The hero (Who Wants To Punch A God)

[stainedglassreflections]

Characters: Sion Astal/Asruld Roland, Valdis, and those who signed up for Do You Want To Punch A God
Date: November 1st
Location: Sky Sector toward turtle-head and then back.
Situation: Valdis accidentally wakes up the mad god in Sion, and Sion needs help getting his body back
Warnings/Rating: Violence, creepy magic, attempted murder,


Closed to Valdis:

It's the same path that she met him the first time, that Sion is walking again. He doesn't seem likely to end up on the ground this time, so that's a good sign... Right?

Open to Punchers and Punchees
Asruld makes his way back into the city. There's something obviously wrong even at first glance – golden light radiates from his skin, and he's trailed by black smoke. ... Black smoke that looks like blood, even.

Dare anyone approach? He's mumbling about something, and occasionally unstable laughter as well.

Comments

:D

[redlightgreenlight]

She had seen him at the party, hadn't interacted with the strange man there, but running into him again on her way to the Sky Sector gardens couldn't be a coincidence. He seemed much better than the last time she had seen him here and she offered him a smile as she passed.

"Glad to see that you are feeling better," she said.

[stainedglassreflections]

Sion returns the smile, and its far less put-on than the last ones he directed her way. Except he's still wary - he remembers slipping up in frustration with his state. Perhaps more worrying is that he is still in pain. It's just.. less, than last time. Still definitely something that ought to be making him function less than he seems to be at the moment.

"It.. doesn't usually last that long." The debilitating pain spikes, he means, as he attempts to .. somewhat deflect the conversation. He's used to it, it isn't a problem, so they don't need to talk about it, right?

[redlightgreenlight]

"That's good to know," she replied, her smile fading somewhat as she felt the emotions associated with pain spike. Perhaps she had spoken too soon. He had said there was a god inside of him, perhaps she could see the source of his pain. The colors faded as she looked at his soul. What she saw almost caused her to recoil, the black entity that swirled around the lighter colors of Sion's soul, sometimes just curling around his soul, other times attempting to pierce it.

"What is that thing?" she asked, her eyes wide in shock, "It's..."

[stainedglassreflections]

Sion blinks as she suddenly looks shocked, although really he.. didn't think there was anything going on that she needed to. He brings a hand up to double check he hadn't started crying or gotten a bloody nose or anything, but he didn't feel any dampness.

"What is what? I'm not even wearing something odd this time." His tone is joking. He reaches that hand up to the top of his head, as if checking that anyone had thrown anything on him. Nope.

[redlightgreenlight]

"That thing..." She ignores his words, trying to get a grasp on the creature around his soul, "The darkness around your soul."

She felt the Void shift slightly, half curious and half concerned by what she was seeing. She heard a slight hiss, a low warning from her own darkness and she let the light of souls fade.

[stainedglassreflections]

There's a frown now. What? Sion knew the Hero was trying to consume him, that's why he was in pain. He didn't realize it could be seen. Even bringing up the Hero had been a mistake, so he tries for deflection. It almost felt like a migraine was starting, an odd sort of foggy to everything.

"I didn't.. realize things could be seen. Maybe I should have.. taken Froaude more seriously. He did say something about darkness..." It more lies - he does know exactly what it is, and he knows that Froaude couldn't have seen anything...

And he's starting to feel like his body isn't his, his expression slipping toward vacant. Sion's emotions slip further away, and a chaotic mess of madness starts. Whatever that darkness is, it feels angry in a way that suggests it thinks something here has personally wronged it.

[redlightgreenlight]

"Froaude?" She didn't know who that was, or why Sion was trying to avoid her questions. Then the Void surged, twisting her insides, flooding her mind with one command.

Run.

She didn't know why, didn't understand its sudden hostility, but her fight or flight instinct was overrun and she turned and fled.

[stainedglassreflections]

Because he's never talked about this with anyone who isn't directly involved, as Lucile is, so he's.. not sure how to go about it. Is it safe?

Sion takes a step backward, hands raising to thump himself in the face a few times. It doesn't help, why can't he think?

So Valdis gets a head start. Asruld takes a moment to put Sion to rest, before he starts after the feeling of a Goddess. It didn't matter that he didn't understand where he was, and why it was different from where it should be.

One of those beings was here, and he would take another out. He would be free, if he did that enough, wouldn't he? Black smoke that also seems to be blood colored trails him.

[redlightgreenlight]

The Void continued to surge, flooding her body with strength and speed, it offered more, but she refused, knowing that to give it too much was to risk giving into it completely. She had to get it, Sion, the dark god, whatever, out of the city. She ran toward the turtle's head, taking to the rootops and pulling out her radio and quickly dialing Raine.

She barely gets her message out before she misjudges the next leap and slams into the side of a building. She swears loudly, tries to pull herself up and, deciding that it's not worth it, releases the edge and drops to the ground, rolling with the impact. Then she gets to her feet, ignoring the pain in her chest, knowing that it will quickly fade.

