Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

'Steam, steam, steam…Who the hell is responsible for the maintenance?!' Walking through the streets of her kingdom while pretending to be someone she's not, Mono felt anger bubbling up in her heart. The once vibrant city of Elenaris was now a dusty town filled with horrible stenches leaking out of the gutters. 'Who told these idiots to switch from electricity to steam?

What kind of moron is responsible for this idiotic decision?'

"Let's hope it's not another incompetent human bringing shame to our race," although she held her own to a higher standard, she rarely let those feelings be conveyed through her actions or words. However, brushing her anger aside, she turned her attention to the spire where the current brightest minds of Elenaris were being trained by Shamisha.

'My sweet bunny-girl, I wonder how you'll react once you see me.' The events of the castle still not made public, Mono walked into the building as Avarice. She had plans to abandon her current vessel as it carried too much baggage for her to attempt a salvage.

Being the brightest sorceress of her time, however, she'd expected something like this to happen and already had another–much more suitable vessel stocked deep inside her lab.

'I was gonna change my looks, anyways, so it all works out I guess?' Too consumed in herself, Mono ignored the glaring eyes following her from all directions. The moment she'd walked in, Shamisha's students and their stumbling automaton project were following her around quietly as they knew Avarice was the only battle-model Mono-doll.

Had they had any clue that it was Mono herself walking in front of them, they would've freaked out even more.

"Fashion, right? A cruel fucking mistress, you need to pay attention to her, change it up!" Rambling to herself, Mono stopped in front of the elevator with a triumphant stomp. And that's finally when she noticed the crowd that had gathered all around her.

'Shit…' Her lips sealed and her eyes widened, she quickly masked herself with a facade of elegance. Wearing a forced smile, she glanced through the crowd with her head politely nodding at them all. Every once in a while, her eyes would stop to admire one of the student's creations, but listening to her mind and not the heart, she kept her head moving.

"I…I'm here to meet with Miss Shamisha, where can I find her?" Hearing those words, the rat-girl who'd shown Grace around just a day earlier, pushed through the crowd and jumped in front of Mono.

"I'll show you!" She exclaimed.

The others tried to complain so they could have the opportunity instead, but with the elevator door opening behind them, the girl grabbed Mono's hands, pulled her in, and even pressed the elevator button before any of them could retaliate.

"See you guys later!" She said, smiling as the doors quickly closed.

Even as the elevator began to move, the complaints from the other could be heard for a while, until eventually they were far too down to be audible. A bit slow to catch on what had happened, Mono slowly turned to the kid with a smirk plastered on her lips.

'That's some shit I would've pulled.' Seeing just a flicker of her own mischievous behavior, she reached for the girl's head and lightly patted her.

"Hmm?" Her eyes widened at the cold touch of the mono, and yet somehow, the girl felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside.

"You wanna ask me something, right? I mean why else would you kidnap me in an elevator? I'm cold and made of iron, not some demi-human hottie from your class," giggling like a kid, the sorceress let down the facade of gracefulness.

"YES!" The girl screamed in reply, her voice nearly piercing through Mono's ears.

But quickly pushing a finger against her lips, she hushed her for a moment and placed one condition that she had to follow before she answered anything.

"Wait for me while I meet up with your teacher, and I'll answer you anything on our way down," securing someone to clear her path through the horde that was most likely waiting for her to come back, Mono planted a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead and simply waited until the elevator's door opened.

In love with machinery, the rat-girl was dazzled by the cold kiss and didn't even realize that Mono had already left to meet with her teacher.

'A battle-model…kissed me?' Finally coming to, her eyes lit up with excitement.

"AHHH! I can't wait to tell the others!" Chuckling to the voice of the girl fangirling over her in the background, Mono reached the office where Shamisha worked with her brightest students.

Instead of walking right in like Grace, she looked around the room–admiring its crystalline structure. Almost the inside of a diamond everything was concise in angle and laden with plenty of mirrors infinitely reflecting each other in such a way that the final image canceled it all out.

To the untrained eye that level of detail would've gone unnoticed, but being a devil for the details, Mono picked it out the moment her eyes laid on it.

'Too much time spent on aesthetics and too little on the actual craft.' Not all that pleased by the fanciful decor, Mono pressed her hand against the glass door and stared at the back of the bunny girl she'd once taught herself. 'Her hair really went white, huh? How long has it been? I didn't stop to think about it, did I?'

Talking to herself again, she failed to notice that her dreamy eyes were looking directly at Shamisha's. Having noticed the doll the moment she'd pressed her hand against the glass, the sorceress had already gotten off her chair and moved closer to assess the situation. But upon realizing who it was, or at least the model that Avarice was, she knew exactly what was going on.

"You bitch…" She whispered, pulling Mono out of her own mind.

Shaking her head, Mono looked at Shamisha consciously and couldn't help but smile.

"Rudddeeee~" She complained in a mischievous tone.

Leaning closer, Shamisha quickly retorted.

"As if I care," even she knew that she didn't mean those words, as much as she hated her master, a speck of sympathy still rested in her heart. "Now come in and let me do a quick check-up on you."

Opening the glass door, she invited Mono in, but instead of doing as she demanded, Mono asked her a question.

"I don't need no checkup, just come with me and show me where my lab is now," grabbing Shamisha's hand, Mono pulled her out while her student watched the interaction from behind.

Confused with visible frowns, they hadn't a clue what was happening, although seeing yet another mono they felt compelled to approach Mono. Keeping their intentions to themselves, however, they let the duo walk away in the direction of the elevator.

"It's all just rubble, what do you even need from there?" Asked Shamisha, having no clue about an even more perfected vessel than Avarice.

"You'll see!" Beyond excited, Mono kept leading the bunny girl away.