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Post by mugenginga on Jul 3, 2010 1:10:06 GMT -5
Lucius smiled, exposing his accented canines, as Abel removed the limiter. His mind didn't acknowledge that this was the first real chance Abel would have had to so. Lucius just thought it was about damn time. He made no effort to reveal his own demon appearance beyond the already slitted eyes. So he was standing now? There was quite a bit to be said for demonic energy.
He'd seen the attack coming. He'd moved fast enough that he should have been able to dodge. However, half the attacks still hit him due to an unexpected demonically quick anticipation of moves. Lucius was knocked off balance by the first one to his chest, and the second one managed to hit square where the first one did. The force was more than standard, a sign of Abel's recent training, and Lucius was taken off his feet. His own demonic nature allowed himself to right before he landed, although the trashcan he ran into during it looked like it had been run over. There had been far more force than Lucius' reaction was indicating.
"This is your true nature, Hito-Shura. You've already walked the path of Chaos, stop denying it. Consider it a bit of friendly advice from one King to another," Lucius lifted his hands and pointed them both at Abel. His aura exploded, but the attack wouldn't be coming directly from him, "Morning Star!"
Seth had fired his attack at about the same time Lucius had pointed his palms towards Abel. Lucius counted on Abel's distraction by the incoming energy. Everything that came next was missed by the blond as he vanished in an explosion of red flame. There was clearly some heat to it, the tipped over aluminum trashcan actually melted a bit.
The Megidola hit half a second later, but Seth was already moving. Abel didn't look like he realized where the attack was coming from, there wasn't time to shout it out. Beyond that, would Abel even hear him in this mode? Seth wasn't aware of how justified his fears were, because Lucius had exploded out his own aura as he vanished, effectively concealing the Almighty energy crashing down from above. There was no words as Seth pretty much tackled Abel out of the way. It was pretty stupid if you stopped to think about it... and if Abel didn't use his speed to shield Seth from the explosion of Almighty energy that quite literally left a hole in the ground, it didn't look good for the actual human among them...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 3, 2010 2:12:52 GMT -5
Abel's expression didn't change as Lucius spoke again, though he noted the use of "Hito-Shura" again in regards to him. As Lucius' aura practically exploded, Abel threw up a guard, expecting an attack to come from the front. He was wrong, and had it not been for Seth's leap, he would have been struck directly by the powerful attack.
However, as Seth tackled him out of the way, Abel realized something about the Morning Star. In execution, it was more like a high powered Holy Dance, which meant although they'd dodged the initial hit, the little bit and pieces of energy that shot off could still harm them. Specifically, Seth.
Abel grabbed Seth and tossed him out of the range of the Morning Star before getting back up on his feet (as best as he could with the broken knee) and trying to get out of the range of the attack himself. Abel ended up getting hit by a few hits of the attack, but it was better than if he'd taken the main hit, which still didn't make it much better. He didn't seem to have realized that the way he'd tossed Seth would definitely cause some kind of minor injury at least.
At the very least, Abel ended up collapsing from the hits of the Morning Star. He ground his teeth.
"I just wanted to go buy some cakes," Abel growled to himself.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 3, 2010 13:47:19 GMT -5
A ragdoll. That was the comparison that fit best. Whether it was by luck or instinct, Abel hadn't grabbed Seth's shirt. Odds were he would have just ripped it with the force he was using. He'd grabbed Seth's shoulder and the first problem with his strength would come out as the teenager's shoulder fractured... without the Harmonizer it would have likely shattered. Abel was able to lift Seth up the way a child could lift a stuffed doll. The younger twin was thrown with greater force than that child could have managed. Abel wanted to be sure Seth was out of the range of the Morning Star, and he would get that at least.
Seth hit a tree on the other side of the street with enough force to crack it. A few more bones cracked, once more at the "blessing" of the Harmonizer. The force should have been enough to instantly kill the human teenager. He let out a sudden gasp, too surprised to give an actual scream. He fell down from where he'd made the impact and crashed into the little metal fence surrounding the tree. He managed to get a piece straight through his upper chest, but it was thankfully through the right side. However, the way he coughed up blood wasn't that comforting. He'd pierced a lung, but at least his heart was in one piece... and even with all that, it wasn't the worst of the case.
