The Majikus Circus. 8D Five Years Ahead~

When Raphael brought up the fact that his brother and Kioko's mother were, in fact, deceased, Dravius felt a sharp tug in his stomach and the urge to throw up, but instead swallowed thickly and fidgeted with his hands more, staring at the now unclean bandages wrapped around his fingertips.

"Her mo..." Dravius cut off the redundant question he had been about to ask and shook his head from side the side, picking at a callous on the palm of his right hand, the scraping noise of nail against flesh about the only noise in the van for a moment or two. At the mention of Neva, Dravius looked suddenly detached, all motion ceasing. He looked as if he was paying little to no attention to his surroundings, but he swiftly balled his hands into fists and put them down, placing the sides of his thumbs on the seams of his pants.

The teleportation really did nothing to his the Co-Master's stomach, and he cleared his throat once they had landed, turning his head towards an obviously resolute Raphael. Dravius nodded once, feeling the joints in his fingers pop as he curled his hands into even tighter fists, the bandages stopping his nails from digging into his palms.

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Hare leaned over the table to retrieve his teacup with an almost bemused expression, weathering Ava's pointed finger with a slight smirk. "Well, it was such an exquisite job, I felt the need to destroy it. So if could be recreated, and dare I say, improved upon." Hare said over the rim of his cup, eyes half-lidded. "There is always room for improvement, and the fixing up increases the chance of survival, in my humble opinon." The muscular man poured himself another serving of tea.

"I would apologize, but I'm not sorry in the slightest." He added, raising one eyebrow.

"When the older woman wakes up, we should thank her for her hospitality. This really is a lovely little home." Hare changed the subject, settling the newly-full teacup on the table and smiling contentedly. Things were good. His headache had gone, they were very nearly on time, and Ava seemed mad enough to either try and attack him or to do something unfortunate to the young woman. Either or would be alright with Hare. He settled into a chair, crossing one leg over the other.

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Dravius shifted from foot to foot in the cool night air. "What do we...do?" His voice was soft, but there was a threating tone to it, directed at no one in particular. "We can't....because of Neva..." the young man made a few vague hand motions. "Karene can, and who are the other people?" The unknown factors made Dravius anxious. It was extremely unnerving to have no idea what the other people holding Maya and her mother hostage could do.

Selvai's expression's darkened at the mention of Neva, and he leaned over to check the mirror before Karene allowed the image to dissipate. Sighing in frustration, he rubbed at his temple with two fingers. "Well. That presents a bit of an extra challenge," he remarked to no one in particular. He looked up at Raphael, nodding at the circus master. "I will gather them and be along quickly," he told him, right before Karene disappeared with the two men.

"Do I even need to say, "Be careful"?" Jemis asked, speaking up from her chair. Selvai shook his head, smiling grimly. "I believe that is common knowledge when dealing with these people." He looked over to his sister, carefully curled into her chair. "I can have someone show you to an empty van, so you can rest," he offered.

Jemis shook her head. "I doubt I'll sleep until all of you come back. And besides, I don't want to disturb him," she added, gesturing to Ark. Nodding in understanding, he headed to the door, pausing once to look back at Jemis. "Goodbye, and hopefully I will be back soon."

Outside, he stopped a passing member, giving them the names of a few members Selvai believed would be useful and asking them to pass on his message to meet at his van, before heading off to speak to another member. After a short walk, Selvai knocked lightly a red and white decorated van door. Adriel cracked the door slightly to peer out, before stepping outside onto the steps and shutting the door behind her. "What is it?" she asked.

The magician quickly recounted the situation, ending with Karene's discovery of Neva at Lucia's home. "That is why I came to speak with you," he explained. "Just in case. Raphael may be able to trap Neva with his illusions, but we will need a few women to deal with her if she manages to enthrall someone. Karene has already teleported Raphael and Dravius there, and I am gathering a small number of members to follow."

"And you want me to be one of them," Adriel finished for him. She bit her lip briefly, then nodded. "I'll meet you at your van. Kioko's already asleep, let me leave her a note and I'll come with you."

Soon, Adriel, Selvai, and the other handful of members were gathered outside of his and Karene's van. The striped hair man quickly filled the others in on the situation, then teleported the group to a spot near Lucia's home. Adriel spotted Raphael and Dravius first, and after scanning the area, headed over to them. "Well?" she asked, voice pitched low to avoid attracting attention. "What's our plan?"

-----

"My work does not need to be improved upon," Ava hissed, hands shaking. The silver haired woman moved her arms to her sides, balling her hands into fists. "And I don't need to be critiqued by the likes of you," she continued. Thin black veins began to show on her face, trailing from the corners of her eyes and lips, and a curl of dark vapor escaped from between her lips when she exhaled.

Turning away from Hare, Ava pressed her lips together tightly, taking deep breaths until the lines on her skin faded away. When she turned back to the tall man, Ava had a much calmer expression on her face, although her eyes contained an ugly glint. "Of course. You shouldn't apologize unless you mean it. You aren't sorry for that, and I, in turn am not sorry for this," she said. Picking up the pot of tea from the table, Ava swiftly stepped in front of the chair where Hare sat, pulling the lid off the pot and up-ending it over his lap.

The silver haired woman replaced the lid on the now empty tea pot and placed it back on the tray with a smile. "I will be in the next room, seeing to the two women," she told Adam, then left the room throwing a smirk at Hare as she went.

Ah, well.

It was probably best she stay out of it. Whatever Hare did to piss Ava off wasn't really her problem anyway. So long as, you know... They didn't start tearing eachother apart. THAT would probably cause a few disastrous setbacks. And that, of course, would only piss Ava off more. The whole thing would probably result in a couple of deaths, and that wasn't involving the captives being kept under this roof at the moment.

Neva shrugged mentally, watching the whole thing with only a fleeting interest, her eyes focused idly on the tea set perched on the nearby table which held the now empty teapot. Ava's sudden departure caused the dark haired woman to glance quickly at the door through which she left, throwing a quick look at the two men left in the room before she exited herself.

It took her a couple of minutes to debate whether or not she should return to her post outside, and, figuring she had nothing else to do, headed for the door. Stepping out into the cold night air, the raven haired woman inhaled deeply, listening to the sound of absoloutely nothing.

~~~

Adam had, naturally, simply kept his mouth shut the entire duration of this little conflict within their group. No doubt Ava would calm herself by doing something terribly nasty to her prisoners; Hare would probably lose his temper and complain about how perfectly good tea should not be wasted.

Sighing, the red-haired male ran a hand over his face. Honestly. He wasn't sure at all what it was that was keeping Ava from tearing Hare's face off. Or vice versa. Their common aim seemed to be a little shaky when it came to those two.

"Next time." He said suddenly, his voice quiet. "You might want to leave her "work" alone." He directed his words towards Hare; His tone, despite it's almost emotionless nature, sounding slightly amused. "She gets awfully cranky when you start interfering, you know." The red-head paused, letting loose a quiet snort. "Maybe you should find something else to tidy up next time you get bored."

