[Regular] The First Attempt (Charonite + Tisiphone + Nova)

[candy lamb]

Naomi and Theresa were usual sights at the secretarial desk -- the boys had mourned the disappearance of Ursula Johnson and her perfect, Nirvana-esque cleavage, especially compared to Naomi and Theresa Killingworth who were "tit widows." Nonetheless, they were Naomi and Theresa Killingworth, and you never called them titwidows to their faces. They were both also fairly pretty and tended to wear secretarial gear that you found on Google Imaging "Sexy BDSM Secretary", so although Ursula Johnson was dearly missed, there was much to be had in kind. God never closed a door without opening a BDSM window.

Gunn Killingworth strode into the secretarial room looking like a thundercloud with sunglasses, which was normal. It was Killingworth. General-King Charonite was a man whose temper waxed on permanent fray, and could be irritated by changes in the weather or a wind chill factor. This time, his irritation (and he seemed more amped up than usual) was at his 'nieces'. "Theresa," he barked tersely. "Come on. Come and see me in my office."

He really was amped up. He seemed -- not nervous. He was never nervous. But he was more intense than usual, on the edge, and he cut his hand down in a sharp motion as though to reinforce: COME WITH ME.

"Naomi, stay the ******** put."

Naomi didn't look bothered: Nova was doing her nails.  

[Lady Mist]

Theresa peeked up with she heard her voice called. A reason to skip out on tedious paperwork? Why yes, please. The girl slipped into his office and took her dutiful place in the seat across the desk. Today she had tried wearing a hat with a short veil and looked rather like she had gone to a funeral, so she made sure to pull the black lace over the hat to see properly. "Yes sir?"  

[candy lamb]

She looked more like a baby goth than anything else: Gunn Killingworth had locked the door behind her, apparently not giving half a s**t for her hat or anything else. Without preamble, he reached over to touch her: and then they were in the Negaverse subspace, her bracelet unclicked to reveal herself as the corrupted Tisiphone, his cloak swirling around his ankles.

He still didn't say a word. He lead her past the quiet, dusty throne-room to a cavern off to the side -- a cavern whose one main feature was, at the far side, a glowing crystal with something murky inside it that she couldn't work out.

"This is what I corrupted you for," said the General-King. "The chance to become something greater than yourself."

He took Tisiphone's hand and impatiently lead her over to the crystal, and pressed her hand against it without delay. She felt the smooth, cold, flat plane of the stone, and then --

-- her hand sank in.

Her hand was pressing against something odd and try and sticklike, with many protrusions. She couldn't see. Charonite was saying, "Let your mind god damned go."

And the sticklike -- bony -- thing -- clutched around her own.  

[Lady Mist]

The sudden arrival to the Negaverse subspace had taken her by surprise. Wasn't there supposed to have been a rant or something first? Nevertheless she followed after him, her confusion rising the further they walked. Dark eyes caught sight of the crystal, peering back at the General-King when he spoke. This was her purpose? That nagging feeling she always had about the Negaverse? So.. what exactly was it again?

She didn't resist any when her hand was forced to the crystal, though a chill went down her spine. The smooth surface first surprised her with how normal it felt. Being in the Negaverse subspace she thought it would be a little less.. well, normal. Tisiphone didn't have to wait long to feel a different kind of surprise as her hand no longer met the resistance of the cold surface and instead fell into something even darker, and even colder.

Her first instinct was to snatch her hand back, but she wasn't exactly sure where to snatch it back from. What purpose? She vaguely noted Charonite's voice in the distance, wondering when the room had faded away. What was gripping her arm? Panic struck her as she couldn't free herself. She tried to raise her other hand to attack the thing, but she caught herself in time to push her fear back down. She was brought here for a purpose, right? This was the sole reason of her being, was it?

Tisiphone calmed herself in slow, deep breaths, though she wasn't even sure if she was breathing. But the thought of it calmed her, anyways. The chilling thing on her wrist didn't seem to be letting go, and without any knowledge of what she should do, Tisiphone left her mind blank to the will of the Negaverse.  

[candy lamb]

She felt Charonite push her forward. She sank into the crystal, and into the bony embrace of what was, in fact, a skeleton.

She couldn't see properly. She couldn't see. All that was around her was the quiet, overwhelming force of the Negaverse, and Tisiphone was feeling it properly for the great time -- and for the first time she realised how overwhelming it was. How great it was. How the power of the Negaverse was an endless, terrible plane, an empty planet, a husk of the universe, a terrible malevolent force that rippled through her and saw her corrupted starseed and sang. It was a cloying film that sat uneasily on her skin like grease. It was burning hot. It was freewheeling, held by the skeleton which unnerved her more than anything had ever unnerved her in her life. What was the purpose? She was being taken over --

-- and suddenly, ejected.

The skeleton let her go. Tisiphone fell, smoking and rejected, out of the crystal, ending up in a heap on the floor -- wisps of smoke coming up from her body as she choked and coughed. There was no more of the power. She felt empty and abandoned.

And Charonite watched.

And Charonite bellowed, "<********>" and slammed his fist into the wall.

"Did you even ******** try?" he demanded. "Did you even ******** attempt to do this, Tisiphone? <********> It should have worked. It should have worked. You're a ******** corrupted senshi, that's what she wanted. It's what she asked for."

He strode over her prone body and pressed his hand to the crystal. "What do you ******** want from me?" he said roughly. "What the ******** am I doing wrong? What am I god damn doing wrong?"  

[Lady Mist]

She was silent during Charonite's first tirade, her arms shaking to hold her up as she meekly pushed herself upright on her knees. Perhaps if he told her what she was supposed to be doing she would have, you know, known what to do. Letting her mind go wasn't a particularly helpful tip. "Maybe you need a super." Tisiphone's voice was hoarse and bitter, the feeling of rejection hitting her hard. He probably hadn't taken the Dark Sacrificing 101 class, and obviously missed reading the fine print of the requirements, whatever they were. Not that trying to blame others was helping her any.

Gritting her teeth, she stared at the floor before her. The Negaverse had been so vast, it was awe inspiring. Trying to ignore the overwhelming sensation of failure, Tisiphone decided to focus on the "she" of his sentence. Who was he trying to obey? She knew of no higher ups than he, so obviously some strange things were afoot. Tisiphone was tempted to ask, wondering if his anger might make him lose a few words, but decided she didn't want to bother at the moment. Her arms were shaking a little less now, but she still didn't trust her legs.  

[candy lamb]

"Maybe I ******** well do," said Charonite, and he left her there. He popped out of the Negaverse space with the usual snap of ozone, and when he popped back a few moments later he had Naomi -- Nova -- in his grip. Nova looked baffled. She also looked a little irritated. Maybe you need a super. Well, the senshi of stars was a super, wasn't she; and now Tisiphone would be forced to watch as Nova had the success she didn't.

"Go," said the General-King, and he pushed Nova into the crystal in much the same way that he had pushed Tisiphone -- she watched as the petite brunette was swallowed up, into the arms of the corpse. Because it had been a corpse. The crystal was a tombstone, and he was pushing both of them into the arms of the dead, waiting for -- something -- that neither of them knew.  

[Lady Mist]

Tisiphone watched in horror as the other girl disappeared into the crystal. Her hair was splayed about her and she knew she looked pitiful from where she sat, but now the girl was frozen not from her shivering limbs, but from the anticipation of seeing what would happen. She knew she should hope for a success for the sake of the Negaverse, yet it stung. It was supposed to be her, not the other senshi. It was a terribly selfish thought, but just remembering the feeling of how connected she had been, despite the blinding cold and the burning hot, the fear of that skeletal thing, the thought of the other senshi beating her for the sake of the Negaverse angered her.

Everyday Tisiphone had to convince herself of being comrades with the other girl, but she never could shake that loathing. There was always a cold wall between them, but she tried to ignore it. Now she hated the other girl, for being a super when she was not. For being better equipt for the Negaverse while she was not, for not taking her job seriously enough, for being a senshi, for being like her.

Dark eyes were glued to the crystal. How long had she been in there for? Was it longer than her own experience? Was she being accepted? Tisiphone clenched her hands, forcing her emotions back as she finally stood upright. This was no time to have childish jealousy.

