Opal sat on top of the lamp post. Her heart pounded against her ears. Rain tapped on the metal and ground. It was pouring. Her mind raced for a solution. Jasper was just too strong. His lack of offence was compensated by his defence. They were landing their hits, but he seemingly took no damage. At that rate, their Stamina would run out before his. She watched Jasper and Nook fight.

Nook backflipped, pivoted, and parried all of Jasper's attacks. The adrenaline rushed through her. Her mind was completely focused on him. Surprisingly to herself, she was keeping up with him. She just hoped she didn't slip from the wet street. Suddenly, she did. With a misstep from her backflip, her foot couldn't stick to the landing. Luckily, the fall caused Jasper to miss his hook.

"Getting tired?" Jasper smirked.

"Ha!" Nook huffed. She propped herself up. "Not even close." That was a lie. If it weren't for the rain, she would be filling the street with her sweat. Her body was aching for a break. Her lungs were struggling for air. She, however, gave a front, resisting the need for heaving inhales.

Then, her eyes caught Opal diving at Jasper. Nook threw a shuriken. Just before Jasper was able to grab it, Opal kicked him in the back. A sharp metal sound emitted upon impact. Distracted, Jasper missed the shuriken. It scratched his neck. Opal sprung into the air and stayed there. Her eyebrows raised at the sight of bleeding. His neck was still soft despite his hard body. She made her way to the rooftop. There, she tied her rope into a noose, planning to choke Jasper.

"What do you want to do for the date?" Jasper asked as he threw a punch.

Nook parried his fist with her kunai. "I'm not sure about what we can do," she unzipped her jacket, "but I was thinking of Thai." She lobbed it in between them. As it dropped down, obscuring Jasper's sight. Nook rushed in. She jumped and landed on his face with her foot. Quickly after, her other foot slammed down, pushing her off. Landing, she spoke, "Unless you don't like Thai."

"That's perfect," he answered. "How about some rock climbing before that?" He gave a jab. Nook countered with her kunai. Her weapon shattered upon collision with his fist. Immediately, she retracted her arm. Jasper ended up cracking her pinky. "Or would you prefer a movie?"

Nook hissed at the pain. "Why not both?" She massaged around her broken finger. "Why not make it a day date? Breakfast, movie, lunch, rock climbing, shopping, dinner, desserts."

"I'd like that."

They both smiled.
"Sorry to interrupt your planning," Opal hollered as she let down her knot for
Nook.

"It's okay. We're finished," Nook replied as she ran for the rope.

Jasper followed. Nook grabbed hold of the rope first and was lifted up as Jasper rammed into the wall. Nook almost lost her grip from the quake. Luckily, the noose tightened around her hand.

Opal told Nook the plan as soon as Nook got over the edge. Nook agreed. She tagged Opal's hook.

Opal then lowered herself to the ground. She ran into the middle of the street and taunted Jasper. Jasper charged out. She dodged by jumping over him. Before she could place the noose around his neck, Jasper twisted his body and smacked her with a backfist. She flew into the air. With her ability, she flipped and skidded along the ground. Jasper didn't give her time to recover. He rammed into her. Resisting the pain, she wrapped the noose around his neck.

"Now!" Opal signaled Nook.

Nook pulled in the grappling hook as she jumped off the building. The noose locked around Jasper's neck, dragging him with Opal into the air. Opal then secured the floating grapple. Nook slid down the rope. She readied a kunai in one of her hands. She stabbed it into his eye. A gargling scream escaped his throat. Flailing about, Jasper managed to knock Nook off the rope. Her body struck the ground. Her Stamina instantly dropped. She vanished. Jasper struggled with the rope around his neck. His fingers failed to make a gap. They slipped around his neck from the rain and blood. His other arm strangled Opal's body.

"Let's... see... who'll last... longer," Opal coughed. Her arms were locked by her sides. She twitched with pain. Her bones cracked. Blood seeped out from her mouth.

Jasper groaned. His vision got blurry. His arms lost strength. For a second, his grip loosened on Opal. She took that chance and slipped her arm out. Undoing her red ribbon, she rolled it up, then shoved it into his mouth. As Jasper tried to remove the ribbon, Opal stuffed her hand into his mouth instructing his attempt. He bit her fingers. She yelped, but held out.

Eventually, Opal lost. She disappeared. And so did her Cloud Walker.

Jasper went crashing down. He had no energy to move. His Stamina drained from the opened eye wound. But that was not the problem. Laying on the wet ground, he choked on the rain and ribbon, then died from suffocation. As he faded out, his body discharged the things he absorbed. All that remained in his place were a puddle of water, Nook's kunais,, and Opal's red ribbon.

Far down South near the borders of the raid, Gerald and Heather hid underneath the Skytrain beside a pillar. Gerald's eyes shifted as his status text box popped up.

"Is there a problem?" Heather asked.

Gerald wrapped his finger around his chin. His eyes furrowed. "Not really a problem..." He answered. "Our side is handling the Sirens quite well. We could probably win if one Sakura took on two Sirens."

"If...?" Heather breathed.

"Hmm... the [Wet] status is bothering me," he avoided the instigation.

Heather used her ability to dry them up. To their surprise, the [Wet] status changed into [Dry] status. Similarly, it simply stated that they were dried.

"This is definitely new," Heather responded. "But I don't think it does anything for us."

"Agreed..." He placed his hand to catch the rain. The [Dry] icon blinked.And the [Wet] icon faded in. "What exactly is the GM thinking?"