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 Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:02 pm
Steel Magnolias, the sign declared in big, boisterous lights. They flickered and flashed and followed a great, ostentatious line around the designated placard, with all sorts of patterns woven into their bold yellow lighting. Glowing lines separated the arrays of lightbulbs, which lent the theater's façade a reminiscent flair. Ochre had only seen these old-style theatres in pictures — usually black-and-whites from some fancy history book with those weird plasticky pages — but to find one in person was eye-catching. And bright. And loud. Not literally loud, but that kind of metaphorical loud that keeps edging into thoughts and distracting from the task at hand.
Not that the task at hand was incredibly engaging. Having been with the Negaverse a number of years now, Ochre found energy draining to be pretty boring. It wasn't like these grandiose flashy lights — it was a tiresome job spent in the dark where he had to infringe on other people's basic freedoms. And if he wasn't covert about it, a lot of people started fighting back, and then the whole affair turned six different types of Awful in a few seconds flat. Really, they needed a better way to do it. Some way that's bright and shiny and so loud that civilians wouldn't think twice about it.
Ochre sighed. He was putting off energy draining again. Slowly he turned from the brightened billboard of a building to start down the length of the adjacent converted warehouse. It was late enough in the day that shows were about to start, with the fingers of evening spread across the sky, so he could count on clusters of excited pedestrians to amass his energy.
But all those clusters of pedestrians probably had friends and families and things they wanted to do that night other than go home and sleep. And they might even have missing people in their lives, too. And maybe the police weren't helping to find those missing people. And maybe they were like '******** the police', just like how Ochre kinda decided '******** the Negaverse' on paying in with energy draining.
Nope, not going there. Ochre pushed himself along the vast length of warehouse, passing over a number of clothiers and prop shops and theatre history museums. He just needed to finish his quota and move onto the next stage of Where's Umber.
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:30 pm
The night had been quiet, for the most part, and Fiona hadn't thought much of the path she was taking to head back home after a late night at the office. Spring was acting present, which she appreciated because it meant that she didn't need to don heavier coats or too many extra layers.
It also meant that more people were out in the later hours of the evening that weren't quite nefarious or superhuman, which she appreciated.
Right until she saw something that didn't seem to quite fit in with everything else around it. Most people didn't have hair that long unless...
Fiona didn't know if her thought process was correct but on the off chance it was she didn't want to risk an innocent because she preferred to turn a blind eye. It only took a moment to fish her henshin pen out of her purse or for her to duck into some place unpopulated, she just needed to be out of sight enough.
When she felt the thick, almost oppressive aura she felt sick.
She hadn't wanted to be right, even if the corrupt didn't look like they were doing anything. Finding him again, beneath the too bright lights of the theater, was a little more difficult than she would have liked, but eventually she spotted him and she couldn't help but call out.
"Nice night, isn't it?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:17 pm
Well, s**t. There he was, minding his own business, wandering the length of the warehouse when a White Moon super aura announced itself to him. He felt the brightness first — like waking up to a face full of sun on an early morning — and winced at the way it crawled into his brain. They felt like headaches more than anything, especially whne they didn't see reason to fight him right off the bat.
Secretly he hoped it was one of those times. And when he heard the call, which he assumed was meant for him, Ochre felt a little more sure that he was right. She wasn't out looking to kick some chaos senshi's a**, she was just… Saying hello, he guessed.
Turning, Ochre brooked a hesitant return. "Uh, yeah, nice night. Look, I wasn't doing any energy draining and I don't have any starseeds on me so there's no reason to give me a hard time right now, okay?" He hoped that getting his concerns out in the open first might dissuade some attempt to take him off guard. And while he hadn't had a lot of experience with Order's nonsense — mainly through intercepting fights for his allies — he didn't want to end up making his own distress call. Not that a super posed that much of a risk to a Negaverse eternal. Unless she was super well-trained or something. Which maybe she was.
