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| “ | I'm assuming Yin has already informed you. As you know, the Special Support Section doesn't follow conventional investigative protocol. And with that in mind, how about you go ahead and tell us your true intentions?
— Lloyd Bannings
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” |
The Special Support Section (SSS or S.S.S.) started off as an experimental police division in Crossbell State. Initially proposed by Section Chief Sergei Lou as a way to carry on the spirit of his former protegees, the late Guy Bannings and the now-Bracer Arios MacLaine. The higher administration, seeing public trust in the Crossbell Police Department sharply fall alongside the corresponding sharp rise in trust in the Bracer Guild, initially approved it as a PR stunt. The division would essentially function as a peusdo-Bracer Guild, taking on various requests from citizens that wouldn't normally be taken by the police.
Sergei hand-picked four young recruits for this section: Ellie MacDowell, the granddaughter of Crossbell's mayor and a skilled politician in her own right; Randy Orlando, a former member of the Crossbell Guardian Force kicked out for not wanting to use a rifle; Tio Plato, a child prodigy from the Epstein Foundation assigned to the CPD for R&D; and leading them in the field would be Lloyd Bannings, a young detective and the younger brother of Guy Bannings.
While the four of them got off to a rough start, often being compared negatively to the Bracer Guild, their skills and tenacity allowed them to solve multiple high-profile cases. They rapidly became rising stars in Crossbell, with the Bracers looking to them as equals and the citizens coming to trust them. During this time, they worked alongside Estelle and Joshua Bright, forming a friendship with the young Bracer duo. Together, they managed to corner the local mafia, Revache, which was previously untouchable due to political connections. Their investigations led them to face the remnants of D∴G cult, a demon summoning cult that distributed drugs, ran child brothels, and performed inhumane experiments. Usually all in the same place. During this time, a wolf named Zeit decided to unofficially join, taking residence in their building and becoming an unofficial mascot.
They rescued KeA, a young child, from a black market auction, and unofficially adopted her. The leader of the remnants distributed mind-controlling drugs to members of the public and to part of the Crossbell Guardian Force, staging an attack on Crossbell City to try and retake KeA. The SSS fortified the main building of the International Bank of Crossbell, foiling the assault long enough for them to pinpoint the leader's base. They defeat him, earning accolades and becoming heroes to the people. Through the leader's records, they expose the massive corruption within Crossbell's political and policing sphere, creating enough pressure to clean out a lot of the rot.
The team temporarily disbands, taking on several forms of specialized training for a few months. When they return, CGF Lt. Noel Seeker and former gang member Wazy Hemisphere are added to their ranks on a trial basis. The SSS continue to solve crimes, eventually getting involved with Randy's former Jaeger group, the Red Constellation. While they are unable to fully prevent the Red Constellation's attack on Crossbell, they do minimize the casualties. The Crossbell government, now lead by a former banker named Dieter Crois, uses this as a pretext to declare independence.
The SSS realize that something far more sinister is going on behind the scenes, initiated by the shadowy Ouroboros Society. Arios and Dieter's daughter, Mariabelle, conspire to kidnap KeA from the SSS. They are successful, and manipulate her into awakening as the Sept-Terrion of Zero, an immensely powerful being that can rival the Goddess. They further manipulated her into becoming a source of power to protect Crossbell and project its power, convincing her that it would be best for the SSS. Around this time, Noel is recalled to the CGF and Wazy disappears, leaving the original four members of the SSS to try and take KeA back.
They fail, and the SSS are separated for a time. After Wazy reveals himself as a Dominion of the Gralsritter, basically a high-ranking Church knight with nifty magic powers, he, Lloyd and Zeit set about trying to reunite the SSS and expose Dieter's actions as illegitimate; at this point, they add the assassin Rixia Mao to their number. They succeed, only for his daughter to reveal her own machinations, joining forces with Ouroboros. The SSS then travels through the Azure Tree, a construct of KeA's to influence causality, to fight Mariabelle and take her back. They succeed, and KeA is officially adopted by Lloyd.
