Announcements: Cutting Costs (2024) » January 2024 Copyfraud Attack » Finding Universes to Join (and making yours more visible!) » Guide To Universes On RPG » Member Shoutout Thread » Starter Locations & Prompts for Newcomers » RPG Chat — the official app » Frequently Asked Questions » Suggestions & Requests: THE MASTER THREAD »

Latest Discussions: Adapa Adapa's for adapa » To the Rich Men North of Richmond » Shake Senora » Good Morning RPG! » Ramblings of a Madman: American History Unkempt » Site Revitalization » Map Making Resources » Lost Poetry » Wishes » Ring of Invisibility » Seeking Roleplayer for Rumple/Mr. Gold from Once Upon a Time » Some political parody for these trying times » What dinosaur are you? » So, I have an Etsy » Train Poetry I » Joker » D&D Alignment Chart: How To Get A Theorem Named After You » Dungeon23 : Creative Challenge » Returning User - Is it dead? » Twelve Days of Christmas »

Players Wanted: Serious Anime Crossover Roleplay (semi-literate) » Looking for a long term partner! » JoJo or Mha roleplay » Seeking long-term rp partners for MxM » [MxF] Ruining Beauty / Beauty x Bastard » Minecraft Rp Help Wanted » CALL FOR WITNESSES: The Public v Zosimos » Social Immortal: A Vampire Only Soiree [The Multiverse] » XENOMORPH EDM TOUR Feat. Synthe Gridd: Get Your Tickets! » Aishna: Tower of Desire » Looking for fellow RPGers/Characters » looking for a RP partner (ABO/BL) » Looking for a long term roleplay partner » Explore the World of Boruto with Our Roleplaying Group on FB » More Jedi, Sith, and Imperials needed! » Role-player's Wanted » OSR Armchair Warrior looking for Kin » Friday the 13th Fun, Anyone? » Writers Wanted! » Long term partner to play an older male wanted »

0
followers
follow

Sillo Deskern

"Looking at the stress around me and seeing what it does to people, I prefer to not give a shit."

0 · 1,394 views · located in Sanctum City

a character in “Gatewatchers”, as played by NeverEndingFlip

Description

Name: Sillo Deskern Image

Nicknames: "Sil" or "Silly Dilly"

Age: 16

Mana Color: Blue

Preferred Magic Styles: Teleportation, Telekinesis, Air/Wind Manipulation, Emotion Manipulation, Conjuring Objects, Locating, and Scrying.

Height: The flippin' Behemoth. 6'4"

Weight: 150 lbs.

Eye Color: Blue to normal people, Electric Blue to Mana Users

Hair Color: Blonde to normal people, Snow White to Mana Users.

Apparel: Plain. No fancy designs or anything like that. Just one color for his shirt and typically jeans with white shoes. He wears no jewelry nor has any bodily markings.

Unique Trait: The Observer: Sillo can slip out of reality and spectate the world around him for as long as he has Mana to spare. It makes for a great escape from enemies or from life in general. It also makes for fantastic eavesdropping moments.

Strengths: Reinforced High Mana Pool due to constant use, Calm and Collected, In full control of all his abilities, Extremely Smart, Funny.

Weaknesses: Pacifist, Fairly Neutral, Very Forgiving, Physically Weak, very mischevious, prone to not taking things seriously.

Background: Sillo Deskern was the child of Ezma and Riley Deskern. Growing up, his parents were so busy as first responders to the "natural" disasters occurring that they never had time for him. This left Sillo a whole imagination to dive into as he lived his life with himself in practical terms. He's read all kinds of books and formulated all kinds of games in his head, putting him on a genius level.

He first discovered his abilities when he was eight, wishing he could disappear from a lecture about the Civil War he already knew his stuff on and then finding himself at home, in his bedroom. Over time, he learned to hone in on these powers and develop them further. And he certainly didn't use them sparingly considering he never takes the bus anywhere nor bothers with getting a learner's permit like everyone else his age. He often finds pranks the greatest pastime for him, given that he can get away with just about anything.

Sillo likes to learn. He enjoys discovering new things and tends to follow these trails of knowledge down to where they lead. In one instance, it led him to a Gateway where he witnessed Wild Mana perform such a disaster. He teleported away before he became a casualty, but the entity perked his inner learning desire. Hoping to one day unlock the secrets of the Gateway, he searches for open Gateways, trying to decipher their meaning and figure out a way to harness their power or at least shut them off. It was through these efforts that he stumbled upon the Gatewatchers a few months ago and joined their ranks.

Sillo's curiosity and thirst for knowledge may label him as an Orange Mana User, but his overall carefree attitude leads him to be able to control Blue Mana.

So begins...

Sillo Deskern's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Despite Cedric rising from unconsciousness and speaking to her, Selena remained distracted. She couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. Even with as much exposure to this type of thing as she had, it was still unsettling feeling. She imagined that Cedric probably felt similar when confronted with the powerful black mana user, which would explain why he immediately turned tail and blinked them out of there. She snorted at the thought. Not everyone can have my nerves.

Selena then turned her gaze to Cedric, who agreed that he owed her for saving his life. She locked eyes with him, her gaze blank and pitiless. Now that they were safe, she could properly chastise the younger man in an older body about his actions earlier. Just as she was about to begin her lecture, another heartbeat entered her small bubble of detection. She turned to face the young boy even before he began his shouting. Before her, a prepubescent brat with orange hair and orange eyes jogged towards them, shouting something that Selena did her best to ignore, waving his hand and grinning like an idiot. That the kid was barely old enough to dress himself apparently did not matter to the Gatewatchers, though that hardly surprised her. The organization was a mess, and the only reason she stuck around was because they kept out of her business and left her to close gateways on her own. At least, usually they did. She began to think that person or people who attacked the Gatewatchers might actually be the heroes.

The kid was in front of Selena and Cedric now. She was about to tell him to be a good child and run along, when yet more heartbeats appeared in the vicinity. She sighed audibly and rolled her eyes, turning to see Sillo, Minori, and a third gatewatcher, a teenaged, yellow-haired boy that she had not yet met. He was shirtless, for some reason, which prompted a momentary look of genuine confusion on Selena's face. For a brief moment, she wondered why that particular detail stuck out to her, before she recalled that she was still stuck in an eighteen year old's body, with eighteen year old chemistry. The thought made her gag a little. Sillo was speaking now, and like with most people, Selena was mostly ignoring him. It occurred to her that she did that often, though it made sense, considering she preferred the thoughts in her head to the voiced ones of others around her. Still, it might do to explain the completely destroyed buildings behind her. She spoke then, caring little that she interrupted the tail end of whatever Sillo was saying.

"The bomber came back." She interjected abruptly and without preamble. It wasn't necessary. "Looking for something. An artifact we keep, perhaps. My partner here decided he was too powerful and blinked us away before I could engage." as Selena spoke, she motioned to Cedric, still shaken,"The bomber, a black mana user, thus had the upper hand, and toppled the building and garage in an attempt to stop our escape."She hesitated and sighed before speaking once more, "His abilities were...above average. Cedric and I sustained injuries, which I've since repaired. Cedric may have briefly died."

Selena's speech ended as sharply as it had begun. She wasn't much for going into detail, and speaking in the presence of multiple people was off-putting for her. Her facial expression was mostly empty, with a hint of disdain mixed with disgust, which was her face's way of looking flustered. She sighed once more. This is not how I pictured today at all.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Cedric could tell Selena was preoccupied with something, she seemed distracted. This wasn't her natural blank 'looking through you' gaze, this was a distinct look of having her focus very much on something else nearby. It was slightly alarming as he began to wonder what she could sense that was actively drawing her attention. Eventually she turned her gaze back towards him and the familiar disconnected look returned in an almost comforting change of expression. No doubt his stern talking to for not letting her attempt to fight the mysterious man was forthcoming. He knew she had done her fair share of fighting, she wasn't allowed to go on missions on her own just because she didn't like people after all. She was a powerful gatewatcher, she had faced down any number of things that would turn a younger members stomach in their throat, both figuratively and literally. He expected it, and he would accept it. Perhaps they could have done some damage, after all he was one of those who went off on highly dangerous missions alone more often than not as well, between them they could bring down a lot of things that would take more than a few average gatewatchers if only due to experience. But Cedric knew that the destruction around them was minor compared to what could have been if they had fought, and chances were either or both of them wouldn't have survived to tell the tale. So he was ready for what ever she felt the need to say. However the lecture never came, cut off by the arrival of a new, and almost annoyingly happy, Gatewatcher.

"Well, I suppose that's it for our date then?" Cedric chuckled half heartedly before wincing slightly. His side still hurt, more of a lingering phantom then an actual pain, but it still got an actual reaction. Cedric had never seen the boy who announced himself as part of the rescue party, clearly he was new enough not to know who they were, nobody who knew them could possibly be that happy about running into them alone, much less together, even less in the middle of a completely demolished former Eastern headquarters.

He could tell, more out of experience than anything else, that Selena was just about to shoo the boy away when others arrived. He was surprised to see something, he wasn't quite sure what to call it, some ever so slight expression, cross her face. Turning to see the three new arrivals, Minori he recognized, the other two he had seen before, but didn't know personally. One was shirtless, which seemed completely unnecessary to him, but then again he was wearing enough layers for both of them. Thinking of his layers he realized that his suit was entirely destroyed. The thought disappointed him a little, he had liked this suit.

Selena relayed the necessary information, not unlike a system analysis on a computer would, until "Cedric may have briefly died." Could it have been a joke? Certainly it wouldn't hurt his feelings if it was, he didn't really want to think about how close he may have come to death. He laughed slightly, the kind of laugh someone does when they want a person to know they are laughing at a joke that may not have necessarily been funny. "You know me, living on the edge and such." He shifted his weight before standing slowly.

"I have never sensed so much black mana in one place." Pausing for a moment he remembered just how it felt when he first noticed the mans presence. "Not just in one person, in one place. You could all have black mana and we'd barely be in the same ballpark combined." he cast a quick glance towards Selena. "Above average might be the understatement of your career Sel." He was never sure if that name irked her, but until she crushed him like a bug for using it he would throw it out there every now and again. The others might find that single part of his entire statement to be the most surprising thing they heard. Who in their right mind used a nickname for Selena? Of course, Cedric never claimed to be in his right mind, he just claimed to not be the evil person his mana color would assume.

"All this, it was constant. It felt like a continuous effect, a single spell. On top of that he claimed to be looking for something, he certainly didn't find it in the aftermath, so if he did find it he did it while casting the spell." Cedric let the statement settle. There was a massive amount of destruction here for one spell, let alone one cast while the user was busy rummaging around for some item at the time they were casting it.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"I'll take that lift. I need to go back to HQ too, to get a new outfit." Aldred said, taking off his shirt to reveal lean musculature and well-defined abs. "Zane's already got his, so that leaves at least four more to find. Library seems a good idea, we can figure out which ones we need there. Come up with some plans, too, and see what we can find out about her and the people she works with."

The sight of Aldred removing his shirt caused Minori to raise an eyebrow and smirk, the act looking like something one would see at the start of some god awful adult video. She was also the only girl present, so couldn't help but feel as if some of the 'show' was for her own benefit. Being that he was still in high school Minori merely thought it cute, but it did remind her that she'd been locked up in her lab for a while now without much of a social life to speak of. If she was going to die in a few days, she might as well go out having a bit of fun, right? A shame she was surrounded by kids.

Sillo's approach caught her off guard, the teleportation doubly so as she suddenly found herself at the pile of rubble on which their headquarters once stood. She always got vertigo when Sillo did this, feeling her lunch threaten to resurface as she grabbed the young shirted boy by the shoulder and squeezed. She did this both to steady herself, but also to ensure Sillo didn't teleport away without her. She allowed him his freakout, Minori finding the sight of destruction hard to swallow as well, but with what they endured at the museum she wasn't really that shocked. Rose having allies wasn't much of a reveal.

"Minori, didn't you, like, ice proof the place to keep it from collapsing?" Sillo asked as the trio made their way to what used to be the main building, but found only Cedric, Selena, and a young boy Minori assumed was a new Gatewatcher. Hell of a first day, Minori mused.

"I sealed off the room the bomb went off in to keep the mana it released from spreading. It wouldn't have held against anything strong enough to tear the building down," she answered, her attention split between the rubble and the survivors.

She was surprised to see Cedric and Selena, both normally more inclined to solitude though their being together didn't shock her too much. They actually made a cute couple, if she thought Selena would be inclined to such things. After having spent an afternoon fighting dark gods with a bunch of kids, the sight of people of drinking age was actually a welcome sight. She listened intently as Selena recounted what had happened, nodding thoughtfully until Cedric's interjection, eyes widening a bit at the mention of the strength of the black mana user's power, as well as the use of a nickname for Selena. Where the hell had these people been hiding? Before she added to the conversation, she squeezed Sillo's shoulder to get his attention, an unstable smile spreading on her face as she stopped bothering to hide her mental and emotional stress brought on by... well everything.

"Sillo... My car is still at the museum. Be a dear and go get it, would you?" She asked, channeling mana into the hand she was holding Sillo with, his shirt now coated in frost between his right sleeve and the collar. Her grip tightened as she added, "And be sure to focus extra hard. Wouldn't want a repeat of the cage incident, now would we?"

The warm air around them caused smoke to gently emanate from her hand, but Minori let go before her mana could do more than spook the boy. He could appreciate the kind of day she was having, and not everyone could rely on teleporting to get around. Not to mention the payments Minori still needed to make on that car, or the notes she still had within. With her car addressed, she turned to look back at Cedric and Selena.

"Impossibly strong mana users that defy all logic with their capabilities? Seems to be catching," Minori started, looking out over the rubble. She could still feel the fallout from the spell that had been used, and shuddered at how strong it would have had to have been. Selene was not a kind healer, but she was better than most. It was probably the only reason either of them still lived.

"We fought both a ancient egyptian mummy, A mana user from millennia ago, as well as a woman who picked five of us apart without much effort and took two infinity level spells head on with barely a scratch. I'm still not entirely sure why she didn't finish us all off... she wouldn't have needed mana with as bad off as we were. Co-conspirators, but I'm not entirely certain as to their motive," Minori said, looking back out at the rubble.

"There's also the issue of mana users having existed prior to twenty years ago, not to mention the motives of whoever tore the lot of us apart today..." Minori mused, but wound up just face palming and letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Anyone else want to go to a bar? I need to sit down and not have something cataclysmic happen for ten minutes."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Damion Gray Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"Sounds good, dude," Sillo said, even though there were so many plan thrown around in there that he caught maybe two of them. "I'll join you at the training facility. I need to become...what's the word?" he paused to ponder before snapping his fingers, "Physical. Yeah, alright. By the way, you guys are doing the whole traveling thing wrong."

"Oh, sure!" Aldred said, turning to face Sillo. A faint smile crossed his face, surprised but happy at the offer of a sparring partner. "I'd like to increase my experience against teleporters too. It's going to be tough, but it'll be fu - wait." A look of concern formed on Aldred's face as Sillo reached for them, his eyes widening with the beginnings of panic as the blonde teen figured out what his friend was going to do. "Do you mea-"

“Here.”

Aldred had just enough time to brace himself and squeeze his eyes shut as Sillo grabbed both his and Minori's shoulders. His voice was cut off mid-sentence as they popped out of existence from the Museum, leaving Damion and Zane alone in the Egyptian room… with a Dinosaur on the first floor.

-------------------------------

Nathan had felt the mana gather and was already whirling around to greet the teleporters, but the boy still flinched at the sudden pop and sight of three people suddenly appearing in midair a bit too close for comfort. Taking a quick step back, Nathan let out a small yelp of surprise as the blonde teen shouted in astonishment at the sight of the ruined establishment. Biting his lips to stifle any other noises he might have made, Nathan took another step back and looked wide-eyed at the new arrivals.

A white-haired woman was holding onto a blonde boy’s shoulder, looking like she was about to barf, gross. The blonde boy who had yelled earlier; the one whose hair looked almost white in the light, was gaping at the wreckage that used to be their headquarters. Out of the three he was the only one who didn't look like he was dealing with dizziness - he must be the teleporter then! The other one with darker blonde hair had his eyes scrunched shut to deal with the vertigo that those who weren’t used to teleporting seem to feel. His eyebrows were creased together in what looked like mild annoyance and dizziness from the sudden lack of equilibrium, but otherwise the teen seemed to be taking the teleportation better than the other one.

Oh yeah, professionalism! Crap, he’d forgotten! Nathan quickly schooled his face from wide-eyed surprise and curiosity to a look of neutrality that only lasted for a second before turning into badly disguised curiosity and glee. He took a step back as the two who had been teleported regained their composure, shifting himself to the side while he listened to them talk. They were Gatewatchers like his parents, so they were obviously awesome and knew what they were talking about!

