Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny ❯ Sci/Psi Story, part 3: Toontown Burns ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:
Charles Xavier, Fanfiction.net author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Suikosource website: for providing great information that made this fic possible.

The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny
By: RB3

Sci/Psi Story, part 3: Toontown Burns

"Smile, darn ya smile, to know this whole this world is a great world after all..." sang a Toon rabbit as he drove down the street.

The snow white Toon rabbit was a bizarre being indeed. He was a comical character in red suspenders and a large blue bow tie with yellow polka dots. His attire made him look like a clown, an appropriate attire for one of his occupation. This rabbit, Roger Rabbit, was an actor in a series of humourous cartoons for Maroon Cartoons. After a hard day of work, Roger was eager to return home to his loving wife Jessica and his children.

However, getting home was an epic quest in itself. Roger was still not a very good driver, even after all these years. He just didn't have any talent for it at all. As he travelled down the street went his Toon car, he oversteered to the right and ploughed into the sidewalk. His tires tore a fire hydrant out of the ground, causing a geyser of water to shoot into the air. He turned his wheel to compensate and return to the road. However, he overcompensated and slammed his car into a pair of newspaper dispensers just a few metres from the hydrant.

Roger returned his car to the road and continued on his way. "Okay Roger, calm down. You can do this!" he told himself mentally. "You're not a bad driver like everyone says you are. You can drive a car as well as anyone else."

Roger's car continued its way down the street as normal. It was late in the night and the roads were largely devoid of cars. Roger was tired from his day of work, so his eyelids began to droop. The scene went black momentarily before Roger reopened his eyes. In that brief time, the hood of his car became covered with garbage, broken twigs, and mud. His eyelids drooped again, the scene going momentarily black a second time. Like before he reopened them again.

Roger found himself driving along the road again, but the street lights on the left were now closer to his vehicle. In his sleepiness, he didn't seem to notice that he was driving on the wrong side of the road, and didn't care. His car continued along until his eyelids closed again, making everything pitch black. Once he reopened his eyes, he saw that he was about to crash into a metal garage door! Roger immediately slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. The tires screeched as the car crashed through the door and spilled into the interior of a massive warehouse filled with armed thugs.

Roger shuddered in his seat as the car came to an abrupt halt. The thugs surrounded him and drew guns on him with a series of rapid clicks. Roger raised his hands over his head. "Heh heh heh..." he chuckled nervously. "Nice guns!"

"Nice guns, hah hah hah what a riot!" remarked the head thug, as he laughed. His goons joined in on the laughter, causing Roger to join in as well. After a moment of laughter, they stopped and trained laser target designators to his head. Roger gulped.

Meanwhile, the Sci/Psi team was driving along the streets of Toontown. Following their lead was a squad of police cars and transport trucks to secure the stolen weapons and arms runners. The group converged on 2001 Acme street, the location discovered from data mining Gillian's head. No sooner than the cops had arrived than the crooks scrambled for their vehicles. Police sirens blared as several black cars escorted a pair of large, eighteen-wheeled trucks out of the scene of the crime.

"There it goes! Follow them!" cried Naomi. She grabbed the radio and activated a switch. "This car 24, we're in pursuit of the suspects at 1500 Acme Street. Clear the roads and seal all exits out of town!"

The truck and its escorts sped down cartoon roads at intense, breakneck speeds. The police follow them unerringly, intent on capturing the crooks and their ill-gotten goods. The truck swerved past a slower moving car and reached an intersection facing a red light. Despite the danger in doing so, the crooks sped into it at top speed. The daring stunt shocked an anthropomorphic dog as he drove his car in from the right. His tires screeched as hit the brakes. His vehicle skid into the intersection and crashed into one of the escorts. Ross and Miho swerved to avoid the wreckage and continue the chase.

"Man, this is exciting!" remarked Lan as he watched police cars surround the crashed escort car.

"One down, two more to go," remarked Naomi in reference to the number of escort cars.

"They're entering a high way!" said Mayl as she watched the truck ascend a ramp ahead of her car.

By now, a police helicopter had joined the chase. As it hovered above, it shined a spotlight down on the truck to identify it. As he approached the highway, the truck driver made a hard right turn onto the road. The truck’s trailer skid to the left, tearing a piece of the guard rail off. Miho and Ross were in hot pursuit, skidding into the highway to remain on the chase. Several kilometres down the road, a pair of police officers waited in ambush. Upon hearing the approaching sirens and seeing the spotlight, the officers threw several spike strips across the road.