She could turn and fight, but the problem with that was that it was very hard to defend yourself when someone was set on killing you, especially if you couldn't kill them back. So she continued to run, feeling the murderous power behind her.

[purered]

Klaus dared. He was a very daring person. But mostly, he was concerned. The glowing aura, laughter and strange black smoke didn't look very healthy.

"Are you alright...?"

He recognized the man from the network. They'd only spoken once but he was unmistakably Sion. ...Probably.

[phoenixstrut]

So much for going home early tonight. Something was off, and she was near enough to sense it. Something... dark. Twisted. When she sees it, and someone already there confronting whatever is happening, her reaction is even more in haste. The soul feels familiar...

"Sion?" They had only met once that she could remember, but his appearance is just striking enough that she wouldn't have forgotten.

Her wings carry her above him, before she drops down in his path, her eyes full of concern and a cautious suspicion. "Are you alright?"

No. Obviously not. In fact, he looks downright dangerous. Now she understands why she had sensed something different about him when they had spoken. Her Light is reacting, making her soul gem and eyes flare gold as she stands her ground, silently demanding he stand down until... whatever this is... is figured out.

Yuri's going to kill her, if Sion doesn't.

"What's going on?" she asks the man next to her, looking him over for the few seconds she can spare to take her eyes off of the approaching smoke and twisted soul. She's never met him, and she's curious, but now is obviously not the time.

[stainedglassreflections]

Sion most definitely isn't alright. There's along his left arm, slicing through the layers he wears, and it's drips golden fluid that ought to be blood, but shines just as much as he glows.

Asruld does ignore Klaus. The tall man was barely odd enough for him to think he was a potential Goddess in disguise, but then there's a rush of wings.

The black smoke about him abruptly forms into shadowy swords when this newcomer lands. He's pretty sure he found a Goddess, so.. he really only has one thing to say.

"Sword." That's all he does, before five of the six shadowy blades go arcing through the air. One sort of slashes at Klaus, but it's more of a warding off than the four aiming to outright injure the winged goddess. She's the threat here, he's never met one who felt like shining instead of greed.

[purered]

Well, this made it clear Sion was obviously very not okay.

It was fortunate that Klaus had very good reaction time, otherwise things might have gotten dicey. Or diced.

It's easy enough to get out of the way of the blade aimed at him. Harder though was putting himself between the blades aimed at Dove in time while activating his shield of sanctification. There is an unearthly clang as the strange swords strike the glowing, cross-shaped barriers, but they hold.

He wasn't as fast as he should have been, however. There were slices in his right shoulder and right side where red stains were steadily blossoming. He wasn't sure how the winged young lady had fared either.

"Are you hurt?" He asked urgently, shifting his stance to full-on defense.

[phoenixstrut]

She's got only a few more seconds to assess Sion's state before the swords appear. She tenses, taking half a step back, but holding her ground.

When they lunge at her, she has only time to draw her wings in close in defense. She wouldn't have been able to get off the ground quickly enough to avoid them. When the swords don't even nick her, she goes wide eyed and takes another split second to shake her head. She's lucky, this time. "No, I'm okay. Thank you," she offers quickly, now jumping back into the air to put distance between the man and herself. Over half of those things had been aimed at her... she's not going to allow someone else to get hurt on her behalf, and she'll be more use from above anyway.

She's up in the air, but her eyes are on Sion. "What are you doing?! Stop this!"

[stainedglassreflections]

Okay, so maybe the large man was a goddess in disguise. They could be shapes other than feminine, after all, and with enough power to deflect Sword?

The blades that had flown haphazardly from the shielding away circle back to Asruld. And he repeats himself, perhaps a little more firmly. "Sword."

This time the swords are a little more evenly split. He's never seen cross-shaped barriers before, but they certainly seem to have a big gap on the sides. So that's where two go, testing to see of there is more to that shielding than is visible.

The other three? The shining goddess needs to not go where he can't reach, so her wings are a problem. That's where those blades aim.

[purered]

The glowing barriers dim out of existence and drops of blood splattered onto the cobbles from his injuries. That had been Sion's first mistake - Klaus's greatest weapon was his own blood. His position shifted, turning his injured side away from Sion. There was a whirring, mechanical sound, the left sleeve of his shirt ripped as the mechanism around his arm set his knuckle dusters into place. He gripped them soundly, and there was the scrape of his shoes across the cobbles as he shifted his stance.

"Pattern Eleven," he said, almost toneless. "Wirbelsturm."

The blood spiraled from the stone at the center of his odd knuckle dusters and Klaus lurched, twisting the fluid around himself and Dove, forcing it to take shape. These were not like the crosses the Shield of Sanctification formed - they were gnarled things, a deep, dark red and very, very solid. They struck down towards the three swords aimed at Dove's wings. It was easy enough to bypass these new shields, but Klaus was on the move. For a big guy, he could move pretty nimbly and he was making a beeline for Sion, his fist drawn back.

