Post by Loner。 on Nov 21, 2017 16:35:57 GMT
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
The Experimental bomb Blake had ordered set off had wrecked havoc not on the city, nor the humans, but on the demon hordes assailing sanctuary. at the locus of the blast, it was impartial, vaporizing just about anything with even a small supernatural energy signature. further out, stronger demons and more supernaturals were surviving, but the blast still took great toll on those it effected. The sound of it could be heard even further, and the halo it cast over the center of the city was hard to miss in the dark sky.
The central district was now still compared to the frantic fighting of moments before, but battles still ranged elsewhere in the vast metropolitan area. Enforcers radioed for back up at they tried to target one 'demon' (Max) who seemed to be both fighting some of the other demons, and interfering with their work. why couldn't the bomb have worked on him? well they could only hope central would send out the needed robotic warriors and augmented soldiers to keep up with that speed.
or set off another bomb. but neither thing happened yet.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
He was glad Reidh had taken off when the blast had went off. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to Reidh, yet things were starting to get heavy in this battle, and it wasn’t any good.
One minute there would be two or three Greater Demons smashing into large structures or just wrecking things, and then there was the dark purple phantasm that would surge up, purple afterimages trailing behind it’s movements, a few resounding blows – kicks, punches, the works – and then a flash of violet light, and the Greater Demon would be felled. A couple of times, they were even pitted against each other, striking each other as they tried to get at the thing that darted between them, and their in-fighting would often cause one to be felled, and the other was easy enough for the purple clad figure to dispatch.
There was a large clearing in the city, near a waterfront with a large ornate fountain that was largely wrecked, and when one of the more recent Greater Demons was felled, the purple clad figure moved backwards, afterimages trailing, and landed on the ground beside the fountain. Whomever it was, those twin glowing suns beneath the veiled shadow of the cowl shone brightly. The posture of the figure was poised, a bit tense, as if trying to feel out where the next enemy would be. It took notice of the Enforcers gathering around, but seemed to pay them little mind. For whatever reason, this was the longest they had remained this still, and the way the figure rose to its full height – a rather tall height – seemed to indicate it could not detect any closer enemies.
As if the Enforcers around, with their gear and equipment, weren’t swarming him like ants.
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
Sending backup. Hold out as long as you can.
Good. Central had heard their plea and was bringing in help. Until then they would make do.
They had him surrounded by the water, or so they thought. One of the last abominations standing in this area. A soft electric hum filled the area as enforcers activated energy based shields to absorb impacts and magical effects. Since they didn't have turret generators yet, there were gaps in the wall, but it should provide some personal protection as they began to advance. A large bullet was shot towards the ground at Max's feet. It smoked as hissed releasing chemicals and nano-machines into the air. The enforcers knew well by now that if they were to beat this enemy they needed to ground those powers, force him to a more human level, and that's what the gas shells were for. They doubted they could hit him, directly but if he breathed in any of it, it might cut the threat level down a few notches.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
When the bullet was shot, the figure dashed backwards and upwards, afterimages trailing mesmerizing and iridescent this time, as he now stood atop the broken fountain, arms folded across his chest, half-concealed beneath his cloaks. As it began to hiss, he bared his teeth, growling a bit.
"Gassing me won't help you very much," He said quietly, his voice still somehow reaching their ears. He shot his left hand outwards, and an enormous, violet, transparent apparition of a hand surged outwards, and wrapped the cannister and the issuing gas and nanites were swept up in its grasp. Some may have still gotten out, but most of it was contained. With a grunt, the purple cloaked man lowered his head, leering at the men closest to his front, and the enormous hand-apparition drew back, and hurled the cannister up into the air, and out of sight.
"Do I play the villain in this little drama? Was helping you with your demon problem not a peaceful enough gesture?!"
His voice, amplified by his psionic abilities, would begin to rise louder and louder as he spoke, and louder yet in the ears of those surrounding him. It was starting to get to the point where it would seem to drown out all other noise, but not loud enough to be painful yet.
"Are you the killers and murderers who slay people whose only sin was being born different? Tell me true."
The last words would cause a throbbing in the heads of those closest to him, like the kind of pressure someone with a hellish sinus infection might get, but threefold.
"Are you the slayers of the innocent?"
