((Uhhh, Kiki, which way are we headed again?))

While he wouldn't trust his juniors to be able to keep up, he trusted that they could make for an adequate distraction. Junior Douglas had taken a vantage point to begin truly directing combat operations. As for himself, Adi ducked in to a building and stuck to interiors as much as possible. Even without a flyer, keeping a roof above his head would solve the need to constantly look up. To confound matters further, he stayed off the ground floors when he could. Some of the buildings were close enough that he could leap between them, neatly bypassing any potential ground-pounders patrolling below. The issue of windows did little to dissuade him either, eagerly crashing through them without a worry. Rolling upright, Adi re-checked his position before setting off again. Here was hoping he could spot Junior St. Augustine or whatever defender Li had assigned before they did him.

"Well then." So much for that, Evelyn was off, looking to ram right into the opposing team or something. Damian didn't mind though, if anyone was gonna hit first, makes sense for it to be her. He looked around, Lotus, Max, himself, yeah they could catch up to her. He turned to face Lotus, listening to her suggestion. "Heh, we're fast, not a problem, and I would've done that anyway... I'll see you guys ahead." He winked, before dissappearing from sight. "Break a leg, one of theirs actually." He kicked up dirt as he took off sprinting through some alleys.

Miss Rachel did not even flinch as Alice charged at her with her sword. Instead, she spoke softly, though firmly, while looking in Alice's direction saying: "Stop" Alice, Phora and even Sorbet were in suspended animation. Even the girl's hair stood still in the air as if it had been frozen in place.

"Alice, my dear," spoke Miss Rachel as she trailed her finger along the length of the girl's outstretched sword casually. "Let me make this clear to you," she said as she brought her face close to the girl's "You are not the only one to have suffered from the bus explosion. Do you think Adi, Li, and Id have felt no loss? Do you think that I have felt no loss?" She turned away from Alice with a somber expression "Mr. Albright....James...and I have been friends for much longer than you have even been alive. I dropped everything to come here." Her frown softened as she turned back to face Alice with a gentler expression.

"No one is expecting you to be perfect, Alice," she shrugged "No one is perfect. Even so, there will be times when we will be thrown into depths much deeper than we can imagine. The task of leadership was suddenly thrust upon you, and you've been doing your best to guide your comrades. That, is all that I need of you, my dear. Please, sit and listen quietly." Alice suddenly felt that her body was no longer locked into place, but she was compelled to sit on the ground placidly, a much more comfortable position than she had been in than before.

"We are in dark times, darker than anything that I have ever seen before. There have been whispers that we are on the precipice of another War of Souls, which might explain why many of your powers are developing at a rate much faster than seen in a few generations." She stopped herself mid-thought as she looked down at Alice as she and her totems sat on the ground. "Now, make no mistake Miss Pearson, you children might be developing your powers at a much quicker rate, but you are all far from being the most powerful in this city. Darren is a magnet for the supernatural, and by consequence omninident people...among others..."

"Now, you are free" said Miss Rachel with a relaxed wave in their general direction.

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As she approached Daniel's energy signature, Evelyn could sense Adi taking a different route as he headed towards their tower. She was torn, for she wanted to assault him herself (for the purposes of this "game"), though she knew she had to trust her teammates to deal with him themselves. Hopefully, they would prove to actually be competent. There! She could see him, his aura seemed to almost scream out at her as she floated towards Daniel, keeping her altitude low so not to spotted.

"With all that time you spent with your head in a book," began Evelyn while summoning the rapier she had received for Christmas with a flourish "Tell me, do you even know how to fight?" She pointed the tip of the rapier at the boy, with a threatening gleam in her eye.

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The slight change in altitude of Adi's route did not go unnoticed by Li's acute spiritual senses. Knowing that he, Lotus, and Dot would likewise be able to scale the walls with relative ease, he turned quickly to Maximilian.

"Go back to Tsubaki and defend the tower, as you do though, try to see if you can create a series of obstacles with your ice," instructed Li, "The longer they take to get through the ice, the more time you'll buy for us to reach their tower or turn back and assist you two." With that said he turned to Lotus.

