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Now, Paracelsian wasn't stupid enough to mess with a super ranked anything, though that depended on your definition of "mess with." Was he going to get in that powerful-looking woman's way? No. Was his aura going to get in her way? Probably. Would he ask her to donate? Maybe. Would he offer a polite greeting? Yes, of course.

Well, he didn't want to interrupt her running, so he just kind of stood there, hiding in as plain sight as possible. He kind of wished he had a stopwatch, or any timing device at all, partly for the sake of a cheap gag and partly because it might be fun to take down her times and compare them to... something.

He cleared his throat as a way of announcing his presence subtly, insofar as a Captain's aura made anything subtle at all. She'd probably hear him. She'd probably stop running.

She'd probably utterly flatten him if she didn't feel like being polite.

Eye contact had been made. Following a certain game's rules, this meant that a battle, or at least an encounter, had been initiated. "Greetings, senshi," Paracelsian said, his voice even but warm. "I don't have a stopwatch, but it looked like you were making good time. I didn't want to bother you, but you know. Duty calls."

He took a few cautious steps closer. "There's a few different ways this can go. Ideally, you hear me out on my request for a small energy donation, go through with that, and then we go on our ways. Less than ideally... well..." He didn't even want to put the idea of a fight into her head. "I hope it doesn't come to that. I like to keep things clean around here."

Even he knew he was talking out of his a**. It wasn't like he'd splatter this senshi if she didn't donate. He tried to convince himself that he wasn't intimidated, but really, he had a feeling the odds weren't 100% in his favor.

The look he was getting wasn't a good one. Paracelsian tried not to shudder as the senshi approached. He was really in for it this time.

"We are not monsters," he blurted out. It was largely an accident, and he was quite sure he wouldn't have time to explain his point of view. All the same, he did the best to hear out her side of the proposal, and to respond reasonably, or at least as if he'd considered the option. "I could power down, I suppose. But I can't do that in front of you. Identity policies, you know. While I do appreciate you giving me an out, I'm not sure I can take it."

He sighed, perhaps with a little more dramatic emphasis than was warranted. "It's not as easy as just walking away. I think you'd know that." There was too much going on for him to give it much more description than that, unless she wanted to inquire. He doubted she would though.

For some reason, the sheeple epithet stuck in Paracelsian's mind. It didn't make sense to him for some reason. What did that have to do with anything? He sucked in a breath and sighed into his scarf. "You're right. I could just walk away. But be honest: will you let me?" It was part honest question, part test. He had a feeling that this Senshi wasn't the type to let Chaos agents just walk away truly unscathed. What would truly happen?

Paracelsian shook his head. "What Knight is capable of purifying? This is the first I've heard of it." His memory might have been off, or maybe he was in denial. "My 'bosses' don't know anything. Still, one can't change their entire world with just a thought."

An ungainly squawk left Paracelsian's mouth when the Senshi grabbed and lifted him. Senshi strength was one thing, but this lady was something else. He flailed a little, but ultimately but his efforts towards remaining stiff in the grip.

Even when called a coward, Paracelsian barely blinked. "You're not wrong," he said. "Maybe I am a coward. Maybe I am foolish to believe that, on some level, we can coexist as we are, without having to change."

He let his ideal drop in front of her, a lure of sorts. He didn't want to have to call his dagger to hand, but the thought itched at him.

To say that Paracelsian's lure backfired would be an understatement. Another awkward noise left him as the senshi straight-up threw him some ways away. He wasn't sure what he expected; what else would she do with him? Aside from drop him and pummel him, maybe.

When his body stopped ringing like a tuning fork from the unwieldy landing he'd made, a soft "no" escaped him. Head drooped slightly once he pulled himself up to sitting, he muttered, "Those people would have no place in the world I want to build."

That didn't matter though, did it? They existed. They were in this reality. He made no move to pursue the senshi at this point.

Paracelsian had stopped responding. He knew the basic tenets of Metallia's will, but when he thought about it, he'd rarely acted much with her in mind. Yes, everything in the Negaverse came back to her eventually, but for whatever reason, he just hadn't thought about it much. He'd been thinking of the agents as just their own unit within the Negaverse, without their ties to what lay beyond. Something bigger than what he previously realized was definitely going on.

He shook his head and stopped trying to defend himself. This senshi wasn't going to buy a single thing he was selling. He remained quiet, and hoped that she would let her disgust peak and leave him be.