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Prompt 2 (Holiday Blues): One day, in the very early morning hours, a strange, bluish fog rolls in. It floats low to the ground and is incredibly dense and incredibly cold. Anyone who inhales even a single breath from this fog will be met with a sudden, harsh sensation of sadness. It’s the worst part of the holidays—the Holiday Blues. The fog slowly spreads through the town and is gone by mid afternoon, but the sensation of sadness, loneliness, and nostalgia may linger for longer than that. Scientists are explaining the bluish tint as just being a natural phenomenon, but in Destiny City, ‘natural’ isn’t really something anyone should expect. Today would have been a good day to stay inside.

Tortuga had spent the entire day working, call after call. People were just… off today. So many ‘accidental’ injuries and some much less accidental. It was very disheartening to see, but he couldn’t really disagree with what some of the people they ran to the hospital were saying. He had felt the words of sadness and loneliness strike a cord within him as well. Granted he had been seeing a therapist lately because of the darker moments and thoughts that haunted him. Today had just been a bad day for him, even his normally cheerful co-workers seemed pretty morose. There was talk about how the morning fog was affecting people, something about Seasonal Affective Disorder or Holiday Blues because something about the fog was blueish. Honestly, at the time, the redhead didn’t care. He just silently wished that everyone would go away… or he could go away.

So rather than go home to his empty apartment, eat a reheated meal, look out onto a city of lights where he was alone, the knight went out to patrol. He wasn’t likely to run into anything but a dark part of him hoped he would. Maybe a little pain would help snap him out of these thoughts. Pain would mean he was still alive. He was still breathing… that there was still a reason to go on.

The fog affected Villon in a strange way, so much so that he had to call his wife to let her know he would be staying out for a bit. The overwhelming feeling of sadness that overcame him only served to fuel his need to just exist, to give into the crazy that usually took over when he powered up. The sadness brought back things that he wished would just stay gone or at least become something he couldn't remember. He sat alone, closing his eyes once he saw blue at the corner of his vision. Nope, she wasn't there anymore, she abandoned him. But of course the damned fog decided to make things worse for him in the fact that he started hearing her voice next, a phantom kiss on the cheek that made him swallow painfully.

”Grumpy Troll<3”

His hands went to his head next, squeezing and squeezing till all thoughts of blue and what could've been, left his vision entirely. Watery blue eyes looked up to the sky, wondering just why the ******** he stepped out in the morning, if he had just stayed inside…Zoe wouldn't be making her presence known, wouldn't show up on the edge of his ******** sanity like she belonged there. While he had been gathering himself, an order signature trickled on the edge of his senses.

Crazed eyes now devoid of mist looked to the direction the signature was coming from, figuring he would pick up on him and head over. Good, he was looking forward to torturing someone today.

The redhead was lost in his own thoughts, shadows just tugging at him with every step until he just stopped walking. There in an empty park, trees bare and a smattering of snow around, he just stood staring into the darkness. The space around him was just as lifeless and dead as he felt right then. What was the point? Was there any reason to keep going? Tortuga slipped deeper and deeper into his own morose of thoughts, he didn’t even bother to move when a dark aura sparked on the edge of his senses. He just stood there, as if he too were one of the dead trees that surrounded him.

It wasn’t until the snap of a twig had him turning his head to watch as an enshrouded figure stepped out of the night. His clothes tattered, his skin pale, with ghostly shades wreathing his every step. If Tortuga had been spiritual he might have muttered something about ‘death comes’ or the like, instead he remained quiet, unreadable. Just watching.

Villon did not hesitate, continuing his slow walk towards the squire, black ink dripping from the sides of his mouth while he prepared his attack. Once he was close enough, the senshi spit one of his tentacles in his direction, head tilted as he wanted to see what he would do or how the resulting nightmare would manifest in his mind. After, once he is sufficiently distracted, he would go in for the kill.

Tortuga watched, stoic, as the specter of a corrupt… because that is who was standing there… approached. Would this encounter be a violent one? Did he care if it was? The redhead honestly didn’t know. He had met so many, from both ‘sides’ as it were, and some were truly off their rockers. It didn’t matter what side they resided in this war. Something was just off about them. This shadow man gave him the same vibes. And yet he didn’t move. Not one inch.

It wasn’t until a black streak was launched at him that the squire lifted an arm to block the splatter of the liquid. Only there was no splatter. It seemed to just disappear when it hit him. The shadow might have disappeared but bodies begin to materialize. His family, his friends, his coworkers…. One after another, filling the dead grass with their unmoving corpses. Some pale as if bloodless, others with gaping wounds. One was headless, their head just a hands breath away, another had practically been ripped in half. The little ones, his baby niece and nephews lay there, blue, and obviously wet. Burned… Shot.... Drowned.... Decapitated…. Each and every one of them died a grisly, gruesome death. Tortuga just stood there, purple eyes surveying the grisly scene but not moving. Not showing any reaction at all. And yet… oddly enough he still knew exactly where the dark corrupt was, his gaze once again landing on the figure.

Hummmn….This one seemed more disturbed than he was.

