destinystrings | Conquestum Paradisi

Anant seemed to deflate somewhat, their claws lowering until the tips were touching the floor - which immediately starting to melt it, wisps of smoke rising.

"There is no need to be insulting," they said calmly. "Did I not ask correctly?"

They lifted one of their gauntlets, cupping the bottom of their mask with their claws. Curiously it didn't melt the mask or even seem to be uncomfortable to them. "Hm, perhaps, 'will you fight me'? No, it is not necessarily a fight I wish, but observation. Too many controlled fights here, and it is making me SUFFOCATE!"

Anant threw up their gauntlets in a sudden movement, and they appeared abruptly agitated.

"Controlled controlled controlled I do not want control I do not want it so I wish for you to fight me now now now now now-"

Hitsuji peeks out from behind Spades, eyebrow raised and wands hidden up her sleeves, ready to pull out at any time. Was that... acid? She wasn't entirely sure, but even though this man was quite odd, he seemed a bit different than what they'd faced from the Visitors so far.

Best be careful.

Spades turn his head to look at Hitsuji a moment, giving her a shrug. 'Cause he had no idea what the fuck.

"Sounds like we're agitatin' ya enough just standing around," He said with a another shrug as he looked at Anant again. "You doin' a science experiment or something?"

"Ahah- aha!"

Anant's laughter was strangely high-pitched yet flat, their claws snapping against each others with the noise of hissing heat. "Agitation? Yes, no, does excitement count as agitation? You see, for once, I am feeling something keenly enough for my senses to be influenced. Isn't that great?"

They stilled abruptly, their yellow eyes moving between Spades and Hitsuji as if deciding something. "...I am impatient. My apologies."

And then Anant exploded forwards with very alarming speed, claws swinging.

The wands come down and out in a flash, one pointed where she approximated Anant's feet to be within the next few seconds to cause an explosion, and free hand gesturing back towards herself and Spades to levitate them into the air and back away from the charging Anant.

She quickly leans to murmur quietly into Spades' ear, face scrunched like she'd tasted a lemon. "If this guy proves too much trouble, I can call him... but let's try to avoid that for the sake of dignity." Hitsuji sighs, looking back towards Anant. Well, she had wanted to fight, hadn't she? Here's someone that looked like a real challenge, compared to the rest of the dopes they'd fought so far. Fun...

"Oh please, it's just another nut!" He mumbled back, quickly teleporting away before Anant got too close. Seriously, he wasn't gonna call that guy to come help them. That'd just be kind of embarrassing.

He reappeared in the spot Anant had disappeared from, holding his gun up and firing off two shots; one at Anant's back, the other at the back of their knee. It was admittedly harder for accuracy on a moving target, but his aim certainly wasn't too shabby.

Anant stumbled at the explosion erupting at their feet, but swiftly caught their balance by letting momentum pull them down onto all fours. They crouched on the ground like an animal, their claws scratching against the stadium floor. The stone swiftly began to melt into slag.

They rose to a hunched posture, spinning around to face Spades when they heard the noise of gunshot - GUNSHOTS. GUNSHOTS. NO. GUNS.

Guns meant soldiers and soldiers meant cleansing and charged, so charged on the aggressive air of the stadium, Anant's entire vision was filled with red and-

Something hit them in the stomach and lower thigh, and they let out an inhuman sounding shriek - not from pain, but from surprise. They stilled, blood spots appearing in their clothing as their shoulders heaved, gaze intent on Spades.

"YoU uSE guNssss..." Anant growled, their voice suddenly guttural, and lunged at Spades in what seemed like a frenzied sort of fury.

Hitsuji quickly reaches out one hand to grab Anant with her powers, throwing him hard to the side to prevent those claws from reaching Spades. This guy was almost scarily unpredictable, and while it didn't seem like he was particularly stronger than them now that she sees him in action, he was certainly worth treading carefully around.

At least it seems like bullets were a good choice?

Thanks to Hitsuji, he didn't exactly have to make a move to dodge, so he remained standing with his gun still hefted up.

"Why yes, I do?" Gun control was pretty strict before from what they'd been able to gather. Hm. They didn't seem impervious to bullets at least.

Spades moved to eject the current empty cartridge, digging into his coat to pull out another and reload. When that was done, he teleported a distance away from Anant's sides and fired off two more shots, aiming to cripple but away from major vital points.

Anant was suddenly tossed to the side, but they quickly caught themselves, energy crackling along their body as they dispelled whatever had hold of them. They swatted at the air with an animalistic growl, turning to focus eerily on Hitsuji, eyes burning like coals.

Thankfully Hitsuji was saved from being Anant's new target by twin shots sounding out. They lashed out in blurring motions, swatting aside the bullets - and sending one ricocheting towards Hitsuji.

"..."

