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"I'll do what Harrison says. I'll move if you desummon Tracey, you can finish him with a punch." Dakota nodded, following after Harrison's lead. "You can't have another Rin, we all know what you're capable of Rep..."

He wanted Rep to see how much more damage it could do to not finish someone off. The sooner Rep let go of the words, the sooner it held no power over him, To Dakota, that was a greater strength anyways. Words were nothing but words if you let them be like that.

But as a moon, he was built to take a lot of things. Words, hits, death, life...whatever was thrown his way right? Maybe that's why he had been put there.

"I'll back off, clean hit without Tracey." Dakota lowered Chama....

Harrison's words made Rep freeze in his tracks, his every instinct was geared towards doing as the moon hunter, his moon hunter asked. At least that was normally the case. In the moment he was competing with a cocktail of other intervening influences - on the one hand there was adrenaline, limiting his range of choices and on the other, there was something far more potent and oppressive.

There was Tracey.

right here. You can't show that kind of weakness.>

The voice was one he'd learned to trust over time, in the past when Tracey had steered him, he'd never steered him wrong. But nor had Harrison. Not even once.



The deep longing for power, the longing to use the pent up charge that bounced back and forth through his veins like a ricocheting bullet, only increased in intensity the longer he kept it trapped and the more the fallen angel spoke to him. Fists would mean giving up that wonderful, perfect sensation, that moment where he was like a transcendent god.

Dakota backed off and once again the hesitation kept him immobilised.

earn it.>

He took a shallow breath and his grip on Tracey slipped, his hands were outright shaking.

They'd left him an opening. Maybe Shy could take it. He probably could.

EARN IT.>

The snarled words were nothing like Tracey's normal voice, instead something much more primal and terrible, many snarled shadowy voices, almost aligned. It was enough to startle him. It was enough to make him flinch and stagger, a stagger which turned into a step, which turned into a run.

And before he knew what he was doing, he attacked.

Only this fear wasn't like the other, this time as he moved the shadows bled outwards from the blade, his own shadow - or rather that of Tracey - moved forwards. As he swung, again and again, it was with the aid of shadowy talons that slithered up from the ground, from the outline of the fallen angel there.

And through it all he didn't feel present, didn't feel there at all, felt like a stretched and far off spectator watching the twisting swirl of shadow and axe. And bringing Tracey this close to the surface, lending him material beyond the weapon itself drained him, pulled energy from him he could scarce afford to give. It took from him, more and more and more until there was nothing else to give and he staggered backwards and dropped the weapon to the ground, falling to his knees in shock at the frenzy that the charge had brought up in him. It was the same as in the shadow run, it was wrong and different from Problems. It was too much, it cost too much.

But it was done, and it had taken all the adrenaline and drive in him, and left him hurting and breathless.


HP: 19
DMG: 28
Charge: 3/3 Problems + Artifact used / The Cost used

For Dakota, it happened fast and slow. He had expected Rep to stop, to hear reason from one: the man he loved and two: for a friend. Both of them that had nothing but Rep's best interest at heart. Both who didn't want to see Rep lose his life over a silly comment made by a brat fresh out of the pod.

It was stupid of him to expect Rep would do anything but the opposite. The moment Chama was lowered, was the moment Rep lost himself. Dakota could t move fast enough when there was something like disbelief holding him still.

And he was rewarded with blood soaked ground and a standing strong Rep. Orange eyes fell to Shy with that awkward look of what the ******** and I just witnessed ******** CHRIST..." Dakota knelt down to Shy, his hands waving over the body cause what the ******** did he do. Bandages wouldn't help, they couldn't move him and his FEAR healing charge was useless.

Rep hesitated, and it was long enough for Shiloh’s pounding heart to latch onto a glimmer of hope, to think that the man might not actually be so crazy as to follow through with it, that he might finally listen to his friends.

But all hopes were false on Deus, always.

As quickly as he’d seemed to be giving in, something snapped, all signs of hesitation forgotten as Rep charged towards him. Shiloh raised Haruko, holding her chains taut, bracing himself. Rep’s axe met it with such force that it pushed them back, fear crackling into the shadows, sparking as metal ground against metal. There was no way Haruko could hold it back, both her and Shy far too inexperienced. No matter how hard the two of them fought together, doggedly trying to hold onto their place, their skills no match for their opponent’s rank, or his fury.

