Shifters

Team Deathmatch

Silence filled the chamber as auras on both sides were immediately snuffed out after the unknown voice spoke. Confused by the sudden loss of their previously, powerful abilities, the Devourers screamed in terror as various clouds of smoke began to emanate from their invisible bodies. Stepping away from the seemingly combusting enemies, Elle rejoined Josh, halting at his side as she too wore a perplexed expression on her face, pondering the unexpected loss of her power. 

Glancing down at her hands, she threw an accusing look at Josh as she asked, "I'm not sure how, but I'm guessing you've got something to do with this."

Josh, who remained oblivious to what had just transpired, gently grazed the slender ring as the unseen entity effortlessly withdrew its presence.  

Resisting the urge to draw attention to the ring on his finger by staring at it, Josh instead decided to feign innocence as he asked, "What happened?"

"I'm not so sure myself," Elle responded, still maintaining a suspicious look, "One minute my aura was there and the next it was gone!"

"Gone?" Josh exclaimed, sweat dripping down his face as thoughts of him being responsible for ridding Elle of her powers tugged at his psyche, "What do you mean gone?"

"Relax," Elle said with a smile, amused by his reaction, "I can still feel it within my body, however, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to draw on it. I suppose it'd be more accurate to say it feels locked away."

"That's a relief," Josh breathed heavily as his oncoming, anxiety induced panic died down before it could fully take ahold of him, "I thought you'd lost it forever," he said as a sudden realization struck, "Wait, if you've been depowered, doesn't that mean we're screwed?"

"It's not just me," Elle continued, motioning to the still steaming, unseen bodies, "They also seem unable to use their abilities, and in their own domain no less," she said slowly, refocusing her attention on Josh, "Which, by the way, is something even Joana wouldn't be able to do, at least not this quickly."

Contemplating her words after she finished speaking, both were temporarily startled as a solid thump resounded throughout the entire chamber, momentarily eclipsing the pained wails of the Devourers. Searching for the source of the sound through the now rising dust cloud, Josh, who was the first to spot the unnaturally large figure's form, immediately recognized the burly, bearded man that lay sprawled out unconsciously a few paces ahead of them. 

"Who is that?" Elle asked as the dust settled, subconsciously trying and failing to draw upon her aura. 

"That's Raizen's true form," Josh revealed, instantly recognizing the face he'd seen mere moments ago, "Looks like whatever power was keeping him invisible wore off," Josh trailed off as a sudden thought graced his mind, "Wait, doesn't that mean-!"

Turning to face the now smoldering bodies of the Devourers, Josh stepped back in surprise as, the previously unseen figures were now completely visible. Just like his previous encounter with them within Raizen's memory, their bodies, though clad in heavy black robes, still bore miniature, tattooed lines of text all over their gray skin.

"That's certainly not what I expected," Elle said, visibly recoiling at their appearance. 

"You!" a singular voice spoke, before a flurry of other responses emitted from various other speakers, quickly throwing the room into chaos. 

"Silence!" shouted a voice similar to Julius' own. 

Continuing as the crowd quieted, a short man with potentially the most tattooed lines riddling his gray skin, stepped forward from the crowd. His face, like the others were covered by the black hood which was drawn loosely over his presumably, line-patterned head.