Meanwhile, at the Art Institute... [Open]

Burn't to cinder and discarded away was the wire that had established a telepathic connection between the wireframe demon and the sorcerer. Ailill had been left no choice but to get rid of it since Zou had attacked him with it. Left torn asunder when he had seen the real theft occurring. No, Ailill would not allow this abomination to escape with any part of this exhibit. Not after that little attempt of trickery. He would destroy this thing if need be. Not even the fact that pieces of this exhibit would make the curator realize the full depth of his mistake in letting these things be put on display without properly examining them first just so he could save some money was enough for him to let them actually be stolen.

The one known as Zou was not the only present annoyance in this institute. There was also the thief. But what should he even do about him? It seems Ailill was having to play protector of this exhibit. This is not what he expected to happen on this day. Hopefully something good will come out of this for him. Otherwise he's really going to feel upset in a bit.

Ailill was going to have to deal with another of those damn wires again. It came at him and was attempted to ensnare him. The wire quickly coiled around and attempted its grasp upon him. Ailill activated his barrier spell and let loose another torrent of flames to incinerate this wire and proceed along. The flames split in two as they moved through the air. One formed a ring that surrounded the thief to keep him in place for the time being. The other flew straight at Zou in order to raze the wireframed one to ashes.

Now Zou was having trouble. It was time to take a different approach. His enemies could see him, could track his movements. That was allowing them to fight him into submission. So Victor contributed once again, now with another spell. His wires could now control the flow of electricity inside of them... meaning two things. First, the entire museum would become pitch black inside, as the power was being redirected. Second, it meant that contact with wires would be a very electrifying experience, as all the power being generated inside the Art Institute was now being redirected through the wires that were in combat.

Zou's body scattered as the fire came at it, and only a few of the wires got burned. The fire might brighten the now-black hallways, but Victor wasn't concerned with that now. He had a final technique - an echo spirit he had captured and bound to service. The museum was pitch black, but now Victor could sense vibrations through his wires. He could see every vibration in the institute, from heartbeats to fire to footsteps. Victor was using a different form of sonar, and now he could see perfectly, even though the room was black. Meanwhile, Ailill and the Aristocrat would have to see thin strands of metal in dark, murky lighting.

Gone was the need for wireframe eyes. Now it was Victor at his peak. Wires would scatter, covering as much ground as evenly as possible in a very short amount of time. Victor took all his wires from the vents, and started surrounding the two interlopers. To stop these wires, the opponents would have to strike out in all directions at once. And that would be very damaging to the institute they were striving to protect.

Further, each wire was hooked up to the outlets in the institute, meaning that in all directions, there was a field of electrified wire. And contact with those wires would be equivalent to sticking one's finger in an electric outlet, only five times as painful. And with this situation set up, Victor would give the order, and the wires would start lashing out from every different direction at the enemy combatants. There was no solid body to fight now. It was just wires, coming from all directions.

And while they were preoccupied, a very small group of wires would slither over to the book on the pedestal, and try to remove it into the vents. With any luck, the other two would be too distracted by the sudden onslaught to look over at the book, especially in the darkness.

Aristocrat watched as the stream of fire circled him, joining like the symbol of the snake eating itself. The heat of the flames washed over him, small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Seems the time for playing impartial diplomacy was over. He reached into his jacket and pulled a vial from his jacket, the liquid inside, a sparkling pale blue. He popped the lid and flung it over the constricting flames. The blue spread like a virus through the red flames, noisily crackling and spitting until the now blue column of ice crashed to the floor, the shards sparkling like diamonds in the artificial light.

“Playtime’s over gentlemen.” Aristocrat swiftly slid his hand into his jacket yet again, this time producing 2 silver-steel throwing blades and hurled them across the room. They flew in a pair and suddenly split in a Y, each knife flying at a target. That was when the lights fizzled out; sparks from the now literally live wires jumping all around the walls of the room. Last Aristocrat saw, one of the knives were aiming for one of the mesh creature’s eyes, the other was making its way to the forearm of the sorcerer. Arthur figured it wouldn’t get through the armour nor would the knife hurt the creature, but it would get their attention and that was all Aristocrat needed.

