The evening was cold. Bitterly, unwelcomingly, cold. Nothing to warm the body, and as Heliodor sat a top of a building overlooking the city, the sight of the Destiny City Ballet Theatre visible in the distance...well, there wasn’t much to warm the heart either. Sitting atop the skyscraper, Heliodor was able to look upon a city that wasn’t the same to him anymore. Oh sure, all the tea shops, art galleries, shops and businesses he often frequented were still there, but they were different to him now. No one he knew would recognize him. He’d lost...everything.
And for what?
He sighed as bitterness swelled inside of him. Eyes moved from the view of a life he enjoyed and simultaneously took for granted to the scene of passersby below.If he wanted this evening to end he needed to do his job. The sooner he could get back to his mat in the apartment the better. So, the corrupt scaled his way down the building and into the darkness of the side street.
He watched the people passing by carefully, like a predator trying to pick out its prey from a herd of gazelle. Which one looked the easiest to pick off? Which one was less likely to put up a struggle? Which one….which one?
A woman with her young daughter, a group of college frat boys pushing and teasing each other, men dressed in suits some carrying suitcases others busy on their phones. A man meandered his way up the street. Hands were tucked into pockets as he looked uninterested in the world around him. In fact, Heliodor passed his eyes over him without a second thought, until he heard the sound of a something running into metal and someone cursing.
The man had run into a trashcan next to a metal light pole. The two had clanked against each other and the man, now obviously inebriated as he cursed, kicked and maneuvered around the object stumbled closer. I suppose that will work.
It didn’t take too much effort. A grab of an arm, a pull, a hand around a mouth, a half-hearted scuffle ensued but the inebriated man had little hope of holding up to Heliodore once orbs of energy began to slip from him varying degrees. It wasn’t until Heliodor felt the man slacken in his grip that he let him go, making a point to at least lean him against a wall as if he had passed out.
Michael hadn’t planned on patrolling that night. He’d been out at the bar with a friend. They’d finished a drink, and then something came up, and the other man had to leave. Michael stayed a while longer, but with no one to snicker at stupid things with he figured it was time enough to go home. He’d left Caspian at him to work on a class assignment without distractions, so hopefully his husband was able to make some progress on it.
He heard the sound of something running into metal and someone cursing.
And out of the corner of his eye, could see the scuffle taking place. Someone with long hair and a strange costume pulling at another man, but it was the orbs of energy he could see that made Michael’s anger flare.
It had been almost a year since Caspian almost died. His brother was still suffering from his starseed being damaged. Countless others had been killed and were risking their lives to stop these bastards from what they were doing. He was done with it all.
Knowing it wouldn’t take long for the corrupted senshi to sense his aura, Michael made sure to stay in the shadows as he approached, making sure to duck out of sight lest he risk revealing his identity, and powered up.
There was no point in talking. No point in trying to convince this man he was doing something wrong. He was in the Negaverse and they’d done enough.
Sessrumnir lunged forward with a heavy left hook to the Senshi’s face.
The fist connecting with the side of his face seemed like it had materialized out of nowhere. Heliodor had barely felt the blip of an aura before pain radiated from his jaw and he was sent half stumbling half falling away from the Knight. It was so aggressive. So unexpected that Helio barely registered what actually happened to him.
He was slow though. Fighting was not his forte. Hell, he was still too new at collecting energy. Is this what Order was about? Wait, this was an order member right? Yes. If that aura was anything to go off of, then the man was certainly order aligned.
“Whoa. Hey!” He said, pain radiating from his abused jaw as a hand rose to try and inspect the damage. “Let’s just...talk this over.”
Naturally the senshi would want to talk after being hit and probably realizing he was not going to have a good time. A glance towards the man that was slumped down against the wall had Sessrumnir’s jaw tightening with anger. It was not typically in his nature to be so aggressive, but he’d had enough of the Negaverse doing what they wanted. They took and they took and there was no stopping them.
Killing wasn’t really his thing, but making this guy think twice before powering up again? He could do that.
Sessrumnir reached out to try and grab hold of the man’s arm, twisting it back as he shoved the long haired man up against the wall, his grip on the guy’s wrist none too gentle.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re all the same,” he growled low, twisting his arm back tighter. The senshi was smaller than himself, but that was no reason to underestimate him. He would have magic.
“Were you going to take his starseed too?”
Heliodor tried to evade the grab but the Knight was faster and stronger. Skin, muscles and bones burned at the aggressive twisting and hard push against his wrist and arm. It was impossible to control his own body’s direction at that point as he was shoved hard against the stone brick facade of the building. The course texture scratched at any bare part of him.
A small huff of pain escaped him as the grip on his arm grew tighter. “Ah! We are not all the same.” He hissed out between clenched teeth as one eye, not pressed against the rough wall, opened and looked down at the man still slumped against the wall. “His starseed? No. I wasn’t going to touch that.”
This man who had him was strong and not to mention larger and heavier. Heliodor didn’t have much he could do with his hands literally stuck behind his back either. As most he had his magic that might give him the upper hand, but he needed to be free to use it.
