Just Friends?

"Just some help finding Suki's mom." Torin spoke up. "The person who left was Christine's dad. What happened on your end? I heard some of you guys ended up fighting that Oni leader."

Abraxus frowns at the news about why Christine's father had left "So you've lost confidence in our abilities to find your mother, huh?" he asks "That's fine." he grumbles as he heads inside.

Joyce comes jogging out "Dad! You're here at last!" she says as she comes to a stop "This is Hiroshi and this is Suki. It's her dad that you'll be asked to take to safety." she says.

Julius nods "That's fine. I assume that he's been informed about what's going on?" he asks Suki.

The young Saiyan freezes "Um...Not exactly..." she mumbles "I suppose I should probably tell him what's going on." she says as she mousys back inside, following Mad and Shadow.

Shadow looks over to Torin "The creature we fought wasn't an Oni. It was..." he looks over to Mad as he heads to the dungeon "A foreshadow...of things to come." he says in a low tone.

Hiroshi nodded a bit. "Yeah. The Oni woman mentioned they were something else, but she never got to finish."

"We'll, that's great." Torin mumbled.
* *
In the mean time Camlo headed to her own private room to get some much needed space. It wasn't like Harlan's dungeon and it was Very small just a bunch of books, a table and a few other things. It seemed things with Christine and Harlan were progressing..somewhat. Harlan really didn't react to her comment but he must have been fine with it with how he acted.

It was better this way. And while she could be happy for them there wasn't a doubt in her mind when it finally came too she'd be absolutely miserable. She was thinking of retiring once all this drama died down with the council, Oni and everything else. Camlo was nothing else if not loyal to her friends, so she wouldn't leave when they needed her.

Of course, the downside was times like these. Which is why she never interferre or got in the way of Christine and Harlan.

Though when she did retire and put the fighting life behind her, she knew which realm or dimension she was going to live her days. This world really didn't need her.

Shadow frowns "You mean the one I took out before she could attack you?" he asks. It seems like Shadow was under the impression that Blader and Hiroshi were about to fight.

"If you two Weren't fighting, then what exactly were you guys doing? Passing the time with idle chit-chat?" he asks, sounding a bit miffed.

Harlan frowns now "If that's the case, then we need to get her back! She could be a valuable asset to us." he points out.

Shadow growls something (almost like Mad), then heads off out of the front door. It seemed like he was going to go after that Oni woman and see what he could find out.

Shadow left before Hiroshi could even say anything but there wasn't much to be said.

Torin sighed rubbing his temples. "I really can't wait until all this mess is sorted out."

Julius looks over as Suki and her father come walking over "Here we are! Sorry for the wait." she mumbles the last part "Um, this is my dad. He's agreed to go with you until this matter is over." she says.

Kyosuki holds out his hand "I'm Kyosuki Izumi. It's nice to meet you, mister Belmont." he says.

Julius shakes the man's hand "It's good to meet you, mister Izumi. I assume the situation has been explained?" he asks.

Kyosuki nods "Yes sir. That's what took us so long. I'm ready to leave when you are." he says.

Julius nods back "Okay. Let's get going." he says as he nods to Torin's Cell, turns and starts off. He pauses after twenty feet, because Kyosuki wasn't following just yet.

He was kneeling down, talking with his daughter "I know you have to do this and I've never stopped you from doing what you needed to do. I just want you to be safe out there." he says in a soft tone.

Suki had tears in her eyes "I will. You take care of yourself and Gigi. When we get mom and Takumi back and we'll all be a family again." she says as she hugs her dad as tears fall from her eyes.

She was still silently crying as Julius and her dad go walking off and slowly disappear from sight.

There wasn't much Hiroshi could say but he'd do what he always do and be there for her in support. Without a word, he gently took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Being there when she needed it, even if he didn't have the exact words was one thing he could do. He had done it before and he'd do it again. Never mind a boyfriend, he'd make a crappy friend if he didn't at least try.

She sniffles as she wipes her eyes "I'm fine." she mumbles as she wipes her eyes again. She turns around, not facing the others "Don't you guys have to look for Ciel?" she asks as she heads back in and upstairs.

Joyce nods "Not only that, but we need to inform Abraxus that she's missing." she mumbles as she heads back in as well.

Torin wasn't really looking forward to that, but there really wasn't much for it. Hiroshi decided to give her a bit of space at the moment but he hated not being able to do more.

Joyce knew how much Torin didn't like confrontation, so she pats him on the shoulder and heads on in, then over to Abraxus office. He was slumped back in his chair, a glass of strong amber liquid on his desk.

He looks over to Joyce as she walks in ]color=black]"What's up? Is Suki's dad gone?"[/color] he asks.

Joyce nods "Yeah. But that's not why I'm here. You see, we have a bit of a situation at the firehouse." she says.

* *

Harlan was waiting outside the office. He summons his Keyblade and holds it up "Cure!" he says as green energy briefly swirls around him. He started feeling Much better and more energized as well. He makes his Keyblade disappear.