"Alright you two, sniff him out and see if we can make him lose that ball"

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In their current positions, Adi's team had breached onto the territory of Li's team, rapidly approaching the tower. Unless either Li or Adi diverted their paths they would very soon crash into each other. Li, being quite spiritually aware of Adi intentionally targeted his friend, while Adi accustomed to the energy signature of Li could likewise feel his approaching.

Logan, perched from above was within viewing range of the aforementioned groups, though not being close enough to the tower to see Tsubaki, nor within the range of Evelyn and Daniel, who had taken a wayward path toward the tower.

"I've been fighting since long before I came to this school." He muttered a spell, and felt superhuman strength and speed flow through him. "And since arriving, I've slain things much stronger than you." He leapt high into the air with amazing speed, aiming for a punch to the stomach.


Alice sat, resenting her lack of control of her own body. "Your words feel so empty. Do you actually expect us to win this new war? Even if we survive, will we still have our sanity? I've lost everything I had, and gained a devious sibling who hid herself from me. I don't hate her, and to think she's going to suffer through all of this with me, is so painful..." She stared at her wrist, noting that the cross-shaped scar wasn't fading at all. Phora was furious at Rachel, Alice could feel it. "I'm thinking of leaving the school. If I'm going to play a part in this war, I don't want to sit in a classroom, waiting for the enemy to act first. I can't fight with my heart in it while protecting a bunch of kids." She looked back up to Rachel. "Besides, if I'm so weak, is it truly a loss if I die? I'd prefer that over watching the SDU members die."

Maximilian nodded and with a quick flick of his thumb he released the cap from his water source and then flipped himself about, back towards the tower. He made great haste as he ran back towards his team's defensive position and along the way he allowed his water to pool out behind him into a long, calm, pool which he then froze. He bargained a few inches of solid ice all about his team's tower would keep the enemy from just waltzing in but he needed to try and come up with something far more devilish to keep more determined foe at bay, walls of ice would probably suffice but as Maximilian's inability to freeze flowing water wouldn't allow for such a feat.

It wasn't long before Maximilian arrived back at his team's tower and quite quickly he began to pull water from the nearby fountains to him. If things got out of hand he thought maybe he could create a large wave and push away would-be flagstealers, and perhaps he could try the impossible and flood the entirety of ruins while he was at it.

While Daniel was certainly made faster and stronger with his magic, the air was Evelyn's domain. Without much of an effort, Evelyn manoeuvred out of the way while rolling her eyes as she levitated just out of Daniel's reach.

"I'm sorry," said Evelyn with a narrowed glare and a smirk, "Are you trying to compare the length of time that you've spent fighting to me?" She conjured three wisps that orbited her body threateningly.

"You're out of your depth, Sage-boy" she said coldly, "When you were just learning to walk, I was learning how to fly. When you were learning how to ride a bike, I was learning how to wield medieval weaponry. By the time you had met your first spirit, I had already slain at least fifty." Her eyes began to glow as the wisps spun faster around her.

"If you're supposed to be the sage of our generation, you're doing it all wrong!" In rapid succession she conjured four more wisps and loosed them at Daniel. Intentionally she fired them at the ground in front of him to make him step backwards. The remaining orbs continued to spin around her as she looked down at him with a disapproving glare. "Stop relying on incantations, or do I have to make you fight me without magic?"

Daniel would've scatched his head, but he had to act. A flowing wave of glass glided through the air in front of him.
"Vitri powers are simple in concept and practice. I make sure to balance my practices evenly."

"See? You can't even fight me without using a spell," she replied while conjuring more wisps. "Even when you use your arte, you create glass through magic. Do you think that is all a Vitri does? Manipulate glass? You are supposed to be training to become one of the most spiritually sensitive of us, and yet, Damian who learned of his powers later than you has skillfully fine-tuned his spiritual senses beyond yours. Your powers lie in the mystery of mirrors, and you've barely scratched the surface."

Raising the palm of her hand towards Daniel's wall of glass, three small wisps formed and spun in a blur until they became a circle of light.