Taking a deep breath, Heliodor attempted to kick back and up at his holder. His ballet experience helped with the extension and height he was able to get, but he was, quite literally, kicking blindly. He could only guess where the man was by the weight being distributed onto his twisted arm.
Maybe later he would feel guilty for hurting this kid who was clearly brainwashed into thinking everything the Negaverse did was right, but at the moment all Sessrumnir could think of was how this guy could one day gain enough power to kill his family and friends and hurt countless others.
“Right,” Sessrumnir said, disbelieving when the senshi hissed out how he wasn’t going to touch the man’s starseed. Of course he’d say that. He’d been caught. Might as well try to make it seem like it wasn’t as bad as it could be.
He figured the guy would try and fight back. Why would he just stand there and let a knight rough him up without any kind of retaliation? It made sense, and Sessrumnir was prepared for that.
The kick backwards was felt not just in the way the senshi’s leg lifted and moved, but with how his muscles tensed through his whole body, shifting and twisting through his back and arm to compensate for the alteration in balance.
Sessrumnir released his hold on the senshi’s arm, feeling the kick hard to his thigh --
And reached down to grab hold of the young senshi’s ankle to yank up, the intention to send him careening to the ground.
The man countered Helio’s attempt at an attack with ease In fact, he didn’t even flinch all the while, Heliodor was forced to face plant the ground after his head skid down the brick wall he had just been held against. The brick scraped his face, hairline and the impact resulted in a painful face smash that may or may not have broken his nose. It was hard to tell.
Perhaps this is for the best.[//i] the thought fluttered across his head as the pain in his face blossomed outward. Make it an easy out. The thought should have horrified him. Should have had him cursing himself. Instead it brought a strange sense of calm. Acceptance, perhaps?
A crystal lay in his fuku. He could call for help. The question was, would anyone come or would he be passed on as trash on a street, not worthy of the effort to pick up?
“He’s just a quota for me. The man.” The words were gritted out between teeth. He moved to roll over, blood sliding from his broken nose and scratches on his face. A dizzy sensation swarmed his vision at the movement but he had a motivation now. A reason to keep pushing.
To end it all.
“He’s nothing more than an energy source. I probably did someone a favor by taking him off the street. He’ll sleep through his inebriation. Don’t consider that a good thing, hm?” He waved the red flag in front of the man like one would a bull. “He’s only useful as an energy source like that. Cattle of sort for the negaverse.” The words meant nothing to the corrupt as they poured from his mouth. There was no emotion attached to them only a cold tone of uncaring.
But, words alone weren't going to cut it. No, Helio wanted to make sure he was sealing the deal. From his prone position on the ground there wasn't much he could do as he had the lower ground. Except, of course, try to even the playing field. With a quick sweep of a perfectly pointed foot, Helio attempted to knock Sess of his own feet to give the corrupt a chance to stand and ‘gain the upper hand’. Shouldn't be all that hard considering the smell of alcohol that floated in the air between the two fighters.
Just as he reached his feet, Helio summoned his magic and small globes of light appeared around the two fighters.
“So you think you’re some vigilante, taking the poor and homeless and scum from the street?” Sessrumnir growled, as he glared down at the man on the ground, watching as blood poured from his nose. Part of what Sessrumnir said settled heavily inside his own chest, because he knew the kinds of people who ended up on the street. There were criminals, yes. Many only by necessity, rather than choice. But there were plenty of people on the streets who were disabled and unable to get help or find work.
The Negaverse preyed on people like that, because it was easy. Because it was convenient. Because they were cowards and couldn’t figure out other ways to create sustainable energy that they needed, rather than drawing it from human life.
“Like I said, you’re all the same,” he spat. “How many others have you left to freeze to death out here, just for your quota?” he asked.
He didn’t get an answer. Instead the other kicked again, Sessrumnir’s reactions a little slower this time. He was already off balance, having been reaching down to try and grab for the man’s collar. With a hiss of pain he fell, catching himself with his bracered arm.
While he wasn’t drunk, the distraction of having someone with him at the bar had been removed. A couple extra beers might have been had, emotions running high when they were usually kept in check.
Sessrumnir made to push himself back up, just as the senshi had, watching as the orbs of light appeared around his fingers.
“Do you even hear what you’re saying? Does the Negaverse work so efficiently to brainwash all of you so that murdering is second nature to you? Innocent or not,” he asked as he also stood, a silver chain materializing in his hand, storm glass attached at the end.
It seemed the use of his magic had been a good provocation. A weapon now hung in the Knight's hand, and interesting glass piece dangling from the silver chain. If Helio was more inclined he would have wanted to look at the piece more closely but considering the situation…
The globes of light floated in the air around the two combatants. Helio took note of their placements, especially one that was sitting fairly close to the knight.
“If I wanted to kill him I would. “ Why he was arguing was beyond Helio. What did he have to prove to this man? Why did it even matter considering the intent behind this fight?
Fists curling, Helio stepped toward his opponent. All intents to aggravate even more clear as a fist rose up and punched towards the man's face. Contact would be great but if he could get the man to stumble back into that one orb it would be perfect.
The senshi was too close for him to be able to tap into his magic and trap him inside the storm illusion his weapon offered, but that didn’t matter. Even without the magic, he could still fight, just as it seemed the other was finally starting.
