towerofanimus | Catch and Release

Entry tags:

Catch and Release - Semi-Open

Characters: Anyone who's signed up for the Monster Souls plot. Parts one and two will have their own threads, for those involved in only one or the other.

Setting: Part one - August 3rd, nightfall, starting on floor ninety-nine and working down. Part two - August 4th (early morning) through the 8th, any floor(s). If you think your character might attack/kill Rick for his actions here, might be best to choose the later times to avoid continuity errors/time shenanigans/the like.

Format: Any!

Summary: See above plot link. Rick plans to help Kid Sephiroth with his bestiary by bonding with a monster so that he can shift into it and learn what it is (part one). Things Go Wrong (part two) and Rick begins actively seeking out characters who have close CR that are not presently in the Tower (such as loved ones left at home, or other characters that have disappeared from the Tower and are not currently around); he will engage them in uncomfortable conversation about these relationships and will go out of his way to combine them with the victim's worst fears (which he is also suddenly aware of). Awkward times all around!

Warnings: Violence/injury/character death possible in part one, and...probably the same for part two (combined with lots of angst).

Part One: Catch | Part Two: Release

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[Rick is offended! No really, he is! Definitely! I mean, just look at his face, he's gotta be!]

How do you even expect people to stick around when you shove them away like this? Really, Enoch...I'm just trying to be a good friend when you have no one else left. Don't block me out, too.

But I do have someone left!

*Clearly that was the most important part, enough to preclude everything else.

He wasn't as stable after that as he had appeared. Rick's - or the entity's - persistence had paid off. For now. Enoch is strong, however...*

[Apologetic, but with a good dose of chiding: ] Armaros doesn't count, he isn't here. Please, let it go.

Lucifel, *Enoch corrects, the outburst controlled for now, if barely.* You seem fixated on Armaros, whoever you are. Again, that's quite a feat since I know Rick doesn't know. Or...didn't. Can he hear you? Can he hear me?

Lucifel... [Oh dear, that grin doesn't look promising.] I ran into him the other day. It's funny, really...the way he fumes about you taking favor with God over him, I never would have guessed that he'd look out for you in your time of need.

[NEVER GOING TO ADMIT that Lucifel was referencing his universe's version of Enoch...that would be too easy.]

*Well, as far as this is concerned it's the same. Not that anyone involved but Lucifel is aware of this.*

Taking favor with God... *Something seems to click.* Oh...I do vaguely...remember there was some sort of tension between us, long ago.

*He will have to talk with Lucifel about this later.*

But we're past that now. He has been there for me as long as I remember.

[Rick shakes his head, disappointed.]

From what I've seen, I highly doubt he's let it go, even if you have. Besides, where was he when you were sent back home that one time? Where was he when you were stranded in the wastelands for a week?

*And that, with the flashback so raw, gets him to pause, panic threatening his mind again, making his heart race and his pupils dilate, his jaw set...and loosened as words came out with so little effort, so rushed and uneven it's sure there's no mental filter at all here.*

Do you know how short a week is? A year? A year, that's how long I went without seeing him - but we were reunited here. Even if we aren't of the same world, he'll be there. And even if he isn't...

*Armaros will be, he doesn't say. He'd promised Armaros the way Lucifel had promised him. Armaros was counting on him. You'll come back to me, the Fallen Angel had written, with more power and conviction than he could have possibly voiced even if he could talk. And Enoch believed that. They would restore the worlds. And with them, the people who had perished.*

What does time matter to an immortal? [SARCASTIC PAUSE] ...Oh that's right, you're not immortal anymore. Neither is Lucifel, or Armaros, even...immortality won't save them from having their souls eaten, will it? Honestly, how many different ways do I have to tell you that you can't rely on them being there for you?

And how many ways must I tell you that I can, I will, and I must?

*Enoch practically snarls that last word. Whatever is doing this has no right!*

We will find a way to stop it. We have the means and the strength to find our way.

Your optimism is charming, but...unfounded and kind of pointless. Seriously Enoch, you need to calm down. Find a hobby. Have you tried knitting?

