thenearshore | [open] take it from me

Entry tags:

[open] take it from me

Who: Chikusa Kakimoto and you
What: Staying at the Li Tieugai temple is becoming too annoying lately. Fortunately, Chikusa has plenty of things to investigate, from the library to the blighted spot.
When: Throughout the latter half of November
Where: Heaven's Library, the blighted area, other places
Warnings: Heavy violence in the Add thread, death (temporary)

A - Heaven's Library (constant)

The price of information, to Chikusa's great misfortune, always seems to be effort.

It explains why anyone visiting the Library throughout the month will seem to always eventually run into Chikusa if they're browsing around between the shelves long enough. On one hand, it's not particularly unusual. For months, now, Chikusa has been a constant presence within the library ever since the goblins which maintained it passed away due to that strange time warping event. Most of the time, however, he's been distant to anyone else that's been there with him, and not always looking for anything in particular. In fact, he seems to always be working in his unofficial capacity as one of the library workers there trying to keep it some idea of organized. (Which isn't always particularly successful...) Anyone who's seen him before in the library has likely seen him at work, staunchly ignoring all other shinki or gods, for the most part.

For the next few weeks, however, he's clearly searching for something. Instead of dully pushing around a cart full of books (or slumping against them in what is apparently extreme exhaustion from such an arduous task), he can be found carefully thumbing through the various titles before he organizes them. He can be found leaning against one bookcase with his eyes roaming the spines of book, taking in every title or lack of wording. Sometimes, he even reaches upwards, searching out what appears to be bits of loose paper or scraps that have somehow slipped on top of or inbetween books. Rarely does there seem to be anything worthwhile on the stray papers, judging by his quiet sighing, but occasionally he pauses to stare intently down on what seem to be random scribbles. Perhaps someone will even get to see him doing so.

....Alternatively, they may see him find what's apparently a blank piece of paper, take a pen out of his usual bag, and scribble something on it that's almost definitely rude before putting part of it underneath the strange door in the back of the library.

Fuck you, mysterious presence.

Other times, he's actually sitting down, a small stack of books around him. One is always open, his hand laid out against it to keep it that way, and he occupies his other hand with writing down what are apparently notes in a simple notebook. While Chikusa can be a little hard to read even on good days, he doesn't particularly seem pleased with what he's finding... or, perhaps, not finding.

While he's otherwise busy, he won't stop anyone from approaching him, and will even pause in the middle of what he's doing to level that dead eyed stare of his onto whoever has come near enough, whether they mean to interrupt him or not.

B - The Near Shore, the Blighted Zone

If the library won't give him the answers that he wants, then that means he really has no other choice but to go investigate himself... Well, by peering in on what exactly Heaven is doing in its own investigations on the area that became so badly blighted during the night of the God Meeting. After all, looking into the forest is clearly going to be a little harder.

For anyone else just passing through or perhaps even trying to look into things themselves, Chikusa's lanky figure is an easy one to spot, and not only because he tends to tower over other people even in a dead slouch. Rather, it's probably the shark finned beanie that he's wearing... It's not particularly subtle, but sometimes Chikusa rarely bothers to be. What has more of his attention is apparently ghosting throughout the neighborhood, pausing to take in a particular spot he can recall, or leaning against a wall to overhear what look like some of Heaven's shinki. With the amount of time he's spent in the Far Shore and his own skills of observation, he's learned to pick up familiar faces, after all.

C - The Near Shore, Asakusa

It's late at night. Why anyone would be out at such a time is a mystery that can only be answered by the individual themselves, but then, that's Asakusa for you. There are a lot of festivals held throughout the year in this place, and the amount of temples and other such things means that it's an enjoyable place for travelers of all sorts. Yet the recent ghost stories have apparently been creeping people out. In the dark streets, where various buildings and apartments have gone dark... The sound of footsteps echoing... going faster... and faster....

And bursting out of the doorway of a nearby building in the form of a frantic pair of shoes moving all by themselves, hastily dodging a borderline suddenly shooting out from inside the building. That sure is Chikusa, eyes sharp and his fingers still borderline ready.