The chain snapped as if it was nothing, howling beneath the axe’s blade, and Haruko was gone. Yet the axe kept coming, sharp and shadowy and deadly. It was too fast to dodge, and too strong to block. It tore through his arms as he brought them up in one last meager attempt at defense, they were knocked away, and the weapon sliced easily through his shirt, through his skin.

He’d been stupid to bait Rep in the first place, and he’d been stupid not to back down, not to turn tail and run when he had the chance, when he’d been left defenseless against the infallible course of rage headed his way. But pride was stupid, and he had so much to prove, that even as the shadowy claws bit at his flesh, he refused to back down. They refused to let him, and he was more than happy to comply, biting through the searing pain and trying his best to just survive.

He refused to stand down, until he could no longer stand anymore. Until the shadows became more than just an extension of his opponent’s weapon, until his entire vision swam black as he fell backwards with a pathetic groan, crumpling against the final onslaught, bloody, unconscious and absolutely, entirely, finished.

Rep had proven his point, undoubtedly, but it was only to himself. Shiloh wasn’t awake to hear it.

HP: -17

Harrison moved Dakota's hands. Checked for a pulse through the blood, even though he knew what the tablet meant.

He knew how it looked. Dakota and him both taking a step back. They'd have to fill out a report. What the ******** was he supposed to say?

He thought he'd known Rep. He thought he was important to Rep, but when it came down to it, this had been more important.

He hadn't been important.

He would have given up anything, but for Rep there'd been a line. How many lines were there? Had it always been like this?

It didn't matter.

There was no priority list where he didn't eventually get pushed down. Harrison was okay when convenient and alone when it mattered.

But he did this every time. Got it in his head that it'd be different. Because he was ******** stupid.

And Rep was going to die because of it. And he wouldn't be long after.

Edith arrived first Sunny was running toward them only a moment later, Robert's large form lumbering right behind her. "Where the ******** his-" the nurse's voice cut off when she saw the tablet, her face going pale. Kneeling down, she didn't bother checking Shiloh, but instead carefully picked up the tablet hands running over it as she inspected it for damage. "It's whole," she commented, glancing up at Robert and Edith before taking the tablet and wrapping the dead trainee's hands around it. "Morris, carry his body to the smaller pod room on the east side of the labs. Don't worry about injuring it further, just keep the tablet in contact physical contact. If you ******** drop it, I'll drop you down a flight of ******** stairs. Run."

Giving the medic team their space, Edith looked on with an impassive expression until she was sure they had it in hand. Turning to Harrison and Dakota, she finally spoke, "Explain to me how this happened in the presence of two senior hunters. Two senior Moon hunters."

Dakota stepped back, standing straighter as Edith and Sunny made their way to the field. Shame hung heavy on his shoulders, as did the blood on his hands. Not caused by him, but might as well be.

"Sir." Dakota fumbled for the right wording and looked at Harrison and Rep. Obviously what was going to follow would be terrible for all three, but he worried about Rep and Harrison the most.

Except why should he worry, He had done what he thought had been best for his friend, to try and make Rep see some kind of reasoning behind this. At this point, Dakota wanted nothing more then to be truthful and hope it lessened the punishment for him. He had tried trusting Rep, and this is where it got him.

"I let my guard down Ma'am. I was acting as a buffer for the spar, for the trainee...I was his defense, so that Rep wouldn't hurt him anymore then a short lesson..." Dakota watched Robert carry Shy off, "We, Harrison and I that is, thought we could reason with Rep and were attempting to work him down to stand down...hoping to end this fight with fist instead of weapon..." He looked at Rep once, the flicked his eyes back to Edith. "I let my guard down, as did Harrison, trying to be passive and, it happened quickly so I don't know how to explain...Rep's weapon was charge and he used it on Shiloh. It was a charge I've never seen before..." It was a charge that had been too fatal..."And then Shiloh was there, I didn't think his fear shield was that for down..." This was his fault, this was his fault...He should've known better.

He should've known better then to stop being a moon at any time.

He quieted after that..