The worst of the case was where Seth had been storing his COMP. A vital weakness of the human members of the Court, their lives literally depended on the things. Seth had been storing the COMP in his side pocket. He had hit the tree from the side. The COMP had almost snapped in two inside his pocket, and certainly wasn't usable. Seth couldn't use Diarahan, and given the injuries both internal and otherwise, he badly needed to be healed. His attempt at speaking just brought up more of the dark blood from his pierced lung...
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Cain narrowed his eyes as his COMP gave a shrill series of beeps. It was loud and of a pitch a person would have to be deaf to miss. His program autosaved itself and then shut down, displaying a map. It was a program he had put on all the COMPs, actually, and he knew Kaido, Atsuro, and Abel would be aware of it. The map was a fully formed on of Dimension Island, and a large red circle was on it. A bit of text came on it, but Cain hadn't needed to look at the SETH to know who it was. He was pocketing the COMP and running out of the room.
It was a failsafe. If any of the COMPs failed for any reason, the program would give off an alarm. The map would display the last known location of the device. It was a way to give aide to each other should something happen. And given the locations of the other COMPs? Something had happened with Abel nearby.
He didn't shout for Atsuro. He knew the teenager would be out seconds after him if he wasn't out the door already.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 3, 2010 14:33:36 GMT -5
Abel worked his way to his feet, or at least attempted to. It had been adrenaline and his own healing ability that had allowed him to stand before. Now that Lucius was gone, he was having a hard time standing, thanks to the combination of his shattered knee and his broken arm (which made pushing oneself up off the ground difficult to say the least).
He turned his head around to look at Seth, and his eyes widened. Seth looked badly injured, and a piece of metal was sticking from his chest. Had... had he done that? He'd only been thinking of getting Seth out of the way at the time. If the Morning Star had hit, he might be dead. As it was, Seth had some pretty severe injuries.
Abel was panicking. He didn't have Diarahan naturally; when he'd absorbed Babel's energy, the abilities he'd had equipped to his COMP ended up being the ones he could control, which was limited to Almighty skills, which their group already preferred, and weak healing skills. He winced and put his left hand on his knee. His left hand glowed with a weak white light others would recognize as Dia. It didn't heal the thing completely, and there was still a visible limp as Abel ran over to Seth.
He fell to his knees next to Seth in order to get a better look at him. It was just as bad as Abel had thought. "Dammit, I can't heal this..." Abel had absolutely no idea what to do. He was too spent energy-wise to summon a demon to help Seth, but Seth's COMP was destroyed; the loud beeping his own was giving off was proof of that. So someone should have been coming.
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Atsuro jumped as he heard the loud beeping from his COMP. That wasn't a sound the COMP was normally supposed to give. His eyes widened and he pulled the COMP open. He remembered Cain explaining that feature once; it was a failsafe, meant to indicate that someone in their group's COMP had been destroyed. Seth's name was on the map. Abel's was right nearby it. They were close...
Atsuro broke off into a run and practically tore his door open as he ran out into the hallway. He didn't even see Cain as he ran to the stairs.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 3, 2010 19:28:16 GMT -5
Cain took a step to the side mid-run to let Atsuro past. The last time he'd checked, Atsuro didn't have any healing spells on him. The fact was that if something had happened to break Seth's COMP, there was probably a fight going on down there. Given Abel's proximity, the situation was without a doubt linked in some manner to him. Cain wasn't moving slow, and after he heard Atsuro get down the stairs further he sped up. He'd show up outside about half a minute after Atsuro. He'd adjusted his COMP to apply Diarahan to his potential spells. It was further proof Seth's COMP was broken, actually.
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Seth's attempts to get even to a position where he could sit up were failing. He couldn't even get his head lifted up without going into a coughing fit. Said coughing fits were bringing up blood. His face was pretty much a royal mess by this point, not to mention the various injuries and the fact he still had a piece of a metal fence sticking from his chest.
