"Ok then you two." Said Chrysalis handing over the ghouls their membership cards.  "Now that you are official member of the league, we can begin by seeing how strong you ar-." Before She could finish her sentence, there was a loud booming sound coming from down the hallway. Just as she stuck her head out the door, a gust of smoke came into the room causing everyone to either cough or close their eyes.

“W-what the!? Is this a gas leak?!” Said Wild Fire.

“Who cares?! Someone must be coming!! Mare-Do-Well, get Kaoru up on top of the building next to the taco shop. We’ll see if someone decided to mess with us.” Said Touka ordering Trixie to take Kaoru to somewhere safe.

(Roof Top)

 “Are we in the clear?” Asked Kaoru.

 “We should be-.” Mare-Do-Well was unable to finish her sentence as a ring of light blue energy wrapped itself around her and the ghoul. “What the-?!”

 “Well, you have been hard to track down. At least we can finally be able to have a conversation now… Kaoru.”

The girl looked towards Lance in the restraints that she was in. “H-how do you know my name? Matter of fact, who or what are you?”

“A Displaced like you. Mostly, I’m referred to as Gunvolt or the Azure Striker. But you can call me Lance.” The Adept replied. “As for knowing about you, I hid a listening device that was in the card I returned to your friend. I’ve been on your trail for a while now.”

“T-trail? Mare-Do-Well leaves no trail behind for individuals like you to follow!!”

“Oh really?” The Azure Striker questioned, holding up Mare-Do-Well’s membership card for the Vigilante League. “Then you’re telling me this isn’t yours?”

“Trixie!!!”

“W-where did you find that?”

 “Your trashed hideout. Along with some… other evidence.”

 “H-how dare you make a fool of me!! When I get my hooves on you, I’ll beat you to a bloody pulp.”

 “Oh? Interesting.” Lance said. Soon, the ring that was around the two of them dissipated as Lance adjusted his gloves. “Very well, hit me with your best shot!!”

 “You’ll pay for that whelp!” Trixie said as she throw an explosive mare-a-rang at Lance. Lance however, expected this and used his Flashfield to shield himself as the explosion went off outside the barrier. Next, The Adept switched clips to Mizuchi. This was referred to as the sniper clip since it had a long range, but could only tag one thing at a time. But the point in this was to get an advantage. He saw this Mare-Do-Well as a pony Batman. Take away the toolbelt and her options were limited. Taking aim, he fired at the next mare-a-rang on her belt, which began to beep.

 “Oh pony feathers!” Trixie removed her toolbelt just in time before it exploded. “Great, Mare-Do-Well was hoping she could take you out without using her hooves.”

“Trust me, I’ve dealt with worse. My mentor throws wrenches at my head as a training exercise.” Lance smirked. All he needed to do now was hold out a little while longer. “Am I to assume that this is a duel or a two-against-one fight?”

 “More like a three-against-one pal.” Said Touka as she fired a barrage of crystals at the Adept. Lance’s first reaction was to use his Flashfield, which destroyed the crystals before they could even come close.

 “And you must be the companion. It makes sense since I found the shards back in the hotel room.”

 “Yes and unlike my friend over there, I have no problem eating to survive.” Touka’s kagune formed into a cape surrounding herself. “That also includes you kid.”

 “And all I wanted to do was just talk. You can blame Trixie for starting a fight she couldn’t win.”

 “Oh I’m not doing it because of what Trixie did, I’m doing it cause you’re in league with the Power Ponies. And something tells me they’re not that understanding towards what Kaoru did.”

 “The Victim’s son is though. He wanted me to not harm your friend and tell her that he wanted me to help you instead of harm you.”

“I’ll believe that when the kid says it to her himself in person-.”

That can be arranged.” Came a young and familiar voice. A foals voice. Lance turned around to see Button himself standing on his hooves on the back end of the roof. Right next to him was none other than Iggy. The Displaced Dog with the stand of The Fool. He must’ve used the Stands Paraglider mode so the youngling could go up top to where they were.

 “Well, I did not see that one coming.”

The next thing though that he did not see coming was an attacker in a white hood coming down from the nearby building. The assailant surprised the Azure Striker as it used it’s shield to slam Mare-Do-Well into Touka and knock them off the edge of the building. Lance’s response was automatically switching to his Dullahan clip and blasting the punk in the face, causing his hood to fall down. But when the smoke cleared, all Lance could do was stare in shock at who he was seeing.

 “C-cody?”

 “Who the hell is Cody?” The White haired boy replied, drawing his revolver. “I am Copen, and I am here to end your life.”

(Inside HQ)

“Leader, the smoke has been taken care of.” Said Night Dust. “But you might want to look at the news.” Night Dust pointed to the news on the TV, see the humans on top of the building fighting each other.

