[center][img]http://s22.postimg.org/jtr04y1ht/War_Pulse_Word_Art.png[/img][/center] War-Pulse’s blood was running hot, his heart beating at the rate of a drumroll as the smoke began to clear from his wicked attack. The sounds of screaming were heard through the ringing from his last blast, his eyes slowly refocusing after his own light had offset his vision momentarily. Still coursing with power, the kinetic renegade pulled back for another blow, realizing his first strike only removed the Sorceress’ companion, not the target herself. He was panting heavily, his eyes filled with mindless rage as he marched toward her, the kinetic power creating cracks in the concrete as he advanced. And in all but an instant, the sounds and sensations all came to an end, a flick of the Sorceress’ wrist had banished him from the immediate vicinity, teleporting him out to Crystal Lake up in Central Maine. The warmth in his body was immediately offset by the icy cold water enveloping him as he dropped into the murky lake waters. The sobering chill almost immediately calmed him from his battle-rage, his growling now replaced with a surprised yelp which muffled through the water. Or...was it really water? It felt rather thick to him, moving his arms through it to try and swim felt much more difficult as he powered to the surface. It tasted strange through the mask, almost like the water was metallic, or at least possessed some level of metal. He tried to open his eyes, but found the water stung to the touch. Only when he got to the surface, drawing in a massive breath, was he able to open his eyes and see the curse Silver Sorceress had laid upon him. He gasped in terror. Blood. The lake was red with blood, swirling and splashing amongst itself in a crude crimson. The illusion overwhelmed Trent’s senses, he frantically began pushing his way to the shore, letting a few kinetic bursts from his feet propel him towards the shore to get free of the horrid red lake. He clamored his way to the shore, seeing his silver clothes now stained red from the lake. He sat at the water’s edge, his eyes fixated on his now blood-red gloves, palms shaking as he tried to wipe what he could free from himself. [color=9e0b0f]“Hey there, killer. Enjoying the fruits of your labor?”[/color] His head rose, trying to get a bead at who just spoke to him, springing to his feet to whirl around and look through the trees to see if anyone was behind him. There was nothing to see but trees so far, his eyes wide with panic as he remembered his com link was still active. [color=0072bc]“Warden?! Oh God, Warden, I was teleported away from the fight, but there’s a fucking blood lake out here! It’s just...there’s so much...it’s just a lake of blood!”[/color] [color=9e0b0f]“Well, what are you so freaked out about?”[/color] The voice responded, the tone much more sinister than War-Pulse remembered, causing his brow to furrow and his breathing to halt. [color=9e0b0f]“It’s not like you haven’t seen blood before.” [/color] [color=0072bc]“Yeah, but this is just disgusting, who would do something like this?!?”[/color] [color=9e0b0f]“Well, maybe someone who made so many gravestones. Someone who took so many lives without a second thought, someone....like you.”[/color] Warden laughed, Warden never laughed. What was going on? Why was he being so casual about this? [color=0072bc]“Alright, what is going on with you? This...this ain't god damned normal!”[/color] [color=9e0b0f]“It’s normal for us...isn’t it? Or are you so forgetful that you would never think about the bodies you leave behind everywhere you go?”[/color] [color=0072bc]“Yeah...but...but those guys all deserved it, right?”[/color] [color=9e0b0f]“And you have authority do decide that from who, exactly?”[/color] [color=0072bc]“That ain't fair Warden, it was a bunch of war mongers, crooks, and militants, they knew what they agreed to!”[/color] [color=9e0b0f]“Sure, the men you fought agreed to their abysmal fate,but what about those in the crossfire? What about those of circumstance trying to just feed their families?”[/color] [color=0072bc]“Those are unavoidable!”[/color] [color=9e0b0f]“But no less permanent, or do you not even bother to acknowledge that little destructive setback?”[/color] On Warden’s words, War-Pulse blinked once, watching as the trees upon the shore had instantly morphed into gravestones. A field of uncountable gravestones that stretched out as far as the eye can see. [color=0072bc]“Warden what the fuck is this?!?” [/color] War-Pulse screamed into his comm link. There was no response from Warden, only static at first. No, no it wasn’t static, it was just a lot of noise. War-Pulse tried to pinpoint it, deciphering the noise. It was human, lots of humans. Screaming, the ear-splitting sails of those in the throughs of death, calling out to gods or loved ones as agony choked their words. [color=39b54a]“This is your legacy, War-Pulse.”