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
Detecting mental interference, the soldiers helmets activated jamming protocol, protecting their minds, and making it harder for them to heed such words.
There was no need to speak to an abomination. Whether it meant to or not, every supernatural being out there ended up causing trouble for society. They could intend to be defenders of humanity but they still were responsible for messing things up again and again and again.
Instructions issued over communication devices. Settings on weapons were adjusted and primed. A jammer was activated to interfere with psionic abilities, a wave frequency that had been proven to inhibit the use of such powers in many test subjects. It wasn't as good of an equalizer as the nanites would have been, but it would hopefully make a difference.
New shot was fired, aurichalcum rounds. The magic, disrupting metal could hopefully pierce where other bullets might not, as the substance broke apart magical and spiritual augmentations with ease. These would hit, (if they hit) before the sound of gunshots could even be heard, while they hoped that the firing of multiples would make up for any ability to dodge faster than the shot could fly.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
The figure muttered something about deaf ears, and then drew up abruptly when the bullets were about a foot away.
* * *
To his eyes, they moved slower than slugs. He could've dodged them, yet they fascinated him. He took his time with each, examining them up, and down, and all around from different angles, as they moved through the air at a crawl, or - at least - in comparison to himself.
He messed around too much, clearly, because as he dodged the last of them, he reached to grab the last bullet out of the volley - a souvenir - time would seem to speed back up to normal, and his left forearm suddenly had a bullet wound in it.
* * *
The bullets rained in, and from what they could see, it looked like a series of afterimages trailing around the bullets. Their eyes likely wouldn't catch the movements, but camera footage later would show a purple streak moving around the bullets countless times in the span of a single second. As anticipated, it seemed like one of the bullets hit its mark, and the figure staggered back a bit, nearly falling off of his makeshift platform atop the broken fountain.
"You shot me."
His face felt numb. The raging pain in his arm suddenly seemed to evaporate from his notice, and the corners of his vision suddenly seemed to darken, and the world in front of his eyes began to swirl and shift as his eyes began taking in the various visual spectrums. What did this mean? This meant, to their eyes, his eyes would suddenly glow even brighter.
The figure leaped down from where they had stood, grabbing two heaping chunks from the broken fountain, hurling them full-force as hard as he could - which was pretty effing hard, seeing as how they could move fast enough the eye couldn't track - and sent the 1-2 tonne chunks into the oncoming crowd of Enforcers.
"HAVE IT YOUR WAY!!!"
The figure leaped up into the air, afterimages trailing as just before, then suddenly shot downwards, fist crashing into the ground. The ground split and cracked, violet electricity shooting and erupting all around him. Thick cords of energy would shoot out in each direction, and the force being emitted from his body would cause the chunks to go shooting like large concrete-and-steel bullets in the direction of the approaching enforcers. Dust and debris obscured his form for a mere moment, and he kicked off the ground with enough force to feel like a 50 ton Giant had just crashed into the ground, soaring up into the air and out of view. When the debris cleared, with the sheer wind gale force of his speedy ascension, he was gone, giving the impression of having disappeared in a surge of dust, debris and smoke.
The clouds came up to meet him at this height, and he twisted around mid air, hovering for a moment, allowing his arm to heal itself from the damage dealt. It took a moment, as it seemed some of the strange technology had managed to release something tiny into his bloodstream and musculature; after a few moments, though, the burning and itching faded as his body pushed out the last of it.
"Should I land one last destructive blow before I go? Something strong enough to send a message to them? Or have I already done enough...."
There was no one up here to see him, to see the sad expression on his face. His ascent had knocked the cowl of his cloak back, and his face was an expression of anger mixed with bewilderment. The adrenaline was coursing through his body, and he felt the urge to draw back, and unleash the deadliest...whatever...he could, down upon Sanctuary below.
But no.... innocents would be caught up in it, wouldn't they?
"This place is wretched. How nice it would feel to bring some of the strongest beings I know here, and just launch a full-on assault upon that damn place. But..."
Malik would never forgive him. There must still be people and places Malik held sentimental feelings towards. Devastating Sanctuary wouldn't sit well with Max's young charge, and that alone stayed his hand.
* * *
Down below, a violet figure would appear, looking like the cloaked figure that had been there moments ago, but this time a mere construct of Psionic energy.
