|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 8:38 pm
Witnessing a purification with her own eyes had done wonders for Sailor Irene’s morale. Whereas it had merely been a fuzzy sort of possibility before- even after Psyche’s introduction- now she knew it to be a solid goal she could work towards. People on the other side could still maintain some of their reason, and they could be shown that a better life was out there, just waiting for them to take it. Now that she had seen that for herself, she knew that the cause she fought for was worthwhile. No matter what, she had to do the best that she could to show the wayward senshi and agents of the Negaverse their other options. Surely, if they had any sense, they would take them!
And if not?
“Maybe I shouldn’t handle those people,” Irene mumbled. She knew that not everyone would be sensible enough to know a good deal when they saw one. But she wouldn’t be the one to choose which sort of person she’d meet. Nor would she know what kind of person she was dealing with until she spoke to them. She couldn’t always wait for opportunities to present themselves. Eventually, she would have to create her own.
The aura was on her level. It would be unwise to confront it without backup. But Irene was still on cloud nine from seeing a real purification, and her hopes were high. If she was earnest and thorough, this person would have no choice but to see where she was coming from! So she stopped moving away, and instead headed in the direction her mental radar was pointing. Whoever it was, they had to be somewhere close by.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:24 pm
Zippeite was just in a rotten mood. He usually was, these days, but there was a difference between fiery rage that pushed him to his negaversean endeavors and then there was just the tired, empty feeling that came later.
He was currently in the later.
Sitting on the half wall he had chosen to make his perch, he lethargically tapped the end of his staff on the concrete, musing over his options for the rest of the evening. He definitely didn't want to go home. He couldn't bear being in that tiny house alone with his dad for a second longer, at least not for tonight. He didn't have the ambition to go out hunting.
He just wanted to curl up and vanish, because he was so tired of just being here.
He seemed to be escaping into his own thoughts when an approaching signature woke him up. He groaned. He wasn't sure he could handle an enemy right now, but went through the motions to appear alert and on the defensive.
If they wanted to bother him, maybe he could simply teleport.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2014 6:43 pm
It took a little bit of trial and error to find what she was looking for. Irene's 'senshi sense' was not particularly precise, and she found herself going down a street, only to feel the energy start to fade. Wrong way, then. After her third such mix-up, she came to a short wall, bearing someone dressed in dark clothes, holding a staff. Bingo.
She moved closer, arms outstretched, palms open. No weapons here. "Pardon me if I'm interrupting something," she said quickly, "but I was wondering if you might-"
Once she was closer, she realized that this particular agent looked familiar, and froze. She'd seen him before. His weapon was different, and his clothing had changed, but the person was the same. And the last time she had met him, he'd attacked her out of nowhere. He had thrown the first punch.
But she hadn't been trying to speak with him then, not really. Even if she hadn't been violet, she had been rude. To judge him based on that one instance would be compounding her bad behavior, making two wrongs into a much worse one.
"I was wondering if you might spare a moment to speak with me," she went on, pretending she hadn't stopped. "I have some questions that you might be able to help with."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:42 pm
The second he saw the feather motif and the purple hair, Zippeite's nonchalant tapping stopped and his gloves tightened on his staff.
This b***h again.
All that purity and naivete seemed to generate an awful feeling at the pit of his stomach still, and he still had the notion in his head he could rid himself of that feeling by wiping her off the face of the planet.
But tonight he couldn't seem to muster up the righteous rage to get up and splatter her on the sidewalk, not right now in the mire of self loathing.
"I don't think I can answer any questions," He grunted, hoping that would give her the hint. Except it was fairly mild in comparison to their last meeting, so it was probably low on the sliding scale he had set as a lieutenant.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:06 pm
Irene tensed, waiting for her request to be met with violence.
After a few moments, she relaxed. Slightly. She wasn't about to let her guard down completely around any agent of the Negaverse, and especially not one she had fought with before. But so far, this one wasn't coming at her. He wasn't even moving. If she hadn't been listening carefully, she might have missed his muttered reply.
"Contrary to what you may believe, you have already answered a question. So perhaps you're more capable than you realize." Since he was staying still, Irene took a few more steps forward, leaving her barely outside of striking range. "And you can ask me things too, if you want to. I have no desire to take advantage of you. We should both know more about what we're dealing with here, shouldn't we?"
