Trial of Trials : Act 2

[thequestgiver]

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....

Comments

[uzoda]

Neither name may mean much to the other, but that doesn't matter. It's an introduction, and that's good. Kenzaki takes a tentative step forward. "You look like you took quite a beating, Aikawa-san. Do you need a hand?"

[chalicejoker]

"You should see the other guy. I'm fine." He tries to get up again and falls back down. "I'm just...going to sit here for a moment." Yes, yes, totally planned sitting, not at all an admission that he's that worn out.

[uzoda]

"I don't know, the other guy looked pretty..." Partway through the sentence, he realizes that it's not at all what Hajime here is probably willing to tolerate. He's already getting the idea that he's proud, and that he bit off more than he could chew. "Who was he, anyway?" He asks it as he makes his approach, hoping it'll keep Hajime distracted enough that he can do some good.

[chalicejoker]

Hajime's scowl deepens at Kenzaki's obvious (and justified) doubt that the "other guy" had been roughed up at all. He's quietly trying to assess the other man; he has no idea how much of that--or what--Kenzaki might have seen. What he might know. "Someone who's pretending to be someone he's not."

Can't even say that wasn't a person, that was a thing. Frustrating.

[uzoda]

"No kidding..." Tell him something he doesn't know, Hajime. "How'd you end up in a fight with him, anyway?" He takes another careful step forward... then another.

[chalicejoker]

"I wanted him to stop doing what he's doing." Hajime decides leaving it vague is best. "He declined." Asshole. The not-Tachibana will pay for that...

But at least he's not reacting too aggressively towards Kenzaki's approach. There's a certain sort of wariness, but he stands his ground, and he doesn't try to attack the other man.