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 Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:02 pm
Energy and answers - that was all he wanted out of the evening. Energy for him and his quota, to be honest. The dogs still kept barking in the middle of the night, which sucked, overtime hadn’t let up, and while it gave him something substantial and frantic to pour himself into, it wasn’t giving him the rest he craved. Even if he didn’t quite feel he deserved it, he still needed it, so he was living on too much coffee, most of it instant because that was cheaper. Tonight he’d gone ahead and pulled cash out so he could get coffee by being the jerk who walked through the drive-through. He was pretty well past caring about the strange looks, most of them dirty that it got him. He’d tipped anyhow so that they could bite him. Finding out he could jump high enough to catch the fire escape ladder and climb to a roof had been something of a delight. He figured maybe; he could have a peaceful moment to drink his coffee. It also gave him time to think over what little he still knew about ‘the Rooftop incident,’ which was basically jack s**t. He’d made no real headway other than learning a few things about different weird magical attacks and losing his temper hardcore. He was sipping his over sugar-laced and over expresso-laden drink when he felt that familiar ‘awful feeling’ that he had come by now to associate with ‘them’ He took a heavy swig of his drink and cast a glance around, at least not expecting to see someone else on the rooftops with him, Then again, if it was someone on a roof… Maybe he would be closer to finding the b*****d he was trying to hunt down.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:29 pm
Squire Mamertine had already found a string of drained bodies throughout the city tonight, like someone was on a mad rampage to drain as much as possible. There was only so much that could be done for the ones that seemed to have some life in them, but he'd found more husks of people than any he could be hopeful for.
Three had been drained, but were alive--dazed, disoriented, and barely functioning. If he hadn't known better he might have assumed they were simply drunk or deranged.
Four, however, were without starseeds. Without life, it seemed.
Without their starseed, they were the barely living dead, and given that the bodies were still warm he'd had hope that he might find the agent who drained them.
Parisite was unlucky to have been in the area; his energy signature was the first Mamertine picked up and the agent was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Mamertine had scaled a nearby building to get a better vantage point of the agent when he spotted his back, sitting alone on the roof. He summoned his weapon--an oversized gavel, and crossed the distance between them.
"It was you, wasn't it," he said, accusatorily. His voice was steady, cold and convinced. "If you've got the starseeds on you, return them immediately. If not, I'll take them by force."
His grip on the handle of his weapon tightened and he had already drawn it back, prepared to strike him with it as he crossed the distance between the two of them.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:08 pm
Parisite looked around, searching for someone, anyone else who might be being accused of whatever misdeeds that he was being accused of doing. Starseeds? No? He frowned and looked back. “It… wasn’t it?” He said confused. “I stopped for coffee? Jesus who the hell gave you a giant hammer.” He gripped his coffee a little tighter and took a step back. “Look man, I don’t even have pockets. I had to leave all my damn change from the overpriced coffee in the tip jar.” He kept backing up, the last thing he needed was to try and explain to Priam and sterling what made a mark the size and shape of what, in other circumstances might have been a comically oversized hammer. “Tell me you don’t know the b*****d who smells like cinnamon.” He pleaded, wondering if he’d just run into yet another homicidal lunatic. This one might just be in for crushing skulls rather than strangulation.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:31 pm
The squire didn't seem impressed with the response, but then--of course this wouldn't have been easy. His expression didn't change beyond a slightly furrowed brow. It's not like there was anything good to come of the Negaverse--and then, why should this one tell him the truth if he was responsible?
"Then, you plead innocence?" he asked, but there was no faith in his voice. He had already determined guilt.
If he hadn't taken the starseeds, Mamertine had no doubt that he'd taken energy from someone else.
He wielded the oversized gavel with more ease than its form should command; he swung it towards the Captain, intending to do all that he could to pin him to the ground with it while he continued his interrogation.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:37 pm
“Yes?! I just got out here! Jesus man…” He stumbled back away from the Hammer which snatched the edge of his shirt dangerously close. The lurch backward made him slosh coffee over his hand, hot and enough to make him swear. He really didn’t want to drop the damn coffee, he didn’t want to get hit either but he paid for the coffee. “At least let me put my damn drink down!!” He protested. “What the ******** do you want? to pat me down!?” He glanced back to make sure he wasn’t about to fall off the edge of the roof, yeah he could teleport, but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just…re-appear with the same momentum.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:42 pm
"If I must," came the nonchalant, disinterested voice. He did not perceive this as something to enjoy, just a task by which to perform.
He moved, quicker than before, and pressed the head of the hammer down on Parisite's chest with such force that laid him flat on the rooftop. He moved with his hammer and knelt next to him. His eyes were cold and piercing and demanded respect; he came with the presence of someone with great authority, who expected to be all but obeyed.
There was only coldness from him.
"Confess," he demanded. His expression was like a predator for their prey, calculating possibilities and waiting for weakness.
Mamertine wanted to see him crack. He kept the hammer pressed into his chest, not enough to cut off breathing but enough to make its presence unforgettable.