~~~

Raphael had been staring hard at Lucia's house, chewing distractedly on his bottom lip. He glanced quickly at Dravius as the Co-Master spoke; Sounding almost as strained as he currently felt. His gaze fell back on the house as he inhaled, before speaking.

"Honestly?" He muttered. "No clue. We didn't exactly have enough time to plan any of this; Although in regards to Neva I do have an idea." The blonde sighed; His body language quite obviosly blaring just how uptight he felt. It wasn't because of the unknown, that part he felt he could deal with if needed. No... He was more concerned about the amount of time they had. The longer it took for them to figure something out, the greater the chance that- Well. He'd rather not think about it, truth be told.

He felt, rather than heard or saw, Karene move closer to his other side. "Well..." She muttered, frowning with slight concern at Dravius. "Our Co-Master there has a point. Selvai's probably smart enough to bring a couple of women with him. I'm sure we can handle Neva."

"Probably." Raphael agreed. "But I have no idea how far her ability reaches. If she feels threatened, she'll call on it. We can't be sure it won't effect us... And if it does... You'll be against them and us. I think we all might be in a bit of bother at that point."

Raphael noted that Karene's face, although mostly shadowed by the night's darkness; tensed in response to his words. "So what do we do." She asked tightly, earning a grim sort of smile from the Co-Master.

"Like I said. I have an idea. Whether or not it will work is a gamble." He shrugged. "I think our best bet is to get her ability occupied. There can only be so many men she can control at one time. If she's busy, she'll have no hold over us."

Karene had been about to ask how they'd achieve that, when Adriel appeared swiftly out of the darkness, cutting her words short. The woman was shortly followed by Selvai and a few other members. It was about here Raphael headed back towards the group, before speaking to one of the members Selvai had brought with him. The Ring-Master's discussion was quiet, though it took a surprisingly short amount of time before he returned to his original spot, staring at the house. "Speak of the devil." He muttered, watching as Neva herself emerged, keeping himself very aware of Dravius' movement's next to him... Just in case.

"We don't have one." Karene replied to Adriel, her eyes on Raphael. "What was that about?"

"You'll see."

The magician shook her head. "All right." She grumbled. "What happens with the others?... We know nothing about them."

"Let's take it one step at a time."

With that said, both Karene and Raphael stepped into a fitful silence, one that seemed to stretch for hours. They couldn't have been waiting any more than a couple of minutes however, before the sound of laughter caught their ears. Neva, as far as Raphael was able to tell in the darkness, also caught that sound, and went to investigate, leaving their vision for a few moments. The sounds of laughter faded to be replaced by shouts of anger and outrage, and Raphael grinned slightly in satisfaction. "Right. Let's go see what we're dealing with."

He stepped quickly out from where the members hid, heading for the house. He paused only to stare at Neva, who, once she caught sight of him, glared. "You!" She started angrily, ready to completely take him over and use him to her advantage. Unfortunutely... She had none of her ability to spare, and yelled in rage as she turned to glance back over her shoulder.

Rev, who had been brought along by Selvai at Raphael's request,now split into a good number of men, was, essentially, fighting with himself. The half under Neva's control fought to protect the dark haired woman from Rev's other bodies, who fought to get to the woman. Another body of Rev stood by Raphael. "You sure you'll be all right?" The blonde asked."Half of yourself is taking quite a beating over there."

"Of course." Rev replied with a cocky grin. "My main self takes most of the damage. Lucky for me my main self isn't over there right now."

Neva responded with a scream of frustration. God damnit! How stupid could she have been!... And she couldn't even risk shifting her influence! Doing so would mean these... God damn multiples would be free to attack her!

Raphael snorted. "One down." He muttered, gesturing to a rather large member; Looking very much like a giant reptile. "Keep an eye on her, would you." The blonde turned to the house then, and stared hard at the dark window. "This is where it gets more difficult..."

*Sigh*

A shadowed look had come to Dravius' face, making it seem somehow more angular than it was normally, which was saying something. His jaw was set in determination, however, and his shoulders pulled back, spine straight. At the oddly timed laugh, the young man turned to look over his shoulder, a slightly confused look. The shouts of anger, ones that he recognized, brought tension back to his face, glancing at Raphael as he set out. At Neva's obviously helpless state, however, a grin that more resembled a grimace peeled his lips away from his teeth, and he snorted as the woman shrieked.

That was, however, a rather loud scream.

Dravius glanced around them, fixing his eyes on the few open windows in Lucia's house, wondering how far the frustrated noise carried. The only thing running through his head was a combination of worry for Maya and her mother, and anger so intense it was like a white-hot wall of rage. His eyebrows furrowed, creasing dozens of lines around his eyes and between his brows and around the grimace which had receeded slightly but was still there, a pained expression.

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Hare's face had gone from a self-satisfied smirk to a hiss of pain in a matter of seconds as Ava upended the teapot into his lap. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could, the muscled man tried to keep some semblance of composure, even though his eyes were watering and the skin on his legs burning. Hare cleared his throat and managed to shoot a relatively concentrated glare at Adam, saying, "No, I do believe I do not wish to have this happen again."

Holding the fabric of his pants away from his legs with his index finger and thumb pressed together on wither side of the fabric, the muscular man sighed through his nose, noticing Neva taking her leave. What was that woman's DEAL? She never said anything, anf just seemed to wander around.

In the few minutes before a faint, infuriated scream drifted by the house, Hare's pants had a chance to dry and his legs had a chance to stop being painful. Getting to his feet, Hare raised an eyebrow at the sound and took a deep breath through his nose, an enxepectedly adorable bunny about the size of Hare's palm oozing from the top of his cane and resting on his shoulder, black nose twitching.

"Shall we go see what's happening? Preferably together, so we don't get all split up like poor planners?" Hare made his way to the door, opening it with a twist of the knob and jerking his head towards the outside.

Adriel watched in amusement as Neva attempted to control the crowd of duplicates, getting more frustrated with each new copy. The short haired woman joined Raphael and the rest in studying the house, twirling a small iron blade with one hand. "You know, I could have dealt with her, if you wanted to free Rev up," she offered, forming her hand into a fist and letting the knife reform into a pair of metal knuckles around her fingers. "Wouldn't take that long, either."