"Count yourselves lucky that I leave things as they are now. Know now, each time you kill someone whose only crime was being born to parents different from yours, I will take an Enforcer to atone for the crime in BLOOD. You steal two mythical children from their parents and kill them, and I will take TWENTY of your adult Enforcers to pay the Blood Price for their lives! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!"
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
They'd gotten him mad, they must have landed a hit. Good to keep the pressure up now.
Or not.
The ground buckled and cracked putting strain on the lay-line disrupters which constantly removed ambient magic from the sanctuary landscape. Had they not been there the damage to the land would have been much worse.
For most of the enforcers their shielding held, protecting them from magic and rubble alike and absorbing impacts which would have otherwise been fatal. Still it broke up the line they were trying to hold. darn it. They needed a missile or something.
The construct that remained was obviously a construct as the jamming frequencies interfered with the clarity and strength of this message. They'd heard this stuff before. Just further reason why supers were abominations, trying to set the rules by which humans lived like that. Too bad every enforcer who made it this far had been trained to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause.
Keep an eye out. It might come back. the commanding voice warned. A few began to patrol, computer records of the encounter were already being sent to join the database of information stored on supernatural beings. They just had to be persistent, and they believed they could win in the end.
***
Cold eyes of a edenite raven watched the encounter below. Know it or not, The scene here had done some good, giving other supernaturals a chance to take cover before sanctuary brought back to full its relentless hunt. Black wings opened and took to the sky. There probably wasn't anything else to see here, but the oppressive energy that lingered proved that the giant of a man probably hadn't gotten too far away yet.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
There was something in the air with him, but he couldn't seem to explain how he knew it. He didn't feel threatened, and by this point, the adrenaline had worn off for the most part, and the air up here was cold. His skin was hissing steam from his hot flesh and the cold atmosphere. He descended just the slightest bit, and looked around him. What could be up here, that would grab his senses, but elude his eyes
"Who is there?"
His voice was tired, weary, but alert.
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
A mischievous side of her considered play, but that would probably just be cruel to mess with a stranger after what had just happened. She'd been perfectly accurate in her avian anatomy before but, if she was going to respond she needed to instate some changes. Wing muscles shifted underneath the skin, giving the ability to hover in place, like a certain variety of minuscule bird, among other small changes, making coming out of the clouds where she could be seen simpler. She was a beautiful bird, iridescent black feathers, and dark red eyes, with human if not greater intelligence behind them. To hover her wingbeats were a blur. "You dug quite a hole for yourself back there." Her voice was alto, nearly tenor in pitch, and despite the beak not avian in the slightest. "but thanks for keeping their attention. Bought us some time to get wounded out of the way." She pointed out, sounding less grateful than she actually was.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
He eyed her curiously, violet energy pulsing around him.
"If they can't be rehabilitated, they should be dealt with. The killers of mythical beings, I mean." He can't his head to the side a bit.
"Wounded? What do you mean? 'Us'? "
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
"They're the grunts. No different than ants following their queen. They're convinced to see as evidence against you, anything you do or say." She noted. "Supernaturals, especially the more demon like took the hit when the bomb went off. With Sanctuary's focus on you, Eden was able to get them out before the authorities turned their focus. That means a few more of us free to fight another day."
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/31/2017
The cloaked man narrowed his eyes. Beneath the shadow concealment there was the slightest hint of a smirk.
"Then you know something about the attack on Sanctuary then? What was the goal? If it was to wreck their facilities, couldn't a more centralized attack hit them the hardest where it hurts? I'm uncertain whether you were part of the evacuation efforts, or if you were in league with those who launched the siege, but I cannot help but feel like the better thing to do would be to strike them at their most heavily protected facilities, to free those who have been abducted."
Kazetatsu - 10/31/2017
"The attack was from outside. Eden didn't sanction it." The bird clarified quickly. "The demon hosts come from another realm. They will harm innocents, and anyone else they can get their hands on, including their own kind. A good many pieces must fall into place for Eden to run a successful rescue. The day wasn't our ally for such a strike. "
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/31/2017
"I have heard of Eden, but haven't had any real opportunity to speak to their leadership." He replied thoughtfully. His voice seemed to have a little more life to it, and the steam had stopped coming from his body.