"Let me teach you something about magic that you do not yet understand," she said as her eyes glowed brightly "As a potential sage, you can wield magic without the threat of losing your spiritual energy and weakening your arte. Nevertheless, there is a toll on your body. You are not invincible, nor do you have unlimited reserves of energy stored to cast spells. Every spell has its price and you've just made it all the more easy for me to push you past a point of exhaustion."

There was a bright flash, one that would've been clearly visible by any of the players looking in their general direction, as Evelyn fired a powerful blast of light energy and destroyed the magical construct of glass as it dissolved into a million sparkles of ethereal energy. Daniel gasped as the wind was knocked from his chest as he felt the impact of the beam rush into him.

"You cast two powerful spells to augment your own strength and speed, and then you conjured a magical construct, which then had to withstand the force of not only my wisps but a light beam." She levitated away from Daniel, leaving him on the ground to recollect himself as she turned for the major battlegrounds.

Heather finally put away her book. Then she began work on her idea. Soon after a short amount of time Heather had her it ready. She was so proud of it. She tested it as it moved flawlessly and elegantly. Something this beautiful needed a name.
"I'll call you Stanley." Heather nodded at her newest creation. After her construction was done she sat down and went back to reading her book. After a moment she Yawned out of boredom again.

---
Lotus and Dot came to a screeching halt after Li spoke to them.
"What do you think I am? Some kind of dog?!?" Both her and Dot spoke at the same time. Lotus then continued.
"I'm not even sure I could track him, let alone identify him from anyone else. I don't even know what he smells like!" Lotus looked up realizing Li hadn't stopped to hear her rant. She let out a loud huff before she quickly ran after him.

---
"Oh you want Mayhem huh? Now your Speaking my language." Id Laughed out.

Ego had noticed all of the various vanishing and split offs of the other team. He was about to descend to Tell Id when he saw another flash off in the distance. This one wasn't near the tower. After a brief delay he relayed everything to Id. Id thought for a brief moment trying to think of what the other team's playing at. After thinking a sec she sent Ego to Logan to relay the info. This time after relaying the info Ego took off back to Id.
"Well McMeaty wants mayhem now so it looks like we're done playing scout. I think I know the perfect way to raise mayhem." Id let out a big devious smile.
"No Id, we're not ready."
"Oh shut up, Just try and fuse with me."
"Fine... But it won't work." Ego said as he landed on her shoulder.
Smoke began to billow around the duo as they began to fuse. Id's eyes began to glow red as her spiritual energy began to flow through her. She began to feel feather sprouting on her arms. She began to feel so much excitement, Id couldn't help but break into her psychotic laugh. As the smoke swirled around them Id's eyes began to glow through it, then they began to flicker. Changing from her normal crimson to Ego's green.
"NO!" The thing shouted from within the smoke. Shortly after a huge explosion echoed through the city.Those nearby felt the force of the concussive blast. As the smoke settle nearby boxes and barrels were either broken or on fire.

"Damn you, You're so stupid." Id spoke between coughed as the dust settled.
"I'm not sure if that was directed at me or yourself. Which was it? Because I told you it wouldn't work." Ego said as he flew over and landed by Id.
"Screw you." Id replied as she gave the bird the bird.

Daniel rose to his feet before Evelyn turned her back to him completely. "Wait... I have to know... Try to exorcise me!"

Alice felt something pass over her. She looked towards where Daniel was. It was generally difficult to read him, but his self-loathing was like a beacon. She became frustrated with herself. Her previous attitude towards the boy was causing him to struggle with his identity. She finally dared to ask. "Rachel, why do you command us to fight? I never felt as if we were meant to use our powers against each other."

Logan looked up from his scope as he heard Ego’s approach. He wondered briefly why the phoenix wasn’t presently accosting the enemy team, then quickly ducked for cover. Fortunately, the bird’s intention wasn’t to harm him. Instead, he quickly relayed a message and was on his way with nary a fireball.

The junior thanked Ego as he flew off, then hopped out of his perch and began moving toward the location the phoenix had indicated. The detour took him a fair ways from most of the action, but Evelyn was a high priority target. Sure enough, he found her facing off with Daniel. Logan had approached from the side. Without hesitating, he lifted his rifle and fired, aiming directly for Evelyn’s head.

