A Rather Explosive Dilemma (Gantz & Lith)

[Monolilith]

He woke up like this.

Those dark, restless eyes? That disheveled couture? The hair, the complexion, the muttering, the retching, the staggering through Void City like he carries Death herself upon his back?

Yeah, all natural. He woke up like this.

Given that his office looks like a bomb went off in it (one did), he has a pretty solid idea of who he got... power swapped with. It's the best he can figure out, given that he has no ability to contact Kira whatsoever. Or to process oxygen. He has to use his automated voice to mumble, and he can only thank the Stars he was set to full 'droid mechanics when the switch happened, because - he checked! - he can't extract his heart. Best day EVER!

Oh, but he knows where to look. He knows what he's doing. And so just outside the Void City Police Department, he waits. And when he sees the person of interest... a gaunt, veined, icy , quaking hand rests on his shoulder.

"bomberman. i was hoping i'd see you."

[gantzgun74]

When Bomberman woke up that morning, he had been on top of the world. The weeks previous, he had finally managed to get a job with the Void City Police force and had been settling in fairly well with the officers he worked with. And really, it was quite the life. He took on a number of odd jobs, he met a lot of new people, both innocents and felons. Some of them natives, others very new to the island. He would never forget his run-in with some crazed bitch that went around calling herself Princess, nor him meeting a young woman named Marina Liteyears...

... His mind couldn't help but go back to Marina, whom was, likely right now, back at his place looking after Pommy while he left for work... Along with that however, his mind went back to the abilities he had... SOMEHOW OBTAINED at the beginning of this month. He wasn't even ENTIRELY sure what all they entailed. For now it just looked like he had obtained the power to ignore time and travel through it at will. He had more then surprised his co-workers with this sudden change, heck he was surprising himself more and more as time went on. If ANYTHING in fact, he feared this power... He had no idea what it was, where it came from or anything of the sort... He wasn't even sure if these powers were natural... Let alone healthy.

Really, it was MARINA herself that inspired him to branch out, at least try it out, see what he felt was safe use and what wasn't.

So he did. He was helping the cops solve NUMEROUS crimes that had went unsolved for the past few years, and he had been using his powers to grant peace of mind to the families of victims, victims themselves and all of that. It was a good feeling... AND he had helped clean out YEARS of files that had been put away into the 'unsolved case' drawer.

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

All the same?

HE HAD NOT BEEN EXPECTING A GAUNT HAND TO SUDDENLY GRAB HIM, THE HAND ICY AND VEINED, GAUNT AND QUAKING ALMOST LIKE DEATH ITSELF.

"AAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!"

He turns around and, rather instinctively tries to create a bomb to defend himself... Of course none appears. "... Crap."

REALLY THE THING STANDING BEFORE HIM LOOKED EVEN MORE UNPLEASANT THEN IT FELT. IT WAS... LEGITIMATELY HARD TO LOOK AT.

[Monolilith]

Damn right, it's hard to look at. What would normally be quite a handsome, crisp man is now haggard, bearing a brutal scowl like Hades' own. He raises his twitching, rattling hand once he has Bomber's attention, and takes a step back, posture essentially doubled over. It's a moment of silent terror before he speaks in an eerie, glitchy whisper.

"tell me something. have you received time powers recently? perhaps command of the weather. or the ability to manipulate your vessel via your condensed soul. see, i need those things to live, and i learned to make bombs recently.

"we gotta talk, bomberman."

[gantzgun74]

Really, the poor guy was downright terrified at what he was seeing, perhaps to such an extent that he wasn't sure HOW to react. Usually when something unusual or unfriendly approached him, he could pull out a bomb and be done with it in the blink of an eye... Well, that hadn't worked this time. More because he had completely forgotten how to make bombs somehow; what seemed to be the price for his new powers over time.

However, as terrified as he was, what the man said caught his attention...

Powers over time? Powers over the WEATHER? Powers over... WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT THIRD THING WAS?

.... No but seriously, the third thing. Just... What?

".... I'll... Be honest with you... I'm not entirely sure I should go with you to talk about anything-" Yeah, fear had a lot to do with that, but there was much to consider given what kind of being approached him. It almost looked like an angel of death... No wait, even worse then that. He had seen an angel of death at least once, but this guy just took the cake. "Who... Are you, anyway-?"

[Monolilith]

A beat. And he laughs - as best as he can with the broken audio. Much of his data is augmented by autogeneration, which he doesn't have right now. The result is a repetitive, stunted, glitchy 'laugh'. Freaky.

"listen, bomberman. i'm fully aware that i look like death hit me with a tractor at least three times, and this is because it did. but only one of us has any proper means of defense right now, and while i really don't want to hurt you, i also really don't want to die."

He lets that hang for a minute. Then he smiles, a smile somewhere between agonizing and bemused. and pats Bomberman's shoulder.

"the name's captor. providence contractor, second cardinal atmokinetic. care for a cuppa? i'll pay."

[gantzgun74]

............. "You'll uh... Understand if I'm REALLY REALLY NERVOUS ABOUT THIS RIGHT-?" He wasn't really turning down Captor's offer. But at the same time, nervousness of the situation pushed forward that he be cautious... This man clearly needed help and what sort of hero would he be if he turned the man down? He figured no harm would come from at least listening to the guy right? Besides, thanks to his time powers, if he tried to threaten him with his own bombing abilities, he could just clear out lickity split...

....

"Still... I'll uh... I'll go with you to talk."

[Monolilith]

He smiles, of course, a considerably more... relaxed one. The expression, on him, is strange, like that of an elder about to die surrounded by loved ones. His voice is considerably less harsh when next he speaks.