Hopefully no one is in the way. That would be just horrible.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone wants to love cats. That's just the existence of the world. This particular one waits for a few moments....

....Before taking a few steps away. Truly a horrible fate for Add. If there's anything good about it, it's that the cat immediately flops down onto the ground afterwards, curling up on its back and rolling its head to look over at Add with those wide eyes.

He glares at the cat, clearly displeased with this turn of events. After another moment, though, he glances around again to make sure he's still alone (no one lurking around to judge him, check).

There's plenty of time to finish his tedious chores later. Volunteer hours are about the time spent and not the work done anyway, right?? So it's fine if he dicks around for awhile. He stands up straight, stretching.

"Alright, fine." You win his round, cat. But he will earn your love and affection...! He starts to follow after the cat, bending down to try to pet it again.

Of course the cat wins this round. The cat always wins. Still, it waits patiently for him, and even deigns to let him touch the fluffy belly.

That beautiful, precious fluff.

Add will have that all to himself for a good, solid quarter of a minute without even losing his hand for it, the cat's eyes falling into a lazy squint. After that, however, it flips back onto its feet and away from his hand with a loud and demanding meow. Taking a few steps away, it stares at him expectantly and meows again.

Again, the cat insists on being a tease. Fifteen seconds of soft, precious fluff is nowhere near enough to satisfy him. Add is forced to stand up, watching the cat curiously.

"Do you want something...?" It doesn't seem to be in any rush, but it sure is stopping and going a lot. Almost like it's trying to lead him somewhere. Like the person who owns it, or...

or a place with more cute split-tailed cats.

He considers the risks very seriously for about half a second, then starts following after the cat again. He doesn't stop to pet it this time, watching to see if it continues onward or if it's just fucking with him.

Another tiny screaming cat meow in answer. Considering Disaster, Add is probably quite familiar with the demanding sound. Still, the constant following seems to sate the little creature. It pauses only to rub up against the occasional tree, or sniff a leaf, and each stop only takes a second or two. Otherwise, there's still that meow occasionally, as if to keep Add's attention...

...Or distract him.

It's perhaps a minute, a few minutes because it's funny how time flies when people are distracted by mall fluffy animals, before the cat comes to a pause. They're further into the trees that were alongside the place he was raking, enough that it's impossible to see that spot past all the wood and greenery now. As with all the times before, the cat pauses to sniff at some bush or another.... before suddenly leaping through it to pounce on some unknown thing.

Add won't get very long to take that action in, however.

At the exact same time, needles spray out from the foliage around him- not one spray, not two, but four different ones, all from different directions, all intended to cover the max amount of area that possibly can be with their wide coverage. It's taken ages for Chikusa to figure out the perfectly right angles with the hopes that at least one needle would get through Add's defenses. Rain or true poison, it doesn't really matter. A poisoner only ever needs one. It's taken even longer for him to find the right way position his yoyos through trees themselves, and their strings are all stretched to the limit to allow this to happen.

There's nothing else but this. Chikusa has already come to that conclusion long ago.

At some point, he can't help but worry he might be walking into danger. It hasn't been that long since the incident with the forest, after all, and as the trees around him grow thicker his machines draw closer to his to body. Perhaps a similar trap could be at work here. After the fireflies failed...

He looks back once, hesitating... but he has his Dynamo with him. A crackling flicker of electricity to remind him that he's at full power. Even if this was a trap, he hardly has anything to fear. He chuckles, brushing off his concerns before turning back to the cat.

He's being way too paranoid. This is just a normal forest, and it's not like he's being hypnotized. There's nothing to worry about.

He marches forward with confidence, ducking under a branch just as the cat suddenly leaps into a bush—

A noise, like darts whizzing through the air. The hairs on his neck stand up.

