It was dark. Cloud.y A storm threatened, and Valjean knew that if he was smart, he would go back home, get comfyt, and work on his thesis.
Valjean was smart, but...in this case, he was choosing to ignore his instincts.
Ever since his visit to his planet, he had felt antsy, distressed, haunted by what he had seen and heard. Blood and death, and even though he had felt the fire of zealotry and the power of the crowd, he still couldn't help but feel that it was all horrific and pointless.
They had clearly failed. Died, horribly. And what was left of that revolution? Just skeletons and blood and broken cobblestones.
And memories, apparently.
There had been a flash. And that flash had stuck with him, and it consumed his thoughts, and had him wandering alleys and barely cognizant of his surroundings. On a better day, he would have known that was dangerous. Tonight, he barely acknowledged it.
Strickenized
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:11 pm
Faustite was accustomed to pushing his luck, but after the addition of a new piece of jewelry, he banked his tendencies. They often reared when pressed for time, and as the flameborn General looked skyward, he knew that rain was impending. While rain didn't stop him, it hampered him quite terribly.
Still, he had some minutes. In those minutes, in those quick dodges from building to building, he made a deal with himself — he could look and he could hunt, but Knights and Eternals were off-limits. He'd passed up two on his way, and had to teleport to shake the one, but the smell on the air warned him that he needed to hurry. If he wanted extra energy, or extra accolades, he best make his move now.
When he felt a mere basic, he tamped down the urge to stalk it. He leapt from parapet to parapet until he reached one of the tallest buildings, and used its vantage point for a visual on this wandering senshi. Seemed this one was unperturbed by his presence.
And — there it was. Sandwiched between two buildings. Wandering, unaware of the hideous, violent aura dominating the area.
Faustite vanished. When he reappeared, he stood six feet from Valjean's fore, all ire before the dark storm.
"Hello, Brazen One." Flame-filled eyes settled on the overgrown boy. "Are you worth more than your starseed?" As he asked, he approached slowly.
Valjean knew he should be more aware of his surroundings. He especially knew he ought to be more aware of other auras. And yet--
He had failed, and now there was one of the most dangerous threats int he wear standing in front of him.
The Negaverse General was smaller and slighter than he was, but Valjean didn't let himself think that made a difference. He couldn't see a weapon, but--
The man before him glowed, from his core, lit by some kind of actuasl fire where he ought to have a midsection. So perhaps....perhaps this General didn't need a weapon.
That made Valjean swallow, and his instinct was to feel, but he stood firm, judging distance at a look. Needed to know if he was close enough for magic. Celadonite flirting with him was all well and good, but this was the true face of the Negaverse--menace and monsters.
"That's a fascinating philosophical question," he said. "Am I worth more than my soul?" He had to think very quickly. There was one option, he just--
Needed it to do what he thought it did. He'd never had a chance to try it on someone this much stronger than him.
"A Song of Angry Men!"
With his magic cast, he bolted forward, aiming to throw a punch. He had until the spell ended. That was it, until he was back at the mercy of someone much, much stronger than him.
Quote:
Sailor Valjean shouts the name of his attack and punches the air, and a circle of makeshift barricades, about five feet high, appears around him in a six-foot radius. Within the barricades, basic magical physical boosts are swapped - the strongest characters' boosts are applied to the weakest characters, and vice versa. This accounts for both rank and faction - so a Negaverse Lieutenant or a Page would rank stronger than a basic Senshi. These effects last for twenty-five seconds. Sailor Valjean can use this attack three times per battle.
Strickenized
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2022 7:11 pm
Faustite hated magic for all its unknowns — meanings literal and figurative, connections tangential and strong, effects predictable and not. What was to say that this one's magic would be more than a distraction? They would not compare to the fire at his beck and call, but —
Faustite remained steady. He hated that he had to, but his training in Information wasn't so easily ignored. The boy moved, but he moved far faster than Faustite knew to expect out of a basic senshi, and he was upon the General before Faustite could duck down or teleport. He'd hardly started to move when the brazen one threw his punch, catching Faustite's shoulder. He winced for the pop it made, the burgeoning pain that flared up thereafter.
Then the burning thing dissolved into pure, elemental fire. His form was still in the shape of a boy, colored in with fire, and lacking the ostentatious decorum of his uniform. His head — half gone. Perhaps now, he would have the grace of a few precious seconds to dwell on this one's magic.
A song of angry men? What the ******** was that supposed to mean? Dissent? Disenfranchisement? NFTs? Racism? A bar fight? He backed up a couple paces, noted the barricades. That had to be riots, right? Was that his sphere?
"Ever seen real magic, Senshi? The kind that stays with you when you walk away?" He eyed those barricades as he gingerly touched his clavicle, forgetting himself. Naturally, flame fingers fused with flame torso, and he gave up on it.
noir songbird
For reference, he's still in the magic range!
