https://youtu.be/vI9u_IeYJfI

The road from Furvus to Caerulus was rather long and paved with indigo bricks. There were many cars going to and from the city today, but Inigo and Azurine remained on the sidewalk, talking among themselves while awaiting their arrival at the blue city.

"So, I believe you mentioned this the other day," Inigo began, while Azurine looked up at him. "But what's this about Libera taking over Ruben Town?"

"You don't know? Everyone knows!" Azurine looked up at him in confusion, and Inigo sighed.

"Look, I've been there once or twice. People were weird, but I didn't get the 'criminal mastermind' vibe from any of them." he said. "Haven't seen it on the news recently, either. So forgive me for being a tad bit out of the loop."

"It's fine, you're forgiven." Azurine said, placing one hand on her hip and wagging her finger at him. "But I'm only gonna explain once, so you'd better listen!"

"Sure."

Azurine nodded, speeding up her stride once she noticed she was beginning to lag behind. "It happened a few months ago." she explained. "Nobody knew what was happening at the time, but people were going missing, and no-one who ever thought to look into these cases was ever seen again."

"And I'm assuming that was Libera's doing." Inigo speculated, which was met with a nod from the short redhead. "How did people find out?"

"One of their victims managed to escape, and managed to tell a few people...but she succumbed to her wounds shortly afterwards." Azurine continued. "Word spread around that Libera had entered Ruben - and judging from the fact that people were still going missing, it was obvious that they were there to stay."

Inigo took this in, beginning to catch on as Azurine continued talking. "The thing is, nobody could say for sure who was a member of Libera. They just had to live their lives and hope that their friends didn't turn out to be in the mob." she said. "When you went there, did you get the feeling that nobody trusted you?"

"I guess..." Inigo murmured, recalling multiple instances of walking down Ruben's streets, being ruthlessly scrutinised by the people around him, with even the few people he actually talked to seeming more interested in studying his character. "I suppose it wasn't just me, then. I did think the atmosphere around that place was odd..."

Azurine nodded slowly. "I guess it's misleading to say that Libera took over Ruben, if you think about it." she said. "They don't control the people. It's the aura of fear and paranoia that controls them."

"Must suck for them." Inigo murmured, sighing and shaking his head. "What, are you planning on freeing them at some point?"

"That'd be ideal, but I've got a friend who lives there, and he doesn't know a thing..." Azurine frowned. "I'm sure we'll get there someday, though!"

Inigo nodded, thinking about all this while watching as the great blue city slowly came into view. He took a deep breath at its sheer size, wondering how long it would take to scrub the streets clean of its 'villains'.

"Azurine?"

"Yeah?"

"When we get to Caerulus, we're definitely splitting up."

.........

https://youtu.be/bNttDQpfFLY

An atmosphere of fear permeated the city square, with multiple Shade Squadees lying on the floor, their shields broken as they struggled to get up, pained groaning filling the air. Makoto, on his knees, looked up at the pale rider in black clothes, whose sole visible eye shone with dangerous condescension, a smirk on his face that was all too familiar to Makoto, but no less unsettling. One man in particular looked up, shivering and refusing to move from his spot.

"The Devil's Spawn..."

"In the flesh, my friend!" the dark mage announced, spreading his arms out as he looked down at Makoto. "I must applaud you for your aid, Sir Dawnspear. Thank you for tenderising the meat for me!"

His voice was gaudy in and of itself, being high-pitched and in clear received pronunciation that made him sound like an upper-class gentleman. Makoto shivered at his words, really wishing he would have phrased that differently. Slowly, he stood up, facing him directly. "Why are you here, Iago?"

"No, Sir Dawnspear, you say 'thank you for helping me, oh esteemed sorcerer. Do your boots need kissing, perchance?'" Iago grinned at him with an overdramatic shrug, which only frustrated him even more. "I don't understand your hostility, Makoto! Libera is my adversary, and yours, too!"

"Once you're done with them, you'll move onto me." Makoto pointed out, clutching his own shoulder.

Iago raised his visible eyebrow at that, folding his arms behind his back before he felt a shadow bullet hit him in the side. Looking where that came from, he saw a Shade Squad member holding his gun out, and shook his head, thrusting his hand out to the side. And, like a bolt from the blue, a spectral, shadowy, giant hand appeared in front of that man, with fierce claws on its fingertips. With a swipe of the hand, four long, deep gashes formed on the man's face, before he fell to the ground, utterly motionless.

