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 Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2024 5:01 pm
Snowy Showdown (16) Prompt
For Jericho, he swapped to Seraphinite when necessary--training, patrols, quotas to meet, supervising the sole two under his watch. He preferred to use his free time for un-powered gym sessions and more specialized classes, and on the rare occasion he actually had the energy, on hobbies. Though, most of his available time as of late was siphoned into helping out at a youth outreach program he'd found, focusing on afterschool activities and lessons of… an impressive variety, really.
It was more rewarding than he figured, helping kids out with homework, playing a few rounds of basketball, and assisting the main teacher in self-defence classes. The smiles, that is. The spark of understanding when a concept clicked. The whoops and cheers when they scored shots. Even just holding sparring pads or dragging out a punching bag if someone needed to just go to town on something and work through…. Whatever it was.
He often lost track of time around there, even just with handling cleanup once everyone else had headed out. Meshed well enough with heading out on patrols sometimes, or meeting up with the others if needed. The walks home, though, were his favorite. Just time to think, to process.
The fresh snow didn't hamper his appreciation for the quiet time as he locked up the building. His footsteps over the sidewalks on his way to the main street were muffled by the crunching, building blanket. All of the city's usual sounds seemed to be dulled, a little extra peace and holiday magic to enjoy, he'd settled on.
Jericho wasn't that foolish to let his guard down, though. He'd lived in Destiny City long enough to know far better.
The figure standing in the empty street had snagged his attention, the form almost lost in the twinkling, shimmering background of snow beneath dull streetlights. Businesses were out for the night here, windows shut and closed up tight in the apartments above. He'd not seen another person for a bit, and the lack of footprints in the snow beyond his own had definitely confirmed he was alone....
No marks in the snow suggested it was a very well made snowman, or that anyone had gone anywhere near the thing. If anything, the way it stood hunched in place, almost suggested someone had just… stayed there till they were completely encased in snow.
Pale eyes narrowed before he slipped between some of the buildings, drawing on the energy that hummed just beneath the surface till it flared and cracked around him. Seraphinite rolled his shoulders, heavy boots crushing the snow anew as he headed back out onto the street. No energy signature, but he could see the limbs twitching and almost… rolling? Not like he had, to stretch muscles, but clumps were actually moving around in its… arms, or at least what looked like arms.
The thing twitched, jerky movements making him frown a bit before he drew out one of his two swords. The hissing of blade against sheath seemed to catch the thing's ear (did it even have any..?) and the smooth head turned in his direction. Seraphinite let out a small sigh, taking in the fact the thing had no features. Not a person. Great.
"The holidays never fail to disappoint…"
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2024 8:59 am
Ilya had been on his way home, already on edge from oddities earlier in the night. Like Jericho, he had observed a strange figure with an oddly ominous presence and slipped away to power up.
If he’d been only a few seconds earlier he might have had the benefit of knowing the figure at least didn’t carry a Negaverse aura, but the timing was wrong.
He felt Seraphinite’s energy signature instead.
Beira still needed answers, and if not that then he at least needed to make sure the Negaverse wasn’t trying to cause any issues right now.
Except, when he returned to the scene, he saw Seraphinite.
And the snow figure was still there. Maybe it was just a trick of the mind but as Beira’s eyes darted from it and the Captain before him, he was certain he saw it move. Maybe just an inch, not much. It gave the impression of a predator, sprung tightly and ready to pounce.
Just waiting for the right opening.
It would have been reasonable to assume the Negaverse agent was the greater threat, and yet he looked on edge, too.
No wonder why; this time when the snow creature twitched, a few snowflakes tumbled off of it. There was no breeze to explain it. It had, indisputably, moved.
“...I take it that this isn’t your doing?” he asked, cautiously.
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Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 12:36 pm
Order signatures felt... uncomfortable to him. That was the easiest way to put it. Not sickly sweet, not a sunburn, but just... uncomfortable. It agitated him. Maybe there was something about it that screamed aliens or unwelcomed to his senses, just wanting to push them out and away.
Thus, when the senshi stepped into the unofficial arena, so to speak, Seraphinite cast him a quick, silent glare that'd already been brewing. His free hand rested on the empty sheath of his drawn blade, muscle memory ready to snap into action to draw out the second if the magic-wielding menace decided to engage. He wasn't sure what the snow thing was, but he'd deal with an uneven match if he had to. Try to, anyway. Magic made s**t all the more unpredictable.
The new voice drew the thing's attention, and it twitched again, seeming to turn its head slightly towards the senshi. Who looked far better suited for the cold than he was, Seraphinite noted with a snort.
"No," he said flatly to the other, eyes shifting between senshi and snowman that seemed to be... if it was a person, he'd think they were trying to weigh their options, with how its head seemed to just so slightly twitch between them.
"Already standing like this when I got here. No tracks. Either someone let themselves get snowed over, or..." He trailed off with a faint shrug, feeling the implication was obvious. Always something odd happening around the holidays in this city.