Really, the senshi should have cut his losses and run.
“No, you just sentenced him to death by freezing,” Sessrumnir snarled, aware of the orbs that had been sent around them and wary of what they would do. He wasn’t able to determine what kind of damage these orbs would cause by just looking at them, and he wasn’t stupid enough to try and get them to do something.
The punch the senshi aimed to his face was cute. Sessrumnir let the fist make contact, hardening his cheek muscles and bracing his jaw for the impact, if only so the senshi could get close enough for him to grab by the collar and hoist him up.
“So what does your magic do?” he wondered as he flexed his jaw, knowing there would be a bruise in the morning, but avoided any more damage for the time being. Using his stormglass, he swung at the orb closest to them.
It made contact and bubbled up in size, Sessrumnir’s eyes widening in curious surprise. At least until it burst and doused them both in hot water. The shock was enough for him to release hold of the senshi’s clothing, hissing from the pain and shaking out his arm where it hit bare skin.
Sessrumnir glared at the senshi, and then up at the orbs around them. They couldn’t be more than a few feet away from them, and not that much of a reach for his stormglass.
Lifting the chain with the large glass vial filled with liquid attached, Sessrumnir swung it. But the intention wasn’t to hit the senshi, but rather as many of the orbs as he could. He tugged at his cape to cover his arms and shield his face as he watched them expand and burst.
the punch had done nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact the Knight proved to Helio the strength difference between the two.
It was a lucky break that this was the Knight who found Helio.
The man's fighting intuition was certainly good. The thought of Helios magic being turned against himself had never once crossed Helios mind. In fact, he had thought he was magically immune to the effects of it, but as he stood there hoisted up by his collar, the hot water burned him as much as the Knight. I should have realized that even my own power would injure me. Nothing is simple.
The burn of the hot water want the worst of it though. As the multiple orbs were burst open, drenching him in the hot water that initially burned, it very quickly cooled down and the cold of the winter night became extremely obvious.
As the water quickly cooled down, Helios wet fuku became very uncomfortable. Hypothermia certainly would be a fear if Helio cared enough. Instead, he continued on with his assault with another punch, this time to the Knight's gut. Come on. Get angry enough. Just do it! I am terrible. A dirty negaverse senshi. Show me how much you hate me!
The clasp of his cape was unhooked and the soaked fabric dropped to the ground. He hadn’t escaped being covered by water completely, but most of the heat he could endure. It was a matter of freezing afterwards that was his bigger concern. Maybe then the senshi would realize how dangerous it was to leave people out in the streets, unable to defend themselves once energy had been taken from them.
Or the senshi just didn’t care, which was likely as well.
He was moving again, darting at Sessrumnir with a punch to his gut. Another brace for impact of tightened muscles, and Sessrumnir returned the strike with one of his own.
A punch to the gut, and then another, and at the last moment, the senshi shifted a little from initial aim, and Sessrumnir felt the connection to ribs and could have sworn he’d heard a crack. Immediately pulling back, he checked his own hand to make sure nothing had been broken in his own hand.
“Pathetic,” he said as his weapon was dismissed, reaching for the fang by his belt instead. A sweep of his fingers had the ethereal wolf blossoming to life, and settling quite solidly beside him. He wasn’t one for killing someone who couldn’t fight back, but maiming the man into not wanting to power up again, or no longer be useful to the Negaverse was another thing entirely. Maybe the Negaverse would dispose of him when he could no longer gather the energy they oh so needed from their Cattle.
“Make sure he can’t walk again,” he said to the gigantic wolf beside him, stroking her wispy fur before pushing her forward. The wolf, teeth bared and ears flat, wasted no time in chomping down on the man’s leg, a crack of bone being splintered and flesh torn echoing through the cold night air. Cruel perhaps, but Sessrumnir knew that the Negaverse was not as easily changed as his too naive brother thought.
There are things in life that cause people misery. Everyone is different when it comes tods of tolerance. What might be a breaking point for one person isn't for another. What might make this Knight hate himself wasn't going to be the same for Helio. And just as easily as these thresholds are created they could be taken away. Minds change. Decisions change. Intents, pursuits, goals, dreams, wishes, they all change.
Perhaps the multiple punches to abdomen and chest was it. Or the first stabbing pain in his side that coincided with the telltale crack. Or maybe it was the wolf chewing upon his leg and the sharp stabbing pain as bone broke within flesh, but something changed.
Regret? Dismay? Humiliation? Joy?
A cry, his cry, of pain echoed in the dark.
It was hard to pinpoint the exact feeling. Perhaps it was something without a name. Something new, only felt by those flirting with the reaper for he had certainly never experienced it before.
Have I made a mistake?
No.
