The Macabre and The Mighty

Sitting in the backseat of the pristine white car with her benefactor Kasey, Jess could not help but feel a bit nervous this seemed like quite an important event that they were going to and would not doubt be something that lead to even more down the road. As such she had arrayed herself in what almost seemed like a jumpsuit, for her a way to protect those who would try and make her bleed from such a folly. It was a very dark blue trimmed in white and consisted of a few different pieces, her pants were seemingly like normally track pants but made of a much studier material in order for her to not just destroy them from friction when going all out. While nothing too fancy it was certainly more expensive than she was used to and she felt the same about her upper jacket that she wore sipped up to her chest which was covered with a purple undershirt. Her hands, which had the fingerprints burnt off of them long ago, were covered with black gloves that gave way to white bandages which covered her forearms down to the elbow.

Nodding along to her the Polish student would be in a bit of a serious mood, at least compared to most of the time she had spent here in Japan where she was goofing around with Kasey, Natalia, her fellow students and sometimes her teachers. It had been a cheerful and positive experience and the girl would not trade it for the world, such kindness had allowed her to blossom into taking these chances. "Understood Lady Macabre" Jess would say, trying to keep her sentences shorter for the persona she was developing in her head for herself to use as a hero identity to start and mold with.

"Lady Macabre, what is plan?" Jess would simply ask as she looked around her crimson eyes lazily taking in the details as she stepped out of the vehicle her natural sixth sense feeling out even the wind current up to seven meters away. Jess Circe, otherwise known as Tank Girl was planning on being on her best behavior today and did not want to jeopardize anything on a mistake that she could avoid and as such the head that was normally full of such zany wonder shifted back into something she was more used to when being trained to be a child soldier.

Upon first entering the building, Black Hole Sun would manifest himself upon Jess' head and mantle, while they did not wish to break the law about using a quirk in public Jess knew the building they were entering would allow such things and did not hesitate to adorn herself in her closest friend. The crown of thorns was a bit much of a touch but they had agreed upon the rest of the Neon skull design which culminated in making her look like some Herald of the Underworld there to ferry souls between the world of the living and the dead. Perhaps one day she would take up such a job but for now her hands would prefer to remain unstained from such deeds, desiring the aesthetics of metal the mask would evoke instead.

With her eyes now covered by Neon X's Jess would rely upon the telepathic relay that came from Black Hole Sun to function as her eyes in this form, not that she truthfully needed eyes thanks to her natural ability but none-the-less, the girl felt like she looked fierce.

Exiting the first elevator before her benefactor at her behest, Jess would 'look' around the area shifting her head to scan things she really did not need to in an effort to look more like the intimidating guard dog of Lady Macabre. Falling back into line with her fellow female Jess would walk with her as she did not know where she was going and could not always function as a forward herald for her companion. Who this DJ Skullface was, was beyond the girl who just attempted to keep all these new names straight in her head so as not to fuck up. Through the smokey corridors they would travel Jess not speaking again until she was addressed and responding with, "Yes Lady Macabre" in a deep and serious tone, which for her would sound like a low rumble compared to her normally chirpy tones. Tank was a shorter version that seemed to fit a bit better for the setting they were entering into, allowing Jess to fall even more into this old persona of hers which was a lot more serious and a lot less fun and games.

Another Elevator, as it opened an odd man exited who gave Jess pause for the first time since coming to Japan she was an odd mixture of intimidated and filled with anticipation, though the feeling passed when the stitched man did as well. This time the traveling device was even smaller caused Jess to duck in before Kasey again to ensure the two fit in a comfortable manner with the bigger woman in the back allowing the smaller one freedom of movement. The mask of doors would delight the Slavic girl who had to suppress a giggle at the sight and instead successfully kept her air of business demeanor about herself. Another man, in another mask would open this door and address the pair before Jess followed Kasey within the portal that had just popped open for them both.

Just how much money did Kasey have? Was this hers? A million thoughts filled Jess skull as she observed the room they had entered just like every other place inside the building already having a mental map of the places they had gone through on their way up here. Grasping the extended hand in a grasp Jess picked up on Kasey's unspoken warning to her and would respond with, "Is nice to meet you Jay, am Jess but please, call Tank Girl or Tank for short." While the other woman had used her first name, the large muscled girl had a feeling that secrecy was still king here from how Lady Macabre was reacting. Now Jess had to wait to see what was going to be in store for her in the next few upcoming moments.

Nodding as a form of greeting to Setsuna as he emerged Jess would re-focus upon the other two humans in the room, this new man was a talkative one and perhaps he would hold valuable insight for her to gleam. Jess would nod at his words as well, pausing only to glance at the door when he did out of habit. She had not felt anything, the door had not moved, but the habit of following another's eyesight was hard to break sometimes especially when one was focused on learning from the person in question. "Hold...back?" Jess would ask in confusion as Kasey had seemingly poofed herself to somewhere else, though this to was felt by the Slavic girl as was any shift in the physical space around them.

