[PRP] It’s Showtime [Diesel/Wolframite]

[Indigo_Plateau]

“MoonKitsune”

Diesel went out to do something most nights. Sometimes to drain, sometimes to see who was around and doing what, sometimes just for the parkour, sometimes for no reason. He just liked to be powered up, and it didn’t feel like a chore to him, so why not enjoy it whenever he was able?

Any powered signatures that cropped up on his senses fell under the umbrella of ‘checking out who was around.’ He usually expected White Moon auras, and it didn’t bother him at all to make something of it, if that’s what he came across, but he was just as content to investigate a Negaverse one. There was always that chance that he’d run into an impromptu comrade, and they’d be able to enjoy whatever activities the evening presented together.

Diesel slung himself up onto the rooftop of some local coffee shop along his powered route for the night, swinging long legs up and over the ledge and landing in a whirlwind of rainbow hair and fluttering fabric.

The rooftop was expectedly occupied, just unexpectedly by whom. He’d expected an agent, for sure. That much he could tell from an aura. But not really what kind. A half-youma, judging by appearances, and one that he… recognized? The dog-agent was only vaguely familiar. Diesel had probably seen him from afar a couple times before, maybe in the Rift or on the hilltop during that big battle two years ago, or something like that. Group missions. The guy had been around. But Diesel was thinking of an interaction that had been more personal, and like, from a whiiiile ago. A long while. Like four or five years. It was kind of embarrassing (because Ellian hadn’t been the star of the night, so to speak), and if the senshi could forget about it, he would, but some things leave an impression.

“So you’re still alive, huh?” Diesel strode nearer, idly twirling a long, wavy rainbow strand of hair between his fingers. “It’s been a while since I laid eyes on you, so I figured… I dunno why I keep expecting your kind to like- get killed?” It wasn’t like they were human anymore, and if Order was going to go after anyone, surely it would be the ones twisted beyond humanity.

Guess not, though. In all fairness, he didn’t really hear of that many agents losing their lives, so it was probably mostly just something thrown around for the intimidation factor.  

[MoonKitsune]

It was another summer night and despite the whispered of Autumn just over the horizon, it was far from here. Warm, he only could patrol for so long before he was spent. The heat got to him and he had to cool down before going home. Usually he'd just head back, take a cold shower, and enjoy something to eat he didn't have to cook himself. While most of that was still on the agenda, he decided to pull a small, insulated lunch box from his subspace and enjoy some freeze pops to keep himself cool.

Sitting on the roof, he kept his attention out for any energy signatures as he sucked on a blue-flavored otter pop. The negaverse signature had been felt, but he made no motion to move. Coat already taken off, he sat on it and enjoyed the cold snack. It was his third one in a row and he was finally feeling a little less faint from the heat.

The agent arrived, a senshi with a dawn-colored sash and multicolored hair that looked as vibrant as the popsicle he was sucking on.

Confusion turned his ears as he stared back, making no motion to get up. "Aren't we all expected to get killed?" He asked, pausing in his snack to regard the other. Nothing was striking his memory, and he remained just as confused.

"I don't remember you. What's your name?"  

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

Diesel didn’t remember dog-boy looking so… young. Maybe it was just because he was kind of short. Maybe it was the weird choice in snack. Maybe the hairstyle. Maybe it was just a youma thing? But somehow the guy didn’t really look as- as threatening as Ellian had initially perceived him as, however many years ago. And that felt like it had to be some kind of slight, for a youma to look more young and fluffy than threatening.

But since he wasn’t planning on being killed, Diesel didn’t make a comment about it. Instead, he gave a derisive snort as he sauntered nearer. “Uh, no?” He retorted. “It’s a little sad if that’s all you see in your future. Don’t you wanna, like, I dunno, see what it looks like after we win, or something?”

Like, yeah, that seemed a pretty unlikely thing to hope for in their lifetime, but it felt more likely than being on the other side and hoping for the same. He hadn’t really had any experiences where the White Moon seemed that threatening.