"Dynamo!" The noise is familiar, he realizes much later, but a fraction of a second is still enough time for him call up a defensive formation. Needles pang against metal as the barrier forms, falling harmlessly to the forest floor. Fucking Chikusa, that insufferable jackass—

He can't pinpoint the source of the attack, so he spreads out his defence as far as he can. That turns out to be the correct choice—but it's a slower to activate at that size, against a small and fast-moving barrage. His barriers are designed to resist heavy impacts from larger enemies, not something as tiny as a needle. There are too many cracks for him to fill on such short notice.

At least 84% of the needles are blocked by the barrier. 3% bounce off his dynamos. 8% embed themselves in his armour, or clatter to the ground when they're unable to stick. And the last 5%...

A 95% defence rate is still pretty good, actually. He'll be impressed with his defence program later when he doesn't have several needles sticking out of his body.

He hisses through grit teeth, forcing himself to concentrate until the rain of needles runs out. Only when the forest falls quiet again does the purple force field start to waver, a hand reaching down to grip a needle buried deep in his side—a slit in his armour designed for flexibility, but the material underneath is only a little tougher than cotton. He pulls it out in one quick motion, blood starting to stain through not long after. Another is hastily pulled from his leg. There are others, he can feel them pricking into his skin, but he doesn't have time to dig out every single one. He whirls around, dynamos humming with a bright electric aura as he searches for his assailant.

He's hit him.

The tension that's been wrapped tight in Chikusa's chest begin to ease up, and he makes sure to take an extremely quiet breath- through the nose, out his mouth. Learning how to breathe quietly, no sighs or gasps or pants, is a skill every assassin learns to do if they don't want to die. And he can't get caught now... Not when he's so close. All he has to do is wait Add out... and the effects of his needles will do their job.

So Chikusa waits, keeping track of his breath, clothed in camouflage that should keep him hidden unless Add does some real searching. He won't get a chance to do that, however- hopefully.

Chikusa has packed a horrific cocktail of needles within two of his yoyos for this day... Wanting to get in whatever he could since he was prepared for at least some degree to be blocked majority. Chikusa is ready to wait Add until some sort of needle begins to affect him. One of the tranquilizers, maybe, that will make him dizzy and hit the ground, or one of the poisons that makes breathing all the harder... Or perhaps one of the Rain needles, packed with as much energy as he could give it, slowing down thought and movement.

Or maybe he'll just start losing all his lunch and fall face first into the mess, but Chikusa has to admit that one is just a petty dream of his.

The forest is still. Irritatingly so. His machines spark a little brighter, the array around him spreading out from their defensive formation to get a better reading of the area. If Chikusa is here, there's no way he'll stay hidden for long.

Picking out one energy signature in a place like this should be a snap, but his focus wavers. Something... isn't right. The bright sparks from his Dynamos are already starting to dwindle, a heavy sensation falling over him not unlike what that cursed forest had done before. Something is sapping his energy—he doesn't have to think hard to figure out the cause. Add turns in a tight circle, scanning the area with his eyes while he tries to pull his machines back into formation.

It takes far too long for him to finally pick up a trace and parse where it's coming from. The dim glow around him flares up for a moment, flashing with anger as he turns quickly on his heel. He wobbles a little at the sudden motion, taking a few extra seconds to steady himself. He still doesn't see anyone, but he knows something must be there.

"I'm not in the mood for your petty games, brat!" he snarls at the bushes, trying to arrange his machines back into position again. It's a little asymmetrical, but the ring in front of him should be a familiar formation. "Give yourself up now and maybe I'll consider ending this quickly! Or would you rather die slowly, pulled apart from the inside out?! Make up your mind before I do it for you!"

From up in the trees and down in the bushes, there are a series of small thunks as the various yoyos are dislodged from their places with a twist and a tug. A following whir draws them all back to where Chikusa is, fingers forced to spread out to accommodate two to a hand. So Add is still capable of moving... Well, Chikusa took that into account as well.

He's already shifting away from his hiding spot, silently moving through the underbrush with practiced skill. Frankly, he'd rather not get into an out and out confrontation with Add... and he thinks if he waits long enough, he might not have to.

Still, so long as Add is clearly tracking him... With some difficulty, he sends the Rain yoyos out- one to smash into a tree on one of Add's sides to startle him before the second comes onto the other side for another spray of needles.

