This roleplay is backdated to late October, 2015
It had been a long day at work. The sort where most people would want to go home and drown their sorrows in their favorite guilty-food and forget about everything.
Unfortunately, a blonde tomboy was not going to get the chance to do such a thing. She had responsibilities to uphold, even if she had a bad day. She had managed to get herself a bag of burritos from Taco King before she had henshined up. It was a patrol night, and she needed to meet up with Parthenope tonight. Perhaps if he was willing, she could let off a bit of steam by sparring with him before they got to the actual patrol part.
Typically they met closer to her home, in the park. However, he had insisted upon meeting up someplace closer to his place.
So now in full fuku, she worked her way through one of the many burritos, not seeming to care that she was eating such a messy food with pristine white gloves. It was something to do as she walked down the street.
--
The general was out because he needed to be, because he was searching for someone and because it was expected of him. His mind was still a whirlwind of do Is and am Is. His nightmares had dissipated, sort of, since his promotion but the corners of chaos tainted his mind, seeped into his thoughts.
It wasn't too bad when he wasn't powered, but even then it itched beneath his skin.
But when he let it wash over he could feel a slight haze settling over him, coating him like a blanket. Affecting his judgement, clouding his intentions, and it worsened each time.
If he were an honest man, he would admit that he was beginning to grow desperate.
So there he was, sneaking around town, looking for that familiar cut of blonde until he felt the flare of third stage energy. Felt the sugary, sour taste in his senses and knew, somehow, that was the one he wanted. So he chased after it.
--
The eternal senshi was minding her own business as she chowed down on the first of many burritos when a dark energy flickered to her attention. At first, it wasn’t close, so the tomboy shrugged it off. However, with each step she took, it seemed to grow closer and closer. Steps were clattering against the concrete behind her in a steady rhythm that couldn’t be ignored.
She paused, placing her bag of Taco King against her hip while the other one continued to cradle the belovedly shrinking burrito. She took a large bite as she swung her hip about to face the opposite direction she had been walking.
“What th’f*ck do you want?” was the harsh question from the senshi of rainbows as she glared at the apparent pest of the evening
--
It was the gruffness of her tone and voice that confirmed his suspicion and the corners of his mouth curled upward in a cat-like manner. He skidded to a halt, boots sliding across the asphalt, when she whirled around to face him. “Come now Princess,” he panted, smiling crookedly at her. “I’ve been looking for you all night,” he pouted, body sagging dramatically for effect. “Don’t need to be so crass.” His hands found his hips and he cocked his head at her, brow arched like he was waiting for some verbal retaliation.
“I was,” he paused, frowning slightly as he struggled with finding the right way to say what he wanted to say, “I was hoping we could...y’know...talk?” he sounded uncertain, adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed in an attempt to resort himself. “Like the other night?” Okay, maybe he sounded a little more desperate this time.
--
Her brow fell low upon her forehead in a nearly straight line of unamusement. If she were more polite, she might have stopped eating. However, this guy apparently deserved less than the usual amount of respect, so soon enough she had shoved another bite of burrito in her mouth.
Her apparent dislike for this conversation was easy enough to see upon her expression, but if he hadn’t picked up on the clues, she was able to verbalize them after a bit of pause from chewing.
“...Well… yer a stalker… so… no!” What the hell did they have to talk about anyways? How he was super worthless and considered himself incapable of change?
Snagging another bite of her burrito in her mouth, rendering her burrito a short stump, she then jumped up to a rooftop. Last thing she needed to deal with tonight was this General. Once upon the rooftop, she was already considering alternate routes to the rendezvous point. Last thing she needed to bring with her when meeting Parthenope was some guy he’d love to pick a fight with.
--
“Give me a chance Iris!” He called after her, teeth clacking against each other as he tried to bite back his frustration. He had tried looking for Hvergelmir as well but he had found Iris first and something in his gut told him that Iris had more of the information that he wanted, needed. He had experienced first hand what she was capable of, even if it had failed.
He cursed under his breath as she made a rooftop getaway, grinding his teeth against each other and shaking his head as he tried to decide if it was worth going after her.
Of course it was.
So he backed up a few feet and took a running leap after her. “Iris, please,” he begged, arms splayed out at his sides.
--
She hadn’t even moved from the rooftop when she heard the voice pleading at her again. The blonde’s mouth twisted in irritation, as her eyes threw daggers in the General’s direction. In a display of annoyance, she popped the last remaining bit of her burrito into her mouth and chewed slowly as he held his arms out.