(Spoiler: She's gonna probably be skewered in the next one if that's okay)

[phoenixstrut]

Again, her attention is split, this time by the unexpected mechanical grinding and the display of blood. Though slightly panicked at the idea of being protected by the blood of an ally, she's nevertheless grateful for the protection. Not expecting the Swords to follow her, she takes to even higher skies, her palms turning down to face the earth as she calls forth her inner Light.

Flames erupt from everywhere, creating a barrier through which Sion surely won't be able to run. Now, maybe she can focus on evading those strange blades. ...maybe.

One is able to clip the top edge of her left wing, and for a moment, she's sure she's going to be run through. The sheer shock of the pain the simple touch causes her entire body to tense, but she moves immediately, keeping control of the fire, making sure Klaus is okay, and trying not to be skewered.

on the way to the kerfuffle | Raine, Toph, Gene (?)

[ruinsprofessor]

When Raine had received the urgent radio message from Valdis, she hadn't responded. It would have been a waste of time, yelling at the receiver, when what she needed was to be moving, and so she took off running. It had been a while since she'd had to, but she had no kirin nor dragon nor rheaird, and certainly wasn't about to wait for a tram, and so Raine ran.

The closer she got, the more she could feel the mana of the fight, and it must be something huge -- well, Valdis had said it was a monster on par with Zorc or the Void, after all. It didn't feel quite like it was coming from the direction of the Head any more; Raine paused only briefly, closing her eyes to orient on the sense of tumultuous mana, and then was off again.

[seismometrics]

The fight between Valdis and "Sion" left another kind of mark on the turtle beyond the release of mana -- vibrations that raced through the soil like a spiderweb of electrical charge.

Vibrations picked up by the feet of one Toph Bei Fong.

There had been fights on the Turtle before. Bar fights between kedan. Tussles on the street. Children rolling around with one another on the floor in private homes, screaming at the tops of their lungs about the possession of a toy.

This was not any of those. These were blows that dug deep into the earth, clear and distinct as hammer blows.

All activity towards her task stopped immediately. She was still. And she listened.

And then as one force broke off, leaving the other behind, she moved, yanking at the earth under her feet to increase her speed with the goal to intersect.

Temporarily she ignored the new signature aimed for a similar goal.

[ruinsprofessor]

Before too long, it became evident that someone else was heading the same direction she was-- Raine glanced over. On the younger side, moving quite fast indeed. She recognized the girl, in the way she recognized most Foreigners, as a face seen on the network but without associated name or personal or magical information.

Enough that they were heading the same direction. "You sensed the fight as well?" Raine called over, sparing introductions or other things for later, simply wanting to be sure they were on the same page.

[seismometrics]

As it got closer, it was obvious the other signature definitely was aimed for the same goal -- and the voice confirmed it.

"Hard to miss," was her short reply as she focused on staying moving. "Kind of like a meteor striking. You headed that way?"

One thing she'd learned from Aang and the others: Help was not a bad thing when facing down the unknown.

[ruinsprofessor]

Sparing breath was the wiser option, but a nod could be lost in the jostling of running. "Yes," Raine returned, and, in case the other was among those Foreigners who didn't know her, she added, "I'm a healer."

But that was enough to be getting on with, and so barring any response from the girl Raine simply kept moving, orienting on the sense of that fierce mana and adjusting her path accordingly. The city passed around them, and they were on an even trajectory with the fight, or should be.

[seismometrics]

A healer -- and she was running toward the perpetrator rather than back towards the one he'd left?

This didn't make a lot of sense to Toph, but Raine's unspoken premise was right: Running towards a bad guy was not a good time for conversation. She was just going to have to trust the woman knew what she was getting into -- and mitigate things if not. There wasn't time for anything else.

They were going fast, making good time, but every minute they saved was one more that could be used.

"Come on." With a jerk of the hand, she pulled the earth around and underneath Raine, swelling it beneath the woman in a wave that moved a good deal faster than she could by simply running.

It should save time and breath.

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine couldn't pick Valdis' mana out from this distance, only the massive overwhelmingness that was whatever she'd been facing. She could only assume Valdis was either still fighting, or regenerating; the things that could fell the woman were few and far between. Not even Anton could manage.

She startled, at the movement of the earth, her only warning the abrupt surge of earth mana. She bit back a yelp, and regained her balance.

That felt familiar. "A bender," Raine murmured, filing that away, and focused. "Thank you." It saved her breath, and therefore she could impart the most relevant strategic information to her new partner before they arrived on the scene of the fight. "If you can shield me in a similar manner, I have offensive magic as well, but it requires a few seconds uninterrupted."

[seismometrics]

"I'm good with shields." Toph kept her primary focus on the wave of earth bearing them both forward, but there was still a corner of attention left for talking. Her eyes never moved from the path ahead. "I can give you whatever time you want. Two questions, though: What is this guy, and what can you hit him with? As far as I can tell, he's already taken somebody down."