Makoto, and many of the squad members, looked on in shock. Death was something they had all seen in person before, but they couldn't completely numb themselves to it, especially not in their weakened states. Iago gave Makoto a completely neutral face as he said, "Of course I will. But I don't see why that means we shouldn't cooperate."

"Because what you're doing is also wrong, and I want no part of it." Makoto added in protest. "You can't just kill Libera members like that!"

"Of course I can! Observe!" Iago grinned cheerfully, making a few more broad arm gestures and slaying another Shade Squadee with another ghastly claw. Makoto tried his hardest to stay calm, while watching as the rest of the Squad began to leg it, only to be felled one by one with the frantic and theatrical conducting of an Iago who was clearly enjoying himself way too much. Makoto even lunged to stop him, but Iago danced around him, making a spectacle out of the slaughter.

Despite Makoto's efforts, he was now alone with the killer, stepping back and examining him closely, desperately trying to stave off the feelings of horror within him. His shield was low, and wouldn't start to regenerate until about an hour. He could never get away in time. "If you kill them willy-nilly just like that, you'll end up with Kotoba herself knocking on your door."

"Oh? And is Kotoba present with us today?" Iago questioned smugly, looking around and gesturing to his surroundings. There was nobody around - any onlookers had most likely run off when Iago started killing people. Even the pigeons flew off, as if to give his statement more credence, with the red one breaking away from the flock to go in its own direction. "Could it be, Makoto, that this unlikely pair is in solus?"

"She'll find out. She has eyes and ears everywhere." Makoto stated, shaking his head. "She's strong, Iago. You don't want to cross her."

"Spoken like the clandestine cowards of Apex, indeed!" Iago shook his head, holding out his hand as a weapon appeared in it - a rapier, with an ornate crossguard designed after a rose's stem, complete with green petals, and a long, black and slender blade. With the sword pointed in Makoto's direction, he continued. "Will you be like the others and run away from this danger most slight?"

Makoto growled at him wordlessly, trying to work out what he should do, but eventually summoning his spear to hand, much to Iago's visible delight. "So, you'll stand your ground?"

"Always."

"Then let us dance, Dawnspear! We'll see just how long that shield of yours holds up!"

Before Makoto could respond, he saw one of Iago's giant ghost hands appear in front of him, and ducked out of the way of a mighty claw swipe. He then saw another hand emerge in front of him and rolled out of the way when it moved forth to punch him. He attempted to close the gap, only to have to duck again when he felt a dark presence behind him. Sure enough, Iago's claws had both appeared behind him to strike from both directions.

Iago watched as Makoto danced around his attacks, wielding his rapier like a conductor's baton as he manipulated the two demon hands. This was all very amusing to him, as the wide smirk on his face betrayed. The two hands vanished into thin air and reappeared in the beautiful flourish of black shadows intertwining, and seeing Makoto's desperation as he noticed one of them hitting him, the fury in his eyes as his attempts to close the gap were foiled...it was simply too much fun. And he was putting up a good fight, too.

.........

https://youtu.be/5-pYuiWoE-Q

Once the two of them arrived at Caerulus, Inigo and Azurine split up to cover more ground, as the former had requested. So, while Azurine went to the suburbs and outskirts of the city, Inigo went further into the city itself, agreeing to meet at the entrance no later than five o'clock. And so began a thrilling day of fighting evil.

"Alright, scumbag, you're going down!"

For Azurine, this went well enough. Evidently, the shadows of the city were where the bulk of criminal activity happened. She encountered purse snatchers, attempted murderers and the like. But with her intervention, everyone in her view was safe, and the police got to do their jobs for once.

As the cops took away her latest victim, Azurine looked on from a distance, proud of her accomplishment, and made herself scarce. She hummed to herself, with her rifle put away so as to not look too threatening, and began to try and sniff out more evildoers.