Glancing again at the senshi, Seraphinite took a few cautious steps towards the snow thing, keeping his drawn blade raised with a flat edge facing the creature. Defensive. On one hand, probably looked silly being careful around a snowman, but considering how it was just... waiting...
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 3:33 pm
It felt unwise to trust a Negaverse Agent, but in the face of the unknown there was at least some reassurance that they shared a common enemy.
…Because that’s very much what this seemed to be.
It would have been different if the snowman thing ran away but it didn’t.
It twitched again, like it was waiting for them to make the first move.
And then it got tired of waiting.
In a single instant, it seemed to melt into the ground and simultaneously lurch several feet towards them. It had disappeared down to its elbows, but two icy hands suddenly jerked from the ground and grabbed both Beira and Seraphinite by the ankle and yanked. It was like the snow was trying to knock them down, trying to swallow them up. It bubbled like water boiling over–and it was trying to bury them before they could lash out.
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Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2024 5:33 pm
Enemy of my enemy and all of that...
The snowman was certainly a lot faster than he'd anticipated, and had a few more tricks up its proverbial sleeves. Great.
When it sort of sank into the surrounding snow, Seraphinite took a step back, expecting it to jump back out at him or something. But no, it took another route. The hand that gripped him was far stronger than any creation of snow and ice had any right to be, and the sudden almost quicksand-like snow wasn't any better. He fell down to a knee, and knew if he stayed down for much longer it'd be trouble.
Gritting his teeth, Seraphinite slashed at the arm tugging at him, drawing his second blade to also try and stab down into the bubbling snow. If only to try and give himself an opening to move back.
At least cutting through the limb had been relatively easy--even if the hand still held around his boot... He could hear a muffled roar, the sound of so much snow grinding and snapping against itself. The hand that still held onto him hissed slightly from the forming cracks as the poison from his weapon glowed through it.
Another hand shot up out of the snow just as Seraphinite jerked backwards a few feet, glancing towards the senshi. "What's your magic?" Somehow, he doubted he was lucky enough to get a blue and fur-clad fire-related senshi....
Near said senshi, another limb burst out of the snow--handless, with glowing white cracks forming and hissing heat through where the slice had taken place. It swung at Beira, a blunt-force object--or, well. Was trying to be, outside of it's slow and jerky in its movements, pained or hindered by the burning poison.
Kyuseisha no Hikari Sera's blades' magic: Causes anyone struck by the swords to be injected with a poison that gives off a light burning sensation at the point of contact. The area around the wound forms "light cracks"--faintly glowing, lava-crack looking markings that last as long as the burning of the poison does. The cracks are a visual representation of the poison, though can extend further than the point of contact. The poison itself is restricted only to the point of contact, and lingers with the burning sensation for only 10 seconds. Should someone be struck repeatedly by the poison--after the initial effect has already worn away--then the burning sensation builds, akin to someone becoming allergic to a bee sting over repeated attacks.
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Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2025 8:14 pm
Snow wasn’t supposed to make any sound so maybe Beira shouldn’t have been surprised at the ominous roar that seemed to erupt from all around them. Snow wasn’t sentient, how was he supposed to inflict loneliness on it?
But if it could feel pain, maybe...
Anything was worth a shot.
Whatever the Negaverse agent had done at least made it easier to see where the attacks were coming from. Unlike before, now he could more easily decipher the movement in the snow. It wasn’t a perfect method, there was still a lot he couldn’t see, but he did see the strange snow-limb flicker just before it shot out at him.
He kicked it instinctively, sending snow spraying a good few feet away from him.
It didn’t move again.
“I wouldn’t put much faith in my magic for this fight,” he admitted, and even if he and the Negaverse agent were temporarily on the same side he still had enough wits about him to think that maybe he shouldn’t be too loose with his tongue.
They might not be allies the next time they crossed paths.
His magic required him to have a target in sight and it was difficult when it all looked like snow--and his magic made things colder. What good was making snow feel cold? No, his focus and energy was better spent on trying to scatter the solid lumps of snow when they manifested.
“Whatever you’re doing is helping,” he said, even if he didn’t need to announce it. The snow lit up again, but this time before it could attack, Beira dug his heel into the strange light. It crackled, faded.
It weakened.
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 5:31 pm
Nope, no dumb luck for a fire senshi, or apparently anything potentially useful. He didn't press it, though he wasn't surprised that the senshi kept his magic unspoken. Smart. That could be used against him far, far too easily, otherwise.
At least the sort of poison imbued in his blades seemed to have a proper effect. More arms lurched up at him, and Seraphinite slashed at each as he could, still trying to dodge to not let himself get snagged and pulled under. One arm was cut clean in half starting at the middle finger, another lost the hand, then forearm, in quick succession.