Chew, chew, chew. It was almost as if she was chewing a wad of tobacco, trying to savor the rush of flavor in her mouth. Only difference is she didn’t spit out the wad in her mouth, but instead swallowed after a long pause.
Her golden eyes were fixated upon his own gold eyes, a sort of smoldering glare attempting to melt his eyes (and failing to do such a thing).
“F*ck off. I have plans tonight, *sshole!” Rather that pop open another burrito from her bag, the girl turned and hopped to the next building almost like a frog, before rushing to do the same across at least three more buildings in a similar manner.
--
He cursed beneath his breath again, fingers curling into his palms and nails digging into the skin, when she spat at him then took off. He bounded on the balls of his feet for a moment, internally debating whether he should go after her or not. “******** it,” he grumbled under his breath before pivoting and bolting after her.
He’d been looking for her since that night, he wasn’t going to let her walk away that easily. He needed to talk to her, his thoughts were finally sorting themselves enough that he could answer her questions. He could tell her exactly what he wanted now, he just needed her to listen. Needed to appeal to the princess side of the senshi he’d gotten to talk to a few nights before.
So he chased her. “Come on Iris, just talk to me a little!” He cried after her, brows knitting together as he focused on his jumps. He’d lost time when he hesitated, he needed to catch up. “Give me a break here!”
--
A miniscule part of Iris had hoped that the General’s aura would have shrunk as she darted away. And for less than a minute, it seemed as if that was the case. However, it didn’t take long for her to realize that he was giving chase as the aura didn’t vanish after a bit.
Sh*t
Any plans to make a round-about path towards the rendezvous were dashed now as she held the lead in this odd chase. She didn’t relent in her pace as she building hopped for a while until they started to run low on buildings.
“Tell me why th’f*ck I should do something stupid like that?!” she shouted back at him before she dropped to the ground level again, racing ahead towards some familiar territory for her: the junkyard. It was by work and a place she frequented when she was looking for spare parts and didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for said part. She nearly vanished through a passage where a street light flickered, though the sound of her feet still echoed throughout the area.
--
“Because I’m ******** trying here!” The words spilled out of his mouth in desperation. Internally he cursed himself for swearing because that was not how he wanted to go about this, being too aggressive would probably result in Iris lashing out at him in some manner. “You told me that there were ways out, you spoke from experience.” He told her and he didn’t know for sure, but the way she’d spoke about it, the way she berated him every time it was brought it up told him she knew.
“So I’m here asking, no begging, for your help if you’d just talk to me for one minute!” He growled, irritation seeping into his tone as he followed her down and into the junkyard. “Please, Iris,” he croaked, voice cracking.
He lost sight of her and he cursed beneath his breath as he spun in a circle, bright eyes searching the mess of cars around him for a flash of her fuku. “I get it, I’ve done a lot of ******** up things in the past, but the other night--” he stopped, stumbling over his words, voice getting caught in his throat. He sighed, sucked in a breath and tried again. “The other night we were talking and I wanna talk again. I want to figure it out. I know there are options I just don’t know what I’m doing.”
God, he hated admitted he didn’t know what he was doing. He hated asking for help, but here he was asking from the one person he’d never think he’d seek out like this.
--
Iris was in her territory. She knew what things to do and what things to not do when it came to hiding in this heap of trash. She would have leaned against one of the large hulled out vehicles, except it would have groaned under her weight. Even moving too fast would have kicked up stray shrapnel. Keeping her body low, she considered the words being barked out.
This is a ********’ trap
It was perhaps the strongest sentiment echoing through her thoughts.
...but what if it isn’t?
Her hand balled up in a fist, shaking slightly as doubt attempted to shake her convictions in this situation.
What could he gain from talking to her?
There was no way to tell what could be gained from talking to a slightly more ancient soul than the one in control at the moment.
Do it. Do it your way!
Keeping her fist tightened, she pushed herself back up. In a clear tone, she called out “IRIS RAINBOW SLICER!” It not only announced her location, but lit up the area with bright colors in an oddly cheery manner.
As she waited, she idly began to wrap the familiar ribbon around her fist, almost as if she was bandaging herself up. Unlike everyone else, the colored light didn’t burn her, despite how intense the colors glowed.
She had no doubt her bait would attract a rat, but it was only when he was close enough to hear that she uttered “...you talk… you do anythin’ I think is suspicious….. I punch ya with something colorful… got it?”
