Setting Things Right (DCStuck)

[gantzgun74]

.... Alex didn't even want to think about what Beebo might have been telling the others back at Evan's place at that point in time...

However, the intention had not changed. The only thing that needed to change was the venue.... Well okay, that wasn't ENTIRELY the truth.

Alex had no doubts in his own capabilities of dodging harm and keeping himself in one piece... But hell only knew just how much more powerful Swift had become while she was stewing over her anger in his Void modus. He at least had a clue that demons could grow stronger when their emotions got bigger uncontrollably... So it only made sense... To pick a field that gave him a tiny bit more of an advantage...

And thus, the setting in Shifty Desert, where the sand flowed ever around and the Sun Temple was just as hard to spot as ever. He had to wait until around noon, when the sun would be at it's highest point, but it would be worth it... He hoped. The heat would probably do some good in wearing Swift out quickly...... Still, better safe then sorry. Pulling out his old Backpack modus, he tied the ring to a chain and wrapped the chain around his hand....

IF the ring worked in close proximity, then perhaps it would help to accelerate the process of waning her anger... Still, knowing angry girls, she would likely not be happy to see him again...

... Welp.... No use waiting any longer. If he held off any longer, it'd be closer to night soon and the sun would start going down... And even with him in a cloak of cold void he knew that the desert would not stay hot for long.

"... Here we go."

.... He clapped his hands.... Then spread them out... Opening up a massive void portal, big enough to be noticeable by anyone outside it... Or INSIDE it as was his intent.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

............

At first, there were only low, ragged breaths. The warning signal that the monster was near. And a split-second warning at that. Then...

"RRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!"

A torpedo of gold and pink energy rocketed out of the void, colliding with Alex in the blink of an eye and with an audibly explosive impact.

As the vehement yokai tackled the thief, Swift acted quickly with a sharp bite to the shoulder and a wide slash to the face. When she was inevitably pushed back, she skidded along the sandy terrain with the blunt force of a meteorite. In the brief moment where she was still, Alex could see that Swift was in complete disarray, her clothes tattered and ripped, her hair wild and knotted, hunched over in a borderline lupine posture, looking more like a feral child than ever.

She threw herself at Alex again far too quickly for anyone to react, slamming into him, raking her claws up his chest and transitioning smoothly into a powerful uppercut.

[gantzgun74]

? OKAY SHIT SHIT FUCK CRAP CRAPPITY CRAP FUCK SHIT-!!!!!

Alex had, of course, been expecting a violent reaction to finally gaining her freedom. He had set up his void barrier to properly prepare defensively for the worst in that outcome... WHAT HE HADN'T BEEN EXPECTING WAS FOR THE ATTACKS TO STRIKE SO HARD THAT THEY SCRATCHED AND CUT HIM IN SPITE OF THE BARRIER. The barrier still took up a brunt but the tooth marks still dragged on his shoulder, and leaving a cut on his forehead. "GET... OFF!!!!!" He kicked Swift off and took a moment to recover... He had to admit, he had been expecting a lot... but he had NOT been expecting THAT. "SHIT!!" He opened his eyes again to find the feral wolf girl tossing herself at him at fast speeds. Thankfully the barrier around the chest was the toughest, taking.... MOST of the attack but still cutting up his clothes slightly- though the UPPERCUT felt like it broke his jaw.

"BLAGH-!!!!" HE spun in mid-air a moment, lifting up high in the sky and taking a quick second to properly survey the situation... Swift was much tougher now. That much was obvious....

......

With a flick, he pulled out a new item...

-> ITEM

-> Undyne's makeshift recipe

Undertale. Thank you so much for existing. And coming up with healing foods~. The Thief took a quick moment to down the food, gagging at Undyne's bitter ingredient mixture but feeling some relief as the food seemed to heal him up. The cuts and scrapes and the apparent new black eye remained... But he would have to live with that for now. At the very least his HP guage was back near full after that vicious onslaught.

"Swift!!!!" He called out. "You've got someone waiting for you!! You've got your shots in, that's fine! But don't make this harder then it has to be!!" Thank god for agility stats and Swift's distance. When she launched herself at him at high speeds, he had enough time, more then 3 seconds to see her coming and just enough time to move aside as the girl flew past. He briefly looked up to the sun above before jetting after Swift.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

There was no reasoning with Swift. Her mind was too far gone. Feral rage only drove her to KILL.