She looked back at the group when Neva screamed, a frown crossing her face. "Well, that's probably going to draw their attention," she stated. "Any ideas as to what we do now? We don't know what the other people with Ava can do, or where in the house Maya is being held."

"I believe I can help with that last problem," Selvai offered. The magician drew a small drawstring bag from one pocket, pouring a small bit of white dust from into the palm of one hand. After stowing the bag back in his pocket, he closed his hands together, palm to palm, and rubbed them against each other gently. "Go find Maya and Lucia," Selvai muttered over his hands. Taking a deep breath, he opened his palms and exhaled, blowing the dust off his skin. It gathered into a irregular shaped sphere, about the size of a softball, and barely visible in the low light. The dust hung in the air in front of Selvai for a moment, before drifting quickly toward the house. "Now we wait," the striped haired man told the others.

The dust slipped under the front door, elongating into a thin line as it did. Staying close to the floor and out of sight, it drifted through the rooms until it entered the room where Maya had been restrained. The cloud swirled against her ankles for several moments, before leaving the room and heading for the stairs. It flowed up the steps, a barely visible wisp of white. The dust soon reached another room, and, slipping through the seams of the door, drifted over to the unconscious Lucia, tied to a chair like Maya had been. It repeated the process, circling Lucia's ankles before drifting away. Instead of going back the way it had come, the small cloud headed toward a nearby window, levitating just enough to reach the cracks between the window and the sill, and slipping through.

It floated back to the group, settling into Selvai's open palm. The magician closed his hand swiftly, the dust fading away as he did so. He kept his eyes closed for a few moments, opening them once the white had completely faded. "Maya is being held in the living room on the ground floor, Lucia in that room upstairs," he informed them, pointing to the room the dust had escaped from. "Both are unconscious, and injured," he continued in a more subdued tone. "I can attempt to heal them with magic, but we need to reach them soon."

-----

Ava stalked back into the room where Maya was being held, still seething about Hare's interference. The silver haired woman began laying out her tools once again, nearly slamming them onto the tray in her anger. She ripped the pen out of the blonde's hair, taking a few strands with it as it clattered to the floor. The crazed scientist moved back to her tray of tools, standing over them for a moment, before finally deciding upon a pair of surgical scissors.

Moving behind the tied up Maya, Ava grasped one of the woman's large wings. With one hand she held it outwards, away from Maya's body, and with the other hand she positioned the pair of scissors at the base of the wing, where it connected to her body. Ava was preparing to start cutting, when a muted scream from outside the house. "What was that?" she demanded, dropping both the scissors and Maya's wing and joining Adam and Hare at the door.

Raphael's attention was still very much focused on the house, the skin between his brows creased slightly in thought; The absoloute silence broken only by Neva's hissing anger. The dark haired woman was still very much stuck, Rev's duplicate's still fighting among themselves whilst all she could do was stand there. She was halfway tempted to alter her influence to switch to some of those other males, the more pwerful seeming ones... Though that idea she knew was dangerous. And probably stupid. The moment she took her influence from those copies, they'd all be free to attack her.

Turning her face from the battling boys, Neva glared at the group stood a little distance from Lucia's house. She had, naturally, idly noted that they hadn't made any move to harm her, something she should probably have been thankful for despite how irritated she was. Still. It's not like they had to worry about her. Even she knew she was pretty much useless now.

Raphael, seeming to sense the womans eyes on him, turned to look at her; And Neva couldn't quite help shuddering under his stormy eyed gaze. There was something unsettling about that calm, controlled sort of anger. Like a simmering that was just about ready to boil over. It was worse than an outburst caused by the same emotion.

Sighing through his nose, the blonde Ring-Master pulled his eyes away from Neva to focus back on the house, Adriel's words causing him to cock an eyebrow in her direction, lips twitching ever so slightly. "Eager much?" He muttered, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice, despite his overlaying worry and fear. He threw a quick look at Dravius, (Again. Just to be safe. He'd rather not have the kid go charging in while he wasn't looking), before focusing on Selvai as the magician began casting magic.

"We'll have to improvise." Raphael replied to Adriel, watching the silver mist take form in Selvai's hands. "We'll need to find out just what it is these people can do before we go all out." He shrugged. "Taunt them into doing something. It's dangerous, but we have little choice."

~~~

Adam had been quite content by this time to perhaps get a couple of hours sleep while Ava went to deal with her newly cleaned captive. It wasn't like he was needed for much right this second, and it was really rather late. Stretching his arms, the red-head watched Hare abstractedly as the tall, muscular male dealt with his wet pants. Adam couldn't help snorting quietly. "She's easily agitated." He offered, shrugging. "Especially when it comes to her playthings and experiments."

Giving a quiet yawn, Adam shrugged again and focused his slightly distracted gaze on the china laid out on the little table in front of him, idly replaying in his head a few of the more... Ah... Interesting encounters he had had with Ava in the past.. He only brought his attention back into the present when the agitated yell floated through the window.

Almost instantly, the red-head's eyes narrowed, and he stood himself with rigid, almost wooden movements as Hare spoke. "Sounds like an idea." The male murmered, stepping past Hare and into the darkened hallway. Ava, he assumed, was probably busying herself with the blonde woman, so it was probably best she remained undisturbed. Walking quickly to the door, Adam placed a hand on the handle, pausing for only a second or so before pulling it open. He stepped out into the cool night air to be greeted by a group of people; Standing some distance away but obviously here for the women. He caught Neva's predicament within moments, then focused on the one person stood slightly ahead of the others.

Raphael had taken a couple of steps away from the building when the door had opened, and his gaze became rigid and cold at the sight of the two who stepped through it. Both, he noted, were easily as tall as Dravius, and each had an aura that wasn't to be ignored.

Suddenly and unexpectedly, the red-head thrust one hand forward, a massive blur of red shooting from his outstretch hand towards Raphael and his group. The Circus members scattered, taking defensive stances as Raphael countered lightening fast with an illusion consisting entirely of shadow. The thing that came from the red-head seemed to crash into Raphael's inky blackness, before divertng itself and landing with a heavy thump someplace behind the group of Circus members.

The blonde Ring-Master risked a glance over his shoulder, freezing momentarily at the sight of a gigantic red cobra unfolding itself from where it had landed. It swayed itself until it towered over the group, hissing angrily from it's place in the shadows. The two spare Circus members who stood near the back broke away from Raphael and the others and faced off with the giant snake. One of them, a tall, wiry, athletic looking woman nodded towards where Raphael stood; Before she and her companion turned back to the snake, preparing to face it.

Raphael grimaced, then turned back to Adam as the red-head lifted his hand again. "Prepare yourselves." The Ring-Master murmered. "If we can... Someone get inside that building... Ava hasn't come out. We don't want to risk leaving her in there with Maya and Lucia if she knows we're here... Our time might run out. The back door may well be unguarded." He spoke quickly, glancing at Selvai. He knew the women were still alive thanks to the magicians spell... But Ava wasn't likely to keep them that way if she knew of their presence. A couple of people needed to get in there. Fast. Luckily, it seemed, right about then Ava materialized next to her two companions. Her appearance would make getting the women out of there easier, at least.

"I'll be one." Karene muttered. "If Selvai stays here. You might need a magician, someone else can come with me."

Just as quickly as his words, Raphael nodded, then created a distraction that hopefully would direct both mens attention and Ava's to him; Allowing a couple of members to get into the house. "Quickly!" He grimaced, as Adam responded to the sudden appearance of ghostly shapes with a growl, his attention focused on the Ring-Master's illusion.