He was aware Abel was next to him and had said something. Just what wasn't clear. He managed to get one hand to lift, but the Diarahan failed. COMP had to be broken. He lowered the arm and moved his hand around until he found one of Abel's. He gave it a weak squeeze and forced a smile. The attempt came out as a grimace and would probably fail pretty impressively at assuring Abel he would be fine. With the taste of blood in his mouth, he didn't even try to speak.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 3, 2010 20:31:20 GMT -5
Abel's expression only got more pained as Seth closed his hand around Abel's. Seth was a mess; it was obvious he had some severe internal bleeding going on. He hadn't seen any of them be injured this badly since he'd nearly killed Cain, and even then he'd only seen the after effects. The forced smile only made Abel feel even worse.
"Please don't die... please don't die..." Abel whispered to himself. It was more like a survival mantra of sorts. His expression probably wasn't making Seth feel any better, but he couldn't help it. Right now, if Seth died... he'd probably lose it.
There was a crowd gathered around the doors of the lobby, all watching the scene. Atsuro actually had to work past them to make it outside, which wasted precious time. His eyes widened as he saw the crater, and then the injured Seth and Abel by the chain link fence.
"K1!" Atsuro yelled without thinking as he ran over to them. Abel looked up, and his eyes had a pleading look.
"L-Lucius attacked, and he... and then... This giant energy blast nearly hit me and I tried to get Seth out of the way and... I didn't mean to throw him so hard, but I...!" Abel's voice was shaking. Atsuro was scrolling through his COMP. Dammit, he had a Diarahan capable demon in here somewhere, he knew he did!
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 3, 2010 20:55:51 GMT -5
Cain had split off from Atsuro when the door had opened and he'd seen the crowd. While in their homeworld he would have just killed any humans stupid enough to block them in such a manner, there was a value to a more subtle way of working here. There was no doubt in the man's mind what had made the crowd. There was a side door used by staff members nearby, but it would delay his arrival just a bit.
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It probably wouldn't have made Seth feel better if his vision wasn't too blurry to notice it. He was continuing with the weak pressure on Abel's hand when his eyes closed. If it went limp, Abel would probably think he was dead. He managed to make out Abel's begging from the hum the crowd was making. Atsuro's voice? He was having trouble getting breath, probably a result of the punctured lung. If the lessons on how to break the body without killing it from Cain had done nothing else, they'd taught him about injuries and body parts.
Cain managed to completely avoid the crowd. He was moving fast, but it was clear he could move quicker. He had intended on casting Diarahan, but he hadn't even gotten to lifting his hand. That would need to wait until they got that bit of fence out of Seth's chest. Cain had taken a full assessment of the situation and he was looking down the street as he came up to the group. He crouched down and looked at Seth, then at Abel.
"You have to pull the metal out of his chest or Diarahan will heal around it," Cain stated.
There were two reasons he wasn't doing it himself. First of all, he wanted to be able to apply Diarahan immediately. There was going to be a shock and heavy bleeding. Second, Abel would have the strength to pull it out the quickest. Cain glanced back at the crater in the ground. Abel didn't run around getting into fights in public, not in the peace of this world. And it would have taken someone willing to attack him and him being unable to take the fight elsewhere.
"This is because you showed weakness when you first met him," he stated with a frown.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 3, 2010 21:43:49 GMT -5
Abel looked over at Cain as he spoke, and then back at Seth. The metal, right. He'd been reaching for it when Cain made his second comment, and he looked down. Cain was right, this wouldn't have happened if he'd just stood his ground. He'd let his fear control him, and now they had an incredibly dangerous enemy.