"There are spikes up ahead!" observed the truck's passenger.

"...Then do something, moron!" replied the driver.

The passenger concentrated, drawing upon psionic energy. With but a thought, the passenger threw the spike strips out of his truck's path. Doing so, he moved the strips to the side, where the escorts would drive over them instead. The escort cars' tires burst with a loud popping sound as they began to lose ground to the police. A pair of police cars broke formation and skid their cars to a stop in front of the escorts. As police trained guns on them, the men exited their cars with arms raised.

"This is car 24; the remaining two escorts have been apprehended. We are continuing pursuit of the truck," reported Naomi over the radio.

The chase continued along the road until a large line of flashing lights covered the horizon. "Hah hah! We got'em now!" remarked Lan as he realized it was a road block constructed from police cars.

Instead of slowing down, the truck increased its speed instead. "They're out of their minds!" remarked Ross, realizing that the truck driver could only be intending to smash his way through.

"Hold on tight, this could get bumpy!" cried Naomi.

The truck slammed into the cars with a loud crashing and screeching. The police officers went diving in different directions just to avoid being run over. Sparks, glass, and metal debris went flying everywhere. Despite this shocking action by the arms runners, the police continued the chase. The truck continued on its way until it smashed through a retaining wall and onto the roads used by a series of racers competing in a rally. The racers were as varied and unique as the vehicles they drove.

"In the lead is the Turbo Terrific, but the Bulletproof Bomb is coming from behind hoping to take the lead," reported a commentator over a public announcement speaker. "In the second last spot is the Army Surplus Special and bringing up the rear is Dick Dastardly and Muttley in the Mean Machine. This is a close race folks and anybody could take it... Wait a minute; it seems we have several new racers coming up from the rear."

A moustachioed, unscrupulous man in a violet overcoat looked out of the side window of his rocket-powered car. It was a suitably villainous appearing vehicle with a violet painted chassis, a sharp horn for its front fender, and a dragon-like wing for a dorsal fin. "Muttley, do something!" cried this man, Dick Dastardly to his canine companion.

Muttley, Dastardly's scruffy, shaggy canine partner in crime, pulled a lever on the Mean Machine's dashboard. A machinegun popped out of a compartment near the rear and fired upon the arms running truck. However, the passenger caught the bullets in a net of telekinetic force, stopping them dead midair to Dastardly's surprise. The truck sped ahead, passing three other racers. Miho's car pulled ahead of Ross' as both attempted to pass the Mean Machine. Dastardly turned his weapon onto the vehicles.

However, Robin was one step ahead of the double-dealing do-badder, Dick Dastardly. Using her Craft, she incinerated each of the bullets in bursts of orangey flame before they could even get near her car. They fires burst in the air until sparks leapt out and touched the bullets in the belt that fed ammunition to the gun. A chaotic series of bangs followed as the bullets began to fire by themselves and chew through the Mean Machine's chassis. Dastardly lost control of his vehicle, which spun out of control and began to fall behind the other vehicles. Once it had dropped several metres behind the police cruisers, the Mean Machine exploded.

A charcoal-covered Dastardly and Muttley emerged from the wreckage of their vehicle. "Hee hee hee hee hee!" snickered Muttley in a wheezing voice.

"Drat, drat, and double drat!" cursed Dastardly.

The truck continued on its way, passing several racers, even the ones in the lead. It smashed through a retaining wall on an approaching curve and burst into the wilderness. From the speed and darkness of night, the trees seemed to blur as they passed by the vehicles. A strange sound came from the trailer of the truck. "Did anyone just hear that?" asked Naomi.

"Hear what?" asked Ross as he continued to pursue the truck.

A faint thumping came from within the trailer of the truck. Something inside was hitting the door. Whatever it was, it seemed to be saying something. "Get me out of here!" came the muffled voice.

"I think someone's inside the trailer," informed Naomi as she struggled to make out the voice of the hostage.

"Get me out of here!" screamed the muffled voice again.

"I heard it too. Someone's inside the truck!" said Mayl.

"Ross, pull us closer to the trailer," demanded Naomi.

"What? You're seriously not thinking of doing what I think you're doing, are you?" asked Ross.