~~~

Lucia had been unconscious for a long while, she knew... It was only the last half hour or so she had really come to. Luckily, she hadn't been too seriously hurt. It was obvious these people had needed her for something, and the sudden appearance of Maya had made it all quite clear.

Twisting in her chair, the older londe shook her head slightly, her temple's pained with the movement. No. It was Maya she was more frightened for. She wasn't able to drown out those agonised screams, as she could only struggle against the ropes binding her, crying silently for the one person she was supposed to be able to protect as a mother. The silence was worse... Lucia, naturally, assuming that the worst had come to pass; Could only cry further because of that simple thought. She did, however, keep the noise down. The last thing she wanted to do was attract the attention of those downstairs.

As such, the blonde had pretty much cried herself out, and now sat with her head bowed; Looking very much as though she was still unconscious. If anything. She almost wished she was.

... ASDCFGHJKL. I CAN'T WAIT THIS LONG ALL THE TIME. *Sob*

Dravius had stayed behind Raphael, dancing back a few steps when the man in front of his had backed away from the door, hands curling into tight fists at the sight of the men. Both of them had an imposing prescence, even though the bulkier one was dressed like Mister Peanut. And had a tiny bunny perched on his shoulder.

Dravius blinked as the red blur slammed into Raphael's projection, eyebrows raising slightly as the cobra rose up to it's full height, and he quickly turned his head back towards Snake Man and Mister Peanut, noticing that the rabbit that had perched on the taller one's shoulder had hopped onto the ground and was also now knee height. But it was still a bunny. What was the taller one doing?

At Raphael's words the young man nodded, then followed it up with a grunt that meant something roughly akin to "Gotcha. I will definitely not do anything stupid," then turned to Karene, giving her a hard look that got across the fact that he wasn't about to stand here while Maya and her mother were trapped inside of a cottage, possibly bleeding to death. As the distraction occured, Dravius made a break for the house, slipping into to cottage under the cover of an illusion, allowing Karene in behind him.

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Hare had been surprised by the sheer force of people that had showed up to rescue to the two ladies currently in the building behind him. He raised one eyebrow and allowed the rabbit on his shoulder to shudder and grow, a thin stream of black issueing from the lapin head on top of his cane feeding the growth of the creatue. With a deep breath in and a large growl, a wave of mercury pooled around the rabbit's paws, rolling almost merrily towards the blondie, tall dark and ugly, and the pretty lady. The chemical was not deterred by Raphael's illusion, although the rabbit did seem confused with the shadowy figures, hissing with a spray of silver at one of the shadows.

Hare was just as startled as his conjured creature, but his now skull-like face only registered a modicum of surprise, the brim of his hat shading part of his expression. Gritting his teeth, the rabbit at Hare's feet let out a thundrous snarl and grew more, developing more human-like characteristics, and swiped a clawed forepaw at one of the figures, seemingly in warning.

Suddenly, the beast's head swiveled towards movement at the house, a violent roar tearing from it's mouth along with an obscene amount of silver. The silver then began to mat the dark fur on the rabbit's chest, giving it a rumpled look, as if some child's velveteen rabbit had been dropped in silver paint.

The creature then bounded past the illusions, slipping slightly on the puddle of mercury it had accrued, smacking into the side of the building before ramming into the door that Dravius had opened in it's path. Hare, halfway through building up two more waist-high rabbits, hissed in a breath, feeling a shooting pain arc through the right side of his face.

Selvai opened his mouth to protest Karene being the one to attempt to get inside, then quickly closed it. They did not have time for an arguement that he would likely lose anyway. He settled for a quickly muttered "Watch yourselves," before both Karene and Dravius sprinted toward the house under the cover of Raphael's illusion.

As the pair disappeared, Selvai spun around to face the giant snake. The magician darted forward quickly, chanting and gesturing at the pavement under the serpent. The ground began to sag under the weight of the large creature, turning tacky and sticking to the snake where ever it came into contact with it. Soon the cobra was trapped, the lower half of its body unable to move from the bespelled concrete. "That should hold it in place for you," Selvai told the pair of circus members, before turning his attention back to Ava's accomplices.

While Selvai was dealing with the giant snake, Adriel pulled forth more iron from her body, making sure not too take too much. She closely watched both Adam and Hare as she shaped the metal with her hands, waiting for either of the men to drop their guard for a moment.

Seeing the tall man momentarily pause, Addie took her chance, leaping forward and in front of Raphael's illusions. She swung the item once above her head, then let loose, sending the metal net flying toward Hare. When it hit, the iron strands began to wrap around the bunny conjurer of their own will, the ends of the net meeting and fusing together. Adriel gestured toward the man, clenching her fist, and the net started to tighten around Hare's body.

"Ha!" Addie staggered back behind the line of Raphael's shadow illusions, creating a small pair of knives and ignoring the slight wooziness that the action caused. She'd be fine for a little while longer, provided she didn't need to create anything too large, or push herself too far.

-----

Ava had taken up position just inside the door frame, watching as Adam and Hare both sent out their respective creatures, only to have them deflected and confused by Raphael's shadows. She smirked when the snake began to grow and loom over the group, although her satisfaction was tempered a bit by the inability of Hare's rabbit to land a strike due to the circus leader's illusion. The scientist pulled a scalpel from her pocket, trying to keep her frustration in check. Her own ability was useless for this sort of long range attack, fortunately she had other ways of striking against the circus members.