Stuff in the Rift was way worse. The Chaos that came from space was way worse. Even the space aliens had actual guns, and not whatever ancient trash the Knights carried around, so they were, effectively, way worse. It just seemed like it would be kind of really insulting to be killed by some White Mooner. They couldn’t even pull starseeds, so if Diesel had to, he figured he’d do the killing before the enemy could get around to it, probably.

“No, why would you,” he muttered under his breath, since the time they’d “met,” Ellian would’ve just been a nobody civilian. Why would he be memorable at all, when he was just one in a string of Negaverse victims?

“I’m Diesel. I’ve mostly just seen you around occasionally. You uh- you drained me. When I was a civilian. A long time ago.” Drained him among other, more violent things. “I never caught your name, either.”  

[MoonKitsune]

"I suppose. It's a nice dream, but I also sort of expect to die in a fight. I guess it depends on what kind of day you ask me if I think I'll be dead in some odd form of retirement or in some fight." He slowly got up, using the large claws to push himself up as he kept the freeze pop held in his mouth before dusting his "hands" off best he was able. With that, he transferred the now empty tube of plastic waste to one hand.

"Captain Wolframite." He said, as way of introduction. He had since gave up on offering his hand as many were thinking it was a bit old fashioned and other people didn't want to touch a massive set of claws. It was the modern age and hand shakes were more for job interviewed from what he had been watching on TV anyways.

"Oh, I did? Well, I don't remember a lot of civilians. Well, at least I didn't decide to eat your starseed." He said with a smile that said that this was his attempt at a joke.

He wasn't much of a comedian.

"It's nice to meet you Diesel." He looked to the plastic wrapper in his hand and looked back up at the senshi. "Are you hot? I have a few drinks and another Popsicle if you want to cool down." He offered.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

“I guess maybe you could die in a fight with one of them if you were, like, real old?” How else was he supposed to imagine it possible to die from a bunch of loser White Moons if not from being decrepit with age? There didn’t seem to be any age constraints on someone powering up. It was difficult to even conceive of being a seventy-year-old senshi. For Diesel, he probably just wouldn’t power up, anymore? He’d live his last decade or so being ‘normal.’

…A youma couldn’t just not power up, though. And it would probably be weird for one of them to die of old age. …Maybe the Negaverse just sort of got rid of them when they stopped being useful? So it was probably better to hope to die in battle. There was something more exciting about that.

“Wolframite. Yeah, that sounds like what I’d expect.”

“I definitely wished I’d gotten a video, at the time,” he admitted. “Because even being in this city, where all kinds of weird s**t happens, it wasn’t like anyone really believed me- and then maybe I didn’t believe me much, either. So it would’ve been really cool to have proof of some werewolf-looking guy, even just for me. Just for me so that I didn’t feel delusional for months afterward. It was almost a year after that that I became a senshi.” The whole encounter was a little foggy. He definitely remembered it enough, enough to recognize Wolframite, but a lot of the specifics were foggy. Ellian hadn’t been conscious for the whole interaction.

He just wished he’d been able to prove that he hadn’t been drugged up or something.

He gave a shrug and a flippant little wave of his hand in dismissal. “Nah, I don’t usually mind the heat much. I’m kind of about it? My sphere is combustion. Takes a lot to make me sweat. But for you, I mean, do you like being- that? Just seems like a lot of trouble.”  

[MoonKitsune]

He smiled at that. "It would be pretty sloppy if I left evidence around to make people have evidence of being attacked. The whole point is to make the victim of the drain to second guess themself and eventually just learn to forget about it. I can give you a little lock of my fur now if it will help you sleep at night." He said as both a genuine offer and as a joke.

"I like being alive, being able to see, and being in the Negaverse. I also asked to be a half-youma." He said, putting the trash away into his subspace along with the small cooler.

"I didn't get to choose what I became. I could have mutated into anything. I could have looked like some kind of cockroach or even closer to a warty amphibious creature. As far as all the possibilities go, I say I got off pretty lucky. It can always be worse and aside from the summer, I'm fine for any other time of season. I don't appreciate the shedding." And he ran a hand over his arm, sending a few bits of fur out into the air.

Standing up, he dusted off his uniform and picked up his coat.