And eventually, while walking past an alley between two buildings, she heard something most unsettling. It was faint, but unmistakably there. She stopped in her tracks and listened, becoming more seriously as she picked up the sobbing, whimpering and quietly panicking voice of a woman. She peered inside the alleyway to find a muscular, fair-skinned man, dressed in baggy jeans and no shirt, seemingly pinning someone down. It was clear what was going on, and Azurine knew she'd have to act fast. So in a burst of azure light, she called her gun to her hands, took aim and fired at the back of his head.

The instant the blue bullet hit him, he screamed, moving away from the scared woman beneath him and turning to face Azurine, teeth bared and eyes flaming with animalistic fury. "You...BITCH!"

He began charging towards her, and Azurine drew in Natura from her surroundings, her body crackling with blue lightning while she rapid-fired an array of electric bullets at the man, slowly stepping back onto the streets. He eventually came out swinging, lunging towards her with mighty fists, but she sidestepped in the blink of an eye, lightning trailing off with her every move as she jumped high over him, shooting him repeatedly from above before landing on the other side and harshly body-checking him, shocking him on contact.

He quickly recovered, and let her know what he thought of that by grabbing her by the neck and lifting her up. Finding it hard to breathe, she lamented her short height and kicked about haplessly while he leered at her, showing off his teeth.

"Well, what do we have here? A little girl, trying to stop an alpha male like me from taking what he wants." he taunted, slowly raising his fist. "Know your place, bitch!"

Azurine said nothing, but braced herself for impact, the electricity around her gathering by her head and causing her hair to float slightly. So, when Alpha Male punched her in the face, she felt it hard - he was a Prime, if not a very skilled one, evidently - but all the stored lightning transferred from her body to his, zapping him and forcing him to drop her.

Filling her body with lightning once again, she rose to her feet just in time to step out of the way when he tried to kick her. Cloaking herself in a thick lightning barrier, she charged forth, touching him before rapidly circling him and delivering multiple little shocks in a row while his attempts to hit her were left in vain. She ended it with a massive shock from behind and jumped backwards, watching the dazed Alpha Male look around with a look of wounded pride.

He looked behind him and saw Azurine, immediately cracking his knuckles and glaring at her. "I'll kill y-"

"Freeze! Cease this fighting at once!"

And at once, the two fighters stopped, looking towards the source of the voice. And once they saw it, their expressions changed; Alpha Male's anger became fear, while Azurine's determination became satisfaction.

.........

And before they knew it, Alpha Male was in cuffs, his Natura shield broken - with Azurine having watched very closely to ensure that he wasn't hurt any more after the breakage. He was restrained, mumbling angrily and glaring at Azurine. As the rest of the policemen on the scene walked away, one man looked down at the redhead, raising an eyebrow and adjusting his hat.

"We've been seeing a whole lot of you today." he told her, causing her to assume her default, sculpted smile.

"Just doing my part!" she chirped, saluting cheerfully. The man eyed her curiously before chuckling quietly, returning the gesture.

"Well, don't get up to any mischief, okay?" he smiled at her while she nodded in agreement. "Keep up the good work!"

She watched him walk away, humming to herself as she moved into the alleyway, seeing the woman, whose clothing was partially torn, moving away from the scene, mildly traumatised, but relieved that help had arrived in time. Azurine smiled back, waving at her in gratitude. Things had turned out well today, she thought.

.........

"Hey, buddy, need a hand?"

Inigo's day, for the most part, had been a lot quieter. He'd spent his time cleaning up the main body of the city, including its residential areas. This meant that he was to leave the actually crime-heavy parts of the city alone, so naturally, there were different crimes going on in his perspective. There wasn't quite as much violence or murder as the suburbs, but there was a whole lot more theft, and people were generally a lot stealthier than he assumed they were where Azurine was. Which meant he couldn't take his eyes off for even a second.

One thing he overheard as he roamed the streets, however, was rumours of murders in the plaza, and that instantly caught his attention. Wanting to see what had happened for himself, he found someone else and asked them for directions to the plaza. And so, he set off for his new destination.