"Keep them at bay as long as you can," she instructed the two men, turning to head back inside the cottage. Ava had barely managed to step back inside the door when a sudden force knocked into her from behind, causing the scientist to stumble and fall into the wall. Outraged, Ava looked up at the hallway, ready to flay whoever it was that had knocked her down, only to find the hallway empty. Her confusion was short lived, as Hare's rabbit creature suddenly slammed through the doorway, apparently chasing after something only it could see. Understanding clicked into place, and Ava turned back to the hallway with a snarl. Dammit! They'd used the circus leader's illusions to slip past both Adam and Hare, and into the cottage.

"You aren't leaving here alive!" the scientist screamed, pushing herself away from the wall. Charging forward, Ava began slicing at the space in front of her with her scalpel, trying to wound whoever had managed to slip inside.

((LOL. AVA GOWAI. 8D Post coming when I get motivation.))

((Bluh.))

Karene had been braced for Raphael's illusion, her body coiled like a spring. Dravius' firm look in her direction had not gone unnoticed, though the magician had little time to respond to his withering glance before the Ring-Master initiated his distraction. It wasn't like she hadan issue with his volunteering, anyway. Following the quickly moving Co-Master, Karene slipped quickly between a couple of Raphael's peculiar looking shades, then bolted for the house in the tall males wake.

She managed to shoot through the door just as something crashed into the other side, causing the magician to jump about a foot in the air before she'd even stopped running. "Jesus-" The light haired woman cursed, turning to look at the back door of the cottage-like home, half hidden now by the darkness that resided in the hallway.

Getting her breath under control, Karene inhaled deeply, then turned to look in the other direction at the front door; The one that currently stood open, the same entrance that Ava and her accomplices had headed through on their way outside. The magician noticed quite a few things at once, from the silence of the house in general, to the small splatters of dark dried blood that dotted the light carpet of the hallway. The door itself had not gone unnoticed, and Karene had been on the verge of slamming it shut and locking it when an enraged Ava flew through it; Brandishing a sharp bladed scalpel.

The magician barely managed to stop herself from heading towards the door, and as such, wasn't quite able to avoid the scalpel completely. She staggered back with a curse, now sporting a gashed forearm; Before flinging her other arm forward, muttering a quick word that formed a blast of energy directed towards the maddened scientist. It was more of an instinctive reaction, and as such, it's aim wasn't completely perfect, but that didn't matter. As long as it gave her a couple of seconds at least to get her feet set...

"Well. This is going perfectly so far!" Karene raged, risking a glance at the cut on her arm, and stepping back quickly to step aside Dravius. It was looking very much like they were going to have to go through Ava to get to Maya and Lucia. And it was probably best they do it soon... As of right now, Ava had the upper hand, being closer to her captives than Karene and Dravius were, and quite frankly, they were more at risk.

Karene exhaled, then threw a slightly sarcastic smile at the Co-master stood next to her. "Can't afford to make any mistakes here, my dear Co-Master." She muttered quickly. "We have to get Maya and Lucia out of here. Quickly." The magician sighed, then raised both arms slightly in preparation, eyes focused on the scientist. She didn't want to force Ava closer to the captives, yet they needed to get the women out of here... There was no telling how much damage
had been done to them and every second here might prove a fatal loss of time.

~~~

The confrontation outside the house had become almost equally matched, Raphael's attention focused entirely on keeping his shades in existance, the exertion causing small beads of sweat to stand out on his brow. In turn, Adam's ink-creations were keeping the red-heads attention focused mostly on the Ring-Master. A small but violent battle raged around them. Neva remained out of the picture, unable to do anything in her own situation; And one of the Circus members had engaged one of Hare's silver rabbits.

Adams' giant cobra had managed to cause a few injuries on the two members that had taken up it's challenge, and while one of them was certainly looking the worse for wear, the other was managing to keep his own for the time being. Selvai's intervention was a relief, causing the giant red snake to hiss in agitation and anger as the concrete formed a seemingly impenetrable shell around it's body. It writhed in anger, spitting madly at the two members confronting it.

It's obvious distress fleetingly pulled Adams' attention, and the red-head growled slightly as he realised the predicament in which his cobra had found itself. In that one moment of hesitation, Raphael forced one of his shades forward, causing Adam to flinch as a gash was opened in his upper arm. It was about this time that Adriel cast her gleaming net towards Hare, which seemingly ensnared him, causing Adam to growl again.

Despite his own slowly increasing weariness, Raphael, almost automatically, it seemed, reached out an arm to grasp Adriel gently on the elbow as she staggered back away from the opposition. "Tired?" He asked with a wry smile, keeping his eyes focused on Adam and Hare. "Those two had better hurry up." He grimaced, wincing slightly as one of Adam's little ink-like shots cut him across the shoulder. "We can't hold out here all night."

Hare's eye twitched at Ava's command, chafing at doing anything that she told him too. "No, Ava, I was planning on just letting them rip all of us to shreds..." He muttered, his eyebrows furrowing as the rabbits on either side of him straightened up on their hind legs, growling rather menacingly for rabbits. His concentration wasn't very conducive to concentration, apparently, as Hare was unable to dodge the silver strands hurtling towards him.

As the net closed over his head, the rabbits that were taking swipes confusedly at Raphael's illusion flickered, and their heads swiveled towards Hare simultaneously. Each tilted their huge heads, and one proceeded to open it's jaws and take the net in it's mouth, biting down and yanking. With a few sharp tugs and pained gasps from Hare, the rabbit had snapped the iron strands, while the other bounded through the shadows straight at Adriel, silver-slicked front dripping beads of poisonous chemical to the ground.

Screeching to a stop in front of the woman, the rabbit straightened it's hind legs to that it's twitching nose was eye level with Adriel, and after a huge breath let out a noise that was somewhere between a hiss and a snarl, splattering her with mercury, then took a snap at her upper arm. The second rabbit followed in quick succession, scrabbling past illusions after taking a snap or two at the shapes in front of it.

The second rabbit skidded towards Selvai, hunching down to barrel through the magician's legs. The ground around the group of circus folk was slick and silver by that point, the mercury having risen to coat the sides of their feet. All four of the rabbit's paws were both covered halfway with silver.

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

The conjured beast on the other side of Dravius' door let out something that could only be related to a scream of frustration as the young man pulled the door shut and locked it with the beast on the other side of it. The entire wooden rectangle shuddered as the enraged bunny smashed against it, and Dravius was surprised it held.

At Ava's appearance, the young man's expression twisted into one of fury, as Karene staggered back with a few harsh words. Taking a deep breath, he murmured, "No, I suppose we can't make any mistakes." At Ava's manic slashing, Dravius drew in a breath through his nose and rushed forward, throwing his shoulder into the scientist and knocking her off of her feet.

A terse, "Go on, then!" was all that Karene got, as Dravius backed away from the hostile woman, staring at her with all of the concentration available to him at that point, eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

The sheer amount of focus it was taking for Raphael to keep his illusions up and going seemed to be increasing with every passing minute. Adam, on the other end of his volley, seemed to straining just as much, keeping control of those inky strands that seemed to be flying everywhere.

Somewhere behind the Ring-Master, the two members facing the giant snake seemed to be holding out quite well; Dealing a somewhat large amount of damage to the scaly red creature. Unfortunately, the snakes' makeup, consisting entirely of Adam's manipulated ink, meant that the creature couldn't really be hurt, in a sense. It's power was obviously weakening as it struggled against the concrete binding it against the earth, though that was more likely because of its creators weariness than any real damage caused to it.

It was Raphael's equal weakening that meant he hadn't quite caught Hare escaping the net; Nor had he realised one of the muscular mans rabbit servants had been, essentially, stood directly next to him as it harassed Adriel. Upon realising, however, the blonde pulled back his illusions, feeling particularly sick at the sight of the short haired woman standing beyond his protection. With a swift, graceful movement, Raphael promptly lifted his leg and thrust forward, hitting the silver, long eared animal squarely in the face.

"Are you all right?" He managed to ask breathlessly, before his attention was pulled back to Adam. The red-head stood with one arm against the wall of the house, breathing heavily through his nose. Pushing himself away, he raised both arms, preparing for a strike that would end the meddling of these god damn Circus freaks. Unfortunately for him, Raphael's reaction was quicker. A spear, long, lithe and deadly, whistled through the air at the Ring-Masters command, and, using the last shred of energy he could muster, gave the weapon enough substance to cause some serious damage as it smashed against the wall of the house. But not before it embedded itself quite firmly between Adams' ribs, effectively nailing him to the bricks.

A lot of things seemed to happen at once. The snake hissed, the sound pained beyond measure, before it collapsed in on itself like a crimson waterfall, dousing the nearby members in bright red liquid. The strands of razorlike webbing also collapsed, splashing the floor with an inky blackness. Raphael promptly fell to hs knees, one hand landing on the inked floor in front of him as he attempted to get his breathing, and now aching head under control.

One of the members who had been dealing with the snake, turned her attenton to the silver rabbit that had headed for Selvai, and she went to stand next to him to assist, shortly followed by the second member.

