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 Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:04 am
She considered herself reasonably recovered from the slash wound on her thigh to get back to work, but before she plunged into the deep end of energy collection and lieutenant training, there was someone she had to shout at. Well--she hoped she wouldn't just be shouting at him. Hopefully he'd try to snipe back, but if what she heard was any indication, most of what Bischofite did was grieve his lost humanity. Like he'd had any to begin with? Avalon descended into the Rift, flicking small bits of energy to the youma who came to her, attracted by the wealth of energy in her pockets. She'd already turned in her quota; the rest had been brought specifically for bribes. By the time she settled into something that looked like it had once been a garden--Knight of Avalon, she had an affinity for them--there was a small horde of youma off to collect Bischofite and bring him to her. In the meantime, she pulled out an apple--it was viscerally, angrily red even in the purple-hued gloom of the Rift--and crunched into it, waiting.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:47 am
Alois stirred to a firm grip on his arm. It tugged the entirety of the appendage, strangely; as the haze of tepid dreams parted, he realized that a youma now sought his attention. But why? The beasts never manifested much interest beyond vapid staring until now. Without flaunting energy or issuing orders, they had little reason to investigate his presence. However, the creature pulled ceaselessly, its tentacle thoroughly wrapped across his bare arm. For a moment, Alois considered dusting it - a feat easy enough even now, but likely he would find no further reprieve, as others of similar mind soon crept from the wastelands.
Finally Alois sat upright from the crystal he slept against, with weakness plaguing him in the form of a swaying landscape. Even as some contorted form, his body still demanded sustenance, and the charged atmosphere of the Rift only satisfied so many requirements. How quaint, he thought bitterly. I wonder if I truly only need energy, and this broken vessel simply craves what the mind desires. If I need to eat... That proves troublesome.
But the youma possessed no patience for his inner monologues. Soon another rested a horn-laden head to his back, managing a firm push toward the first youma's boneless grasp.
After affixing a plague doctor's half-mask to his features, ensuring that the bony creation was thoroughly set in tar, Bischofite stood from his perch on the crystal. Though the few steps found unsteady balance, he soon adjusted to his new center of gravity and followed the small procession of twisted beasts toward their purported destination. He had little idea why they urged him along, nor where they intended to go - only once before had he witnessed such mass interest, and even then he found nothing more than a trinket to draw their shallow minds. At that time he met the creature that damned him more thoroughly than every last ineffaceable deed.
Soon they drew into plots of dirt and crystal dust not far from hollow husks of buildings. In all his travels through the Rift, most locations looked the same - once lively portions of a kingdom long lost to inevitability, and now these small portions of difference slowly equalized to a uniform wasteland. The Rift housed no bastions of individuality. Yet there, in the center of such desolation, a lone figure sporting a general's aura stood waiting for the cluster of creatures.
He knew her features well.
Iscariot, I have no better name for you. I wonder if you intend to finish the job, now that I've squandered what afterlife I have in dreams and fetid yearnings. Bischofite drew to a halt a respectable distance from Avalon, where he paused for a moment to consider his options. His encounters with other agents proved their utter disgust for his prior actions, his motivations, even small flecks of his personality. And in rehearsing Malicious' actions, he found some reprieve from the clouded hate surrounding his very name. So it will be.
He knew how she bowed from spending many a time observing the act, how she dipped so far to offer view of the myriad mouths dotting her back. He possessed no such assets now, not buried in his skin itself, but he ghosted the action all the same. Down he swept, hand frozen over the still-healing maw in his chest, the fingers in his wings curled together yet second set of elbows extended. Finally he straightened, manifesting no inclination to comb back the hair that partially swept into his features. "General," he managed in recital of her lilting tones.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:08 pm
"Hey," she said, when Bischofite--he was still recognizable as who he was, except for the face, which was concealed behind an unsettling mask--joined her. She flicked a few more small bites of energy to the youma who had brought him and sent them away with an easy now shoo. They scurried, with the extra encouragement of a larger ball of energy thrown far enough away that they'd get distracted before returning. Just like dogs, really. She liked the dumb ones best. Avalon took another bite of her apple, chewed it slowly and considered the monster before her. Monster definitely was the term; he did look human, for a certain value of human. Not in the hidden face, probably. And the hands were twisted. The echoing voices in his greeting would've unnerved her if she didn't so clearly remember the ghost of her ancestor, the way the wind in Avalon echoed her and carried Nimue's voice from cavern to shattered chapterhouse. The things those voices said... She took another bite of her apple and flicked a glance at his strange, feathered bat's wings. They didn't look functional. They looked painful. Well, she'd lived through Nimue, and Arawn, and the pain of having power and then lost it. She'd done nothing to deserve that. Bischofite had earned this for himself and Avalon regretted none of her part of it. "I took Astrophyllite," she said. "Not like you've been doing much other than ruining her for the Negaverse. That's sort of your thing, isn't it? Betraying your fellows for... You know, I don't know that I ever introduced myself." She didn't rise, or offer a hand to shake. "Avalon. Corrupted Knight of Earth. Why'd you do it?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:32 pm
He offered no response to the news of reclaiming the lieutenant he never truly wanted. Zinkenite's task - another that he failed so abruptly. He remained standing, hand still locked over the wound in his chest, no longer concealed by the tattered mass that was once his general's coat. His eyes lingered on Avalon unfeelingly.
