maskeddarkness | Trial of Trials : Act 2

Trial of Trials : Act 2

There's something uneasy that can be felt in the city, and seemingly no end to the rumors springing up in the wake of the downtown explosion that leveled BOARD's headquarters. Stories of an odd sickness where the afflicted suddenly winds up anemic, their blood levels dangerously low, despite feeling fine that morning have already taken root, others of strange animals seen roaming at night, and horrible screams and gunshots in one of the parking garages....

The space where the ill-fated headquarters lays silent, an empty patch of dirt and gravel that seemed to attract those drawn to stories and rumors. Police have already had to shoo away opportunists with metal detectors, hoping to find something interesting in the impressively quickly cleared wreckage, and others have reported something that just feels... wrong, when they walk by the site. The ghosts of those who hadn't made it out of the collapse? Or something else? Noone can really put a finger on it to explain.

And meanwhile, under the cover of shadows, things unknown to those who still walk in the light continue to move. Whispers of the rogue mage and a treasure trove of information, of upsets in the vampire hierarchy, and sworn revenge on the mages who had used one of their own for their gain.

And deep in a hidden lab, BOARD's remains and allies continue to work, twisting all they can get their hands on to create the perfect weapon; made of the very things they wish to cleanse from the world. The loss of the incapacitated vampire elder was only a small one, with how much they had already extracted and drawn from it. And if the rumors of their knowledge being in the hands of their enemies were true? They would just have to speed up their projected timeline. Or simply slow down that of the world. After all, they were mages. Reality bended to their will, not that of those who opposed them....

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The wolf stumbles short when its target vanishes, but it doesn't stop moving; it feels the world shifting behind it, and turns sharply as it finishes growing; thick, oily fur, the same colour as Kinji's hair, hangs in shaggy waves, and in the light of the fallen torch its claws and teeth glint like metal, as it wrinkles its mouth in an open snarl - and it's moving again, faster than anything that big had any right to move, bringing its hand around to slash at Hayami with another violent growl.

Again, reality warps around them, Hayami appearing a few meters away this time, smirking.

It might not be the greatest thinker right now, with Kinji out of commission, but the wolf is more than aware that it's being toyed with. That doesn't stop it from trying to attack; on the contrary, each miss and every damned smile on the vampire's face just stokes its anger to greater heights, and it keeps trying to land hits, leaping over the fence of the lot in a single bound when Hayami teleports(?) outside it, and the wolf runs at top speed after him.

It's not hard to track the werewolf's path, if one were willing; it's snarling like a demon, roaring with every swipe, sending garbage cans flying and marking deep scores in dumpsters and walls as it fails, again and again and again, to land a hit.

Until the vampire is just-- gone, without a trace, with the wolf still raging and unable to smell a damned thing, and all it can do to let that fury out is to howl, a throat-ripping snarl that echoes through the alleyways surrounding it. It's not in the public eye, not yet, but it's about to be at any moment - someone's gonna go hunting.

If there is a sound that Tachibana had grown able to identify instantly, it was the distinct howl of Kinji's wolf.

...that it was echoing through the city streets, just barely loud enough to be heard from where he was...

Seconds later he's pushing through late evening crowds and running down the alleyways, not even bothering with his bike (the sound of the engine would get in the way of tracking the sounds of the rampaging werewolf. In his focus, he doesn't even notice when one of the people he's pushing past smears something on his jacket, assuming it was just another push back to his parting the crowd.

At least this far away from the stink bombs, the wolf's nose is finally starting to clear out. Its current surroundings were no better though, surrounded by garbage, flashing lights and stinking exhaust as cars drove around, crowds and chatter and screams and laughter; there was no escaping that sensory overload that had reduced its human to nothing, was still hurting the wolf, and there's no small amount of panic and confusion beneath the fury. What the hell was it supposed to do now?

It's about to leave its alleyway, try a different direction, when it hears footsteps - heavy, but human, racing towards them, and it spins around immediately, rising on its hind legs as the human turns a corner--

That bastard was back. The wolf's eyes flash red, all conflicting emotions gone and replaced with rage. Same face, same smell, and a growl builds in its throat as its legs tense, and that's all the warning Tachibana's going to get before the werewolf leaps at him with murder in its eyes.

"Ki--" Tachibana's exclamation of his friend's name was cut short as the werewolf launched at him, and he just barely dodged, rolling into a (thankfully empty) garbage can with a clatter.

He's quickly back on his feet, however. "Kinji!" he yelled again, worry and mild panic evident in his voice. The hell had happened?!

Why dodge now, vampire? Acting like it doesn't even need to teleport to stay ahead of the wolf now, is it?

It's not going to wait and find out - it's leaping again, claws out in another wild swing, aiming foe the man's throat, and now that it's expecting the bastard to dodge it's going to follow through, keep moving to stay as close as possible.