The SSS are now considered major heroes of Crossbell, and are an inspiration to its citizens. They are, unfortunately, unable to stop the Erebonian military from annexing Crossbell in retaliation for destroying a border fort. The group is once again separated, though they still work towards recapturing Crossbell's independence while trying to spare it from the internal (and external) struggles of the Empire it was absorbed into. They were ultimately successful in using their accomplishments in preventing an Erebonia-led apocalypse as leverage for Crossbell to declare true independence.
Battle vs. Magilou's Menagerie (by Leolab)[]
Prologue[]
“Well, this went really wrong really fast,” Velvet Crow says, kicking a fishlike creature in the face. The knife in her boot extends as it hits, ripping through the monster’s skull.
“I’m sorry, Velvet,” a blond boy says, casting magic that fried an odd machine, “I felt something weird pulling us away and I couldn’t fight it off.”
“I’m not blaming you, Phi…”
“Good,” Eleanor interjects, stabbing the machine to ensure it stayed down, “What were you thinking, having us enter an unknown Earthpulse portal?”
“Don’t blame her,” Eizen says, throwing a haymaker at another fishlike creature, “I would’ve done the same, if only to know where it led.”
“Same here,” Rokurou says, “Plus, we get to fight these weird things, so it’s all good,” he continues, filleting one of the fishlike creatures with his knives now that everything else had died.
“Yep yep,” Magilou says, deftly lighting a fire with her magic, “that’s how we roll. ‘Don’t look before you leap, because it doesn’t matter if we land softly.’ That’s our creed, right?”
“I just said I wasn’t blaming him!” Velvet growls, massaging her head, “I’ll get some food started. Phi, see if you can detect another Earthpulse entrance. Eleanor and Eizen, you know places so see if you can figure out where we are. Rokurou and Magilou… try not to screw things up worse. Please.”
Rokurou and Magilou take up lookout positions as the rest of the crew does as told. They looks outside the camp as Phi fiddles with his compass, concentrating, and as Eleanor and Eizen mutter about architecture and debate. Magilou sighs as a rather delicious smell wafts towards their noses.
“Remember to apologize later,” Rokurou says, “Velvet holds grudges.”
“Yeah, but we need her mad now. Little miss demon lord is way sharper when she’s angry.”
“Just don’t let her hear you say that.”
“Too late,” Velvet growls, bringing them notably small bowls of fish soup.
“Hey, wait, why am I also getting…”
“I hold grudges, remember?” Velvet says, smirking, “There’s a lot, so feel free to take seconds.”
Rokurou and Magilou let out long-suffering sighs as they head to the fire, where the rest of the group had gathered. They devoured their meal with haste, as they weren’t sure when the next wave of monsters would find them.
“Well, we found nothing,” Eleanor starts, “None of this matches any civilization, living or dead, that either of us know about.”
“And these fish match no known species, on top of the metal things being obviously manmade. I’m not even sure we’re on the same planet anymore,” Eizen says between mouthfuls.
“I did find an Earthpulse point!” Laphicet says excitedly, “Or something like one. It’s a bit far, but it’s that way and in this area,” he continues, pointing deeper into the maze of steel and concrete, not that he recognized the latter.
“Then let’s head there. Maybe you can open a portal if we don’t find one,” Velvet says, tousling the kid’s hair as the rest of the group nods in assent. Magilou waves her hand, dousing the campfire as they head off towards their goal.
Meanwhile, far above ground, a brown-haired man kneels, giving a green-haired child a hug outside the city gates. He releases her, both slightly reluctant as a mildly amused trio looks on.
“Be a good girl at school, KeA,” Lloyd Bannings says, watching his not-quite-officially adopted daughter head towards the Septian Church, located in the foothills of the mountains just outside Crossbell.
“Yep! See you soon, Lloyd! And Elie, Tio, and Randy, too!” KeA says, giving the group a cherubic smile as she waves, trotting off to Sunday School.
“Man, I don’t envy the boy who has to face Papa Lloyd in a decade,” Randy says with a teasing smile.