"I want to be part of those efforts. To free Sanctuary of its oppressive rule, to change it to a place that maintains barriers for those who wish to live mundane, non-magical lives, but not to be such an oppressive place that sniffs out Mythicals and hunts them."
His stamina had fully recovered by this point, but his mind was still a bit weary. He was feeling a bit more optimistic, having met someone from Eden finally, but he still kept looking down to the barely visible terrain below, as if the temptation to go back down and wreak more havoc was still a powerful urge.
Kazetatsu - 10/31/2017
"Its unlikely." The bird stated regarding meeting eden's leadership. "Theres a limit on information so sanctuary can't blow us if someone's caught."
She looked down at the world below. "They're cracking down especially hard lately. They're fed up with god level beings blowing parts of the city apart, and controlling aspects of their lives. The city's taken five big hits maybe more in less than half a year. Thats a new record, and makes it look like we're all out to get them. We're trying to change our culture as well as theirs but there will always be those who don't know better, or who get cornered into no other choice." She was sad about this. The continued rift between groups wasn't only sanctuary's fault.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 11/01/2017
"Then let me help. I still have a few tricks left, although they will likely have an idea how to do more harm toe than they did this time around. They don't know my face, but I can no longer appear before them disguised without them knowing what I am. They cornered me. I felt like I could've thrown them off, but not without endangering the area, and sweeping up people who did no wrong..."
His thoughts went back to his home plane, where sinister politicians sent men and women after him, proclaiming him as good as The Dark One, and simply defending himself and his loved ones against their ambushes and attacks only seemed to reaffirm, in their eyes, the rumors of his being some evil villain.
"Let me aid the efforts. I'm more resilient than I may appear, and so long as these efforts maintain a positive goal, I can help as I did today, if not moreso."
Kazetatsu - 11/01/2017
"They most likely got physiological readings, and samples of your energy signature. If so, They'll be able to identify you regardless of any disguise you use whether you show your face or not." The bird pointed out. "Lay low until we can sabotage that data. Later you'll be scouted by an eden agent, and be issued orders." She explained. The preferred scouting was secretive. Targets tended to act differently when they were aware of being tested, and edenites other than she ought to check and make sure Maximillion would be a good investment.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 11/03/2017
Max started suddenly, as if realizing something that had escaped him earlier.
"Who are you?" He suddenly asked, turning to look at the bird. His eyes flashed brightly for a moment, the glow brightening as he scanned the different spectrums and eyed the bird curiously.
"I don't mean to be impolite, but we've been here speaking, and I have no idea who you are. If not for the fact that you arrived when you did, and you are clearly not human in nature..." He clenched and unclenched his fists, not in a threatening way, but like he was trying to work out tension in his body.
"Show and tell time, hmm?" A hint of a smile played upon his lips beneath the concealment of the dark purple cowl. He was suddenly filled with a powerful wave of mischief, hoping he'd have a chance to throw off his cloak dramatically. Part of him felt this was an inappropriate (and sudden) mood shift, but a greater part of him was just ready to leave the intense and uncomfortable situation that had just unfolded behind him.
Kazetatsu - 11/03/2017
There was nothing to see. Except for her unusual anatomy she hit all the marks of being a bird. She didn't stand out on any supernatural frequencies.
a subtle smile graced the edges of her beak, building into a deep laugh. Of course she could find out easily about him from Eden's pull of records and from info-brokers and he knew naught of who she was. Perhaps she also sensed his desire for theatrics.
They were outside of the range of many sanctuary scanners, but not quite out of hot water if sanctuary chose to be actively trying to target them. Hmm... she didn't think she had to worry.
A powerful wingbeat drove her forward. She passed the man on his left, having doubled, no tripled in size within the brief flight the black of her feathers rippled into other hues. By the time she came around to his right, she was a brown eagle of majestic, but still realistic scale. "I am one of the ones who works on Eden's paper trail." The role description didn't match her form at all but that was part of the point. If he met her in her actual job, he likely would not recognize her even if he were to be actively looking. "For a name, Flare will do." It might be obviously a pseudonym, but some information, she knew better than to give lest it make her too easy to find. "now let us leave this place before sanctuary stumbles on us in their stupidity."