The thumping continued until the trailer door burst open. Inside was Roger Rabbit, who was tied by several ropes. "Help me pleeeeeeease! Get me out of here!" he cried to the terrorist hunters. The truck hit a bump which caused him to slide dangerously close to the edge of the trailer. The rabbit's eyes literally jumped out of their sockets upon seeing the dangerous predicament he was in. "YAAAAAAH!"

"Hey, that's Roger Rabbit!" said Mayl. "He's on the cartoons I watch!"

"If that truck takes another bump, he'll slide onto the road!" observed Ross.

"Ross, get us closer. I'm going to get onto the truck, rescue the rabbit, and then take those punks out!" announced Naomi.

"That's crazy, but that's what I like about you, honey. You don't shy away from taking risks," said Ross.

Naomi smiled. "Wish me luck."

Ross accelerated his car to bring it alongside the truck. As he did so, Naomi began to climbed out of her window and onto the roof of her car. The truck passenger saw the move and warned the driver. Ross shifted his car to the right as though passing into a new lane. The trailer shifted right as well, forcing Ross to back off. Ross dropped speed to follow behind the truck. He tried again, this time wheeling around to its left. The MPD policeman accelerated until he was close enough for Naomi to leap into the trailer. She nabbed Roger, leapt back to her car, and shoved him into her old seat.

"Okay, he's safe, give'em hell, honey!" cheered Ross.

"I sure will!" replied Naomi.

Ross pulled his car beside the truck once again, allowing his wife to leap onto its roof. Maintaining her balance, she inched her way down the length of the vehicle and to the driver's cabin. "Wow, I'm sitting next to Roger Rabbit!" exclaimed Mayl as she untied his ropes from behind. "I hope those guys didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, thank you for saving me, uh..."

Lan, Mayl, and Ross introduced themselves to Roger. "Nice to meet you all," said Roger.

Once Naomi reached the halfway point of the truck, she heard a swishing sound approach the police cars from behind. In the sky, a distortion solidified to reveal an unidentified attack helicopter. "Oh great," she groaned.

This black chopper launched a missile into the police helicopter, blowing it into fiery fragments. After lining up its shot, a second missile swooshed out of the helicopter and slammed into the road ahead. Ross swerved to avoid the blast, while the other cars stopped to avoid spilling into the pothole. With Miho's and the other cars out of the race, it was up to Ross and Naomi to catch the crooks. "Plug this into that hole over there," instructed Lan.

"This one?" asked Roger, pointing to a computer port on the car's dashboard.

"Yeah, that's the one," affirmed Lan as Roger plugged his PET cable in. "Jack in Megaman, power up!"

"Okay Lan, I'm in," announced Megaman.

Moments later, Roll appeared beside him. "Don't forget about me," she scolded.

"Okay you two, get that helicopter off of our backs," ordered Lan.

The two Net Navis advanced through the helicopter's computer network and located its control centre. They were immediately beset by several viruses that resembled soldiers in camouflage uniforms. The soldiers opened fire on the Navis who dove for cover behind some metal boxes. The two sides became deadlocked in a dangerous fire fight where several shots flew back and forth. Lan and Mayl were growing frustrated with their Navis being pinned so by enemy fire.

"Come on, we don't have all day," muttered Mayl in frustration.

"Whaaaaaaah!" cried Roger as a missile burst ahead of them.

"Oh shit!" cursed Ross.

The police car went sailing into the large pothole punched into the highway by the blast. The whole car shuddered as its front shot into the hole. Lan nearly hit the driver's seat as he fell forward. Though Ross had jammed on the breaks, the car was unable to stop in time from falling in. The car landed onto the ground below with a loud crash. Though the landing shook up everyone in the vehicle, nobody had been physically hurt in the accident. Roger was terrified out of his mind and screaming like a maniac.

Ross pulled out the radio and signalled Naomi. "Naomi, they got us. It's all up to you now."

Naomi fought her way through the fierce wind generated by the truck travelling at such high speeds. It was dangerous for a typical human to walk on a truck's roof like this, but her greater android reflexes compensated for this. However, her footsteps grew louder until they drew the attention of the occupants of the cabin. "There's someone on the trailer," observed the driver. "Get rid of him."