He's not expecting anything to hit, although he'll be glad if it does, but anything to make Add waste his energy is good.

The initial thunks make him jump, another weak flash of sparks shooting off his weapons on reflex. If he pours his all into it, he can just barely charge enough power to fire off an attack... but now he's not so sure. Add hesitates, the ring in front of him slowly starting to lose its formation.

His vision is starting to swim, and it's becoming more and more obvious that whatever Chikusa hit him with works a hell of a lot faster than those chocolates did. If he attacks now he'll only get one shot, and in his current condition there's no guarantee he'd be able to hit the target. Doing so would also open him up to a counterattack. It's a bad decision no matter how he looks at it, and he probably ruined his chances even more with that outburst. As much as he hates letting this little shit get away...

Retreat is his best option. Save what's left of his dignity and—

He snaps back to attention when something crashes into the trees beside him—shit, how long did he just space out?! Add quickly turns to the direction of the noise, hastily forming a new barrier in front to cover him as he makes his escape plan.

His reaction time is way too slow. If the attack had been from that side, he would've just barely been able to block most of it. 84% was good, but now he'd be lucky to block even 70%.

If it had been from that side.

Instead, Add's back is left wide open to the spray of needles. It's already too late by the time he realizes his mistake. Much of the attack is still deflected by his armour, but there's nothing else to soften the blow or stop the needles from striking at his weak points. There's a sharp cry as he staggers forward, the energy around his dynamos evaporating in an instant.

He tilts forward after a moment of paralyzing pain, crashing into the ground along with his machines.

The yoyos crash back into his hands, normally silent movements interrupted by the sound of the weapons crashing back into the ones he's still holding with loud cracks. Slowly breathing in, Chikusa counts to three in his head. Three seconds are all he needs, three seconds to make sure Add doesn't get back up. One.... Two...

From inbetween his fingers, flickering and fading from around the edges of his palms, the blue yoyos begin to dissipate into blue flames, and Chikusa swings his hands back down. It's done. His stomach is wound tight as he carefully steps through the foliage, looping around until he steps out from it all. A hoodie has been pulled over his head, hiding his dark hair, and a cloth mask is tugged down from his mouth. While his glasses have been hidden away- he didn't want to risk a wayward shine outing him- there's no mistaking the dull eyes staring down at Add. Carefully tugging one hand free of a yoyo to hide it away in his pockets again, Chikusa kicks away one of the dynamos.

"Done now...?"

The dynamo spins in the air, managing to hover for a few seconds before losing momentum and crashing again. He still has some power left, but it's not much. Not something he can stand to waste by even a small amount.

Add doesn't answer immediately, digging his fingers into the dirt as he tries to regain some composure. The fall managed to drive some of the needles further into his body, and the pain of everything combined is quickly becoming too much for him to bear. His nerves are on fire. Probably punctured at least a couple vital organs with all those needles, too. Not that it probably matters since his biology has been a mess for years now. Pay no mind to the traces of black oozing out of his wounds, swirling patterns into the growing pools of blood like oil on water.

With a great deal of effort he gasps, forcing out words between strained breaths as he writhes uselessly on the ground: "Go to hell."

He needs to keep Chikusa distracted a little longer... if he can just gather power enough to open a portal into the void...

"What... do you want? Asshole."

Why should it be a surprise that his blood his black? Chikusa only spares a momentary glance towards it, deciding to stay away and letting that be around the amount of thought he puts into it. Who knows what's in that kind of filth? No, he stays up near the head, where there's less of an oil-slick blood spill to worry about, and presses his foot down against Add's head. With his other hand, he starts to fiddle with the one remaining yoyo that he has out.

"You, dead," he says simply as he does it. In the stillness of the trees, the small clicks of his yoyo are able to be heard. It's such a complicated, quiet little gadget, but it's able to be heard here. "You've been too much of a danger... So I'm going to make you suffer for it."

The ayakashi poison... It's fortunate that Add is a god. That means that Chikusa won't have to worry about balancing out the amount, or timing the complete end of Add's life and ayakashi transformation.