“A little more warning next time, Sillo,” the dark blonde teen was saying. He sounded a bit peeved, but as he slipped his hands into his pockets his tone and expression changed from mildly annoyed to gratitude, mouth curving up into a warm smile. “Thanks for the lift though - holy shit.” the blonde's recently opened eyes widened almost comically at the sight of the trashed HQ, letting out a long low whistle. "Looks like they weren't just targeting the museum...."

Why isn’t he wearing a shirt? Nathan thought. Then he shook his head. Wait, pay attention! Remember what Mom and Dad said - be professional! That means no looking at half-naked people! At that thought he schooled his expression into a well-practiced serious face, the kind of face normally seen on religious old grannies in church during sermon. Focus! What happened?

...Isn’t he cold without a shirt?

“Yes?” Shirtless gave him a questioning look, although there was a distracted look in his eyes. He was still paying attention to the others despite it not seeming like it. Beside him the purple-haired girl talked about what had happened. "The bomber came back..."

“Aren’t you cold?” Nathan blurted out, staring up at the blonde teen with enough curiosity to kill a dozen cats. The conversion continued around them undisturbed as Nathan continued, in a hush tone, “Where’s your shirt? Who are you? Wha-”

“Not really, it’s under my arm, name’s Aldred Kynn and no, I don’t go around shirtless as a way of life,” Aldred answered promptly, moving away far enough that they could talk without disturbing the others while still staying within hearing distance. Nathan followed him, shuffling around from foot to foot. Pulling out what the bundle under his arm, Aldred showed it to Nathan with a resigned sigh. It looked more like a pile of barely connected rags than a shirt. “It got wrecked, so for now I’m getting a new tee shirt and saving the fixing for later.” Stuffing the shirt back under his arm, the teen muttered something that sounded like “No point fixing it if it’s going to get wrecked later.” Then he turned back to Nathan, a puzzled look forming on Aldred’s features. “Uh, no offense, but who are you?”

“Ohh. Oh!” Nathan blinked and nodded as Cedric - the guy who’d been leaning against the car earlier - began to talk ("You know me, living on the edge and such."). “Not what I was wanting to ask, but they're talking about it already so nevermind!" Grinning happily at Aldred, he pointed proudly towards himself. "I’m Nathan van Dries, but you can call me Nate! Why not just fix it now? It’s easy!” An idea popped up in his mind, and Nathan beamed up at Aldred, the smile shining bright and pleased with excitement. “I know! I’ll do it for you! I know how and that way you won’t be shirtless right?”

“Uh.” Aldred raised an eyebrow skeptically, but gave up in the face of sheer optimism in the smile Nathan was sending towards him. Shrugging, he passed the rags over to Nathan. “Sure, I guess...”

*One repair job later*

“Thanks! Good job,” Aldred smiled appreciatively, pulling it on. Nathan grinned with pleasure (He did something useful, yay!) as Aldred patted him gratefully on the head. His hand felt warm as it ruffled through his curls briefly, and they returned back to the group, as silent as they had been when they departed the conversation.

Minori was asking Sillo to get her car for her, mana gathering around her in what felt like a joking threat. Aldred patted Sillo on the shoulder sympathetically - getting on Minori’s bad side was something you didn’t want to do. Better you than me, buddy.

“Zane said something about the woman having a twin brother, and her reactions imply that it’s true.” Aldred said, recalling the fight from earlier. Even with all the talking from before between him and Nathan, the two of them had been paying attention to the conversation. “It could be that he was the one who set off the bomb. As orphans who felt against the world, the two of them would probably be together in whatever goals they have and not like to be separated for too long, so it could be that they set the bombs off - Rose at the museum, her brother at the HQ.” Aldred shrugged. “No hard proof, but if the two of you are able to recall enough for a profile picture we could compare familial resemblances to see if it’s true.”

“There are people doing inventory back at the square so I think once everything is done we could take a look at the list and see what’s missing!” Nathan chirped, flashing them a wide smile. “I could take a look?” He added helpfully, hopefully. “I need to go back to report to Mr Leopold, I could help see what they’ve found!”

It still didn’t explain a lot of things by a long shot, like Minori said - Mana users existing over twenty years ago, the organisation behind the two, their goals and what they had stolen. A few of the things his mentor had said to Aldred was starting to make sense now. Geez, researching this is going to be a pain….

But before that...

“I’d like to join in for a drink and pleasantries, but before that: Sparring!" Despite having gotten out of literal bone-breaking combat less than an hour ago, the sixteen year old teen looked happy at the thought of going back to fighting, even if it was just training instead of deadly combat. "Sorry. Hey, don’t look at me like that, I’ve got a good ID and it’s not like I’ve never drank before.” It was a pretty good one too, Aldred was a bit proud of that card. Smiling cheerily at them, he added “I could join in afterwards though? Getting a drink after a good workout is pretty great. Anyone want to join me in a trip for the training facility?” He smiled hopefully at them, although deep down Aldred was already expecting to be rejected.

It wasn't that Aldred wouldn't mind grabbing a drink (alcoholic or not) to chat and socialise with Cedric and Sel, but in his mind beating the crap out of training simulations was just as much a good way to spend the time as it was with food. Training for revenge could do weird things to a person. He'd promised Sillo, too, but if his friend wanted to grab some food before going to spar then Aldred would be happy to eat first too.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Damion Gray Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"The bomber came back." Selena interjected right as Sillo said the last word, "Looking for something. An artifact we keep, perhaps. My partner here decided he was too powerful and blinked us away before I could engage."

She shot Cedric a glance, one that he didn't deserve. That didn't resonate well with Sillo. He just saved your life.

"His abilities were...above average. Cedric and I sustained injuries, which I've since repaired. Cedric may have briefly died."

"Same," Sillo said, almost in a joking matter. But no one could deny the truth laced behind those words. Maybe another few seconds and he would have...he shuddered at the thought.

"You know me, living on the edge and such," Cedric joked himself, getting up slowly before continuing. "I have never sensed so much black mana in one place. Not just in one person, in one place. You could all have black mana and we'd barely be in the same ballpark combined. Above average might be the understatement of your career Sel."

Sel? Sillo raised an eyebrow at the "no fun and games" Gatewatcher, taken aback by the nickname. They had gotten closer...at least on Cedric's end.

"Sillo... My car is still at the museum. Be a dear and go get it, would you?" he felt Minori grab his shirt, not even needing to feel the frost she was giving off to hear the ice in her voice. "And be sure to focus extra hard. Wouldn't want a repeat of the cage incident, now would we?"

Cage incident? Sillo didn't exactly know what she was talking about. He knew he'd delivered some specimen to Minori, but he didn't recall the "incident" portion of it. Oh well...

"Not a problem, Min!" Sillo stuck a finger in the air determinedly, "I shall retrieve your car for you! Although be warned. I never learned how to drive." That would surely set her on edge as Sillo popped back to the museum where he 'd arrived previously. Looking up at the structure, he was a bit surprised to see everything on the outside still intact. Not even a window was broken. It was almost like Night at the Museum didn't actually happen in there. There were police and officials sanctioning off the building while officials were trying to explain to people what had happened in the most politically correct way possible. Sillo agreed with it for once. No need for widespread panic.

"Guuuuuys. We may or may not have a missing T-Rex...yeah, I am not equipped to hunt this thing".

Yeah...sometimes you just could't avoid it.

Sillo turned to the sound of Damion's voice and spoke into the com, "Maybe we should save that one for another day. I'm not up for a Dino Hunt right now. And who knows, Maybe the T-Rex is a Buddhist seeking enlightenment or something." All he could imagine in his head was a giant dinosaur meditating in one of the temples with his massive legs criss-crossed in front of it while his minuscule arms held out with claws together in front of him.

Oooohmmmmmmmmmmm...

Sillo approached the car he knew was Minori's as he was accustomed to seeing it parked in the Eastern Gatewatcher Headquarters Parking Lot. Right next to it was a mess. Apparently, someone's black Hummer had been in the way of the dinosaur's path as it went off on it's enlightened journey. It was truly a shame the roof of the hummer could not support the weight of a T-Rex's foot cascading down upon it. Some environment hater was going to hate coming to see this. But Sillo was relieved that it was the Hummer that took the collateral. If it had been Min's car...

Not expanding on that hypothetical, Sillo touched the car and teleported with it to the front of the HQ once more. The car alarm went off as it landed from the jump through...whatever it was that Sillo went through when he teleported. He didn't really know. "Here you are," he gestured towards her vehicle, which was in good shape, before turning back to the conversation.

“I’d like to join in for a drink and pleasantries, but before that: Sparring!"

Aldred gazed around at all the suspicious glances before continuing, "Sorry. Hey, don’t look at me like that, I’ve got a good ID and it’s not like I’ve never drank before. I could join in afterwards though? Getting a drink after a good workout is pretty great. Anyone want to join me in a trip for the training facility?”

"I'll come with you," Sillo offered, walking up next to the now shirted teenager, "Like I said at the museum, I need to be a bit more physical...I guess. Although I don't necessarily know where it is. Mind telling me a landmark close by that I actually know so we can get there in a jiff?" He wagged his fingers in front of Aldred enticingly, giving him a hint of what would happen the moment he did.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"Sel."

Selena shuddered ever so slightly, a mix of anger and sorrow muffled by extreme apathy to the point that only the most astute would notice the faint quiver. Sel was the name her parents and friends used to call her, when she was younger. Hearing it brought forth a handful of memories that she would have preferred stay buried.

"Sel! Be careful!" Selena's mother's voice cried out from the passenger seat in honest panic. Seventeen year old Selena sat behind the wheel of her parent's Porsche. Next to her, her mother gripped the leather seats after a particularly sharp turn. "You're going to fail your test if you do that!"

Selena gripped the steering wheel tighter and gritted her teeth. She was determined to prove to her mother that she could drive herself. All of her classmates had their licenses already, and she was turning eighteen in just two weeks. It was embarrassing to not have her license yet. The two of them drove on some back roads in the northern English countryside. The family was staying in their country estate for the summer and Selena was taking this opportunity to prepare for the practical driving test. Luckily, these back roads contained very few other drivers. Unfortunately, they were very curvy, and with each turn, Selena's mother let out another yelp. This continued for twenty minutes, the constant yelping punctuated by shouts of "Slow down!" and "Mom, I know!"

At last, the car came to a stop, although not in a pretty manner. The bright red '69 Porsche 911 sat haphazardly in a ditch, the headlights shattered and the front bumper slightly crumpled. Selena and her mother looked on from the roadside. A retainer and a tow truck were already on the way.

"I'm sorry mum..." Selena looked down at her hands and sighed. "I'm rubbish at this! I'll never get my license, and now I've ruined the car!"

Her mother looked down at her with a loving gaze that only a mother can give. "It's alright Sel. It's just a car, we can replace it. What we can't replace is you, sweeheart. You learned your lesson, right?" Selena sniffled, her cheek wet with a tear.

"Yeah.."

"And you promise you won't drive like that anymore?"

"I promise, mum."

"Good. We'll take one of the other cars for a drive tomorrow. You'll get the hang of it."


"We fought both a ancient Egyptian mummy, A mana user from millennia ago, as well as a woman who picked five of us apart without much effort and took two infinity level spells head on with barely a scratch. I'm still not entirely sure why she didn't finish us all off... she wouldn't have needed mana with as bad off as we were. Co-conspirators, but I'm not entirely certain as to their motive,"

Minori's mention of an ancient mana user drew Selena from her memory. The secret is out, then. The Council will not be pleased. The secret of mana and gateways existing prior to twenty years past has been closely guarded. Even Selena was only aware because she confronted Loki, her immediate superior, after discovering evidence on her own on a mission several months ago. She sighed, more for the trouble this could cause that she would likely need to deal with than in surprise, but the others would likely not know the difference.

"There's also the issue of mana users having existed prior to twenty years ago, not to mention the motives of whoever tore the lot of us apart today..."

What really bothered Selena was the fact that the man who attacked her and Cedric apparently had an accomplice, a woman Minori claims deftly defeated the Gatewatchers who went to the museum. That would be no small feat, and these rogue mana users were seeming more and more impressive the more Selena heard about them.

Selena had fought, and killed, rogue mana users before. They had, almost universally, been complete pushovers. Without formal training, most couldn't even finish a spell before being crushed, exsanguinated or turned inside-out by Selena's magic. The fact that there were now two players with power of that magnitude was a little unsettling. How had the Council not encountered them before now? Selena sunk into thought as the others chattered around her. Their drivel was unimportant, as it almost always was, and she didn't have the patience for it. Instead, she turned her attention to the symbol branded into the flesh of her palm. It tingled, not painfully, but rather like it was being constantly berated by little droplets of water, like from a showerhead. She could feel the raw mana coursing through it, even now, which surprised her. She actually felt more powerful than she could ever recall, which struck her as odd. It was then that she noticed that she no longer ached from the healing she had done to herself. She studied the symbol more closely. It was burnt into her flesh, but she felt no residual pain. Flecks of blood still stained her hands, and the symbol seemed to pulsate under scrutiny.

Selena's lips curled into a slight smile as a realization dawned on her. She actually felt good. It had been so long, the feeling was almost foreign. Then she realized that it was foreign. Her brow furrowed, and her lips returned to their natural state of apathy. Something was very wrong, yet it felt so right.

Any further thoughts were interrupted by the others. Minori had suggested going to the bar, to which the previously shirtless boy agreed, despite the fact that he was not of age. He claimed to have experience with alcohol. Selena spoke then, talking just as Sillo responded to the boy as well, resulting in her comparatively subdued tone being somewhat drowned out by Sillo's louder voice.

"i've never drank before."

Why did I say that? It was true, but it was neither germane nor even their business. If anything, it would prompt even more teasing from Cedric. Speaking of which, she turned to the black mana user and fixed with with a sharp glare that heavily contrasted the absent-minded tone she had just spoken with.

"Unfixing you is much simpler than fixing you, Cedric. Bear that in mind." Selena's tone towards Cedric wasn't even threatening, but rather, it was matter-of-fact, as if turning his insides into paste was no different from pouring a glass of water. She made sure to hold eye contact past a comfortable duration before turning to the others. As she did, she withdrew her cell phone, sending a message to her driver as she spoke.

"If these terrorists are as powerful as you say, Minori, then we have more important things to do than unwind at a pub. Waste your time and money if you wish, I have work to do. You know how to contact me." Dorian, her driver, would pull up in a few moments, and Selena would gladly be relieved of the company of her fellow Gatewatchers. She only hoped that none of them would suddenly have any emergencies in the meantime.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Cedric smiled a sly smile, in spite of everything, every so often he could see that emotion flash across Selena's face. Maybe on some level he was trying to bring that out, after all a life with no emotion certainly seemed a waste. He also felt like everyone acted a certain way around her, so he treated her like she was absolutely normal, no doubt a side effect of most people acting differently around him.

Minori sent Sillo off to retrieve her car, a move that Cedric found rather trusting all things considered. Regardless he vanished as quickly as they had appeared while she informed them of what they had all encountered.

Cedric wasn't entirely surprised by the revelation that mana users had existed prior to twenty years ago. Honestly he had always assumed they had, there was just to much evidence strewn about history that suggested it, but Cedric had also spent a fair amount of time outside of the organization studying mana prior to finally allowing himself to be recruited, he also knew the council was less than forthcoming with information. Never the less, the fact that they had encountered an actual mana user from so long ago was intriguing, Cedric had always wondered if the 'reincarnation' theme that was prevalent in some ancient societies, it seemed that at least one Egyptian mana user had in fact mastered the art.

Minori's suggestion of a drink sounded wonderful right now, having nearly died, or temporarily died, which ever was the case. He wasn't entirely excited when Aldred indicated he would like to join them, presented a fake ID, and laid claim to having drank before. Selena's interjection about never having drank before drew a sidelong glance, he was less surprised that she had never had alcohol, more so that she offered up that fact with no prodding what so ever. The next statement was much less surprising.

"Unfixing you is much simpler than fixing you, Cedric. Bear that in mind."

"Of course it's simpler, but friends don't disembowel friends, or any number of other horrible and excruciating things. It's considered rude you know." He turned to Minori, "And friends don't let friends disembowel friends. Right Minori? So when she murders me in my sleep, I'm blaming you. Until then, I could certainly use a drink." he said it as though it was a foregone conclusion that one day Selena would murder him in his sleep.