[/color] Came another voice, a ghostly figure clad in exotic, tattered garb manifesting from War-Pulse’s peripheral. Colorful superhero tights and a long, torn cape, the colors now mixed with blood as the figure’s faded eyes locked onto the panicked mercenary. [color=39b54a]“The legacy of the Kinetic Renegade, the ‘Force of Nature’ himself! A mercenary who only leaves bodies wherever he goes.”[/color] [color=0072bc]“Oh, come on, not you too!”[/color] War-Pulse whined, his knees buckling as the presence floated towards him. [color=0072bc]“How was I supposed to know you were a 17-year-old kid?! I’m sorry alright! I’m fucking sorry!!”[/color] [color=39b54a]“Sorry? You think ‘sorry’ absolves you of your sins?”[/color] The figure responded, gesturing towards the graves. [color=39b54a]“For every man you kill, you affect their families. For each man’s blood you spill, you jeopardize their loved ones. For each criminal you worked for, you destroyed a territory. For each empire you crumble, you buckle a nation.”[/color] War-Pulse watches in horror as the graves all began to emit a fog, each stone revealing not only the men he killed in ghostly apparitions, but those they were closest with. [color=39b54a]“With the power you have, you could have been anything. A hero, a savior, a defender of the people. You could have changed the world, War-Pulse, but instead you chose to attack it. You chose to slaughter its people, to ravage its landscapes. You beat, extorted, and tortured, and for what? Money? Bragging rights?”[/color] [color=0072bc]“That isn't fair! You can't blame me for all this!!”[/color] War-Pulse shouted, grabbing at the cloaked figure With a free hand and charging up a kinetic blast with the other. [color=0072bc]“War is war, you can't say it's all my fault!”[/color] [color=39b54a]“But I can say you were a part, and deep down we both know that's really what matters.”[/color] The figure said, offering no resistance as the kinetic beserker snatched him out of the air. [color=39b54a]“But it's all you know, isn't it? You only know how to kill, it's all you ever bothered to know. Even now you want to solve this by ripping it apart, nothing more than a savage with powers. All the power in the world, and you use it to sate your bloodlust.”[/color] [color=0072bc]“Fuck you!”[/color] War-Pulse screamed, anger and terror overcoming his body, tossing the cloaked figure in a rage. Who merely stopped his momentum in mid-air. [color=0072bc]“I never asked for this power! Nobody ever asked me if I wanted it!”[/color] [color=a187be]“But you needed it to survive,”[/color] came yet another voice materializing into the fog. A middle ages woman in a lab coat, auburn hair curling over her aged but angular features. [color=a187be]“Which I why I gave you this power.”[/color] War-Pulse froze, his pupils shrinking in his widened eyes as the cold sweat came trickling down his forehead, absorbing into his facemask. His shoulders drooped, a shaking hand reached out toward the newcomer as the words slowly came to him [color=0072bc]“M...mom?”[/color] [color=a187be]“And what do you do in repayment?” [/color] She continued, as if he never even spoke, her eyes boring into him as she gracefully crossed the small beach Trent was standing on. [color=a187be]“You ran away from home and went off to play the glory hog, building fame and renown on the backs of the bodies you broke.”[/color] [color=0072bc]“And what, stay with you?! After what you guys did to me?! What you were willing to do to me!? You were going to turn me into a weapon!”[/color] [color=a187be]“You mean like you did.” [/color] She responded, circling him. [color=a187be]“Instead of being a fighter for a better cause, you became a fighter with no cause, who kills only if you got paid well enough.”[/color] War-Pulse tried to scream back, but nothing came out. She was right, that was exactly what he had done with his life. [color=39b54a]“Who knows? Maybe if you had listened to your mother you wouldn’t have killed me.”[/color] The cloaked figure said. [color=39b54a]“But it’s too late now...your fate is sealed.”[/color] By this point, the ghostly apparitions had made their way from their gravestones and were circling the mercenary, clouding around him with whispers echoing around the terrified merc. “Killer…” “Psychopath…” “Monster…” “Murderer…” [color=0072bc]“No! Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!” [/color] The Merc shouted, falling to his knees as the cloud of the dead etched ever closer to overtaking him, clutching his head and shutting his eyes to block them out. [color=a187be]“It’s time to accept what you are, Trent.”[/color] His mother said, standing over him as he cowered in her presence. [color=a187be]“You are War-Pulse, slayer of men.”[/color] [color=39b54a]“Indeed.” [/color] The cloaked figure said. [color=39b54a]“You are a killer, War-Pulse. Nothing more, nothing less. There is no redemption for your ilk. Accept it.”[/color] Just before the undead aberrations overtook him, he found himself springing up to a sitting position, screaming in horror and drenched in cold sweat on a beach on Lake Sebago. The Illusion provided by Silver Sorceress had ended, but the damage had been done.