--
The area lit up in a flood of colors and while the ribbon wasn’t thrown in his direction, he flinched and stumbled back. Then, he was hit with a sudden tightening feeling in his chest like his lungs were caving, his throat was closing up and he can’t breath. It made him gasp out a stuttered breath and sink to his knees. His gloved hand found it’s way to the space above his chest and gripped at the fabric of his uniform while he tried to calm his thundering heart. <******** he’d have a bloody panic attack while dealing with Iris, like he wasn’t vulnerable enough as it was.
Breathe with me, he could hear Hvergelmir telling him some odd nights ago. It’s okay. Nice and slow. His memory reminded him and he focused on that, even though he could still see strips of rainbow in the corner of his vision--he could hear Iris talking, faintly but he couldn’t focus on much but his shallow breathing.
When the panic attacked calmed, subsided, he lifted his head to look at the blonde. His eyes were a little glassy, unfocused at first but he shook his head, swallowed, then nodded firmly. “I get it,” he croaked.
His throat hurt, it was raw and scratchy from the panic and he wanted to clear it but worried that if he didn’t start talking, he’d lose his chance.
So, maybe this wasn’t the Iris he wanted to talk to, but they were, fundamentally, the same person--at least that was the conclusion he’d come to--so she was good enough. “I’ve done a lot of awful things, I’ve got blood on my hands and--let’s face it, most of us do,” he stopped, mentally smacking himself for the comment. He didn’t know if Iris had ever killed anybody, or if she even cared to, but he had and he wasn’t sure if reminding her of his misgivings was a great start.
“I--,” he sucked in a breath, picked himself off the ground. He swayed a little, stumbled before he got a sense of balance again, even though his head was swimming from the lack of oxygen from his panic attack, cleared his throat and tried again.
“I want out and I know--I think you know how to do that,” he said sounding clearer, more confident. “I can’t even pretend know where to begin outside of you, and Hvergelmir. I--I know people have done it.” Oh, he remembered and he remembered how much he hated the people who turned traitor, but here he was asking for the same thing. (He’d always been a bit of a hypocrite he supposed.) “I never cared much about the details before, only cared about…” He stopped, shook his head.
He didn’t need to talk about that.
“General-Queen--” He cursed himself for addressing her so formally in front of someone who wouldn’t care. “Laurelite, she came and reminded me of what the Negaverse has done for me, what it has given and was so kind to remind me what it could take.” He tried not to sound too bitter.
“Lately--lately,” he stuttered because he could feel the chaos crawling beneath his skin and making him jittery. “I can feel it under my skin, like a parasite, crawling around. It itchest, it scratches me at my core. Warps me. I can’t--I don’t.” He sighed.
“I used to think I wanted to resemble death when it came to my enemies,” he admitted, flickers of the false future pricking his memory banks, “but then I saw that future, as the Reaper King, and we aren’t--we aren’t fighting for the future I’d convinced myself we were.”
He wanted to believe he wanted what was best for the Earth, for the Universe, but he wasn’t sure anymore.
“I don’t want that future. I don’t want to see a future close to that.”
--
If there was something that Iris had a talent for, it seemed to be a talent for doing the impression of a solid rock, incapable of reacting to the most raw emotions. Perhaps it was her more suspicious nature that made it more difficult for his words to penetrate her heart, or perhaps it was just the fact she wasn’t prone to showing such exaggerated emotions, but she stood there keeping watch of the man and every single subtle movement of his body. Every ragged breath that he forced in and out of his lungs was under her scrutiny. The scratchy quality of his voice was analyzed harshly in her mind. The way his head bobbed almost in an uncontrolled manner almost seemed too convenient in Iris’ mind.
Some things may have been interesting in what he said, but the blonde made certain to not allow even an eyebrow to shoot up in surprise.
He had mentioned Hvergelmir. He also had mentioned a General Queen, but that seemed logical considering the hierarchy of the Negaverse. Hvergelmir, on the other hand, came out of left field and did catch the eternal senshi a bit off guard.
Considering the show she was getting right now, there was only one conclusion for the senshi to gather from the mention. Hvergelmir’s kindness will get her killed one of these days...
She barely shifted in stance, though her shoulder rolled a bit as she leaned in a bit closer, almost seeming to try and hover over the General. A bit of a sneer stretched itself upon her expression. “I want t’know who th’f*ck yer drug dealer is… sounds like yer on some pretty good sh*t…”
Clearly it was a joke, and perhaps a bit inappropriate on her part considering how serious this conversation was supposed to be. That, and she also was pretty straight-edge, so it was a lie as well.
Her fist was held about chest level as she spoke, serving a reminder of what she could do if set off. She spoke in a low tone, as if concerned others would hear, despite how desolate the junk yard was.