~~~

Well. At least he agreed... It wasn't often the Co-Master agreed to any- Oh god what was he doing.

Karene inhaled a sharp breath as the lithe shadow of the tall male promptly vanished from next to her; Crashing towards Ava with a surprising amount of speed. The magician held her breath, almost seeming to anticipate the Co-Master receiving some sort of injury from such a reckless move; When his voice cut through the hallway, she raised her eyebrows at him.

Short and sweet.

Rolling her eyes, she moved quickly, deciding there was probably very little point arguing with him. Dravius seemed more able to sustain injuries than most people... He could probably handle Ava... At least, long enough for Karene to find Maya and her mother. Slipping past the Co-Master while Ava was still distracted, the woman fled into the only closed door of the hallway, pausing with a gasp of breath as she surveyed the damage to the room.

It was a mess, to say the least. Though it wasn't the broken furniture so much as it was the sheer amount of blood coating the once cream carpet. Maya, still unconscious, sat in the center of the room, arms braced behind her. Karene's first though, honestly, was that the young woman hadn't made it. She certainly didn't look like she had. Bracing herself, the magician stepped forward, trying desperately to ignore the sick feeling building in her stomach.

Up close, Maya looked no better. The young woman's skin was far paler than it usually was, and the sheer amount of cuts that laced the butterfly's body made Karene wince. Although, strangely, most of the wounds seemed clean, a few of them still wept slightly, casting slight lines of blood across her skin. Her white dress was barely recognisable, now more red than white, and Karene had to tae a few steadying breaths as she realised that mmost of the blood decorating the room was probaby Maya's. Not a good thing at all... There was an awful lot of blood for just one person. Very quickly, and uncertainly, checking for a pulse, the magician let out a long sigh of relief as she realised Maya was still alive, if barely.

She would be able to heal some of Maya's cuts. But that wouldn't do anything for her blood loss... And if anything else had been done to her, well... That was the problem with healing magic. You had to know exactly what was wrong, in order to reverse it. Not knowing meant you could do nothing.

Gently lifting the butterfly once releasing he hands, Karene placed the blonde slowly on the nearby couch, before heading back to the door. She was going to need to find Lucia, and she couldn't carry Maya around while doing so.

Glancing quickly out of the door, Karene, deciding Ava was probably still busy with Dravius, slipped out of it and bolted up the stairs, the only available place left to search. It didn't take long to locate Lucia, though it took a while to calm the older woman and convince her that Maya was fine. Luckily, Lucia didn't seem too badly harmed. Karene led her back down the stairs, before slipping back into the room which held Maya.

"Now what?" Lucia asked quietly from where she sat, stroking her daughters haiir out of her eyes, trying not to notice how cold the younger womans skin was.

"We wait, I guess." Karene muttered. "I can cast a spell to keep out anyone who wishes to cause harm within these walls. It'll mean Ava can't get back in here." She looked over her shoulder at Lucia, who was frowning with worry, cheeks wet with fresh tears. "I'm sorry... I can't teleport you back, not yet... I won't have the energy to return, and I need to be here just in case anyone else is seriously hurt. Selvai's ways with healing magicn aren't quite as refined as mine." Karene smiled apologetically. "She'll be fine, Lucia... She's stronger than she looks." The caramel haired woman gave Lucia a reassuring squeeze of the arm, before checking on Maya. The blonde would be okay... For now. It was probably stil wise not to wait too long, though... If anything else... She'd teleport them back if there was no other option.

Adriel swayed slightly into Raphael's grip, flashing the circus master a quick, tight smile. "I can keep going," she answered briefly, her attention going back to Hare just in time to see the pair of rabbit creatures switch their focus from Raphael's illusions to her and her net covering Hare. The short haired woman barely had time to note the first tearing into her net and freeing the absurdly dressed man before the second nightmarish creature bounded toward her.

She managed to throw one arm up in time to keep the liquid mercury from splashing into her eyes, although the rest of the droplets hit her skin, sliding downward and soaking into her clothes. The sudden slice of pain through her arm caused Adriel to scream, stumbling backwards to try and put distance between herself and the creature. "Dammit!" Addie pressed her hand over the gash in her bicep, trying to stanch the flow of blood from the wound. While not very wide, the bite was deep, and rivulets of blood seeped over her fingers where they pressed down on the wound.