"Combustion. That sounds like it has some fun magic. So what is it that you do?" He asked.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

“Oh, no, I get the concept now.” Now that he was an active participant instead of an unwilling victim, Diesel understood that the whole operation functioned with an element of secrecy. Not something he was particularly talented about, given that he was so flashy. But he at least realized that the point was to try and be discrete. No one he left behind should be able to identify him, and the less information they had about the encounter, the better.

So it shouldn’t be that surprising that Wolframite had knocked him unconscious and left him in someone else’s hands after draining him. Ellian had woken up bruised but mostly unhurt and with his brother next to him. There was some weird implication that he might’ve been drugged- though Ellian didn’t really know why that was on the table- and then mugged. Wombo combo.

It had just been pretty weird that his phone and car keys weren’t missing, or anything. “I sleep pretty fine now, thanks. It helps to know I’m not delusional.”

Wasn't sure he could say the same for Wolframite. “Why would anyone ask for that. Like, for this, for being a senshi, sure.” Diesel loved being a senshi. It probably didn’t really matter which faction’s banner he ran under. But being turned into a dog and forced to live underground and not really be able to interact with most people normally, anymore? Uuuhm… That didn’t sound as great.

“I mostly blow s**t up, and I’m pretty happy with that. I heard some people get ‘make enemies sad’ as their magic, so that’d be kind of a big yikes.” It definitely didn’t lend itself hugely to discretion, though.  

[MoonKitsune]

"Because I wanted to make a gesture and a promise to the Queen." He said, not sure why he thought being a half-youma was all that horrible. Then again, a lot of people valued the life outside of the Negaverse. But being a office wasn't like being some sewer rate though.

"A lot of things happened in my life to lead me to making that request. But I asked, and I couldn't be happier that she blessed me with the opportunity. I wouldn't take it back for a second." And the swaying of his tail confirmed this to be true.

"I don't remember anyone from my life outside of being an officer, so I don't miss anything. I can't miss what I don't remember. And I have a nice house and I can still go out with a glamour. It's not for long, but it's enough to go watch a movie or go shopping. I don't need more than that." Laven had also been a big help in not wanting more.

"It sounds very useful. I've met a lot of senshi and some of them get the short end of the stick. I suppose that goes with Negaverse agents and their first weapon too. You'd think if you were pulling power from some planet, they would at least give you the best spell." He said with a shrug.

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

Diesel shrugged dismissively. People had their own reasons for things, their own priorities. Dog boy wanted to give himself to some weird Chaos shadow-lady more than he wanted independence and freedom. If that was his prerogative and he was happy with that, more power to him. Sounded awful to Diesel, but it also wasn't anything he would literally ever have to worry about, since being a senshi protected his starseed from, like... half-assing youmahood. "Mostly I just think it's nice to, like, have hands."

...It could still whole-a** youmahood, and that would indeed suck, but he was given to understand that he wouldn't care as much that it sucked? He'd be too busy trying to eat people's souls for eternity. What a world.

"I don't really spend a ton of time thinking about it, but it feels like it would be lonely. There aren't really that many people who live in Negaspace, comparatively, I mean." Destiny City was jam packed, perhaps overfilled. But Negaspace was... dark and dreary and dead and usually empty. Not anywhere Diesel would want to live. ...Though he had visited Calaverite while he'd lived here. Cala had seemed happy with the arrangement too. Maybe it grew on a person.

But honestly, he was pretty freaking thrilled to be what he was and not what anyone else was. "It's great!" Diesel agreed enthusiastically, unable to help but give a bounce forward to the balls of his feet. "Even before my promotion, I didn't feel, like, completely worthless or anything. I could totally fight! Way better off than most newbies of any kind, I think."

Would've been a drag to be an agent walking around with a bit of trash for protection. But at least they could pull starseeds to protect themselves. Pages were just baseline ******** do guess I kinda wished I could know something about my planet, though. I'm not big on space- I've seen the movies, y'know? So I don't need to visit, or anything. But I had a world. It might've been nice to be able to know what it was like."  

