AfterMask: 17

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"No way, really?!"

Teora Hao's chibi looked...oddly cute in an apron. "Well I did tell you I can easily learn skills from looking into the minds of others."

"And you're really okay with teaching me this?!" Noah's chibi squeaked excitedly, Sae Ha's wearing a look of some disgust mixed with bemusement as Mano just gave his usual bland gaze.

The Lost TAL rubbed the back of his head. "I certainly don't mind. Lun is busy with Tracking everyone while Jun guards him, so I have nothing else to do."

"AHH TEO YOU'RE ACTUALLY A REALLY AWESOME GUY!" Noah's chibi tackled the TAL's, cuddling Teora Hao and Sae Ha and Mano watched with bored expressions. They were in the building from before, the Valentine's cookies currently baking away in the commercial oven as they discussed the plan.

The Lost TAL straightened up with Noah hanging off his neck. "That and as the incident occurred around here, it's best to stay close to groups."

"Ah, that's true." Noah noted, letting go and heading to grab the ingredients as the scent of fresh baking cookies filled the room.

Sae Ha sniffed at the air. "Ya think those things don' go together, but I think ya done good."

"We'll see just how good once they're out." Noah chirped as he attempted to balance everything - and promptly failed, Teora Hao staring as deadpan as the doctors at Noah's crumpled form underneath everything he'd tried to carry. "Aigoo...." He whined as Sae Ha stooped to pull the bowl off and help him up.

Teora Hao was about to turn on the stove when the power suddenly flicked off. "THE COOKIES!" Noah yelped

"Leave the oven shut, then. The heat will continue as long as it stays inside the container." The Lost TAL pointed out as he withdrew his swordcase and slid out a few inches of his blade, which glowed and lit up the room enough for everyone to see each other. "Now, what caused that-"

A loud boom from outside led them to jump. As car alarms began to go off, Noah perked. "That's the same as before! Teo, come with me! Docs, stay here and guard each other."

"Be careful!" Sae Ha called as he and Mano moved their seats further back into the room; they were well aware that they weren't exactly built for fighting.

Noah and Teota Hao lunged across the tops of the buildings, trying to get high enough they'd be able to see where the damage had been wrought this time. "...Ah. Lun says it came from three blocks to your left." Noah skidded to a halt to turn as Teora Hao bolted past him, the two jumping the gap between buildings easily. They came upon the sight of a fountain Noah and Cho-Yi walked by every day when they'd go to visit Mu Young, the once beautiful concrete and iron structure now torn in half and smashed like clay.

"What the fu-"

[BACK TO BASE!]

"HEADS UP!" Noah grabbed Teora Hao's wrist and stretched his leg muscles as best as he could, shooting forward like an arrow as he carried the TAL back towards the store on Kang Im's command, flinching in mid-air as he saw something glowing disappear around the corner a few streets up ahead. "Dammit, where's that crazy ass bastard when you need him?!"

"HIHIHIHIHI~!"

Noah grinned, looking back just as Jun appeared, waving at him. "Oh my god, I am SO happy to see you!"

"Really?!" Jun squished his cheeks with a happy and crazed expression.

The rabbit Yongma user pointed forward. "Catch 'em! Ox is right up ahead-" Before Jun could respond, he suddenly slammed into a sign, Noah's feet skidding as he changed direction. "Fuckballs! Oi, Giggles! You okay?!"

"Jun!" Teora Hao's expression was surprise, for once, and as soon as Noah let him down he was next to his fellow, picking Jun up by the shoulders. Another explosion went off, and Noah looked back to the two TALs, Jun's chibi expression a pair of swirly eyes and triangular mouth open in a daze. "I'll take care of him, go."

Noah nodded, and met up with a very serious looking Mu Young and a concerned Maru as he took off towards the shop. "Damn this thing is FAST!" The rabbit scowled.

"It won't outrun all of us." Mu Young soothed, his eyes alight with his Ability. Maru had several loops of ribbon hanging from his arms, ready to snatch and trap the Ox. "Keep up, Rabbit, you're fast." The gunman cautioned, their Yongma beneath their feet propelling them forward.

They reached the corner and stopped with annoyed expressions on their chibis. Mostly because the hoofprints led straight into a wall like Cheshire Cat pawprints. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! IT CAN WALK THROUGH WALLS NOW?!" Noah's chibi began angrily stomping his foot into the ground as Mu Young walked closer to the wall, Maru's chibi patting Noah as Kitten cuddled up with Usagi while the rabbit beast recovered from the running they'd done.

"No, more than likely it took off by masking its trail." Mu Young speculated as he examined the fresh hoofprints. The light was a brighter glowing orange, but it was quickly fading to a dull brown as they watched. He stepped back and looked up, scanning the wall. "...Wait! There!" A handprint was at the very corner, almost at the rooftop.

Noah gaped. "Are we dealing with a flea?"

"We can jump just as high, idiot." Mu Young's chibi bopped his on the head. "But we can measure that size and see if it matches anyone we know."