With a bestial screech, Swift charged at Alex again and took the air with a mighty leap, arm reeled back, ready to rend and tear. Alex swooped aside before she could strike him, but as he turned back around to counterattack, Swift turned herself around in free fall and slashed her yoki-charged claws along the open air, flinging the golden energy waves at the advancing thief.

[gantzgun74]

Okay, he at least had a better idea of what he was getting into now... He opened up another void portal, allowing Swift's attack to rip in. Such a powerful attack could come in handy later... Maybe collect as many of these as possible~. Well whatever, onto work!!! Alex drew in closer quickly. Having seen Swift's insane speed, he knew enough to dodge his body to the left the instant he saw Swift's hand just slightly twitch. Note to self, start boosting Agility stats when leveling up becomes a thing again... Or maybe even spring for complete intangibility somehow. That would've been an even cooler skill.

CLAW SWIPE TO ARM, BARRIER BUCKLING AND THE CLAWS LEAVING CUTS. FOCUS DUMBASS FOCUS!!!

Refocusing on the matter at hand, he opened the hand with the ring, closing his thumb tightly down on the chain. Perhaps to distract Swift from the open hand in case she tried to attack the ring, his other hand closed into a fist as if he was about to attack "YAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

[Pink Moon Wolf]

Maintaining a surprising amount of midair control over her position, Swift slashed her claws along Alex's arm before flipping to deliver a kick to his stomach. Then she dropped back down, bouncing back as if the desert ground was made of rubber. Seeing Alex reel back to throw a punch, Swift mirrored his movements and readied herself to slash again, screaming in animalistic fury.

KILL DESTROY RIP TEAR WIN WAIT NO STOP END THIS KILL HIM!!!

The tiniest look of fear crossed Swift's livid face for a split second.

[gantzgun74]

The expression of fear on Swift's face quickly caught the thief's attention. Well at least this was working!! A void portal opened up allowing Alex to vanish into it. Okay, he just needed another idea. If he could keep the ring in close proximity and allow her to focus on it that would allow her to... As it seemed, break out of the trance a little quicker.

Swift's nose perked up as several void portals suddenly opened up around her feet and just outside of her field of vision above her... Several rackets shot out of the portals, forcing Swift's bestial form to focus on them as they did. Was this another ridiculous attack by the thief?? IT was time to break these damned RACKETS-

As she swiped around to send the weapons flying, she was surprised by a rough but non-harmful shove to the back of the head by a hand, a cold, round and small thing prevalent in the palm. WHAT WAS THAT??? SOME STUPID NEW ATTA- Wait what was that familiar energy sensation-??

"Looking for-~?" Alex appeared a second later right in front of the yokai, AND PRETTY MUCH DODGING A SPLIT SECOND BEFORE HE COULD EVEN COMPLETE HIS SENTENCE AS SWIFT BOUNDED PAST-... Or tried to. The hand with the ring once more caught Swift's head, this time shoving the ring right into the bridge of her nose. A second later, another rough shove sent Swift sliding back, allowing the thief to bound back and prevent his hand from getting bitten off.

One could tell he was starting to get into his element.

He had gotten so used to being a power player, that he had forgotten that he used to be the naturally fastest member in the DCstuck player list. Swift was still ten times faster, but, he was definitely learning to keep on his feet.

Watching him go, you'd almost think he was a little kid, VERY QUICKLY catching onto a gaming mechanic and masterfully implementing it in said game.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

Her prey vanished before another connection could be made, forcing Swift to touch back down and look around for him. Eyes narrow, ears perked, nose to the wind... This pest wasn't slipping out of her grasp again.

When the void portals opened and started launching rackets at her, Swift howled with rage and furiously swiped at every single one. Partway through, she was shoved aside by a push to the back of the head.

Strange... For such a gentle push, it made her feel... surprisingly weak.

She regained her footing the very moment Alex appeared in front of her, not hesitating to charge at him again and fling more yoki blades his way... only for Alex to shove the cold, hard metal against her nose and then send her sliding back a few feet while she was disoriented by the smell.

She had... almost forgotten just how relaxing the ring's scent was...

HOLY CRAP, SWIFT, CALM THE HECK DOWN AND KILL THIS VERMIN!