Let loose were the magical flames that spread all about to hinder the criminals in their efforts to steal from this institute. Why two were attempting to rob such a small place at the same time was quite the coincidence. He watched the flames he procured tear through the air and start to burn away the wireframed being known as Zou. Ailill had not expected the creature to simply be razed asunder and his expectations were met as such. The strange thing it was dashed away as the flames started to burn it to death. Only minor damage was done but it was enough for him. Dealing with two enemies at once was no easy task. Ailill was not prone to violence to begin with. He was confident however that he could deal with this situation with only effort enough.

He was expecting the creature to strike at him again. The thing it did instead was a clever move to make. Ailill was surprised to see that it was actually intelligent. Wire upon wire were spread about and soon the institute was pitch black. The lights had been shattered. Falling glass could be seen through the darkness as the creature's plan was put into motion. Ailill knew how to take advantage of this darkness too and performed his own actions with it. Where he once stood he no longer did. All that was there was an illusion of him to fool whomever attempted to attack him leaving them dumbfounded. Ailill himself had made seeing him nearly impossible. The landscape was altered through his magic. A bunch of flames were procured all around to guide him and seal the deal on his trap.

There were those wires all around and he had lost track of the location of the other thief. That guy had somehow doused his flames with some strange method. Ailill had only seen what happened out of the corner of his vision. He had been distracted by the efforts to burn the wireframed thing. Multiple things to deal with. Luckily his plan was in motion. Ailill had snuck forward to a specific location and swiftly pulled out his sword to put it to use. A powerful light pierced through the darkness as a shockwave of energy blasted its way through all the wires and put the other two in a lot of danger. This was his greatest weapon after all. Nearby lay the book which was being grabbed by the wires. Ailill took his sword and struck at them.

Ailill would find his efforts to deceive the wires would fall flat. Victor was using his ability to see through vibrations - and the illusion gave off none. So where Ailill would hope to charge past the wires and appear somewhere else, Victor would sense only that he had teleported away. And the moment he appeared, there would be wires all around him once more. Sneaking would not work here - the wires were more adept at detection that he had imagined. If Ailill planned to use that sword, it would be from a very disadvantaged position, against wires that were all around him, and moving with incredible speed to try to ensnare him and subdue him.

The effects of Victor's spells were at full strength for just a while longer - contact with a wire at any surface would electrocute the enemy as well as cut into them as though they were touching the blade of a running chainsaw.

As for the Aristocrat... he seemed not to notice the wires that surrounded him earlier. Which meant he would be completely surrounded by - and likely grabbed by - these very same wires. And given that contact with any wires would be extremely detrimental to one's health, he would have to move very quickly to escape.

The room was almost pitch-black, save for the sparks of the electrified wires, giving some illumination to Aristocrat. He watched as his knives flew through the air and hit……..nothing. What he had though was the only other fellow in the room was actually an illusion, a supernatural copy designed to confuse and distract, which it had. The other blade buried itself in the wall; the mass of wiring had dissolved and was now like a pit of snakes, slithering along the floor, walls and ceiling. That’s when Aristocrat felt it. The familiar tingling at the back of his neck. That he was in danger. His Danger Intuition burned his neck as he looked around, the sparks showing that the wires had surrounded him. How could he be so stupid and miss that?! He was so wrapped up in the thoughts of gutting and dismembering these 2, he had forgotten the basic rule of CQC: never let your guard down.

