([b]Saitranovia[/b] Fighting Tournament is at a terrible start at 0-2 against [b]Vaisallon[/b] Combat Organization, with the [b]Yakaru[/b] twins losing their duos match against Gladiatorial King Roman's loyalists; the [b]Remidios[/b] twins, and [b]Karnage Vyper[/b] losing his singles against one of the VCO's top combatants; [b]Axenodon[/b]. Inside the lobby in [b]Saitranovia[/b]'s side of the coliseum, a fairly large gathering is held, containing several of [b]Liomage[/b]'s High Council members, [b]Saitranovia[/b] police, freelance and noblemen hunters, S.S. members, and the lesser known Alien Control Order, or the ACO. The ACO is an organization solely based on combating the 4 alien species; the [b]Triaryin, Siviurix, Zaphscara[/b], and the [b]Aeliaus[/b].) *A suspicious figure, wearing a dark purple, hooded overcoat, dark gray pants, and medium, black boots with light blue glow enters the lobby through a back door. He shuffles a dark pink, mineral-like substance contained in a small bag, putting it back in his coat pocket before grabbing a big pack of navy blue drinks from behind the door, belonging to a [b]Saitranovian[/b] beverage distributor company called [b]Siudojen[/b], who produces mainly beer, juices, and sodas. To avoid some suspicion, the figure removes his hood, revealing a standard, [b]Caucasian-Terranovian[/b] male with messy, medium black hair, turquoise blue eyes, and a black mark going diagonally from the left side of his eye to the right side of his mouth.* _________________ [b][u]*Cliche--blam!- opening theme plays*[/u][/b] __________________ [b]Suspicious Figure:[/b] Got more [b]Siudojen[/b] drinks! *A male ACO member and a female police officer walk up to the figure with concerned looks on their faces, wondering if he's even supposed to distribute drinks, let alone be in their lobby.* [b]Police Officer:[/b] Ummm, we didn't ask for more, but we'll take it. You sure you're supposed to be the one delivering it to us? [b]Suspicious Figure:[/b] A nobleman hunter just handed it to me and asked for a small favor. Mind I deliver some to Ruler [b]Liomage[/b]? [b]ACO Member:[/b] Uhhhh, sure. *whispering to the police officer* We should keep an eye on him. [b]Police Officer:[/b] *simply nodding her head* *The figure pulls out a tray from inside the pack and places 5 drinks on it. He casually walks past all the other members of various organizations, who just go back to conversing with each other anyway. The figure slowly approaches [b]Liomage[/b] and [b]Divenos[/b], setting the tray of drinks on a table.* [b]Suspicious Figure:[/b] Here are your drinks, Ruler. [b]Liomage:[/b] Much obliged. *[b]Liomage[/b] takes his current drink and moves it behind him to where it's fully out of his sight.* [b]Divenos:[/b] It's getting quite stressful. We gotta get some wins. [b]Liomage:[/b] I'm aware, [b]Divenos[/b]. I'm putting all my trust in a comeback from the SFT. *The figure walks behind the table. Taking out the dark pink mineral, he aggressively presses his finger quietly and repeatedly to crack it open a bit. He takes a look around to make sure no one sees him. As he then moves to a shorter side of the table and faces the gathering, he spikes [b]Liomage[/b]'s drink by sprinkling smaller bits into it. To cover up his nefarious act, he grabs 2 drinks from the large pack and places them on the table.* [b]Suspicious Figure:[/b] *abruptly joining [b]Liomage[/b]'s and [b]Divenos[/b]' conversation* I'm pretty sure [b]Vaisallon[/b] was behind the assault on [b]Ignitus[/b]. [b]Divenos:[/b] Ehh, I concur. They will meet their makers soon. [b]Suspicious Figure:[/b] *turning his head to the right, away from the 2* (Laced it with TTX and our planet's own [b]Xanitoxide[/b]. Now, TTX on normal earthling beings can put them in paralysis and cause respiratory failure, eventually leading to death, even as early as 20 minutes. I'm unsure if it'll have a similar effect on us superhumanoids. [b]Xanitoxide[/b] on the other hand can do that, but quicker and more fatal, especially if their scaling is low enough. Whether [b]Liomage[/b] is incapacitated from the TTX, [b]Xanitoxide[/b] delivers the final blow.) *[b]Liomage[/b] grabs a drink, opens it, and quickly drinks enough to where his new drink matches his old one. He then puts the bottle cap on the spiked drink before swapping it around to the figure's side as [b]Divenos[/b] grabs the drink that hasn't been touched. [b]Divenos[/b] then says: "Hey!" to get the figure's attention.* [b]Divenos:[/b] Cheers? A blessing from the [b]Arckyve[/b] for a comeback? [b]Suspicious Figure:[/b] *blindly grabbing the spiked drink* Sure. *The 3 clink their drinks together before indulging. The figure takes the cap off before taking a decently long sip of what he doesn't realize is the spiked drink. As he sets the drink down, he breathes quite weirdly, as if his throat is being clogged or infected, making [b]Liomage[/b] and [b]Divenos[/b] turn towards him with concern.