"It's not that bad," Adriel gritted out in response to Raphael's question, taking up a defensive position in preparation for the next strike. With most of her focus on Hare and the rabbit, Adriel only noticed the circus master's attack against Adam when the latter's web of ink suddenly collapsed, black ink spattering the ground. Catching sight of Raphael kneeling on the pavement, Adriel hurried over to the blond's side, making sure to keep an eye on Hare and the rabbit creature. "How bad is it?" she asked quietly, aware of the side effects of the man's abilities. "Can you still fight, or do you need me to cover you?"

-----

Startled by the silver rabbit dashing through his legs, Selvai's concentration was shaken, and the spell he was in the middle of unraveled before he could launch it at the cobra. It didn't matter however, as the large snake dissolved back into ink a moment later, soaking his clothes in red ink. Wiping spots of red off his face with his sleeve, the magician smiled grimly. The larger of the two creatures dealt with, he nodded to the pair of members that had been fighting alongside him.

"Can the two of you stop this creature if I use my spell to hold its attention?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, the magician began chanting quietly, one hand held out in front of him. Dark, twisting wisps of fog began to rise from the ground, swirling and forming themselves into a pair of black, translucent, and slightly misshapened wolves. The first of the pair began to stalk toward the rabbit, jaw open and malformed body held low to the ground. As it lunged at the silver rabbit, the second wolf circled behind, snapping at the bunny's back legs when it ducked away from the first wolf. The pair kept up their attacks, one holding its attention while the other rushed closer to attack, then leap backward before the rabbit could retaliate.

-----

Tackled to the ground, and momentarily stunned, Ava's first thought was Dammit, not this again. Managing to drawn in a shaky breath, the scientist rolled to the side and pushed herself to her feet. She met Dravius' bared teeth with a snarl of her own, brandishing her scalpel. "So nice to see you again, Mister Wolfe. It's so unfortunate you weren't able to come sooner, I'm afraid your lover is no longer among the living." The silver haired laughed manically, a chilling sound. Her eyes gleamed with insanity as she continued speaking. "Shall I tell you about it? She cried and screamed, Dravius. Begged us to let her go. Said she only wanted to see her little Angel again. And then I bled her dry, and she didn't say anything else." Ava smirked, casually twirling the scalpel between her fingers.

"Although, I suppose that was a bit cruel of me, to separate a mother from her child. Perhaps, when I'm done with you and your friends, I'll go find your daughter, and reunite the two of them." Without warning, Ava took a deep breath and exhaled, causing a black, poisonous cloud to fill the hallway between her and Dravius. It hung in the air instead of dissipating, obscuring Ava's movements as she rushed forward. The silver haired scientist stabbed her scalpel into Dravius's shoulder, laughing in satisfaction. She yanked it out with some force, spattering blood onto the floor as she headed backwards into the poisonous cloud. "Well come on, Mister Wolfe! Aren't you going to avenge the death of your dearly beloved?" she taunted him cruelly, another round of mocking laughter accompanying her words as she hid within the black cloud.

Hnng.

OH MY GOD.

DRAVIUS YOU CAN NEVER BOTHER ME ABOUT BEING SLOW EVER AGAIN.

I'm sorry I've been inactive for so long guys. And I'm really far behind, now. Probably won't catch up, either. Life and parents being hella stressful, and internet having a limit. If I do come back, it'll be either Christmas Break, which may not be the case. If not, then it'll have to wait till summer. Sorry guys. I hate to be like this, and hate to be gone, but. I just can't. And I feel bad, because this is the last of the forum rps that I still have, and I don't wanna lose it....

And happy early birthday, Selvia~

It's fine, Ny. You're not the only one who's left. This forum is probably on halt now.

:c

At Ava's first words, Dravius' only thoughts after hearing the laugh was a constant stream of "no"s, fierce expression faltering for a moment for a look of disbelief, before rearranging itself back into something even more furious. As Ava continued to taunt the young man, Dravius had what seemed like a brief snap, his face relaxing into an almost absent-minded expression for a second, blinking a few times as the black cloud hovered in front of his face.

Knowing it was probably poisonous, the Co-Master did his best to wave an arm through the air in front of him to try and clear it, squinting into the impermeable fog. As Ava lunged out of the inky darkness, Dravius flinched away from her as swiftly as possible, but still didn't have enough time to avoid the scalpel that sank deep into his shoulder, and the young man could feel the well of blood around the blade that was now embedded there.

The scalpel only stayed for a moment, in fact too short of a time for him to turn and grab Ava's wrist, though he did make a desperate grab at her as she darted away. A growl of frustration escaped him as he felt blood begin to slick his shirt to his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, Dravius tried to calm himself down with absolutely zero success, and finally decided to just ignore Ava and focus on getting rid of her as soon as possible, and getting Maya home. The laughter, while supremely mocking, was also supremely indicative of Ava's location within her toxic cloud.

Launching himself at Ava's presumed location, Dravius managed to grab hold of one one the scientist's wrists, yanking her towards him in a sort of embrace, though this one swiftly resulted in Ava's arm being yanked behind her back and twisted hard enough and quickly enough to snap it, the scalpel clattering to the floor. Teeth gritted, the young man shoved Ava to the ground in front of him, sweeping up the scalpel in one hand, the instrument slick with his own blood. Taking another deep breath, Dravius sank the surgical instrument into the struggling Ava's neck, until blood splattered against him, gritting his teeth.

Standing up, Dravius didn't even bother to yank the silver blade out of Ava's rapidly cooling neck, and he staggered back a few steps, coughing harshly in the black smoke. Staggering out of it, the man looked wildly around, ignoring the scientist's blood splashed across his hands and chest. The blood was still coming from the stab in his shoulder in rivulets, but he ignored it, looking in each room before he came upon the one with the people he was looking for.

Using a bloody hand to brush his hair out of his face, Dravius stood over Maya, all but ignoring Lucia and Karene for a moment, twitching his gaze towards Lucia, and seeing her conscious, he felt Maya's cheek, letting out an explosive breath. The sheer number of slices and oozing cuts were daunting, and Dravius cleared his throat, shaking his head to cause his hair to slide into his eyes, although his slightly shaking shoulders gave away what he was trying to hide.

After a minute or two, Dravius wiped his eyes on his sleeve and cleared his throat again, turning towards Karene with a helpless look on his face. "She'll be fine," The statement seemed to be meant to reassure himself more than anything else.