The Experimental bomb Blake had ordered set off had wrecked havoc not on the city, nor the humans, but on the demon hordes assailing sanctuary. at the locus of the blast, it was impartial, vaporizing just about anything with even a small supernatural energy signature. further out, stronger demons and more supernaturals were surviving, but the blast still took great toll on those it effected. The sound of it could be heard even further, and the halo it cast over the center of the city was hard to miss in the dark sky.
The central district was now still compared to the frantic fighting of moments before, but battles still ranged elsewhere in the vast metropolitan area. Enforcers radioed for back up at they tried to target one 'demon' (Max) who seemed to be both fighting some of the other demons, and interfering with their work. why couldn't the bomb have worked on him? well they could only hope central would send out the needed robotic warriors and augmented soldiers to keep up with that speed.
or set off another bomb. but neither thing happened yet.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
He was glad Reidh had taken off when the blast had went off. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to Reidh, yet things were starting to get heavy in this battle, and it wasn’t any good.
One minute there would be two or three Greater Demons smashing into large structures or just wrecking things, and then there was the dark purple phantasm that would surge up, purple afterimages trailing behind it’s movements, a few resounding blows – kicks, punches, the works – and then a flash of violet light, and the Greater Demon would be felled. A couple of times, they were even pitted against each other, striking each other as they tried to get at the thing that darted between them, and their in-fighting would often cause one to be felled, and the other was easy enough for the purple clad figure to dispatch.
There was a large clearing in the city, near a waterfront with a large ornate fountain that was largely wrecked, and when one of the more recent Greater Demons was felled, the purple clad figure moved backwards, afterimages trailing, and landed on the ground beside the fountain. Whomever it was, those twin glowing suns beneath the veiled shadow of the cowl shone brightly. The posture of the figure was poised, a bit tense, as if trying to feel out where the next enemy would be. It took notice of the Enforcers gathering around, but seemed to pay them little mind. For whatever reason, this was the longest they had remained this still, and the way the figure rose to its full height – a rather tall height – seemed to indicate it could not detect any closer enemies.
As if the Enforcers around, with their gear and equipment, weren’t swarming him like ants.
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
Sending backup. Hold out as long as you can.
Good. Central had heard their plea and was bringing in help. Until then they would make do.
They had him surrounded by the water, or so they thought. One of the last abominations standing in this area. A soft electric hum filled the area as enforcers activated energy based shields to absorb impacts and magical effects. Since they didn't have turret generators yet, there were gaps in the wall, but it should provide some personal protection as they began to advance. A large bullet was shot towards the ground at Max's feet. It smoked as hissed releasing chemicals and nano-machines into the air. The enforcers knew well by now that if they were to beat this enemy they needed to ground those powers, force him to a more human level, and that's what the gas shells were for. They doubted they could hit him, directly but if he breathed in any of it, it might cut the threat level down a few notches.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
When the bullet was shot, the figure dashed backwards and upwards, afterimages trailing mesmerizing and iridescent this time, as he now stood atop the broken fountain, arms folded across his chest, half-concealed beneath his cloaks. As it began to hiss, he bared his teeth, growling a bit.
"Gassing me won't help you very much," He said quietly, his voice still somehow reaching their ears. He shot his left hand outwards, and an enormous, violet, transparent apparition of a hand surged outwards, and wrapped the cannister and the issuing gas and nanites were swept up in its grasp. Some may have still gotten out, but most of it was contained. With a grunt, the purple cloaked man lowered his head, leering at the men closest to his front, and the enormous hand-apparition drew back, and hurled the cannister up into the air, and out of sight.
"Do I play the villain in this little drama? Was helping you with your demon problem not a peaceful enough gesture?!"
His voice, amplified by his psionic abilities, would begin to rise louder and louder as he spoke, and louder yet in the ears of those surrounding him. It was starting to get to the point where it would seem to drown out all other noise, but not loud enough to be painful yet.
"Are you the killers and murderers who slay people whose only sin was being born different? Tell me true."
The last words would cause a throbbing in the heads of those closest to him, like the kind of pressure someone with a hellish sinus infection might get, but threefold.
"Are you the slayers of the innocent?"
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
Detecting mental interference, the soldiers helmets activated jamming protocol, protecting their minds, and making it harder for them to heed such words.