“As if Uncle Randy isn’t going to be right there next to me,” Lloyd says, and the four share a laugh at imagining the scene. They joke and chat as they head to the dormitory that serves as their headquarters, passing through the city while keeping an eye out for trouble. As they round the large bell inside central square, just outside their building, the ground shakes violently for a few seconds.
Many of the citizens are thrown off their feet, though Randy and Lloyd manage to hold onto a bench to keep standing. Elie grabs onto Lloyd, and Tio grabs a fence. They right themselves as the shaking stops, Elie and Lloyd blushing as they separate. Randy smirks for a second, before noticing that Tio is still pale and shaking.
“Oi, Tio Tot, what’s wrong?” he asks, running over to place a steadying hand on her shoulder.
“I’m fine, but that…”
“Wasn’t a natural earthquake?” Lloyd asks as he and Elie dash over as well.
“Yes. It felt like the Higher Elements were active for a second. They still faintly are, somewhere in the Geofront, but something’s… weird about this. Wrong.”
Lloyd’s Enigma lets out a chime, notifying him of an incoming call. He opens it, putting it to his ear.
“Yo,” the voice of their chief, Sergei Lou, comes through the phone, “I’m guessing you felt that?”
“Most of Crossbell did.”
“Something weird’s happening in the Geofront. It’s in a section between the D Sector and the F Sector, though it’s not got a name yet.”
“Let’s just call it the DF Sector for now. What’s happening?”
“The quake originated there, and sensors are picking up a group of five adults and one child seemingly appearing spontaneously. They’re heading further into it, but we’ve been unable to determine anything else. We’re going to lock down the area. Go in and apprehend them.”
“Understood!”
Lloyd shuts off his Orbment, and looks at his companions.
“We’re going to head through the Geofront’s D Sector to reach where this happened. There’s a group of six Sergei wants us to bring in for questioning. One is a child. Come one, let’s move!”
The other three nod, sprinting towards Orchis Tower to enter the Geofront there.
Ch. 1[]
The sounds of footsteps on metal swell and overlap, eventually coming to a halt as the six members of Magilou’s Menagerie halt inside a corridor in the Geofront, a stairwell leading up to their right and down to their left. They look up warily at the four people standing on the crosswalk above them, the girl and woman clearly holding spells in reserve while one man has what looked to be a halberd drawn.
“By the order of the Crossbell Police Department, stand down! We have been given a warrant to take you in for questioning, as well as to lock this area down,” Lloyd says, holding out his badge. The six look at each other in confusion, muttering amongst themselves.
“What’s a Crossbell?” Rokurou asks.
“Doesn’t matter,” Velvet says, “If they ‘lock down’ this area, there’s no chance of us getting to the Earthpulse and back home. Three of us go down, three up. Eizen, you can detect Earthpulse points, right?”
“Not half as good as the kid, but if we’re this close…”
“Good. You take point. Go!”
Velvet kicks Magilou in the stomach, sending the ornery witch flying into Rokurou’s grasp. He slings her over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes, and they jump out of the way of a massive iceberg forming above them, followed by a lightning strike.
“This is Witch Abuse!” Magilou wails as they separate, a bullet from Elie’s gun chasing them but glancing off of Eizen’s bracelet.
“They’re getting away!” Randy says.
“I know. You and Tio, take the ones that ran down. They’re physically focused. Elie and I will take the other group. Let’s go!”
They split up as ordered, with Lloyd and Elie sprinting to their left. They come upon their foes quickly in a rectangular room, with crates and leftover construction equipment strewn near the walls. Sparing a glance at the orange circle floating in the air a few selge1 in front of them, Lloyd leaps in as Elie charges up a spell. He spins, striking Eleanor, Velvet, and Phi and drawing them towards him. He spins his tonfa, sending Eleanor’s riposte to the floor while knocking Velvet’s above his head.
