[center] [h1][color=red]S[/color] [i]a m u e l[/i][/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/YAOdhnj.png[/img] [color=red]"Oh wow, thanks, Broken. Your post turned me racist."[/color] [color=888888]— Sam[/color] [hider=Status]30 | Male | G.E.M.I.N.I | Creeping Anxiety Rip, Tear | Dagger, Sword | Arcane | Fade Delusion | Dying Light Malice | Darkness | Devious Intent [url=https://youtu.be/qTX9S9Xmyec]YPINMFMP[/url] | Umbral Contingencies [Obfuscate (4)] [Intangible (4)], Damage X (6), Pull (2), Dispel (6), Mana Burn (6), Restrain (4), Construction (4), Transplace (8), Piercing (2), Full Enhance (4) DAMAGE: C | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | [color=skyblue]750[/color] [color=magenta][If Miss: (0)[/color][color=silver][Silver Projectile(9)][/color][color=yellow][Transplace (8)][/color] = [color=red]-144[/color] PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | [color=red]366[/color][/hider][/center] [color=red][i]How strange it is, this silence.[/i][/color] Despite the remaining members of G.E.M.I.N.I and Justin's group fighting as hard as ever, all Samuel could hear was the rain. Not the frogs, not the Space Invaders ship positioning to flank them, nor anything else. Just the cursed blood rain. [center][quote][color=#662d91]”I think we’re evened up now, aren’t we?“[/color] Justin closed his eyes with a grin. [color=#662d91]”You thought you could fight me without consequence? Think again! You’ll all join Gunther’s spectral army soon enough!“[/color][/quote][/center] Until Justin spoke. Samuel couldn't see the vampire from his position, yet somehow his voice was perfectly audible over everything else. Smug, satisfied, and determined to inflict the same kind of ending upon everyone of them. His delight seemed so genuine and yet his actions were so abhorrent, that Samuel almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. [color=red][i]She was a mother! And... a friend...[/i][/color] How could he want any of this? He realized these were actual people with lives, wants, and children, and family, didn't he? So why, then, did he do all of this? It didn't even seem like he had a goal beyond the carnage and suffering? Could this being simply be incapable of compassion, of humanity? But of course. That's why they called it 'humanity', after all. It was not for monsters. For all of their boasting, it seemed they simply weren't up to the task of compassion. It was beyond them as beings, even when gifted with the intellect to acknowledge it. How pathetic, Samuel had thought. Even when given everything, they still failed at something humans could do with ease nowadays, even if it didn't seem that way online or through the lens of media. His grandmother, rough as she was, was a testament to this fact. Maybe, then, it was pointless the waste compassion on them. If all they were capable of was destruction and suffering, then maybe allowing them to exist in any capacity wasn't a good idea. Perhaps any exceptions were merely biding their time, waiting for a chance to sin. A thought Samuel had long before this. But now it had become a belief. In a way, this was a relief. Aside from his music, Samuel couldn't say he had ever felt this passionate about something. Existing for the sake of it, just doing whatever he could to get by and trying to look as presentable as he could while doing it... wasn't a dream or an aspiration. It was merely an excuse to live. But now he had real purpose. He was going to get rid of monsters where he could. To make things right with the world with what power he had, in what ways he could. And perhaps this goal was fueled by disgust and contempt, but he would use these feelings for the sake of compassion. Or so he reasoned. And that would all start with Justin! [center][quote][color=a95c68]“Hey,”[/color] she said to him quietly but intently.[/quote][/center] [color=red]"...yes?"[/color] Silhouette was pulled back into the more local situation by Jacqueline, and matched her volume. For the first time, there was no smile on his Esper form. [center][quote][color=a95c68]“Look, I’ll go do what I’m good at – a loud frontal charge. You go the other way around, get behind that fucking ghost, and kill it. Good?”[/color][/quote][/center] That was right. They were currently engaged in combat with the ghost and the nerd. Justin would have to wait. Samuel agreed, and then, taking notice of the ship flying around their back, he quickly spoke. [color=red]"Don't forget that ship behind you while you charge. I will work as quick as possible."[/color] With the frogs, the mech, and the ship behind her, Jacqueline wasn't likely to last particularly long, or at least Samuel decided to work with that assumption. They had relied too much on Breacher, and look what had happened. They needed to be more proactive in the fight, that much was sure. A battle of attrition would spell failure for them, and failure meant death and worse. Silhouette didn't keep a lingering gaze on the area he wanted to reposition to from behind cover, doing what he could to lessen the risk of their enemies catching on. Waiting for Jacqueline to begin her charge, he quickly popped up from cover and fired a bolt of dark energy towards the mech, before retreating back to cover immediately, lowering his profile as best he could. The bolt's path would cause it to fly relatively close by the car-mech's arm. Combined with how quickly he peeked and fired it off, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume this was simply a missed note, and Samuel didn't bother to wait and see if it had hit were he wanted exactly, trusting his aim to nail a chunk of glass behind the mech, closer to the edge that had come from the mech being hit by Jacqueline just moments earlier. His actions from that point would, of course, depend on whether or not his aim was true and if his spell even activated, but he wasn't liable to give the ghost any more time than it needed to notice him.