There was no need to speak to an abomination. Whether it meant to or not, every supernatural being out there ended up causing trouble for society. They could intend to be defenders of humanity but they still were responsible for messing things up again and again and again.
Instructions issued over communication devices. Settings on weapons were adjusted and primed. A jammer was activated to interfere with psionic abilities, a wave frequency that had been proven to inhibit the use of such powers in many test subjects. It wasn't as good of an equalizer as the nanites would have been, but it would hopefully make a difference.
New shot was fired, aurichalcum rounds. The magic, disrupting metal could hopefully pierce where other bullets might not, as the substance broke apart magical and spiritual augmentations with ease. These would hit, (if they hit) before the sound of gunshots could even be heard, while they hoped that the firing of multiples would make up for any ability to dodge faster than the shot could fly.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
The figure muttered something about deaf ears, and then drew up abruptly when the bullets were about a foot away.
* * *
To his eyes, they moved slower than slugs. He could've dodged them, yet they fascinated him. He took his time with each, examining them up, and down, and all around from different angles, as they moved through the air at a crawl, or - at least - in comparison to himself.
He messed around too much, clearly, because as he dodged the last of them, he reached to grab the last bullet out of the volley - a souvenir - time would seem to speed back up to normal, and his left forearm suddenly had a bullet wound in it.
* * *
The bullets rained in, and from what they could see, it looked like a series of afterimages trailing around the bullets. Their eyes likely wouldn't catch the movements, but camera footage later would show a purple streak moving around the bullets countless times in the span of a single second. As anticipated, it seemed like one of the bullets hit its mark, and the figure staggered back a bit, nearly falling off of his makeshift platform atop the broken fountain.
"You shot me."
His face felt numb. The raging pain in his arm suddenly seemed to evaporate from his notice, and the corners of his vision suddenly seemed to darken, and the world in front of his eyes began to swirl and shift as his eyes began taking in the various visual spectrums. What did this mean? This meant, to their eyes, his eyes would suddenly glow even brighter.
The figure leaped down from where they had stood, grabbing two heaping chunks from the broken fountain, hurling them full-force as hard as he could - which was pretty effing hard, seeing as how they could move fast enough the eye couldn't track - and sent the 1-2 tonne chunks into the oncoming crowd of Enforcers.
"HAVE IT YOUR WAY!!!"
The figure leaped up into the air, afterimages trailing as just before, then suddenly shot downwards, fist crashing into the ground. The ground split and cracked, violet electricity shooting and erupting all around him. Thick cords of energy would shoot out in each direction, and the force being emitted from his body would cause the chunks to go shooting like large concrete-and-steel bullets in the direction of the approaching enforcers. Dust and debris obscured his form for a mere moment, and he kicked off the ground with enough force to feel like a 50 ton Giant had just crashed into the ground, soaring up into the air and out of view. When the debris cleared, with the sheer wind gale force of his speedy ascension, he was gone, giving the impression of having disappeared in a surge of dust, debris and smoke.
The clouds came up to meet him at this height, and he twisted around mid air, hovering for a moment, allowing his arm to heal itself from the damage dealt. It took a moment, as it seemed some of the strange technology had managed to release something tiny into his bloodstream and musculature; after a few moments, though, the burning and itching faded as his body pushed out the last of it.
"Should I land one last destructive blow before I go? Something strong enough to send a message to them? Or have I already done enough...."
There was no one up here to see him, to see the sad expression on his face. His ascent had knocked the cowl of his cloak back, and his face was an expression of anger mixed with bewilderment. The adrenaline was coursing through his body, and he felt the urge to draw back, and unleash the deadliest...whatever...he could, down upon Sanctuary below.
But no.... innocents would be caught up in it, wouldn't they?
"This place is wretched. How nice it would feel to bring some of the strongest beings I know here, and just launch a full-on assault upon that damn place. But..."
Malik would never forgive him. There must still be people and places Malik held sentimental feelings towards. Devastating Sanctuary wouldn't sit well with Max's young charge, and that alone stayed his hand.
* * *
Down below, a violet figure would appear, looking like the cloaked figure that had been there moments ago, but this time a mere construct of Psionic energy.