“Shots fired from atop a Taco Shop in the Everfree Community Mall. The individuals that seem to be involved in the current standoff look to be the Azure Striker and some hooded Assassin’s Steed Motherbucker…”

“Great, looks like we have to move to the abandon factory.” Chrysalis said as she started to walk down the hallway.

“But leader how are we gonna get there? By the time we’re finished teleport the equipment to the factory, the power ponies will be here by then.”

“Dammit, then we’ll have to fight our way out-.”

“Pardon me, but I think we can help you with that.” Said a voice coming from behind them. Chrysalis and Night Glider looked behind themselves to see four humans standing there like they did nothing. “Hi.”

“......I take it you’re ghouls as well?”

“Well three of us are, the one with white hair isn’t one. But where are my manners, my name is Eto and these are my friends.” She said pointing at the two ghouls and human. “The two ghouls are named Kurona & Nashrio.”

“Hello.” Greeted Kurona.

“It nice to meet you.” Said Nashrio who also greeted them.

“And the white albino behind me is named Arima.” Upon saying that Arima smacked her upside her head. “Ow! What?”

“.........”

“Well you do look like one, with all that white on you.”

“.......Ok…...well my name is Chrysalis, leader of the League of Vigilante Justice. So care to explain how you got in here and why you’re here?”

“Well to answer you first question a blue color pony that was eating a taco let us in.” Chrysalis looked over at Sonata who was being choked by Aria. “Makes sense.”

“And for your second question, we’re here to help you get your sorry asses out of here.”

“And just how are you going to do that?” Aria asked still trying to kill Sonata.

“Oh simple really.” Eto’s eyes started to change as a surge of crimson energy slowly formed around her as she licked her lips. “But you’ll get a little bit wet, and you’ll need a shower afterwards.

(Rooftop)

    As soon as Copen pulled his weapon and aimed it at Lance’s head, The Adept responded with the same motion as both of their energy based shots collided into one another and cancelled each other out. However, the Adept Slayer was not going to let a blond haired boy interfere with his goals. He first planned on taking out the so called Ghoul before focusing on the Adept. With her friends and that Pesky Unicorn out of the way and the dog flying off to take the young foal it was with to safety, the only ones who were left were the hunter…… and the hunted.

 Taking aim with his shield, the bottom end of the buckler soon formed a crossbow as a powerful charge was beginning to form, only to be let loose as a powerful beam. “ARROGANT RADIANCE!!”

 Lance dodged the beam as he barrel rolled to his left, only turning back to see how the Ghoul reacted to the blast. Kaoru summon her kagune to protect her from the beam heading towards her. To her surprise it didn’t hurt her as much as when the Hunter shot her in the chest, but it did cause her to be pushed back a bit. After seeing this, Lance returned to the Task at Hand and charged up his Septima to perform a skill that costed him two of his three skill points.

 Seconds later, a claymore of electricity was shot forth in a piercing motion, striking Copen along the chestplate. It left a brutal scar, but did minor damage to the Adept Slayer’s body. Lance himself still couldn’t personally believe that this individual was actually one of his best friends.

 Back home, their plan was to attend Anime Los Angeles for all three days. However, the first day of the event was when he came across the merchant and how he ended up here. If Cody were here now, then something must’ve happened on one of those other days. And to do that, he needed to snap his friends out of this crazed trance he was in.

 “I don’t know who you are, and right now I don’t care. All I do know is that I’m so gonna enjoy eating you for what you did to me at the hotel.”

 “Kaoru, don’t. I know this guy.” Lance told her as he looked over his shoulder and switched to another clip, The Technos clip. “He’s suppose to be my friend, but something is causing him to not be himself. It’s like…… some kind of mind control.”

 “Oh great, as if this wasn’t hard enough. So we just have to knock some sense into him then?”

 “Maybe? I’m not quite exactly sure at this point. Are your friends okay?” Lance asked, only pausing for a moment to jump back to avoid an incoming shield bash from Copen.

 “They’re fine, it’ll take more than that to hurt them.”

 “What about the Unicorn? Your ghoul friend did land on top of her.” The Adept then began to fire using the Technos clip. Despite it not having as much tagging capabilities as his other clips, Technos fired his shots in two separate directions. Lance thought of it as a good way to distract Copen and prevent him from firing his revolver.

“Ghouls skin are as hard as steel.”

 “I wasn’t talking about it like that-.”

 “GET THE HAY OFF OF ME!!! YOU’RE CRUSHING TRIXIE’S RIBCAGE!!!”