Sillo had returned with Minori's car, which was currently loudly protesting the abnormal method of transit, and accepted Aldred's suggestion of going to go train before any drinking, which was all the better for him, hanging out with a couple of teenagers wasn't high on his list of things he wanted to do. "Yes, sparing, that's a good choice. Do that." Cedric said, his voice almost dripping the double speak was so thick.

Selena expressed her decidedly anti-drinking decision, not one that surprised him. She might be right, but he had an idea of what he was about to put himself through, he wasn't about to pass up on what might be the last normal drink he would be having for quite some time. "It's my fiscal responsibility to waste money. Entire industries run on Valentine's wasting money." He couldn't help it, he was still trying to ignore the fact that he probably died once today, sarcastic humor was his defense mechanism.

He started towards where he hoped his car was still parked. "I know a place down the east side." Cedric said casually as he passed Minori, "It's a nice place, the owner is kind of a weirdo though. Just let me check on my car, wouldn't want to get a ticket for parking on the sidewalk."

His car waited for him where he had left it, though it now had a brand new iron pipe sticking out of the windshield and a very nice chunk of concrete where the roof used to be. With a heavy sigh he opened the trunk, which to his surprise was relatively unharmed, and retrieved an overcoat. As he put the coat on he noticed some media vans approaching. Of course it was difficult to hide the fact that an entire building had recently been leveled. The organization had ways of dealing with this kind of thing, and he fully intended for them to deal with it, until one of the reporters recognized him.

“Mister Valentine! Mister Valentine can you tell us what happened here?” a microphone was shoved toward his face as a number of others arrived.

“Now now, calm down. We have recently entered into a contract with Atlas Electronics to begin a renovation project in the area, which included the demolition of this building and adjacent parking garage with plans to build a new facility which would include more green space and an entirely updated aesthetic. I can not comment on the demolition process as it is a proprietary secret, but it seems we have had some tampering with the process, resulting in the premature implosion of the structures. There were no injuries.” He buttoned his coat as he said this, not wanting the blood covering his jacket to reveal just how much of a lie that was, “We have reason to believe this was a case of corporate sabotage. There will be an official press release once the proper authorities have completed an investigation.”

Cedric raised a hand to ward off any other questions and turned back to the rubble. Luckily the responding gatewatchers had already set up a perimeter around the destruction. He sighed heavily as he retrieved his phone and dialed a number quickly.

“Yes, Mister Valentine?”

“Have a contract drawn up with the Atlas Electronics company for a new facility, be sure to have it back dated in the system, schedule demolition for a week from today.”

“Will that be all sir?”

“My car was totaled, have the AMG sent to Micheal's in east end, have a suit sent over too.”

“Yes sir.”


Hanging up he stuffed the phone back in his pocket. It wasn't the first time he had used his status in society to act as a shell for Gatewatcher dealings, he didn't doubt that on some level it was one of the reasons Arkangel found him so useful, there were others on the council who would just as soon the black mana user have been crushed in the building.

Finally he returned to where the others had been having only been a few minutes, he shrugged, “Well, they can ticket it if they want, it's done.” he looked at Minori, “So, I guess you're driving?”

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

After being a mana researcher for the Gatewatchers organization for several years, one thing Minori had had to learn on the job was to observe people. No one liked being examined, or prodded with needles, or inconvenienced in general. It especially didn't help matters that Gatewatchers were people with power, literally and figuratively, which brought with it a lovely cocktail of personality quirks such as inflated senses of ego and invincibility that only a person capable of conjuring fire with their mind could have. So if, say, something weird had happened to them and they couldn't conjure as much fire, or maybe more fire than usual, they were prone to be tight-lipped even though such phenomenon were the exact reason Minori's position existed to begin with.

Minori was studying the group as a whole, but Selena caught her attention the quickest. As soon as Aldred and the others chimed in with their field reports, Minori side-eyed the macabre woman as she regarded one of her palms in a way most people without magical weirdness in their bodies decidedly did not. She was in thought, even her expressionless face said that much, but what happened that involved her palm? Selena was already of particular interest to Minori due to her physical changes as a result of obtaining mana, and the unique nature of her powers made her come off as the owner of the Necronomicon rather than a mana user. This didn't even touch on her youthful appearance, who hadn't aged a day since Minori first arrived. Selena would rather slay the whole of the organization than be examined in the ways Minori wished to conduct, but after all the events of the day perhaps she might be more malleable than usual.

Another curiosity was Selena's offering up the information that she'd never drank before. It was cute, in so much as Selena was capable, but even she seemed put off by her own words. She corrected course by threatening Cedric, which snuck a small smile onto Minori's lips. The two had been together, both notorious loners, when the headquarters collapsed, right? Selena was full of surprises today.

"Of course it's simpler, but friends don't disembowel friends, or any number of other horrible and excruciating things. It's considered rude you know," Cedric shot back at Selena "And friends don't let friends disembowel friends. Right Minori? So when she murders me in my sleep, I'm blaming you. Until then, I could certainly use a drink."

Minori smiled. "Cedric, we both know if Selena killed you, she wouldn't waste the energy on quick and painless, especially if you weren't awake for all of it," she said in a teasing tone, reaching into her pocket to grab her keys, aiming the fob up into the air and pressing a button to turn off the alarm of her car as it protested traveling with Sillo.

Sillo and Aldred then chimed in about their post-battle plans, with Aldred expressing interest in drinking but seeming to change his mind when the prospect of training came up. Cedric gently urged the duo to explore that avenue of thought, not wishing to be accompanied by teenagers after the day he'd had today. Minori could sympathize.

"Aldred, text me when you get out of training and I'll let you know if we're still at the bar when you're done. Try not to rough each other up too much. Magical healing, if abused, is hell on a person's mental health," Minori said, tussling the previously shirtless boy's hair and booping Sillo on the nose with her finger as she spoke about magical healing. She'd written about ten papers on the subject, and had pushed for medical facilities to be budgeted for to preserve the mental well-being of gatewatchers who were more injury prone than others. The brain remembering the pain and being unable to see the scars that should be there, coupled with ptsd that came standard with the work hazards of being a field agent was not kind to the psyche of veterans. Some even showed signs of suffering from emotional abuse due to their brains gaslighting themselves over previous injuries, unable to recall if the events they had nightmares about even happened. Dreadful stuff.

"If these terrorists are as powerful as you say, Minori, then we have more important things to do than unwind at a pub. Waste your time and money if you wish, I have work to do. You know how to contact me."

Selena walked off after that, having summoned her driver on her phone just prior. The grin on Minori's face spread slightly as she waved after Selena. "Maybe next time we'll talk you into that first drink! Oh, and if you have any medical concerns from your encounter today, don't hesitate to ask! I'm quite handy with healing magic myself, you know," Minori said, voice filled with cheer as she spoke. She didn't want to out Selena outright over her palm, if in fact it was an issue at all, but perhaps that bit of prodding might elicit a mutually beneficial response. If not, then maybe at least Cedric wouldn't die alone.

Cedric followed suit, leaving Selena with a quip before informing Minori that he had a bar in mind once he checked on the state of his car. Being in any proximity of the building and parking garage that had just collapsed, however, did not bode well for the automobile. Minori took the opportunity to excuse herself from Aldred and Sillo's company, taking a few steps away before reaching up to her comm device and switching the frequency.

"Minori Fukutawa reporting, requesting contact with Artemis of the council at her earliest convenience. Eastern HQ is down and there are issues I believe she might like to be made aware of. Not to mention a transfer request to an HQ with a lab until Eastern can be rebuilt," Minori said, running rough shot over the operator who had answered her hail, and changed frequencies before they could respond. It was a habit of hers when it came to contacting Central Command.

She stepped back to the group once her call was completed, only waiting a few moments before Cedric returned.

“Well, they can ticket it if they want, it's done. So, I guess you're driving?”

"And miss the chance to have a Valentine chauffeur me around in my Mazda?" Minori chuckled, tossing her keys to Cedric as she began to walk towards her car.

"Besides, you had the bar in mind. I know my pale skin suggests I get out a lot, but I don't think I've driven anywhere besides work and home since I joined the organization," she added, though once the duo arrived at her car, she held out a hand to reclaim her keys if Cedric was legitimately opposed to the task. She meant it in teasing, but had no qualms about riding shotgun if Cedric didn't.

Once settled in the car and on the road, Minori regarded Cedric for a moment before letting out a short sigh.

"I didn't want to say before, kids and all, but there's one last issue regarding today that worries me. The bomb was placed for maximum range, and no one reported any suspicious activity. Security had no incident reports, we've not had any break-ins or run-ins with either black mana user encountered today. Whoever our assailant was knew the layout before they got there. Either the enemy received a layout of our building beforehand... or they were already familiar," Minori said coldly.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"Guuuuuys. We may or may not have a missing T-Rex...yeah, I am not equipped to hunt this thing".

"Maybe we should save that one for another day. I'm not up for a Dino Hunt right now. And who knows, Maybe the T-Rex is a Buddhist seeking enlightenment or something."


"Pfft - Maybe it ran through the Gate looking for Buddha," Aldred suggested jokingly, stifling a snort of laughter. "It's gonna be disappointed - its God is nowhere near on Earth. It could be fun though," Aldred said thoughtfully, a wistful look crossing his face as if he'd remembered that fighting dangerous rampaging carnivorous dinosaurs was on his bucket list. "There's only one of it, and it can't be that huge, otherwise the whole building would have collapsed. I've always wondered what dino-meat tasted like..."

But he'd promised Sillo a sparring session. Damn. Ah well, a T-rex could turn up again someday. The other Gatewatchers were already handling the situation, too - had practically told them to leave it to them, in fact. With a sigh, Aldred gave a slight nod and said "The other Gatewatchers are handling it. Take care of yourself, Damion. If you need us, we're at the Training Facilities. See ya."

A thoughtful look crossed Aldred's face as Cedric bemoaned how he was going to be killed by Selena. He'd overheard rumours on how deadly she was during battle, but... I think it's a joke, Aldred decided. Probably. Or maybe not... barrier techniques could work.

Aldred's thoughts were interrupted as Sillo's offered to take him to the museum. "Like I said at the museum, I need to be a bit more physical...I guess. Although I don't necessarily know where it is. Mind telling me a landmark close by that I actually know so we can get there in a jiff?"

"Well..."

"It's that really old-looking lot at the edge of town that looks like a business construction building!" Nathan answered before Aldred could admit that no, he didn't really recall any landmarks. Saved! Good job kid. "The one a few minutes away from the bus stop beside the rundown restaurant with the rundown sign saying 'WH O RT N H Q' with the picture of a crab at the bottom! They showed us during Orientation," Nathan added cheerfully, smiling brightly at Sillo, ready to repeat until the route was memorised.

"The guy showing us around said it's because 'people don't break into executive workplaces like they do abandoned buildings, and they won't be suspicious about the loads of materials going through since they'll just think its for construction instead of repairs. And if the contingency spells on the building fails, allowing collapses to happen or making sounds that don't fit the image of a regular company, nobody will hear or care since its close enough to the edge to remain obscure." Nathan quoted, pulling on a serious face as he tried to emulate how the Orientation guy had said it. He looked more like he was having constipation than bored seriousness, although he got the tone right. The expression crumbled as Nathan beamed up at Sillo, all sunshine and smiles.

"Oh yeah, my name's Nathan de Vries! You can call me Nate though. Nice to meet you guys and bye!" And with a wave and a flash of color, Nathan was gone, leaving nothing but the feeling of being hit by a bouncy little hurricane of joy behind.

Aldred blinked and promptly decided to turn his attention back to Minori.

"Aldred, text me when you get out of training and I'll let you know if we're still at the bar when you're done. Try not to rough each other up too much. Magical healing, if abused, is hell on a person's mental health."

Aldred blinked with surprise as Minori ruffled his hair, as if he wasn't sure how to react to such a gesture. Even if Minori's hands were smaller the gesture felt nostalgically nice, and for a moment Aldred felt as if he were six again with his dad towering over him, ruffling his hair affectionately as he presented up fried sausages for breakfast with a large smile.

That had been a very long time ago. Dwelling over the past helps no one.

The moment passed. Shaking off the memory, Aldred playfully batted at Minori's hand and ran a hand through his mussed locks, messing it up even more. "Hey, watch the hair," Aldred said reproachfully, grinning at her to show that he was joking. This was what people normally did, right? Combing a hand through his hair (now it looked more like bedhead, but somewhat neater), Aldred's smile widened as he acknowledged her worries with a nod. "Yes mom, I will. I'll try not to damage him too much, although I can't promise anything. And thanks! I'll keep it in mind."

Despite his tone having no deflection and therefore making it hard to guess if he was being serious or joking, Aldred's voice slipped into gratitude and promise at the last two sentences. He knew first-hand what extended magical healing could do to a person - even now he was still wondering whether or not some of those near-deaths were dreams. "Well, we're off! See you later, Minori." Minori turned and left with Cedric, and Aldred grabbed Sillo's waiting hand with a smile, closing his eyes as he braced himself for the teleportation.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Selena Stone Character Portrait: Cedric Valentine Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Minori Fukutawa Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"It's that really old-looking lot at the edge of town that looks like a business construction building!" Nathan answered, "The one a few minutes away from the bus stop beside the rundown restaurant with the rundown sign saying 'WH O RT N H Q' with the picture of a crab at the bottom! They showed us during Orientation."

Sillo inclined his head to the young lad, "Thanks...uh...what's your name, by the way?"

"Oh yeah, my name's Nathan de Vries! You can call me Nate though. Nice to meet you guys and bye!"

He watched as Nate vanished in front of him. Another teleporter...cool.

"Yes, sparing, that's a good choice. Do that."

Sillo raised a quizzical brow at Cedric, noticing the sarcasm in his voice as he spoke, "Well, considering I'm not old enough to do anything with alcohol as of yet, what other option is there? Besides, I don't think a drink will do you much good anyway. Doesn't seem to be working for you. Also, picturing you with a beer belly is just weird."

"If these terrorists are as powerful as you say, Minori, then we have more important things to do than unwind at a pub. Waste your time and money if you wish, I have work to do. You know how to contact me." Selena said patronizingly as she turned to leave them. For once, he agreed with her.

"See, Ceddy," Sillo turned back, "Your girlfriend seems to get the idea." He suddenly stopped, realizing what he'd just implied with that word and quickly accepted Aldred's hand.

"Oh, dear! It seems like we are OUT OF TIME for this episode of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'! Catch us tomorrow for the exciting conclusion!" he quickly remembered Nate's words and recalled the rundown sign as he pictured himself there right at this moment. He disappeared before Cedric could respond in any way, shape, or form.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Damion Gray Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn Character Portrait: Nathan de Vries
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Once they had reached the facility, Aldred had shown Sillo around with something that resembled glee. As Aldred introduced Sillo to the runner of the joint, Mr Ian Cohald, who looked like he was made out of rock hard muscle but was as soft as a marshmallow, it became increasingly obvious that Aldred had frequented this place frequently.

Gym's, changing rooms, viewing rooms - Aldred knew where everything was, showing Sillo around and adding some tips on which one had the best equipment. The blonde teen knew people too - he waved and greeted people who seemed to be regulars, who waved back, and kept offering introductions such as "That's Mrs Herlisten. She might look like a tiny old lady, but she's very strong - she's controls threads so unless you want to fight buck-naked don't fight her." and "Hey, Mckinzie! Sillo, meet Mckinzie. He's a few years older than us, and he's got pretty good skill with sound. Nearly made me permanently deaf once. He still won't teach me that spell that disrupts equilibrium by messing with the ears. Eh, I'll figure it out someday." and "Screw you Ken, I won best out of three that time and you know it! Now cough up that five dollars you owe me - no, I don't care that you're fourteen. You've owed me for over a month now."

After showing them around, Aldred finally lead Sillo to the training rooms. The room was just like one of the many other training rooms created underground of the facility, and the walls were filled to brim with magic designed to hold it up and steady. Even five infinity spells fired at once couldn't bring it down - that was how strong it was. Nobody wanted a sudden collapse in case an earthquake or a spell gone wrong hit the walls underground, and great effort had been made to ensure that nothing would wreck them and cause massive destruction on them all in case it fell.

It was also equipped with magical technology that allowed a change in the surroundings for more realistic simulations. Just one press of a button and poof! The battlers could be standing in a dry desert with the wind blowing sand in their faces or an urban neighbourhood or anything in between. There was also a recorder, which allowed the fighters to review their moves in an adjourning room to see if any improvements could have been made during the match.

Filled to the brim with hightech magic, the training center was the place to go if you wanted to try out any new spells or battle simulations, or in Aldred and Sillo's case - sparring.

Normally, Aldred looked calm and collected, with a steady smile shot someone else's way. He wasn't exactly lifeless compared to other people, but the blonde teen had always been a bit more subdued, in a way similar to how a faded photograph would look against a modern photograph filled with vibrant colour. He perked up a bit when it came to other people, but only a little - in color terms it'd be like a dark purple turning a shade or two brighter.