Patrolling was becoming a major chore again. He often felt it in the many times he'd check his cell phone time. He felt it in the way his legs ached after about a mile of straight walking. And sometimes he noticed it in how his thoughts turned toward the pessimistic as he wandered on and on. Tonight, the minutes trickled by like ice barely out of winter --
and he froze, senses alight, back straight and hair frazzled from the evening's gusts when auric energy briefed him. Startled out of his boredom, Ochre sprung from rooftop to rooftop, chasing out the feeling that exploded across the vicinity. A knight, sure, but the other part of the equation -- that faint blip of chaos --
He crested a parapet, a circular outcropping to an impressive old building, and spotted the faint pair in an adjacent neglected alleyway. Ochre hopped down, darted through the street without incident, and summoned his communicator to hand. His gait slowed only once he reached the sidewalk, and only when he was certain any further might attract the knight's attention. The scene looked worse than he initially gauged with a giant wolf trying to chew its way through a Negaverse senshi's leg. "Any available agents, there's a knight attacking one of ours on, uh -- 13th and Stark! Come help!"
The communicator vanished in an instant, and Ochre summoned to hand the crux of his energy. "Sheikh's Summon!" He called, and aimed for both busted senshi and brazen knight.
The call filtered in through static, and the scattered voice claimed a position not far from him. Thirteenth and Stark. That's three blocks. Obligation shifted over his personal trifles as he forced himself to action, thick smoke trailing behind. A matter of blocks was a few fair seconds, extra parsed to snow's slippery slush, and his mental map pulled him to the proper area.
Knightly energy pulsed out like a mandate. Should he expect forest green on a fiery redhead?
A dodge past a metal dumpster afforded enough of a view -- Heliodor, prone and victimized. A wolf, teeth bared, worried him like a bone. Behind that, a knight turned from the scene and the senshi that ostensibly made the call. What a bustling alley.
Faustite dashed the rest of the distance to meet Heliodor's boneless form, and he crouched with a splinted hand running fingers over foreign cheek to glean attention. "Close your eyes and don't breathe," he muttered urgently. Fingers pressed over Heliodor's ears.
Smoke then exploded outward to ward away the wolf.
He wasn’t so lost to the fight that he didn’t feel the auras of the other Negaverse officers approach. If anything, he was surprised it took them so long to show up. Pinpointing their locations, however, was a bit more of a tricky business. Sessrumnir knew there was an eternal close by, but it wasn’t until the call of the attack that he knew exactly where the other senshi was.
The strange magic whirled around him and the senshi in the maw of his wolf. He carefully stepped aside as one of the ghostly things moved towards him, looking up to see who cast them --
And stared at the familiar red haired senshi. Sessrumnir could feel the blood boiling, recognizing the man from the abandoned hospital, the one who’d allied himself with the General named Obsidian.
“You,” he spat, making to charge forward, only for one of the spirits to hit against him.
Cold flooded his senses, stopping Sessrumnir in his tracks, followed by an overwhelming sense of dread. He couldn’t see anything besides the red haired senshi as a cold sweat poured from his brow and down his face and neck, his breathing shallow and difficult. He clutched at his chest, the pounding of his heart and sensation disorienting him, his memory supplying him with images of when he felt similar to this before.
Through the haze, Sessrumnir could hear Fenrir whine and whimper, a cloud of smoke coming into his vision. Whatever it was, Sessrumnir couldn’t shift his focus enough to find out. He’d already been brought to his knees from the chill that wracked his body, but somehow managed to swipe his hand over the fang that rested on his side, withdrawing the wolf to her home.
Considering the state of his being, Heliodor barely registered another person. He barely noted the attack that had the Knight dodging his way out of the way, only to be hit by another ghastly entity. No, his mind was completely focused on the wolf tearing into skin breaking bone and his own half hearted attempts to dislodge the creature with his other foot.
Something brushed his cheek and Helio started as wild eyes focused on a face that seemed to materialize above him. "Close your eyes and don't breathe,"
“Faustite?” Why?
Instinct took hold and the corrupt did as asked. Teeth bit down on lips almost painfully as he fought to keep his mouth close and not scream anymore as the wolf…
Stopped. Oh he was still in pain. Excruciating pain, but it was no longer exacerbated by sharp teeth gnawing on bone and flesh. Thank god.
Wait. No. He had wanted that. He wanted to fade away.
Why now was he so relieved for help?
The wolf retreated, and Faustite shut his eyes to the gore. Sympathy's prickling fingers played across tendons in his legs. Faustite swallowed, pushing away his attention from the hot blood cloying his nose. Where could he go? No hospitals filtered through his recall. Stroud's apartment promised a mess of retaliation. What of Aue's? Twice he'd been, now -- he still felt the couch fibers reaching up to meet his fingers.
The way the ceiling towered over the great space came to mind foremost, followed by the sturdy pillars bracing themselves against the roof. Large swaths of brick framed the area. Furniture, projects, a computer desk. He remembered the way the smell of alcohol filtered through the entire space, greedy to claim its dominion. And when the picture was complete, when he could push away beleaguered moans and raging exclamations and biting chills, the lot of it simply fell away.
They were here once, and then they were there.
"... Oh, s**t." Ochre never recognized the knight, never once saw him in the breadth of his spotty memory. His grievous response told enough of a tale -- this knight met him before, and didn't much like it. What worried him more is the great blank space that never accounted for their meeting. What happened? What did he do? What did he do to this knight?
His magic bought him seconds, and in those seconds he caught the senshi's power in hand. Tired though he was, he had fewer moments still to use it. Ochre fumbled as he often did; his brother called it his perpetual burden.