The passenger climbed out of the cabin and onto the roof on the cabin. With a gesture, he generated a burst of telekinetic force which pushed Naomi onto the ground. The thuggish passenger advanced on her, the intent to harm clear on his face. Naomi got up and charged at the man, who raised a barrier of psionic force to repel her. Naomi hammered away at the shield, forcing the man to give ground to handle the onslaught of blows. The man retreated all the way until he reached the front end of the trailer. In a desperate act, the man exerted all of his power to hurl Naomi all the way to the rear of the trailer. Naomi leapt to her feet only to be hurled back nearly off the ledge, to which she hung onto for dear life.

"This is where you get off," gloated the man.

He applied psionic force to her in an effort to rip her off of the ledge. Naomi held on with all of the power she could muster. The metal of the cabin was beginning to crumble and deform under the strain of such great force being exerted on it. She could hear it tear and rip as the psionic force pulled away at her body. The psychic man turned up the power until the metal finally gave out. The ledge ripped apart, throwing Naomi on the road roughly. As she looked up, the truck sped into the horizon and vanished.

---

Two hours later, the Sci/Psi team returned to the station in defeat. One could feel the disappointment radiate off of their persons as they entered the building. After questioning, Roger didn't know who the men were and why they were there. He was largely an innocent bystander who was dragged into this by the criminals. He had been captured by them when he accidentally crashed into their warehouse. Their only consolation the team could take was the fact that they had saved Roger, a Toon icon, from certain death at the hands of Omnipotence terrorists.

However, Athrun was deep in thought. "Andy, something seems to be on your mind..." remarked Naomi.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's the uniforms those men were wearing. It was only a brief glimpse in their mirror, but I'm positive those were the uniforms of Orb military."

"Are you absolutely sure?" asked Naomi. "I saw one of the men close up. I can show you a picture of him."

Naomi plugged herself to a nearby computer via a wire from the device. The man that had attacked Naomi was in a khaki uniform with the emblem of the sun placed over a black, winged, manta-ray like icon. Upon zooming in to the icon for a close up, Athrun saw the name of his country emblazoned on the uniform, which only confirmed his suspicions. "There's no doubt about it. That is an Orb uniform," Athrun wondered out loud. "It doesn't make any sense. Why are they using Orb Uniforms. I know they have to be Omnipotence."

"Maybe they're just making use of their stolen stuff," suggested Naomi.

"Maybe," replied Athrun. "...But something doesn't feel right about this. The other thugs didn't wear uniforms so why are these ones?"

Ross walked in on their conversation. "Naomi, I'm going to drive Roger back to his home. I'm be back a while later if you need me."

"Okay honey, come back safely," replied Naomi.

Moments later, Ross started the car and travelled down the road to bringing Roger home. As he pulled up to an intersection, facing a red light, Roger looked around. His ride had stopped in the middle of a residential zone. Toontown or rather, its country, the entire Tooniverse, was about to undergo a national election. Several picket signs decorated front lawns with advertisements for the candidates. It was a neighbourhood divided, as each household favoured a different candidate to win the election.

"Hmm, looks like they're electing a new president," muttered Ross.

"Yeah, a lot of big names are running this time. Even Adam Acme's running. I'm thinking of voting for Mickey Mouse personally," commented Roger.

"Adam Acme?" asked Ross. "Isn't he the owner of the Acme company? He's a human isn't he? A real human I mean, not a Toon human..."

"Yeah, but he lives in Toontown. I guess he just likes working with us Toons. He's so much like Marvin Acme, right before the day he died." After mentioning Marvin, Roger's voice trailed off.

The light turned green and Ross continued ahead. "I'm not surprised you'd know so much about him. As I recall, there was a big murder case in the forties involving him."

"Yeah, they thought I was the one who did it. They thought I was the one who killed Marvin, but Eddie cleared my name. It was Judge Doom who killed him and then tried to frame me," said Roger. "That was a long time ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday."

After a few more minutes of driving, Ross stopped his car at 1947 Disney Boulevard, the location of Roger's mansion. Ross waited in his car while Roger walked up to his door and rang the bell. His wife, Jessica Rabbit, a beautiful red-headed Toon, opened the door. "Oh Roger! I'm so glad to see you!"

"It's good to finally be home, honey," replied Roger. He turned to Ross and waved. "Thanks Ross! Catch those crooks for me!"

"Sure Roger, have a good night," Ross called back. He raised his window and set his car into motion.

Roger passed through his hallway spotted several various anime children and teenagers talking to each other. "Hey! We have guests," remarked Roger.

"Yeah, it's a long story, honey. Sit down and let me tell you everything..." said Jessica.

