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]

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.