In battle, the purple would turn into a blazing light purple almost too bright to see.

The normally restrained teen looked like he was filled with life and truly enjoying what was going on instead of just mild enthusiasm. His cheeks were flushed a healthy pink, and Aldred was practically brimming with energy despite having been sparring quite a while, his feet swaying rhythmically; almost relaxedly to an unknown tune that only he knew while remaining just enough tension in his body to move the moment something happened. Despite his clothes being dishevelled and strands of his blonde hair starting to slip out of the simple ponytail he had placed it in before they had started battle, Aldred looked relaxed and cheerfully energetic to a degree that most people who had never seen him fight would have thought him incapable of.

Ah, this feels nice...

"Alright, one more round!" Aldred bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, raising curled fists up in front of him again in quick, efficient motions like a boxer. Aldred quirked his head at Sillo, who was a few feet opposite of him, and shot him a smirk designed to goad him into hopefully accepting the challenge. "Unless you want a rest?"

----------------------------------

"And dismiss!"

Nathan heaved a sigh as he walked out , shoulders drooping dejectedly as he remembered what went on during the meeting. He had asked what was going on, but the higher ups wouldn't tell him anything other than that he should just get back to his own work and that nothing was missing! He'd tried snooping around to see what he could have found, but the lists didn't say anything! Nathan didn't want to go back with nothing; what if they got dejected about it?

Was something really missing at all?

No, there's got to be something! Ok, think! A look of concentration crossed Nathan's face as he walked through the corridors, cycling through the lists one last time. Every detail about it stood out clear as if he were looking at the real thing, but try as he might he couldn't see anything gone other than some walls. There's something missing, but the people won't tell me anything and its not on the lists. That must mean it's something important! Important enough to hide! But what? and why?

Maybe it was something embarrassing like pink underwear? Maybe its something dangerous like those gates in the lab? But the HQ floors were destroyed, so it's gotta be something...


Nathan was so deep in thought that he had forgotten his surroundings until he bumped headfirst into someone. The impact jarred his side, and Nathan let out a yelp at both the sudden impact and the surprise of bumping into someone. "Sorry, sorry!" He apologised anxiously, shaking his head. Looking forward to see that he had bumped into a brown-haired boy around the same age as him, if a bit younger, Nathan reached a hand forward sheepishly. "I forgot to look where I was going, sorry! Are you alright?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

(Co-Written with Alle9009. Hope you guys enjoy!)

The training facility wasn't a place Sillo had ever gone to before. It didn't matter how many times his superiors asked him to. He just didn't do it. It didn't catch his particular interest given he practiced his abilities every day given he never had to drive anywhere.

But he'd never fought anyone as strong as Rose had been. And this meant if he was going to succeed, he'd have to get stronger.

So he went with Aldred, who seemed extremely excited to be here. There was a spring in his step, an extra color in his cheeks, an atmosphere of pure warmth as he showed Sillo around the place. This was home to him, it was clear and plain to read. Sillo enjoyed watching the blonde teen bumble from place to place, a stark difference from the stoicism and thin smiles Aldred normally had. A change of pace...

The end of the tour was in one of the training rooms...the room the two would be sparring in. Sillo didn't have the ability to sense Mana, but he could practically feel the mystical aura emanate off the walls and structural support beams around them. This room was covered with it, presumably for protection of the building as a whole. No sense in having a Training facility if it's going to come down every time someone uses it.

Sillo set himself up on one side of the room, conjuring the weapon he had used the last time against Rose: a Naginata. While he'd typically used the bow staff, Sillo knew a stick wouldn't suffice against Rose. He'd need something more useful...something more sharp. So he wielded the ninja weapon like a bow staff, placing himself in a fighting stance. Feet shoulder width apart. Eyes surprisingly focused. He was ready.




SIllo couldn't tell how much time had passed since they had started. He only knew it was tied between them.

Aldred had struck quickly and powerfully on the opening spar, landing hits left and right and winning round one before Sillo ould even set up a rebuttle. Round Two fared a lot better for the Naginata-carrying teen with Sillo winning it on a well executed cheap shot. Aldred responded next round with a magnificent groin shot that had Sillo down on the ground instantly, mostly from pain, but some from lighthearted laughter. Sillo got his revenge for it next round, using his conjuring skills to his advantage as he weaved a web of metal around him and played Whack the Pinata until the blondie cried Uncle. Suddenly, it was two to two.

Sillo was physically tired. He'd never worked out before this fight. Hell, he'd never worked out ever before this moment. Aldred was a physical boy and despite breaking a couple of sweats, he was still bouncing and jiving as if he was still on Round One. Sillo was leaning on his Naginata, catching his breath.

However, he was more than ready mana-wise. He had more than enough stored up in that department and he was ready to unleash it all over Aldred. Smiling in confidence, he set himself up again and hit the Random button on the Scenery Changer. He watched the room melt around them as it changed to...whatever it would end up being.

"There's no way I'm ending this on a tie," he gave a thumbs up to Aldred, "One more round. For all the marbles!"

"Yeah, yeah," Aldred snorted, but the smile he sent Sillo's way was soft, filled with both fondness and assessment of his abilities. The other teen might look tired, but he seemed ready to go another round. "All the marbles in your head, mabye. Still..."

Sillo had improved marvelously. He was inventive and quick, and with the amount of mana at his disposal he could do a lot more than Aldred's usual 'beat-em-up' routine. His physical stances had needed work, but he'd picked up Aldred's tips pretty quickly, and now the other teen knew how to throw a punch without the risk of dislocating his thumb, and how to swing his whole weight into a punch instead of just his arm.

Aldred kind of regreted teaching him that when he used the punch to land that cheapshot, but at the same time he was proud. He'll know how to defend himself physically now anyway. Takes a load off my mind.

Alright, enough rest time. Aldred nodded to himself as the scenery changed, trees and plants galore swirling into view slowly as if fading in reverse. A sudden tropical smell, a mixture of both greens and moist, fresh air, filled their noses. and the air suddenly felt humid and damp. Judging from the vines and jungle trees a few yards away, they were in a clearing inside a rainforest.

Sweet. It would have been better if the plants could come up alive and try to kill them the way Rose probably would, but eh. Beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Alright, we got a rainforest this time." Aldred settled into a low stance, steadying his center of gravity and taking a deep breath. As he let it out, he raised a hand up in front of him like a brawler in the streets, fist cocked and sure and ready for anything. "I'd say let the best man win, but well, I want to win." Aldred said dryly. His mouth quirked, sending out a lopsided grin Sillo's way. "Best three out of five?"

Sillo nodded, his own confident and carefree grin appearing on his face as he examined his surroundings. The air was mostly stagnant minus a slight breeze escaping through the thick canopy every once in a while. The trees were numerous, blocking the view any further than fifty feet. Which was good for Sillo, who liked to use deception to his advantage whenever he could.

The amount of green in this landscape is just TOO DAMN HIGH!

So he'd play to that. He twirled the Naginata menacingly (or was it enticingly? He could never tell with Aldred given the blondie's love for combat.) and set himself up, breathing deeply and calmly. "You strike first."

It was the pacificst nature in Sillo coming out. He almost never took the first swing and he wasn't going to start now.

"Eh, sure." Aldred's eyes narroweda slightly at the suggestion as if he were skeptical about it, but he kept his mouth shut and shrugged it away, a sharp roll of the shoulders as a pair of thick leather gauntlets started to form on his hands. They formed into reality from the tip of his fingers and around his hands and arms, and by the time Aldrd had competed the roll the guantlets were complete, the brown leather and plated metal that decorated and added more sturdiness to the gauntlets ending near his elbows. Aldred knew that even if he was strong enough to survive a train crashing into him at full speed without much damage (don't ask), that did nothing against sharp objects. Human flesh could be cut apart really easily, and it helped to have protection at hand.

The blonde teen tightened his fingers into fists, breifly enjoying the feel of leather on his hands as he bent his knees and raised his arms in front of him, digging his feet into the ground. "Here I come then." He yelled to Sillo, getting ready to move. A warning to be on guard and that the battle had begin, and all bets were off. It wouldn't do to attack a friend without warning in this situation.

Almost immediately after Aldred had yelled he moved. Nothing but a pair of footprints dugged into the ground left any indication that a person had been standing there seconds ago. The blondie's body moved with comfortable grace as he leaped forwards, sprinting towards Sillo so fast that he was almost a blur. Within seconds Aldred had made it to Sillo's side with a fist cocked like a gun ready to fire, and without hesitation Aldred launched a series of punches at Sillo's head and chest, warily testing the waters.

But Pavlov taught Sillo well. He did what he knew how to do in similar situations and teleported out of the way. The barrage of fists struck nothing but air and now Sillo was behind him, a sly grin on his face.

"Boop!" he cried as he rapped Aldred's head with the shaft of the Naginata. It was more like a cute love tap than it was to doing actual damage, but it was spontaneous, it was a hit, and most of all it was hilarious. Before the blondie could turn around Sillo was already gone again, teleporting high into the trees.

Now the game of cat and mouse had begin. Aldred played Tom while Sillo would do his best at being Jerry. He'd already used this tactic in spar and found that the result could go either way. If Aldred ended up being hyper sensitive to his surroundings when Sillo launched a sudden attack, Sillo would likely be on the ground. If not, then Jerry would once again doop the kitty and land a couple more blows. The time would come, but for now Sillo stood in the branches, high above Aldred, using the lack of far sight the rainforest provided to his advantage.

Aldred whirled around once before coming to a stop, reaching a hand up to rub his head. He rubbed his head as if it had hurt and faked a wince as he looked up, but it was merely a disguise for what Aldred was really doing - getting a good look at his surroundings to see if he could find Sillo hiding somewhere.

"You didn't let me prepare my fight music!" Sillo whined, his voice hard to locate with all the foliage around them.

"Because the last time I did you ended up playing some weird chipmunk voice spanish song on high speed while you hit me with a stick." Aldred said exasperatedly, although there was an amused tint to his words. Getting hit felt more like flies hadn't really affected him, but having that song blasted in his ears at full volume until he surrendered did the trick. In his hands, a machette appeared, and he swung it silently to his side. "Dale Dale Dale', seriously." Aldred closed his eyes as he hummed the tune with a faint smile, tilting his head upwards.

Dale, dale, dale, No pierdas el tino...

As his head tilted up Aldred's eyes opened slightly, the slit so small that it was almost like his eyes were still shut. The voice came from up... but where? The treebranches? Still humming, his eyes flickered around the treetops, his expression giving nothing away of his true intentions. The humming was nothing but a disguise for what Aldred was trying to do - find Sillo.

That, and it really was catchy.

"It's still stuck in my head, you know," he said breezily, listening carefully. He looked forward again, his body tensing just enough to be on his toes as he waited for an attack he wasn't quite sure would come. "If you promise not to play that damn song again, I'll give you enough time to choose an epic battle song before we start."

Sillo laughed as he remembered the song he'd used to throw his opponents off guard from time to time, "Alright, then. I'll pick a different song," he conjured the familiar boombox he knew how to make and set it down on a particularly wide tree branch. Thinking about what song he should pick, he figured he'd at least give Aldred some PTSD in the process. So...

Dale, dale, dale Canción para romper la piñata

Aldred winced theatrically and resisted a groan. "Oh Gods, not this tune again. Really, Sillo? Really?!" He waved the machette threateningly at a random direction. Sound definitely from the top. A bit to my left... I think. "Are you seriously trying to get me to kill that poor boombox? Because I really will slice it into little bitty pieces just to make it stop singing that song."

A much harder laugh erupted across the rainforest, "Just kidding! " He turned the song off just as epiphany struck him and he realized what the perfect song would be. Smiling in satisfaction, heput the real song on and listened as the rainforest filled with noise.

Tobu - Higher

Nodding his head to the beat of it, Sillo teleported away from the boombox so his baby could stay safe from Aldred's potential wrath. Although this was a much better song than Dale Dale Dale. He'd likely find that Aldred agreed.

For a moment, everything was silent. The air was still. No leaves rustled. Even fake simulated wildlife remained silent. It was just the music that filled the air. Sillo remembered the spot where he'd left Aldred, knowing he didn't even need to look to figure out he was likely still there. He felt the beat slowing down...the part right before the beat would explode and the full intensity would be relinquished. Now.

Sillo teleported back to Aldred, appearing right behind him. He lunged forward, bladed end high in the air, threatening an arcing downward strike on Aldred's head. But the forward strike would never come. Aldred had already been turning the moment Sillo had begun to lung forward, having already readied himself for an attack from any direction. His arm blurred as he twisted his body, bringing the machette in his hands up in a swing to block the naginata's blade.

Sillo had anticiplated the block, figuring beforehand that Aldred learned how to deal with that move from a couple spars ago. Switching tactics quickly, rather than swing the blade down, he stuck the shafted end of the Naginata into the soft earth, feeling it dig deep in. He then propelled himself up, his body sailing over Aldred in a magnificent pole vault. He landed on the other side, but not before aiming for the back of Aldred's head with the blunt end, slightly harder than the first strike.

"Seriously, dude...need a helmet," Sillo quipped.

"No thanks, I'd rather not have something that easily breakable on my head," Aldred replied breezily, deflecting the blow to the back of his head. Sillo pivoted, bringing the bladed end in front of him in anticipation of a counter strike, and Aldred did not dissapoint. Steel clashed against steel as their blades met, and for a moment they were locked together, struggling to gain the advantage over one another. Then Aldred gave a sharp experimental push to get Sillo off balance. Sillo was pushed back a peg, but kept his feet planed. The earth slightly gave way under him from the pure strength Aldred had used in that thrust. Sillo finally used enough force to push the machette outward, leaving him open for a rapid counter with the familiar blunted end of the naginata as he sent it crashing into the vicinity of Aldred's ribs.

The best thing about carrying a two-sided weapon was that Sillo could go back and forth with strokes much quicker than one could with a single blade or axe or hammer or rocket lance. And while the Naginata typically functioned as a one-sided weapon, Sillo's familiarity with the bow staff gave him that extra mph! he needed to have the upper hand in dexterity.

The best thing about carrying a one-handed weapon, however, was that you had one hand free to defend with. Aldred's mind rapidly cycled through options. Grab it and break it? Tank it and then break Sillo's ribs with a punch before he realises that it didn't work? No, that wasn't what people normally did. This was training in combat for Sillo, so Aldred did what he thought was the most commonly chosen option - his free hand blurred as he brought his hand up in an open palmed slap against the blunt end of the Naginata blade Sillo tried to crash into his ribs.

Okay, new tactic! Sillo brought the bladed end up, catching Aldred's machette as he did so, and swung it around. The key was body placement. Because Aldred chose to slap the Naginata away rather than take the full force, Sillo would stay where he was. He contorted his body to the right as the blades came down, hitting the O Horizon below them. And just as quickly, Sillo spun around, going from directly in front of Aldred to directly behind him. The Naginata swung around, the blunt end aiming for the knee. A slight peripheral glance upwards told Sillo that a low hanging branch was nearby. He caught the sharp end in it, letting the blunt end sink into the earth. Now that it was stabilized, he would use his whole body weight as he grabbed the middle of the Naginata and went airborne as he swung around it, full force exerted while his feet beelined for Aldred's stomach.

The blow to Aldred's knee felt a little like someone slamming a small branch to the back of his knee - it felt like a normal blow, but easy to handle. Ignoring the impact as if it were nothing, Aldred felt a grin cross his face as he heard the sound of steel biting into wood, having his unspoken question confirmed as he whirled around in a half-circle to see Sillo grab the Naginata in the middle. Without pausing, Aldred dropped his machette to the ground as he completed the circle. The soft thud of metal hitting earth had barely resounded before Sillo came into view feet first Aldred took a breath and raised his arms out in front of him, grabbing Sillo's feet inches before it landed on his stomach. Sillo jerked to a sudden stop as Aldred jerked back slightly from the impact, but Sillo would suddenly feel his feet encased in a tight vice-like grip as Aldred shot him a smile, completely unaffected by the blow Sillo had tried to land.

"I think you're the one who's going to need that helmet," Aldred said lightly. Sillo might have improved, but there was no way he could beat Aldred in a physical fight at his current level.

He pulled Sillo away from the tree. Whirling Sillo around like a baseball bat and slamming Sillo's upper body against multiple trees in the process, Aldred swung him three times in quick succession before slamming him headfirst into the ground as if he were trying to drive a Sillo-shaped nail back into the wood it came from.