In a burst of energy Dionysus was summoned, and almost immediately fire and lightning was send crashing erratically around the battlefield. It didn't matter if the attacks hit or not, but it sent debris and dust flying everywhere, obscuring vision as Anant darted towards Spades again.

Eyes widening, she dodges to the side to avoid the incoming projectile, and hisses as it manages to slice along her upper arm. The blood only trickles for a moment, a much different shade of red than one would expect from a human, before one of the raging fires from Dionysus' attack washes over Hitsuji and starts stitching the wound back up. Thanks, bro!

Shielding her eyes from the dust, she flies up into the air, eyes darting around to try and locate where Anant and Spades had gone. Goddamnit, where were they? They just haaaad to fight against the weird guy with the acid hands and the temper problems...

Edited 2013-01-26 01:13 (UTC)

"Whoah--!"

Hm, he didn't expect any of them to be smart enough to obscure their view, but he was pretty sure that was an accident instead of deliberate.

When the fire and lightning started firing, Spades was teleporting around before any of the sparks or flames touched him. He wasn't dumb enough to stay in the dust cloud, and teleported to one of the beams above. He moved the balaclava up above his mouth to allow him to whistle, alerting Hitsuji to his position, and quickly pulled the material back down again as he tucked the gun back into his coat. Instead, he flicked his wrists and brought two throwing knives to his hands, sending both of them flying towards the rampaging crazy below.

Anant was getting more and more wound up from the flashes of fire and lightning thundering around the area, and he craned his neck around when the dustcloud flew up, able to track his two opponent's movements by the fluttering of their auras. Which one, though...? Both were equally dangerous, although Anant was beginning to feel hot and strange towards the one with the gun. Was that anger - or merely feeling anger of everyone surrounding them? They weren't sure, all the emotion was buzzing in their head like one giant wave, making them dizzy and confused.

Anant whined and dug their claws into the bullet wound on their thigh, trying to take out the shrapnel to no avail. It wouldn't come out-

There was a whistling noise and Anant snapped their head up only to feel something crack against their mask with enough force to send them staggering back. Anant felt the mask slip, and the magic gauntlets were immediately gone, a panicked cry slipping from them as they frantically lifted their hands up to keep the mask in place.

Hitsuji immediately dives down next to Spades, quietly thanking the powers that be she was wearing pants today instead of a skirt, and observes Anant's reaction with keen interest.

"His mask. He's freaking out because you nicked his mask." She snorts a little, crouching down to stare more. "He doesn't even have his weapons up anymore. Maybe he's powerless without it?"

Anant's latest freak-out definitely caught his attention, his eyes narrowing on the slip. It, wasn't what Spades had been aiming for, but hey! He'll take it!

"That, or he's got his own issues relatin' to it. Either way, I think we found our sweet spot. Cover me, alright?"

Spade stood up and jumped off the beam, teleporting a few seconds before he hit the ground. When he reappeared, he was right in front of Anant's face, swinging his leg around to knock the side of their face with all the momentum of a moving body falling from the ceiling. With enough luck, the shock would be enough to make them lose their grip and knock the mask away...!

Spade's calculations proved to be true. As soon as the heel of his foot smashed into the side of Anant's head, the deluded god stumbled to the side, their hand slipping and-

The mask flew off from the force of the momentum, landing on the floor with an unhealthy sounding crack and skittering across the floor - only to be swallowed up in the cloudy debris still settling across the floor of the battlefield. It was gone, probably for a while, and Anant stood in a half bent state

wh

where was

Anant let out a distressed noise, their hands pressing against their bare face as they suddenly crouched down, ignoring Spades entirely as they panicked. Where was their mask? They couldn't - peeking between fingers, Anant couldn't see it in their immediate vicinity. Where was it? Where was it?!

The man-

He took it!

Anant dug their fingers into their hair, breathing coming out short and sharp as they rocked back and forth on the balls of their feet, letting out a low, agitated humming noise, as if trying to calm themselves.

"You- you took it's gone you- you took it. You. TOok. tOoK. givE iT baCk."

Anant stilled, and above them their Persona was still as well, almost eerily so. Slowly their head tilted up slightly, staring at Spades from beneath their fingers with blazing, yellow eyes. The voice that came from Anant was like the rumble of the earth.

"GiVe IT bAcK tO mE!" They roared, and lunged forwards with inhuman speed, the claws manifesting and visibly crackling with raw energy as they swung towards Spades, Dionysus renewing its electrical flame attack on the surrounding area.

Oh. Shit.

Hitsuji quickly jumps down from their vantage point, grabbing a hold of Anant with her magic and flicking her hand back and forth, trying to smash the man into the concrete repeatedly for lack of a better idea at the moment. This was certainly not the result she was hoping from knocking the guys mask off, but hey! They had backup if they needed it (but god she did not want to call it in no no no no) and they hadn't had too big of a challenge so far. Spades was strong and fast and cool, so there was no way this guy would give them too much trouble after they adjusted to his style...