"Well I suppose is rad but is not like they have child in basement or actively breaking law so how could even arrest in first place? Have outstanding bounties? Not sure if this best tactical advantage to take considering location and number, was trained to be Field Marshal, were you not of knowing? Why would of I do something of so foolish?" as she spoke she would approach the man using her height to accent her point of competence in the way that a fifteen year old girl would think would be needed right now to accompany her words that were not hostile but held a bit more firmness to them despite the confusion within the tone. Kasey's warning about filling ideas was good advice but it was content that she already agreed with and thus she simply nodded along content to fall back into silence after shooting down the silly idea of bum rushing several floors full of people just the two or maybe three of them.

"Am aware of third floor in Estate but was pretty sure was not allowed so told Sun Boy to stop snooping, there is secret here as well though?" Not being socially aware enough of the game the two were playing Jess would smash right through the unspoken secret like a fat man unable to stop on his safety scooter from careening into a sheet of glass comedically carried by two men, one on each side. Well this might actually change her opinion on the earlier foolhardy idea, if there was a way to stealthy do this it could be attainable though the point about them needing to have proof of criminal activity before anyone could act remained valid as well as the fact that she was certain the school would be upset to hear about any sort of hero work outside of their carefully set up system.

"Um okay" Jess would say meekly being lead about still extremely confused about just what exactly was going on having a sum total of zero confirmed information to go off of. The mask on her face materialized and a huge shadowy cyclopes would form, Black Hole Sun's shell was now off of her face and standing while she followed Kasey. It would affix it's eye upon Jinos in a silence only those without mouths could pull off, the gaze catching his every movement before a voice would be heard in Jinos' head as he began to open his mouth. 'I don't understand speech can I just pull the thoughts instead of trying to lip read' Black Hole Sun needed permission to establish a telepathic link with someone but could relay as much information as they desired after the bond was allowed. Though said link could be severed by the other party at any time, one would have to be careful of what they thought about when the summon was inside their skull if they held any secrets.

'Why not, we could play Russian roulette wouldn't you like that my dear fellow?' the decaying and bubbling muck of a tone that was Black Hole Sun's mental voice would come back into the man's head with mocking laughter. Unlike Jess the summon was quite rude and became bored much quicker, resorting to toying with others when this occurred as it was now. Upon hearing what followed after and how the man had pissed himself that mocking laughter would turn into a howling gale as the doll of BHS doubled over in unnecessary body patterns that resembled someone who was laughing to hard to breathe, a thing that the summon did not need do at all. 'Like you still do in your bed no doubt' this time the voice would be heard by all who allowed it, and Jess would shake her head in disapproval. "Everyone should be of nicer to Jinos" the large slavic girl would say as she followed her benefactor into the odd room, disappearing from the two others who now shared a room alone. A doll that could sense everything but really did not need to worry about anything and a squishy, fleshy human, what a wonderful pair, it was a power dynamic the summon would no doubt abuse as he was so unused to it.

Was this a recording studio? Oh god....Kasey did not expect her to sing did she? No. She would refuse no matter what, the girl would rather try to claw her way out with her fingernails than to sing and expose her horrible voice to the world. Hoping against hope that she was wrong Jess would flinch as she saw the set up but still wait patiently for Kasey to regard her again.

Much like one's own personal obstacles eating ribs should be done all at once, rushed and with a wild frenzied pace that allows for no regrets in the moment. Simply push yourself past your fears and make sure not to choke on the bones.

The bubbling tar of laughter would erupt in the minds of those left in the room in response to the playful response to playing Russian Roulette before Setsuna, if they would allow it, would feel an extreme focus as the other's summons would form into solid words. Such a nice mind it was, neat and organized unlike the fleshy humans with their chemicals from their bodies affecting their thoughts, it was peaceful just the things that the summon would wish. Nothing so muddled as a biological mind derived of ape origins.

'I had my suspicions, as would have Jess had she not been so wrapped up in her damned emotions.' the summon would respond in the mind of the other and, out of politeness, the man that was with them. So it seemed that it was finally time to get to business and understand exactly what the woman wanted with an ex-soldier, it was not just chance that Jess was chosen or so BHS had assumed and it affixed it's eye on the other summon with more than it's normal apathy. There was not much opportunity to interrupt again causing the next fixed amount of time for the summon to bobble it's head with a nod at the things it had guessed at and at the things it had agreed with. Killing was simply a fact of survival and BHS was hardly surprised to think all villains went to jail, it would soon devolve into some influence and money game at that point, a new way for simpletons to have their trust fund babies instill meaning where there is none to their empty lives.

'Time itself spirals, why would not organized crime follow the same detestable pattern? If you know what to expect you can plan for it and these pathetic humans so oft love to keep themselves to narrow paths. So Kasey plays both sides to ensure something gets fucking done around here.' At this the lanky summon stood back up from it's normal squatting position bowing it's back to not hit the ceiling as it became pacing back and forth and gesturing wildly. 'So, what's the staged plan? Who does Jess 'defeat' and who do we kill?' there was indeed no way that Jess would suffer again taking another's life but her summon was not exactly apart of her and would do anything to keep her safe, no matter what, anything. The lengths that Black Hole Sun would go to ensure Jess' happiness were unknown and it was like peering into the depths of space and wondering where exactly the edge was. This information would not pass to Jess at all as she was in the recording booth, safe and secure from the filthy work that her summon had a feeling it would soon be doing.