The wires circled him slowly, drawing in closer and closer. They’d shred him to bits in moments. He softly bent his knees, lowering himself, shifting his weight forward. Just as the wires made their death grip, Aristocrat launched himself up and over them, his muscular legs catapulting him over the wires and to the other side of the room. However, due to the darkness, he didn’t see the museum piece before him and Aristocrat crashed into it, shattering the glass, cutting himself in several places, none too serious. He rolled behind the display case and began reassessing his situation. He realised he couldn’t take both of these opponents at the same time. He’d have to choose an ally and then deal with them after the ensuing fight. Aristocrat was insane, not stupid.

He figured that the sorcerer was his best bet. Trying to reason with this puppet or its master was out of the question as they seemed hellbent on obtaining that book, which Aristocrat swore he had seen before, somewhere in his artifact research…….. He called to the nearby conjurer “This thing is clearly more than either of us can handle, sorcerer. But I think maybe both of us……..” He awaited the response, his weapons at the ready for a violent one.

A mighty blast was unleashed from his blade that dispelled all the wires around him and gave him the opening he needed. Those wires that had been anywhere near him when he let loose that energy from his majestic sword were damaged beyond their capacity to withhold themselves. The advantage over this thing was his once again. The lights may still be out causing the place to be shrouded in darkness and illuminated only by the flames he procured, but it was more than enough for him. He looked over at Zou who seemed focused on the thief. Zou may have been clever but Ailill's intellect was nothing to take lightly. He now stood closest to the book that was so desired. While it was not paying any attention to him he fired a blast spell at it while some flames encircled it and came down upon the wireframed thing to raze it.

Ailill turned to the book as this happened all while keeping a watch over the other two through the corner of his eye. This thing was definitely of some value. He could sense the energy resonating from it. Ailill was tempted to take it for himself just to see what was causing this energy. What secrets could this book contain? His thoughts were interrupted however by a voice calling out to him. It was the thief speaking to him of forming an alliance against the wireframed creature. Ailill had no interest in working with this vandal but still saw the potential in an alliance. He was displeased with the obvious doubt from him that Ailill was outmatched by the creature. He knew he could but decided to agree to it anyways. "So be it. I'll be the one calling the shots however. I recommend attacking that thing now. Before it has time to do anything again, and by that I mean strike it down now."

Victor had expended his options. He knew when he was beaten. Besides, he had gained some even more useful information. This Ailill character was violent and unpredictable, but also could make a powerful ally at some point in the future. Just because they were after the same artifact now did not mean he was always to be in opposition to Victor and his wires.

So for the moment, the wires would leave Ailill be. He was free to go, along with the tome, if he wished.

As for the other interloper... Victor had a plan for him too. He jumped. Which is always a bad thing, unless one happens to be able to maneuver in midair. Victor's wires could. It was time to see if the Aristocrat could as well. Almost as soon as his feet left the ground, the wires would form a net in the air. Unless the Aristocrat had a way to dodge in midair, he'd fall right into an electric net... which would electrocute him for only a moment, before a telepathic voice would pierce his mind.

"That tome was very important to me. And it seems I cannot stop that man from taking it. My abilities are limited. As are yours, it seems. I have no use for enemies, however. So tell me... what is it you desire? I can make it happen."

Victor would leave the question in the air. The Aristocrat could provide an answer, or remain silent. Either way, VIctor had no intentions of injuring him. He had made one powerful enemy already. There was no reason to make it two.

Ymir had be wandering through the city of Chicago, leaving a sporting event between the local basketball team. He highly enjoyed himself at the game besides the fact he wasn't able to see one of his favorite players due to injury.

He had heard the city of Chicago could be very dangerous, but he wasn't threatened. It would take quite a bit to take him down and he was far from scared. He was quite interested to see if there was any crime that he could take out. He had Golem and Cryobot follow him from the skies to keep them from scaring the public.

He was walking through the streets until he looked and saw a man with a blade unleash some type of blast. He was quite confused what was going on so he decided to confront them. He pointed at the ground and began to form ice as he slid on top of it toward the commotion. "Hey, what's going on over here?" He asked, awaiting a quick answer before he got involved.