[MoonKitsune]

Wolframite frowned and felxed his own hands. "Yeah, you can brag about that I suppose. There are a lot of things I just can't do. If you ever drop any change, I'm not picking it up." He said, smiling at the joke at his own expense. It had been a very troubling experience and even now, he knew his limitations. Anything that require being very delicate was incredible difficult or even impossible with his claws extending his fingers out. Picking up something small was also hard, and he had issues with most cups if they weren't wide or sturdy enough. His utensils were all modified along with his tablet and pens. A lot of request had gone to Mauvians to alter everyday items he used just to be functional. There were also more persona and intimate issues he would never share freely he had to overcome and just deal with.

"It can be. Not a lot of officers stay in the negaverse long outside of dropping off their energy orbs or talking quickly to another officer. After that, they are going home or off to enjoy the rest of their time out of uniform. We're more an obligation, but that's where I can help. I can be there to do things that would be difficult or a burden to others who don't have that life or time to dedicate." He said with a shrug, not wanting to come off as too much as some person making sacrifices for others. He had picked this life out just as much for his own reason, but there were things that just worked out too as a result.

"I don't know much about senshi to be honest. Do you not have some memory or calling to that place? I heard you can give it up somehow, but I've never witnessed the process."

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

“That’s how it is for me,” Diesel admitted with a shrug, agreeing with Wolframite’s sentiment about how the typical agent handled Negaspace: somewhere they could be, but often chose not to. It was hardly the cool hang out spot for the Chaos-fueled. Diesel didn’t really hang around unless he had to. Which was a little sad, honestly. Their own little plane where no one not part of their world could even be. The Chaos in the air wouldn’t actively hurt them like it would most others, so it should be “safe” for them to be here… It just didn’t feel that way to him. It kind of felt vaguely like he’d snuck into his parents’ room to take something from his mother’s purse without her permission. A sort of wary adrenaline and a fear of someone there when he hoped they weren’t. He theoretically could have his own office space- but he didn’t. Because he wasn’t sure how welcome he felt.

It could be because of Metallia’s practically omniscient eye over this domain. …Or it could be Rakovanite. Or both. Probably both.

“I think I could like hanging around,” He went on. “But something just kinda feels uncomfy-off here, so I pretty much get in and get out unless I have an actual goal in mind. And I don’t… Hmm… I don’t think it would feel that way if I was on my world.”

“Dunno for sure, obviously. Never tried it. Could be wrong.” Like he could be wrong for bringing it up to some lapdog agent. “I don’t know anything about it. No memories, no… feeling, even.” He gave pause, tipped his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, was quiet, was still, waited. “…Nnnope. There’s nothing. I just think it’s be cool to see, though- like, who wouldn't want to have their own world. Gremlin, that’s my Mauvian, says all those senshi planets are pretty much dead, though. Nothing on ‘em. Even if I had the power to check it out, it wouldn’t be anything like the last time I was- er, the last time this starseed was there.” His fingers were at his chest, hovering at the little divot between his collarbones, where the black cracks from his corruption peeked over the hem of his jumper. He might have reached for it… But there wasn’t reason to. There was never reason to.

Gremlin seemed to think not knowing was for the best. If Diesel couldn’t remember what that world had done to him, or what he’d done to it, why would he want to dredge that up? Just be happy. “It kinda feels like there’s not really very much more to give up about it.” Diesel shrugged.  

[MoonKitsune]

"I suppose out of everyone, you'd feel the most uncomfortable. So much of the youma and the Rift are dangerous to you. I can't imagine the rest of the place would feel - comfortable for someone with your magic. I have heard plenty of Negaverse agents not being the most welcoming to senshi or feeling a tad bit superior over them. I can't imaging having that kind of judgement all the time. I suppose the closest I have is just being a half-youma, but I'm usually seen as being more feral or maybe not as smart as another agent. That or, well I guess what you just said, a bit sad. Worth of pity." He said as he considering the comparison.

He wondering about his own place - back as a knight. Was it worth telling him about something like that. About his past. About his mistakes.

Maybe he'd save that for later.

"I don't much know what it is you all give but I've heard mention. Maybe its' good to seek out another senshi or even the Royals. For as long as I've been about, I haven't met too many senshi who talk about their own powers and abilities much." He should probably remedy that. "But I was a bit lone for a while too."

"Do you know a lot of senshi?"