"I'm not super in the mood for a fight. I'm looking for someone. So if you've, uh, seen a general wearing mostly browns… You know what, nevermind. Just, enjoy the evening or something, okay?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:56 am
His abrasiveness off the bat wasn't surprising, but it did leave the super senshi a bit more on edge, fingers flexing at her side as she tamped down on her fight response. The corrupt wasn't doing anything, yet, and she had to admit to herself that getting into a tussle was less than ideal if she could avoid it.
How many times had she talked to someone on the other side who just needed someone to vent at or to, about whatever they couldn't talk about within the organization.
More than a handful and maybe...
"Okay," she said, her tone soft even if she didn't back away but kept approaching. Some distance was left between them, but nothing that her magic couldn't help her close if it became necessary. "It doesn't always have to be a fight you know."
Biting the inside of her cheek, blue and green eyes blinked at the corrupt. "Wait." Against her better judgement she moved to catch his arm, to keep him from leaving so suddenly. What she was going to do now, she wasn't entirely sure of, but Denebola was a senshi who took a lot of leaps of faith.
Sometimes they didn't work out but....
The risk was worth the reward, usually.
"Maybe I can help?"
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Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 9:51 am
Oh my god please don't punch me in the face please don't punch me in the face please don't punch me in the face if you do I'm gonna have to fight you and I really didn't want to do that tonight —
The grip on his arm stayed firm, but never shifted. Instead, she offered help where most of the Negaverse didn't. Not that she could really do anything, he supposed; the White Moon didn't exactly have a twin database of Negaverse officers that he knew of, but the sentiment was there. At least, more sentiment than any self-serving offier in the Negaverse, anyway. And even if she had her own angle, who knew what it was? It's not like Order has to march around at night draining energy from civilians or starseeding them.
Ochre drew a sigh, then turned to face her more fully. He stepped on a long braid and jerked slightly, face scrunched into a wince with a grunted "Ow". Being a corrupt kinda sucked sometimes. Well, most times there was a lot of running involved. Still, rookie mistake on his part.
"Uh…" Part of him told him that this could be his big break. That all he needed to do was teleport her down to Negaspace with him and get her corrupted, quick-like, and then maybe the Negaverse would care more about what he's doing. But that seemed like a lot of work — teleporting two people was still exhausting for him — and that seemed pretty mean to her. He didn't want to be like Umber, he just wanted to find Umber. And what if she could actually help? What if he was captured somewhere and she knew where he was and if they corrupted her she'd lose those memories and be a blank slate and then Ochre would never know because the rest of the Negaverse never knew and no one would take a chance at telling him since he was a total d**k to this senshi and now Umber was going to die alone and unheard of in a prison cell somewhere because he'd never give them any information and they'd just torture him to death.
Wow, that was a bummer. "Okay, I'm not sure why you'd want to help, but, uh, I'm looking for a general named Umber. He's like… Over six feet, black hair, tattoos on his face, uh, wears a lot of browns. Usually tries to kill you if you talk to him and stuff. But he's missing and the Negaverse hasn't really done anything about it and I really really really need to find him. But he's been MIA for like, I dunno, uh… A year now? So…" Chances were pretty grim.
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Posted: Fri May 11, 2018 8:25 am
Instinct kept her wary, but Denebola's general compassion kept her from assuming the worst of the boy that looked irritable but not outright dangerous. Yet. When he didn't look like he was going to bolt or attack, the super senshi released his arm and provided them with some space. Mismatched eyes skimmed over his face, trying to take in little bits of the corrupt that she could make note of later if she needed.
Mostly, she was focused on his expression as if it would help her better understand him.
Maybe it was foolish, to put herself in a position that could have been considered vulnerable but...without taking risks, how was she supposed to help the people who needed help?
Off the top of her head, no one fitting that description came to mind and her quiet, along with the crinkling of her brow, likely gave that away. "I don't know him," she admitted, after a slow exhale. "If he's an attack on sight type, does he have any contacts on my side of things? If I have a general idea, I can reach out to contacts and see what we might come up with. Has he disappeared before?" These were probably all questions the other redhead had likely been asked by someone else but she wanted to help and she couldn't without more information.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 1:09 pm
Ochre sighed, crestfallen. Of course she hadn't seen Umber. The next worst thing that could've come out of her mouth was an admission of seeing him dead or something. Wasn't that how it worked? He goes looking for someone, he finds a stranger, and he founds out either nothing or that they've expired at some point long ago. Then he gets to feel all guilty about it.
