Plot

## **PLOT SUMMARY**

*Shift Star* follows the life of Lazarus Trabae upon his first day at Transtello, a special organization meant to employ special individuals and use their powers for good. The special individuals are called Star-users, as they utilize special marks called Shift Stars. Shift Stars have specialized powers that vary from person to person and expand to a wide range of powers, but no longer possess the ability to shape-shift. However,Lazarus seems to have a unique ability, letting him shape-shift his hands into weapons!

## **PROLOGUE ARC Pg. 1 - 18**

The story begins at a train station in Inno City. Laz gets off the train, looking for a guide that was meant to bring him to the Transtello Headquarters. The description given to him by somebody named "Boss Tai" is very vague and not helpful at all. A man named Maikel approaches him and claims to be his guide before leading him away from the train station. Maikel lures Laz into an abandoned school before pointing a knife to his back, where it is revealed that Maikel hoped to teach Laz a "lesson" for taking his place, as Maikel had recently been fired from Transtello. Laz readies himself for a counterattack before Maikel gets attacked by something else. Laz is rescued by a young girl named Maki Seo, who was originally supposed to be his guide.

Maki brings him to Transtello headquarters and straight to the HQ's boss's office. Laz meets Uriel Cielo, the head of the branch. After a rather unpleasant exchange, Uriel sends Laz on a mission. He sends Maki as a partner/chaperone.

The two arrive at Nan street and detour down an alley as instructed. There, they're surrounded by the Nan brothers, a group of muggers consisting of Yuan, Frei, and an unnamed leader. The leader initiates an attack, but is immediately kicked down by Maki. Caught up in amazement, Laz doesn't notice Frei throw a flaming punch at him.

Before his punch can connect, a flashback plays. Laz, clearly younger, is speaking with a woman that resembles him, and they discuss the origin of Shift Stars. The woman makes a comment on Laz's star, claiming it's a very special star.

The flashback cuts back to Laz, who blocks Frei's punch by transforming his hand into a blade. This reveals his six-point star. Frei is taken aback before Laz punches him in the face. Yuan attacks Maki using his fingers to create stone pillars, just missing Maki and knocking off her eye patch. She lunges at him and latches onto his shoulders before drawing a pentagram on his forehead. Frei is then hit in the face by a pillar in the middle of his fight. It at first seems that Yuan incapacitated Maki and betrayed Yuan and the Nan brothers leader, but it is revealed that Maki can possess whomever she draws a star on. With Yuan and Frei now defeated, Laz and Maki arrest the Nan leader and head back to HQ. It is currently unknown what happened to Yuan and Frei.

## **BOLIN ARC Pg. 19 - current**

Two days pass, and the page opens up to an unknown woman doing sit-ups while Maki converses with her. The woman notes Laz's apparent reliability and says he would make a good partner, but Maki claims the woman is her partner. The woman notes on her desire to meet Laz, and seems to be familiar with his name.

In Uriel's office, Laz and Uriel are apparently fighting about ice cream before Maki and the woman enter. Maki notes the woman's name as Cleo, and Uriel introduces the woman as Cleo Marks. Uriel requests that the three, because of a shortage of available employees, investigate two raided libraries and some of the Transtello employee deaths occurring in Bolin, Matasia. The three agree and head out the next evening by train.

While reviewing the map, Laz's internal dialogue states his anxiety surrounding Cleo, thinking she's glaring at him. After an odd and rather awkward conversation, they arrive in Bolin.

Once in the Bolin Town Square, Laz finds a statue of a woman named Elissa Trabae, whom he seems familiar with. Maki and Cleo go to the library without him.

A flashback plays, revealing a part about Cleo's past. She receives a mirror-bladed scythe from a man with long, curly hair. He claims she is competent but reckless, and the flashback ends.

Maki is on the library floor, reviewing some of the books that were messed with but not taken. She notes the library staff left them a list of missing books. The books left behind are all about basic Transtellonomy, a type of outlawed study centered around Shift Stars. Cleo notes the possibility of an illegal practitioner of Transtellonomy before he hears footsteps behind her. Before Maki can finish her sentence, Cleo swings around and attacks somebody behind her.

Cleo notes she hit something with her scythe before the figure becomes visible. The figure seems to be a "cat guy".

Another flashback ensues, showing what seems to be a younger version of Cleo in a hospital bed. The man who gave her the scythe lectures her about the dangers of "going after a spirit on her own". A younger girl, who seems to be a patient as well, resembling Cleo cries. The man leaves, and Cleo smiles before the flashback ends.

It cuts back to Cleo in current time as she attacks again. She swipes at the cat guy, revealing the scratches she sustained during his first attack. She seems unsure if he really is one of the two attackers to look out for because he seems like he's playing with her. The cat guy acts surprised by her reflexes, but doesn't appear to actually be taken aback. Cleo warns Maki to be careful because he appears to be purposefully holding back. Maki notes that there should be a second attacker, queuing the focus to switch to Lazarus.

Laz is walking towards the library, yawning, when he turns around to notice a small bead of sorts, possibly the attacker as well, speeding towards him. Before he can react, the bead hits him and explodes, shooting him to the ground. He grabs his shades off the ground and turns over to face the attacker. It's revealed he was actually saying her name, not saying "fuck".

The attacker is revealed to be Ferris, who stands over Laz. She aggressively acknowledges him before he springs to his feet and yells at her. He expresses anger, as she had apparently been missing for five years and immediately attacked him instead of saying hi. Ferris remarks his sentimentality and their history, and he reminds her that she punched him in the face the last time they spoke.

Lazarus turns away and tells her that he can't talk because he's in Bolin because of work, and she replies by saying she's there to do the same. He realizes what he said and turns around just in time to get hit in the face with another one of her projectiles. As he flips backward, he manages to move to his feet. She thrusts her blade at him again, but he gets the upper hand by hooking her arm under his and headbutting her. She stumbles back and insults him, and he replies by saying he knows she's smarter than how she's acting. This triggers a very very brief flashback of a person resembling Ferris saying "Thought you were smarter than that". Ferris becomes enraged, saying hat Lazarus apparently didn't used to care for expectation oly to follow everybody else's expectations of him. She then attacks him, switching the scene back to the library.

Maki kicks Chester, who blocks, only to trap him between her shins and flip him over. He rolls back to a crouch only for Cleo to swing her scythe down at him. Before she can hit him, Laz flies through the library wall and hits her in the side, notably not really knocking her down. Chester regroups to Ferris's side as she angrily enters through the hole in the wall. Cleo, Lazarus and Maki regroup as Laz explains Ferris's star. Deciding to end the fight quickly, she activates her star, which causes the blood from her cuts to hover around her and the her scythe to turn into a red fluid circling her star. This is revealed to be blood, which she can manipulate thanks to the spirit of Bloody Mary.