Wave Shots: Take your standard Jello Shot, Add 1 Microchip, and 1 gram of Handwavium. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Note: a Fen can either retrieve the Microchip
for later use, or consume said chip with the Shot. (Not recommended for Nonbiomodded Fen.)

Shotwaving: The process of Handwaving large quantities of identical items.

I just happened to be perusing Google for some info about the flags that have flown over Texas. I wanted to find something to use as a war banner for the
Roughriders. Well, I found one alright, and the Gunner's Mate in me approves heartily.

Behold, the Gonzales Banner of 1835.

The story goes that during the Texas Revolution, the Texans took back the town of Gonzales with ease. The Mexicans had to pull out so quickly that they left a
cannon behind. So, they asked for it back. Being Texans, they sent that banner up in response.

While the Republic of Texas flag would be flown as the traditional ensign of the Roughriders, they'll use the Gonzales Banner when flying into battle. It
sends a pretty clear message, I think: "You want a piece of this? Come and get it then!" *wicked grin*

What is an enemy? What is a friend? Is it a distinction made by rules and laws? Do the rulers and officers and commanders
determine for us who we are allowed to trust? Is it only once they cross to our side of the line that they are allowed to be seen as people worthy of trust,
camradrie, or love? Or is it that connection, that looking at them in the eye and knowing a sense of mutual respect, that you would rather talk with, fight
with, live with this person than a total stranger, that defines what it means to truly say you know them? We learned that men cannot be judged by the color of
their skin, but by the strength of their character. Is this only applicable if the man in question is human? Or are these Traditionalists, Rikti though they
may be, the first chance to look beyond the inhuman features of a faceless enemy and find a person that may become a friend?

- Incandescent, head of the Vanguard Herald Division, addressing the UN Oversight Committee regarding opening peace talks
with the Rikti Traditionalist Faction.

Riot Force Reports:

The Ties That Bind

Prologue

The conference room was in utter uproar, as the most influential men and women in Vanguard abruptly had to deal with an event that had been thought utterly preposterous only hours before.

"We need to start screening all registered heroes currently working for us," Borea said. "There has to be some sort of way we can determine if there are any more. We have to contain this breach now."

"What about the infiltrator? If she got as deep in as
she did, we don't know what's jeopardized," Gaussian said. "The Rikti could know anything. Our access codes, our transmission frequencies.
We need to rotate every classified frequency and procedure she had access to."

"Do we really know if she's jeopardized
anything?" Serpent Drummer said, frowning from his position. "She turned herself in, and from what she told us, she was infiltrating us to get
information on Hro'Dtohz. If anything, that makes her almost as much of an ally as the Traditionalists. She even sees the war as pointless in the face of
this intelligence."

"In the face of intelligence on Nemesis, which seems
to indicate he incited the Rikti War. While I agree it's proven, how do we know this isn't an elaborate plot by Nemesis with the assistance of the
Restructurists? He's tried replacing their leaders before. What if he's succeeded this time?" Levantera scowled. "We don't know that
she's telling the truth. All we do know is that she's not in telepathic contact with the rest of the Rikti, from what the Psi Division is
saying."

"We need more information. If we could interrogate
her…." Gaussian began, before a cool voice cut him off.

"No," the Dark Watcher said quietly, managing to
still the chaos despite barely being audible. "We're not touching her."

"Why not?" Gaussian frowned. "Don't give
me any of your usual mysterious bullshit, Watcher. This is a serious matter of security! We've had a Rikti in our ranks for almost a month, with full
access to our facilities, and we didn't even know it!"

"No, you didn't know it,"
the Watcher said. "I've been observing Miss W'tin for some time, waiting for the moment to intervene to prevent this from going bad for all
concerned. Us, the Rikti, and especially the young archer."

"With all due respect, Watcher, you've known about
a catastrophic breach of security for months and kept quiet without consulting anyone here?" Levantera said, a touch of shock creeping into her
voice.

"No. I explained my case to the Lady Grey, and she
agreed with my reasoning. Now, you all need to calm down. We can question her, yes, but there will be no interrogation. I also need to prepare some
eventualities in case events get out of hand. And I imagine you'll want to rotate those frequencies anyway, Gaussian, so I'll leave that to you.
Serpent Drummer, get this information to our Traditionalist allies. I'd suggest bringing along some people to help calm them down, for obvious reasons.
We're going to have to handle this very carefully if we don't want it to turn into a disaster, so everyone on your toes. Get going." With that,
the Dark Watcher opened a portal to his side, stepping through it to an unknown location, leaving the remaining members of the upper ranks of Vanguard
staring after him before grudgingly going to their tasks.

