Four Rune Knights Walk into a party... [CLOSED EVENT THREAD]

It has been a long time since Francois was able to get out and have fun ever since he joined the Rune Knights. Back when he was a student in the arts of blade dancing, or swashbuckling, he would frequently attend parties hosted by his peers or mentor. He had memories of himself getting drunk off the alcohol served for the reason that he wants to find the highest quality alcohol he could drink, causing him to find out he had SLEPT with the hosts. As much as he wanted to lavish the thought of trying to remember what had happened, he chose to burn the memory away and never look back on it.

He had leaned more into drinking cocktails than beer as he's had a strong dislike for the taste. He did know of an expensive brand of beer that tasted fine, which he was going to bring over to the party to share with his fellow Rune Knights. The thought of bonding with your peers seemed dandy if only the beers were still there. As he went to the cellar of his home in Era, he had discovered them to be missing. He sighs in disappointment as he knew it was his step brother, Zander, who took them. He knew full well his personality and knew that he was going to get himself drunk and probably sleep with a few men tonight. He doesn't know why his libido is too damn high, but he perishes the thought and sought his other step brother and Zander's Twin, Cinna, his polar opposite.

He didn't know what to wear for what he knows as 'raves' and he is not too hip to know all about this... culture. Generally, he is unfamiliar of what the cool kids wear or behave. He does know he is to be responsible for keeping his peers out of trouble should they try and misbehave, given that his and the Rune Knights' reputations would be tarnished if that happens. He finds Cinna at the foyer and approached him, "Greetings Cinna! Might I inquire of you to fit me an outfit for a... 'rave' party? I assume you know about 'cool' culture." He said. Cinna was capable of arts and crafts, which also includes weaving and tailoring. His magic was focused ON arts and crafts that it wouldn't take long for him to come up with something hip.

"Oh hey Franz! I would love to! Though... I think your wardrobe would suit just fine. Your casual clothes would just do, but I am willing to provide you some accessories!" Cinna said, and Francois nods to leave for his room to get changed.

He leaves his room, wearing a white buttoned shirt with long sleeves rolled up. He sports a brown leather vest with a dirty white fur hood, black pants, and brown leather shoes. He's had no other type of footwear but leather. He felt them to be comfortable enough for him to move around should trouble be afoot. He sports a silver ring and a single silver earring worn on his left ear. He dons a pair of pilot sunglasses to at least make himself look cool. Cinna found Francois and used his magic to alter some bits of his articles of clothing to make them even more hip, though he found the small rips on his pants to be absolutely ridiculous. Apart from that, he buttoned shirt is altered so the left side of his outfit is purple colored. "I trust that this is all good?" Francois felt doubtful that his outfit would be acceptable as he didn't want people staring at him for wearing the wrong clothes. "You'll be fine!" Cinna affirmed his younger brother.

He left for the city to rendezvous with his peers. His home isn't that far from Era, and it shouldn't take long for him to find them as he is very perceptive of his surroundings. He heard music as he went deeper into the city, and he can't help but bob his head slightly to the beat. Shortly after, he found his comrades and had overheard a bit of their conversation, and was a little taken aback at the woman's remarks in getting 'shit-faced drunk'. Quietly approaching from behind, Francois announces his arrival with some choice words for the woman. "If by shit-faced you mean 'totally wasted and waking up sleeping with a random stranger' shit-faced, then by all means, I am all too ready." He takes brief glances at the two, one of which he is unfamiliar with. He did overhear her introducing herself to the other two, and she introduced her fellow broom friend to them as well. Charming. "The name's Francois. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. So! What's on the agenda?"

Nary a minute had just passed after his arrival when Alicia started dashing off to who knows where to get a drink. Observing his parameters, with his arcane sight, he saw the drinks that have been concocted to radiate magic, though it was faint. This gave him a look of concern, however, as these beverages would have a nasty side effect to unsuspecting individual. With the rave attendees being fine and all after taking a shot of their drinks, every one being subjected to a harmless effect, he thought perhaps these magical concoctions won't cause harm to anyone. He looked at Scully, who grabbed a few free shots of different liquor, drinking what he called 'Razzle Dazzle'. He was about to think otherwise when he found Scully transforming, only to feel fine again. It was strange, as those who took the same liquor only find themselves having glowing rainbow hair. Perhaps it was unique in his case, as he hypothesized. He didn't know much about Scully, let alone take an interest to his past and what he is capable of.