“So ya wanted t’be Death, and then suddenly figured out that bein’ Death himself… ain’t all it’s cracked up t’be?” She had committed the sin a single time, and the haunting image of the boy’s head rolling down the street, lifeless eyes haunted her in the back of her mind.
“What’s t’say that ya get rid of that chaos affliction… and then ya keep doin’ this… sh*t ya do. What then?” She nodded in his direction and mentioned “Yer not exactly th’most trustworthy guy I know out there.” Last she had checked, trustworthy guys didn’t teleport you onto a building specifically to push you off of it.
--
Iris and Hvergelmir had very little in common, he knew that and was unsurprised when Iris didn’t come to his aide like the Cosmos knight had when he suffered through his panic attack. “There are worse things to be afflicted with than a drug problem,” he wheezed, offering a weak smile at her terrible joke.
“I don’t know what I wanted,” he admitted, hefting a sigh. “It was a stupid, foolish thing to want but I--” he stops, laughs bitterly at himself. “I let myself think that death, killing, was the only way to properly deal with you.” He doesn’t mean her specifically, but her faction, the senshi. “I thought I was protecting something.”
He isn’t, they never were.
His fingers drum against his leg because he’s nervous and he needs to do somthing with his hands. He swallowed thickly at her questions. “I don’t. I don’t really know. I don’t want to do this anymore, fight blindly for a cause that doesn’t exist. I don’t want to fear for my life at every turn, but I know that even if I get it, that side-swapping thing, life isn’t going to be easy.” He sighed. “I can’t pretend like I’d be content with just going into hiding, fleeing the country because they’re everywhere. They’ve got agents posted all over the world.”
His general-queens had come from different continents and it made him realize that the negaverse had a greater hold on more than just Destiny City. He’d been foolish to think otherwise.
“I can’t pretend like I could just walk away from the fight either.” He was a soldier, he hadn’t been originally, but the war and the negaverse had warped him into one. He was efficient, good at directing and following orders, if he found them worth following. “I’d fight, but alongside you.”
--
If there was anything that Iris was getting from this whole charade, it was information she had not been 100% savvy about prior. It was naive to think that the Negaverse only plagued Destiny City, but she had no solid proof prior to Labyrinthite’s statements. If she was more of the conniving sort, she could have attempted to manipulate the situation into some sort of interrogation. Get all the information she could have ever wanted about the Negaverse.
However, that had never been the blonde’s style. If she was really desperate for information, she would probably try to beat it out of her opponent.
That was not the purpose of this situation.
“Let’s be honest. I don’t trust ya… let alone trust ya enough t’fght ‘alongside’ me.” She rolled her wrist that had the rainbow wrapped up over it, as if to remind him of her lack of faith in him. His body language also wasn’t interpreting very well to the senshi, coming across as agitated, perhaps nervous.
Clearly this wasn’t influenced by the threat of colorful violence, but out of a guilty conscious.
“So ya established that ya weren’t fightin’ fer what ya thought ya were… so now tell me. What is it that you wanted t’fight for? T’protect? What is it that… you… stand for? Not Labyrinthite… but you, yerself.” With her other hand, she extended her pointer finger and her thumb, as if she was pointing a mock-gun at him now.
--
“That’s not what I--” he stopped, running a hand over his face. “It’s a figure of speech. I don’t think you’d want me to fight alongside you, there’s too much bad blood but I meant--” he stopped again, tripping over the words on his tongue. “I meant I’d fight on your side, against them.”
The admission made his stomach churn, left him feeling vulnerable. Everything about this made him feel vulnerable. He hated it.
“I thought I was...I thought we were protecting everyone.” He wondered if the statement sounded as hollow to her as it did to him.
“They stopped--” he stuttered, wavering between the idea of telling her everything he knew and not saying much more. “I wanted to protect Earth.” But the future showed him that wasn’t what they were doing. He could stop it, probably, ******** wanted to try, at least.
“I already lost my dad, I’m probably going to lose my mom. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” There, it was out there. “I mean, I get it. With war comes sacrifice but, I want to minimize the casualties.” He inhaled sharply, drumming his fingers against his leg. “I--” Inhale. Exhale. “If I don’t get out now, there’s not going back.”
--
How could they have stopped when they never were protecting everyone in the first place?
It was rare for Iris to filter her own thoughts and bite her tongue, but she managed to succeed at this skill for once in her lifetime. This soldier’s stance upon the whole situation was terribly warped, even now as he feigned a sort of change internally.