"Nope!" cried Sillo as he phased...his word for entering the Observer realm. Before Aldred could do anything more, he was out of his grip and nowhere to be seen. He took a second to breathe, recover slighty from the fast-paced fighting that had been the previous few seconds. His head would be a swollen lump right now had he not done it. All this fighting they'd done and Sillo had only just now learned that the physical strikes wouldn't work against Aldred. Concentrating hard, he thought about what to do. Aldred was going to unleash Satan's Fury if he tried anything direct again. Or at least Mike Tyson's...

And then he remembered. To be fair, it had been so long since he'd used this ability...about a couple months to be exact. He was now kicking himself for forgetting about this. He could've used this against Rose! Well, the least he could do is beat Aldred with it.

Now overwhelmingly pleased and pissed at the same time, he rolled back to his feet, phasing back in to the arena right next to his Naginata. Sillo made no motion towards the bladed staff. He merely stood by it. But his eyes seemed to radiated an electric blue as he stared at Aldred, a gleam of satisfaction crossing his eye. The Naginata was suddenly launching itself from it's perch on it's own accord, heading straight for Aldred, blade first. Sillo just stood there, hands in his pockets, but all intensity on his face.

Aldred bent to pick up the machette he had dropped. He spun it in his hand like a cheerleader's baton, rotating in quick circles as he brought it up to shoulder height. As it twirled in his fingers the blade grew longer, thinner, and the handle changed into something with a shorter grip - a sword with a long blade that gleamed in the light. Aldred gave a sideway's swipe, and the Naginata was flung back. It had barely touched the ground before it came back for more.

"Nice," Aldred said appreciatively. He was parrying on automatic now, blocking and exchanging blows with the Naginata, but no matter how many times he sent it to the floor it came back like a dog trying to get a bone.

"Forgot I could do that," he muttered, referring to his long forgotten telekinesis. He didn't slow the onslaught, conjuring a variety of sharp things. Knives, shurikens, fingernail clippings, and other pointy objects swirled around Sillo before propelling themselves at Aldred. The sword in Aldred's hand morphed into a long dagger as he placed both hands on the now-simple leather hilt, and when the blonde brought his hands apart the dagger split into two. Taking a step forward, Aldred began to run, but not away from the, horde of incoming objects determined to take his head off - instead, he sprinted towards them.

For the first time, Aldred's lips curved up into a small, pleased grin. Things were finally getting serious - in a fun way, of course. He couldn't send them back to their owner or they'd just turn and try to gut him like magical homing missiles, so he'd have to destroy them instead.

"Whoa," Sillo muttered. Aldred was surrounded so much that it was almost as if he were in a very solid hurricane, but no matter how fast the objects moved Aldred always managed to deflect or swipe them away with his weapons, destroying each object approaching him within instants, blocking anything from coming close to his back with a round shield that hovered close behind him. He duelweilded the daggers like a pro, weaving his way through a path between the objects lunging at him and destroying them with inhuman grace and speed, as if he had experienced this many times before.

It was a breathtaking sight to behold. Aldred moved like a sword dancer at high speed, effeciently slaying anything in his path as he headed for his opponents, but even his strength and skill couldn't do anything against the sheer numbers Sillo had sent against him.

For every one object he knocked away, there were three more to take its place, and soon Aldred's clothes were seeped in both blood and holes from where he had been unable to avoid the knives. Still, despite having half of the Storm of Pointy Objects left to deal with, Aldred still found time to kick some nailcutters towards Sillo while parrying a kunai and trying not to get fingernail clippings in his mouth. They flew like lightning fast mini missiles out from between the gaps left between the knives, heading straight for Sillo's torso and face.

The knives whizzed by Sillo, but never managed to cut skin. Well, there was one exception as a finger nail dug into his right arm. "Ah," Sillo muttered as he pulled it out and tossed it to the ground. The rest of the projectiles Aldred managed to throw in his general direction Sillo managed to air push just enough to change the direction of flight to where it wasn't hitting him. But he needed something heavier...something that wouldn't be blocked so easily. He decided to take it a step further, lifting his hands to the sky as he concentrated really hard. Before Aldred knew it, a massive Boeing 737 was being hurtled at him, the paint job on it flashy enough to be potentially distracting as Aldred might wonder "Why is the plane neon green?"

He did wonder why it was, but only for a moment. Neon green plane? Only Sillo. Bad attempt at cameoflage though - green's too bright to not attract attention. What to do?

Rapidly, Aldred cycled through his options, kicking a kunai straight into a horde of nail clippings. Situation - a hurricane of pointy objects and fingernails he was currently in the middle of, and a neon green plane. Everwhere he turned the sharp knives surrounded him, and when his eyes flickered up he could see the neon green plane's girth growing wider every second. It wouldn't be much long before it landed on him in a blazing fireball. Problem - Neon green Boeing was about to crash into him if he didn't suffer from death by stabbing or choking by nailclippings.

Solution - Destroy Hurricane Sharp and Neon Boeing 737, then attack Sillo before he could do anything else.

How?

Aldred's grin widened as he settled on a plan. This is going to be fun.

What happened next took only seconds.

Shifting to the left to avoid a sword thrust to his foot, Aldred ducked to the ground to avoid a pair of scissors who had decided to try and give him a new haircut and threw his dagger up high into the air as if he were trying to win a javelin-throwing contest. The objects swarmed away from the thrown object as if it were a beam of light piercing a hole through the cloud, and Aldred instantly leapt up into the cleared path before it dissappeared. A pair of footprints were left dug into the ground from the sheer force of his jump, and as he leapt Aldred's remaining dagger morphed into something small that fitted into the palm of his fist. Raising his arms to deflect any objects heading his way, Aldred's leap left him a good two feet above the enchanted weapons. As he began to fall, Aldred took aim and hurled the object in his hand to the center of the weapon storm before summoning a pair of earmuffs and a kite shield strapped to his feet.

If the weapons had eyes, they would have seen that it was a bomb set to go off in three, two, one -

KABOOM!

The explosion was small but intense. The weapons and any greenery in the vincinty disintergrated from the force of the bomb, leaving nothing but charred earth and a heatwave hot enough to belong to a volcano behind. The light from the explosion was blinding, as if someone had lit up the sun in a pitchblack room, and the sound was enough to deafen anyone within hearing vincinity. The force of the explosion was enough to send the jungle trees bending backwards almost in half - and more than enough to fling a well-prepared Aldred upwards like a rocket-propelled surfer.

"WHOOO!"Blood singing praises in his veins to the andrenaline rush he was getting, Aldred's grin widened into a fullfledged beaming smile of excitment as he shot upwards. The force had been absorbed by the shield which both acted as a cushion and surfboard to boost the physically enhanced teen up, and the silencing earmuffs he was wearing negated any hearing damage he could have gotten from being so close to the bomb. Using the force as a boost, Aldred flew upwards high enough to see the top of the trees before using the shield as a platform to leap even higher. The shield crashed back into the jungle like a shooting star as he shot upwards like superman.

The Boeing 737 was directly in front of him, still continuing its trajectory downwards. Perfect.

The shrill screech of metal tearing apart rang in Aldred's ears as he grabbed hold of the plane's nose hard enough to dent metal. Gritting his teeth, Aldred's muscles bulged as he tightened his grip on the plane, and with both the force from his bomb-enhanced flight and magic enhancing his normally over-the-top strength Aldred began to move his arms, grunting as he tried to pull the plane off course.

For a moment it seemed that the plane wasn't affected. Then the tail began to slide to the left, and soon the plane was swooping around in an arc mid-air as Aldred began to spin in mid-air with a yell. As it continued to spin like an out of control top the plane began to blur, gaining more force with each gyration until:

"HERE'S YOUR FLIGHT, SILLO!" Aldred yelled, grinning fit to burst, and with that he threw the plane down towards Sillo with all the force he could muster - which for a close-combat mage with enhanced strength was a lot.

With a whistling sound that felt like the horn of doom the plane crashed down towards where Sillo was standing faster than a kamikaze pilot could blow himself up. Landing with a earth-shaking crash, the neon green Boeing mowed through the flora shortly tumbling to a stop - whereupon it exploded and showered the now-wrecked jungle with flaming machine parts. With a sproioioioiing, a flaming pilot seat ejected into the sky before a parachute appeared, fluttering gently down into the wreckage.

But Sillo wasn't a part of that wreckage. In fact, he was standing a couple feet in front of where the plane first made contact with the ground, a massive line of wreckage and debris behind him where the rest of the plane slid and was effectively blown to smithereens. How he had done it was simple. He couldn't quite stop the plane's momentum in mid air with the telekinesis he used to launch it at Aldred, but he certaintly could redirect it. And slightly above Sillo was better than on top of Sillo.

Sillo would only have a moment to breath before he noticed a sound similar to a mini-rocket. Still in the air, Aldred had summoned a MK4 Folding Finn Aerial Rocket while the plane was still crashing and fired it in quick succession. The nineteen rockets tseered as they splitted up. Flying around dizzily like drunk men trying to find the way home, the rockets arced around like runaway fireworks. Unlike runaway fireworks, the explosion was a lot more larger when they landed, designed to decimated the clearing.

Explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. The world around the white haired electric blue eyed Sillo was nothing but expanding fire and an insane amount of noise. None of which caused any real damage to Sillo as he managed to enter the Spectator Realm at the time he needed to. The first explosion was the indicator. When he phased back in, the remnants of the simulated rain forest was left in his wake. Everything was flat, charred, and violent, the bountiful and beautiful flora that had once surrounded them replaced by ash and smoldering embers. Smoke drifted up in plumes, making the whole arena a bit foggier than it had been. Behind Sillo rested the remnants of the Boeing, the bright and shiny paint barely shining through the twisted metal and jagged pieces of silver and charred black.

But what made Sillo truly mad was that the boombox that was playing his fight music was destroyed in the fray as boomboxes tended to do when sharp pointy things, a crashing cargo plane, and a rocket that split into smaller rockets existed within the same confines. Despite everything Sillo had done, it was miraculous he hadn't been hit by anything other than the finger nail.

I swear to God if the finger nail infects me with some fungal disease...

Ignoring the potential irony, Sillo looked out to Aldred's body, bloodied and full of cuts. But he was still standing with a lot of stamina left within him. The nerve pain would likely be taxing, but nothing critical had happened because of the Razor Whirlwind Sillo threw his way. He was in one piece. And he didn't looked too tired.

Sillo was already physically tired, but he'd reached a new kind of tired...a kind of tired he rarely came across. Mana-tired. Telekinesis, the wind based mana moves, and soooo much conjuring had done a number on him. He was conditioned and had a high storage of mana, but even he had a limit. Typically an attack like that would leave a Gatewatcher out of mana and down on the ground from exhaustion...like Goku's Spirit Bomb. A slight headache throbbed dully in the back of his mind while he pushed his exhaustion aside and activated the Airbender side of himself as he walked towards the blondie. He wasn't overdoing it...not yet.

"Not bad, all things considered," Sillo said, conjuring a bow staff as he set himself up once more, "But now, we get real."

He twirled the bow staff in front of him as he got used to the old familiarity of the weapon. The Naginata was nice and all, but Sillo felt it was time to return to his roots and what he knew best. This meant a lot of air-based techniques with the bow staff for support, defensive in this case. Still, he'd throw in some of the things he'd used...the things he'd learned as he'd been fighting Aldred. This was for all the marbles, after all.

And Sillo was going to get every single one of those marbles.

Before Aldred could even think about setting himself up in response, a big tree branch rose up on it's own from the pile of ashes. It tried to wham itself against Aldred's head like a baseball bat going for a home run, but before it could Aldred's fist blurred backwards and the branch shattered into pieces, the blonde still keeping his gaze on his opponent the whole time. Sillo smiled, his eyes twinkling with the laughter he wanted to emit as he stared at Aldred, motioning for him to make the first move.

"Sorry, had to. Now we can get real."

"Finally." Aldred grinned, the curve of his lips sharp and feral and just as amused. Contrary to Sillo, Aldred had yet to extend most of his mana in this fight, at the cost of cuts on his body and the lack of injuries on Sillo - although that was about to change. Aldred slammed his fists together, and a eerie light spread faintly around the gauntlets, the same etheral glow that the Dimension Swords had. Aldred raised his fists in front of him like a brawler, bouncing lightly from foot to foot to a tune that only he could hear. A little mana drifted into his veins slowly like water trickling through a dam, prickling his blood and lighting a spark inside of him, as if a small flame had just been lit.

No more being on the defensive. Now was the time to attack.

For a moment, everything was still. The tension in the air rose, crackling like electricity gathering in a storm -

Aldred dashed forwards fast, landing a few quick punches against Sillo's face and torso to test the waters. Sillo dodged or deflected the blows with his staff, wincing from the strength of the blows, and Aldred's speed increased as his blows grew more and more furious until he was almost a blur of movement. As Aldred sped up, so did Sillo, meeting each strike with the shaft of his bow. Full concentration was in effect for Sillo as he played the defensive role this time...a standard in his way of life. He spun the stick around, catching a right hook, and shoved it out of the way. A careful sweep in front of him sent a kick off the designated target. But deflection was one thing...Aldred's power was another.

The next time Sillo raised his staff to block Aldred's kick shattered it into two, and Sillo reeled back from the force of the blow, nearly toppling over. He changed tactics as he wielded the two sticks in front of him like Kataars, twirling them between his fingers as he parepared for the next attack. Sure enough, Aldred's fist came flying towards his midsection. It wouldn't matter what dimension Sillo had phased to - it would land with an oomph in Sillo's chest with enough force to break a couple of ribs.

Unless he teleported. A quick jump through space put Sillo about twenty feet from Aldred as his punch would likely come up with air. In response, Sillo threw the two sticks at the blondie like miniature javelins. Before Aldred could turn and deflect them, Sillo had teleported again, tossing another stick from another direction. Then repeated the process again...and again. The effect was a series of projectiles coming from a variety of angles, similar to the razor whirlwind he'd created earlier, except the projectiles would be faster and more direct to Aldred's current position.

Aldred shifted back to defense. He kept dodging, moving like he was in a particularly dangerous game of dodgeball. The sticks upgraded to hardened steel, then sharp hardened steel, but it didn't matter - Aldred merely grinned as one stick flew past his eyes by mere centimeters, twisting his body fluidly to dodge the strike to his leg at the same time in a move that was almost like a gold-star Olympist twirling in mid air, senses stretched out close to the limit to sense where the next move would be coming from.

As a steel stake flew towards his hip Aldred's hand reached out to grasp it's shaft. The steel went from full speed to stock still as Aldred's hand gripped it tightly. Without pause, Aldred threw the stake up to meet the Kunai that came from above. The tip of the stake met the tip of the knife with enough force that both of the weapons rebounded in different directions, sparks glittering down onto the two combatants like stars.

Sillo immediately changed tactics, teleporting straight in front of Aldred immediately after the blonde let the knife go. His arms crossed in front of him in a block as Sillo sent a quick and sudden Air Blast thrusted straight at the blondie's meat-gringing abs. The gauntlets he was wearing absorbing some of the impact, but thanks to unstable footing Aldred flew backwards to what remained of the trees. Sillo grabbed a piece of contorted metal from the wreckage of the plane and sent it towards him with Telekinesis as Aldred righted his center of gravity with a quick twist, facing the twisted piece head on.

It was too large to dodge at the speed he was at, and it wasn't like It was made from Steel, aluminum, but mostly steel. And steel was made from carbon and iron, connected together with bonds that were hard to destroy... Normally.

Right. Aldred clapped his hands together in front of him with a sharp grin as he sped towards the twisted come of metal Sillo sent his way. A faint gleam glowed around his gauntlets as Aldred slammed one fist into his hand, refining his focus. His fist was a blur of movement as Aldred swung out with a punch towards the metal.

"Shatter."

Aldred's whisper was lost under the sound of cracking metal. A crackly energy that looked similar to white electricity wreathed outwards from where Aldred had touched the twisted piece of metal as atoms rearranged themselves faster than thought - and the metal crumbled away like pencil lead under Aldred's punch, leaving a clear path for Aldred to go through without harm.

But one more strike to sweeten the deal. Aldred's momentum would carry him right to the tree line where Sillo teleported to, having conjured a reinforced bow staff. He spun the steel-tipped weapon around him, gaining momentum for the grand slam home run. Aldred was the ball and Sillo was carrying the bat. As Aldred got within striking distance, Sillo extended his arm as well as the staff it carried, aiming for the head. To add some extra power, he used his air magic to put force behind his swing. If SIllo were hitting a normal teenager, the stroke would be lethal, smashing the skull into mush as well as likely breaking their neck. But this was Aldred, someone who could take such a critical strike.