***

The Watcher stepped into a classically decorated office,
stepping up behind a large armchair sitting in front of a small fireplace.

"You are sure about this?" the Lady Grey asked
simply.

The Watcher nodded. "I think she's the break
we've been waiting for. A Restructurist who isn't fanatically devoted to Hro'Dtohz. If she comes around…it's a step towards ending this war,
once and for all."

"You speak of objectives, but that is not why you
argued this case so strongly to us before," she pointed out.

The Watcher smiled ever so slightly. "No, it
wasn't. There's more to this than war and politics. What happens next….well, things will get ugly. But I'm going to do my damnedest to give those
two kids a chance to figure this out on their own. If it helps save the world….that's a bonus."

"You're sentimental behind your detachment as
always, Devon. But we agree with your decision. Carry it out, and be careful. We would prefer not to see unwarranted damage befall anyone in this
pursuit."

"As you say, Lady Grey," he said respectfully,
before vanishing into the shadows again.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

Fen refer to the events jokingly as Operations Digital Sheild and Digital Storm.

In the early days of Fenspace, a group of scriptkiddies decided to have a contest to see who could be the first to 'hack' Fenspace. Unfortunately for
them, they thought the rumored Fen AIs were no better than the stuff being developed on Earth. The first few days (Digital Sheild) consisted of the Fen AIs
stonewalling all hacking attempts while subtly tracing the sources. As more and more hackers joined the 'contest' to show off their 'leet
skillz', the AIs kept adding to their target list and cooking up surprises. Finally the decided to go on the offensive (Digital Storm). This was a much
quicker 'operation'. In a few short hours each of the hackers were given a lesson on cybercombat.

Of course, the anti-wave crowd immediately jumped on this 'unprovoked attack on today's youth' as yet another example of the evils of handwavium.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

"I'm a little confused on this whole good/bad thing, Egon."

"Imagine every particle in your body spontaneously exploding outward at the speed of light."

"Okay, that would be bad."

So.

Good news: I'm taking a week's vacation in sunny Florida. My parents bought a condo in Venice, FL, and I'll be enjoying their hospitality on the
beach.

Yes, I do mean ON the beach.

Bad news: The laptop I'm taking with me can't run CoX, so, no ninja for a week.

Good news: My job is secure despite the fact that we're losing the account I have been servicing since starting there.

Bad news: they're restricting internet access. Severely. To the point where I may not be able to get, well, anywhere, including my email, from the office.

Meh.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

The "old-timers" around here no doubt remember the New Year's Challenge stories I post every first-week-of-the-year, and the more recent omake that have started to show up around this time of year. Well, this year's omake challenge http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.arts. ... 597f64da13]has been posted, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it...

Quote:Okay, basic 3 anime character teams allowed, standard character rules apply here (i.e. NO BANNED CHARACTERS!)

During some experiments with the master device, I summoned Mirror-Lina and Mirror-Naga and the mirror itself as a third character/item in an attempt to see if summoning items would take up a slot for the upcoming New Year's Challenge. It did, which prevented me from summoning of the random civilians from that particular OAV story. My one regret is that I didn't unsummon the item and put my device in lockdown mode. After I left and went clothes shopping with the two ladies to find them outfits they felt comfortable in, my Challenge Lab video recorded a visitor, one who stepped out of a grandfather clock that appeared in my lab all of the sudden. The audio recorders picked up the following:

"Oh my, the havoc I could wreak with this device. Finally, I could once-and-for-all end that pitiful rival of mine, The Doctor... wait, no, that would only birth The Valeyard, I bet. Something more sinister, more devious, more... masterful... heh-heh. But first, a distraction for this poor fellow should he return too early..."

Upon my return after the shopping trip and dinner (the mirror ladies had the appetite of the regulars, so I was gone a while), I saw what had happened, and immediately unsummoned the mirror wherever it was, however I had not stopped the devious Gallifreyan from causing some chaos. Just like in the OAV, getting rid of the mirror did not get rid of the mirrored people. This time, The Master has let loose 3 individuals in your city, mirror-Chuck Norris, mirror-Bruce Lee, and mirror Mahatma Gandhi. You and your team are to deal with the mirror rampagers, my hands are full with Mirror-Lina and Mirror-Naga.

Deadline will be the end of November when I post the NYC official entry info.

Just a little idea I've had kicking around the back of my brain for the last few weeks. It's not really complete, but there's enough here to get
the idea across.

(reprinted from my blog)

Oh ye who love the rock, I beseech you...

...explain to me the need for concerts to be played so damn LOUD?