Swift's aura grew stronger, brighter... and yet her eyes seemed somewhat dimmer, as if her yoki was trying to compensate for her human body's sudden fatigue. She screamed and threw herself at Alex once more, arms flailing wildly and unleashing a swarm of yoki blades.

[gantzgun74]

Swift's charge was fast... But it wasn't as fast as it had been before, collecting up the energy rays had been easy, and when Swift went to circle around it, he had already moved out of the way of other attacks that followed and had closed the first one as he scampered backwards... It seemed his theory had been right on the money. Not only was contact with the ring and it's scent calming her down faster... On top of that... It looked like the desert heat was FINALLY starting to get to her. It seemed the more her human self started persisting on her, the more the world around her started to matter. Which only helped in wearing her out even faster.

He jumped quickly out of the way as more energy beams started flying his way. "Swift!! Listen to me!! Evan's really missing you!! Can you stop attacking me long enough to talk about this-"

[Pink Moon Wolf]

KABOOOOOOM

In one blinding instance, Swift was nothing but a gold and pink blur shooting Alex's way like a fiery cannonball. Her hand met his face, claws digging into flesh, knuckles slamming into bone... The combined force of their collision and the volatile yoki generated a deafening shockwave that knocked Alex back and Swift high into the air. She flipped once and began her descent, poised and aimed to land on Alex once he had skidded to a halt, promptly slamming her feet down upon his rib cage before he even knew which way was up.

[gantzgun74]

-9999999

He was quiet as he was burried almost up to the ear in the sand.... It looked like the blow had been enough to either kill him or knock him unconscious... Swift lifted her claws ready to finish it-

Only for a barrier of sheer void energy, far stronger then anything then what she had to deal with at that point, to stop her, her claws bouncing off. There was a roar as she went at it again, claws continually bouncing off the barrier but trying ferociously anyway. Roaring and yeowling in the hot sun as this went on.

Alex meanwhile, didn't move.

-------------------------------

You have to wake up.

.....................

Please... W-Wake up!

.... I'm... Not.... Strong enough....

.... Okay...

...........

You're not... But... That... That doesn't mean you can't get better.

..... Who are you-? You don't... Sound like all of the others.

They were... Mean... But now you're outside of your old session... and somewhere entirely new...

..............

I'm.... Sorry that... I'm so vague and... th-that I k-... Keep stuttering...

But.... I am meeting s-someone that.... That means a l-lot to me...

..... ? What are you talking about-?

D-don't worry about that for now. You have other things you need to be worried about r-right now.

??

I can help you... But y-you... You have to let me use your p-powers for a bit. But.... Once you l-learn this trick... It-.... It should really come in handy........ I think.

A trick-?

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One more attack by Swift finally burst the barrier....

However it burst OUTWARD WITH SUCH POWER THAT IT SENT HER FLYING BACK SEVERAL MILES, reminiscent of popping a massive balloon. When she regained her balance, she found Alex zooming at her with all due speed-

However when she cut the man and met the barrier, there was an oddly hollow feeling from it-

THEN ANOTHER ALEX JOINED THE FRAY AND PROCEEDED TO SWAT HER ASIDE. With a rough landing in the sand and upon looking up, she found A TON OF THEM. ALL OF THEM CARRYING DIFFERENT ROD WEAPONS AND ALL OF THEM CHARGING AT FAST SPEEDS. It was like when she defeated one, 38 others suddenly sprung up in his place, all of them carrying a unique tennis racket like weapon and all of them swarming her like locusts.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

END THIS, KILL HIM!!!

This insolent thief had been asking for this! After all the trouble he had caused, after defying her and subjecting her to such physical and mental torment, Swift was more than ready to put an end to it all! His suffering was her pleasure, but enough was enough! The yokai was ready to KILL!

Swift threw a hand down, aiming to drive her claws into his chest, only for the void barrier to knock her away. She stumbled back a few steps, then roared and tried again, hitting and scratching the barrier with all the raw power of a freight train. Her rage was already boiling hotter than the desert sun, but this human scum's refusal to DIE was starting to PISS HER OFF!

With one last swing, arm radiating with yoki, Swift smashed her claws into the barrier with a satisfying burst. A burst that sent her flying back like a bullet, whizzing backwards through the air until she finally crashed into the sand and skidded the length of a football field across the dune.

............

...Why?