"would you get us there? i'd be happy to walk, but i run on taint. and you have my taint. just focus on going to the grande mall cafe, gague how long it would normally take to get there, squish that time in your head, and allow it to transpire."

[gantzgun74]

.... WELL THOSE DIRECTIONS MADE LIKE ZERO SENSE WHATSOEVER. How was he supposed to follow vague directions like that. What even was up with that? Figure up how much time it would take him to get to the cafe? Squeeze it then let it HAPPEN? How does one even SQUEEZE TIME? HOW WAS THAT EVEN PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE. "..... Um.... Say that again? I'm not sure I heard right."

[Monolilith]

A minute. And then he sighs, head bowing down some.

"c'mon. i know you use time powers - how do you go about doing THAT? they're MY powers. there's only one way, and that way is focusing on where and when you want to be, and moving yourself there. by taking a step through reality. just focus on the cafe, and then step into the cafe."

His hand goes to Bomber's upper arm, resting rather calmly on it.

[gantzgun74]

..... Well that made BETTER sense, but even still. "I really only used it to travel to the past..." Though granted he had to also use these powers to travel back to the present as well so.... Maybe this would be easier then he would think? The Bomber took in a deep breath... Then slowly exhaled.....

Then he took a step-

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

Rather instantly the sounds of distant traffic, and the phones being heard from inside the police station was replaced by much closer traffic. The Police station building behind them was replaced by a very homely looking cafe before them. Rather akin, to some extent, to a place he had once passed by in Blue Resort, one of the many planets that had been taken captive by Altair, and one of the few he had to journey through to reach the Rainbow Palace. Either way, the neighborly atmosphere brought a small smile to the Bomber's face.

"Here we are, we can- Oh jeeze um...." Bomberman had been about to pull away, but then he noticed that Captor had been leaning on him somewhat. "Here uh... Let me... Well, get you to a table... I'm sure we'll find a free one-."

The waiter within stuck Bomberman and Captor in the back corner of the restaurant... Which made sense. Captor wasn't exactly an easy sight to stomach and these people did need to keep their customer's appetites up. Bomber was already fairly certain that at least one of the waiters had given him a dirty look for dragging in what almost looked like a living corpse.

"I'm... I'm sorry about them... But this is a family establishment you see... And well..."

..... White let out a sigh and leaned back in his seat in exhaustion.

"What even is my LIFE anymore........"

[Monolilith]

He chortles, that discordant, glitching laugh. A broken record. "relax, bomber. i've got way bigger problems. hell, i should thank them when i'm back to my old self."

He's slumped at an inhuman angle in his booth, smile weak and - against his dead eyes - rather menacing. But it's relatively clear that he doesn't mean it that way. He literally can't do anything about it, if he really has to conserve battery power that badly. Which he surely does. That looks extremely uncomfortable.

"all right. so how've you been likin' time travel? how'd you find it out?"

[gantzgun74]

..... Bomberman sort of.... Blushes at the question... "... Well... It's kind of an embarrassing story..." The alien android took a moment to clear his throat before continuing. "I woke up one morning feeling just... Different. I got up around and went to eat breakfast... But... Then I realized I had somehow slept in and through my alarm clock." Wow, that was embarrassing. "I was waaaay late for work, and I was so panicked as I fixed myself up and got out the door..."

... "I remembered thinking on my rush to work, that I wished I could have gotten there on time.... I remember this brief flash then I was suddenly at work at the office... Before I could even apologize for being late I found out that, in my rush, time had somehow moved back by an hour. So not only had I arrived on time, I had arrived early."

So..... He caused his first time traveling trip by ACCIDENT?

"I was so freaked out, you see, I had set my clock's back home based on the clocks at the station so I knew my clocks weren't off... Something WIERD had happened and I had no idea what." The Bombet let out a sigh when he finished.

[Monolilith]

A beat. And Cap chuckles once more. It's a little less eerie the third time. "that's kinda how it generally starts. s'usually kids gettin' new powers, but grownups sometimes develop new perks - starts with a desire. then it's fulfilled, and you're like... shit?"

A beat. He twists his head to a slightly less horrifically skewed angle.

"so you've been using it to take care of old crimes. explored it beyond going back n' forth?"

[gantzgun74]

"Heh..... It was a friend of mine's idea actually... When I came home earlier that day in a panic, she was the one that saw the potential use in it. She'd been on this island longer then I had and is a lot more used to this weirdness then I'll ever be. Said I should try embracing it, take advantage of it. Cause you never know how long you have powers that aren't your own." Bomberman rubbed his chin, thinking a bit. "She probably had some experience with that sort of thing..."

Letting out a breath, he looked over his hand. "I uh... Decided to play it a bit safe in the end honestly. Solving cold cases seemed like the best way to go. That way I could help people out and reach sort of an ending with their old problems... I hadn't tried to use the powers for anything else. I wouldn't even know where to start with Time Travel..."

[Monolilith]

Suddenly, Captor's gaze turns hard. It's always hard, right now, but it goes especially grim. His voice is low.

"good. you don't know what you're doing, white bomber. you're gallant, you're kind - i appreciate that. but i also appreciate your docility.

"going backwards and forwards is the most basic ability i have. you can't wrap your head around that? you could never wrap your head around fractures. stable loops. checkpoints. you couldn't even skip without me.

"and don't get me started on what else you have. your whisper bids the winds. your song sires storms, dissolves them, on the same beat drop. the ocean licks at your feet with anticipation, the mists hum against your body. haven't you noticed that your agitation rouses rain? that your focus begets mists?

"or have you ignored your sudden kin?"

At the end, he sounds... hurt. Grieving. His voice has softened again, his eyes gone down. It must hurt. It must hurt to be apart from powers that clearly mean so much to him - he talks of the weather like it's a sibling. But how to give the powers back...?