"[I got you covered, Rabbit.]"

They looked up as a red box appeared around the handprint on the wall, and Maru jumped to grab the panel of paper it became. "You just screen-shot the wall...That's 4th wall abuse isn't it?" Noah said in amused bewilderment.

"[DO YOU WANT HELP OR NOT?!]"

Noah's chibi fumed as the avatar popped up."OKAY FIRST OF ALL! You said you'd watch this time!"

"[I couldn't help it. Watching Jun facesmash into that billboard was hilariously distracting.]" Kang Im replayed the clip of said event, Mu Young's cheeks puffing out with a small noise as Maru shoved him in the arm.

Noah squinted at him before looking at the lamphead again. "Okay. Point taken. C'mon, we gotta meet back up with the others and head back home now."

Jun and Tae-Ho met up with them in front of the shop, Mano and the Lost TAL trading sharky grins as Noah snickered at the sight. The bump was gone now, and Teora Hao glanced to his fellow TAL with a slight relief in his otherwise dead gaze. "It would seem this new TAL is intent on giving us the run around." The elder TAL spoke, fiddling with his swordcase uneasily.

"The Hal Mi shoulda hadda eye on things. We oughta go see if she caught 'em." Sae Ha suggested as he smoked.

To their dismay, Ara had accidentally distracted her stalker by spilling the laundry in surprise.

"What do you mean?!" Mu Young looked ready to strangle someone.

Ha Na Rin was hugging Ara. "I'm sorry! Ju Ze ran in front of me and I tripped over him!" The Beu Ne cried, Ju Ze sitting nearby looking pitiful with a dog collar around his neck. Usagi and Shadow freed their fellow and absconded to the kitchen as Jin and Yun poked their heads out.

"Well...At least we have a print." Mu Young unfurled the paper. "We just need to see who fits this hand size."

He looked over as Ignatio called out to him, having returned with Cho-Yi, Ara, and Gamun Be in tow carrying groceries. "Lang~! Rabbit! Did you catch Ox yet?"

"...No." The darker twin swung his arm out, Ignatio immediately taking the invitation. "But we have something that should help. Here."

He laid the paper down, testing his hand first before getting Ignatio to measure his own hand. It wasn't exactly surprising that their their fingers extended past the hand-print. Mano's hand was thinner, but Gamun Be's was just barely smaller than the print, to their surprise. When the others arrived, Hiljo's was the closest but was a bit bigger, Haje's a size too small.

"...It's...not possible. How?" They all stared with depression lines across their heads.

The once-blind gunner held up his hand to point his thumb at Gamun Be. "It's either me or him." Hiljo spoke, attention swapping between them, making Gamun Be blanch.

"B-But I was with Ignatio and the others!" The glaive-wielder pointed out.

Hiljo huffed. "I was with Jenna and Haje. We both have alibis, but we're both the most suspect." Jenna and Haje's chibis looked worried, Chau Yong beside them with a frown.

"Both Jun and Granny got distracted at about the same time, as well." Noah spoke as he saw Kang Im bringing up grayscales of the TAL faceplanting in front of Noah and Teora Hao, as well as Ara tripping over Ju Ze while Ha Na Rin watched. "...It almost seems like Ox is taking advantage of the exact moment our eyes get distracted from it."

Yu Jin was fiddling with his hair. "What if I was right and...it's someone random after all?" He whimpered, Yun giving his 'brother' a sympathetic look and moving to hold the redhead King's arm.

"I don't think that's the case. For now, Hiljo-nim, if you don't mind, you'll be under watch for a bit." Gotoya uttered, speaking for his Master. "Chau Yong-Nim, you, Jenna, and Haje keep an eye on him. Rabbit, you might as well keep your focus on Gamun Be-Nim. Both of you are indeed our best suspects for right now."

Gamun Be's chibi was wibbling 'Suspect?' up until Noah's got a devilish look. "Ooh, anybody got handcuffs I can use~?" Upon realizing the implication, the glaive-wielder exploded in a red cloud and fell over, Mano cackling as Ignatio gave the older Chachaoong a deadpan smirk. Mu Young facepalmed, then punched Noah in the head. "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" He snarled as Ignatio and several others snickered at him.

"NOT the time to be cracking stupid S&M jokes, Rabbit!" He snarled right back, grabbing Noah's ears.

The younger yongma-master scowled. "Oh c'mon, I can't make a house arrest joke?!" As Mu Young prepared to retort, they were all startled as Jun broke into a horrified howl '...AIGOOOO!!!'. "What now?!"

"I LEFT LUN ALL ALONE!" The TAL was squishing his cheeks, looking like the chibi version of 'The Scream' as Teora Hao's chibi wore a flat uneasy look with a sweatbead on his head.

A moment of silence passed before Mu Young let go of Noah to bop Jun instead. "THEN GO GET HIM."

"KWAAAAH! I WILL, I WILL ANGRY ERROR!" Jun cried as Teora Hao tried to calm Mu Young 'Please don't kill my fellow.'

