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....

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

After that first Trial attack, Kinji is slow to come back off edge. Such a horrific attack, something explicitly designed to murder him, made from him, was something he wasn't about to forget in a hurry. Nor was he keen to let it go - even if he and Tachibana had killed it the once, that had been on its second appearance; there wasn't a doubt in Kinji's mind that there would be more in progress, even if they didn't specifically include his DNA.

So he's been on the lookout the entire time. He tries to be lowkey about it, lest his menacing werewolf aura out him as such, but those who are sensitive to it won't have much difficulty in feeling it. He's mostly just patrolling the city on foot; more than a few times he swings past BOARD's previous location, but more or less he's simply around, prowling like the apex predator he is in a wide radius around the storage lots he's claimed as his territory.

Don't mind him looking intensely out of alleyways when he's not sitting in the weak sun eating hamburgers by the truckload. All this fighting recently has taken a huge chunk out of his energy stores.

It was rather hard to miss Kinji's patrolling, and even Tachibana could guess the reason behind it. There's two take-out cups from a near by chain in his hands as he approaches Kinji on his lunch break.

"The coffee I owe you," he greeted, holding one out.

He's stuck his hand in his take-out back to grab the next burger, but catching the familiar scent of the mage in the air has him putting it back and turning with his hand free by the time his friend approaches, and Kinji takes it with a grin. "Much obliged."

He goes to take a sip, but hesitates with it close to his mouth so he can ask, "Any luck on yer side a' things? Been all quiet on my front." If he's taking a subtle sniff of the coffee before he drinks it, well. He was on edge for a reason.

It's pretty standard, cheap coffee, no sugar or cream added, and has no smell that wouldn't be expected from something that just came from a fast food cafe.

Tachibana shook his head with a frown as he sat. "A lot of new faces sniffing around where HQ used to be, but just clueless rubberneckers and types from Sayoko's end of town," he half sighed. "Hirose's had a bit better of luck getting into the database, but so far, it's mostly just things we've already found out."

And if there was an uncomfortable note in his expression... well, Kinji likely could guess why. The amount of data BOARD had kept on him...

Good, clean coffee. Terrible quality, but that's only to be expected, and he ends up chugging half of it as Tachibana talks. His own face is a grimace when he lowers it, and it's only partially the intensely bitter coffee.

"S'pose they wouldn't go keepin' pertinent info on easy access," he comments dryly. "Else that nosy bastard what done broke into yer storage wouldn't a' had to."

The mage doesn't seem to notice or mind the taste as he sips his own, frown lingering as he nodded. "...He's actually the one who helped Hirose get as far as she did," he admitted. "She caught him trying out in the open and hauled him off somewhere to let him try under safer conditions." There's a wry note in his voice as he shakes his head, leaning back in the seat. "Not an ideal situation. But none of this is."

He broods silently a moment before adding. "She did find that they've been working on this for a long time. At least for as long as I was employed there." He took a longer drink, letting the heat chase away the uncomfortable feeling in his stomach.

Phillip tends to not to mess with the werewolf population on a daily basis- or most of the time, really. Obviously, he sticks mostly to Changelings, and humans when he can, but things have gotten increasingly complicated. And it's not like he didn't know who and what people were before. Just that he tried to stay out of there way unless there was something in particular he wanted to figure out. Or they were fun.

This whole... debacle has made a bunch of them much more noticeable, however. And who is he to ignore one of those very notable pieces just hanging out in an alley? ...With a ridiculous amount of hamburgers? Sure, ok, that's probably fine. "You alright, there?" he asks, leaning against the other side of the alleyway. Seriously you look kind of insane.

He's gotta get protein and fat back in him somehow, and the best value for money was burgers.

He barely glances up at the intrusion, but his nostrils flare as he takes a deep breath to sigh back out; the picture of faintly bothered irritation. Changeling, then, there was that usual odd tang in the air of their magic, but this one has a slightly more mundane eau de corpse about it. "Depends on who's askin'," he comments: his Japanese is flawless, if odd - Osaka-ben, maybe. "But I don't reckon I got much t'say t'y'all and yers."

"Why not?" Phillip asks, tilting his head to the side with a smile. He looks charming, especially for those who can't see underneath his Mask, but there is definitely the air of 'well now that I know this annoys you I'm just going to keep doing it' to it, "I don't see why we can't all be friends."

(See, this is why he usually sticks to Changelings- he tends to wind up starting things accidentally or on purpose otherwise.)

Charming isn't particularly impressive to Kinji. He just doesn't trust Changelings on principle. It's not like any of them have left all that reassuring impacts on him.

"Now well, I don't reckon y'all'd be the type t'have any difficulty makin' friends. But me, I'm a right bit more particular 'bout the company I keep. An' I like 'em a bit more down t'earth than what y'all're offerin'."

Phillip huffs, brushing a bit of his hair back. "Well, that's a bit unfair, isn't it? We're a mixed crowd, you know, like any other group. Or would you much like it if I started lumping you in with all of your fellows?" He doesn't know a lot about this guy, but given that a.) he's still in the city and b.) his overall appearance, he feels like he might not be too keen on being compared to the more... feral of his kind.

If you were Summer, Phillip, you would have just hit a motherlode. The only visible response is Kinji's jaw tightening, his eyes narrowing as he glares, but outraged fury rolls under his skin like fire, and he turns his glare to the wall.

"Y'all don't know a damn thing about me t'even think about makin' a call like that."

Sometimes Phillip thinks he would have fit very well in Summer. He does kind of enjoy getting a rise out of people, after all.

"I didn't," Phillip says, tilting his head to the side with a charming smile, "but you seem plenty comfortable making those kind of assumptions about me. So why don't we both just start fresh?"

"Naw, I think we're done here." He pushes himself off the wall and goes for the alley's exit. "I get enough a' y'all tryin' t'pull shit on me when I'm on duty, don't need all y'all startin' shit when I'm relaxin'."

"Is striking up a casual conversation 'pulling shit'?" Phillip asks, watching him go. He'd hate to see what you do when he was actually up to something.

"'f all a' yer type I've met so far, ain't a one a' them what didn't have some kinda ulterior motive." He's opening his fast food bag again, removing another burger. "I ain't inclined t'find out if yer the same."

"My ulterior motive is that I like chatting," Phillip says dryly, "You've caught me and my devious, devious plan of getting to know people."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Trial of Trials : Act 2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject