LeeAnn. Then time froze. Hans, the kitsune, was placed in mid-air running with LeeAnn yelling at him. Her hands lit up with fire ready to fight it.

Hans: Yyyeeaaahh...this situation is really hard to explain. You see that handsome looking kitsune. That's me! Hans! That meanie of a redhead is my fiance, LeeAnn Nakamura. You're probably wondering how we got into this situation? Well...first off...it was not my fault! Totally not my fault!

LeeAnn: Hans...

Hans: Yes? *whispers* It's her idea.

LeeAnn: Don't tell our readers lies. It was all you! Stop lying or else no cookie dough!

Hans: *groans* FFFIInnNEEE!! It was all my idea...*waits* Totally hers! Now, resume to htis shall we!

The picture unfroze to the Manticore chase. LeeAnn pushed herself out of Hans's grasp. The redhead landed on the ground on her knees. Scrappign her palms against the grass, she pushed herself on her feet. Looking at the Manticore, she had her hands lit up then her whole body emerged into flames. Peacefully, she walked up to the creature waved her arms around to show herself bigger and scaring the creature with her fire. Animals naturally sought fire and flames as a natural fear. The creature would walk back to the forest. Her body returned to it's normal state.

She glared at her fiance. "That is THE last time I am ever going to allow your to lead me anywhere. I said we should stay within the city to find the damn clue. My mom clearly said blooming flower. Crocus. Book was in Crocus. Core. The town square. Manticore. Statue! Why would there be a live manticore in the city?! Now, I am going to hear this from the council about my destructive behavior all thanks to you" she ranted, frustrated. She stormed off back into the city leaving with or without Hans. The Nakamura pulled out a old, yellowed piece of paper with the hint.

.
Still what did that mean? LeeAnn just stared at it as she took a seat on a empty bench along the side of the road. How did she end up with a crazy, chaotic person like Hans? Questioning herself everyday. This was the daily life of LeeAnn Nakamura.

Close by, a chase similar to the one Lee-Ann had experienced was unfolding. A commotion was being created as a man in dark robes dashed through the streets, followed by someone in blue, with a red scarf and eyemask trailing behind him. That someone was yelling something about stopping, white, ancient letters swirling around him as he pointed a finger at the man, a jet of magic about to erupt from it. This all was taking place in front of a certain park bench, in which the red-haired girl with a mark on her face seemed lost in thought. As the man in robes clumsily stumbled along, occasionally almost tripping over his flowing robe, a sudden sound rang out from outside the fourth wall, the sound of a needle scratching along a spinning disk. At once, the situation was put on hold, as though there was some unseen force pressing the pause button. Suddenly: Words.

"See that man, the one over there? The bumbling man in the cloak?"

The image seemed to zoom in on him as though an unseen camera was focusing on the figure.

"Well, that's me. Now, you might be wondering how I got into such a wacky situation. Well, I think to understand that, we need to go back to the beginning."

All off a sudden, everything seemed to go in reverse, and distortions appeared all within reality as time shifted back, showing glimpses of various past events,  rushing too fast for the eye to distinguish, until finally stopping on one. There was a dark room, illuminated only by the candles surrounding the pentagram drawn onto the floor with what looked like blood. In the middle of it was a man wearing the exact same cloak as the one previously shown, chanting incomprehensibly in the middle. Suddenly, once more everything stopped.

"Well, maybe not that far back..."

Time started up once more, speeding forward this time, flashing by similar scenes from before. Finally, the scene stopped to show the robed man walking through the streets of Crocus, with a stack of books in his hand. As he walked, a voiceover could be heard from somewhere.