The gunman let go and resumed holding Maru to calm himself. "Is anybody going to do their job today?!" He snapped in frustration just as Lun staggered in through the door, looking severely beat up. His clothing was torn in a few places, and there was a massive bruise on his cheek stretching to his jawline.

"Well, I was doing mine, but I probably should've half-assed it, look at what good it did me..." He coughed at their stunned looks, Teora Hao and Jun rushing to his side while shouting his name and asking him what had happened. "I met the Ox. Face to face."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Once Sae Ha had gotten Lun patched up, he rested against Teora Hao's shoulder, Jun hugging him protectively. "It was literally an Ox. The big form of one, anyway. I couldn't see inside it because the moment I saw it, it saw me as well, and attacked me. But then it fled rather quickly."

Noah stared hard at the image of a glowing animal bodychecking Lun in the chest hard, Kang Im munching popcorn as it played in the mirror like a film. Jin and Yun looked horrified to see the image, the redhead looking over to Lun. Jun wept as he nuzzled his fellow, the emotionless TAL receiving the attention with the air of someone who was used to Jun's over-dramatic tendencies. "I'm so sorry I left, Luuuuuun! I felt that Teo and Rabbit Error needed me!" His head was patted as Lun assured him he was fine.

"So...It's not one of us? Well, if that's the case, we can all rest assured right?" Gamun Be put forth.

Noah sighed. "Rest assured? One of the toughest TALs just got bodyslammed out of commission. If the Ox is strong enough to do that-"

"Then rest assured we WILL be taking this as a personal blow." Teora Hao didn't look happy as Lun gingerly rubbed his side, Jun whining and clinging to Lun's middle. "We'll heal quickly. But now I've more incentive to be after the Ox."

The rabbit frowned at him. "Just remember, the Ox IS a TAL. We need them on our side."

"...Then I suppose subduing is the best we can do." The elder Lost TAL sighed, before his chibi glanced at Noah. "By the way, we didn't get to that, yet. Shall we tonight then?"

The rabbit flinched and tried to perk up. "Oh! Right! Heroboy, Boss, I've got something for you to try." As he turned to Usagi to pull out the tin with the cookies in it, Ignatio kept his eyes on Gamun Be. The glaive-wielder was staring at Noah with a frown, though the rabbit himself didn't seem to notice as he whined to Teora Hao about being sorry they'd wasted time.

"He seems to be getting upset, you know..."

Noah sighed as he stretched in the kitchen, Teora Hao showing him how to use the molds they had. "I know but...I really want this to be a surprise for him. I've never made things like this before." Ignatio was mixing up an enormous batch of the recipe after having them taste-tested under the pretense of the cookies being for the restaurant.

"The deadline's soon. Are ya sure we'll be able to make it?" Sae Ha raised, munching on a green tea shortbread as Mano performed 'autopsy' on a sumo wrestler made of dough the bug yongma-master had made for him.

As he followed the TAL's directions, Noah kept up the conversation. "I'll do my best. These are a bit simple, after all. It was a good idea to go with different fillings." The scent of chocolate was heavy in the air, and Teora Hao paused every so often to close his eyes and breathe in, clearly enjoying the atmosphere. "But even so, this whole Ox deal..."

"[You know, I think it's your Heroboy.]"

A clatter, but more because that was what he had to do and not his wide-eyed shock at Kang Im who'd suddenly popped in, dressed like a modern nurse and earning a look of bemusement from Mano.

"[What? It's fairly obvious isn't it?]" The avatar handed Mano a tiny surgical saw, the maniac snorting as he spun the plastic blade with his finger. Kang Im leaned their elbow on the table, waving their other hand about in vague gesturing. "[Though how he's slipping away from everyone's watch is a little confusing. He's anything but suave or slick.]"

Noah's chibi had hearts around him. "Well that's part of his charm. The way he gets so flustered makes my heart pound."

"Focus, ya hornball." Sae Ha deadpanned with a grimace. "We needa catch him while he's the Ox so we can safely secure him where he can't hurt anyone. But the fact that he managed to do that to Duk Dali is a bit worrisome. That guy was already a TAL, and a pretty strong one at that." The Sun Bi recalled the fight against Mir, Lun's abilities holding against the emerging Rooster's power.

Kang Im and Noah both glanced at the wall, seeing not plaster but a view of Jin's house, where Lun was currently out like a light while resting his head on Jun's lap, the Bul Chae TAL surprisingly still for his fellow. It was odd to see Jun NOT hyper, for once.

Noah paused before he wickedly smirked, the others already wearing sweatdrops. "If he needs a body to tackle he can have mi-"

"Finish that sentence and I'm stuffing YOU in the oven NEXT." Mano threatened.

Ignatio sighed as Noah clung to his back in fright. 'I don't want to fight him though...It was hard enough fighting Lang. Maybe we will be lucky and we'll be able to talk him down like Rabbit did with that student...I hope.'