Tachibana again dodges, attempting to jump over the wolf, not wanting to move the same direction twice. If he can somehow get on Kinji's back and just... hold on until he's calmed enough to return to his senses....

It's going to be a long wait, Tachibana - Kinji's mind is well and truly under lockdown, there's just too much rage and overstimulation for the werewolf's human mind to counter, and so when Tachibana hurdles over the beast, there's a hind leg rising hard and fast to meet him before those glinting teeth swing round again.

A grunt and curse escape as the wolf's kick hits and Tachibana goes flying back. An arm goes up to block the bite, injury to his arm far more prefered that to any other, more vital part of him.

"Snap out if it, Kinji! It's me!" he yelled as he tried to regain his footing.

Giant teeth clamp down on Tachibana's forearm, ripping fabric as it gets a grip, but before the wolf bites down with full force, its nostrils flare - hot breath soaks Tachibana's sleeve and that damned smell hits the wolf's nose again, and it releases with a sharp, outraged bark, lifting a paw to scrub at its nose. Goddamnit how was it supposed to deal with that?!

Tachibana pauses at the reaction, blinking once before he shrugs off his jacket and flings it aside, getting to his feet. That person who had run their hand over his jacket... could it have been...?

"Was that what was making you mad? Something on the jacket?" he asked, posture defensive, ready to block or dodge any renewed attack.

The wolf shakes its head violently, the movement running down his spine and ending with a hard whip of his tail. Stop talking, damnit, shut up and let him kill you--

It rushes in again, lifting a paw to make a wild underarm swipe, trying to rip up Tachibana's torso.

Tachibana swore under his breath, quickly dodging to the side before attempting to tackle the rampaging wolf. If he could just grab hold and keep his hold.....

The tackle's certainly not going to take the werewolf down, but it is surprised. Why the hell was this bastard trying to attack it? It's on a bad angle now, but it might just be able to reach around with its far arm and sink its claws into the man's leg, to try and drag him back down.

The mage grimaces as the wolf's claws rip at him, but his grip is tight and stubborn. He's gotten a grip now, and he is not going to let go. "Damnit, Kinji! Come back to your senses! Both parts of you are better than this!" He yelled, locking his knees in to cling even tighter.

They rip through clothes and flesh with the same ease, but the grip is too awkward for the wolf to maintain, and being mounted and ridden is just another insult to the many injuries it's taken. It rears, turning as it does, and tries to slam Tachibana into the nearest wall, hard enough that it smacks its own head with a sick crunch against the bricks.

Another curse escapes, Tachibana bracing best he can to keep his head from being injured. This was going to get ugly fast if he didn't do something...!

Taking a deep breath, he concentrates, reality ripping around them as an invisible shield forms. No hard surfaces to smash into and nowhere to run. To the outside world, they've vanished from view.

"I'm not going to let go! I won't let you hurt yourself or anyone else!"

The wolf drops onto all fours, ready to rush at the other wall and try to smash the bastard off again--

--except, suddenly, everything's gone quiet. Sound and smell alike are both suddenly muffled, and the shock of that is enough to make it stop dead, frozen but for its heaving breathes. The only thing it can smell now is...

It seems to hesitate, just for a moment, before it looks over its shoulder at the man - at Tachibana. At the man who didn't smell, whatsoever, of vampire.

Tachibana doesn't let up his grip, breath heavy from the exertion and his injuries. He looks up, a small, deeply worried note of hope in his expression. Had he finally broken through...?

It can feel Kinji's mind starting to stir now, slowly recovering as they wind down from the assaults on their senses, but right now all the wolf can focus on is the horror of having hurt its master. Its ears flick flat against its head, its tail half-tucks between its legs, and it lowers itself gently to the ground; but its eyes never leave Tachibana's as it does.

At the guilty deference, most of the tension in Tachibana's frame leaves him, and his death grip on the wolf eases. With a small wince, he rolls off the wolf's back, shakily getting to his feet, leaving one hand on his friend's back, both to stabilize himself and in hopes to keep Kinji and his wolf clear headed.

It looks down as Tachibana climbs off it, but that just means it ends up staring at the bloody gashes it's left in the mage's leg, and a quiet, guilty whine rumbles in its chest, ears trying to press even flatter.

Tachibana hesitates before putting a gentle hand on the wolf's head. "It's allright," he assured. "What matters is that you're back to your senses."

No, it wasn't alright, not at all, but the wolf didn't have the capacity to explain any of it. It pulls its head back from Tachibana, and forces the change.

It was hard this way, so much harder for the beast to put itself away than to force its way out - especially when it involves dragging its human half out and shoving him back into the driver's seat, but after an agonizing minute it's Kinji again, curled up on his knees and shivering violently.

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