"We don't have time to talk about this right now," Abel finally said. He looked back down at Seth, grasped the piece of metal, and very quickly pulled the whole thing out. Atsuro looked away as Abel pulled the entire piece of metal out. Cain would take care of it from there.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 3, 2010 22:59:35 GMT -5
The gasp sounded more like Seth was gargling. The hand that had a loose hold around Abel's free one tightened for half a second before going limp. Cain let out an annoyed sound as the Diarahan didn't connect. He held out his hand again and the white light of Samarecarm swirled around Seth. He gave a cough as he woke up and grabbed his chest in pain as the wounds sealed them up. The cough was accompanied by another spray of blood, possibly causing people to wonder if the spell hadn't worked right. In truth it was just leftovers from inside his mouth. Cain ignored Seth's condition.
"We need to get out of here before the ambulance shows up," Cain paused as sirens could be heard. He smirked, "And the police. Although I suppose we'll have to deal with questions in the hotel rooms."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 3, 2010 23:22:51 GMT -5
Abel looked very concerned as Seth grabbed his chest in pain and then continued to cough up a few sprays of blood. It occurred to Abel that Cain was ignoring Seth's condition, but now wasn't the time to deal with that. When Seth was safe and sound, maybe. Though it looked like Seth was going to be okay; he wasn't spitting up large amounts of blood, and besides, Cain had used Diarahan. He should be fine... he hoped.
As he heard the approaching sirens, Abel dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed a few bills to Atsuro.
"When we get done here, I need you to go buy three cakes for me, and drop one of them off at Yuugi's place," Abel ordered. "I'd do it myself, but it looks like I can't even step outside my door without someone trying to kill me."
At that moment, a couple police cars pulled up. "Cain, I don't think we're going to be going anywhere now," Atsuro said quietly.
A middle-aged man Abel recognized in passing stepped out of one car, with another man he didn't recognize stepping out of the other one. Takahashi seemed to pick out the oldest looking member of the group and made a beeline for Cain.
"VCPD. Who the hell are you guys and what happened here?" Takahashi growled. Yamada looked very nervous, especially as he saw the two kids who had to be twins; they looked too alike to not be. They both had really creepy expressions, especially the more heavily dressed of the two.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 4, 2010 0:04:34 GMT -5
Seth had hacked a few more times, but as Abel had noted the blood seemed to be listening. He pushed himself to his feet, wincing as a few of the bones were still setting back in place. He managed to get into an upright position. The teenager had an ill expression on his face. He turned away from Abel and made a hacking sound before proceeding to spit a large amount of blood on the ground.
Seth was trying to rub the blood off from around his mouth when Takahashi demanded to know what had happened from Cain. The teenager blinked for a moment and his eyes came into their usual focus. That meant they went from almost dead to distant. He looked over to the two police and his eyes widened. Abel didn't like expressing his power in this world...
"I'm sorry, but I'm not the one in charge," Cain gestured to Abel with a smirk, "I would suggest you direct your questions to him."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 4, 2010 0:48:15 GMT -5
Takahashi blinked, and looked toward the less injured looking of the twins. They both seemed pretty badly off, but as far as injuries went, the most injured the one the silver-haired man had gestured to was a broken arm and a few minor injuries. His knee seemed to be injured as well. The other twin had been coughing up blood for a moment there, which meant he was either one of those shinigami guys with the black clothes and ridiculous swords or he was seriously injured too. However, the silver-haired man and the kid with the had were perfectly fine.
"Alright, kid, since you're the one in charge here, you tell me what's goin' on," Takahashi growled. Abel sighed and looked toward Takahashi. Takahashi couldn't help but be creeped out by the kid's eyes. They were inhuman. No light shining in them at all. Freaky.
"I was on the way out the hotel earlier, and this... um, man who's been harassing me for a while attacked me and restrained me. My brother saw what was going on, and tried to help, but what ended up happening was this guy ended up using this really powerful magical attack and then disappearing..." There were a lot of holes in that story. But Takahashi didn't question it right now. He was a little pissed he was having to work on the day he usually had off here on the island, but hey, not like he'd have this day off if he was back home.
"Uh huh... Yamada, you gettin' all that?" Takahashi yelled. Yamada jumped and vigorously nodded. Takahashi scoffed. "Alright, think you can describe this guy who attacked you?"