"My name is Simon Wallisch, and I'm a dark mage. I have a special magic: Meta Magic, the power to reach out to the higher dimensions, and communicate with beings from them. It's objectively useless, but somehow it always lands me into some kind of trouble. In my pursuit for an actually useful magic, and my own wealth and glory, I decided to join a dark guild operating in the capital of the nation of Fiore. Of course, little did I know that I'd wind up being hunted down by some unknown member of Lamia Scale. This is how it all started..."

~~~~

Raphael had done his research, his time spent investigating with Rowan had paid off, and, among other things, he had learned about one of the key members of the dark guild he was targeting, Orion's Cabal. A relatively small group that was focused on unwrapping the very essence of magic, and committing petty crimes to fund their research. While that first option wasn't going to be solved anytime soon, the crimes they were committing were becoming increasingly concerning, and now he had taken the quest to take them out. The man who he could see exiting the magic store was a man by the name of Simon. He seemed like a relatively regular looking guy, except for the outrageously "evil" looking robe he had on. It was mostly black, with some purple outlines mixed in here and there. Gold colored buttons and other similar adornments covered it, and Raphael had to wonder where he had gotten it from. Shaking his head clear of such thoughts, he began to approach the man. It would be simple enough to sneakily take him out; but that wouldn't be very flashy now, would it?

"Simon Wallisch, member of Orion's Cabal! I'm Raphael Monticroix, the man who will take you down, in the name of justice!"

He pointed at him, just to make it clear there were no mistakes. The mage reacted rather violently, dropping the tomes and sprinting away. Raphael began to run after him, but not before checking out the books he had dropped. "A History of Magic, Volume VIIII" was the first one that Raphael saw. How reputable could these books be with such a blaring typo right on the front cover? Shrugging, he then began to chase after the man, creating small letters on his fingertips, which began to wrap around him. They were functionally useless, but they would serve to make him: 1) Intimidate Simon into thinking he was much stronger 2) Make whatever actual spells he was to cast on him unpredictable 3) make himself look flashier for the crowd. He shouted more words about justice as he ran, thoroughly enjoying himself. His opponent however, was having much less fun. He wasn't a terribly fast runner, and his robe made it hard for him to run without slipping.

The two carried on with this chase, dashing through the streets, until they had reached the edge of town. It hadn't been a particularly long run, but Simon was panting, somehow managing to keep running. Now that the crowd was starting to thin out, Raphael figured it was time to finish this. Extending his hand, pointing at the man, Raphael shouted out the name of the spell as a letter began to form on his finger.

"Gaaaaamma Raaayyyy!"