Hellborn ;; (Enhancement) Range: Self Duration: Up to 1 minute Use Count: Up to 3x Miss Chance: Escaping his reach Effect: Faustite's fire expands and engulfs him, transforming him into a living embodiment of flame. For the duration of this magical ability, he appears fully youmafied. When he moves, he moves amorphously as a gout of fire. Faustite can pass through or over nonsolid surfaces, and cannot be hit by physical attacks. He becomes highly susceptible to magical attacks and enchantments, however. Any attacks he makes toward others will be fire property, and will provide the illusion of being burned.
Valjean had not thought or known to account for what would happen if his enemy turned into a literal fire monster. This was a new one for him, in every possible way, and it had him off-balance and off-center.
"What in the hell," he said, and he took several quick steps back, glad for his General-level speed to give him some more space. He didn't have long, he knew, the seconds ticking by quickly, but--there was no way he could punch fire. That just wasn't a thing. All he would do is get burned. "What kind of powers does the Negaverse hand out?"
Could all their officers secretly transform into monsters? Could Celadonite? What a nightmarish prospect.
Strickenized
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2022 2:54 pm
Faustite scoffed. For as much as he wanted to flame broil this one, he couldn't deny that its attack both caught him off-guard and proved potentially lethal to their more powerful agents. Teleportation was helpful, but —
"The kind that stick around when their time ends," he explained vaguely. The youma-thing smiled. He opened his arms outward, both palms supine, though he faltered with one arm and kept it closer to his torso. "Give you three seconds." As much as that would matter.
He imagined that this one could run far, if his magic was what Faustite was beginning to suspect. Time to find out.
Valjean could have run. In fact, he knew, deep down, that he should be running. He should be turning tail and booking it, trying to take advantage of having a General's speed to get as far as possible.
But that was not the kind of person Valjean was.
"No thanks," he said, and he squared his shoulders. Maybe if he was lucky, the clouds would break into rain--and that would give him an advantage.
He ran forward, pulling back his fist to punch.
Could you punch fire? Seemed he was about to find out.
Strickenized
Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2022 7:23 pm
Dead from the neck up, he thought.
Standing beyond the barricades, there was the question about whether this one's magic worked further out. But that wouldn't matter, he supposed; his core roiled in fits, then fire burst out and roiled around him in a fitful, ravening blaze.
This one, he was determined — Faustite let the punch connect, felt it contort his body with its inertia, and reached out to catch the arm.
Bring him close, keep him near. A broken nose, some missing teeth, an even more virulent pain in his clavicle, he would take any of them to barbecue the insolence out of this one. And when that had all but burned away, well,
there was always more to do.
noir songbird
Meltdown ;; Range: 10' radius around user Duration: Up to 30 seconds Use Count: Up to 2x Miss Chance: Escaping range at or before the buildup stage Effect: By expending some of his core, Faustite can whip up a firestorm on a local area, prefaced by dancing cinders seconds before the burst. Inferno gusts orbit clockwise, burning anyone caught in their whorl. Friendly fire possible.
The pain was sudden. Overwhelming. Valjean had sort of expected that it was going to hurt to swing his fist at a monster made of flame, but he hadn't been prepared for the massive burst of fire that swirled and surrounded him.
This was what he meant--magic that stuck. Magic that lasted.
And Valjean's did not.
The barricades crumbled, faded away, and Valjean's stolen power was sapped from him, given right back to Faustite. Still, he struggled, trying to yank his arm free.
Every breath hurt, from the fiery air around him.
"If you're going to kill me," he gasped, "get it over with." It seemed the inevitable conclusion. "I'd rather die than be one of your monsters anyway."
Strickenized
Posted: Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:04 pm
Listen to that.
Flame raveled out, the brilliance that coated heir shared space had died down to dim. In that flash, when hell spun around him and his hair was a molten, wicked sheet, he had seen this quarry. Young thing, handsome face, well-built.
Cute. Possibly even salvageable.
He said nothing to the boy as his General's strength returned to him. It was only a thought to jerk the arm with his left, reach chest with his right —
Except the pain was terrible, and a weak bark of hurt escaped him as he snatched up the starseed in a blackened hand. Could've eaten it then, he knew, been done with this senshi and his magic for the rest of eternity. Could've felt that bone deep, blazing rush while his body began to knit itself together.
"Don't need you to be a monster," he huffed out. "You make a fine snack."
It was serendipitous, then, that some muscles in his chest screamed whenever he tried to cross his arm over his body, or bring that starry little soul toward his mouth. <********." He sighed something vaporous, rolled his eyes at the stars for this one''s uncanny luck, and took up a wrist from the prone form as the pair evaporated into the night.