His brother --
Ochre backed out into the street, his awareness confirming the departure of the other agents. Thanks for the backup, assholes… He blew on the tip of his finger, desperate for some useful save, and out came a set of golden orbs.
This is crap.
And for what?
He sighed as bitterness swelled inside of him. Eyes moved from the view of a life he enjoyed and simultaneously took for granted to the scene of passersby below.If he wanted this evening to end he needed to do his job. The sooner he could get back to his mat in the apartment the better. So, the corrupt scaled his way down the building and into the darkness of the side street.
He watched the people passing by carefully, like a predator trying to pick out its prey from a herd of gazelle. Which one looked the easiest to pick off? Which one was less likely to put up a struggle? Which one….which one?
A woman with her young daughter, a group of college frat boys pushing and teasing each other, men dressed in suits some carrying suitcases others busy on their phones. A man meandered his way up the street. Hands were tucked into pockets as he looked uninterested in the world around him. In fact, Heliodor passed his eyes over him without a second thought, until he heard the sound of a something running into metal and someone cursing.
The man had run into a trashcan next to a metal light pole. The two had clanked against each other and the man, now obviously inebriated as he cursed, kicked and maneuvered around the object stumbled closer. I suppose that will work.
It didn’t take too much effort. A grab of an arm, a pull, a hand around a mouth, a half-hearted scuffle ensued but the inebriated man had little hope of holding up to Heliodore once orbs of energy began to slip from him varying degrees. It wasn’t until Heliodor felt the man slacken in his grip that he let him go, making a point to at least lean him against a wall as if he had passed out.
Michael hadn’t planned on patrolling that night. He’d been out at the bar with a friend. They’d finished a drink, and then something came up, and the other man had to leave. Michael stayed a while longer, but with no one to snicker at stupid things with he figured it was time enough to go home. He’d left Caspian at him to work on a class assignment without distractions, so hopefully his husband was able to make some progress on it.
He heard the sound of something running into metal and someone cursing.
And out of the corner of his eye, could see the scuffle taking place. Someone with long hair and a strange costume pulling at another man, but it was the orbs of energy he could see that made Michael’s anger flare.
It had been almost a year since Caspian almost died. His brother was still suffering from his starseed being damaged. Countless others had been killed and were risking their lives to stop these bastards from what they were doing. He was done with it all.
Knowing it wouldn’t take long for the corrupted senshi to sense his aura, Michael made sure to stay in the shadows as he approached, making sure to duck out of sight lest he risk revealing his identity, and powered up.
There was no point in talking. No point in trying to convince this man he was doing something wrong. He was in the Negaverse and they’d done enough.
Sessrumnir lunged forward with a heavy left hook to the Senshi’s face.
The fist connecting with the side of his face seemed like it had materialized out of nowhere. Heliodor had barely felt the blip of an aura before pain radiated from his jaw and he was sent half stumbling half falling away from the Knight. It was so aggressive. So unexpected that Helio barely registered what actually happened to him.
He was slow though. Fighting was not his forte. Hell, he was still too new at collecting energy. Is this what Order was about? Wait, this was an order member right? Yes. If that aura was anything to go off of, then the man was certainly order aligned.
“Whoa. Hey!” He said, pain radiating from his abused jaw as a hand rose to try and inspect the damage. “Let’s just...talk this over.”
Naturally the senshi would want to talk after being hit and probably realizing he was not going to have a good time. A glance towards the man that was slumped down against the wall had Sessrumnir’s jaw tightening with anger. It was not typically in his nature to be so aggressive, but he’d had enough of the Negaverse doing what they wanted. They took and they took and there was no stopping them.
Killing wasn’t really his thing, but making this guy think twice before powering up again? He could do that.
Sessrumnir reached out to try and grab hold of the man’s arm, twisting it back as he shoved the long haired man up against the wall, his grip on the guy’s wrist none too gentle.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re all the same,” he growled low, twisting his arm back tighter. The senshi was smaller than himself, but that was no reason to underestimate him. He would have magic.
“Were you going to take his starseed too?”
Heliodor tried to evade the grab but the Knight was faster and stronger. Skin, muscles and bones burned at the aggressive twisting and hard push against his wrist and arm. It was impossible to control his own body’s direction at that point as he was shoved hard against the stone brick facade of the building. The course texture scratched at any bare part of him.
A small huff of pain escaped him as the grip on his arm grew tighter. “Ah! We are not all the same.” He hissed out between clenched teeth as one eye, not pressed against the rough wall, opened and looked down at the man still slumped against the wall. “His starseed? No. I wasn’t going to touch that.”
This man who had him was strong and not to mention larger and heavier. Heliodor didn’t have much he could do with his hands literally stuck behind his back either. As most he had his magic that might give him the upper hand, but he needed to be free to use it.
Taking a deep breath, Heliodor attempted to kick back and up at his holder. His ballet experience helped with the extension and height he was able to get, but he was, quite literally, kicking blindly. He could only guess where the man was by the weight being distributed onto his twisted arm.
Maybe later he would feel guilty for hurting this kid who was clearly brainwashed into thinking everything the Negaverse did was right, but at the moment all Sessrumnir could think of was how this guy could one day gain enough power to kill his family and friends and hurt countless others.