"Count yourselves lucky that I leave things as they are now. Know now, each time you kill someone whose only crime was being born to parents different from yours, I will take an Enforcer to atone for the crime in BLOOD. You steal two mythical children from their parents and kill them, and I will take TWENTY of your adult Enforcers to pay the Blood Price for their lives! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!"
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
They'd gotten him mad, they must have landed a hit. Good to keep the pressure up now.
Or not.
The ground buckled and cracked putting strain on the lay-line disrupters which constantly removed ambient magic from the sanctuary landscape. Had they not been there the damage to the land would have been much worse.
For most of the enforcers their shielding held, protecting them from magic and rubble alike and absorbing impacts which would have otherwise been fatal. Still it broke up the line they were trying to hold. darn it. They needed a missile or something.
The construct that remained was obviously a construct as the jamming frequencies interfered with the clarity and strength of this message. They'd heard this stuff before. Just further reason why supers were abominations, trying to set the rules by which humans lived like that. Too bad every enforcer who made it this far had been trained to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause.
Keep an eye out. It might come back. the commanding voice warned. A few began to patrol, computer records of the encounter were already being sent to join the database of information stored on supernatural beings. They just had to be persistent, and they believed they could win in the end.
***
Cold eyes of a edenite raven watched the encounter below. Know it or not, The scene here had done some good, giving other supernaturals a chance to take cover before sanctuary brought back to full its relentless hunt. Black wings opened and took to the sky. There probably wasn't anything else to see here, but the oppressive energy that lingered proved that the giant of a man probably hadn't gotten too far away yet.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
There was something in the air with him, but he couldn't seem to explain how he knew it. He didn't feel threatened, and by this point, the adrenaline had worn off for the most part, and the air up here was cold. His skin was hissing steam from his hot flesh and the cold atmosphere. He descended just the slightest bit, and looked around him. What could be up here, that would grab his senses, but elude his eyes
"Who is there?"
His voice was tired, weary, but alert.
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
A mischievous side of her considered play, but that would probably just be cruel to mess with a stranger after what had just happened. She'd been perfectly accurate in her avian anatomy before but, if she was going to respond she needed to instate some changes. Wing muscles shifted underneath the skin, giving the ability to hover in place, like a certain variety of minuscule bird, among other small changes, making coming out of the clouds where she could be seen simpler. She was a beautiful bird, iridescent black feathers, and dark red eyes, with human if not greater intelligence behind them. To hover her wingbeats were a blur. "You dug quite a hole for yourself back there." Her voice was alto, nearly tenor in pitch, and despite the beak not avian in the slightest. "but thanks for keeping their attention. Bought us some time to get wounded out of the way." She pointed out, sounding less grateful than she actually was.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/30/2017
He eyed her curiously, violet energy pulsing around him.
"If they can't be rehabilitated, they should be dealt with. The killers of mythical beings, I mean." He can't his head to the side a bit.
"Wounded? What do you mean? 'Us'? "
Kazetatsu - 10/30/2017
"They're the grunts. No different than ants following their queen. They're convinced to see as evidence against you, anything you do or say." She noted. "Supernaturals, especially the more demon like took the hit when the bomb went off. With Sanctuary's focus on you, Eden was able to get them out before the authorities turned their focus. That means a few more of us free to fight another day."
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/31/2017
The cloaked man narrowed his eyes. Beneath the shadow concealment there was the slightest hint of a smirk.
"Then you know something about the attack on Sanctuary then? What was the goal? If it was to wreck their facilities, couldn't a more centralized attack hit them the hardest where it hurts? I'm uncertain whether you were part of the evacuation efforts, or if you were in league with those who launched the siege, but I cannot help but feel like the better thing to do would be to strike them at their most heavily protected facilities, to free those who have been abducted."
Kazetatsu - 10/31/2017
"The attack was from outside. Eden didn't sanction it." The bird clarified quickly. "The demon hosts come from another realm. They will harm innocents, and anyone else they can get their hands on, including their own kind. A good many pieces must fall into place for Eden to run a successful rescue. The day wasn't our ally for such a strike. "
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 10/31/2017
"I have heard of Eden, but haven't had any real opportunity to speak to their leadership." He replied thoughtfully. His voice seemed to have a little more life to it, and the steam had stopped coming from his body.