Arriving at the plaza from the top of a building, he was met with a scene that he had been bracing himself for, but that didn't make it any less shocking. He saw the bodies of suited men - a sight which he had learned to associate with Libera if said men were alive - and a figure in all black, cackling and waving a rapier around. Iago, without a doubt. These men had been from Libera, so no wonder Iago killed them. But his focus quickly left the departed gangsters as he noticed just who Iago was fighting. As he laid his eyes on the man in white, he heard a loud, heavy heartbeat ringing in his head.

https://youtu.be/eZp6TSMW7i4

He couldn't help but see the boy whose eyes he had met in a split second that day. The one whose world he had shattered without a lick of reservation or remorse. And now, that boy was fighting for his life, and he wondered if that desperate look in his eyes was the same one he bore all those years ago.

It filled him with guilt beyond guilt, and thoughts of that day swam around in his mind; the feelings of emptiness he felt back then, and his current wellspring of remorse, they all combined to form one large notion that stuck out among the chaos in his head:

"I can't let him die."

And it was on this notion that he acted. Pulling out his cane, he covered it in a pale purple glow and let go, it floating in front of him while he surveyed the scene, preparing to spring into action. Controlling the cane with his mind, he pointed it at Iago and hurled it, before jumping after it.

Iago, meanwhile, was having a blast, conducting the chaos with his arms while creating multiple phantoms to strike Makoto in succession. First, it was the claws, then a barrage of fists, a foot to stomp on him from above, and then a set of jaws to devour him from below. Knowing that Makoto didn't have the ability to strike back only made him more gleeful. Just as he prepared to nail him with a pair of vines, however, he felt the impact of Inigo's cane strike him in the back of the head. He stopped, dazed for long enough for Makoto to rush in and thrust him in the chest with a spear of light.

Iago quickly looked back to address his assailant, and was met with a flying kick to the face. Inigo landed on the ground in front of him and called his cane to his hand, pointing it at the two fighters. "That's enough, you two." he said. "This game is over."

Makoto and Iago immediately turned to look at him, and as Makoto angrily brandished his spear, Inigo raised his free hand, shaking his head. "Makoto, your shield is low, isn't it? You don't have the upper hand here."

"How do you-"

"When we fought, you weren't this defensive. Not to mention, all the dead people." Inigo pointed out, and Makoto growled, knowing that he was right. "Give up this fight. You don't wanna die before you avenge your dad, do you?"

"Don't you dare mention him!" Makoto yelled, shaking his head and spreading his wings, taking to the skies once again. Inigo and Iago watched as he flew away to fight another day.

Inigo sighed in relief, putting his cane away and looking at Iago, who eyed him with clear interest in his gaze, his rapier put away and his arms crossed as he chuckled quietly. "Are you certain this is the choice you wish to make, my friend?"

"Yep." Inigo nodded without hesitation. "I'm not gonna let you kill him."

"But surely you know, that man is-"

"Part of an evil science cabal, I know." Inigo narrowed his eyes, stepping back. "I'm still not letting you do it."

Iago hummed, studying Inigo closely and giving a narrow smile. "Is this a new recruit of the Spectrums, then?" he asked. "Or are you an antagonist in this grand story?"

"Spectrum. Azurine's in the city, too." Inigo sighed, putting a hand on his hip and looking at all the bodies strewn about the place, feeling a little upset at how late he'd gotten there, but burying that for now. "But I'm here, and I'm gonna make sure you don't kill anyone else today. That gonna be a problem?"

"In excelsis, my invaluable intimate! I know I appear most idiosyncratic, but fear not, for in front of you is an individual most ingenuous!" Iago placed a hand on his chest, gesturing grandly while he gradually stepped towards Inigo.

"What?"

"Inspect, and you shall identify only integrity, no infamies inferable to this identity!"

"You just killed people, is that an 'infamy'?"

Iago shrugged at that, shaking his head slowly. "I pursue only an independent intent; interitus! For if these infractors were invalidated in an instant, would our lives not be improved?" he said, causing Inigo to quirk an eyebrow and rapidly decipher what he was saying. "These impious fiends must be impeded, and no inroad can outvie the infliction that is Libera! Someone must be inclined to intrude, so why not I?"

"There's gotta be a way to settle this without this much bloodshed. Libera's in it for a good cause, too..."

"Perhaps so." Iago commented, chuckling to himself as he slowly took a deep bow. "But alas, it would be most impertinent to inquire for your intervention without so much as an introduction, so I must say it has been an incomparably interesting incident in which we have been impressed upon one another, and you may call me Iago."