“Right,” Sessrumnir said, disbelieving when the senshi hissed out how he wasn’t going to touch the man’s starseed. Of course he’d say that. He’d been caught. Might as well try to make it seem like it wasn’t as bad as it could be.
He figured the guy would try and fight back. Why would he just stand there and let a knight rough him up without any kind of retaliation? It made sense, and Sessrumnir was prepared for that.
The kick backwards was felt not just in the way the senshi’s leg lifted and moved, but with how his muscles tensed through his whole body, shifting and twisting through his back and arm to compensate for the alteration in balance.
Sessrumnir released his hold on the senshi’s arm, feeling the kick hard to his thigh --
And reached down to grab hold of the young senshi’s ankle to yank up, the intention to send him careening to the ground.
The man countered Helio’s attempt at an attack with ease In fact, he didn’t even flinch all the while, Heliodor was forced to face plant the ground after his head skid down the brick wall he had just been held against. The brick scraped his face, hairline and the impact resulted in a painful face smash that may or may not have broken his nose. It was hard to tell.
Perhaps this is for the best.[//i] the thought fluttered across his head as the pain in his face blossomed outward. Make it an easy out. The thought should have horrified him. Should have had him cursing himself. Instead it brought a strange sense of calm. Acceptance, perhaps?
A crystal lay in his fuku. He could call for help. The question was, would anyone come or would he be passed on as trash on a street, not worthy of the effort to pick up?
“He’s just a quota for me. The man.” The words were gritted out between teeth. He moved to roll over, blood sliding from his broken nose and scratches on his face. A dizzy sensation swarmed his vision at the movement but he had a motivation now. A reason to keep pushing.
To end it all.
“He’s nothing more than an energy source. I probably did someone a favor by taking him off the street. He’ll sleep through his inebriation. Don’t consider that a good thing, hm?” He waved the red flag in front of the man like one would a bull. “He’s only useful as an energy source like that. Cattle of sort for the negaverse.” The words meant nothing to the corrupt as they poured from his mouth. There was no emotion attached to them only a cold tone of uncaring.
But, words alone weren't going to cut it. No, Helio wanted to make sure he was sealing the deal. From his prone position on the ground there wasn't much he could do as he had the lower ground. Except, of course, try to even the playing field. With a quick sweep of a perfectly pointed foot, Helio attempted to knock Sess of his own feet to give the corrupt a chance to stand and ‘gain the upper hand’. Shouldn't be all that hard considering the smell of alcohol that floated in the air between the two fighters.
Just as he reached his feet, Helio summoned his magic and small globes of light appeared around the two fighters.
“So you think you’re some vigilante, taking the poor and homeless and scum from the street?” Sessrumnir growled, as he glared down at the man on the ground, watching as blood poured from his nose. Part of what Sessrumnir said settled heavily inside his own chest, because he knew the kinds of people who ended up on the street. There were criminals, yes. Many only by necessity, rather than choice. But there were plenty of people on the streets who were disabled and unable to get help or find work.
The Negaverse preyed on people like that, because it was easy. Because it was convenient. Because they were cowards and couldn’t figure out other ways to create sustainable energy that they needed, rather than drawing it from human life.
“Like I said, you’re all the same,” he spat. “How many others have you left to freeze to death out here, just for your quota?” he asked.
He didn’t get an answer. Instead the other kicked again, Sessrumnir’s reactions a little slower this time. He was already off balance, having been reaching down to try and grab for the man’s collar. With a hiss of pain he fell, catching himself with his bracered arm.
While he wasn’t drunk, the distraction of having someone with him at the bar had been removed. A couple extra beers might have been had, emotions running high when they were usually kept in check.
Sessrumnir made to push himself back up, just as the senshi had, watching as the orbs of light appeared around his fingers.
“Do you even hear what you’re saying? Does the Negaverse work so efficiently to brainwash all of you so that murdering is second nature to you? Innocent or not,” he asked as he also stood, a silver chain materializing in his hand, storm glass attached at the end.
It seemed the use of his magic had been a good provocation. A weapon now hung in the Knight's hand, and interesting glass piece dangling from the silver chain. If Helio was more inclined he would have wanted to look at the piece more closely but considering the situation…
The globes of light floated in the air around the two combatants. Helio took note of their placements, especially one that was sitting fairly close to the knight.
“If I wanted to kill him I would. “ Why he was arguing was beyond Helio. What did he have to prove to this man? Why did it even matter considering the intent behind this fight?
Fists curling, Helio stepped toward his opponent. All intents to aggravate even more clear as a fist rose up and punched towards the man's face. Contact would be great but if he could get the man to stumble back into that one orb it would be perfect.
The senshi was too close for him to be able to tap into his magic and trap him inside the storm illusion his weapon offered, but that didn’t matter. Even without the magic, he could still fight, just as it seemed the other was finally starting.
Really, the senshi should have cut his losses and run.
“No, you just sentenced him to death by freezing,” Sessrumnir snarled, aware of the orbs that had been sent around them and wary of what they would do. He wasn’t able to determine what kind of damage these orbs would cause by just looking at them, and he wasn’t stupid enough to try and get them to do something.