Aldred saw the blow to his head coming, having destroyed the diversion Sillo had been hoping to use. Reacting on pure instinct, Aldred hunched his head and punched at the bottom of the staff to send it upwards and away from his face, magic aiding his blow. As the staff flew up close enough to pass through his hair, probably causing Sillo to get off balance, Aldred became a blur of movement, hands snatching out to grab at the wrist of the hand holding the staff and Sillo's shirt in a grip tight enough to break bone. Sillo grabbed at Aldred's wrist instinctively, but Aldred wasn't affected. Momentarily forgetting himself, Aldred's face formed a terrifying snarl as he pulled Sillo roughly forward into a devastating head butt. The grip on Sillo's wrist was tight, and mana roared through Aldred's veins; sparking up and down his body and igniting a fire inside him as he used a large chunk of it to make him real in all dimensions.

Another large chunk of mana he used to enhance his physical body. He still had enough mana left, but unless he wanted to dip into the mana reserve he kept for healing in case of deadly injuries he'd have to end the fight quickly. As they tumbled off the treebranch Aldred's grip tightened to the point of grounding Sillo's wrist bones together. Gritting his teeth and tanking any blows Sillo rained at him, Aldred kneed Sillo in the solar plexus as he gave the wrist he was holding a hard yank, dislocating Sillo's shoulder with a Nasty sounding pop as he used his free hand to slam Sillo's jaw shut to prevent any air bending yelling moves. Tumbling together, they landed on the ground, Aldred sitting on Sillo's chest with his hand still on the other boy's jaw.

And suddenly Sillo was back. Back to the museum. Back to the battleground. Sillo was staring Rose in the face once more. He was reliving the fight over and over again. The many attempts he'd taken to landing a single blow. The effortless parries Rose came back with. The pain...so much of the pain. It was the pain that had brought him back to that moment...that brought him back to the brink of death.

I'm not letting that happen again...

When Sillo's eyes shot open, they were fiery red. His white hair changed color, fading to a pitch and powerful black. With his uninjured hand, he grabbed Aldred's arm and squeezed. The force of the squeeze would no doubt surprise him as he squeezed harder and harder...right on the pressure point...until...

SNAP! The bone broke right at the elbow. Sillo could already feel the power behind the hand that clasped over his mouth weaken as all energy faded from it. He didn't even have to hear the surprise in Aldred's gasp or his face deliberately turning blank like plain white canvas. The moment it did, Sillo teleported to the clouds, taking the blonde boy with him.

And for a moment, all was silent. All was calm. Sillo and Aldred were painted on a landscape of blue and white, the jungle below them. They were staring each other in the face. Aldred's expression showed worry, his eyes wrinkled with confusion and concern at the sudden change in personality and tactics. Sillo's showed no mercy.

"Sillo..?" Aldred's voice was not exactly uneasy, but there was no denying the tension in the questioning lilt of his voice; the worried furrow in his brow.

Sillo's response was physical. The teen ripped Aldred's grip off of him, the grip itself being so strong that he took a piece of Sillo's shirt with him. With a rough shove, almost like a toss, Sillo threw Aldred below him as they freefalled, heading back down to the ground below them. Sillo used his good hand to add more force through the throw by Air Pushing Aldred beneath him as the two gained speed. They were beyond terminal velocity at this point.

Sillo gave one more mighty Air Push, nearly doubling Aldred's speed while halfing Sillo's as the two hit the ash covered arena below them, Sillo on top of Aldred in an echo of what had happened moments ago. There was an ominous cracking sound from Aldred's ribs as he hit the ground, and his face twisted with pain as the force of the impact made itself felt. A sonic boom appeared an instant later, covering Aldred's shout and letting the blonde know that he had broke the sound barrier when he hit the ground.

It hurt. Just because Aldred was strong enough to withstand crashing like a meteorite didn't mean he couldn't feel pain - it just meant that his pain threshold was much, much higher than others. Pain throbbed through his body like a blazing fire and centered towards his ribs, and distantly Aldred registered that most of his ribs were broken, the rest cracked in varying degrees depending on how far they'd been from Sillo's air push. His broken arm continued to throb, sharp flickering pain resembling electricity from a flickering lamp that originated from his elbow, adding a twinge to the rest of his body.

Breathing. Fuck, every movement his lungs made felt like they were being set on fire while being eaten by army ants, but Aldred pushed away the pain with practiced ease and did so anyway. In and out, in and out, Aldred kept his breaths carefully even so that he wouldn't accidentally puncture a lung as he kept himself still under Sillo's hold.

At least it isn't as bad as back then...

Nothing can be as bad as that day.

Agony throbbed inside his chest as Aldred's broken rib began to knit itself back together, but it was welcome. Aldred tilted his head up and shot Sillo an annoyed look, irritation spiking through him. "Dude, if this is how you respond to a dislocated arm I'd hate to see what you'd do if I'd broke it," Aldred said grumpily, his voice breathless and wheezy. His tone sounded irritated and not at all frightened, almost as if Sillo had just played a prank on him instead of slamming him down at the speed of sound in an effort to kill him. Eyes narrowing in puzzlement, Aldred studied his friend. "What happened to you anyway? Was it the knock on the head I gave you?"

If it was due to a concussion, it didn't explain the sudden change. Sillo had turned into an almost opposite version of himself. The boy kneeling above him had black hair and red eyes, in contrast to the normal white hair and blue eyes. The normally merry twinkle in his eye had faded, replaced with a blank, merciless look. His strategy had changed too - while Sillo normally hesitated to land any killing blows this version of him had immediately tried to send Aldred to the afterlife without hesitation - A fact he demonstrated as Sillo brought his fist down towards Aldred's face like an answer.

Aldred tilted his head to the side as Sillo brought his fist down with a loud smack into the earth where his face used to be, so close that the velocity from the force brushed wind against his cheek.

Yup. Definitely not the friend he knew.

Sillo continued to pound the ground as if he were playing whack-a-mole with Aldred's head as the mole. His dislocated hand hung uselessly by his side as his other hand moved with a blur of speed, but Aldred kept up easily. After a few seconds Black Sillo (Aldred's prototype nickname for him) decided that the game was apparently taking too long and grabbed Aldred's neck, pinning him to the ground.

Sillo's hand began to squeeze.

"Ok," Aldred said, sounding a little choked as Black Sillo's hand began to tighten like a vice. He glared up at his friend's emotionless face, fist tightening into a fist against the ground as irritation flickered through him. "You know what? Fuck this." Aldred wriggled his hand out from under Sillo's knees. His elbow wasn't entirely healed, but it was enough for what he had planned. With his good hand, Aldred gripped the wrist of the hand Sillo was using to strangle him with enough force to leave a handprint on Sillo's skin.

"I don't know what the hell is going on in your head right now, but I don't like you killing me." Aldred continued, but despite the calmness in his tone there was an undercurrent of rage in it, a carefully held back beast that was threatening to break its collar. Sillo's grip loosened as Aldred tightened his grip to the point where Sillo had to let go or risk breaking the metacarpal's inside his wrist. Tightening his grip even more, Aldred opened his mouth to say a few final words:

"You're pissing me off. Sleep."

CRACK.

Sillo's broken wrist hung limply in Aldred's hold. He tried to rear back as Aldred brought his other hand up in what seemed like a punch, but Aldred still had his wrist hostage and Sillo roared in a mix of agony and rage as dirt entered his eyes. Aldred didn't give him any time to recover, reaching up to grab his shirt and pulling the teen into a good old fashion headbutt. There was a loud crack as their heads met like bulls locking horns, and as they both reared back Aldred used both his hands to both bring Sillo back down into another devestating headbutt and to bring himself up into a sitting position.

Blinking pain away from his head, Aldred lashed out with an elbow jab as Sillo tried to fling one of his wrecked arms at him. There was another crack as the radial and ulna bones snapped. Another cry of pain emmitted from Sillo as Aldred used the time to get to his feet, flying towards Sillo immediately for a punch to the ribs.

Sillo's arms were a mess. The dislocated left one and the broken right one hung limply by his sides. He was on his knees, staring at the ground, breathing hard. Not out of relaxation...but with a hard anger and an even harder determination...to kill. He looked up at Sillo, a cruel sneer on his face, spitting on the ground in front of him. His eye twitched.

When he spoke, his voice had changed. Aldred could hear an undertone quality to it...something sinister lurked there. And when he said these five words, there couldn't be any more death subtexted within.

"I don't need my arms."

Aldred suddenly found himself floating in the air as a surge of power contorted around his body and sat there. Aldred growled and tried to get back to punching , but he couldn't move. Sillo's head was shaking, his eyes deep in concentration as he focused on the blonde. Aldred was flung back, hitting the tree behind him with an insane amount of force. The tree snapped in half under the sudden weight being thrown. He then was flung forward...into another tree. And another. Sillo was ragdolling Aldred with Telekinesis and there was nothing he could do about it.

Clang! Against the plane wreckage. Smash! Into the ground.

Aldred growled as he flew around like a living hammer, a pissed off look forming on his face with each slam as if Sillo were knocking him into plasticine instead of wood; steel; the ground. The anger from before came back with a vengeance, but this time Aldred allowed it to course through his mind instead of holding it back. He fed it instead, forcing every negative emotion he had felt that day into it.

Irritation from the fight having turned serious, the rage he'd kept locked away from Rose's arrival, the pissed off feeling from the humiliation of losing that battle. Annoyance at having to go through the pain of healing breaking ribs, of having broken ribs, of the fact that Sillo had turned apparently insane and also just because he was pissed off and being flung around like a ragdoll. They all blended together into pure distilled fury, and power began to pump through Aldred's body as if the rage was trigger to a powerup.

Rage, annoyance, irritation, fury. People normally expected red mana users to be the angry ones thanks to the personality trait identified with them, but black and purple mana were a close second. It made sense - black mana users tend to feel angry when they hate the world, and while people tend to feel sorrow during grief there were also people who channeled that grief into anger.

Aldred was one of those people. And Sillo had just unleashed the beast.

"If you think that's going to work, think again." Aldred snarled under his breath. The faint purple ring at the edge of his eyes began to grow and bleed into the green until there was more purple than green. The next time Sillo flung him into a tree, Aldred reached out blindly and gripped at bark with both hands. He gritted his teeth and clung on awkwardly until Sillo gave an extra hard yank and uprooted both Aldred and the tree he was holding on to.

Gritting his teeth and ignoring the weary feeling of his arm ligaments getting out of whack from the effort, Aldred twisted his torso and swung the tree towards Sillo like a baseball bat gone out of control. As he swung a bright electrical glow fluttered through the tree as its molecular structure rearranged itself, and suddenly the tree was a polished spiky bat that was dense enough to, while not exactly sink, made it very hard to float.

Sillo deflected it with a snarl using telekinesis and ripped it from Aldred's hands. Stopping from using Aldred like a sledgehammer for the moment, the bat steadied itself in midair before dropping to the ground. Sillo didn't have a use for it.

And then Aldred was floating in the air once more, directly in front of SIllo. A small knife was conjured behind Sillo's fiery gaze, slowly advancing. It stopped right on Aldred's neck, digging into the skin far enough to draw blood, which trickled down onto his shirt, but stopped at the point where it would cut his neck wide open. Sillo glared mercilessly as he held the blondie on the brink of death.

Aldred glared back just as fiercely, the purple in his eyes glowing bright. "That's not how you kill people," he said, reaching up to grip the knife. Sillo tried to move it through his neck, but Aldred held it still easily, the handle nearly crushed in his grip. Slowly, the knife began to move backwards away from Aldred's neck, and soon enough Aldred had it pointed at Sillo with both hands. Enraged, Sillo's gaze grew brighter as he focused his telekinesis further, the blade of the knife slowly pushing back towards Aldred. The knife crackled as an electrical energy passed through it, and the blade morphed into a useless metal trumpet. Fighting for control, Aldred slowly brought it up towards his lips as he took a deep breath, focusing what remained of the mana he could spare on a spell as he locked eyes with Sillo, message clear in his eyes.

This is how you kill someone.

Aldred blew with all his might through the trumpet. Instead of music coming out, energy crackled as the molecular bonds within the trumpet changed, causing something to shoot out with a small boom and hit Sillo in the face at the speed of sound like a spitball.

A metal spitball that began to change shape, connected by ever thickening strands to the trumpet Aldred was still holding - only it wasn't a trumpet anymore but a big mass of fluidly changing metal that slid down the strings to gather on Sillo's face with dizzying speeds and wrapping around it like a spider wrapping its prey in sticky silk. They shifted and moved the way a tsunami did - once you saw it it was too late to avoid. The metal strands shifted and flowed like a living thing, never stopping and deceptively fast as it rolled towards Sillo's face like a hungry monster. Sillo couldn't do anything to it - it weaved through and around his clawing fingers like water and hardened on his face. Before Sillo could blink the web of metal had covered his mouth and was working its way upwards, covering his mouth and eyes and nose until he looked as if his head were in a cocoon made of metal, trapped and completely unable to breath.

No sight, no sound, not being able to hear anything but his own rapidly increasing heartbeat as his lungs ran out of oxygen. Sillo staggered back, clawing at the metal on his face - and Aldred dropped to the ground as Sillo lost control of his telekinesis.

Aldred didn't waste the opportunity. He was a blur of movement - one second he was a few feet away from Sillo, next he slammed into Sillo with enough force to break ribs and grabbing his arms, bringing up a knee to slam into his pelvis with enough force to shatter bone. Blinded and cut off, Sillo couldn't react in any way. Mercilessly, Aldred grabbed Sillo's broken elbow hard enough to grind the shattered bones together and ducked in close, bringing his hand up, nails gleaming wickedly in the light as it flew to spear through Sillo's chest and stab the heart apart -

Friend, not foe.

Aldred's fingers flew apart as he shifted the angle just in time, cutting a deep gouge in Sillo's side instead of through his heart. Reaching up with his good hand, Aldred grabbed Sillo by the shoulders and glared with eyes so bright it hurt to look at them. Sillo stared back anyway through the metallic mask with his own bright glare. The two colors of purple and red radiated in between them. The mask exploded, sending shards of metal outward and exposing Sillo's face wrought with rage. The shards came within inches of hitting Aldred square in the face, but the teen barely flinched. Instead, his grip tightened hard enough for Sillo's clavicles to creak.

"SLEEP!" Aldred roared, and with that he slammed his head into Sillo's face. There was a crunch of bone, and when Aldred moved back blood was dripping down his forehead. Sillo's nose was off center, bleeding as if he was an anime character who had just seen porn.

And then Sillo slumped forward. He exhaled slowly as his knees hit the ground first, then his body. As he fell, his hair was changing...back to their originally white color. If his eyes weren't closed, Aldred would've been able to see the red clearing from them, replaced with their electric blue iris. He lay still.

The scene began to change around them, back into the training room-like setting it had before.

Panting for breath, Aldred raised his fists warily, watching Sillo with a hard look on his face. When Sillo didn't move, Aldred lowered his fists and walked over to the unconscious boy, carefully limping his way across the room. Tentatively, he nudged Sillo with his boot. When Sillo didn't budge, Aldred carefully, slowly leaned down and checked his pulse, carefully placing fingers against his neck. Dude wasn't dead, was he?

The pulse beating against Aldred's fingers was steady and strong, as if Sillo were just asleep. The fight must have had sapped all of Sillo's energy, along with the shock from all the sudden broken bones. Relieved, Aldred slumped to the floor in a sprawl, sitting loosely in a cross-legged position as the tension seeped out of his body. His eyes were already losing their purple glow, the wisteria seeping back from the green.

Thank God he's not dead.

Eyes back to their normal central heterochromial state - a faint wisteria ring close to the outer edges of the iris which turned into a deep green the more it approached the pupil, Aldred sighed and suddenly felt very tired. He felt as if he could sleep a week, but he knew the pain was only moments away from appearing, like the lightning flash after the huge crack of thunder. Well, he could leave it to the others to deal with. Wearily, he took stock of his own injuries, eyes coolly taking in the extent of the damage.

It wasn't really much compared to Sillo's shattered bones, but it was still pretty bad.

Aldred's ribs were no longer broken, but that was small comfort. They were still cracked beyond belief like his fractured elbow, which made it hard to breath. His elbow was fractured, and he had cuts on him all over from the eariler fight. They were still bleeding, dripping blood onto the ground. Aldred hissed as he raised a hand to his neck where sweat dripped onto an open wound. When he pulled away, the red on his fingers was unmistakable. He had a headache and likely a bump somewhere on his head. So much for a mere training match.

Minori is going to kill us.