Alicia then went back to the group and Francois saw her being subjected to the same magical effects to Scully, except without the body morphing part. What was once a beautiful silver hair was now all the colors of the rainbow, and she looked stunning, as much as he hates to admit it himself. The flustered woman asked if she had something on her face, to which Francois obliged to answer. "No, but I think we have a double rainbow in our midst. Not literally. Your hair looks absolutely gorgeous with all the colors of the rainbow."

Looking at his comrades, he noticed Wren being dragged off to the dance floor by twin girls. He can't help but wave slightly and telling her to "Have fun!". The sight of her dancing felt off beat, which he is honestly annoyed about. But he didn't come here to judge people of their flaws. He came here to have fun. And have fun he shall.

He took a glass of liquor from Scully, deciding to take the neon pink liquor with ice and a sprig. "This better taste good." Taking a sip from his drink, he found it to taste delicious. Addicting even, as it was nary a second before he took another sip from his drink. "Oh! This tastes amazing!" He says as he drank the entire glass empty. After that one drink, he was craving to drink more of it, but he remembered to restrain himself, or else, he would find him and his companions absolutely trashed. It's like he is that one friend at a party who is almost always sober. Or slightly sober. His restraint was short lived as he yoinked a similar drink or two from Scully. Maybe this night, he can let himself loose? As he did when he was practicing the art of swashbuckling. He used to drink alot of booze back then but he has restrained drinking lots of liquors when he joined the ranks of the Rune Knights. 

The other drinks will have to wait as he heard crashing from somewhere near their location. Uh oh. It sounded like trouble. In the middle of the rave party. As a Rune Knight, he is obligated to turn and see what the ruckus was all about. This is a commotion he cannot very well turn a blind eye on just because it is a party and everyone is supposed to have fun. Party crashers are a thing, as he has experienced before. "What was that?" He asked his comrades. Before he could even listen to their responses, he didn't want to waste time and ran off to the origin of the crashing. "Actually, you know what, I'll go check it out." He says before he ran towards the crowd of confused party attendees.

Navigating through the crowd of confused attendants, he went out to see that the crashing came not only from their location, but on another one. Hopping to and fro, he casted an enchantment on himself that made him run faster to catch up to the party crashers. He manages to catch up to see that a man resembling a samurai in neon and modern clothes was responsible, backed up by several slime creatures that are unheard of. The pink flames he saw all around the vicinity could not be put out, and he deduced it to be the swordsman’s magic, most obviously because the pink flames was caused by the inflicting damage of the katana he wielded that burst the same pink flame. In that instant, he decided to make both a spectacle and an example of those who decided to sow chaos in this period of respite from all the troubles in the world, a.k.a, the party.

Fortunately for him, the dance floor was laid out for him as the crowd dispersed, leaving him and his dance partner a wide space for their ordeal.

“Bold of you to make a mess of this place.” He says to the man to catch his attention. It was easy enough to get him to notice him. “And bold of you face against the mighty leader of PL4GUE. If you have come to stop me, then you are welcome to try. I am not one who shows mercy on my opponents.” The samurai responded condescendingly, to which Francois took it insultingly. “How bold of you to assume I would grovel against a mere plebeian like you? Surely you know who I am.” Francois responded, though from his looks, he doesn’t look like your usual Rune Knight and, without his uniform, there’s no way to know his identity as a Rune Knight.

“Then who might I have the pleasure of meeting with, my dearest butterfly?”