Unfounded? What part of that message did you not understand?

*Enoch steps closer now, pulling his Arch and opening it. He's in pain, doubt tearing at him while all the same he worries for Lucifel, what this being said to him, and for Armaros, for the worlds. For Rick, under control of this creature using his mouth to hurt others.

He's desperate.*

...Listen to me, whoever you are. Tell me the truth - who and what you are, how you know these things, and why you're saying this, and then relinquish control of Rick and behave like the rest of his...group.

If you don't, I'm sure Jason doesn't like anyone who isn't him or Ruana playing with our autonomy.

*Yes, that's a threat, but his readiness to carry it out is questionable. He's hoping the threat will hold. If not...

...well he can't leave Rick like this either.*

[Rick catches the threat quite readily. He stands his ground for a moment...]

...Come on, put that away. You wouldn't hurt me, would you?

[...But very soon after his composure flickers. He takes a step back with the expression of a cornered animal, his hands slightly raised, solid blue eyes glancing periodically at whatever exits are available to him.]

*Just the stairs up and down, like a lot of the tower.

Enoch advances. He's shaking and there's something in his eyes, a wild, frightened look that almost mimics Rick's if not for the undercurrent of anger and pain providing a sense of intent.*

No more than you would hurt me.

*Get it?*

Answer me, and release him.

You're...serious?

[Enoch's fear feeds him. Rick straightens, though he takes a shuddering breath that undermines whatever determination he's trying to muster.]

...I don't know what you want me to tell you. I know. That's all there is to say on the matter, and nothing you can say or do will change that. Take it easy.

*Enoch keeps advancing, intending to force him away from the stairwell and against the wall.*

How do you know? Who and what are you? If you do not have a name, tell me that you do not have one. Tell me how you identify yourself. Tell me why you're saying these things.

That is what I want you to tell me.

[Rick notices the wall against his back and he bristles, pinned and frightened. He lashes out with surprising venom: ]

I am Patrick Dawn! I am your only friend in this fresh hell of a world and you wouldn't dare lay a hand on me! You don't have the nerve.

A friend does not say these things! Patrick Dawn does not say these things! Tell me the truth!

Why don't you believe me? I... [Rick takes a shaky breath.] ...There's obviously no convincing you. I should go.

[A beat.]

[--And he sprints for the stairs!]

*If there's one thing one shouldn't underestimate, it's Enoch's reflexes with the Arch. When Rick tries to sprint past him, Enoch whirls to catch him on reflex, too blinded by all the elements of his desperation to think about what he's doing.

Good thing too. He might have hesitated.*

[Rick's reaction times are pitifully slow in comparison. He doesn't even realize that the Arch has split open his chest until he's halfway across the room, momentum from the strike carrying him through the rack of clothes Enoch had been perusing and into the wall behind. He lands face-first--blood splatters underneath him and he crumples into a shuddering heap.]

[The puddle grows at an alarming rate. Even if the Arch has cauterized its initial wound, Rick's lungs are quickly filling with blood; he manages to exhale only a couple froths before he starts to choke. He gurgles piteously and spasms, but the show of resistance lasts only as long as he can breathe.]

[As his struggling subsides to involuntary twitching, the monster loses control. Rick's eyes dilate unevenly and make contact with Enoch's; he comprehends, and he fears, with every fiber of his being. There's not enough oxygen left in his brain to ponder what led Enoch to do this. All he knows is that he's about to die, and it is the single most terrifying thought he's had in his entire life.]

[Rick's eyes glaze over and he stops moving.]

*Any half-formed ideas of leaving a note for Jason on the body asking for information on what it was vanish when Rick's - the real Rick's - eyes lock onto his with all the fear of death. Fear and guilt and the realization of what he's done swell up in place of anything rational.

And when Rick's eyes glaze over, it feel like something inside him collapses and drags all that emotion with it, leaving him to wander wherever his legs will take him without a thought.*

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Catch and Release - Semi-Open

Is very logical! Carry on.

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You're free to use the details from that too if the scope extends to them btw!

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tag warning - gratuitous character death

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