A few hands caught his legs, and Seraphinite was yanked to the ground, smacking it hard on his back and wind knocked out from the impact. Still, he managed to at least push himself up to sit, and dragged the blades through the limbs to free himself. Back still hurt, and he coughed a bit as he got his lungs working properly again. But at least there were now more and more stumps with glowing, cracking, hissing poison and moving in smaller bundles together as the creature seemed to be trying to pull what remained of itself together. Which, from the looks of things, wasn't... very much at this point.
Good.
"Doesn't seem to enjoy even that sort of heat."
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Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 8:05 am
“I can’t complain about that,” Beira answered. The lumps of snow were appearing with less frequency and enthusiasm but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. Every time one of them manifested he did the best he could to scatter the snow, which seemed like the most effective way to weaken it.
The more damage they did, the more difficulty it seemed to have regenerating.
Beira wasn’t going to complain about that, either.
His magic was effective in a variety of situations, but against a frosty, bodiless enemy he recognized that he was at a disadvantage and for that he was glad to have someone here to handle this with him.
…Even if it was a Negaverse Agent.
“Keep it up,” he encouraged, under no pretense of a command. Seraphinite had the advantage in this fight because whatever he was doing was working. Beira had no qualms with playing off his lead as long as it meant that whatever this beast was, it was gone by the end of it.
Before it could hurt someone less able to defend against it.
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Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 7:40 pm
Seraphinite didn't comment at the senshi's... vote of support? He certainly didn't take it as a command. There was a very strange sensation in not fighting against a White Moon agent, and though he kept the senshi in his line of sight for the most part... the mutual enemy was strange.
It wasn't the first time this had happened in the city's history, he knew of that much, but it felt... weird.
The snow tried to collect itself together, a low, pained moan echoing from somewhere beneath the cold surface. Seraphinite trudged up to it, boots leaving imprints in the unaffected, or seemingly unpossessed, snow lumps that had previously been hands and limbs. A few final swipes, slashing the blades into the snow, sent more cracks and tendrils of the burning poison into the thing till it glowed throughout its form... and then, it melted away.
Only a patch of damp, patchy ground and slush was left behind, and Seraphinite glanced about at the rest of the snow to look for any signs of movement in case it hadn't yet really been killed...
But he wasn't seeing anything.
Straightening, he debated half a second before he sheathed his swords, turning to face the senshi with a vague look of amusement. "One down. I'm sure there's plenty others around the city, though."
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Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2025 7:33 am
In many ways, it felt like a poor decision to lower his guard when left alone with the Seraphinite. They might have been temporary allies but Beira couldn’t predict what the future held, or if now that the problem had been handled they now had to deal with each other. He was on guard, but not assertively.
Beira had an easy going demeanor for the most part so he never really came across as hostile or looking for trouble.
Even now, he was just glad that the threat had been resolved. He wasn’t looking to pick a fight with his spontaneous ally. He’d been out here to make sure no one got hurt, and if the snow monster was gone, good.
He just hoped Seraphinite was either ‘one of the good ones’ or too tuckered out to go make more mischief.
“Oh, don’t say that,” Beira said, sighing with great exasperation. “I was really hoping this might be a ‘one of a kind’ sort of thing. Makes me feel like I should start carrying around a thermos full of boiling water.”
…Which might not be a bad idea anyway, but still.
“You made that a lot easier than it would have been on my own.” And, even if he didn’t really trust the Negaverse, credit was due. “Thanks, a lot.”
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2025 5:22 pm
A dark brow lifted, corner of his lips twitching up in a faint show of amusement. "You senshi have that sort of... magical carrying dimension, too, right? Just start keeping the thermoses in there. Even if you don't run into any of these guys, enjoy some tea or something."
There was a part of him that debated how much of a fight the senshi could put up, if he lunged now. Teleported behind him, thrust his hand into his chest to nab the starseed hidden within...
But the exercise seemed useless at the moment. He couldn't weigh out any gain from attempting such an attack, and the idea of trying to drag someone back to Negaspace for corruption assistance was... exhausting to even consider. No, there was no reason for him to antagonize or try to lure the senshi into some trap or whatever. Instead, he gave a light shrug to the senshi's gratitude, glancing away to scan the area for any lingering threat that might be lurking in the snows. No movement caught his eye, at least. "Your assistance was also appreciated. Prefer those things not catch a civilian."
No other threat reared its icy head, so he nodded slightly to himself before he eyed the senshi. "I'll take my leave then. Best of luck out there."
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2025 6:28 am
Beira considered Seraphinte’s words curiously, but when the Captain made no effort to strike he found himself settling into a strange, uneasy peace.
“Same to you,” he said, and with a responsible amount of caution he turned away as Seraphinite did. He stayed edge and alert, just in case the agent decided to try and sneak in one final attack, but none came.
There were worse encounters to have on a cold, frozen night.
If there were other threats to Destiny City that needed to be dealt with, he might not have minded winding up in the same spot as Seraphinite again.
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