"...He was blond haired, and he's got these dual colored eyes... one red, one blue," Abel pointed to his eyes as he said this. "And he was wearing a bunch of clothes that... well, it looked like he was out to piss people off."
Something clicked in Takahashi's head. "Wait, was this guy called Lucius? Lucius Starr or some stupid shit like that?"
Lucius Starr... wait, Lucius?! That must be... "Y-Yeah, that was the guy!" Abel said.
"I told you I wasn't lying before!" Takahashi barked at Yamada. Yamada raised up his clipboard to shield his face, and seemed to be cowering a bit. "Grr.... now I'm pissed... this shit on top of Adachi's odd behavior... Hey! What's all your names?!"
Abel jumped. Takahashi was rather... loud. And now he was he being asked his name. Abel kind of jittered there for a second before finally getting an answer. "E-Er.... Keiichi Kimura..." That would work. He didn't go by that name anymore, as it was...
Atsuro blinked. Why was Abel going by his real name? "Oh, um... I'm Atsuro Kihara."
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 4, 2010 1:04:39 GMT -5
Cain had gone back to looking at Seth as Takahashi and Abel conversed. While it was no problem for him to remember to use Keiichi if police were present, he had to wonder about the rest of the group. No, it wasn't a matter of wondering. Seth would need to be kept from calling Abel by the name he'd gone back to using in public. Given the earlier display, there was perhaps a way to manage that.
"My name is Kimura Naoya," Cain didn't turn towards Seth as he spit again. The teenager looked about ready to speak, but Cain chose to cut him off. Seth didn't think of himself by the naming pattern Abel had decided to use anymore, "And that's the younger of my twin brothers, Kimura Keiji."
There had been a surname switch. Before Belphegor and the entire naming pattern switch, the proper answer would have been Kurosawa Keiji. Cain had chosen to replace it with the surname Abel and he had shared in this life because he knew what would happen if he didn't. There was no need to go into a long explanation about why their surnames didn't match. Naoya sure didn't look all that related to them, though. He also chose to not mention Kaido.
"Shouldn't you be off to file your report? We're the victims here," Cain stated. There was a trace of a smile in his seemingly insulted words and tone.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jul 4, 2010 1:25:33 GMT -5
Takahashi groaned. So the silver haired guy was these two's older brother? Seemed like a bit of a smug asshole. Takahashi gave his characteristic glare at Cain before looking toward Seth. He looked toward Cain again. "Get that kid to a hospital," Takahashi growled, and then turned around. "Come on, Yamada." The two of them headed back to their police cruiser, and eventually all of the cars that had pulled up pulled away.
Abel looked toward Cain. "Cain, I..." He looked down in shame. This had all been his fault. Because he'd freaked out over Lucius that one time, because he'd let Lucius' words worry him, because he'd let Lucius catch him.
"Abel... what was that all about?" Atsuro asked.
"I don't want to talk about it..." Abel said softly.
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Post by mugenginga on Jul 4, 2010 12:24:44 GMT -5
Cain didn't reply to Takahashi at the man's order. Seth would be just fine thanks to the Samarecarm. There was nothing the hospital could do that they couldn't manage on their own, in a manner that would be less confining. He was a bit more concerned over how Lucifer seemed to be playing this. It was more direct than what he had seen of the Lucifer of their world. He was pretty certain the War of Bel had been treated as most humans might treat a sport they only had passing interest in. So this direct involvement... it wasn't a tactic he knew.
Cain crouched down and looked at Abel as his brother tried to find words. He glanced at Seth and held out a hand. The teenager was having trouble getting to his feet. With the hand Seth was able to get up. He still seemed a bit unstable, but he would live well enough. Cain stood up himself and offered his hand to Abel as he said he didn't want to talk about it.
"Guilt is nothing but a method of control. Get over it and figure out what you're going to do next," the words were harsh. However, the tone was softer than Cain was known for and not generally one the man used around anyone but his brothers... meaning he had been willing to do so even with Atsuro present.
"A-Abel... What are those marks...?" Seth said after wiping his face with his sleeve.
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