So, last night A* and I went to the local Uni's bar, where they had David Usher playing, with Crash Parallel covering.

Note: Tickets said 8PM on them. Apparently, that was the 'doors open' time, as the bloody show didn't start for an HOUR AND A HALF. *$(*@#&!!

The Crash Parallel lead singer was getting off a cold, so his voice was off. They were still good enough that I picked up their CD from the swag dude, anyway.
But to make up for the fact that his voice was off, the bloody sound guy turned up the effects and volume. And then didn't turn them down for David Usher.

I don't get it. I enjoy *music*. I like hearing it, being able to appreciate the guitar, the base, the drums, the accompanyment, and the singer. I do not
enjoy having to plug my ears to drown out a substantial amount of the meaningless, ear splitting, discordant NOISE being pumped out of the speakers because of
the insistance that I not only must hear the music, I must feel it in my cellular structure.

I wish someone would explain it to me. What's the point of having it that loud?

I swear to Fnord, next concert, I'm going to steal some of those yellow foam earplugs from work and wear them. I'll have a better time.

During a recent redside farm the topic swung around to Stalkers... and well much was said. Some of which I acree with, some of which is personal opinion. Regardless, Here is my planned build for a Sichtar. They have been mentioned elsewhere. I listed a basic generic IO slotting for /Nin powers in my response to Opmegs.
If anyone wants to copy/tweak/optimize this build, go ahead. That's why I'm posting it here.
In fact there are already some changes that I'm thinking of making on the live toon when compared to this build, namely Hurdle instead of Swift, and trying to 2 slot it somehow.
Oh yeah, Sichtar might be on the look out sometime for an invite... eventually.
Yes this writeup isn't anywhere near as in-depth as Jelidan's writeup or Raven... why? Is in a rush, and Sichtar is still only a lowbie.
Anyway....
Here's the planned build to 50 with IOs
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Sichtar: Level 50 Natural Stalker
Primary Power Set: Ninja Blade
Secondary Power Set: Ninjitsu
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Sting of the Wasp

• (A) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 28
  
• (3) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (3) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage: Level 28
  
• (19) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (21) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
  

• (A) Defense Buff IO: Level 35
  
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
  

• (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense: Level 33
  
• (5) Gift of the Ancients - Run Speed +7.5%: Level 33
  
• (17) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance: Level 33
  
• (21) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge: Level 33
  

• (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense: Level 28
  
• (5) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance: Level 33
  
• (19) Gift of the Ancients - Run Speed +7.5%: Level 33
  
• (25) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge: Level 33
  

• (A) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (7) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 28
  
• (7) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (9) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 28
  
• (9) Bruising Blow - Accuracy/Damage: Level 28
  
• (15) Bruising Blow - Damage/Recharge: Level 28
  

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff: Level 28
  
• (11) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (11) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 28
  
• (37) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance: Level 28
  
• (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 28
  
• (40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up: Level 28
  

• (A) Defense Buff IO: Level 35
  
• (15) Defense Buff IO: Level 35
  

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 30
  
• (13) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 30
  
• (13) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 30
  

• (A) Jumping IO: Level 30
  

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 30
  
• (17) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 30
  

• (A) Run Speed IO: Level 30
  

• (A) Healing IO: Level 30
  

• (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 30
  
• (23) Endurance Modification IO: Level 30
  
• (23) Endurance Modification IO: Level 30
  

• (A) Harmonized Healing - Heal/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (25) Harmonized Healing - Heal/Endurance/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (34) Harmonized Healing - Heal: Level 28
  
• (36) Harmonized Healing - Heal/Endurance: Level 28
  
• (37) Harmonized Healing - Endurance/Recharge: Level 28
  
• (40) Miracle - Heal/Recharge: Level 40
  

• (A) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage: Level 29
  
• (27) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance: Level 29
  
• (27) Touch of Death - Damage/Recharge: Level 29
  
• (29) Touch of Death - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 29
  
• (29) Touch of Death - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 29
  
• (31) Touch of Death - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 29
  

• (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage: Level 31
  
• (37) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 31
  
• (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance: Level 31
  
• (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 31
  
• (43) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge: Level 31
  
• (46) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
  

• (A) Red Fortune - Defense: Level 33
  
• (31) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance: Level 33
  
• (31) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge: Level 33
  
• (36) Red Fortune - Endurance: Level 33
  
• (46) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 33
  
• (46) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge: Level 33
  

• (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 35
  
• (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 35
  
• (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance: Level 35
  
• (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage: Level 35
  
• (34) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge: Level 35
  
• (34) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 35
  

• (A) Perplex - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 38
  
• (36) Perplex - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge: Level 38
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
  