It can just be slow... and painful. At least, that's the idea. He just has to adjust his yoyo for it first. That's not the kind of thing he goes spraying out carelessly, after all.

The foot is uncomfortable, but the one upside of being in extreme pain is that adding more to it doesn't really bother him that much. There's a quiet hiss through clenched teeth, but other than that Add doesn't show much reaction. He has to focus to keep still—moving only makes his injuries worse, and he needs to conserve as much energy as he can.

So Chikusa really does want to kill him this time. How annoying. He coughs out a hoarse laugh.

"Stupid. Wasting your time." They both know death is only temporary, so all Chikusa is really threatening is to maybe-possibly send Add somewhere else. But based on his own experiences with death— "Won't work. You're hardly... the first to try."

But it would be troublesome if he lost his memories, and he doesn't want to give Chikusa any satisfaction. Whatever the brat is messing with, he doesn't care right now. He can still get away...

A dynamo behind Chikusa flickers, shuddering weakly. The rain needles aren't strong enough to pierce through Dynamo's plating, so the reserve batteries should still be full... its just a matter of tapping into that power source before the poisoning becomes too much. Add closes his eyes, willing his way through the haze clouding his mind to draw a few of those sparks to himself.

Maybe digging Add's face deeper into the dirt will be more annoying? Because Chikusa doesn't mind resting a bit more of his weight onto Add's head, not when it's such a simple thing to do. What's leaning forward, when it comes to using energy?

"Working well enough," he mutters, talkative half from absentmindedness. All of his attention is more on organizing his yoyo, getting it to the right row of needles packed tightly within its deceiving appearance. It'll be a good death. Slow, and painful. Enough to wipe that arrogant look from his face and that tone out of his mouth. And then, maybe then, he'll realize he shouldn't-

His adrenaline-hyped senses pick up the faint sound- something disturbing the foliage around them. He's too twitchy to take note of what it is, too paranoid that what he's worked so hard for will be ruined- Chikusa abandons adjusting his yoyo to twist about slamming it towards the source of the noise immediately. Crashing into the dynamo sends it bouncing a little bit away, and Chikusa pauses, staring after it with thinned lips. He doesn't know if that was automatic or guided, or even all in his head....

...But maybe he should spend a little more time on Add. Just in case. Clearly he hasn't learned anything, if he's still fighting like this. From where his foot had twisted against Add's head, grinding his face into the dirt more, he lifts it up and takes a step back.

"You need to pay more attention," he murmurs, drawing into a crouch. He'll ignore the ayakashi poison for now. Instead, he shifts his foot, stepping instead down onto the joints of one of Add's fingers. His whole weight bears down on it as he draws into a crouch, reaching out to dig his nails deeply into Add's scalp before yanking his head up. "I think..."

He doesn't bother to finish the sentence. Instead, seeking out some of the more exposed and tender parts of Add's neck... He sends a very short and very controlled spray- only a few needles perhaps- towards Add's neck.

But then... 'Short and controlled' only means so much with bullet ant venom.

The foot pushing against his skull is starting to give him a migraine. Chikusa says something, but he doesn't hear it. It takes all of Add's concentration to collect himself, to shut out all the distractions of his current predicament and focus solely on his Dynamo. Nothing else matters right now anyway. All he needs is a fraction of his power, enough to do something.

He exhales slowly. For moment, the machine begins to glow with a soft light...

Until something smashes into it. Add hisses again and flinches as if he'd been struck himself. There's a weak flash as the dynamo is knocked aside, clattering into the base of a tree. Chikusa might notice another weak static shock before the glow fades, the machine shuddering once more before going still.

But he got what he needed. A tenuous connection and a sliver of energy to use it... all he needs to do now is spring a portal open. Easy as pie, right?