A lightning-filled tornado buffets the trio, Lloyd placed exactly in its eye. A green shell surrounds him as it rages, which shatters at a well-placed shot from Elie. The momentary burst of speed allows him to circle behind Laphicet, putting him between his quarry and their goal. The maneuver also let him dodge a dark portal with grasping tendrils, which opened directly under where he had just been standing.
As it fades, he strikes the child in the back, sending Phi stumbling forwards. He leans back, dodging another slash from Velvet. He steps in, striking her square in the stomach. Eleanor tries to strike, but her body seizes as a bolt of lightning passes through her. She charges a Malak Arte, her body not listening to her otherwise, only to grunt in pain as Lloyd slams his tonfa into her shoulder. She feels her magic cut off with the blow as he goes to repeat the maneuver on Phi, who was trying to heal her.
The blow stops the spell, and the child faints, crashing to the metal floor. Lloyd cringes slightly at having harmed someone who looked no older than KeA, and Eleanor and Velvet take the opportunity to disengage and head towards Elie. Lloyd, having none of it, spins rapidly to draw them back in, hitting both women. And the unconscious child, too. Velvet snarls, not used to being so effectively halted, and they attack him again.
Randy and Tio halt on a narrow catwalk, facing two men, one with a woman slung over his shoulder. Eizen clicks his tongue in irritation as Rokurou lets Magilou down, the two moving in front to mirror Randy stepping in front of Tio.
“Tio Tot, back me up,” Randy says, tapping his halberd on the floor.
“Oh, look, the cops are here to pick you up for…” Magilou starts
“You’ve already killed the ‘Witch Abuse’ line,” Eizen says, cutting her off as he squares up, looking Randy in the eye.
“Maybe it’s ‘Elder Abuse’ now?” Rokurou says, drawing his swords.
“It’s slander is what it is! Spell Absorber!” Magilou shouts, and the glow of magic fades from around Tio, cutting off her spell.
“You know, it’d be a lot easier if you just gave yourselves up,” Randy says, “Those friends of yours aren’t coming to help, not with Lloyd and Mademois-Elie stalling them.”
“Looks like we’ll just have to push past you, then.”
“Fat chance. Catch,” he says, tossing a small cylinder in an underhanded throw.
Taken by surprise, and having never encountered a stun grenade before, the three members of the Menagerie wince as a loud bang rattles their ears and a flash blinds them. Randy charges in, slamming his halberd into Eizen’s sternum and ducking under Rokurou’s counterstrike, an icicle flying over his head and hitting Magilou in the face.
As Eizen reels from the Stun Halberd’s shockwave, Randy twists and slams the weapon into Rokurou’s knee. The swordsman is knocked down, and Randy rises, stepping back out of the way as Eizen stumbles, trying to land an uppercut and moving past him. The cop slams his halberd down, stunning Rokurou before sweeping it up and into the side of the recovering Magilou. She crumples, allowing him to clothesline the still-blind Eizen with the handle of his halberd.
As the flash wears off, the pirate parries the follow-up swipe as Rokurou and Magilou slowly right themselves, only to be bowled over by a pair of ice waves that slice around Randy. He steps back, hand closing around another stun grenade as Eizen vanishes. He hears a grunt of pain and turns, seeing the pirate in front of Tio with his hand buried in her gut.
Randy grabs his foe and tosses him back towards his companions, following up with a slash that sent waves of fire at his foes. He yells in rage, almost glowing red, and leaps into the air, bringing down his Stun Halberd at Eizen, who leaps back out of the way.
“Randy, wait! The bridge!” Tio yells.
Randy gasps, a second too late as he slams his halberd into the catwalk, still fragile from the massive gout of heat. It shatters, sending the two SSS members plummeting. Randy grabs Tio in midair, using his halberd to hook onto a passing cable. He swings them up, Tio casting Adamantine Guard as he does so. The spell protects them as they slam into the ceiling of a different catwalk, falling down on it.
“You okay, Tio Tot?”
“Yes, no thanks to you.”
“Then come on. We’ve gotta back Lloyd up.”
The two pick themselves up off the ground, having long lost sight of their quarry, and break out into a run.