"And I will judge your crimes accordingly."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:52 pm
Expelling air by force as you were driven, rather unexpectedly into a rooftop, was not a dignified sound. It wasn’t the first time in his life he’d made some fundamentally embarrassing sound he wished he could remove from the world. But he had to admit it was a first under these circumstances. He managed to suck in a breath despite the impact that had briefly driven it out, he wasn’t constrained from breathing, just… he forgot how-to for a moment. “Jesus ******** what the hell man! Confess to what?! Bad coffee that you made me spill??” At least he hadn’t taken that to the head, that would have been a doozie. He might still have to blame it on some kind of … unexpected fight. He pushed at the hammer, considering deeply what chances he had if he summoned his daggers. “Wait, let me guess, I’ve sold my soul, I should just die… I’m garbage, yada yada yada… is that where this is going? Cause I can save you the time and breath.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:59 pm
Mamertine's eyes squinted at the Captain.
"Your soul is your own affair, I care about actions and retribution. What you've done and how you'll repent. In the absence of honesty, I will assume guilt on all counts. Do yourself a favor and list me your crimes before I lose my patience. I haven't got all night to sit here on a roof with you and your bad coffee."
He pressed the giant gavel against him again, firm and demanding.
"So, again. Confess. Before you make an enemy of me."
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 6:11 pm
“Dude, seriously!! I just got out here! I didn’t do jack, and the only other thing I’ve done is gather energy and that was last night!!” “I don’t know what you’re hoping to hear but I can’t help man! And YOU spilled my coffee!” He snarled through clenched teeth. This was almost as frustrating as sitting at the table being questioned by the cops, except Hammer-time didn’t have a file, he just had assumptions. “Is it collecting energy?” He shot back, “Cause I haven’t done that tonight, and I put the ones I do into the freaking all night laundry! Sorry if I don’t trust the other options.” He tried to take a swing at the b*****d, if he could just knock a joint or something maybe he could get loose. He didn’t care for the sound of this ‘judgment’ stuff after some of the other strange things he’d seen these ******** do.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:11 pm
Mamertine glared down at him, quiet and contemplative. He was not a man of many words ordinarily, and was less so with his enemies.
"You say 'gathering energy' like it is something free to take. At the very least, you are a thief. An assault that leaves no bruises, but a stain all the same. A reprieve from the cold of night does not make up for what you've stolen. Just because you don't throw salt in an open wound doesn't mean you should be forgiven for making the cut. So tell me, Captain."
He gripped his hammer and pushed himself up, not caring that Parisite's chest had to deal with the weight. When he stood, he looked down at the Agent. "You have stolen energy. What will you give now to make amends?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:18 pm
He made a strangled sound of discomfort as the man used him as leverage to stand. “No bruises my a**!” He snapped. “Never mind what you just did, a*****e, what’s the price to your folk breaking necks! What about making people relive their history? Judgmental b*****d, you who takes the toll out of you huh?” “Again, NO SPARE CHANGE for cold bastards who get to sleep it off like they got drunk! Go find whoever threw the man off the ROOF and pass your judgment!”
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:30 pm
Mamertine regarded him with indifference again. "Do you think the power to judge is given to all? No. I've earned it. I make no excuses for anyone, regardless of where they find themselves aligned. If there is one worth to judge me, let him. But you can't punish justice. And you're rambling. You've failed to argue innocence or demonstrate repentance. I have no choice but to defer to corporal punishment. Think about it the next time you try to steal a little piece of someone's life for an organization that would just as soon take your own."
He raised the gavel off of Parisite then, swung it above his head, and then swung it in an arc, as if he were trying to hit a ball in a game of golf.
Only, his target was Parisite's ribcage.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 7:47 pm
“You didn’t earn s**t mother ********!” He protested. “Oh F——“ He swore, seeing the mallet raise and then swing towards him, he didn’t have time to think, there was a split-second decision between him and what would likely amount to broken ribs at -least. He rolled away as fast as he could, a dizzy tumble to put as much space between him and any following strikes as he could. “Are you trying to KILL me?!” He demanded as he tried to stop himself, which was a fine thought, but he put an arm back to brace himself and found… Air. He tipped, sliding with a painful grind against the edge of a roof never meant to have interlopers. Another completely humiliating sound that he wouldn’t admit had been a bit high in pitch before he remembered to teleport. He blinked back into ‘reality’ with shaking knees and a rush of adrenaline that he honestly hadn’t asked for. <********!” He said leaning against a wall and staring back up at the judgmental son of a b***h. “Corporal punishment, my a**.”
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:06 pm
Mamertine squinted and from a distance, it was hard to tell that he was flushed with anger. His lip curled just slightly, in a distasteful sneer.
"If you insist," he replied, without an ounce of jest; he took a step forward, keen to be on even ground with the Agent. He fell with more grace when dropping to the ground, if only because he'd intended to go down.
And now, he intended to pursue Parisite until he got the justice he demanded.
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Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2020 8:14 pm
“AwHELL no…” He protested, staggering back a step. “What the ******** is with you murderous bastards!” He summoned one of his knives, it wasn’t remotely meant to be a proper throwing knife, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t intend to make a go at slowing the ******** down. He chucked it, aiming for the man’s legs. He didn’t really want to kill him or anything, he just wanted a moment to getaway. Then he grasped desperately for one more go. He’d done this with someone else in tow, surely he could teleport one more time, out of range of the man and his ridiculous hammer. He vanished again and hoped that Cavansite would forgive him ‘dropping in’ again. This was absolutely going to warrant a report.
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