But she did ask some good questions, surprisingly. Were White Moon normally this nice? She coulda just told him to blow off and there'd basically be nothing he could say about that, but she didn't. Still, why would she help find a general?
"Yeah, he's super aggro. Like, he sees white and you die. But, um, I don't think he had any contacts in the White Moon. He isn't super uh… What's the word." Ochre fiddled with his tattered sash as he fished around mentally. Teeth bit his lip, his mouth shifted left and right. "Conniving, I think? He's not about that whole manipulation thing. So he's basically just about murdering everybody and not caring what they think." Which, on the other hand, made his brother sound like an a*****e. That wasn't necessarily wrong, but it wasn't very nice either. What would he think about that? Maybe Umber would just disregard it as usual.
After a moment, Ochre continued. "He has disappeared before, though. Every once in a while he'll take off for a couple months, up to six. I think the time before last was six… But he always comes back, and sometimes he leaves me presents?" Though commenting on the type of presents sounded risky. How many hunters were there in DC that took off for months at a time and dropped the kills with their family? Sure, some hunters were gone for a week or a weekend or something, but most people had jobs they kept and a little too much attachment to society to spare months.
"But it's been a lot longer than that now. Oh, and um… Thanks for not just lighting me up or something."
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2018 10:19 am
Her nose wrinkled as she processed the information he provided. From the physical description alone, she hadn't seen anyone like him...ever, but there were so many of them on either side that maybe he could have been among the crowds...
Still, that wasn't helpful and she exhaled slowly while she listened. "I'll ask around." It would likely amount to no good but...she wanted to help if she was able and that meant potentially chasing dead ends or false leads. Besides, Denebola kept thinking about what she might do in the corrupt's shoes if someone important to her disappeared. She'd want to keep searching until she found a definitive answer.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help," she told him, because she was. The smile she offered was gentle, if not almost remorseful. "Fighting's not always the answer. We should do what we have to but...sometimes, there's better ways to handle things."
And if she could convince some to talk more and fight less, then that was a small victory.
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Posted: Fri May 25, 2018 11:47 am
Ochre nodded tentatively. "Yeah, you're kinda right." And she was — whenever possible, Ochre thought it was better to just talk it out than to just hammer face. Sometimes fights were all just big misunderstandings, anyways. Or someone got hurt about something unrelated and the other person took it seriously, or someone's brother disappeared and they still had to do their job…
But this White Moon senshi, of all people, was trying to help him. She was trying to help him more than the Negaverse had so far. Sylvite was a great help, of course, and she tried pretty hard to make sure she was conducting interviews right and gathering information, but it felt half like an order. And maybe it wasn't to her, but something about having a hierarchy just rubbed him wrong. It felt too much like people's motives got really obscure. And maybe this senshi had some ulterior motive for offering to help him out, but he wouldn't really know unless he trusted her. And maybe trusting her was a mistake.
But it's not like he had much to lose, either. "I, um," Ochre tapped his chin as he thought about how to frame his intentions. "I think it's helpful. That you're offering to ask around, I mean. And maybe nothing comes out of it, but… It's more than the Negaverse has offered so far, you know? Like, here's this general, he's been with us for a little while, and then he suddenly disappears. And no one seems too broken up about it? I mean, I know he's kind of a d**k sometimes, but I kinda expected more. Like maybe an investigation or something. We're some kinda military, you know? That's what they do. I mean, I think that's what they do.
"But there's been mostly nothing. And the help I do have is kinda questionable since she's a subordinate and maybe she's feeling ambitious? She's super sweet though —
"And I'm totally just venting on you out of the blue. Sorry about that," he admitted bashfully. "Anyway, I'm really glad you'll ask around. By the way, I'm Ochre." He thought about holding out a hand, but what if she thought he was suddenly going to use magic on her that way? Maybe play it safe.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 2:00 pm
Denebola's brows were furrowed as he talked and she couldn't help but wonder what type of leadership he was under or what he was going through that led him here. If someone she knew went missing, she'd do her damnest to find out what happened and it if was her brother or one of her dearest friends---
Imagining them missing was nearly heartbreaking, she couldn't begin to properly empathize with what he might have been facing. It had to be difficult, especially if he was dealing with it alone.