It was absolutely baffling to the eternal senshi how someone could claim a force of evil that had seen no issue with sacrificing innocent lambs to the slaughter for the greater good. As much as she hated to admit it, she could understand why they would slaughter the senshi, since they were the mortal enemy. However, the civilians were being used as energy sources or worse.
Rather than continue to point her finger at Labyrinthite, she retracted the offending finger. Her magic, however, was still quite active and glowing about her fist.
She knew better than to turn completely away, but she turned halfway, as if to acknowledge that she was giving him a bit of space.
“If th’Negaverse knows who th’hell yer mom is… yer gonna lose her if ya ‘get out’... though… ya probably won’t remember or know it if ya do ‘get out’...”
Not everyone realized the circumstances that came with purification. Stripping the starseed of the chaos that had warped it was a traumatic experience. Something had to give, and it was usually a sense of memory.
--
It’s not like Labyrinthite knew better, not really. Sure, he could have suspected that they weren’t doing what they claimed, that all the propaganda was false but he’d joined when he was young and naive. When he enticed by the promises of power, when he thought that there was an underlying good to what he was doing. Chaos warped more than the heart, the emotions. He was fairly certain, now, that it warped his perception too.
That’s what made it so hard to get out when even the tiniest hints of doubt began to surface.
“Okay, so I lose my mom no matter what,” he croaked, heart constricting at the idea that he might not remember Lara, that he wouldn’t be able to protect her. “But if I’m losing her anyway, at least this way I lose her and get to do something positive in the aftermath.” His fingers twitched when he let his arms hang idly at his sides. “If I--” he stopped, swallowed and tried to properly piece together Iris’s implications.
“If I’m losing memories in the aftermath, then I can be rebuilt into something better right?” It was a long shot but he was growing desperate. “Maybe, without the haze, I’ll be able to understand why what I’ve done is wrong. I’d--” he stuttered thinking of Hver’s promises, her faith in his potential. “I’d need a guiding light, a chance to do right. That’s all I’m asking for Iris,” he pleaded, about ready to sink to his knees. “I’m just asking for a chance. Keep an eye on me, keep me in line, stop me if I begin to waver.”
--
Iris had never been deemed the most considerate person in the world. True enough, she had bit her tongue as the boy struggled with the notion his mother would be a casualty if he allowed himself to be purified. However, Labyrinthite was not the sort she trusted.
He attempted to piece together some sloppy logic about how he could be reformed into something useful to Order.
And then he made a statement which was salt in her wounds.
”I’d need a guiding light, a chance to do right. That’s all I’m asking for Iris”
In a sharp tone, she snapped at him her sentiments on the matter. “You ALREADY got a chance, ya f*ckin’ piece of sh*t!”
Parthenope had been brutalized by Labyrinthite before Iris had intervened. Iris had given Labyrinthite a chance then. She had left herself vulnerable. And if it had not been for Parthenope intervening a potential attack from Labyrinthite, there was a good chance that would have been her last attempt at helping anybody in chaos’ grip.
Her teeth were digging into her lips to the point where she could swear she might have been bleeding. Spitting to the side, she turned away from the pathetic Negaverse agent.
“Ya want another f*ckin’ chance? It ain’t gonna come easy. Yer gonna have t’earn it. You may have won others over with yer sob stories… but I need conviction... th’fact ya think you’d waver doesn’t show me that conviction.”
Stomping a foot to the ground, she barked out some very specific instructions.
“Don’t ya dare f*ckin’ follow me… if I find ya trailin’ me… I will not hesitate t’cut yer f*ckin’ throat.”
With that, the girl bound up, seemingly bouncing off of one of the tall stacks of debris, fleeing the scene.
She might not have liked it, but Labyrinthite had given her a lot to think about.
--
"Iris!" Labyrinthite shouted, hoarse and desperate. That chance she was talking about hadn't been a chance at all. He didn't know what was happening, what she was trying to do. How could he have known what it meant? And even then, he'd been in a different place and it'd been a different time.
He was the same yet so different from the captain on the rooftop.
The things he'd seen and the things his future self were capable, well the current general didn't know if he wanted to see them through.
"Iris that's not-- I don't--" He didn't get a chance to defend himself because she was threatening him in ways she'd never threatened before. "********!" He cursed, kicking at the junk that lined his surroundings, energy seeping through him as he watched her fleeing figure. He didn't bother pursing, he knew a lost battle when he saw one.
If he wanted Iris to believe him, to even consider what he was asking for then he needed to let her go.
Pushing it anymore would make it worse and he didn't have the energy to defend himself this time. So instead he sunk down, waited until her energy signature was far enough away and let chaos drain from him until it was just Chase alone in the junkyard.