Another question. Irene waited, more curious if he would answer than anxious he might attack.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:18 pm
"That's really annoying. No wonder you never have a patrol partner," Zippeite snorted the mean spirited retort when she said he'd already answered a question and seemed to sink into his own shoulders, glancing aware with a very firmly etched pout on his face.
"I don't have anything to ask you," He said after a long hesitation, still grumbly. "But I guess you can talk if you want.."
((Short post, sorry D: ))
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:19 pm
"For your information I-" Irene stopped herself, not sure it was right to admit that she was breaking the rules, even to someone who would probably encourage her to do so. She had only come close because he'd baited her, something she needed to watch out for if she was going to try to talk some sense into him. "I often patrol with others," she said instead, carefully choosing her words now that she wasn't flying off the handle. "You've seen me all of twice. Don't assume you know everything after that." It was sound advice, even if she didn't always follow it.
He was sulking for some reason. If it was anyone else, Irene would have asked what was wrong. With this guy, she suspected such an inquiry would only yield a bitter retort, or worse. Better to keep things as neutral as possible. Which meant not singing the praises of the senshi, or at least not yet.
Information was the goal, and questions were the shots at it. "I'm trying to find out what your motivation is. Why do you pursue what you do, in the ways that you do? The answers I've had so far have been..." Complex? Misleading? "Confusing," she decided. "So I need to keep asking, even if it makes the picture less clear in the meantime."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 9:04 pm
Irene's admittedly justified sentiment to not assume garnered a snort from Zippeite as he rolled his eyes and huffed a short breath upwards to move strands of indigo air from his face.
He hadn't gotten a haircut in ages and by now his shaggy mop just flat out obstructed his vision if he didn't constantly move it out of the way.
"Why do... what?" Her question certainly did a job of confusing him, and as he processed it, the worse it was. Understanding the question meant understanding he didn't have an answer.
"The Negaverse fights senshi to protect earth, duh," He said with a passive shrug, deciding to go for what the organization was supposed to stand for and represent versus himself as an individual. These days he didn't really fight for anyone, and he didn't know why he fought or what he stood for.
He was just floating. But the idealistic version the Negaverse advertised as a lot clearer and easier to tout.
"Or did you forget you're space originated aliens on a planet where you don't belong?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 10:40 pm
It was an answer. Not an answer that Irene could claim to agree with, or even fully understand, but it beat a punch in the face. He was talking in an even tone, without trying to hurt her. That was encouraging enough for her to decide to try to justify her position.
"If I may ask, what do you claim to be protecting the earth from? Personally, I have yet to attack anyone without just cause." Which was generally self-defense, and once or twice had been when people had thought she couldn't take care of herself, and she needed to prove otherwise. That was, in her opinion, still justified- as long as she didn't overdo it. But she did run that risk, and that was why sparring was still off-limits for her.
The space alien argument was a new one. Irene raised her eyebrows, trying to remember if anyone had called her that before. "While it's true that I do draw my power from a celestial object, that doesn't make me any less of an earthling than you are. I too was born on this planet. My parents and doctors could all testify to that. So what makes you think that I don't belong here?"
Sure, sometimes she felt like she didn't belong, but that was because she was different, not because she was secretly from outer space.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat May 31, 2014 1:03 pm
What are you protecting the earth from?
That seemed like a stupid question the more he thought about it. If Zippeite thought long and hard in an introspective manner he could probably recall that vague time during his corruption when he joined because he wanted to be a hero, fight aliens, save people.
It hadn’t taken him long to come to terms with the fact he had been recruited under false pretenses and none of that really happened. This job didn’t involve protecting people, it just involved the elating sense of intoxication and validity from taking another human life or draining it away from them.
He was a consumer, and what he ate was life to internally convert it into self worth, fuel that kept him going. And in all that time, it became easier and easier to push aside the reason he originally wanted any of this power to begin with.
That reason was a moot point now.
But it still stood that she was asking him questions and he had no answers. He had no monologue for her, or passionate statement of purpose. He just had an unenthusiastic shrug and a flat, “It’s just what we’re told. It doesn’t matter.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 9:11 pm
"Of course it matters!" Irene exclaimed, feeling kind of shocked that anyone would say otherwise. "This isn't just some hobby of yours! What you do affects people's lives! I think that the reason you take action is extremely important. Especially if you only do so because someone else tells you to. What about you? What do you want?"