~~~~

"And that's the jist of it. And here we are again."

~~~~

A beam of light shot forth, nailing Simon square in the shoulder. While it wasn't a particularly strong attack, it was enough to throw him off balance. he collapsed to the ground as he slipped on his robe. Raphael was able to easily catch up to him, and hunched over the figure. He took a moment to collect his breath before speaking.

"So... *pant* I have some... *pant* questions for you Simon... *pant* ..."

LeeAnn Nakamura. She was really dazed out. Her mind was on a lot of things. The duty of a Rune knight was to stop all crime. A few loud noises of shouting from a young male broken her trance. It caught her attention. Someone was stopping something or someone from doing crime? LeeAnn sat and watched. She would intervene, but she wanted to sit and watch. There were somethings that were better left untouched. She crossed her arms and sat back in the bench. Though, she had forgotten about that kitsune of hers. Where had he gone to? Who knew?

Hans in the meantime was dressed in a superhero outfit. His nine tails and fox ears were noticeable with the spandex. He wore an eye mask. Standing on top of a building, his cape flapping in the wind behind him. A bright light would shine behind him in a flashy fashion "Fox man is here to save the day! Beat up bad people in the name of JUSTICE" he bellowed. LeeAnn's mouth dropped really surprised he changed that quickly and why he would wear stuff like that? Who knew with this man. He was wacky and quirky. LeeAnn buried her face into her plams looking away as if she was trying to pretend she was not with him or just completely embaressed.

Just as Simon was about to spill his guts on the whole operation he was a part of, some absurd shouting from atop a building took him by surprise. Yelling something about saving the day. Raphael looked up at the source of the absurd shouting. Was that... A kitsune? Whoever this 'Fox-Man' was, he was causing quite the spectacle. It was almost similar to what Raphael was up to, something that left a sour taste in his mouth. This was supposed to be his time to be basking in the spotlight! Raphael straightened his back and pointed up at the masked kitsune, yelling back at him with the same superior, heroic tone.

"No need to save the day Fox-man, justice has already been served to the evildoers! By me, Raphael Monticroix, the shining star of Lamia Scale!"

And with that, he did a flashy pose, one hand in front of his face, and the other out from his side. His clothes too, seemed to blow in an unseen wind, and if one were to observe them closely they would see a slight glow on them. His magic was pretty handy when it came to flashiness, allowing him to even do things like this. He was completely focused on the kitsune now, wondering what his next move was going to be.

Hans looked down to see his fellow superhero was already getting the job done. Though, he only let a bg smile appear o his face. "There is still crime afoot" he said. With a simple bound, he leaped off the roof to fly. He paused looking down at the ground and back up. His ears flattened. "Forgot I cant fly" he said. LeeAnn looked up seeing he realized he forgtten he could fly. A loud facepalm came from her as she roleld her eyes then saw him being carrying off by balloons tied around his waist. "Oh wait, now I can. But uh...how do I get down. Didn't think this one through" he said. He was slowly being lifted away. LeeAnn was trying comprehend what he was doing. She looked over at the boy who called himself Raphael from Lamia Scale.

She smiled a little seeing someone who was looking out for the evil criminals that the Rune Knights didn't. She was fond of other guilds. Seeing them first hand, she would either joined Lamia Scale or Fairy Tail. Though, the Rune Knights gotten to her first. She looked back to see Hans gone. Confused she looked around. "Whatcha looking at" he asked. She jumped seeing Hans now dressed in his usual black pants, white button up collared shirt and black vest with his nine tails and fox ears. She blinked. "But you...were...balloons..how...dressed so...quickly" she said. He kissed her on the cheek. She looked him very confused. Only shaking her head, she got up and sighed.

Looking at Raphael, she smiled. "Need a little help there? That's really cool what you did. I admire a good Lamia Scale when I see one. I'm LeeAnn Nakamura and this is my fiance...Hans" she said. Hans smiled and was eating what looked like a ice cream cone.

Raphael was a bit of an absurd person. He was aware of this and embraced it. He needed to stick out in order to properly be recognized for his actions, and if that meant dressing and acting strangely, he was all for it. After all, it was rather fun to act up; who said you couldn't have fun being a hero? But this kitsune was beyond anything he had ever encountered, even in the stories he had read. Dressed in skintight clothes and a cape, he jumped off of the building, and began to gently float down on some balloons. All the while he was making remarks about being able to fly and whatnot. Intrigued, Raphael made sure to observe the character closely, watching his every move. However, once the kitsune had landed, he blinked; and somehow the fox-beast had changed into completely different clothing. Was this requip? Or some kitsune magic? Or were there some other forces at work here?

Raphael watched as the kitsune made his way over to some girl sitting on a bench behind him, and saw them exchange some greeting. Once that was over with, the girl walked over to Raphael, and greeted him. She had flowing red hair, and for the most part looked pretty ordinary. However, one thing about her stuck out like a sore thumb: She had a large black mark on her face, that almost looked like a burn. Raphael did his best to keep his eyes off of it, and instead just focus on her and the kitsune as they were introduced to him.

"Ah, I see. A pleasure to meet you both. Lee Ann. Hans. Thank you for the compliment; I don't think I need much help though, as you can see, I pretty much have it all under control-"

It was at that point Raphael realized that Simon had run off during the distraction, with Raphael barely catching the man's image before he dashed around a corner. That should have been expected, honestly. It didn't bother Raphael too much though; it just gave him more of an opportunity to show off his might. He darted off after the man, shouting quickly back to Lee Ann and Hans.

"Well, maybe I don't. You can help if you want!"

However, Raphael ran pretty quickly, and before he knew it he had lost track of Hans and Lee Ann, on the tail of Simon. Perhaps they would meet again, perhaps they wouldn't. Only time would tell.

~Exit~