Jess cautiously looked around as Kasey spoke and noticed a set of drums, she wasn't the best but she had some middling skill and interest in the thing. Perhaps she could do that...the thought was interrupted as she squeezed up against a wall following the other female's instructions. "Okay...cables yes" Jess would meekly say as she looked around the recording booth feeling rather nervous but glad it was just the two of them. Eyes lingering on the horn Jess would think back to the mornings she was awoken after scant hours of sleep and forced marching from the day before, "No...Jess can of play drum though?"

No way could it be that simple, no more blood on her hands? Wait...could she finally be what she wanted to be and stand for something good? No longer scarred by her own skills but forging new and more nonlethal ones? Black Hole Sun certainly hoped that the other summon meant their words or they would be rather upset about what they would then be forced to do. If this was the truth, they would have to make sure to get the little thing some form of dried cereal pulling from the shared memories to hearken back to what Setsuna enjoyed.

'This is more than acceptable as terms, though I doubt she will honestly go that far even if a life is in the balance now thanks to another cursed student that softened her more. Still, I suppose that is for the best, if you can change your life you should no?' The summon mused in the heads of the others in the room as it paced and did a shooing motion to the human who wished to smoke, signalling to go do so now before it got even heavier there.

Black Hole Sun nodded, it was a nice way to take care of the competition indeed keeping heat off that fact with other things and so the other summon would only have one thing to add. 'Yes but let's drag this out and not overwhelm her at first, I am certain she can handle it but undue attention so soon would put a damper on things and possibly cause this situation to fizzle out. As much as it would be nice to fix things as soon as possible, the slow burn will be best here, perhaps expand a bit outside the city?' Back to pacing once more the thing was throwing out ideas as it went about the room thinking of just what exactly would end up becoming of this if they rushed Jess too fast and got her name too big. Nay instead it would be best to simmer this throughout the entire time of her time at UA allowing her to graduate with a huge name but not one so ridiculous as to draw questions as to why exactly she was so big in the first place.

- - - - - - - - - -

Sitting down on the stool Jess would watch as Kasey completely secured the door as she would pick the drumsticks up from the set as if a secondary habit as it was. While no professional she was someone who had a middling experience of playing the drums and so she ran through the kit testing each part in a smooth roll triumphing with a hit on the cymbal and high-hat. Nodding to herself and closing her eyes choosing to instead focus on how the drumskins felt to her and how the sticks were exactly extended beyond the loose grip she held them with.

Within a matter of a few minuets she had established a rather hectic pace, taking full advantage of the two feet pedals on the bass drum while hitting the rest of the upper drums with a firm but not harsh pace. She was not that excited and instead found her center and as such the girl fell into an easy rhythm and found her smooth muscle control firing splendidly instead. A few times she would switch the beat up and always she kept a separate tempo for the bass drum as opposed to the set up for the hands which was in a completely different by sympathetic time signature and helped cross the two during the switch ups. It allowed for a frantic but controlled sound to come from the percussive instruments.

'So who's the first target, let's get this ball rolling I suppose and see where it brings us' Black Hole Sun visibly relaxed as the calculations slowed down within the thing it called it's mind. With no actual physical brain to speak of, calling it a mind was not entirely accurate. A consciousness to be sure, a being, certainly but using the word mind brought too many messy attachments and assumptions. English being a language of assumptions already and being the one I must convey in even though the words are spoken in Japanese the analogy must be shown inside the native confines to convey the idea properly.

'And don't say it's chasing this dingle berry around, you'll give the thing heart failure'

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Jess current skill would not let her get more complex than she had already achieved but she was now using the air pressure from her drum sticks and toes to propel the music forward allowing her to exert even less force and as such keep a steady, frantic pace for much longer than most normally could even with that much muscle. Jess opened her eyes and looked at the studio's clock, ten minutes had passed so she set the sticks down gently onto the snare drum and then looked to Kasey and asked, "Well would that be of acceptable?" Getting up from the stool at which she sat Jess would stretch in various ways to ensure that she did not cramp up after being in a single position for such a long time, by her guess she probably could keep that pace up for an hour at least with her current stamina but there was not much point in doing so until she really focused on practicing the instrument again and kicked the dust and rust away from her current skill level. While her Quirk could really help make up for her lack of skill, it had a ceiling which she would need technique in the music itself to break through and so she abstained from something that was only impressive live.

After the Slavic girl finished her stretches she would once again regard her benefactor with a goofy smile creeping back on her face, "It is also of help that Jess know how to conserve stamina in fight to help with music, funny to think that such thing applies." While her attempt was a bit awkward it was genuine in nature and the girl hoped the other woman would appreciate the joke.