---

The next morning, the police meticulously searched Omnipotence's Toontown warehouse for further clues. Ross and the detectives scoured the building grounds but found nothing and returned to the station empty-handed. Before Omnipotence's arms runners fled, they had already done everything they needed to before leaving. All of their equipment and goods were and packed and carried away by the trucks. They had already cleaned the area of fingerprints and other clues that could be used as a lead just before the police came. Their last hope was information from the men but that lead didn't come through.

Ross glanced over the doctors' reports with frustration before throwing it back on the table. They had attempted to surgically remove or disarm the poisoning devices on the captured men, but Omnipotence activated them early to cut off the leads. "Damn, not again!" he cursed.

Miho read the reports. "The doctors were unable to stop the spread of the poison..."

"There goes our lead," Lan sighed.

With the death of the mean, it seemed that all leads to Omnipotence had dried up. Just moments later, the station received an alarmed radio message from dispatch. It prompted a message over the station's announcement speakers. "All officers please report to the briefing room on the double!"

Several police officers scrambled to reach the meeting. "Excuse me, but what's happening?" asked Robin to one of the mobilizing officers.

"Toontown is under attack! There are several giant robots attacking the south end. It's total chaos out there! All of the people in the station are heading out," replied the officer.

"Okay, thank you for your time," said Robin.

"What do we do now?" asked Mayl. "We're not a part of this station. We're only here to track Omnipotence."

"Actually, I'm thinking of going out and seeing what this is all about for myself," said Naomi. "If any of you want to come, you're free to join me."

"Well, I am curious to see who is making such a commotion, so count me in," said Miho.

The others agreed to come along and scrambled for their vehicles. As the counter-terrorists sped to the south end, they spotted the giant robots mentioned by the officer. The lead robot aimed its gun at a nearby office building. A beam of blue coherent light streamed out of the weapon and burned a gaping hole. That beam had killed hundreds of Toons in the only way possible; complete disintegration. On the street below, hundreds of terrified Toons ran down the street in blind panic. The police were on crowd control, evacuate the people to safety. Athrun took one good look at the machine and instantly recognized it for what it was.

His eyes widened in shock. "Those are Astrays!"

"You mean those things you use in the Orb army?" asked Naomi

"Yeah," he replied. Upon seeing this Astray, he connected it to the parts in Omnipotence's crates. "Oh no! I hope it's not the one we were following..."

"We screwed up big time," admitted Ross. "Since we failed to stop the arms runners, they were able to assemble the machine and attack Toontown with it."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Lan.

"We'd better get out of here. There's no way we can stop that thing on our own," warned Athrun. "If only I had the Aegis or the Justice..."

"The Aegis and the Justice?" asked Mayl.

"Mobile suits," replied Athrun succinctly. "I piloted them during a war where I was from. We have to get out of here! We don't have the weapons to fight something like that!"

"Miho," said Naomi into the radio. "There's no way we can take on that thing! We have to get out of here!"

The Sci/Psi team turned their cars around and sped off in the other direction. In the meantime, the Astrays continued to annihilate anything in Toontown that got in their way. They pelted the streets and buildings of the formerly peaceful metropolis with beam rifle and machinegun fire. A squad of helicopters emerged over the horizon and unleashed their multi-missile payload. They burst with great force, releasing great amounts of smoke which covered them completely.

Moments before the smoke cleared, a beam of energy burst through the cloud and disintegrated one of the choppers. A second Astray chewed up a second helicopter with machinegun fire. The chopper tumbled out of the sky before exploding upon hitting the ground. Another Astray fired its beam rifle, blowing away yet another chopper with a single shot. On the ground, tanks shelled the mobile suits with minimal effect. Each shot was dead on, but merely served to blow up smoke rather than do any lasting damage. One of the Astrays turned to a tank and fired a beam at it. The beam punctured its way through the tank, causing it to explode violently. Unfazed by the loss of allies, the tanks continued to shell the mobile suits to stop their rampage.

The Sci/Psi team sped down the streets in search of a safe place to take refuge. A monstrous creature descended in front of Ross' windshield, spooking him into swerving to the right. "What the hell is that thing?" asked Naomi as she tried to analyze what it was.