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

The rabbit near Adriel let out a snarl as Raphael kicked it, skidding away from the two and eventually getting to it's feet and roaring, a ghastly sound that echoed through the street. The other two rabbits echoed the roar, the noise reverberating in the air. The rabbits crouched as Adam raised his arms, and across the way Hare smirked through his splitting headache, muscles trembling slightly with the upkeep of the rabbits, but he still felt like he could go all day. The watch that he had slipped from his pocket actually said "Ahead of Schedule, WAY TO GO!".

A hideous noise suddenly grabbed his attention. One rabbit flickered out of existence as the snake melted, and Hare turned his head to the side abruptly. The grip on his cane loosened, and the two remaining rabbits let out a mournful groan in unison, bounding over to the man pinned to the wall, and lifting him off with a sickening sucking noise.

"Ad....am?" Hare didn't seem angry, just confused, and he took a few steps towards the man hanging limp from the two rabbits. His cane was held limply in his hands, and suddenly it all seemed too much. He took his hat off of his head and dropped it to the ground.

One of the remaining rabbits melted into nothingness, forcing the one remaining to grunt and support Adam's weight on it's own, as Hare came closer. "Adam? You're alright, right?" Blood and mercury were swirling together under Adam, and Hare gently touched the dead man's shoulder, and when he received no response, the final rabbit let out a grieved shriek, dropping Adam at the same time Hare's cane clattered to the asphalt.

"What...What have you done?" Hare turned to Raphael, still looking befuddled. "What have you done to my friend?" The muscular man checked his watch, gasping at the hands turned to "Just give up" and the hands on his wristwatch pointing resolutely to "Period of Mourning".

Hare and his rabbit took one step forwards, fat silver tears rolling from his beast's eyes. Opening it's mouth, a keen issued forth. The tall man opened his mouth and said, one last time, "What have you....done?" before falling silent, looking back at the man crumpled on the ground.

*Splays self on Dravvy* HAI. 8D

... Also that is a gross way to die. o_o And Hare really needs a hug.

((Uh. Sorry if I missed anything LOL. I swear my motivation died on me. O_O))

The actual casting of that one protective spell was only a short one, and Karene got started on it immediately as soon as Lucia had turned her attention back to the unconscious butterfly. The older blonde was handling everything rather well, all things considered. Her only real concern seemed to be her daughters safety, which was to be expected. Most other people, however, would have had the shock to deal with too. Luckily for Lucia, she was somewhat accustomed to the Circus and the sorts of events that tended to shroud around such a place, and her down to earth personality only helped to keep her under control in this situation.

Karene exhaled quietly through her nose, pulling her attention away from the mother and daughter to focus on the spell. She had barely touched a point on the wall when manic laughter floated through the close door; Obviously belonging to Ava. The magician stopped in order to listen, Lucia looking away from Maya to stare worriedly at the wood of the door.

After a couple of moments of silence, Karene almost readied herself to continue the spell when the sound of a scuffle halted her again. Again she listened, brows furrowed slightly as she tried to make sense of the noises out in the hallway. It was only moments later Dravius seemed to materialize in the doorway, and the magician had to take a quick step back to avoid having him walk into her. She watched him approach Lucia and Maya, frowning out into the hallway.

Lucia had watched Dravius' approach with a fearful look on her face. He obviously hadn't got away from his encounter with that crazy woman unscathed, but at least he seemed okay. She let out a quiet breath of relief, then turned her own attention back to Maya for only a moment. Dravius's state hadn't gone unnoticed by the older blonde, and Lucia gently took a hold of his hand, placing a reassuring pressure on his fingers. "I'm sure she will be." She murmered quietly, a slightly saddened look in her eyes.

Karene, still stood by the door, had nodded, a small smile on her face as she quietly agreed with Lucia's words. Stepping back out into the hallway for a moment, the magician barely managed to make out the unmoving shape of Ava, resting facedown as the cloud of black smoke began to thin. Shaking her head, she made her way back to the room. "I guess out best option now is to wait." She glanced towards the nearest window. "I hope it's going well out there..."

~~~

Adams' death seemed to cast a sudden wall over the opposing forces wills. As the red-heads creations ceased to exist, Hare's own motivation seemed to desert him; Neva staring at the now dead man with raised brows. Well, great.

Raphael stood where he had been previously, his face unreadable. His eyes, however, betrayed the haunted state of his emotion. He hadn't needed to respond to Adriel. This fight was more or less finished. He watched Hare's realisation with nothing if not a sympathetic expression. He hadn't, naturally ,wanted to do any of this. Unfortunately, Adam's move would have resulted in his death if he had not acted first. Not to mention... Their motivation in taking Maya had hugely contributed to his actions. He couldn't regret. He wouldn't.

The Ring-Master spared a moment to glance at Adriel, before looking over his shoulder. Rev had given up on fighting himself, most likely due to Neva relinquishing her ability over the man. The dark haired, lush bodied woman simply stood, her expression as unreadable as Raphael's. She clearly wasn't willing to continue fighting when it was so pointless they'd lost.

Some distance away from her, the other two members of the Circus had rallied around Selvai, and were both looking at Hare with guarded expressions despite the mans obvious incapability to continue. They had been on their way to assist as Selvai had asked... Though clearly now there was no need to do anything.

The blonde man sighed, then turned back to Adriel. "Are you all right?" He asked, his voice firm and still resolute despite the sadness on his face. "Come on." He said, loud enough for the others to hear. "Let's get out of here." He looked towards Neva and Hare just as the sound of sirens began to wail in the distance. "Hm... About time." The tall male replied, stepping towards the front door of Lucia;s house. He had sorted all of it. The police were coming, but not for the Circus. Despite what many knew, the Majikus had links with some high ranking officers... It had taken very little persuasion on Raphaels' part to convince them for help, and to convince them that any action taken by himself or his members was required. No doubt he would still have to speak with them later, however.

He stepped through the door of the house, making his way quickly to the others. Ava's form barely fazed him, although he did pause momentarily to sigh.

"Raphael!" Karene said suddenly as the Ring-Master stepped through the door. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's over." Raphael replied, looking at the window, watching idly as Neva and Hare were accosted by the cops. He then walked over to where Maya lay, feeling his heart clench at the sight of her. THIS was why death had been necassary... This was the cause. Raphael made a pained noise in the back of his throat, before placing a hand on Dravius upper arm. "Come on." He said, nodding towards Karene. "Let's go home."

Guess this really has ended now. xD
Well. It was fun guys.

<3