For a time, he remained silent in her presence, long mulling over the questions solicited. The why, the damnable why that earned physical lashing from Jarosite among others. Was it anything more than a request for stirring anger, hate? Every reaction fell in line with the last - when one knew righteous fury, so did the rest. Slowly his wings unfurled to a lazy flare, airing a host of sighs from the faces hidden behind feathers. He felt them stir in the leathery skin stitching long fingers together. "Avalon," he echoed.
"Is...cariot." The voices amounted to nothing more than whispers, a facsimile of wind broken into fragments by consonants.
Do my aims mean anything now? I'm almost certain you're looking for more fuel in your disappointment. No - derision. You want me to pour gas on myself so the fire blazes that might brighter when you strike the match. "It became necessary to burn out ze extraneous." But was that truly all of it? "To expand our power... To envelop Destiny City in a second Rift. It seemed a boon too difficult to resist. It..." He drew a sigh. "You're not looking for old motivations, are you? You heard my reasoning - from bos' Malicious and myself. Zat... Provided ze pressing intent to run me srough." Unless she wants Malicious' reasoning. You presented as her, before you ruined it. However, she cited Astrophyllite, and my prior ventures in training her.
I'm too conflicted to know which side to take.
"Malicious... Wanted to be human again. In hindsight, she explained zese needs to me multiple times. She provided zis farfetched scenario of draining ze city dry, of using crystals stolen from ze Rift itself to harbor enough energy for ze act - an act she had eizer no idea, or no inclination, to perform. She knew... A blackout would draw many. She helped in everysing - arranging teams, suggesting placement of ze crystals. She said next to ze power plant would be best - ze natural location for our enemies to search. All zese efforts to murder me and use my hollow body as her own, fresh, to walk srough Destiny City once again." And how well that worked for both of us.
He cast his gaze beyond wing to view the retreating forms of youma, wholly focused on the orb of energy lobbed in their vicinity. "Are you going to finish it?" He asked, finally drawing warped hand from the half-healed hole in his chest.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 6:38 pm
Iscariot? Avalon's eyebrows went up, but she'd save her commentary for later. Maybe he didn't know what his... wings? Were those voices coming from his wings? It was eerie, but she would be alright. She took another bite of her apple. "Yes, I did." She'd wanted him dead to protect the people she cared about. Recruitment prospects had played a large part in it; Valhalla and Babylon had certainly not driven her to save them from the kindness of her heart. "I was wondering if you'd rethought it. You know, perspective introducing a new angle on this topic." Bischofite had pissed off one of the most dangerous classes of people: Avalon was a teacher. If she really wasn't going to be allowed to finish what she'd started, she was at least going to make sure he had learned from it. "I can't kill you," she said, regretfully. "I want to. But I don't think I could get away with it, so I won't." The proscription against murdering one's allies hadn't stopped her from running him through in the first place, and she was still waiting to get called up before a General-Queen or -King for that crime; but the summons hadn't come yet. "No, I'm here to spell out for you why I think you deserve... this." She waved a hand at him, indicating the twisted form he now occupied, and then she stood, chin up, arms crossed over her chest like she was eyeballing a particularly irritating student. "Where were we going to recruit new officers from? What would happen if a lucky senshi found her way into one of the more sensitive parts of the Rift? How would we continue to feed our youma once they had polished off all the humans in Destiny City? How would we prevent them from devouring our corrupted senshi? Do you really think no one would have noticed the sudden abundance of monsters compared to before? The disappearances of our high-profile citizens? The eyes of the nation are upon us, Bischofite. They may drift away sometimes, but never for long. We have the highest 'incident rating' in the United States." She rolled her eyes, and took the last bite of her apple. She set the apple down on the bench behind her, to be taken away with her later, before continuing her tirade. "Did you really think this through, or did you hear that you could strike this quote-unquote decisive victory--" there were air quotes here "--without consequence or consideration? So many of our officers fight for our pitiful human attachments. Including me!" Duh. As if her vehemence hadn't made it obvious. As if stabbing him in the actual chest hadn't clarified that little tidbit there. Avalon was, as a person, tremendously influenced by her desire for those around her to love her--and he had threatened that. He had threatened Babylon. "You said you did it for clarity. Get rid of the extraneous." She sneered, because: no. Extraneous? Finn? Alex? Zircon? "Bischofite, I am not inspired by Metallia. I do not kill people for the fun of chaos. I kill people because I love my planet. Because I am strong, and others are not, and it falls to me to do what must be done. Do you think a burned-out field is worth possessing?" She leaned in closer, putting herself perilously in range of those claws. If he attacked her, she'd have a reason to destroy him, and she hoped he choked on that fact. "I was a knight, Bischofite. I was a knight, and I chose this. Because the Negaverse protects Earth, and so. Do. I. And if you try to destroy the planet my bloodline has protected for generations, I will destroy you with extreme prejudice."