"I want to be part of those efforts. To free Sanctuary of its oppressive rule, to change it to a place that maintains barriers for those who wish to live mundane, non-magical lives, but not to be such an oppressive place that sniffs out Mythicals and hunts them."
His stamina had fully recovered by this point, but his mind was still a bit weary. He was feeling a bit more optimistic, having met someone from Eden finally, but he still kept looking down to the barely visible terrain below, as if the temptation to go back down and wreak more havoc was still a powerful urge.
Kazetatsu - 10/31/2017
"Its unlikely." The bird stated regarding meeting eden's leadership. "Theres a limit on information so sanctuary can't blow us if someone's caught."
She looked down at the world below. "They're cracking down especially hard lately. They're fed up with god level beings blowing parts of the city apart, and controlling aspects of their lives. The city's taken five big hits maybe more in less than half a year. Thats a new record, and makes it look like we're all out to get them. We're trying to change our culture as well as theirs but there will always be those who don't know better, or who get cornered into no other choice." She was sad about this. The continued rift between groups wasn't only sanctuary's fault.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 11/01/2017
"Then let me help. I still have a few tricks left, although they will likely have an idea how to do more harm toe than they did this time around. They don't know my face, but I can no longer appear before them disguised without them knowing what I am. They cornered me. I felt like I could've thrown them off, but not without endangering the area, and sweeping up people who did no wrong..."
His thoughts went back to his home plane, where sinister politicians sent men and women after him, proclaiming him as good as The Dark One, and simply defending himself and his loved ones against their ambushes and attacks only seemed to reaffirm, in their eyes, the rumors of his being some evil villain.
"Let me aid the efforts. I'm more resilient than I may appear, and so long as these efforts maintain a positive goal, I can help as I did today, if not moreso."
Kazetatsu - 11/01/2017
"They most likely got physiological readings, and samples of your energy signature. If so, They'll be able to identify you regardless of any disguise you use whether you show your face or not." The bird pointed out. "Lay low until we can sabotage that data. Later you'll be scouted by an eden agent, and be issued orders." She explained. The preferred scouting was secretive. Targets tended to act differently when they were aware of being tested, and edenites other than she ought to check and make sure Maximillion would be a good investment.
☯ XARXU ☯ (📚 Bookworm) - 11/03/2017
Max started suddenly, as if realizing something that had escaped him earlier.
"Who are you?" He suddenly asked, turning to look at the bird. His eyes flashed brightly for a moment, the glow brightening as he scanned the different spectrums and eyed the bird curiously.
"I don't mean to be impolite, but we've been here speaking, and I have no idea who you are. If not for the fact that you arrived when you did, and you are clearly not human in nature..." He clenched and unclenched his fists, not in a threatening way, but like he was trying to work out tension in his body.
"Show and tell time, hmm?" A hint of a smile played upon his lips beneath the concealment of the dark purple cowl. He was suddenly filled with a powerful wave of mischief, hoping he'd have a chance to throw off his cloak dramatically. Part of him felt this was an inappropriate (and sudden) mood shift, but a greater part of him was just ready to leave the intense and uncomfortable situation that had just unfolded behind him.
Kazetatsu - 11/03/2017
There was nothing to see. Except for her unusual anatomy she hit all the marks of being a bird. She didn't stand out on any supernatural frequencies.
a subtle smile graced the edges of her beak, building into a deep laugh. Of course she could find out easily about him from Eden's pull of records and from info-brokers and he knew naught of who she was. Perhaps she also sensed his desire for theatrics.
They were outside of the range of many sanctuary scanners, but not quite out of hot water if sanctuary chose to be actively trying to target them. Hmm... she didn't think she had to worry.
A powerful wingbeat drove her forward. She passed the man on his left, having doubled, no tripled in size within the brief flight the black of her feathers rippled into other hues. By the time she came around to his right, she was a brown eagle of majestic, but still realistic scale. "I am one of the ones who works on Eden's paper trail." The role description didn't match her form at all but that was part of the point. If he met her in her actual job, he likely would not recognize her even if he were to be actively looking. "For a name, Flare will do." It might be obviously a pseudonym, but some information, she knew better than to give lest it make her too easy to find. "now let us leave this place before sanctuary stumbles on us in their stupidity."