Yeah.

Spades landed on his knee a foot away, and for a moment he just watches Anant's burgeoning freak out. When Anant accused him of having it though-- he half though about going over and picking up the mask, but it didn't really have any value to him.

"Whoah--!" And then the weird lightning flames started up again Spades teleported away and back up to the beam when Hitsuji trapped them in her magic.

Well they were basically going for broke-- and Spades couldn't resist a slightly psychotic sounding chuckle of delight as he watched Anant's freakout.

"I knew you were touched in the head," he commented, firing three more shot from the gun into the mad chaos that was Anant moving anywhere.

It felt like something hooked the back of Anant's coat, yanking them back and smashing them against the pavement hard enough to crack the floor. Anant snarled and visible energy crackled around them, dispelling the magic before it could smash them a second time into the floor, lurching to their feet.

Eerily, despite obviously being beyond furious, their expression was utterly calm. No snarling, no furrowed brow or wrinkled nose. Just calm as if they were sitting on a bench on a peaceful day.

Although the animalistic growl rumbling in their throat sort of ruined that serene expression.

They twitched at the noise of gunfire, but swatted the bullets aside with ease. Their gaze was no longer focused on Spades, however. Instead they were staring directly at Hitsuji, who was now well in the thick of battle. Well within arm's reach if Anant was quick enough. She kept disrupting their balance with that hold she had-

get rid of her

Dionysus slammed a fireball right beside Anant, sending a cloud of debris and shielding them from view - only for Anant to burst from the cloud at Hitsuji, claws already swinging to rip through the woman's stomach.

Oh, well that certainly wasn't good.

She takes in a quick and sharp breath, trying to keep herself from letting out the small yelp of surprise that was threatening to slip-- it was hardly professional for a terrorist, even if she was only a 15 year old girl. She quickly pulls up a large chunk of concrete from the ground to try and block Anant from reaching her with his claws, or at least give her a nice momentary distraction. Hitsuji takes back up into the air at an alarmed haste, hoping to avoid any shrapnel when Anant inevitably shreds the concrete to pieces. At a safer distance upwards, she begins shooting her majyyks rapidly at Anant, hoping at least something would connect and start getting them hurt.

He'd had to deal with worse before, but ask Spades and he'd rather not be dealing with complete magical psychopaths on a rampage.

He teleported off the beam and appeared right above Anant with his saber in hand, and the blade down. He drove the sword down to aim right for Anant's back-- he was still mindful not to stab into the spine, but he figured a situation like this would probably require a bit more ferocity than their previous non-lethal disposals.

Anant did indeed shred that concrete to pieces - into thick, half melted chunks that crashed to the ground when Anant successfully tore through it. They looked about themselves, obviously confused at his opponent's disappearance - only to half turn when Spades teleported and-

The blade rammed right into Anant's back with the noise of tearing muscle and squelching blood. The deluded god staggered from the force of it, and tried to twist and swat at Spades, but the angle made them miss.

"Urk..."

Blood gurgled in their throat, spilling out of their mouth, but they didn't collapse or howl or scream. No, instead, they stilled, a harsh noise escaping them and-

If Spades is still gripping that sword, he's going to get several thousand volts surging through his body.

Quickly Hitsuji levitates up small pieces of wood that had broken from collapsed pillars nearby (likely her alternate selves' work during the chaos causing portion of the evening), and thrusts her hand out, aiming the pieces towards Anant's legs to try and collapse them to their knees.

Eyes widening, a thought occurs to her that she can't believe she didn't think of before; she didn't need to call in her caretaker if things got worse with this guy.

She could just call in herself.

Spades seemed to be making good progress, though, so likely it wouldn't be an issue. But it definitely relieved some stress from her shoulders to know that she didn't have to stoop to that level during her first night out in a large fight-- what would it have said about her training? It was bad enough that she was getting a little freaked out fighting a guy like this to begin with. Ugh.

"--!"

It didn't take long for him to realize there was something crackling on the surface, and almost fumbled when the first sparks began. He wasn't about to stick around for the full thousand volts of course, and quickly teleported away, landing a few feet away back on the ground.

"Hitsuji--" he called, pulling out another of his knives in the process and pointing at the sword he had left lodged in Anant's torso, "Think you could use that thing like a lightning rod?!"

Anant was breathing heavily when the energy crackled out, and they seemed to forget the fight as they twisted this way and that, their golden claws frantically trying to grab onto the sword to wrench it out. The angle was bad, though, and all they could manage was to jar the hilt, able to feel the blade scrape against bone.

"Nnh...hnnn...."

Something cracked against their legs, forcing them onto their knees, catching themselves by pressing a gauntlet against the ground. The churned up earth immediately turned to slag, bubbling and hissing around the superheated energy. Anant didn't immediately get up.

They felt...weird. Like, woozy, it was strange...

Conquestum Paradisi

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