The force of the impact and the sudden whiplash was one thing. A yoki-possessed hanyo would never register such things. Swift was much more concerned by the sudden feelings of fear and regret that had befallen her once she had finally made contact with Alex.

And these feelings... the thought that she was hurting him... JUST MADE HER EVEN ANGRIER!!!

"HRAAAAUGH!!!!" Swift shot back onto her feet, the explosive force of her aura blowing the sand away and leaving a large crater. She charged back the way she came, just as rapidly as she had been knock back, meeting Alex halfway. She swung her claws at him, yet they met nothing.

Something knocked her aside...



After scrambling back up, Swift found herself SURROUNDED BY COPIES OF THE THIEF. SWARMED FROM ALL DIRECTIONS. ALL OF THEM POISED AND AIMED TO STRIKE. How this was possible was the least of her cares. She couldn't take this INFERNAL THIEF'S INSOLENCE any longer! SHE WANTED THIS PEST DEAD! EVEN IF IT MEANT KILLING HIM ONE MILLION TIMES!!!

With a horrid screech, wasting no time, Swift threw herself at any Alex that veered too close, slicing through him and bounding every which way to continuously cut him down. So many thieves... so much blood... the carnage should've been pleasing, but it just infuriated her, AND THEY JUST KEPT COMING.

She raked her claws against one Alex's neck. When another hit her upside the head, she whipped around and sharply returned the favor. She then immediately found herself knocked into the air by one and slammed back down by another, leaving her almost completely buried in the sand.

[Pause at 1:33]

Why was he doing this...?

Why did Swift feel so weak?

Why would he CONTINUE TO DEFY HER?!

WHY?!

WHY?!

WHYYYYYYY?!!!!

[PLAY]

"RRRRAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!"

A pink and gold explosion stirred up the sand with a mighty thunderclap, filling the air with the dusty particles. For miles, there was nothing but a blinding cloud of dirt and grain.

And within that cloud, guided by her nose and her bloodlust, Swift charged through the sandstorm and clashed with copy after copy of the Thief of Void. Claws tearing, teeth rending, blood splattering... the yokai nothing but a vengeful phantom, unseen, unstoppable, completely lethal, and ABSOLUTELY LIVID.

[gantzgun74]

A distance away, Alex was finally pushing himself to his feet, groaning in pain... He managed to down another monster food item, restoring his HP while the clones briefly kept Swift busy... However it was notable that this was only making things worse... It seemed with every hit she took, the angrier she got. The angrier she got the STRONGER she got.

----------------------

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Call them off.

WHAT- B-BUT SHE'LL KILL YOU!!!!

No she won't... I am so fucking tired of this bullshit. I'm ending this right now before this gets any worse.

.............. I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING-!!!!

-----------------------

The clones all vanished, leaving the rackets in the sand. Swift, enraged, looked about and finally found Alex further along the way, putting on a new outfit with the Quick change feature. He had changed into his Noel Kriess outfit... Then beckoned Swift to charge... He smiled a bit...

Swift let out a massive roar and charged full-tilt, insane speed, impossible to dodge, surely enough to kill the thief-

Only for the claws to swipe through him as if he weren't even there.

!!!!!!!

She slid to a stop and started frantically looking around for the thief.

Big mistake.

In an instant, void portals appeared and engulfed her arms SLAMMING SHUT ON HER AND SEALING THEM IN TIGHT. Void portals then engulfed her legs and slammed shut on them too, sealing up her limb movement. Something willed the void portals to lift Swift into the air... The thief met her there staring at her.

"I honestly didn't want to see if was RIGHT about this, but you leave me no choice." It must have been an odd feeling, what was keeping Swift in place was the fact that her limbs were sealed in an alternate dimension, keeping her from forming any sort of momentum with it. One hand reached into the void while the other pressed itself against Swift's forehead.

Then.... Numbness...

It... LOOKED like the thief was taking something from her, a kind of energy that seemed to be feeding Swift like a flood. The beast roared but found it's rage seemingly flowing out of it.

And... Just like that, she felt another hand slip something on her finger. A piece of metal...

A familiar piece of metal.

[Pink Moon Wolf]

As soon as the clones vanished, the breeze carrying the remnants of their scents away, Swift charged out of the storm, stirring up enough wind to blow the sand out of her way and leave her immediate area clear once more. Huffing and growling, she turned to find Alex once again off in the distance. No signal was needed. She was howling and charging at him the very second that she spotted him.