 “I CAN’T CAUSE I’M STILL SEEING STARS AFTER YOU WERE THROWN AT ME!!!”

“AND YOU WERE THE ONE WHO LANDED ON TOP OF ME!!!”

“Well, I guess Gravity’s a b*tch in this scenario.” Lance muttered before noticing Copen aiming his rifle towards Kaoru. “GET DOWN!!!”

 Copen pulled the trigger as his shots went towards Kaoru. His intentions for this were to acquire the powers that came with Kaoru’s Kagune form. But that plan failed when Lance used a few tricks he learned from Buu to create a whip of Ki and yank her out of the way like a cartoon character getting yanked offscreen.

 “What is with your friend coming after me?” Kaoru asked.

 “That gun of his allows him to nullify an Adept’s Septima, or someone’s powers and possibly take it as his own. Something tells me that after seeing you use that form of yours to protect yourself, he wants it.”

 “Wait but wouldn’t that make him into a ghoul just like me?”

“Not quite. The character that he is right now is a human that uses stolen adept powers acquired from fallen adepts. Something tells me that with him being with us in a world filled with Superheroes and Ponies, the rules of the game change.”

 Lance was quick to react again as he switched his guns clip again. This time, it was back to the Orochi clip. The one that he used to corner the Mane-iac with. As he began to shoot, a tiny drone the size of a teacup began to fire a spray of bolts that kept Copen on the move. The Hunter noticed the Drone though and used his weapon to turn it into scrap metal while preparing another attack.

This time though, the attack was a lot different. Purple energy formed around the Adept Slayer as several Doppelgangers began to form from his shield.

“Oh COME ON!!!” Lance hollered as he was knocked back against a brick wall due to the rushing attack that came with no warning whatsoever. Kaoru was also struck by the sudden attack, but her Kagune reduced the damage she would’ve taken.

“You know for a so called hero, you’re not doing a good job at it.” Kaoru said to the Azure Striker.

“Honestly, the media took it too far. Masked Matterhorn gave me a week to prove myself before she has the final decision on if I become one or not. Today’s day two.” Lance struggled to stand again as blood dripped from his forehead.

 “Figures those heroes would do that… Hey is that blood dripping from your head?”

 Lance wiped his forehead and gritted his teeth. “Sh*t. Give me a second…” Before the ghoul could do anything, Lance used one of the recharged Skill points from earlier to activate Galvanic Patch.

 “Damn was hoping I could taste some of it.” Kaoru stomach started to growl. “....Don’t judge me, I haven’t eaten anything in the past three months. And drinking nothing but water & coffee isn’t helping.”

 “Question, does one bite help?” Lance asked.

 “Depends, why you ask?”

  “I can heal faster than normal. Which means if you do bite me, my flesh regenerates a few minutes later and be good as new. If you think eating will help restore your strength and help my friend snap out of it, then I’m planning to take any risks.”

 “You do realize that once I bite you, I might go berserk right?”

  “DON’T… try to lecture me about consequences. My partner right now is suffering from nightmares after a Displaced Spirit of Madness broke her spirit.” The Adept told her as he rolled up his sleeve, showing his free arm. “Do what you need to do.”

 “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Kaoru warned, sinking her teeth into Gunvolt’s arm taking a chunk of his flesh off and swallowing it. A mask formed around her right eye, and her centipede kagune appeared along with her normal kagune. She then focus her attention onto the Adept Slayer, and vanish in split second. Lance’s flesh, like he had said before, was slowly restoring itself, but just for an added measure, executed Galvanic Patch again so he was healed. He knew what to do and if the Ghoul tried to eat him again, he could shock her with the lightning that he can channel from his skin.  Also, he knew a few things a few things about The Adept Slayer that Kaoru didn’t. He was quick on his feet, clever and crafty. He saw this as Ravenous Flies began to form around him as he shot his hand forward.

 “FLESH EATER!!!”

  Kaoru appeared behind the Adept Slayer, using her Kagune to knock him straight into one of the air conditioning vents on top of the building. Copen was quick to get back up though. When he ganged up on her before and shot the ghoul, he obtained a regeneration skill that worked similarly to Gunvolt’s Galvanic Patch. This allowed him to get back up quickly and shield smash Kaoru’s face near milliseconds before she could strike her.

“You can’t eat if you don’t have teeth.” The hunter taunted as he watched the ghoul struggle to her feet. A new sound though attracted Copen’s attention as he now looked at Lance, who had unsheathed the blade that Humdrum made for him and used it to cut down the swarm of flies around himself.

“Well, I never thought you would have any new toys to play with.”

 “Cody, knock this sh*t off. This isn’t you.”

 “And I told you before, I’m Copen. Not this boy that you speak of.”

