Rifts (12) : Maybe it’s a trick of the eye. Maybe it’s a firework, or it’s too hot and you’re seeing things. Maybe something is actually just wrong. Strange tears are appearing throughout the city, as though something has clawed right through reality. Maybe you can’t exactly see it, but you definitely feel it. There are strange, cold pockets, and random air currents even in closed rooms. These strange rifts either appear transparent or, if you are close enough, you might see a strange blackness inside. Sometimes you can make out a strange sound, like a croak or a wail, but nothing ever comes out. There’s something magnetic about these weird rifts and it’s almost as if they’re trying to suck you up. They appear and disappear randomly, and quickly, and never show up on film.
First there were the dead zones, the bits of space where plance once had been - alive and thriving and green. Then?! Then there were all the desperate wishing tree notes n missives and -- and now!? AND NOW THIS! Madness, darkness, coalescing strangeness that was no longer 'weird summer fun!' Mier thought he was losing his tiny little mind, had been going out nightly, on end, in desperation to find a why. First to the dying - so much dying and decay - if it was only on earth? If it'd spread? If the Senshi had brought it with them?
Now though -- and there were pockets of fridged air that reminded him briskly of - gods he hadn't been given her name, fine, the 'ice queens' homeworld. Blasts that made him hunt the sky for hooting owls that he knew weren't there, but still had that prickling of fear to seek for. Except Owls didn't exists in closets, or garages, or the back of public transport busses. Winter didn't live in the middle of summer. All these strange happenings that had him on edge and tripping over every pretty little step he took while powered up; he'd even gotten wary about draining energy on his own, especially now...
Being wary and being lazy were two, completely different things. As in one was acceptable for him, and the other? Well. The other was fear-bound, really, and just -- not to be done -- felt like slacking and the very idea of it made him cringe.
So when a sudden noise and blip of darkness bloomed into existence in the distance, he just had to move towards it, despite the shunt of ice up his spine. It didn't seem to stop his feet from moving anymore than the shiver of cold that he shouldn'tve been feeling in this dogged heat. Diasporite was pulling on his powered guise, reminding himself he was an agent of abilities, and moving at speed towards the growing wail of sound.
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:49 pm
For most of her life, Alcor had been acclimated to colder climates. Mostly because of her homeworld being nothing more than a sheet of ice with jagged spires jutting out of the otherwise smooth surface. A latticework of tunnels and stairs leading into large chambers of massive icicles and igloo-like homes where citizens once lived. Kind of came with the territory with being the Senshi of Cold.
Aside from that, though. She also worked at the ice rink full time wearing little more than a pair of lettings and a thin sweater unless there was a competition; then she had a fancier spandex bodice and tights. Moving around was key, but even when she wasn’t, Fiona rarely if ever complained.
When it was hot out, that was another story.
Nonetheless, no matter how used to the cold Alcor seemed to be, there was no preparing her for the rush of chilled air that made a mess of her hair. It was as if someone suddenly turned the air conditioning on, which wouldn’t be unexpected except for the fact she was, well- outside…
Only when she was confident that nobody else was around, she had powered up to investigate which is what brought her to the predicament she currently found herself in. A lieutenant had also sensed the Rift and was casually approaching either out of obligation to investigate or because he hadn’t noticed her signature. Either way, she waited until he came into view before saying anything.
“Of everyone I could have run into, you were perhaps the last one I’d expected to see.” Honestly speaking, she was expecting some new nameless face. While yes, he was still nameless to her, she at least recognized him. “I take it there haven’t been any weird hauntings recently?” More a question than a statement since it was one of his voiced concerns when he borrowed a coat from her world.
Almost half a year later but she supposed it was better now than never when it came to get back what belonged to her. Assuming he still had it, of course.
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Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 10:53 am
This one --
"You're not getting your coat or shoes back! Not that I have them on me to give you....." snap answer that was partially the truth, the reality was that he did have them on him - but wasn't willing to dig through subspace in order to pull them out. Plus --- he found he rather liked the Senshi garments from a dying ice block of a world.
She asked about Hauntings, he wished there'd been things as simple as hauntings going round. He wasn't scared of ghosts! Unless he could see, hear, or feel them, and then they weren't really ghosts anymore were they? And then...
Diasporite shook that off though, puffed himself up a little on his heels and stared the Senshi he'd deemed the 'Ice Queen' down. "Hauntings are the least of my interest right now. Also? I take some offense to that, I am very active in this city -- and between investigating the great patches of dying -- and the nightly screams -- and the black holes? Know anything about all that *Senshi*." Dia's questioning steadily grew to carry bite, like rough bark peeling off a tree, edging accusatory in tone.
Shanyume
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2022 12:17 pm
Really? Alcor squinted in his direction in a manner that suggested that she was about to make some comment regarding his chihuahua-like complex but thought better of it.
While he squared up with her, lacking any fear of repercussion for not returning what was not his to begin with, to then make pointed accusations to someone stronger than him - in more ways than one, Alcor was not inclined to subject herself to whatever entourage this well-groomed lieutenant might bring. The Negaverse was far more connected than any Senshi Court or Knight Brigade and in less than a moment's notice Captains or Generals would descend upon this place before she could even think of running.
Best not to chance poking the agitated hamster and risk getting bit.
“I don’t particularly care if you want to keep them, just admit that you like them and they’re yours.” She shrugged dismissively. It’s not like she could hang him off the edge of a building by his ankles and shake them out of his subspace pocket. Unless she caught him wearing them, Alcor knew she wasn’t about to get them back.