The punch the senshi aimed to his face was cute. Sessrumnir let the fist make contact, hardening his cheek muscles and bracing his jaw for the impact, if only so the senshi could get close enough for him to grab by the collar and hoist him up.
“So what does your magic do?” he wondered as he flexed his jaw, knowing there would be a bruise in the morning, but avoided any more damage for the time being. Using his stormglass, he swung at the orb closest to them.
It made contact and bubbled up in size, Sessrumnir’s eyes widening in curious surprise. At least until it burst and doused them both in hot water. The shock was enough for him to release hold of the senshi’s clothing, hissing from the pain and shaking out his arm where it hit bare skin.
Sessrumnir glared at the senshi, and then up at the orbs around them. They couldn’t be more than a few feet away from them, and not that much of a reach for his stormglass.
Lifting the chain with the large glass vial filled with liquid attached, Sessrumnir swung it. But the intention wasn’t to hit the senshi, but rather as many of the orbs as he could. He tugged at his cape to cover his arms and shield his face as he watched them expand and burst.
the punch had done nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact the Knight proved to Helio the strength difference between the two.
It was a lucky break that this was the Knight who found Helio.
The man's fighting intuition was certainly good. The thought of Helios magic being turned against himself had never once crossed Helios mind. In fact, he had thought he was magically immune to the effects of it, but as he stood there hoisted up by his collar, the hot water burned him as much as the Knight. I should have realized that even my own power would injure me. Nothing is simple.
The burn of the hot water want the worst of it though. As the multiple orbs were burst open, drenching him in the hot water that initially burned, it very quickly cooled down and the cold of the winter night became extremely obvious.
As the water quickly cooled down, Helios wet fuku became very uncomfortable. Hypothermia certainly would be a fear if Helio cared enough. Instead, he continued on with his assault with another punch, this time to the Knight's gut. Come on. Get angry enough. Just do it! I am terrible. A dirty negaverse senshi. Show me how much you hate me!
The clasp of his cape was unhooked and the soaked fabric dropped to the ground. He hadn’t escaped being covered by water completely, but most of the heat he could endure. It was a matter of freezing afterwards that was his bigger concern. Maybe then the senshi would realize how dangerous it was to leave people out in the streets, unable to defend themselves once energy had been taken from them.
Or the senshi just didn’t care, which was likely as well.
He was moving again, darting at Sessrumnir with a punch to his gut. Another brace for impact of tightened muscles, and Sessrumnir returned the strike with one of his own.
A punch to the gut, and then another, and at the last moment, the senshi shifted a little from initial aim, and Sessrumnir felt the connection to ribs and could have sworn he’d heard a crack. Immediately pulling back, he checked his own hand to make sure nothing had been broken in his own hand.
“Pathetic,” he said as his weapon was dismissed, reaching for the fang by his belt instead. A sweep of his fingers had the ethereal wolf blossoming to life, and settling quite solidly beside him. He wasn’t one for killing someone who couldn’t fight back, but maiming the man into not wanting to power up again, or no longer be useful to the Negaverse was another thing entirely. Maybe the Negaverse would dispose of him when he could no longer gather the energy they oh so needed from their Cattle.
“Make sure he can’t walk again,” he said to the gigantic wolf beside him, stroking her wispy fur before pushing her forward. The wolf, teeth bared and ears flat, wasted no time in chomping down on the man’s leg, a crack of bone being splintered and flesh torn echoing through the cold night air. Cruel perhaps, but Sessrumnir knew that the Negaverse was not as easily changed as his too naive brother thought.
There are things in life that cause people misery. Everyone is different when it comes tods of tolerance. What might be a breaking point for one person isn't for another. What might make this Knight hate himself wasn't going to be the same for Helio. And just as easily as these thresholds are created they could be taken away. Minds change. Decisions change. Intents, pursuits, goals, dreams, wishes, they all change.
Perhaps the multiple punches to abdomen and chest was it. Or the first stabbing pain in his side that coincided with the telltale crack. Or maybe it was the wolf chewing upon his leg and the sharp stabbing pain as bone broke within flesh, but something changed.
Regret? Dismay? Humiliation? Joy?
A cry, his cry, of pain echoed in the dark.
It was hard to pinpoint the exact feeling. Perhaps it was something without a name. Something new, only felt by those flirting with the reaper for he had certainly never experienced it before.
Have I made a mistake?
No.
Patrolling was becoming a major chore again. He often felt it in the many times he'd check his cell phone time. He felt it in the way his legs ached after about a mile of straight walking. And sometimes he noticed it in how his thoughts turned toward the pessimistic as he wandered on and on. Tonight, the minutes trickled by like ice barely out of winter --
and he froze, senses alight, back straight and hair frazzled from the evening's gusts when auric energy briefed him. Startled out of his boredom, Ochre sprung from rooftop to rooftop, chasing out the feeling that exploded across the vicinity. A knight, sure, but the other part of the equation -- that faint blip of chaos --
He crested a parapet, a circular outcropping to an impressive old building, and spotted the faint pair in an adjacent neglected alleyway. Ochre hopped down, darted through the street without incident, and summoned his communicator to hand. His gait slowed only once he reached the sidewalk, and only when he was certain any further might attract the knight's attention. The scene looked worse than he initially gauged with a giant wolf trying to chew its way through a Negaverse senshi's leg. "Any available agents, there's a knight attacking one of ours on, uh -- 13th and Stark! Come help!"