* [b]Liomage:[/b] Are you all right there? *The figure suddenly collapses, holding onto his chest in pain, alerting everyone within the lobby.* *[b]Divenos[/b] checks up on the figure, but a dark pink mineral has caught his eye for a split second. He then calls; "Healers! Medics! Take him to the infirmary!" One nobleman hunter picks him up one-handed as another nobleman hunter follows.* [b]Divenos:[/b] Ruler, *pointing to the mineral* look at this. [b]Liomage:[/b] Hmp. *turning back before looking at the mineral* I knew he attempted to poison me with something, just couldn't lay a finger on what specifically. Consider him lucky that I was generous enough to instruct medical aid instead of letting him die here. ____________________ (Back outside the arena, in the crowd area, Cat glimpses to the attendees to her right, then behind her, the glimpse turns into a gaze when she spots a standout attendee; a woman of some East Asian descent, who eerily resembles a late friend; [b]Himeki[/b]. Differences are, is that she has a very cold expression in opposition to the modest and friendly expression that [b]Himeki[/b] had. She also has scene-like black hair, her eyes are gray, and her long-sleeved shirt is black and silver with minor, dark blue details. There should be no way she could have faked her death, as she was slain by [b]Deminova[/b] a while back. Resurrection is possible, but the revenant wouldn't return as their true self, so there's a conclusion that this woman is just a scary lookalike.) [b]Cathera:[/b] Hey Kav, about 3 rows behind us, *nervous expression* doesn't she look scarily like [b]Himeki[/b]? [b]Kavita:[/b] *notices the lookalike* Oh, my, yes she does. [b]Cathera:[/b] We'll ask when the event ends, that if she doesn't leave beforehand. [b]Vandren:[/b] *hearing Cat and Kav's conversation* What are you 2 talking about? [b]Cathera:[/b] Don't make it obvious, but doesn't the woman 3 rows behind us look scarily like [b]Himeki[/b]? [b]Vandren:[/b] *taking a look at the lookalike, only to turn back in a split second* Holy sh[b]i[/b]t she does! The [b]Arckyve[/b] must be giving us signs or something. _____________________ (SIU HQ, in solitary confinement. [b]Crisha[/b] disables the barrier, walks up to the holographic blue bars, crouches, and slides under a tablet displaying live footage of the SFT vs. VCO event for [b]Kaxixi[/b] to watch.) [b]Crisha:[/b] I think you wouldn't want to miss out on another SFT event. *[b]Kaxixi[/b], with a hunch, slowly walks to the tablet and sits down. ________________________ (Northeast [b]Sakrisen[/b], inside a secret sanctuary where [b]Severaes[/b] and his crew of freelance hunters reside. He's looking at a digital board, observing a bunch of random notes on various crooks and specific locations, but there's also Saitonia's name with a question mark written on the board. The other 3 are sitting at a medium-sized black table, watching the live SFT vs. VCO event on a large, flat-screen TV.) [b]Katchikiya:[/b] *legs relaxed on the table* Sev, I know this "Saitonia" person is an interesting topic to decipher, but we can 'lax. C'mon, let's enjoy this event. [b]Quivaro:[/b] No offense to the [b]Vaisallians[/b], but seeing us get absolutely destroyed in the first 2, in [b]Saitranovia[/b]'s perspective, this event is anything but enjoyable. It's frantic. [b]Tomakoda:[/b] Getting sore, [b]Quivaro[/b]? [b]Quivaro:[/b] *low gasp* No. I'm not a sore loser, it's that I have this feeling that Roman is sabotaging the event behind [b]Saitranovia[/b]'s back. [b]Tomakoda:[/b] Hmp. I can see it. With the vandalizing of one of the SFT arenas and the assault on [b]Ignitus[/b], it all does seem planned. [b]Severaes:[/b] *walks up to the table and watches the event* Any clue on which match is up next? [b]Katchikiya:[/b] No, but...*pulling out her cellphone as she seems to be reading something, perhaps an article* Some breaking news here: Someone tried to poison [b]Liomage[/b] with a spiked drink, but it backfired. *[b]Severaes[/b] and [b]Quivaro[/b] lean in on Katchi's phone while Toma reads from a distance.* [b]Quivaro:[/b] Think it was some Purple Cloak? [b]Katchikiya:[/b] Yeah. I mean, who else is hell-bent on the defamation and dethroning of [b]Liomage[/b] as of now? [b]Severaes:[/b] Good thing you added "as of now", cause this future Saitonia might have something to do with his rule. ______________________ (Back at the coliseum, it seems that the next match is underway seeing people quickly returning to their seats. Sai looks up at a massive screen just across from him, with text displaying: "NEXT MATCH...". He sits straight up and looks towards the entrances in both sides.) [b]Auro:[/b] Next up, from the SFT, we have [b]Avalion[/b]! [b][i]*Continuing Below*[/i][/b]