One bound. One second. That's all it took for her to catch up with him.

She slashed. Her claws met nothing.

The forward momentum force Swift to flip in midair, roll across the ground and shoot back onto her feet. She scowled at the vacant spot where the thief once stood, then her yellow eyes rapidly darted this way and that. A glimpse, a scent, a heartbeat... he'd have to reveal himself again somehow...

He was the persistent type. Just like her.

The void portals then secured her limbs, an action to quick and too bizarre for her to react too. All she could think to do was scream and fight against her restraints, thrashing, roaring, yanking, spitting, teeth gnashing, ears erect, hair whipping wildly, all to no avail as she was lifted into the air to meet Alex.

Even now, Swift was aching to rip into the thief. She fought against the void, reaching to bite him but falling short, arms stretching to scratch even though they were stuck on the other side of the portals. When Alex pressed his hand against her head, she continued to stretch her neck, hoping his grip would slip and his arm would be within biting range.

And yet... the more she fought, the more her exhaustion caught up with her. She refused to believe she could possibly be that weak! She couldn't give in to this human body's flaws! It wasn't even the odd sensation as Alex attempted to steal her rage. She had plenty of that to spare. It almost felt as if the more he drained, the more her yoki fought back, increasing her need to fight a hundred fold.

No... Something else was interfering...

She felt something touch her right ring finger. Something cool. Something... soothing...

"NO!!!" Swift swatted Alex's hand away within the void, continuing to flail the limb as her yokai mind desperately tried to keep the wretched ring from touching her again. She couldn't be weak! She couldn't let this stupid thief get the better of her!!

But she felt it... She felt the calming sensation the ring gave off. Even though it was on the other side, the ring's aura mingled with hers, depleting her yoki, balancing her blood...

"Nnnnnnnno... Nnnnnnnno..."

Swift panted, chest aching, lungs burning, head pounding, muscles growing weary. Eventually, the yokai went limp, twitching only from the deep, ragged breaths that heaved her whole body. Alex slipped the ring back on her finger... Slowly but surely, her aura receded, her fangs and claws retracted, the black markings under her eyes faded...

When Alex finally released her, Swift fell to the desert floor, crumpling under her own weight, lying face-down in the sandy earth... unmoving...

[gantzgun74]

.......................

...................................

...................................................

UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH................

Alex fell down flat on his butt out of exhaustion as well, turning to look at Swift whom was practically sweating bullets now... However the desert didn't seem quite as bright now. The sun appeared to have went down some... When he checked his scroll computer... Yep. 3 PM. By now, the sun had lowered down quite a bit and a nearby sand-dune, created from the shifting sands had offered much needed shade in this horrendous weather...

Suddenly however, the weight of what he had tried hit him... However he had no rage energy in his modus.... Looking behind him, he found the pure anger energy floating in the air, remaining there like a nauseous gas... With a sigh, he opened up a void portal aiming at it- AND ONE OF SWIFT'S BEAM CLAW ATTACKS SLASHED THROUGH THE GAS, cutting it in half and quickly dissipating it, the void energy vanishing with a vengeful growl. Just a remnant of a remnant. Something that couldn't exist without a host. He made sure it would not gain such a thing... Once more all was well on the island.... OR at least, all was well for now...

As the wind continued blowing, continuing to shift the sand about in ways Alex had never seen before, he turned to Swift whom went from face down in the sand to half buried in the sand a second later....

And yet she remained unmoving...

The thief let out a sigh...

He strained himself up with his hovering powers and floated towards Swift... Hands flashing with Void energy...

-------------------------------

...............

............................

.......................................

A song echoed through the blackness, almost as if resolutely....



..........

When Swift awoke, she was in the Void....

However, she appeared to be asleep on a bed in the void. A bed that was nailed down to a wooden floor... A floor that almost looked like it was once a piece of a bedroom... If she got up, she would have found that the Wooden floor seemed to have it's own gravity...

And when she looked outwards she would find the blackness almost clogged up with so many items, movies, games, furniture, more former parts of a house, more beds... Just too much to list....

And amongst the debris, she could make out the Thief himself, floating by himself amidst the debris, bobbing his head to the music....

You're alone, you're on your own, so what?
Have you gone blind?
Have you forgotten what you have and what is yours?