The communicator vanished in an instant, and Ochre summoned to hand the crux of his energy. "Sheikh's Summon!" He called, and aimed for both busted senshi and brazen knight.
The call filtered in through static, and the scattered voice claimed a position not far from him. Thirteenth and Stark. That's three blocks. Obligation shifted over his personal trifles as he forced himself to action, thick smoke trailing behind. A matter of blocks was a few fair seconds, extra parsed to snow's slippery slush, and his mental map pulled him to the proper area.
Knightly energy pulsed out like a mandate. Should he expect forest green on a fiery redhead?
A dodge past a metal dumpster afforded enough of a view -- Heliodor, prone and victimized. A wolf, teeth bared, worried him like a bone. Behind that, a knight turned from the scene and the senshi that ostensibly made the call. What a bustling alley.
Faustite dashed the rest of the distance to meet Heliodor's boneless form, and he crouched with a splinted hand running fingers over foreign cheek to glean attention. "Close your eyes and don't breathe," he muttered urgently. Fingers pressed over Heliodor's ears.
Smoke then exploded outward to ward away the wolf.
He wasn’t so lost to the fight that he didn’t feel the auras of the other Negaverse officers approach. If anything, he was surprised it took them so long to show up. Pinpointing their locations, however, was a bit more of a tricky business. Sessrumnir knew there was an eternal close by, but it wasn’t until the call of the attack that he knew exactly where the other senshi was.
The strange magic whirled around him and the senshi in the maw of his wolf. He carefully stepped aside as one of the ghostly things moved towards him, looking up to see who cast them --
And stared at the familiar red haired senshi. Sessrumnir could feel the blood boiling, recognizing the man from the abandoned hospital, the one who’d allied himself with the General named Obsidian.
“You,” he spat, making to charge forward, only for one of the spirits to hit against him.
Cold flooded his senses, stopping Sessrumnir in his tracks, followed by an overwhelming sense of dread. He couldn’t see anything besides the red haired senshi as a cold sweat poured from his brow and down his face and neck, his breathing shallow and difficult. He clutched at his chest, the pounding of his heart and sensation disorienting him, his memory supplying him with images of when he felt similar to this before.
Through the haze, Sessrumnir could hear Fenrir whine and whimper, a cloud of smoke coming into his vision. Whatever it was, Sessrumnir couldn’t shift his focus enough to find out. He’d already been brought to his knees from the chill that wracked his body, but somehow managed to swipe his hand over the fang that rested on his side, withdrawing the wolf to her home.
Considering the state of his being, Heliodor barely registered another person. He barely noted the attack that had the Knight dodging his way out of the way, only to be hit by another ghastly entity. No, his mind was completely focused on the wolf tearing into skin breaking bone and his own half hearted attempts to dislodge the creature with his other foot.
Something brushed his cheek and Helio started as wild eyes focused on a face that seemed to materialize above him. "Close your eyes and don't breathe,"
“Faustite?” Why?
Instinct took hold and the corrupt did as asked. Teeth bit down on lips almost painfully as he fought to keep his mouth close and not scream anymore as the wolf…
Stopped. Oh he was still in pain. Excruciating pain, but it was no longer exacerbated by sharp teeth gnawing on bone and flesh. Thank god.
Wait. No. He had wanted that. He wanted to fade away.
Why now was he so relieved for help?
The wolf retreated, and Faustite shut his eyes to the gore. Sympathy's prickling fingers played across tendons in his legs. Faustite swallowed, pushing away his attention from the hot blood cloying his nose. Where could he go? No hospitals filtered through his recall. Stroud's apartment promised a mess of retaliation. What of Aue's? Twice he'd been, now -- he still felt the couch fibers reaching up to meet his fingers.
The way the ceiling towered over the great space came to mind foremost, followed by the sturdy pillars bracing themselves against the roof. Large swaths of brick framed the area. Furniture, projects, a computer desk. He remembered the way the smell of alcohol filtered through the entire space, greedy to claim its dominion. And when the picture was complete, when he could push away beleaguered moans and raging exclamations and biting chills, the lot of it simply fell away.
They were here once, and then they were there.
"... Oh, s**t." Ochre never recognized the knight, never once saw him in the breadth of his spotty memory. His grievous response told enough of a tale -- this knight met him before, and didn't much like it. What worried him more is the great blank space that never accounted for their meeting. What happened? What did he do? What did he do to this knight?
His magic bought him seconds, and in those seconds he caught the senshi's power in hand. Tired though he was, he had fewer moments still to use it. Ochre fumbled as he often did; his brother called it his perpetual burden.
His brother --
Ochre backed out into the street, his awareness confirming the departure of the other agents. Thanks for the backup, assholes… He blew on the tip of his finger, desperate for some useful save, and out came a set of golden orbs.
This is crap.
Strickenized
Guine