Christine comes back in "Well, I'm all set and ready to go kick some ass looking for Ciel." she says as she looks towards Abraxus's office "So, what do you think he'll do?" she asks.

Harlan shakes his head "I honestly couldn't say, love. He's mighty unpredictable. He may rally the entire Cell or he may just want a few of us to go out searching." he points out.

Hiroshi excused himself to go up stairs while Torin hung out around the others. Camlo Did finally come down but she didn't really say much of anything, seemingly in her own world at the moment.

"I'm willing to bet the former, but we'll see." Harlan was right, Torin agreed it could be either or.

After a bit, Joyce comes out, followed by Abraxus "I need two other volunteers." he says.

Christine's hand shoots up "Oh! Me! I want to go!" she says, enthusiastically "Um, where are we going? After Ciel?" she asks.

Abraxus shakes his head "No. She may not have and special powers, but Ciel's a Hunter just like us and knew the risks that came with the title." he says.

Abraxus shakes his head "No. We're going after Suki's mother. Like we planned on doing in the first place." he states.

Harlan steps forward "I would like in on this as well. I owe that monster for the nasty hangover it gave me." he says, clenching a fist.

Abraxus eyes him "Are you certain you're one hundred percent? That was a pretty bad injury you took." he says.

Harlan nods "I'm a hundred and twenty percent better and ready to take the fight to the enemy and get Misses Izumi back." he says with a confidence that Abraxus could turn down.

Camlo wasn't fond of the idea of Harlan going so soon but he Seemed confident in his ability and he was usually pretty level headed about his limits. "..Just be careful out there. All of you."

Harlan nods and Christine gives Camlo the thumbs up "Not to worry, me and Joyce will be watching their backs." she says.

Joyce blinks in surprise "How did you know that I was coming along?" she asks.

Christine shrugs "Standard teams of four on a mission. Abraxus asked for two people and seeing as you both just exited his office, it was the logical choice that the fourth team member was you. Plus, you only grab your gear when you have a missions." she points out.

Abraxus puts his gear back on "Enough chatting. Let's move out." he says as he heads on out, followed by Christine, Harlan and Joyce.

When they left, Camlo turned to Torin. "When you have a moment, I would like to talk you. Just not right now right away." It was about her leaving when it was all over, since Torin and Abraxus started this Cell they would be the first to know.

Torin wasn't sure what it was about but nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

As the two were talking, there was a knock at the front door of the firehouse.

Torin figured it had to be someone else, since all the people native to the cell could get into here on their own. So he went to check on who it was at first before he opened it.

The camera was knocked offline during the attack and Christine hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet. The radio in Shadow's office was now working, that's how Harlan knew the others were coming back.

After a moment, Torin decided to crack the door open while Camlo stood a bit behind.

As Torin cracked the door open, standing o the other side, arms crossed and tapping one foot impatiently, was Nicole Schneider. She didn't look too pleased "Well? Are you going to leave me standing out here or are you going to let me in?" she asks.

Torin of course let her in shocked. "N..nicole how? I thought I mean.." He was usually the resident smart ass so he was taken back by things.

She walks in and turns to both Torin and Camlo "Oh, Nicole! It's wonderful to see you again.'. 'Thank goodness you're safe, Nicole.'. 'We were really worried about you, Nikkie." she says "I believe one of those are what you're looking for." she says.

She looks around with a disapproving frown "So this is where you've all been." she spins towards Torin and Camlo "Do you know how long it took me to find you all? It wasn't until I heard that some monsters attacked some old woman's house that I even picked up your trail." she says, arms still crossed.

She gives them both a sideways glance "I suppose my being here requires an explanation." she says after her anger and annoyance subsides "I won the Otherworld Martial Arts tournament for my division. That granted me a life." she explains.

So some things never changed even in death it seemed. Of course other things did so Torin's brief sarcasm came up. "Sorry, I forget people don't act in shock and off kelter seeing someone they thought dead and may take a moment to get their bearings back. I wasn't sure it was even you but..now I'm pretty sure. Welcome back. Harlan is going to flip a table in the good way when he see's you."

Camlo sighed a bit, Torin's annoyed sarcasm was understandbale but the timing..then again he really didn't care anymore. That was just how he was now. "Forgive Torin's quips but we're both happy to see, we were just taken back. Hearing the dead come back to life is one thing, seeing it is another. What's this Otherworld Tournament you mentioned and more importantly, where have you been?"

Nicole thought it best to let Torin have that. After all, it's what he did. She looks over to Camlo "It's a tournament where those participating have a chance to win a life from the Kai's." she says.

"There are many different divisions on the tournament, but only a few grant a life. So the competition is pretty fierce." she explains "Luckily I had an advantage over them." she says with a twinkle in her eye.

"As for where I've been.." she shrugs "I've been everywhere. When I got back, I went back to New York looking for everyone and in the time I got back to just a week ago, I found no trace of anyone." she points out.

Camlo nodded slowly. "There is a lot to catch up on, why don't you have a seat and I'll try to feel you in? Are you hungry or thirsty?"