His focus is disrupted again before he gets a chance to try. Something lands hard on his hand, then his head is yanked up from the ground uncomfortably—Add bites his lip, stubbornly refusing to give a reaction. He only barely feels his collar being pulled down. He's so close, if he can just pull through one more calculation—

A fresh wave of pain suddenly floods in. He chokes, body convulsing through the paralysis, unable to breathe for a second as he tries to process what's happening—it fucking hurts, like he's been stabbed through the neck, like he's really dying—

He panics. The adrenaline is enough, at least, for Add to push through the agony one last time. A soft blue light surrounds the space around them, fading with the faint sound of a ticking clock.

Perfect. Chikusa isn't a sadist, generally speaking. There's no pleasure for him in the act of tormenting another person. It's just something to do, something that occasionally needs to be done in order to gain information or send a message.

But with Add....? For Add, he'll make an exception, and gladly. So he keeps his fingers locked in tight against Add's hair, watching him choke with a desperate trembling throat and as his body jerks violently with no control available. Now that's a reaction, isn't it? Watching his eyes spasm from the pain, mouth gaping for air....

It's just his luck, however, that he doesn't get to enjoy the sight for longer. As the air floods blue, Chikusa digs his fingers in just in case- but no. He knows what this is. Patiently, his foot still grinding down into Add's knuckles and his fingers fisted into Add's hair. He waits until Add has stopped convulsing so hard, and his eyes can focus once again.

"You used that before," he notes, "when fighting Ken. It brings you back.... doesn't it? Properly..." So that Add knows that he can't use this kind of trick and expect it to work so flawlessly. This won't be like last time, this won't be Ken. So, roughly, he shoves Add hard enough that he rolls onto his other side.... but his foot keeps his arm stretched out in place. Uncomfortable, stretched to the fullest length... so that when he stands up, still bearing his weight down on Add's hand, he can use his other foot to stomp down on his elbow as hard as he can.

Time to see how much force it takes to break Add's arm.

It takes awhile for Add to settle down. The pain doesn't really stop, but it eventually reaches a plateau. His body hangs limply under Chikusa's grip, too exhausted now to make another move. It's tempting to just let himself drift into unconsciousness...

But he's still alive... which is a good thing, for now. His addled mind manages to make out just enough of Chikusa's words to get that he knows Add's trick. He probably doesn't know all of its limits, though... so he's likely bought himself some time. The Seal can only offer him protection for a couple minutes. That's how long he has to come up with a new plan.

A new plan... what plan? He used up what little strength he'd gained. Dynamo feels so far away from him now. What is there left that he can do?

There's a barely audible whimper as he's shoved back to the ground. His sleeves have a fair amount of plating on them, but it's not enough to do more than force Chikusa to put effort into his stomp. He doesn't have the energy left to squirm, but he starts to breathe harder as his bones start to creak.

"S...stop..."

Oh, so he can still speak? It's almost impressive, considering the kind of venom he'd had packed into those needles. Making it past any of his poisons, lethal or not, is impressive... But he's not particularly willing to give Add any credit right now. Not as he grinds his foot down against Add's arm.

"Why?" He raises his foot again, slamming down with another stomp. Not yet... "You didn't stop. And because of you... dragging others into dumb bickering... Someone more important than you'll ever be nearly died."

Another stomp, pressing his whole body down...

"So no."

Crack.

It sounds so good.

Something snaps, bones splintering beneath his flesh, more waves of pain and panic coursing through him. An all too familiar sensation. He's reminded of a girl's cruel smile, a roar through the wind that shakes him to his core. He chokes back another humiliating noise as he struggles to keep breathing, each breath more shallow than the last.

If he dies, he'll be right back where he started. What should he do? Should he try to reach out to Dynamo again? The connection feels too weak to even know where they are now. He can't move, he can barely even beg...

He's out of options. A dead end.

... he doesn't want to die, but there's nothing he can think of to solve this. Maybe passing out isn't such a bad idea after all.

With the sturdiness of armor and flesh finally overcome, Chikusa removes his foot, glancing over Add. If only he had more time... Carefully, he steps off of Add's hand as well. It'd be a satisfying thing, if he could drag Add into an abandoned building or temple, kill him so slowly it'd feel like an eternity... Make him feel the kind of despair Chikusa had, when he'd been forced to watch Ken's sickly body twist on the bed and all he could do was wait it out with him, keep him breathing, keep him alive....