But that was later. Right now, Aldred had to wait and make sure that Sillo was alright...that he didn't push himself so far that he'd be damaged for life. They both had taken it too far. And while Aldred was sure they'd be stronger because of it, he wasn't looking forward to reliving those moments again. He glanced at the sleeping Sillo, many a question still hung in the air.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

It only took three minutes before the training door opened. a quiet swoosh that broke the silence. Aldred raised a hand wearily from where he was slumped against the wall, hand raising away from Sillo's carotid artery in a wave that was more of a wiggle of the fingers than a whole hand movement. "Yo." mustering up a faint smile on his lips.

"Hey." Mr Cohald returned the greeting, booted feet coming to a stop beside Aldred. Behind him people were rushing in with stretchers and a first aid kit, two guys Aldred vaguely recognised as workers from the medical bay rushing over to Sillo with a stretcher. Or maybe they were trainers. Aldred wasn't really sure, since his vision was starting to get a little blurry around the edges. Frowning, Aldred blinked a couple of times to clear it, and when he opened his eyes Mr Cohald was crouching down in front of him with a gentle smile, hands resting against his knees and taking up surprisingly little space for such a large man.

"Never thought I'd see the day someone'd do this to you." Mr Cohald raised an eyebrow at Aldred's injuries with an impressed whistle. Aldred shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes as if to say eh, it'd have happened sooner or later. The large man sighed, expression turning serious and more business-like. "Injuries?"

"Cracked ribs, fractured elbow, cuts everywhere. Mostly concentrated on my arms and torso and legs." Aldred rattled off mildly, as if he were reciting a grocery list. Mr Cohald passed him some gauze from the first aid kit he had, and Aldred pressed it against the hole in his neck to staunch the bleeding. "I'm still bleeding. Bruises concentrated on my back and on my head, and I'm out of mana." A distant look crossed his face as if he were focusing inwardly on his head. "I don't think I have a concussion, but I feel a bit lightheaded." Aldred said calmly, resisting the urge to squint at the man. Who knew? Maybe he did have a concussion, and maybe he didn't. But it was probably from the cuts that hadn't been healed. The lightheadedness felt a bit like the lightheadedness that came from bloodloss, although it hadn't gotten dangerous enough for a transfusion yet.

Yet another thing to add to the list of things that nearly killed me today...


"Sillo - the one over there -" Aldred eyes slid towards Sillo, who was being gently loaded onto a stretcher by people. "He's got more than half his bones broken." Aldred's face and tone was carefully expressionless as he rattled off the amount of injuries sustained. "Broke his ribs, all of them. A gash on the right side. Dislocated his dominant arm and broke the bones in his other arm. His legs are intact, but I shattered his pelvis bone."

"Ouch."Mr Cohald winced as he connected the dots, glancing back at Sillo with newfound sympathy. Aldred tried to keep a straight face. "Good thing he's unconscious then." The man said, then he turned to the medics surrounding Sillo. "Oi, Mordel! C'mere!"

"Wait, I-"

"What is it, boss?" A woman in her late twenties with tropical sea blue hair bounced over towards them, carrying a first aid kit in her hands. She was dressed in practical but refined clothes, a simple blouse with shiny stones sewed at the edges and practical jeans, with tough boots that had beads glued to the cuffs. Felicia Mordel gave a low whistle when she saw Aldred, eyebrows rising high into her hairline. "Whoa, the hell happened to you? Looks like you got beaten to hell and back, kid! Didn't think it was possible, with that body of yours."

"Haha, well, hell didn't like the taste of me," Aldred joked mildly, lips curling upwards with humor. "Spat me back out like regurgitated mouthwash, and l took him with me as a reward for the trouble." Aldred smiled, eyes slipping half shut as he looked at them. "Going alone didn't really appeal to me, you know?”

“Dragged him up kicking and screaming, more like.” Mr Cohald snorted. He nodded to Felicia as he stood up, movements fluid and swift as he began to walk towards the medics. “Help patch him up. Wheelchair's on the right. I’ll be going with the other kid to the infirmary. Record’s at the Bin; up to you what to do with it. Don’t get in trouble!”

And with that the Facility Head was gone with the rest of the crew, door closing silently behind them as they escorted Sillo towards the medical bay.

Aldred and Felicia stared at each other for a moment. Aldred shifted as if he were considering standing up, but Felicia narrowed her eyes in a glare and Aldred stilled. He narrowed his eyes back in a frown, but Felicia didn't look away. Instead, her glare intensified, and for a few seconds the staring match continued until finally, Aldred jerked his head away with a sigh and settled back onto the floor.

Felicia smiled cheerfully. "That's more like it," she said, and began to work.

-----------------------------

"Alright, I'm done!" she said cheerfully, packing up the kit. Aldred sat up, looking over himself. Bandages were wrapped around his chest and arms, one of them resting comfortably in a sling and cast to prevent him from jostling it too much, and there was one on his head that covered the scrape Sillo had given him. "Those cuts were more flesh wounds, so they'll heal pretty easily. The broken ribs won't though, I'm still not sure how you were able to talk so casually with them." Aldred didn't bother to say anything - having a high pain threshold did wonders, and she was continuing on as if she didn't expect an answer. "Didn't know that was even possible. Never thought you'd need my services till now, mate."

"I got slammed through the sound barrier," Aldred said serenely, trying to stand up. He blanched and wobbled as if he were about to fall, vertigo washing over him, but Felicia grabbed him and steadied him, hands firm but gentle as she took a good grip on Aldred's ruined clothes as she helped him into the wheelchair. "Thanks. Getting slammed through the sound barrier would hurt anyone, I'm pretty sure of that. I'm not invincible, you know."

"Suuuure you aren't." Felicia's skeptical look would have made a scientist proud. "You just said you got slammed through the sound barrier but you're still alive; how the shit are you even breathing? And does 'Vera Hall Nine' ring any bells? Munich abandoned army base, half a year ago? I was there, you know. I still can't believe you survived that."

"That's because she was weak like a newborn baby." Aldred said dismissively, waving a hand. His expression darkened. "She didn't even try to kill me herself, she deserved to have that tank thrown at her. But that doesn't mean I can't get hurt. It's like..." Aldred frowned, trying to explain. How did you even begin to explain that getting sent flying twenty whole feet through the air by a truck going at full speed wouldn't do anything but make him feel irritation?

"It's like this." Aldred finally said decisively. Felicia hummed to show that she was listening, head still bent over the kit she was packing. "Say I take a hammer and slam it against your knee. Normally, your patella would break, right? Like a normal person."

"Because I'm not monstrously durable like you are."

"Yes, yes. But if you slam a hammer against my knee, it won't break. The pain would still be there, but compared to others it'd be more or less manageable. Same with knives." Aldred gave a one shoulder shrug, mindful of the sling. "I can still get cut, but you'll need more effort than most to break through skin." Not that much, but enough for Aldred to never get papercuts by accident. "I can get shot, and it'll hurt and bleed, but it won't bring me down."

Which was something Sillo had learned from the matches they'd had. Otherwise the cut on his neck would have been a just as shallow as the cuts on his arms and torso. Aldred frowned, hand going up subconsciously to the bandage wrapped around his neck.

Rose had known, too. She would know now anyway, from the way her vines had squeezed Aldred's whole body as if he was a lemon that needed juice to be squeezed out of. If it hadn't been for his Unique Ability, Aldred was fairly sure he'd have died; his flesh pulverised and bones grounded into powder by her commands. I'll have to return the favour, Aldred thought mildly. The spar had helped to clear his head like he'd hoped it would, although it'd left him with more questions and worry about his friend.

It had also made Aldred nearly lose control over his self, but that was a different matter. Absently, Aldred touched the bracelet on his wrist, fingers stroking the charm. There was still a current of mana running through it, keeping the beast at bay, and not for the first time Aldred gave thanks to whoever made the charm. Without it, he'd have...

"Right, I'll help you to the infirmary before I head off home." Felicia's voice snapped Aldred out of his thoughts. "Need to head there to log off before I get to go home anyway. Don't you dare break out, ok?"

Aldred didn't reply, merely smiled serenely at her. She tched at him, but silence fell between them as they made their way towards the infirmary until:

"Hey." Felicia's voice was quite, unlike the carefree rough tone she had used earlier. She didn't stop pushing the wheelchair, but her fingers tightened against the handlebars. "I know you have your reasons, but why the act? You freaked Ken out, you know, smiling the way you did earlier."

Unbidden, the words Rose had whispered mockingly in his ear before squeezing the life out of him echoed in Aldred's head. How would they react, boy, if they knew what you were really like?

Ah. He'd hoped they wouldn't bring that up. Aldred smiled up at her, quizzically tilting his head even if he didn't feel puzzled at all. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Felicia didn't look impressed. She didn't stop walking, but she slowed down to a stroll. "You don't have to keep up the act around me, you know." She reminded him quietly, a slightly hurt look on her face. "I was there that day you got sick."

Aldred's smile slipped off his face like water droplets rolling down a window pane, his fingers twisting the charm on his wrist. and when he looked up Aldred's face was expressionless, blank except for seriousness. "I know." He said seriously, and for a moment, Felicia looked hopeful. It fell of her face when Aldred continued matter of factly, voice brooking no argument. "Like you said, I've got my reasons. Besides, it..." Aldred hesitated, taking a deep breath. "It wasn't entirely an act."

He'd really did have fun showing Sillo around, surprisingly enough. That part had been real. Plus, it wasn't like he could stop now. That had been the mask he'd worn in front of Minori and the others when he'd first met them, and as far as Aldred was concerned that would be all they needed to know about him. Just because his emotions weren't entirely there meant that he had no want for friends, and he liked them enough to continue the act. It didn't really cost much energy, either, although his cheeks tend to cramp up sometimes. Smiling made things more convenient, so why stop?

It was also the last thing the only two men whom Aldred felt mattered had both wished for, so even if Aldred didn't really see the point he was going to carry it out anyway.

"... It doesn't matter." Aldred's tone was final, and Felicia didn't ask any questions after that, merely tossed her head and snorted. She began to walk faster again, almost as if she were angry. That wouldn't do, he might need her again someday, so it would probably be best to lighten the mood. Turning to face her, Aldred shot her a well-practiced smile. "Enough about me. How's life been?"

Felicia snorted, grinning. "Life, huh?" The anger receded from her face, and she leaned forwards conspiracy-like. "Life's been..."

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

The harsh brightness of morning sun filtered it's way into the infirmary at the training facility. There were surprisingly no gadgets or gizmos scattered around minus the heart monitor checking the pulse of Sillo and Aldred. The volume was turned off, however, so as not to disturb the two while they slept through the night, but would go off if either of their pulses made any rapid changes.

As Sillo regained consciousness, Aldred was already awake on the other side of the room. Blinking his eyes open slowly, he had a strange feeling. It was the feeling of waking up in an area he'd never been before. Everything seemed foreign to him. He wouldn't have even had a clue had he not spotted the IV on the left side of his bed. Ah... he thought, I'm in a hospital of some kind.

He shifted in his bed, then regretted doing so immediately. The mana doctors and staff at the training facility had done a fantastic job, pretty much making him as good as new. But he was still very sore and his head had a dull throb accompanying it. He he breathed in sharply, holding in place for a second before settling again in the new position. What happened to me?

He checked himself over. Everything looked fine, he thought. He tested his arms and legs to make sure he still had the ability to move them. He rolled his head around on his shoulders, wiggled his fingers and toes, and patted his chest to make sure no broken bones were anywhere, which they weren't. He sighed in relief.

Alright...what happened?

Memories came flooding back in chronological order. They had fought, Aldred and himself. It was a training spar. There was some particular moments that stood out to him. Like he knew he threw a giant plane at the blonde at one point. And Aldred had used rockets in response. Had it not been for the stability of the training room, the whole place likely would've come down. At some point, he knew Aldred had come at him with full force. He caught him by the mouth. He felt a pain, like his arm bone being torn from it's socket. And then...

Everything went black.

He chuckled as he realized that he had lost the match, then and there. The two of them likely pushed it a bit far, but it was a fair fight. Aldred must've performed a move that knocked him out instantly.

Though he couldn't shake the feeling he was forgetting something...like there was more to it than that. For one, his head throbbed like a mother, but he couldn't recall receiving head trauma or damage. Maybe it was when he was being flung around near the beginning. But the more important detail was this: He could understand why he was in the infirmary. He got his ass handed to him after all. But why was Aldred there?

He hadn't done that much damage...had he?

Grunting as he moved again, he gave a weak wave across the room, that familiar Sillo grin crossing his face.

"Mornin'!" he said cheerfully, "Man, didn't think you'd take me down this badly. I hurt all over. I guess we pushed it a bit, huh?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Aldred looked around from where he'd been standing close to the window when Sillo shifted, noticing the sudden movement. Dressed in fresh jeans and a dark T-shirt with a stylish logo, Aldred had been getting ready to go out for his daily warmup when he noticed Sillo regaining consciousness. He turned around as Sillo chuckled, one hand still removing the bandages wrapped loosely around his wrist.

"Top of the morning, Sillo." Aldred greeted pleasantly, walking towards the bed. He returned the wave and grin with one of his own, smile bright and serene.

Despite the fact that Sillo had nearly tried to kill him last night, Aldred wasn't particularly affected by it. Although people might have hesitated at sharing the same room with the person who'd nearly tried to kill them and tried to kill in self defence (ah, but it wasn't, not really), Aldred had entered the room without care, flopped onto the bed and was snoozing like a well fed baby within seconds. People had been trying to kill him (and him them) for a long time already, so what was another one added to the list? As far as Aldred was concerned, people made friends, then one side tried to kill the other side or betray them or something, and whoever survived was the stronger one. This one, at least, Aldred knew was there now.

Ahh, it reminded him of the old days. Silly of him not to have expected it not to have happen, haha. And, well.... other things.

I promised, after all...

It helped that the others just believed it was a training match gone a little overboard instead of a sudden deathmatch, although a look at the tapes might change that opinion. Despite Aldred's attempts, he hadn't been able to sneak out towards the Bin to get it, and even if he did get there he wasn't exactly sure what to do. He knew what the phone buttons represented, minimally, but anything more high tech than that? It was a bit like getting a drunk crazy ape to operate a military nuclear base - the result was a lot of destruction, explosions everywhere and banana's getting squished into little radioactive pieces.

Not a good idea to let Aldred near machinery, in other words.

"Mornin'!" Sillo said cheerfully, "Man, didn't think you'd take me down this badly. I hurt all over. I guess we pushed it a bit, huh?"

Aldred couldn't quite stop his eyebrows from rising up in surprise at that statement. Does he not remember? he thought, mind cycling through options on how to react. Sillo was back to normal but didn't seem to know... interesting. Inwardly, Aldred grinned as interest sparked in his brain, settling on an idea. I wonder how he'll react...

"You don't remember?" He asked curiously, grabbing the visitors seat belonging to Sillo's bed. Twisting the chair so that the back was now facing Sillo, Aldred sat and rested his elbows against the back of his chair, crossing his arms to rest loosely against the top of the chair as he continued to unravel the bandages, revealing healthy, if tender-looking pink skin. "Yeah, we did. You slammed me through the sound barrier and I broke half your bones, it was pretty fun. Been a long time since I fought like that."

Aldred's words were said as casually as 'yeah, you bought me lunch and I bought you dessert', but they sounded genuine. The calm, bright smile he had on his face and his cheerful tone, as if recounting a happy story, added to the dissonance the rest of his sentences.

"I'm not quite sure what happened," He continued in the same pleasant tone, finally unravelling the bandages. "You went a bit insane near the end, and for a moment I thought I was going to lose when you tried to stab me in the neck with telekinesis after flinging me around like a ragdoll a couple of times, but you stopped after I nutted you in the head, haha!" Aldred gave a light chuckle, as if he was recounting something funny instead of attempted murder from both sides. Shifting the bandages to the side, Aldred continued on with a smile on his lips, patting Sillo lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry for almost killing you, though, lost control of myself for a bit, but it was still pretty fun! Wouldn't mind doing that again, you know." He said somewhat wistfully, as if entering a deadly deathmatch was something he wanted to do on a daily basis.

Well, considering that Aldred had spent over half his life fighting like the only survivor in a battlefield of enemies, deathmatches actually was something normal. In the past, anyway.

"But anyway, I won. And you owe me a new shirt, that can be the prize. And Minori is going to kill us once she finds out what happened!" Aldred said cheerfully, as if Minori was going to give them a present instead of kill them for going overboard. He grinned cheerfully at Sillo as he rummaged through a paperbag on the table beside them. He held out a hotdog still in the wrapper and a packet of chocolate milk towards Sillo. "Breakfast?" he asked, smiling pleasantly as if he hadn't dropped a bombshell of information.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

Sillo's typically calm and cool exoskeleton was a bit rattled by the mentioning of these apparent actions he had partaken upon Aldred. Smashing him through the sound barrier? Holding him at knife point? He didn't remember doing any of that. He'd think he remember a fight in which he threw a lime green Boeing 757 at his opponent, but he wasn't like he wasn't going to trust Aldred. What the actual hell happened in there? He didn't want to believe it, but maybe...maybe the fight did go on after he dislocated his arm.