The question was a simple one, but it resonated with her more than she had expected it to. In a way, Irene was no better than this captain. She fought monsters because ********* had told her to, and because it was the only way to save herself, the day that she had been awakened. Would she have turned her life down this path were she given the choice? Could she ever know for sure, now that she was where she was?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 7:40 pm
Zippeite's eyes narrowed in a scowl at her, although the reasoning had more to do with himself than her. He didn't like thinking about it too hard. He didn't have a plan, he didn't think about the future. He didn't know what he was doing.
It felt like everyone else did, though, and it was a total feeling of inferiority.
He turned his attention to the pavement, and then in the opposite direction. "Why are you asking me this? Leave me alone."
He sounded positively victimized by her questioning and reminders of his general failure to exist in society as anything other than a blight and a burden. The easiest way to cope was to make it Irene's fault.
"It's never going to change, or get better. There's no point in over thinking it," He said out loud, but wasn't entirely sure if that was for her or himself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:40 pm
The thought of being totally, completely hopeless was totally foreign to Irene. She didn't understand how anyone could feel that things couldn't get better. That their opinions didn't matter. If that was the case, what on Earth was keeping him going? Sheer momentum?
She wanted to tell him that things would change, even improve. But she didn't want to make any promises she couldn't keep. Without more information, there wasn't much she could do.
"If- I mean, assuming your situation did get better. Could you tell me what that would look like?" Ugh, that sounded so silly. But Irene really did want to know. "It's just... I think everyone has the right to be happy, you know? To have what they want, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. So maybe if I know what you need, I could help in some way."
Nope, explaining didn't make that sound any less ridiculous.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 7:54 pm
It was a harder question than he could imagine. He wasn’t upset or angry at any one thing. Willing it away wouldn’t fix anything. Even something as seemingly simple as the way he hated his father was actually a strange and complex, difficult thing mired in a mix of emotions that came from his constant fights and displacement. He hated Marcus, but he also felt rejected, depressed, sad, there was some love in there, some nostalgia for how things used to be.
Things used to be better.
Now he was wandering the street because he had nowhere he felt he could really go. It was a one two punch of a problem that dealt with the issue of wandering, feeling unwelcome and lost and the emotional toll that came from such constant rejection from what society told him should feel like home, the one person who was supposed to accept him no matter what by virtue of being his primary parent. Maybe his mother, too, but she was long gone to live her own life.
So his civilian life had no foundation. The Negaverse foundation was solid, but slippery in a way he felt he could never fully stand on. He didn’t know what to do.
He didn’t know what would make him happy anymore.
Even if by some miracle he could wish everything back in time by five years, it wouldn’t do much. He knew all the ugliness behind the scenes of that life now. Everything that went on his this rotten city and on a more intimate level, all the ugly secrets between his family. He had no answer for her, and he hated her for asking such a question that pulled and picked at these scabs.
He pulled his weapon and held it in a threatening stance. “I’d be happy if everyone just went away and left me alone,” He said with rage edging his tone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 3:55 pm
"Well, that's not going to happen." Which was probably the wrong thing to say to someone who was brandishing a weapon, but Irene was slow to notice his shift in stance and his change in tone. She was too busy puzzling over his words, trying to figure out just what his problem was. Because it was clear he had one.
For starters, hanging around in a public place was a terrible way to avoid people. He probably knew that, though- or if he hadn't before, he did now- so she didn't point it out. That wasn't where the meat of the issue was, anyway. "Everyone won't just pull up and leave," she informed him. "And if that's what you're fighting for- to have a whole planet all to yourself, because you can't deal with other people- then you should take a good look at what you're doing. Because even if that was going to happen, it would be at horrific cost."
She couldn't even imagine the amount of fighting that it would take to clear the Earth of everyone. Such a thing wasn't possible without serious warfare- biological weapons, or atomic bombs, or the like. The thought of which made her shudder and quickly move on.
"But it won't happen, will it? Because I'm pretty sure that whatever the Negaverse is after, it doesn't involve global extinction." Unless they were trying to protect the Earth from humans, which was possible, but considering their tactics, unlikely. "And I don't think they'd be too happy with your plan either." Because it was crazy. Irene sighed and leaned forward a little more. "There are less violent ways to get what you're after, if you're willing to open your mind a little bit."
At this point, she wasn't even thinking about purification. Just a shift down from the label of omnicidal maniac that he'd been given in her head.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