Add won't live at the end of this. Chikusa is determined on that front.

Stepping around Add's body, he kneels down where his other hand lays limply against the ground. Will he even be conscious for this? He nudges the tip of his shoe underneath Add's fingers, pressing them up, back, towards the breaking point. This leaves his hands free to go back to his yoyo, fiddling with it again. Spraying it with that lineup of bullet ant venom got him all off track...

Chikusa probably has only about half a minute of fiddling time to do before the air around them starts to grow thick - a rolling fog flooding into the space between them, coalescing into undulating shapes. Hands rise from the mist to grasp at Chikusa's feet, solidifying into claws - and if he's been around, the accompanying feeling of dread might be very telling of its cause.

Ain's main body arrives a little later, but it doesn't quite matter - he is already here. A single visible eye lifts to appraise the person currently tormenting his friend. He's usually a person to sit out of conflicts such as these, but this is his god who has been pushed to the verge of death...

... so maybe it is appropriate to repay in kind.

Chikusa will get a moment of warning before a full dozen spears pop out in the space around him, converging on the space he occupies at alarming speed.

In all honesty, all he needs is the arrival of that sudden fog before he's starting to move, and the claws tear through the bottom of his pants as he jerks away from Add. In the back of his head, he's livid that he's been denied the opportunity to really punish Add as he deserves. That's in the far back, however. Right now, all of his attention is on the actual body, the source of all this revolting fog, and his brain rushes to figure out a course of action.

Well, there's only one route, isn't there? Yoyo hidden away again, he slots the ring on his finger into the box hidden away in his hoodie pocket. A rush of blue energy whirls out, swirling protectively about him before forming into a brilliant white owl. Blue flames still burn brightly from it, and it gives a flap of its wings, a rush of air whirling forth. Hopefully the tranquility factor of the action will force things into slowing down.... Or at least the owl will.

Because Chikusa is already making a bolt through the trees to escape. It's fine, he tries to tell himself. So long as he can escape, it's fine.

The poisons and blood loss will hopefully take care of him.

In the wake of Ain's arrival comes a second presence. In contrast, there is nothing to herald Roxas' appearance but a curious flurry of faded green zeroes and ones that whirl about in the air, coalescing into a black-clad figure Chikusa might recognize. Lacking Ain's ability to detect exact locations, he can only seek out concentrations of darkness.

And where he recognizes those of Ain and Add, it's a third that he hones in on. If he were to try and place a word to it, malice might be what characterizes this darkness, but Roxas holds no illusions that he understands emotions as others do.

But he knows Add's attacker for what he is as he appears directly in the fleeing figure's path, throwing a hand up without hesitation. "Light," he calls flatly, and in answer, luminous pillars of energy come crashing down around them.

With Ain there, he knows Add will be safe.

Roxas doesn't need to understand what smoulders inside him at the sight of Add's wounded body and fallen dynamos, what aches within his chest and burns under his skin. He knows exactly what to do with it. He doesn't care who hurt Add or why they did - he won't stand for it.

A shadowy fog starts to roll in around him, and for a minute Add is certain he's dying. With his body at its limit, the calming emptiness of the void would be welcome at this point... ah, but it wouldn't matter anyway, since he'd just come back to life... and then Chikusa would have all the more reason to keep dragging things out...

... something isn't right, though. He blearily forces open an eye, only vaguely aware of the chaos around him. Spikes of darkness piercing the ground in front of him, and beams of light shining further ahead. An echo of fervent emotion burns in his chest. Chikusa is... gone? Slowly, he tries to piece together the situation.

"... Ain...?" His voice is weak, but he's still breathing, if just barely. If he's not dead, then it must be Ain's aura. So... he's been rescued, just in time.

He falls quiet for a moment, straining himself to reach for Dynamo's connection. There's still... just a bit of time left. But he doesn't have long to act.

"Need... a favour..."

[open] take it from me

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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)

cw: gore mention

(no subject)

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(no subject)