Still, he decided to inquire further through the facade of ignorance as he took the unorthodox breakfast of hot dogs and chocolate milk, "Er, thanks," he muttered, "I guess there were no eggs or bacon left."

Taking a bite, he shook off the rubbery taste at eight in the morning as he shifted his gaze back to Aldred, "But what do you mean by all that? I did that? Because I don't exactly remember going through those moments. Last thing I remember was you dislocating my arm. Didn't I black out after that?" He needed tangible evidence if he was going to take in fully what Aldred was saying. It just seemed so bizarre to him...so out of nature.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »
  1. Forgot to add that the whole heading towards the bin to see footage is only a go if you wish it to be a go. If you don't want it to be a go, Aldred will gladly comply for whatever else is going on, since he's a bit too lazy to protest lol. - Alle not logged in

    by Anonymous
  2. Nah, you act your character out as he would. My character shall react as he should.

    by NeverEndingFlip

0.00 INK

"Er, thanks, I guess there were no eggs or bacon left."

"... Yes." Aldred lied with a smile, pulling another hotdog out of his pocket. He stuffed half of it into his mouth, chewing quietly.

Sillo didn't need to know that Aldred had just decided to grab the easiest foodstuff to carry - which happened to be hotdogs instead of the steaming pile of eggs or bacon provided a few plates away, beside the plate containing grilled toast. Maybe he should have gone for hotdog-on-toast instead? But ah well. Food was food, and hotdogs counted as a breakfast food, right?

At least, he thought it did...

Does it really matter anyway? Also, doesn't sausages count as breakfast?

"But what do you mean by all that? I did that? Because I don't exactly remember going through those moments. Last thing I remember was you dislocating my arm. Didn't I black out after that?"

"Yeah, you did it all." Aldred said, eager to turn the topic away from possible breakfast foods. He pointed the half eaten sausage thoughtfully at Sillo, recalling the fight. "I think me dislocating your arm was why you turned serious, to be honest." Aldred made sure his mouth was clear before he spoke, a faint smile crawling over his face as he recalled the scene. "It was pretty fun, it kind of sucks that you don't remember. You didn't black out, though. You looked like this."

Aldred gestured to his face, which had already begun to morph. His cheekbones grew more higher, and his face began to narrow in while his hair began to shrink back into his head, darkening as if it was being dyed black. Within seconds, Aldred's head was a rough imitation of Sillo's face. If someone had came across them at that moment, they would have seen two nearly identical people - one with white hair and blue eyes seated in a bed, the other with black hair and red eyes leaning on the back of a chair, grinning at Sillo as he chewed a lump of sausage.

"Looks pretty good, right?" Aldred asked breezily around a mouthful of meat. His face morphed back to normal as he swallowed, and Aldred squeezed his cheek his cheek. "Huh, forgotten how that felt." He muttered to himself with a mildly surprised look on his face. He looked back up at Sillo. "Anyway, if you did black out like you said you did, then how did we get all these healed up injuries?"

It couldn't have been an imposter. The Sillo in front of him was the one bearing the healed up wounds. Aldred didn't think the confusion was fake, either - Sillo looked genuinely clueless, as if he really did have no clue as to what Aldred was talking about. Even if Aldred talked about it all the leu-long day, Sillo wasn't likely to believe him either without actual physical proof.

Wait a minute. Proof...

Got it!

"Well, it might be best to see it in person for yourself," Aldred decided, finishing the sausage. He stood up and stretched, taking a glance over at himself and Sillo. He was dressed (black shirt and grey pants with hospital slippers, wristband bracelet on his wrist as ever), but he wasn't quite sure about Sillo's choice of clothes. "After you change or do whatever, we'll head to the Bin. There're tapes from the security cameras there; we can check out the fight. They won't let me touch anything since I nearly wrecked it last time, haha-" Aldred scratched his head with a sheepish laugh "-but I think they'll be ok if you ask."

The Bin was inside the security guard room, where most ordered tapes were stored. People liked to rewatch footage of them doing training in the rooms, and provided they went through some security checkups to prove that they were allowed the tapes they could take it, head to a room with a VCR and slot it in to see the data stored in the disc. The security cameras were functional even within the dimensional bubbles people fought in, being able to capture footage no matter what dimension they were in or how badly the place was blown up. Some might call it overbearing and an invasion of privacy, but it was a great safety precaution against people who thought that a multidimensional training room would allow them to kill someone 'by accident' and get away with it.

Once Sillo was ready to leave, they could head towards the Bin, Aldred leading the way with a stroll. They'd get past the security without much problems, find that the tape was reserved for Aldred in the box, and after that they'd probably find somewhere private to watch it. That was, of course, if Sillo wanted to head towards the Bin. Aldred was pretty much willing to go elsewhere if he didn't.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »

0.00 INK

"Yeah, you did it all," Aldred started to grow more and more excited the more he talked about it, "I think me dislocating your arm was why you turned serious, to be honest. It was pretty fun, it kind of sucks that you don't remember. You didn't black out, though. You looked like this."

Sillo grew a bit more anxious as Aldred morphed his face into a near carbon copy of his own, with the exception of the black hair and red eyes of course. Had he really looked like that. "That's like, the exact opposite of me. Like a dark personality split copy of myself or something," Sillo thought aloud, "Weird."

"Anyway, if you did black out like you said you did, then how did we get all these healed up injuries?"

He looked down at his arms, noticing the raw skin standing apart from his own. "Well I figured you'd caused them in battle. Though now that I see it...there are more than I anticipated." There was still that shrivel of doubt behind his words, as if he needed further proof to believe what he was seeing and hearing was real. For a moment, neither boy spoke.

Then Aldred snapped his fingers, "Well, it might be best to see it in person for yourself."

Now he was curious. Sillo shot a brow up as Aldred got out of bed, "You taped the fight?" He started sliding out of bed himself, revealing he was wearing his standard white long-sleeved shirt with blue jeans. Sillo liked the casual style of it.

"After you change or do whatever, we'll head to the Bin. There're tapes from the security cameras there; we can check out the fight. They won't let me touch anything since I nearly wrecked it last time, haha-" Aldred scratched his head with a sheepish laugh "-but I think they'll be ok if you ask."

"Right," he was honestly rather complacent with moving on from the event and forgetting like it ever happened. But Aldred was right. This was something he had to see. This was his body after all. He had to know about all it's functional parts. Plus, he was also interested in the second part of the fight...the part he missed.

"So where is this Bin anyway?" Sillo asked as Aldred led the way, a bit more cheerful than he was...almost like he was being toured around the facility again.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Sillo Deskern Character Portrait: Aldred Kynn
Tag Characters » Add to Arc »
  1. I'd include a segment of Aldred deliberately messing with the guards by deliberately destroying a toaster accidentally-on-purpose, but eh. Felt it'd get too long that way. So just dialogue instead.

    by Alle9009
  2. Forgot - if this offends anyone I apologise.

    by Anonymous

0.00 INK

"Here, follow me." Aldred grinned as they head towards the Bin, making sure to take the long way around. The short way contained the canteen, which had to be avoided if Aldred wanted Sillo to still believe in the lie. As they walked down the hallways; Aldred making brief commentary that described the functions of the rooms they passed with a professional smile on his face, acting like a tourguide. Nothing out of the ordinary, until a stout middle aged woman with freckles and bright red hair spotted them. Slowing down slightly, she grinned and said in a thick Scottish accent that made it almost impossible to hear what she was saying properly,

"Oi, Smilin' Robot! Showin' yer new frein aroond the place?"

"Ah, Marcie!" Aldred smiled brightly, and when he spoke next his voice was faster and more singsong like Marcie McSkinner's speech, as if he were trying to copy her speech patterns. "And aye, I am!" Aldred called back, shooting a smile her way as if he understood what she was saying. "Sillo, this is Marcie, a regular customer at the gym. She's got superstrength. Marcie, this is Sillo, he's new here." He introduced them quickly with a smile, without a pause in stride. "Also, I'm not a robot. I'm made out of flesh and bone. Why does everyone keep calling me that?"

"Aye, aye, keep on thinkin' that. Pay no attention to him, me lad!" Marcie ignored Aldred's puzzled frown in favour of shooting a mischievous, broad grin at Sillo that'd looked a bit unsettling on her face. She threw back her head with a friendly, explosive laugh and patted Aldred's back with a thump that made Aldred stagger a few steps forward. "Ye see how he's always smilin' even when its minging? Why, this one time he-"

"Marcie." A smile was technically a warm and peaceful gesture, but Aldred's smile felt cold, almost like a warning. "Remember the time with the dog and the tar and feathers?"

"Ach, dinnae get yer knickers in a twist, Aldred, ay ken what ay said," Marcie said, waving her hand in the universal gesture of 'nevermind, nevermind'. "Change oh the subject, aye? Ahm headin' hame, now. Night Shift's over, and ah miss me kids. Those wee bairns are gonna be the death of me someday," she chuckled fondly. What about you lads?"

"We're heading to the Bin."

The Bin?" A disconcerted look flashed past Marcie's face, as if she'd just heard that a bomb disposal squad was on their way to her workplace. "You sure? Ye do realise that -"

"Yes, I'm sure." Aldred interrupted, his faint grin turning into something that was still a smile but more long-suffering. He looked as if he wanted to sigh, but was keeping the urge in check by forcing his lips to curve upwards. "Just because I accidentally pulled out the plugs, spilled water on the electrical fuses and made the whole room explode doesn't mean I'm incapable. It was two years ago! Surely they'd be over it now?"

Marcie shot him an odd look. "Ye do remember that Don got stuck in the hospital fer a week thanks to that..."

"Ah." Aldred blinked as if he'd just remembered that fact, then shrugged tentatively. "... Sillo's with me, they can't just refuse to serve someone new?" He tried, shooting Marcie a hopeful grin. "Plus, Mr Cohald helped me reserve the disc; they can't just ignore that either."

"Guid luck gettin' Don tae forget that." Aldred sighed ruefully as Marcie laughed loudly, throwing her head back. "" They reached a bend in the hallway, and Marcie took the left while Aldred turned right. "I'm headin' home fir a kip. Bye now! Ye wee laddies have fun!"

As they continued down the hall Aldred leaned towards Sillo. "Don't worry if you don't understand," he whispered quietly out of the corner of his mouth "She's Scottish, but whenever she meets new people she exaggerates the accent and the slang until she sounds like she's from Glasgow to people who don't know Scottish. Normally it isn't that noticeable." He shrugged. "Apparently she thinks its funny, and it kind of is, I guess. Ah, here we are."

----------------------

"ALDRED! EVERYONE CODE R.B.W.E., CODE R.B.W.E.!!"

"KYNN! DON'T YOU DARE ENTER THIS ROOM! STAY OUTSIDE THE DOOR!"

"Very funny, O'Hara, Don. We're just here for a disc."

"A-Ah, really? Which one? But can you blame us?! That explosion would've taken the whole place down if it hadn't been for the wards! You wrecked a rooms worth full of cameras! Do you know how much time it takes to reset it back up?!"

"Well..."

"The answer is two months, Kynn. Two months of checking that everything was in place and fit and magicked to standards. You nearly killed everyone in that room, especially me! I looked like a half cooked lobster with a toupee; I had a date that day! A hot date. My first time out with a girl in months and we had to spend it in the hospital thanks to you, you electronically inept bastard. I'm not risking that again, so stay out of the room!"

"That was two years ago, Don, geez. I got better! Now I only break my phone every half a year or so."

"And that's suppose to reassure us how? Back me up here, O'Hara."

"Gotta agree with Don on this one, Aldred. Sorry. Which room and time are you after?"

"Training room 24, yesterday evening. Mr Cohald helped me reserve it; is it there? And Don, If she broke up with you just because you had second degree burns and lost every single hair on your body then she clearly wasn't right for you. It takes someone with true love to go on a second date with someone who looked like a hairless overgrown baby-"

"Whatever you say, battle freak. At least I don't laugh like a maniac when I see someone being trampled to death by a bunch of cows. I'm not crazy like you are. O'Hara, found it?"

"Not yet. Got any idea where it is?"

"Hmm. Gimme a sec, I think its in those boxes. Ah, here it is. Aldred, if I give you this CD promise me that you'll never step foot in this area again. My arm still itches whenever I remember what happened last time. I don't care if you step foot inside a tv shop in the mall - just not here. I'll get in trouble if anything else blows up. Got it?"

"I give my solemn word not to step into this place unless absolutely necessary. Can I have the disc now, Don?"

"Say it with more meaning! My job's on the line here! Ugh, whatever. Here - no wait, better let your friend hold this. And don't come back!"

---------------

And with that conversation Aldred and Sillo found themselves seated onto a soft couch rewatching the clips of the fight on a tv screen, with a bowl of popcorn inbetween them. Aldred chewed slowly on a handful as he leant forward, studying the footage with an analytic glint in his eye and a cheerful smile on his lips, mentally calculating a few moves he could have done to make things easier. Despite treating the whole thing as easygoing as watching a movie, however, his eyes gradually turned distant, half lidded as if he were recalling something else.

Which he was. Aldred's smile faded into a rare look of seriousness, and subconsciously the blonde teen leant forwards, chewing on popcorn automatically as his eyes narrowed at the screen. This might help in figuring out what had happened, and it was good entertainment at least. Small him on the screen cracked Sillo's elbow, and Aldred was suddenly reminded of the nightmare that woke him up at the crack of dawn.

Sleep well, yes. Waking up well? No.

Flashback:


Darkness was everywhere, a pitch black so dark that it was as if his eyes had been covered in thick black paint. Aldred looked around him blindly, a snarl on his face. The blonde teen looked ragged, worn out, skin covered in blood. His face was rounder, and he was shorter, thinner, but just as muscular as he would be in four years time.

Normally fourteen was a very awkward age, but Aldred didn't really care at the moment. The worries over puberty and growing spurts had long faded way into the horizon in comparison to being unable to see and unable to move, and -

Pain struck through him like lightning, blazing through his body fast and harsher than anything he had ever felt before, stabbing through him like white-hot knives. Aldred collapsed onto the ground faster than he could register, curling into himself in agony as pain washing over him in waves and throbbing wherever it touched. He tried to move, but the moment his muscles tensed the pain intensified, and Aldred's strength failed him. It was too much for him to handle. All he could do nothing but lie there and bear it the best he could, pain encompassing him until all he could focus on was the pain.

It wasn't until the air was suddenly silent that Aldred realised that he had been sobbing, the harsh keening cut-off wails of an animal with not enough air to do more than gasp pitifully as it lay dying in wretched agony in a death trap. Too much in pain to even scream, sensations heightened by the lack of sight, Aldred wasn't sure how much time had passed until the pain lowered down to more bearable levels. An hour, two hours, a whole day? Not that it mattered anymore, Aldred thought dizzily, gasping shallowly as the agonising throb died down. Dimly, he realised that there was a warm liquid running down his palms. Probably blood - he could feel his nails digging in so deep that they cut flesh. Yet another wound, although the pain was atomically small compared to the agony he was experiencing.

Despite the pain fluxing through him in waves, what really hurt most was the emotion he was feeling. Pain he could handle. Despair so deep that made his heart feel like it was being torn into pieces, settling into his bones like lead weights and taking away his strength and the will to live and continue living, replacing it with the bleak urge to just give up and curl into a ball and cry until the world ended, that was a little bit harder to handle.

It wasn't suppose to turn out that way. Aldred had spent years researching, working things out, testing. He was certain it would work! Why hadn't -

A faint tap from the ground, the sound of converse against rock. Aldred tensed. There was supposed to be nobody but him present in that location, and yet....

Someone was here.


..... Funny, he could have sworn that there was more to the dream. Ah well, no matter.

The sudden silence snapped Aldred back to the present. He blinked, shaking away the memories mentally as he looked at the screen. The video was done playing, great. Taking a moment to collect himself, Aldred plastered a smile on his face and turned to face Sillo, painting on what he hoped was a convincingly cheerful look, instead of the gloom he was feeling. It wasn't that hard - crinkle your eyes, curve the lips upwards, and that was enough to convince anyone who wasn't looking close enough. It never failed.

Well, most of the time.

Grabbing some popcorn, Aldred stuffed some into his mouth. "Well?" He asked Sillo around a mouthful of half-chewed popcorn, raising an eyebrow after a beat or two. "What do you think?"