In the weaving and darting through various alleyways, Damian's path was taking him towards Idelia, given that Evelyn had chosen to duel with Daniel, he figured he'd take care of one of their more dangerous members, or try anyway. However, there was no way he could've predicted the random explosion occuring. Though he wasn't near enough to be hurt, the rumbling of the ground and sheer surprise of it startled him as he stopped and braced himself on the ground. "She's not even in combat and she's blowing s*** up." He laughed softly, before he felt something off. "Huh?" Seeing and feeling that he was relatively safe, he took the moment to shut his eyes and focus, sensing that while Evelyn was still in close proximity to Daniel and therefore battling him, someone else had entered their area. Although he wasn't entirely familiar with the energy signature, he recognized it as Logan. A 2 on 1 scenario didn't seem favorable even for Evelyn. This was his priority now. He immediately took off in another direction towards them as soon as his eyes opened. He hoped he could get there in time to turn the tide and not find Evelyn beaten with those two waiting. Part of him also considered the possibility of Evelyn chastising him for not arriving sooner, or for helping at all. Worth a try either way.

Miss Rachel smiled gently as Alice asked her question, in her eyes though, she seemed to emanate sadness. It was almost as if she could see something tragic happening before her. It was in moments like these that Miss Rachel wished that her abilities were more straightforward. She always seemed to "know", but even she could not always see the greater picture.

"That's the thing about a War of Souls," said Miss Rachel somberly "Fighting monsters and demons is the least of your concerns, a War of Souls turn the omnivident against each other." She leaned close to the Alice "You all need to be ready."

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Evelyn's flight faltered as she could hear the desperation in his voice. It was a curious notion, did he need to be exorcised? Sighing at letting herself be distracted, she suddenly turned and flew back towards Daniel. It was this curiosity which saved her, for Logan's bullet whizzed by her ear just as she landed on the ground.

Her eyes flashed with anger; it had all been a trap, and she had almost been taken completely unawares! Snapping her neck in the direction that the bullet had come from, she could spot Logan from his vantage point.

"You coward!" she exclaimed while conjuring a wisp and launching it at Daniel as she ran for cover inside one of the house. Furious at having let her curiosity, or rather, her sympathy for Daniel misguide her usually astute judgement, Evelyn prepared herself for battle by conjuring her rapier as she waited for a sign that it would be safe for her to leave her sheltered position.

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Completely unaware of the protests from Lotus and Dot, Li bounded from wall to wall until he was level with where he could sense Adi's presence.

"Alright my friend, let me have that ball of yours for a second," he called out playfully.

"Now, what in the-" Daniel began before getting a face full of wisp. Sighing as he was launched into the air, he landed on his feet atop a tree. Days like this made him wish juvenile violence wasn't a part of his extracurricular activities. He wondered briefly whether or not Evelyn could sense his annoyance at the interruption. Leaping from the tree, he considered that he may never find the answer to why he existed. However, someone very powerful was beginning to act, which caught his attention.

Alice stood tall. "A schism among the omnivident? Interesting. I'll have to teach them a hard lesson now - by winning the game myself! I'll take both of the bqlls!" She declared, fusing with Phora. She pinpointed Adi and Li, and took off after them at incredible speeds.

Thankfully Damian did not encounter any obstacles or distractions on his little rescue operation. The only thing that caught his mind for a moment was Alice's signature moving into the battlefield, strange, but probably didn't mean much. As he approached the area where Evelyn and Daniel were presumably fighting, he slowed to a halt, before quietly strolling into the open. Though he was still hidden by his invisibility, he could feel that in less than a minute, it would fade. He couldn't hold it any longer so he would have to act quickly.
"Where's Evelyn?" He whispered to himself, before his gaze followed her energy signature to her cover spot in a house. Daniel was easy to spot but Logan was definitely more protected from his spot. Hm, perhaps he could- He noticed his hand blink into visibility for a second and realized his time was up. "Uh oh." With his advantage dissappearing, he swiftly raised his hand to face the closer target Daniel, and loosed a bolt of crackling, green lightning at him.