• (39) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge: Level 41
  
• (39) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40
  
• (39) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 40
  

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 44
  
• (42) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 44
  
• (42) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 44
  
• (42) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 44
  
• (50) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 44
  

• (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 47
  
• (45) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 47
  
• (45) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 47
  
• (45) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 47
  
• (50) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge: Level 47
  

• (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy: Level 50
  
• (48) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
  
• (48) Blood Mandate - Damage: Level 50
  
• (48) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
  

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
  

• (A) Empty
  

• (A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth: Level 28
  

• (A) Empty
  

• 12% DamageBuff(Smashing)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Lethal)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Fire)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Cold)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Energy)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Negative)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Toxic)
  
• 12% DamageBuff(Psionic)
  
• 0.95% Defense(Fire)
  
• 0.95% Defense(Cold)
  
• 5% Defense(Energy)
  
• 5.63% Defense(Melee)
  
• 5% Defense(Ranged)
  
• 10.6% Defense(AoE)
  
• 3.6% Max End
  
• 27.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
• 32% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  
• 3% Enhancement(Heal)
  
• 5% FlySpeed
  
• 76.8 HP (6.38%) HitPoints
  
• 5% JumpHeight
  
• 5% JumpSpeed
  
• MezResist(Confused) 1.65%
  
• MezResist(Held) 2.75%
  
• MezResist(Immobilize) 10.5%
  
• MezResist(Stun) 1.65%
  
• 14.5% (0.24 End/sec) Recovery
  
• 36% (1.81 HP/sec) Regeneration
  
• 6.26% Resistance(Fire)
  
• 1.26% Resistance(Cold)
  
• 6.25% Resistance(Negative)
  
• 20% RunSpeed
  

• 17.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
  
• 17.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
  
• 5.63% Defense(Melee)
  
• 5% Defense(Ranged)
  
• 7.5% Defense(AoE)
  
• 3.6% Max End
  
• 67.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  
• 3% Enhancement(Heal)
  
• 54% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  
• 5% FlySpeed
  
• 131 HP (10.9%) HitPoints
  
• 5% JumpHeight
  
• 5% JumpSpeed
  
• MezResist(Confused) 1.65%
  
• MezResist(Held) 2.75%
  
• MezResist(Immobilize) 7.7%
  
• 24% (0.4 End/sec) Recovery
  
• 52% (2.61 HP/sec) Regeneration
  
• 13.8% Resistance(Fire)
  
• 8.82% Resistance(Cold)
  
• 3.13% Resistance(Negative)
  
• 20% RunSpeed
  

The Riot Force base, such as it was at the moment, was packed full.

Initially, Ifrit had planned on a small gathering of the core Riot Force members before shifting into the hustle and bustle that the Legendary base was bound
to be. And so the gathering had begun. Slowly, people had trickled in, from Sell-Sword in polished white armor that got several snickers from the more
geek-oriented members, to the rest of Ifrit's apartment mates, Sammy having been kept remarkably to a containable level of sugar. And, even though a
majority of the heroes, active and currently inactive off Riot Force's roster had shown up, some dressed up, others not, the base still had plenty of room
for everyone.

Naturally, when Ifrit commented on this to her girlfriend, she glanced over as the teleporter disgorged Rhea, Lisa, and Terrence, the former two in cat
costumes as Terrence was, amusingly, dressed up as an enormous mouse. Sammy's eyes went very, very wide as Ifrit slipped around Living Reactor and Mr. Grey
with Nene in tow to great the group.

"Well, as odd as it is to say it, I didn't expect to see you three here," Ifrit noted. "We expected you'd still be at the Legendary
party."

"And I see you talked him into costume idea number 2 behind the Mag costume," Nene noted with a conspiratorial smirk at Lisa, who merely smiled in
return as Terr tossed a suspicious look at the redhead.

"Well, we were, but then things got....complicated...." Terr started to explain.

"We got invaded by crazy hippies for cruelty to animals," Lisa added, causing Nene to almost do a spittake.

"Crazy hippies?"

"Yeah. Crazy super-powered hippies. Eventually we managed to explain to them that we didn't hurt animals. Mr. Whiskers had to do a lot before
they'd sit still, though. And by then, all of Eva's pretty decorations had gotten torn up by the cow lady and the evil trees," Rhea said with a
frown.

"Evil...trees," Ifrit echoed.

"Yeah, I know," Lisa said. "Anyway, they're still cleaning up over there, so I figured we'd come over this way, see you all. So, how
many of the women here are Sabres in disguise?" she smiled.

