#ichisada

Crescent was already standing in the living room, phone in hand, ready to make the call to get a portal straight to home.

“You ready ta go, kiddo?”

Malice hasn’t shown up yet with the paperwork Crow said she would have. Rachael was starting to feel anxious and needed to do something to get ready. Time is ticking and even though they are in Crows compound she feels like a big enough attach can happen at any time and she won’t be able to live up to her title. 

The armor was coming along and she’s been fitted multiple times for that. Nothing full body like Crows. It had more of a..... Roman Gladiator feel to it. Plating on the joints and main pivoting parts of the body while the rest is thermal suit and something else. What was it called? It’s supposed to snap back into place when punctured. Designed for the Splinters, but can really come in hands for being stabbed. 

Like, for example, the chemical difference between Lepricorn hair and unicorn hair, as loathe as he was to go hunting for the strange and annoying Irish monsters.

A portal opened outside of Ichisada’s hideout, and Sixer took a moment to make sure there was no one looking around before he knocked against the door. “Ichisada? It’s Sixer. I, ah -- Maria and Star went on a bit of a pastry-baking spree and asked if you might be interested in some of the extras.”

The magical hair comparison might have been a secondary motive compared to the sparkling concoctions of sugar Sixer also happened to be carrying on his person.

@misfxts

Finding the chemistry lab in Crow’s flying fortress took a few minutes of searching, but Sixer had spent time learning about the different parts of the ship. The minions had probably gotten used to him bumbling into places he wasn’t supposed to be in the beginning, but now that Crow was setting up for a mission, they weren’t sending him questioning looks as he moved through the corridors. They’d learned not to ask why he didn’t wear a mask after he’d demonstrated a spectacular fire breath trick at the firing range, so they let him go on his way undisturbed.

As much as he was a platoon captain, Sixer was still a scientist at heart. And he had a few ideas as to how he could improve the flamethrowers that his platoon made frequent use of for everything from s’mores to burning buildings into rubble.

He adjusted his grip on the machine under one arm -- a flamethrower properly emptied of fuel, just in case -- as he approached the chemistry lab. While he wanted to talk to the inventor and drop the weapon off, he had someone else that he wanted to talk to, first. Getting the machine looked at could wait until after he’d talked about improving the explosive fuel that the minions used.

He had a small sample of that as well, just in case, but he wasn't planning on arming the weapon anytime soon.

There’s a package waiting at the door to Ichisada’s lab, with a note on top written in a cursive, flowing script.

Ichisada --

I’ve included here a written report of what happened when we ran the fuel and fireworks through multiple tests. Overall, everything worked beautifully and we quite enjoyed using them. I’d say you can go ahead and make more for the upcoming mission.

I’ve also included something I’ve put together as thanks for doing what I currently can’t with chemical compounds. Because of my background in research, I am more familiar with the mystic arts, and I know how terrible bad dreams can be. The necklace is made of woven unicorn hair, and I have included moon stones and a feather from a creature known to drive nightmares away. If you have trouble sleeping, this should help.

--Sixer

A portal opened not far away, and Sixer stepped out, accompanied by someone else.

Instead of his brother, however, the person was a girl, physically about 12 or 13 years old, with hair that looked like it had been dunked in pink glitter and translucent pink butterfly-like fairy wings on her back that had the same sort of glittered effect to them.

It was the eyes that made her seem older than she was.

“So, this is all the stuff you ordered…?” She went over to the bottles and looked them over. “I dunno if we’re gonna drink through all of this.”

“Some are going to want to get drunk, so I think a lot more of this is going to be gone by the end of the night than you think,” Sixer replied.

“Yeah, maybe…oh! Grunkle Sixer!” Star held up the backscratcher.

That got a snort from Sixer as Star packed it back up and lifted the alcoholic cargo with a gravity bubble.

“Okay! I think a lot more people are gonna want to get up and sing on the karaoke machine now.” Star grinned. “Thanks!”

Sixer had been walking between Crow’s vault of magical artifacts after another day of experimentation with what lay within when Ichisada found him.

The tone of her voice made a visible chill run up his tails and spine, causing his fur to stand up a little and his hair to puff up. He turned and looked at her with a somewhat wide-eyed expression, confusion and surprise and realization mixing together under a layer of fear.

This wasn’t the fear of being found out, however. What he saw was Ichisada’s angered expression, and the fact that it was directed at him.

Crescent didn’t have a hard time tracking Ichisada to her other work. A bar with a masquerade theme, huh? Ironically fitting for him, considering what he was doing.

The green-eyed changeling hung around for a few days and nights, having drinks in a few different areas of the bar throughout the night while watching Ichisada work. His form was different every time -- an old biker, a young man who’d just turned the drinking age, a woman down on her luck at work who needed a break from it all -- any shape that a drinker could be in, he was in.

Green-flecked eyes watched from the back corner as Ichisada’s other boss leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Hmm...gonna have to stick around, I think.

Sticking around after closing wasn’t hard, but it would get looks if he wasn’t careful. Crescent just made sure that he -- as an old biker again -- was the last one out.

But as soon as he stepped out of the bar, he vanished into shadow.

“Let’s do this.”