 Lance sighed. Guess talking was not going to help any. Only chance he had now was to-.

“RRRRAAAHHH!!!” Kaoru rocketed forward towards Copen. This time using her centipede Kagune to attack him and her normal Kagune as a shield to protect her from any attacks the slayer had.

 As Copen knock Kaoru back though, Lance noticed something. A new figure, emerging behind Kaoru and her Kagune. “Sorry about this kid, but at the rate you’re acting you’ll end up killing someone.” The figure said as it grabbed Kaoru and slammed her on to the roof with brute force, knocking her out.

   Lance was startled by the new voice. “Kaoru!! Who the bloody hell are you!?”

“The one who’s going to kill you both.”

 Lance felt his blood freeze, but he didn’t. The Adept saw this before. “You’re… The One Eyed Owl. Just what the hell do you want with her? Will she be okay?”

“Hehehe… That is for me to know, and for you to find out little boy.” The Owl lifted Kaoru up from the ground and swallowed her whole. “But then again, you’re in league with the Power Ponies so I might as well take you with me as well.”

 “How about her friend?”

The Owl looked at the Blond Adept in confusion as Lance spoke. “Kaoru had a friend with her that’s also a ghoul. I’ll let you take her if you leave the two of us to take care of some… Unfinished Business. Plus… you have a limited amount of time anyways.”

 “What are you-?”

  “I sent a beacon signaling my position to my Mentor back at Power Pony HQ when Kaoru bit my arm using a pain sensor in my gear that has those tracking my Com-line also track my vital signs. If I’m right, you have three minutes to make a choice before they show up.”

 “Smart kid, I give you that. Fine, we’ll leave for the time being.” The Owl tossed him a card with something written on it. “This is the new location for the league if you want to come after Kaoru, but know this human…  If you and your Power Ponies do come after her to bring her to “Justice”. Me, the Ghoul sisters, and Arima will not show mercy to you all if you try to hunt her.”

 “First off, I’m an Adept. Not a Human. Second, I’m not trying to hunt her or bring her to justice. I’m trying to help her. She sees herself as a monster for what she has become and I wanted to help her know that she isn’t that. Third, if I do come, I will come alone. I want to help her and not have her locked up. Because right now, she’s like a scared dog. No sense of direction or guidance on how to do things right.”

“Fine then kid, I’ll make a deal with you. If you can convince the Power Ponies to see her as a person that needs help, then I’ll have you and your “heroes” train her along with the league. But if you can’t and if this is some kind of trap…… Well let’s just say you better have some fighting experience with a SSS type ghoul then.” The owl lifted it’s hand at Gunvolt as if it wants to shake his hand. “Agreed?”

 Lance began to think things through. It seemed like a difficult task, but not an impossible one. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere anytime soon. “Agreed. But for right now, I’ll let you hold onto her. I still have to gain some more experience and also the trust of the other power ponies before I could convince them of anything. The Masked Matterhorn and Solaria trust me, so that’s a start. But I still have a long ways to go. When I gain their trust, I’ll come to the hideout for a “visit”. Fair enough?”

 “Fair enough kid. Till then, Arima will keep an eye on you during that time. You have a month to do so, and if you haven’t done so by then. Then I’ll hunt you down kid along with your team, and eat you.”

“So one month and then I visit? Sounds fair.” The Adept said. “Quick question though, where’s the guy that was here a moment ago… You know… the one with the shield?”

  “Arima should of taken care of him right now, don’t worry…  He only knocked out. Whatever or whoever it was that was controlling him should be off of him now.”

   In front of Lance now laid the unconscious body of Copen. He was knocked out cold, probably due to whatever this “Arima” did to him. “Thank you. I appreciate your generosity… I’ll see you in a month.” With this, the exhausted Adept used what energy he had left to sense the current location of The Masked Matterhorn, who was halfway across from where he was and performed an Instant Transmission to teleport himself out. Leaving the Owl alone with Arima watching in the shadows.

  “So… what do you think of this… Adept, Arima?”

“..........”

 “You’re right. He can be trusted, but I want you to put him and his team to the test. Words mean nothing if he can’t back it up.”

 “..........”

 “You can beat him and his team, but don’t kill them. After all if he does tell them where we are you can kick their ass when one of them sneaks in to HQ.”

  “.........”

“No, I’m not gonna ask him if his friend is single!!! I’m not gonna date him, plus I have the body of a seventeen year old so that would be awkward!!!”

 “........” With that, Arima begins to walk back to HQ.

“Hey, get back here you jerk! I’m not done talking to you!!!”

 As they left, what the owl did not know was that the part where this “Gunvolt” was going to back up his claims was going to happen sooner than they thought.