“Butterfly? Please. I’m both flattered and insulted. Come, Weiss!” Francois calls out his sword as a small arcane circle appears on the ground, his elegant ivory rapier rising out of it. “I’m more of a… spider. And you, my little fly, ” He says as he grabs the hilt of his weapon and points it to the samurai, “are trapped in my web.” He is taken aback as he recognizes his combat prowess, smirking beneath his ‘ridiculously oversized hat’. This will be a fine duel. “My name is Francois Louvre Morgan. Remember that.”

Just as the music changed into something more upbeat, a magic circle appeared beneath the duelists, with the civilians (or spectators) giving way for the two swordsmen to duel, as well as the slime creatures the samurai was with. A barrier was erected to trap them, casted by none other than Francois to ensure that no one interferes. The samurai drew his blade and the both of them circled around the arena, anticipating their opponent’s attack. As quickly as the first word of the song was sung, the both lunged towards each other, steel clashing steel. Each attack landed and in sync with the beat and rhythm of the song.

Francois decided to disengage from melee and backflipped away to cast a spell, conjuring several blades of magic, launching them against his opponent. Each blade was deflected by the samurai’s blade of pink hued fire in sync with the lyrics of the music. The spell he casted was not powerful enough as he intended not only to see how he fares against his own magic, but to give the audience a spectacle to make it seem they were equally strong. As the samurai dashed towards him, he conjured several blades of magic above them and rained down on the ground, and even then, the samurai deflected the blades as he lunged towards Francois, his sword clashing against his, and the two exchanged blows especially in sync with the song’s hook.

Feeling the need to gain the upper hand, the Samurai ordered his Plasma Elementi to attack him to keep him busy while he tries to land in an attack, a ruse Francois knows far too well as he read from the book named ‘Valor Tactics’. He humored his little shenanigan and dodged the Plasma Elementi’s attacks. The somber melody of this part of the song made his movements seem more fluid. He’s had enough fun with the slimy creatures and spun his blade around and decimating the Plasma Elementis with his magic infused rapier, just as the beat picked up in the soundtrack. The samurai anticipated this attack and dodged it and lunged forth against him once he finished his pirouette, their weapons clashing once more. This time, their attacks grow ever ferocious with none even breaking a sweat.

As the hook came, the duelists’ attacks have been slower and matched its beat. The both of them disengaged after a while, both deciding to end this duel once and for all. “I commend your skill as a swordsman. It is a shame I have to end this duel as I things that needs burning.” The samurai entered a stance, and Francois felt magic surging on the blade. He knows this will be what it takes to end this fight.

And it is decided that the show must be put to an end.

“Hm... Likewise.” He says. While he does think highly of the samurai, it is a shame he did not meet his expectations. The spectators must have enjoyed what they saw, all while some magically capable civilians are putting out the fires caused by the samurai. “However…” Before he continued his sentence, he cast a spell, with blade in hand and pressed against their chest with the blade perfectly vertical. A few arcane sigils appear in mid air. “I am way out of your league.”

In sync with the hook, both of them unleashed their skills and spells, the samurai unleashing a fiery wave of pink flames against him. Blue Semi-transparent thorny vines of pure magic were launched from the arcane sigils Francois conjured, threatening to constrict the samurai and robbing him of any form of movement. Francois simply parried the flame, shocking the samurai and has started struggling deflecting the vines from the sigil. While he deflected the spell completely (although one of the vines knocked his ridiculously oversized hat off), Francois took the opportunity and lunged forth towards the PL4GUE leader with a feint attack. The samurai swung his katana to deflect and trade blows once more, but in his hubris, the attack revealed itself to be an illusion. It disperses like wind, revealing Francois with one of his legs raised up. It was too late for him to react as Francois performed a heel drop kick so strong it knocked him unconscious.

The duel ended in Francois’ favor, or perhaps Francois is just way too powerful. He then dispelled the barrier as the fight was already finished. “Even though I’m off duty, I can’t sit idly knowing that people like you are disrupting a day's respite that we needed from our stressful lives. You, sir, are under arrest.” He says as he tries to procure a pair of cuffs, only to realize he is in his rave attire. He resorted to conjuring a gentle vine to wrap itself around the defeated PL4GUE leader.