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Being Albite's underling wasn't so bad.

That was about as much as he could give Albite, or anything related to the Negaverse, the place that held his heart in something of a vice made out of spiky chains. Being Albite's underling, though, meant that he didn't have to care about quota, and he had embraced the concept of that as quickly as possible. Needed to find something else to beat up, but by the same token...

Well, he also didn't have to beat up people and take from them.

That felt... lighter.

To be honest, Fulgurite considered not even bothering to power up with the lack of worry about quota--could spend his time doing s**t he actually wanted to do, for one--but it seemed like the right thing to do. Seemed like something he instinctually did anyway, like an old habit he couldn't drop no matter how hard he tried. (Except this wasn't a habit like sewing and more like a habit like drugs or alcohol--)

Not having to make quota, though, threw off his patrol.

So he was just sitting atop a flat railing, observing the surroundings.

Well.

Fulgurite hadn't necessarily expected to be the target of someone's attack, but he also should have known better. One, he was Chaos, and Order had every right to attack murderers the members of Chaos, he figured. Two, his luck was stunningly good when it came to getting a general, or eternal, as it were, who didn't care about his quota, so something had to give and run out eventually. Of course, it would be his own ability to avoid attacks.

So he got smacked with the leaves, of course, multiple leaves, of course, and he was bleeding minutely, of course. Fulgurite noticed his pain with a dull, "Ow," and he reached down to sop up the blood with a bit of his sash--

Of course, he didn't expect the senshi to run up and apologize, of all things.

Very Order of her.

Recently, everyone of Order he had run into had been incredibly nice.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He knit his brows, confused. "Arguably, your anger at your sister made you productive. Hit me pretty well, at least."

Cautiously, Fulgurite took the ribbon from the senshi--Ingrid, he guessed--half expecting her to attack him again, half expecting the kindness he was receiving. Awkwardly, he began to wrap the cuts up in the ribbon, attempting to create a bit of a tourniquet to stop the bleeding before he actually stopped the bleeding with some coverage entirely--

Well, that was until she said she was joining him.

His brows shot up, and he looked at her with a mixture of apprehension and confusion-- "Fulgurite," he offered, cautiously taking her hand and giving it a half-hearted shake, "of Springs. Super Senshi." Hopefully, not for long. Maybe Albite would put a good word in and it would be enough to promote him on its own. That'd be nice. "So wait -- you're upset your brother went missing and your sister tried to find him on her own. That's fine. But in response, you're joining our side?"

He drew his hand back to himself to resume work on his tourniquet situation.

"You are aware that changing sides means your identity changes, right? So not only would your family be missing your brother, but it'd also be missing you, and then your sister would be trying to look for you both on her own."

Honestly, a family full of senshi would be a major get for the Negaverse, but Fulgurite, who felt trapped because he didn't want to do that to his family, partially felt it his responsibility to warn someone of those consequences of switching sides.

"Never mind anyone else in your family."

Damn, that was a bribe if he ever heard one. A bit of an unfair bribe, too; what were they going to do, keep taking starseeds until Ingrid relented? He could probably do the same to Raksha, who kept offering him money and food, maybe even to Nectaris--

There was a visceral no in his mind at that, one he quickly swallowed down. She didn't need to see his own reactions to his own side, especially not to the methods that order kept introducing him to. There was Raksha, then there was Pendour--

-- Valjean sounded familiar. Wasn't that one of the people on Albite's extended team --

"That's the standard party line, isn't it?"

Fulgurite turned toward Ingrid, tilting his head. He better make sure this didn't get back to Valjean. Would probably cause him problems if this was worded in the wrong way...

"The Negaverse..." He needed to do his best not to sound overwhelmingly negative. "We're protecting the world," as they said, "but we also do things like drain energy and take starseeds, ending the lives of those of the city and beyond, and that will continue with or without you taking the bribe to corrupt." He shrugged. "One of the keys of switching sides is you lose everyone you know. Friends. Family. Can't go back to them, no matter what, and you'll always be a missing person to them, like how your brother is to you right now -- and how you will be for your sister."

He assumed she wasn't her twin, considering Ingrid referred to them separately, though perhaps he was wrong.

"Never mind anyone in your family who isn't powered. They'll have no idea."

He couldn't imagine doing to his family, permanently, what he had felt for the months in which Orah was missing.

Fulgurite tried his best to keep his anger off his face, but it only worked so well when his lips twitched and his eyebrows turned inwards. Take a deep breath. Think of what he had been told. Don't fly into a rage. Don't fly into a rage. Don't fly into a rage--

"It's not that easy, Ingrid. The Negaverse knows everything about me. Can't find me? Go after my family, perhaps just to hurt them, perhaps for revenge, perhaps in hopes to chase me out."

Don't fly into a rage. Don't fly into a rage. "And no, I don't want to leave my family, but more than that, I don't want to leave my family without me." Fulgurite leaned forward. "You know how that feels, to not know where your brother is, to not be able to find him, to not be able to contact him, and how much that sucks? Because you also won't be able to contact any family that either doesn't come with you or can't, and you might not even recognize them depending on what memories you lose, and they certainly won't recognize you. To them, you'll be gone. Forever. Do you think that becomes easier if they know where you might be?"

Don't fly into a rage.

"What if you end up not knowing who they are and take their starseeds?"

Fulgurite was probably not supposed to put anything in her head, because it seemed like she had already made her decision. This Valjean must have been persuasive. Must have been a people-person like Albite claimed to be.

He certainly wasn't.

Fake his death.

It was almost comical in its simplicity. It reminded him of stories he read or movies he had seen, and the thing with faking death was... well, in those stories, it was usually found out or unraveled or someone ended dead somewhere, even if it took a few years. It was true that Fulgurite would be a different person -- probably a different senshi name, even, considering he had never bothered to find out his not-Negaverse senshi name -- but it still didn't feel that easy. Nectaris was still obviously Sylvite, different identity or not.

Fulgurite's temptation to rage melted away, and it was replaced by the urge to laugh.

An urge to laugh he resisted taking, though he certainly gave Ingrid a look.

"Why do I not want to be part of it?"

He smiled thinly.

"That's a complex question, and considering you said you know Valjean, who probably has some awareness of who I am, not really inclined to tell you." He swatted over his shoulder. "But I can say two things factually: one, we torture and kill people," he was surprisingly alright with that, but perhaps that was the problem, and it had chased Sylvite off and made Gismodine uncomfortable, and perhaps he should realize what that meant, too, "and two, our reasons for doing so are inconsistent."

And three, the most major reason, was that he never ******** asked or wanted to be part of this, but that was neither here nor there nor was it something this Ingrid needed to know.

Shouldn't have to? Sure. Shouldn't have been brought into the Negaverse in the first place? Yeah. That was probably the more important piece, and he was bitter about it.

Very, very bitter.

"That anger is only going to come more frequently if you corrupt. Chaos amplifies that." It was a very frank thing he said, and that was because he could feel it himself. Sure, Sylvite helped him, maybe Albite would or could possibly help him too -- but he was angry. He was angry beyond what he remembered as an edgy teenager. He was angry beyond what he had been as a basic. He felt his body only encouraged it.

Fulgurite looked at Ingrid, brows lifting.

To think she was still considering this--

"You're naive. If you corrupt, you're going to need the friends."

He waited a moment before he added,

"But consider not."

And then he vanished.