"I'm afraid I don't know much about how your organization works," she admitted. Her knowledge was defined only by what others were willing to provide even after all these years and most preferred to talk with fists rather than words. "But if there are resources, why not utilize them?" There was a sigh when she shook her head. "Some treat people like fodder, something replaceable but we're not like batteries or toys, something that can be purchased and replaced because we, or someone else, was careless. We're living breathing creatures." Her hands gestured in the air falling uselessly at her side.
"Forgive me for rambling," she apologized. "My name is Denebola and I'll do what I can to help you, okay?"
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Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:49 pm
Ochre sighed, his shoulders dropped, his hair sagged in thick and weary clumps over his frame. "Trust me, I'm doing what I can. But it's not like there's really… a lot of help to go around for this stuff. Like the Negaverse has other stuff they'd rather be doing, and if a general disappears? They look into it when they can. Or something." Ochre wasn't certain that they would look into Umber's disappearance.
"But you're right, some people really are that mean." And some people thought it was necessary to look at others like that. Ochre couldn't get into that point of view himself, but it was one Umber took to readily. Was it better that he disappeared?
Ochre shifted, his fingers immediately fiddling with the ends of his tattered sleeves. "It's good to meet you, Denebola. Especially since… Yeah." With a wave of his hand, Ochre encompassed the lot of his frustrations and how impressively futile they looked in the Negaverse eye. Would she be able to find Umber? Ochre didn't know. He couldn't guess. But if Umber purified, or if someone on the White Moon got rid of him, she could probably find out. And then all that remained was somehow letting him know, when they were just one senshi and another senshi on opposite sides of a stupid war.
Ochre rubbed the nape of his neck a moment before he pieced together how he wanted to address that problem. "So what if we, uh, meet up again here? I mean, with that giant sign over there, it's pretty easy to remember. And… Maybe some time? In like, two weeks or a month or something.
"Maybe that's a little too risky. I don't want you to think I'm trying to ambush you or anything. Uh… I'm out of suggestions though. Maybe bring some friends? I dunno."nuxaz wind this one down for a close?
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Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 10:08 am
There wasn't much for the super senshi to offer except her sympathy and what little help she'd already said she'd provide and so she nodded, choosing to let him talk without interruption.
"I hope you find answers, of some sort, even if you don't find him." Closure of some sort would likely help the poor senshi who looked like he'd reached the end of his rope. Blue and green eyes studied his face before she nodded.
"Two weeks, around this time." It wasn't a ton of time, but it would keep him from having to wait too long and would allow her to at least try and find a lead or two.
"You don't always have to assume the worst of people, there are bad people out there, but there are people who want to help too." She offered gently, taking a step back. "Two weeks okay? I hope I have good news for you then."
Or news at all.
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Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:14 pm
Ochre nodded graciously. "Thanks." It was a pretty empty word, but it was the best word he had. They'd meet up again and the worst that could happen is no news came up. But if she decided to take it a step further and bring all her friends out to beat down the Negaverse senshi, was that really such a bad thing? Sure, he could teleport, but…
"I'll see you later, Denebola." He turned, his head still swimming with what-ifs and did-I-say-enoughs and second guesses, but there wasn't anything else to add. There wasn't some magical solution springing forth out of talking a little more on the same points, even if he wanted to keep going and keep working and keep hammering on it. A thought brushed him from one rooftop to the next, a dozen blocks away, though he never quite left that line of thought behind.
And he wished he could've. He wished teleportation broke away those constant, dwelling thoughts and left them behind with the rest of the scenery. With whoever was standing around when he departed.
Even if it didn't work that way, he vanished from that rooftop with a sense of hope. Maybe they wouldn't find anything at all, but it wasn't just him looking anymore. It wasn't just fighting back the dark. Maybe, just maybe, that was good enough.
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