The creature seemed to be a grotesque bird of some kind. It had a large, inhuman head that made up the majority of its body. This large head had a large maw filled with sharp teeth. It had a humanoid, male torso jutting out of it top and forked hands with claws like that of a bird. The bird followed in hot pursuit even with Ross driving his car at top speed. Naomi crawled to the back, sending Lan to the front to take her seat. She lowered her window and fired several shots at the monster. The first two bullets missed but the third clipped it in the wing, causing it to stumble about. A fourth nailed it in the head, sending it bouncing along the ground like a tumble weed.

"We've got to get out of here!" cried Lan.

"Miho, I'm taking the highway out of town. Keep following us," said Ross into the radio.

"Okay, lead the way," replied the STNJ agent.

The cars continued their way down the street as people in other areas of the city scrambled to safety. More birds descended from the sky onto a terrified crowd of fleeing people. One of the birds clamped its jaws onto an anthropomorphic dog and began to chew. Some of the birds noticed the Sci/Psi team's cars after they climbed up a highway entry ramp. The birds tenaciously followed the cars in search of a delicious meal.

"Faster Ross! They're gaining on us!" cried Mayl.

Naomi readied her gun and leaned out of the window to fire shots. She managed to down half a dozen of them, which was a mere drop in a bucket compared to their vast numbers. Athrun did the same, taking another half dozen out in addition. Some of the birds burst into flame as Robin incinerated through her Craft. No matter how many they downed, more seemed to rise up to take their place.

A missile slammed into the road ahead, punching a massive hole into the highway. Ross skidded into a stop with Miho following suit moments afterwards. "The road's out! What are we going to do?" asked Lan.

"Hold on tight! It's going to get bumpy!" warned Ross as he drove his car straight off of the edge.

The car landed on the street below with a thud that shook everyone inside. Miho's car came moments afterwards. The two cars continued along on the new road with the birds still hot on their trail. Within moments, the birds swarmed over the cars, surrounding it like bees to honey. One of the birds tore into the roof of Ross' car, causing Mayl to scream. Athrun and Naomi fired several shots into the roof to drive the creature away. Robin started several fires in mid air, warding the birds away with a cloud of flame. No matter what they did, the creatures wouldn't leave them alone. They were in a dire situation.

END OF CHAPTER

New Stars of Heaven/Heavenly Leaders:
None

New Stars of Earth/Earthly Warriors:
None

Spotlight: Witch Hunter Robin

Robin Sena is the character referred by the anime, Witch Hunter Robin. In her world, Witches are individuals with supernatural powers such as Robin's pyrokinetics. She is a member of the STNJ, the Japanese branch of Solomon, an organisation dedicated to hunting criminal Witches. Unlike in the anime, Witches had become known to the general public in recent years. The anime is actually a sort of fictionalized account of how the STNJ came to discover breaches of ethics within Solomon.

Origin:
Witches are individuals who inherited supernatural powers from birth. At a later age, these powers would manifest in a manner potentially dangerous to the public. It is even worse if a Witch decided to use his or her powers to commit crimes. In both cases, Solomon dispatches agents or "Witch hunters" to deal with the situation. Newly awakened Witches are brought to training centres to be taught the safe usage of their powers while criminals are imprisoned. Solomon employs Witches and regular humans in their organisation and many new recruits come from these training centres.

Unlike normal Witches, Robin was genetically engineered like the Coordinators of Athrun's world. When the STNJ infiltrated Solomon's orbo production facility, the "Factory," they discovered that Solomon funded the project that created Robin. They also discovered how Solomon manufactured orbo from a Witch's remains. The STNJ blew the whistle on these breaches of ethics, which started a firestorm of scandals and controversy.

Powers:
The powers of Witches seem like magic due to their esoteric nature, but are really psionic in truth. A Witch may have virtually any "Craft," or power imaginable. Robin's Craft is pyrokinesis; the ability to ignite fires with but a thought. Miho Karasuma's is psychometry. She can touch any object to experience events and feelings related to it. Sometimes, a Witch's craft can have drawbacks, particularly when used at a very high intensity. For example, Robin gets blurred vision if she uses her Craft at too high of an intensity.

Witch hunters also use a special liquid known as "orbo." It is a green, syrup-like fluid that nullifies a Witch's power. It is used as ammunition in hand guns and worn in vials as a defence against Craft. Orbo has been used against non-Witch psionics, but with limited effectiveness compared to Witches. Most orbo is artificial nowadays, but before, Solomon had the unethical practice of manufacturing it from captured Witches. This discovery led to scandal and intense heat from both the public and law enforcement agencies.