Villon walked closer to the squire, head still tilted to the side, now more curious than destructive. He leaned down ever so slightly, getting as close as he dared, “You're a funny one…Usually victims are screaming right about now.” Just to see how he would react, the senshi placed his hand on his chest chuckling as his hand slowly sunk in. He shivered, hand gently touching what he could only figure was his starseed. So this is the difference between a civilian, a first stage, and a second stage. The sheer amount of power almost made him want to just take it for his own, however, he did decide to listen to his cousin about the dangers of eating stareeds…While if this was before he met his wife he would have gladly ate whatever he got his hands on.

But now? Well he had a wife, one four year old and another on the way.

He couldn't afford to be reckless like that anymore.

“You're lucky, squire…” He pulled his hand out just as slowly, blue eyes locking onto purple. He was starting to ready up another attack but he would need more time.

Tortuga just blinked as the hand went into his chest, the pain actually the first thing he had felt in the last few hours. He actually couldn’t move, the pain was that great. It meant he was still alive. He wasn’t one of the dead that were no longer there. The shades of his nightmares. When the hand slid out he gasped, as if exiting a frozen lake, and yet he still moved rapidly. His hand snaked out to shackle the corrupt’s wrist. “It's the silence that's the scariest. Never the screams, not the cries… the silence.” He cracked out, his voice horse. “That's when you know… your help is no longer needed.” When the light just fades away. When there is no more sound, nor movement. When there is nothing you could do but bear witness. That is silence. So much silence.

Villon looked at the hand that was attached to his wrist, still curious. The blue fog really brought out the different levels of sadness within everyone didn't it? You're always so grumpy Eli…. The corrupted shook his head, but he could see hands wrapping around his waist, maybe I could…Help with that? “Shut up….” The command came out as more of a whine than the growl he meant for it to be. She wasn't there, he might be crazy but he knew he wasn't THAT crazy. But I'm real….You know that right? “SHUT UP!” Blue hair and equally blue eyes popped out of the knights chest, MAKE me.. His gaze would look off as he looked at the knight, shoving his other hand in his chest to take hold of the starseed that was there. “Shut up shut up SHUT UP! You LEFT ME!” His hand started squeezing while the tears just began to flow, “I MOVED ON! Just ******** let me go....please”

Oh… he is just crazy. Tortuga was about to let the corrupt go when he started to really go off the deep end, at first the knight just figured he was trying to get Tortuga to actually shut up but it quickly became clear that the shadowed fellow was seeing something that wasn’t there. Not that the redhead cared. He didn’t. He should but he didn’t. At least not until fingers sank into his chest once again. With a growl of annoyance and pain the redhead grabbed the corrupt’s second wrist. Holding on to both even as the man started to plead… and tightening his grip on the crystallization of his soul.

It hurt. It hurt like hell. But it didn’t stop Tortuga from leaning in and yelling right in the corrupt’s face, “You let go! Batty son of a b***h!” He likely would have slapped him, or otherwise hit the corrupt to snap him back to reality but with both hands busy holding the corrupt relatively still, that wasn’t an option. Instead the squire kicked the other man squarely in the shins. Tortuga was tempted to go for the nuts but honestly he didn’t want to shift his weight anymore then he had too. Way too much risk. The current situation was bad enough as it were.

The kick to the shins is what snapped Villon out of his crazed state. In fact, the pain only made him mad. His stance buckled, but in return he spat yet another tentacle directly into the squire's face, rearing his head back and slamming it into his. Would he have a headache? Yes, but if it meant he would be hurting someone then fine, the pain would keep his mind clear and Zoe away where she belonged. He did raise his leg to try and slam it into his opponent's gut, ripping his hands out of the squire’s chest. He didn't take the starseed, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try and drain the b*****d for someone to find later.

He wasn’t able to dodge, he couldn’t, not with the nightmare swirling around him. Unlike last time, where the dead were strewn around him, this time it was a building full of his family. A building that was fully engulfed in flames. He knew his family was there. He knew it! And yet there was something, or someone, holding him back. Even the blow to his head didn’t make him move his vision off of the burning building, it just made him fight even harder. He swung out with his fist, lashing out with elbows, and even tried to bring his knees into it. Struggling against the shadows holding onto him, ignoring the pain that was inflicted on himself. It wouldn’t be the first time he had gotten hurt and it wouldn’t be the last, but he had to reach that building. He HAD to!

Some of the blows did manage to land despite the fact that he was trying to keep himself from getting hurt. After the second punch to his shoulder, the corrupted decided to call it. He was already going to have to figure out a way to keep the bruises hidden from Lily, it was a good thing he always wore long sleeves and sweatpants. Villon finally managed to pull away, but not before draining what energy he could from the squire. He had to come back with something at least.

Tortuga took off as soon as the shadows shackling him let him go, it wasn’t until he was under the trees that the magic had faded. The squire stumbled to a stuttering halt before he started to jog further into the darkness with a ground eating lope. He didn’t want to tangle with anyone anymore. He just wanted to take a long hot shower, drink a beer, and go to sleep. He was tired, mentally and physically. He hurt, not only from where that psycho hurt him but in his heart as well. Those nightmares had felt so real… so very, very real.

Would Lily care if he gave her a call this late at night? Maybe Xander would be the better one to call… he just wanted to hear the voice of one of his family members to ease the ache in his heart. They were ok, he knew it, but he still wanted to check.