[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/fCa90aX.jpg[/img][/center] [center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/909715047918497815/1037211200871731300/Umbri_banner6.png[/img][/center] There was a pause of consideration before Alex gave an answer. [color=deepskyblue][b]”Few do. Not all of them know the full story though. My friend Dean, he knows everything. Probably the only real emotional support I have.“[/b][/color] Alex smiled ever so slightly, it was ironic given how much he had to wrangle that man to live a more healthy lifestyle. A hand reached up to touch the scar across his face that would have almost taken his eye. [color=deepskyblue][b]”He was trying to kill me you know . . . The moment my powers came. That shitty excuse of a father was going to kill his own teenage son over some twisted delusions that his son was responsible for the accident that got his mother killed.“[/b][/color] Alex’s eyes began to look wet, but no tears fell. God. Why was he doing this to a total stranger he barely even knew? [color=deepskyblue][b]”Sorry, I shouldn’t be dropping this all on you. Some Rogue I must turn out to be huh.“[/b][/color] An apology followed by a very poor attempt at reflective self-deprecating humor. His gut twisted the moment those words left his mouth. [color=#A4303F][b]"I don’t think you’re so different from the rest of them,"[/b][/color] Umbri replied. The only Rogues she knew were a vengeful ex-slave cyborg and a vampire who didn't ask for permission to bite. He didn’t need to know that. She played with a buckle on her brace and thought about whether it was helpful to tell him. [i]‘My mother tried to kill me, too.’[/i] But... [i]‘I didn't get powers from it.’[/i] She knew about powers being triggered by trauma. It was one of the most common ways deviants and espers awakened their abilities. For every deviant unleashing their new strength on the brink of death, there had to be... thousands of people like her. Reaching to the sky with gashes opening their palms and receiving nothing. There must have been a hundred times she'd folded over a sink, not sure if she could keep going, daring the dormant spark in her to snap and christen her in strength and fire. But she just never had one there. If she'd had one like Alex that night, when she raised her hands against the blade that cut through them to get to her chest, like the way his hands must have raised against his father, if God or whatever force had granted her the power, would they have been... The same? She wriggled out of the thought. [color=#A4303F][b]“I don’t get this place,”[/b][/color] she confessed. [color=#A4303F][b]“I don’t really know anything about what it is to be a Rogue, either. But the world you came out of -”[/b][/color] she held her breath. [i]Tell him?[/i] [b]Tell him?[/b] It hurt and was caught in her chest before it could even make it up her throat. [color=#A4303F][b]“I understand.”[/b][/color] Marionette took her hand and guided it up to lift a lock of her wig, exposing a rounded burn scar tucked right behind her ear. A cigarette burn, maybe. A carved pocket in the flesh with rough edges. She let the wig settle back after a moment, the breeze on her neck making her feel vulnerable. That was enough. [color=#A4303F][b]“And maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, but watching you,”[/b][/color] she gave a little shrug, [color=#A4303F][b]“It looked like you were doing okay.”[/b][/color] He almost reflexively traced a finger across his facial scar again upon seeing It Umbri’s burn. It was such a small gesture. But to Alex it brought a level of comfort he wasn’t expecting. Of all the people who could have come out of Northbridge, of course it’s somebody he could connect with. What was he complaining about earlier? Oh yeah, living in interesting times and all that. Sliding back up the wall into a more natural position, Alex finally had his usual smile back. [color=deepskyblue][b]”Thank you. I know this probably sounds rich coming from the guy that you just saw mutilate what seems like a helpless animal, but . . .[/b][/color] (Umbri cringed at the memory and squinted at ‘but’) [color=deepskyblue][b]I try my best to be a good person around here. In and out of the mask.”[/b][/color] His smile faltered for a moment. In his head though, Alex struggled against himself. One last confrontation. For now. He didn’t hear his father though. It was himself. [center][b][i]Why?[/i][/b] [color=deepskyblue]I-I Don’t[/color] [b]Why?![/b] [color=deepskyblue]I can’t-![/color] Why are we still doing any of this?! [color=deepskyblue]I-[/color] What? [color=deepskyblue]I have to . . .[/color] Spit it out! [b]Why are we doing this?![/b] [color=deepskyblue][b]I need to be the hero![/b] For everyone else that never had one. Like us.[/color] . . . That's not fair. [color=deepskyblue]I have to save them. Protect everyone. Someone has to.[/color] . . . But who will save us? [color=deepskyblue]I . . . I don’t know.[/color] We’ll collapse if we keep going like this. [color=deepskyblue]Then I’ll just get back up.[/color] [b]It will break us![/b] [color=deepskyblue]Then I’ll pull myself together.[/color] [b]This can’t go on forever!![/b] [color=deepskyblue][b]I can’t afford to break![/b][/color] [color=deepskyblue]. . . I can’t afford to break . . . I can’t break.[/color] [color=deepskyblue]I’m useful . . . I can protect them all.[/color] [color=deepskyblue]I’m not-[/color] [color=deepskyblue]I’m not broken.[/color] [color=deepskyblue]I’m useful[/color] . . . [color=deepskyblue]I just . . . [i]I just want to be kind.[/i][/color][/center] There was a renewed resolve in Alexander’s eyes. It was hard to say if he was truly alright. But he did feel somewhat better. He remembered something his grandfather once said to him before having moved to Titan’s Fall. What was that saying? Right [i]“Be strong enough to be gentle.”[/i] He wanted that. To just . . . Be kind. Shaking the thoughts away, Alex turned to Umbri, leaning his shoulder into the wall. [color=deepskyblue][b]”And hey, sorry if all of uh.“[/b][/color] He motioned to the market scene before him. [color=deepskyblue][b]”Everyone here is pretty aware that Shieldtown is like stepping into another world compared to, well, everywhere else.“[/b][/color] [color=#A4303F][b]“It’s fine,”[/b][/color] she murmured, having just watched an entire war just play out behind the guy’s smile. [color=#A4303F][b]“Some things stay the same no matter where I am. Come on.”[/b][/color] She pushed herself off the wall. [color=#A4303F][b]“It wasn’t my story, by the way. My sister wrote it. I don’t know what it means either,”[/b][/color] she spoke as they started tracing their steps back down the street, and their conversation melted in the bustle of everything around them. Umbri’s new clothes blended her in with the crowd they joined and despite being there she faded from Aegis’s side.