1One selge is 100 meters
Ch. 2[]
Phi picks himself up, seeing Eleanor and Velvet fighting in front of him. The two women were bruised and battered, much like their foe. A circle of wind blows from Lloyd’s direction, healing his wounds as Eleanor turns aside a strike from his tonfa. Velvet pins the other weapon and unleashes her Therion arm, the black-and-red claw startling the police officer enough that he failed to dodge it. He reels, some of his vitality stolen before another healing breeze restores it to him.
Phi, confident that neither Lloyd nor Elie had noticed his recovery, quietly mutters a chant, charging up his magic. Elie’s eyes grow wide as a bunch of mirrors manifest themselves around her, a laser bouncing between them. As she staggers from the blow, Phi sends a swarm of paper at her, the magicked slips turning into chains. As a magic barrier springs around Elie, she finishes casting Sylphid, giving Lloyd some extra breathing room, before leveling her pistol at her attacker.
She pauses for a second at the fact that he’s a child, which proves to be her undoing. The spell completes, and Phi launches a beam of light, shattering it and sending Elie to her knees. Lloyd can barely spare her a glance as the situation goes from bad to worse, the other three members of the Menagerie sprinting in from the side, behind him. Lloyd grimaces as Eizen and Rokurou glance between the Earthpulse portal and their allies.
“Velvet! You got this!” Rokurou shouts, breaking into a mad dash towards the exit.
“We believe in you!” Eizen says, trying not to laugh as he does the same.
“Try not to die!” Magilou shouts, starting to follow suit until Lloyd uses Raging Spin, drawing her away from her goal. A flashbang drops down between them, Lloyd closing his eyes and bracing himself as it goes off. The blast pushes Eizen and Rokurou into the portal, however, as a healing balm washes over Elie. Randy yells as he leaps down, slamming his halberd into Magilou’s side as he lands. The witch crumples in pain, out of the fight. Randy plants a foot on her back as Tio makes a quieter landing beside him, firing off a few bolts of ice.
“Sorry, Lloyd, that was my bad,” Randy says as Tio and Elie fire off a flurry of magic and bullets, forcing Velvet, Phi, and Eleanor together.
“It’s fine. We can take in these four, now that you’re here,” Lloyd says, holding out his Enigma as he channels an Orbal Art, causing the ground under the trio to quake. Phi steps out in front of the two women, creating a magic barrier that protects the three of them. And Magilou, who groggily rouses herself only to find Randy’s shoe digging into her spine.
“Phi, grit your teeth and tense your core. Let everything else go limp,” Velvet says, and the child immediately complies. Eleanor gasps in horror as the demon roundhouse kicks her surrogate little brother, sending him flying over the heads of the Special Support Section and into the Earthpulse portal. She spins on the follow-through, grabbing Eleanor in her Therion Arm and throwing her after him. She hits the ground and rolls to her feet as the cops recover from their shock.
She gives Velvet a worried glance before fleeing through the portal as well. The last two members of the Menagerie look around at their environment, the circling Special Support Section members, and finally lock eyes.
“Magilou?
“Velvet?”
“Try not to die.”
Velvet leaps into the air, somersaulting over Lloyd’s strikes with his tonfa. She glides low on a crest of water as she lands, zigzagging around Randy’s attempt to halt her. She sprints as she rises, heading to the portal. Magilou spots Elie and Tio preparing spells, and grins.
“Spell Absorber!” she yells, cutting off their casting once again. She cackles as the magic surges within her, manifesting itself in four colored orbs that swirl around, colliding in a massive explosion that throws the Special Support Section off its feet, freeing her. She pushes into the air, letting one of her dolls slide beneath her and grow to enormous size.
She balances upon it, zipping through the field and through the portal as it snaps shut.
Expert's Opinion[]
The Special Support Section is very capable of stalling and the likely winners of a battle of attrition. The more offense-focused Menagerie was able to break through before they could get properly set up, however, which gave them the win. They're also more willing to take extreme measures, which contributed to their victory.