"...more than you'd think, but not as many as the rumors say," Nene chuckled. "Still, come in. We've got non-alcoholic punch enough for
everyone, and with Enynn's help, we even managed to bake enough cookies for everyone with a ton of extras."

Terr visibly cringed at the mention of the flaming redhead, but Rhea perked up at the mention of cookies, and Ifrit guided the trio over towards the dessert
table, grateful that not all these sweets would go to waste. Nene just laughed as she said as much. "Careful, you'll jynx it."

"How can I jynx non-attendance?" Ifrit blinked behind her genie's veil.

Nene just smiled slightly.

***

Naturally, that was hardly the end of it. They'd come in a few at a time. Solo or in clumps. But slowly, it seemed word had gotten out among the Legendary
that the Riot Force Base was hosting another Halloween party, and that their base, at least, did not have a giant cow woman shaped dent in one of the hosting
areas' walls. Ifrit was amused by the initial few arrivals, which slowly turned to surprise....then shock....then bewilderment as more and more and more
came through the base teleporter, seating space soon ending up at a premium unless one wanted to use the floor. Miranda and a few other teleporters were
dragooned into getting additional food, candy, and sweets for the party as the base began to fill, as the teleporter bay and invention areas were temporarily
shut down and repurposed into additional lounge space for the rapidly expanding party.

"You jynxed it," Nene noted with a smirk.

"Don't you start," Ifrit noted, looking a little more frazzled at the sudden surge in management of the growing party.

"So does this mean that if you wish for us to have little food, a banquet will suddenly appear?"

"Nene, I love you, but shut up, please."

"Hehehe."

***

Nene darted throughout the party, dodging people as she performed a dance that she thought on par with at least some of Linna's lesser routines to avoid
bumping into anyone while simultaneously keeping her plate of snacks upright. Thus, she was in a perfect position to observe as the new duo stepped out of the
teleporter. At which point she almost dropped her plate in surprise.

"Nene, you look so formal. Isn't this a costume party?" Sylia said with a slight quirk of her lips. The Silky Doll's proprietor and leader of
the Knight Sabres(even if almost none of the Sabres here would recognize her as such) was dressed from head to toe in an elaborate replica of a European
nobleman's fashion from some earlier century. A black tunic with gold embroidered edges extended down to mid thigh over black silk trousers that were
complemented by what Nene could swear were authentic leather boots with slight fur trim in the interior visible. A stark white neckerchief was tied about her
neck as a collar, hanging down elegantly with a single ruby stud in the middle. Over this was a dark black greatcoat, the interior trimmed in red, embroidered
with similarly red flowing patterns that were echoed by the long, forearm length red cuffs that came just short of Sylia's elbows. Completing the ensemble
was a long, flowing black cape with matching red interior, a length of golden cord holding it about her shoulders, the collar flaring up behind her head in a
very old West European manner. Sylia herself was impeccably groomed as ever, every hair in place, though her makeup was a touch more pale than Nene remembered.

But more startling was her companion for the evening. The gown was resplendent in white silk, its neck dipping daringly below the bustline as sheer fabric
interwove with the flower patterns to give tantalizingly clear yet brief glances at the skin beneath. Elegant, understated jewelery adorned her wrists as well
as a single white silk collar that extended about her neck, complemented by a slender golden necklace. As with Sylia, her skin was pale, but her lips were
vibrant red with lipstick and artful application of additional makeup drew attention to her piercing red eyes. It was those unique eyes, which Nene knew to be
natural rather than contacts, that clued the red Knight Sabre into the fact that she was looking at Priss, despite the long black wig that extended to her
midback.

"...did you lose a bet?" she wondered after a moment of staring, taking in every detail.

The calm, composed expression broke into slight embarassment, ruining the illusion as Priss blushed. "Well, Sylia thought it'd be interesting to wear
matching costumes. I didn't know she had something like this in mind," she said, her voice a touch off for some reason.

Nene blinked, looking at her. "...is there any particular reason you're lisping slightly, Priss?" she asked.

Priss smirked, as behind her, Sylia gave a slightly more open smile of amusement, a pair of subtle fangs making themselves visible to Nene, which had her eyes
widening slightly as she looked at Priss, who flashed her a smirk that revealed her own pair, which caused Nene to giggle.

"You're going to cause people's eyes to pop out of their heads."

Sylia stepped off the teleporter platform, helping Priss along with every nuance and step of a refined gentleman escorting his lady, flashing Nene another
small smile.

"That, Nene my dear, is the idea."
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."