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

It crossed his mind sparingly, as infrequently as Diesel could manage. He didn’t want to think about how poorly it seemed like senshi integrated with the Negaverse. He would never command youma. He couldn’t corrupt new agents. His cat had to ask someone else to upgrade him. It felt like he wasn’t meant to be here- like no senshi was meant to be here. His fingers rubbed very lightly at the edge of a collarbone, smearing along the very edges of the cracks.

Being here literally broke them.

He was given to understand that theirs was a relatively new alliance. Still well before his time, but recent enough that a handful of agents that had served for over a decade were not enthused about working with senshi. “Well, it’s not so bad,” Diesel said with a shrug. “Really no one has been particularly mean, or anything.” Besides his brother, but it had always been that way. Maybe their differences had made it worse, but it was difficult to tell with him, and because Diesel [liked what he was, it mitigated a lot of the upset he might have felt about being different and unwelcome. “But even if it did suck, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it. I can’t not be a senshi.”

At least Wolframite had asked to be a youma. Diesel still wasn’t sure he understood why, but it wasn’t his business to understand. Wolframite wanted it, he got it, he probably should’ve been prepared for people to look at him like an animal or a monster. “I bet you get called ‘cute’ a bunch too.” It probably sounded a little condescending, but it was kind of a compliment. “Because of, like, the ears.” He pointed.

“I’ve never heard of senshi giving up more. I already feel like I don’t have as much as you agents. Or, y’know, most agents, anyway.” Besides the newbies. He wouldn’t ever wanna trade places with a Lieutenant. No weapon, no youma, no authority.

Diesel wasn’t sure he wanted to know more about it. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask just to see what his options were, but he wasn’t of a kind to want to lose anything. He doubted anyone he knew would know anything about it, anyway. Not more than Wolframite did. …Except maybe Rakovanite, and that was a pretty hard maybe. “Do I know a lot of senshi? Well, not really. There’s Cala. He’s on the same team as me. And Narcissus. Just this Dark Mirror guy that’s always hanging around us. We don't talk about magic much, but I’ve seen them both use theirs.” Neither were as cool as Diesel’s abilities, though. “I dunno if either of them feel like something’s missing. I’d guess probably not.”

Because Cala was crazy, and Narcissus was always very insistent that he didn’t really care about being a senshi (maybe too insistent, but why would Diesel pry?).

He twitched backwards as if startled, eyes widening slightly as they riveted back to Wolframite. “Not that I feel like something’s missing, I mean.”  

[MoonKitsune]

"There is some things in your control. For one, just showing you are the same as everyone else helps to curb some of the ignorance of some of the newer Negaverse agents who might have formed some bad perceptions about senshi. Outside of that, I think that with time, maybe we can get one of you as a Royal of some sort to help represent the senshi and serve as a voice for them. Something to look up to and aspire to become. I don't believe we have that right now, and it might be that lack of representation that might mean that a voice for the senshi isn't fully present. I'm not sure if there is a reason for this, and I'm not saying that our current Royalty isn't providing input in regards to senshi, it's just I don't know. I think it would be good if we had our own senshi royal." In theory, all royals were one more power against that of Order, but wasn't sure if it was capable to be done. Could they get a Royal Senshi? Had not met their metal in the field of battle in this war to prove worthy enough of the position? Or maybe there was a reason of concern to not have one in a higher form of power given the history of the Negaverse with sensh royalty.

These were all questions he was not of a power or position to answer. He could think of these questions as much as he would like, but going any further than that to question the authority was one he dared not cross again. It was a lifetime of pigheadedness and hardships wrought by his own arrogance that lead him to this rule: He did not question the decisions of the Queen.

And so, he just wondered.

"I was called cute before I was a half-youma. I was corrupted when I was a teenager. I looked very young, and I'm short. I've been called a lot of things since. Cute. Twink. Something to do with pastries. Danish? Roll? Uh....no. I forget which one is was. I just remember it was a dessert." He said with a wave of a large hand.

"Now I just give off the appearance of a pet. It's easier to assume I'm friendly and cute if it eases any concern. As long as my authority is still respected when needed then I just get too tired to fight it too much. It helps to make people at ease talking to me, but I've had older officers be - a bit worse with their comments. I've been treated like a exotic pet. I've even been asked if I could be someone's personal youma." He said as he flexed a few claws at the thought.