"What is it that sleeps in there?" Tisiphone finally asked, though she wasn't expecting an answer.  

[candy lamb]

The General-King didn't give her one, for long moments. He was too busy taut with expectation and anger, watching the girl still inside the crystal -- had Tisiphone been in there that long? Was Nova lasting longer? -- with his fists clenched. He was agitated. He was furious. That wasn't unusual with the lead Shitennou; Charonite was always furious.

He didn't look at the pale, pretty girl with her mass of platinum blonde hair; his eyes were all for what was going on inside the crystal, just as hers were, waiting.

"What is it that sleeps in there?" he eventually parrotted back at her, his voice gravelly. "What is it. Don't god damn ask that question. You could guess. Didn't it touch you enough? Did she just reject you right away? Why the ******** does she think you're not a worthy vessel -- "

And then Nova came barrelling out.  

[natsu]

Nova WAS irritated that Tisiphoney got to try first, whatever it was that they were meant to be trying to do. She was obviously the better candidate, Super Senshi and all, and though they existed outside of the regular Negaverse ranking system, Nova still felt partially gloaty that she was the Super Corrupted Senshi and Tisiphoney was merely a Corrupted Senshi.

But it didn't matter-- whatever the skeleton was, it was not happy with Nova either, and she sat up, spluttering-- and pissed off.

"Let me try again," Nova said, her voice pleading, "I thought I heard... I thought I saw..." Nova trailed off. Charonite's expression was practically murderous and Nova gulped, pulling her knees to her chest. The experience had shaken her, shown her the cracks and flaws that were in her, finally understanding that though she might be powerful she was nothing compared to the will of the negaverse.  

[Lady Mist]

The moment Nova came tumbling out Tisiphone felt herself standing on pins and needles. Well, she didn't look any different, just as harried as she had been. No different sense to her either. Her eyes flicked to guage Charonite's expression, checking to see if he saw anything she hadn't. A moment passed and she found herself pleased as ever to see his anger.

Relief that Nova had failed was paired with sorrow and anger for the sake of the Negaverse, with a dash of guilt for feeling the afformentioned relief. Tisiphone lightly touched her wrist where the skeleton had grabbed her. He said "she" in reference to the skeleton, so perhaps that was the same "she" he had mentioned before. Did he have a way of communicating with that undead zombie? Was she a higher rank than he? Or just another form of a weapon?

It took a moment to register that he had said "vessel" in that last sentence. Paired with the accute feeling of rejection, Tisiphone realized that it was likely their--her--duty to bring this dead woman back to life by giving up their own body for her. What was she lacking? Was it power? Did she need more power to sustain the thing? Was it because she had felt fear at the thing? What was wrong with her? But if even a super's power wasn't enough.. Tisiphone found herself staring at the crystalline tomb again.

She wanted it. She wanted to feel that power again, how vast the Negaverse was, even if it meant losing herself in the process. The girl gripped her wrist, her knuckles turning white. Tisiphone wanted to ask more more the woman needed, but figured if Charonite knew the he would have already prepared for such, so she went for her next question, "How do we find out what we're lacking?"  

[candy lamb]

"No," said Charonite, shortly. "No. No, she's made her feelings ******** known. You two aren't good enough. I corrupted you for this ******** purpose and she still doesn't want you. What the ********? What the god damn hell? Both of you -- you've got the power, so what the
He cut himself off, and he slammed his fist against the wall again. In fact, he then proceeded to lose it -- he wrapped his hands around the edge of the crystal slab in front of the coffin, and with a gigantic crack! wrenched it off -- he threw it at the wall and it broke into a dozen pieces, shattering. With another enormous heave, he overturned the table in front of the gravestone itself, and it cracked and sent a hundred crystal shards bouncing over the floor. Charonite was making incoherent, belligerent noises of fury, and he punched his fist into the wall again.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" he was shouting. "WHAT THE ******** DO YOU WANT FROM ME? THE REST OF THEM WERE FAILURES! THE REST OF THEM DIED! THEY WERE ENDYMION'S LITTLE GOD DAMNED STOOLIE PIGEONS ANYWAY -- WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME??!"

Nova and Tisiphone were forgotten; he was simply trashing the place.