last despair calls first hope

[ringwizard]

Date & Time: July 2nd & 3rd
Location: Initiative Library, Room 701, around the apartments
Characters: Haruto Souma (ringwizard), Kousuke Nitoh (ringbeast), Oriko Mikuni (precludes)
Summary: Haruto witches out gets the d(espair) hits his breaking point, becomes despair monster.
Warnings: Upupupupu. Depression, despair, a dickbag monster, at least one fight, Chimaera being a tool, references to mass murders, references to not so mass murders, possibly suicidal ideation, character death. Oriko's sense of priorities.


Haruto leaves the Initiative's Hold early in the morning with a certain spring to his step. He's gotten a little tan--his time in 2050 had done him some good, a lingering scrape on the back of his right hand aside, and it's obvious. Being back in the city again leaves a lingering malaise to his mood, but he forces it away. With things to be done all around, he's got to keep moving forward, right? There's a lot of hustle and bustle outside the Hold with the still-lingering confusion of new arrivals, as far as he can tell, and he steps around people talking as he opens his tablet and messages Nitoh.

Are you still asleep?

Comments

[ringwizard]

To see upbeat, optimistic Nitoh like this, because of him--Haruto swallows, and reaches out to catch Nitoh's wrist in a too-tight grip. "Thanks," he gets out, though what he means it for--he's not sure. Everything, probably.

The meaning Nitoh's confession he disregards without thought. However he regards Nitoh--and he regards Nitoh with a depth and need that scares him--Nitoh needs Haruto the wizard. His magic is his strength, as it has ever been. A final spire tears through him, and he cries out, his eyes flashing unnatural red.

'Goodbye, Haruto Souma.'

Haruto's hand stiffens around Nitoh's wrist before going slack. His body comes alight with the strange purple fire of mana, which burns until a new body, armored and inhuman, can take its place.

[ringbeast]

The grip hurts, because of the magic and the tightness. It won't stop now. He can't stop it. Like anything else, he knows that this too is an opportunity... But it's one he never wanted. Inside him, Chimaera roars with anticipation of the hunt to come, but all he can do right now is mourn.

He scrambles back when Haruto's hand slackens, and tries to get to his feet. Dragon is coming... Haruto's dead and Dragon is coming. He has to fight him, he has to kill and eat him. And then he has to tell the Initiative to bring Haruto back at a more stable point. He'll come back, all he has to do is kill Dragon. He breathes heavy and ends up on one knee, watching the transformation happen with a leaden feeling in his stomach.

[ringwizard]

Purple flame fades from Dragon's body as he rises from the shell of Haruto's body, stretching long, curved metallic fingers and twisting his long neck back and forth. He gazes down on Nitoh, kneeling and trembling with an emotion Dragon cannot and will not feign the foggiest understanding of.

"Do you think you will be any more of a challenge a second time?" he asks, and summons up his mana, long claws glowing yellow. He can remove Chimaera and his obnoxious host any time he pleases, so perhaps he will play.

[ringbeast]

He draws himself up to his full height, and thinks about his various injuries. His mind echoes, telling him he just has to kill Dragon and it'll all be over. His mana reserves are still passable, he just has to get things back together. He can do this.

"Yeah, yeah, I think I can..." Dragon looks different in the real world. Smaller, but that size doesn't change the fact that his power is overwhelming. Nitoh can still feel it coming off him in waves. He backs up, pulling out his Reflective Beast Gun to buy him some time to transform. He fires at Dragon, leaping forward with a sudden, surprising rage to kick at Dragon's face.

[ringwizard]

"Then come," he says, and takes the brunt of Nitoh's shots. Nitoh's kick, however, he diverts, ducking away, and he slashes at Nitoh's side, where he'd hit him before. He summons up fire breath, but keeps it locked up low in his throat to expel at the prime moment, right at Nitoh's face or hands. His eyes flash and glow red with the fire magic, and he attempts to knee Nitoh as a followup.

[ringbeast]

He's definitely overestimated himself. He takes the slash over what is probably a bruised rib, and cries out. He rolls away from the knee and slots his ring in, his cry of "Transform," sounding strangled and weak. Still, the magic circle pushes defiantly at Dragon, keeping him away before Kousuke transforms.

He figures he's going to need Falco's speed to keep this up for much longer, though his fingers linger for a moment over Dolphi... Better to push through and heal later. He runs up, gun at the ready, and leaps into the air, sending a whirling kick down straight towards Dragon's head.

[ringwizard]

Dragon knows better than to attempt to take advantage of Nitoh's transformation, though he feels a strong urge to shoot fire as he's opening the gates of his Driver. He pushes up against the gold circle nonetheless, and as Nitoh leaps, he shoots flames. They go wide, sadly, but even as he takes Nitoh's boot to his shoulder, he reaches up to grab Nitoh's leg, digging his claws into the armor at his shins. He half-throws Nitoh away, roaring, and then draws on his mana, folding his form down within the body he originally emerged from. He schools Haruto's face into something neutral, his eyebrows tilted up in the middle. He resists the urge to smirk.

[ringbeast]

Nitoh manages to roll on his uninjured side, and then he turns and sends a spinning kick towards Dragon's head, except--

He turns his kick aside, away from Haruto's face, even after just a split second of seeing it. He's used to avoiding hitting Haruto, to the point where it's just something he does without consciously realizing it.

He lands on the ground a few paces away from Dragon, staring at him in silence for a beat, and then- "STOP USING HIS FACE, YOU PIECE OF CRAP!" He sends a wild punch towards Dragon, out of anger and frustration and grief.

[ringwizard]

Dragon nearly laughs, but then Nitoh is leaping at him, and he catches at Nitoh's wrist and elbow with Haruto's hands. He's not quite fast enough--Nitoh's fist catches him on the jaw--but his grip keeps him from doing much more than staggering back a step, holding onto Nitoh for balance.

"Isn't it my face, now?" he asks, "I won it, didn't I?

It doesn't matter if it's his face or not, of course, as he shifts forms again and pulls Nitoh's body down toward his rising knee.

[ringbeast]

"No!!" is all he can manage, through gritted teeth.

Nitoh takes the knee under his ribs and stars explode before his eyes. He coughs once, then goes limp, his suit dispelling as he loses consciousness.

[ringwizard]

Dragon lets Nitoh fall, unceremoniously, though he does make sure he falls on his back. He shifts forms, to speak in Haruto's voice. "You should have picked a more ruthless host," he says, to Nitoh's closed Driver. "I will enjoy feeding on this city--and feeding on you."

[ringbeast]

Nitoh's hands grasp against his shirt and he groans, but there's no response from the driver, unsurprisingly. Within, Beast Chimaera is unfazed by either his hosts unconsciousness or Dragon's threats. He's lived this long by being patient and strategizing. And Dragon doesn't know what a threat he can be.