"Otherwise, I get it. I like dogs too. I like petting them. If I think it would help ease someone's nerves, I allow a brief touch. People get curious about them. They don't meet too many like me. I suppose that there is no turning off being a representative for a minority." He said as he regarded Diesel.

The mention of the senshi were not ones he knew, but the mention of some Dark Mirror guy had his shoulder's tensing. "Be careful around any suspicious Dark Mirror guy." They were just allies, but he would always treat them with a space of distrust.

As for something missing, he just looked at Diesel. "It's okay to feel something is missing. At long as it doesn't make you think that what is missing can be found on the other side. It's not on that side."

Indigo_Plateau

 

[Indigo_Plateau]

MoonKitsune

“Dunno what kind of look that would be, huh?” Diesel snorted derisively, expression almost a sneer as he glanced out over the rooftops in front of their building. “If one of the ‘senshi invaders’ you’re supposed to be kicking off this planet actually found special favor with Metallia.” Because that was what they said, right? That senshi were some outside influence coming to take over the world or something, and the Negaverse was supposed to stop them. Get rid of them permanently by offering their starseeds to Chaos so they couldn’t ever be reborn. If not that, then they could at least be corrupted to fight for the right cause.

But they weren’t really equals. Just servants. Cervantite, he wasn’t supposed to forget that. He shrugged. “Can’t imagine why they would ever pick one of us over one of you.” Maybe someone like Wolframite, especially. He couldn’t do anything besides work for the Negaverse. But a Royal Senshi would Offend some people. Probably just wasn’t worth it.

But it wasn’t really important one way or another. Diesel couldn’t imagine he’d ever have a say on the matter.

“I don’t think ‘cute’ is so bad,” Diesel continued, waving away the unhappy quirk he had to his lips. “You are pretty uncommonly short, though, like, even with the boots…” If neither of them were in heels, it looked like he could pretty confidently say that Wolframite was nearly an entire foot shorter than him. Besides the ears. But his eyes were like, way down there, so he could definitely see someone using those nicknames… ‘Twink’ or ‘cinnamon bun’ or ‘personal youma’ didn’t really offend Diesel terribly much, but that might just be because he was accustomed to a certain level of… mm, playful degradation from someone who could get away with it. ‘Twink’ sounded very up Gideon’s alley.

Significantly different from the derogatory ‘Cervantite’ that Rakovanite used… Maybe ‘personal youma’ was just in that vein for Wolframite. Being a pet wasn’t a cute tease for everyone, Diesel supposed.

“It’s just that, we’ll, y’know, most of the ones you do meet- who are like you- they’re less… fluffy. Anyone with half a brain probably isn’t super inclined to touch.” But he could definitely see himself petting Wolframite’s ears. He thought it was a huge credit to himself that he hadn’t just done it as soon as he was in reach. But, y’know, you weren’t supposed to pet new dogs without asking, either.

’Suspicious’ Dark Mirror guy.

Diesel didn’t remember calling him ‘suspicious.’

Interesting.

He could’ve latched onto anything, but in the face of the other options the conversation presented, this felt the safest for him most intriguing. He hadn’t seen Wolframite bristle at anything else, but the guy tensed up at just the mention of someone he didn’t even know.

“Careful?” Diesel parroted curiously. “Careful of what? The Mirror Freaks can’t do anything useful. I dunno what they’re even doing here.” Which wasn’t a lie. Diesel didn’t know what their goal was, since it didn’t seem to be to eradicate the White Moon or the Negaverse. Why were they even allies? The Court didn’t bring anything to the table, in terms of why the Negaverse shouldn’t just wipe them off the map. Weren’t there only like six of them? None of them had shown up for the fights that really mattered, so Diesel doubted they were ‘allies’ just in case the Negaverse needed more Chaos bodies to fend off Order.

They just kind of existed for some reason. But they must’ve done something to this Captain, though Diesel figured it couldn’t be anything too awful, since Narcissus wasn’t a terrible person, and he wouldn’t support a terrible cause.

Probably.