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:00 pm
Bischofite remained silent through the duration of Avalon's diatribe, despite dying notions still flaring up in a last rebellious rage at her utter mockery toward his beliefs. However, doubt seeded exceptionally well this summer, and he questioned his own sensibilities - former as they were - through her pointed questions. Had he truly considered it enough? Perhaps his current condition hinted at his inability to comprehend the whole of the destruction he would've wrought. So many Negaverse agents with fewer motivations than he would find themselves subjected to the same torture. And if he hadn't fully recovered from it... Would they?
His expression faltered behind the half-mask, lips parting slightly as pangs of defeat burrowed into him. They curled about the festering hunger, quelling it easily enough. Even glancing toward the apple core did nothing to rouse his need to eat. The slow gasp of his wings grew in volume as he cast his gaze downward, toward the dirt between their stances.
Part of him raged that she never thought beyond Destiny City - that venturing beyond city limits afforded appreciable amounts of citizens for energy and fresh recruits. Part of him demanded to voice that the Negaverse's infiltration branch fostered enough strides in their field to place the proper people into positions of power to prevent a state of emergency declaration - and even if they did, even if they nuked the Rift outpost of Destiny City, no amount of radiation penetrated the deep ground home of their true Rift. The only missing piece, the only portion lacking consideration... were the motives behind the actions of his peers and subordinates.
If nothing else, she explained her motivations to me. She loves her planet - she loves those around her. She intends to drive off the senshi as a means to preserve all that surrounds her. So... That would place her at odds with chaos. Sameness - Order - found no home in my heart. Am I wrong? More than a few Negaverse agents expressed hostile intentions toward me, yet they find no reprimand through our General-Kings and -Queens. Am I the outcast, then? The black sheep? Am I Iscariot?
"Isc... ario... t. Iscari... ot. Iscariot. Iscariot. Iscariot."
"I haf'... No furzer inclination toward zat outcome." He managed the words slowly, carefully. "Are you satisfied, Avalon?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:31 pm
He didn't argue, and for some reason Avalon was a little disappointed. She wanted a fight--because--well, she didn't like pitying people. Not that Bischofite was pitiful, because, you know, not really. He'd tried to create a world hostile to Babylon, hostile to most of Avalon's friends, hostile even to the young lieutenants. "Yes, well, I doubt anyone would follow you if you tried," she said, pointedly. "I'm not satisfied, because I'm not trying to dissuade you from further attempts. I am trying to teach you." She frowned. A year into teaching and she was starting to have the feeling that there were, actually, unteachable people. Could Bischofite be one of them? Well, she was also expecting a lot of results from very little. She tried to ignore the wingspeak again, but eventually: "Why do... I'm actually not sure what's talking... anyway, for ease of reference, why do you keep saying 'Iscariot'?" It was a study break. Right.
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Posted: Sun Jun 01, 2014 7:54 pm
"Zen tell me what you're trying to teach. All I'f heard are questions directed toward my motives, declarations of your motivations as an agent, and sreats to my life should I manage ze same inclinations. I already explained zat I haf' no more interest in pursuing zat pas', yet you're not satisfied. So tell me what you're looking for in an answer, Avalon, for I can't read minds. Did you want me to suddenly declare lof'e for a world zat shuns me now more zan before? Did you expect me to leap behind ze Negaverse cause as a means to protect everyone zat I can never see again? Or had you expected me to fall into line solely because of my utter dependency on ozzer agents for sustenance alone?"
He quaked with anger, right to his warped fingertips, yet will alone suppressed any action toward her. "If you're trying to teach, you need a lesson plan. Don't expect me to absorb information solely srough diatribe. Perhaps it was better for me to sleep srough ze rest of my damnable existence." If he drew gaze to her face, he knew he may yet strike her. Instead, he focused on a crystal far in the distance.
And he remembered Malicious sitting on that very spire, that aggravatingly lilting voice chiding him for his inability to perceive death.
I do now, you wicked wench.
Finally Bischofite managed a step backward for breathing room between he and Avalon. The wings folded to his shoulders soon afterward, silencing all breaths of response from their strange consciousness. "Iscariot ze Betrayer," he mentioned at a mumble. A hand traced the tattered skin lining the edge of his wound, if only to tease out enough pain to prevent any urge to lash out - a point of focus amongst the wash of anger. "I had no name for you until now. No name to curse... Until I discovered what became of me. Ze... severity of my actions never truly met wis' recognition until I saw myself. I did not... register loss to ze capacity zat our ranks would suffer until zen. If you're looking for me to know pain, I'f already learned it.
"I am an idealist, Avalon. Wis'out somesing to belief' in... I haf' no furzer need to act. And wis' chaos as an inevitability, wis' its progression beyond my attempts to spur its onset... I haf' nossing. So what, zen, would you haf' me do? What is my purpose now, since I cannot return to ze life I once had? How am I to motivate myself to drain energy, to pull starseeds from our enemies, to fight in a war for a cause I never really believed in?"
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