“As for this,” she gestured towards the source of the cold air. “I [iwish I could take credit for it, but no. This wasn’t done by my. The fault of things dying I assumed to be from you or yours; chaos infections killing everything it touches. You’re just a lieutenant, are you sure one of the higher-ups just aren’t telling you something so you’d look the other way?”
Surely there were classified things he was not privy to.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 3:10 pm
Really. Thought back, deadpan, and equally as hard as the narrow little slit of a gaze Dia gave to the snow Senshi, that he may or may not have had to look up at, even while in heels.
He was one stern nod away from agreeing, only to realize that she was trying to make him admit to wanting a thing! Which - "As if I want to keep your soft, warm, haunted --- oooolllddd -- musty coat and stanky shoes. Tsk, hardly." his cheeks puffed pink full of harumph and denial, despite the embarrassment that colored them for getting himself caught out so easily; Dia pretended to have interest in his nails instead, looking peevish all the while.
He didn't have to like the items to admit they were very useful, and that he was keeping them regardless!
Then of course --- "You...I don't know that I believe you or not, your world is dead, space seems very ugh-deadish, and now this?" squinted half and shrugging, he wasn't sure if this was chaos, if he'd missed some crucial puzzle piece or notice from higher up the chain...
Except...
"I am just a lieutenant, and yet? I think I'd know if it was us or not. There are, things, that are done in the name winning....but I don't think poisoning our own well is one of them." he hoped it hadn't come that far, cast nervous glances aside while glancing at the Senshi, and then out beyond into the darkness.
None of it felt like Youma, or the Citadel, or...
"You're sure you don't know anything about this? Not - not anything at all?
Shanyume
Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2022 11:13 pm
Alcor raised a skeptical eyebrow in the Lieutenant’s direction. “They poisoned you…” she commented incredibly bluntly.
Her expressions softened.
“Either you weren’t a part of the ambush or you’re willingly living in ignorance. Those generators the Vanguard built forcefully corrupted several of us. Turned our uniforms black. Even went as far as mutating some of us into your youma pets.” Be it fate or luck, she was almost a part of the latter.
“Why is it easy for you to accept that the people you follow, that the Negaverse will intentionally kill a part of a part of us to make us forget half if not all of who we are just so that we follow them blindly, and yet it seems unbelievable that those same deeds wouldn’t spread to worlds or Destiny City?” Alcor could feel her heart rate rising.
The Lieutenant was still a child, impressionable and likely eager to please. But he was brainwashed by the darkness that had nearly taken over both herself and Eleonora.
“Who is to say that by me saving you, that your presence, your corrupt aura, wasn’t what caused the darkness to enter my world? The black area continues to grow and I can’t stop it.” It only showed up after she had brought him there and back. “This Rift isn’t my doing, but if you don’t believe me that my world is just as affected as the dying plants here, then come with me and I’ll show you.”
"I'll prove it."
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Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2022 12:08 pm
Well, ******** also, maybe? s**t.
Yes, ******** and also s**t. Because there was suddenly, just, quite a damned lot of everything going on. All the talk of poison and the aliens and - Mier had to take a nice solid deep breath, just to steady himself for what he was about to do, because the truth of the matter was? He didn't know, wasn't sure that he believed, that he cared!!
But -- ephemeral fat - butt - if other worlds were dying beyond what had seemed to be the norm for 'space is dead', and all that sort of thing? Well, it seemed like ti might be a good idea to know. Espescially now that it looked like it was spreading, and that even the Senshi didn't quite have answers to it.
Hell, her and her kind might not have been the actual cause of this particular incident.
"I lied to you about the coat! But I'm Keeping It." gruff sigh and sizzle as he pulled the damnably soft piece of fluff and fur free from subspace and began to haul it on with all the grumbliness of a porcupine. "I don't think you're right, by the way? But -- that doesn't mean I'm not wrong, either. Not about you. I'm very right about you. Could be wrong about -- uhmn, alluvthis being caused by you." a halfwave and flop of hand as he shoved it through a sleeve and tucked himself in, all nice, cozy, and ready to go.
"I know that there are things out there beyond us, beyond our two sides, right?" because he had been at the ambush, and didn't believe anyone had been no I wasn't informed of there being actual honest to goodness aliens up until that point. "And I think -- that while we're both very willing to, uhm, end each other by any means. I just...I don't know why it'd be happening here on Earth too? That's not very symbiotic of our 'brain poisoning overlords', don't you think? Not much food in a complete n total vacuum." and Dia sighed heftily, because he could feel the waves of stress rolling off of her, how hard she was trying to relay, well, something to him - how it all seemed more important for her to save her world - that they maybe wanted to stay dead and dying...
Could've been a very stressful thing, if he'd been in her shoes. Which he was, technically, ah - no - literally - because he did indeed have her shoes to wear.
"Whatever, let's go."
Shanyume
Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2022 3:47 pm
Alcor showed no measure of surprise by his sudden admission of lying earlier, or that he suddenly withdrew it from the subspace pocket she believed it to be in, or the declaration that he would keep what was originally borrowed from her world. In truth, it was better that he had it because once they got to her world, he would not be getting a new one. That wasn’t because she was that unkind but he’d see when they got there.
However, she was a bit taken aback by his willingness to return there after his last visit. In truth, she’d expected him to mouth off to her and talk back in defense of his Sovereign or the Negaverse as a whole. But it seemed he was genuinely interested in figuring out what was going on in other places.
“I’m ready so long as you are,” the Senshi of Cold summoned her phone and held a hand out to him.
This time without a crazed owl trying to kill them there wasn’t a sense of urgency with this impromptu trip to her world. Eleonora would be upset having been left behind, sure, but they’d make plans to go together next time. This was a learning experience for the Lieutenant and if she didn’t take him there now, then he would continue to doubt her words in the future.
