[IC] [Impaqt vs. Descartes] Battle of the Black Prisms

[Impaqt]

Welcome to Area 33-75007! The City of Lights, Paris! Also known as, The Ultimate Hunting Grounds.

Paris, once known for it's beauty and romance is now home to a massive population of Humans that swarmed to the city after the Collapse. The City of lights has become a prosperous haven of human kind, but also a feeding ground for creatures that lurk within the shadows of the City. The 40² Mile area is surrounded by massive walls, but even the residents know that doesn't keep the creatures out.

An everlasting darkness of smog and evil lingers over the brilliantly lit city. While many of it's ancient monuments still stand, they are often unauthorized zones full of discreet dealings, underground activity, and hunters and predators of various sorts. It's often a hiding spot for those that don't want to be found, but a death trap that wander into the city unaware.

The City, beyond it's capacity, is littered with homeless, nightclubs, unsolicited activies, and much more. It's towers reaching over 500m high. The Eiffel tower still stands in it's splendid glory, along the La Seine, lit up as a beacon of hope for those that live within the walls of the city.

A Highly Free-Form setting, allowing for as much creativity as possible. Be careful of what kind of attention you attract though.

[Impaqt]

The streets were littered with activity as Mason pushed his way through the populace, towards the Seine. No one even questioned this crazy guy wielding seemingly obsolete weaponry, in clothing that looked like he might have just come from a circus. No, these were the Hunting Grounds. All sorts of strange fellows walked these streets, and Mason had no issue 'blending'. No, he had issues that extended far beyond the need to fit in. He still found the rumors to be questionable, but he needed to find out anyways.

Finally pushing past the people, Mason glared upwards into the darkened sky, lit only now by the tower standing before him. The Eiffel and the park surrounding it was off limits, labeled by a holographic cautionary projection wrapping around the perimeter. Any pedestrians crossing would inevitably be caught by the authorities. However, this was where he needed to be. He lifted his 'Hunter's Company' badge up to the projection. Moments later an image of a woman appeared. "You are clear to enter, Pathos." Pathos. Mason chuckled. It was a silly codename, but one that seemed to fit.

Mason pushed past the holographic barrier, with no delay. He had to find out the truth.

A few days earlier, he had received a complimentary visit from an old friend from the Hunter's Company. Aaron Wheeler. He and Aaron had been good friends since they were young, and although Mason never joined the Hunter's Company, like Aaron had, his standing with them was excellent. He had been known to assist in a variety of missions, and often in situations like this one, they gave him information. This time though, Aaron's information was highly unexpected.

An agent stationed in the Hunting Grounds managed to pick up small traces of energy, similar to that of Mason's Black Prism. It wasn't enough for the Hunter's Company to regard as investigative material, but they gave Mason all the information they could on the matter. If there was another Black Prism out there, he needed to find it before someone else did. The only issue was, the area around the tower was filled with all sorts of unsavory creatures and people that managed to slip past the holograms.

Mason drew his bow, ready for combat if necessary.

[Descartes]

Rodrigo sat alone at a bench. It had been some time since Rodrigo was home, not that he could ever return. Having arrived quite recently, Rodrigo was still getting accustomed to living in Paris. It felt as if he went on a normal trip as a vacation, the experience would have been different. Still, he was where he was, doing what he was doing. Rodrigo didn't like it.

Ever since the incident in Houston, with the rampaging monster, Rodrigo had felt like chunks of his day were missing. Sometimes, it would be chunks of a week. He could vaguely recall doing things, and he could feel and see himself as though he had lived through the 'lost time'. Still, Rodrigo could not place all the missing memories. Though it didn't seem like much, it was enough to bother Rodrigo, as if something were terribly wrong.

At the park bench, Rodrigo was feeding birds as they landed. The birds were definitely a little different from the ones back in San Antonio. Even though he could tell pigeons were pigeons, they were different from the pigeons from home. If nothing else, they were definitely much slimmer.

For whatever reason, Rodrigo had an AR-15 slung on his back. It was ages since he could recall firing it. He had no ammunition either, but for whatever reason, had a thirty-round magazine. It was empty; of course. One thing that Rodrigo kept noticing was that others around him didn't feel comfortable. Rodrigo often received dirty or confused looks from strangers. Perhaps it was his rifle, or the way he dressed. The city was full of immigrants thanks to all that had happened in the city's history, and so Rodrigo couldn't place a single reason.

Then suddenly, Rodrigo felt his heart beating. He quickly reached his hand to his chest, curious as to what was happening. Another thud shook his body. With his hand, Rodrigo felt that it was not simply his left ventricle pumping blood. It was as though his entire heart were shaking, in rapid intervals. Rodrigo felt himself fall to the ground.

Then, everything was okay. Rodrigo got up on one knee and walked, turning his attention to a peculiarly hooded man, Pathos. Rodrigo, undoubtedly had no idea who this man was. From the looks of things, however, Rodrigo seemed interested. He soon reached his right hand to his back, unslinging his rifle. He pulled the charging handle, locking the bolt back to the rear, then rode the charging handle back. With his free hand, Rodrigo reached into his pocket and loaded a magazine into the magazine well. The bolt shot forward, and the first round was loaded into the AR. Rodrigo did not aim; simply put the stock in the pocket of his shoulder, held up the rifle, put his cheek to the stock, switched from safe to fire, and pulled the trigger.

The first round hit the ground, the brass falling with a metallic clink. Although the city was no stranger to random acts of violence, the residents in the area were already in a frenzy, fleeing the area for their lives.

[Impaqt]

Mason stood, puzzled by this particular man. At first it had almost seemed as if he was having a heart attack, but something was off. Perhaps it was because he also happened to be a man of Latin origins, who somehow found his way to Paris. That didn't happen often in these times. However, He could also sense a particular aura around the man. There was no doubt that this was the man he had come to see, as something shifted, and an array of lights invisible to the human eye seemed to wrap itself around the man. This was the work of a Black Prism, but not like any he had seen.

Mason was curious. He took a step closer to see if he could help, only to have the man suddenly wield his weapon and fire. As everyone scattered, Mason took a step back with his right foot, loading a sharp serrated looking blue arrow into his bow, and fired. He didn't know who this man was or what had happened to him, but it was obvious that he was dangerous. He'd need to be taken out. He had no interest in killing the man, but he would do what it took.

The shots and the running crowd would give him enough time to get his distance. He turned moving quickly to his right, as his arrow soared to it's target. He cut through several bushes into the dark shadows of trees. Just enough light breached the trees from the city as a yellow pattern of light formed around Mason as he began drawing Prism. From the looks of the man's weapon, this wouldn't be a close range match, which was fine by him, but he needed to prepare himself. The Light particles moved about him, hardly taking any true shape at this point.

A Kilometer into the trees, he ducked behind a large solid oak. If this man had powers similar to himself, he could work it to his advantage. Truth was though, he wasn't sure. He'd only seen his Black Prism which had given him and his mother similar powers. If this man had powers from another black Prism, he wasn't sure how similar they might be. The thickness of the trees would prevent him from seeing through them, if he had similar abilities. Unfortunately, that limited his sights as well. He'd need to stay on the move till he could figure out what this man was capable of, exactly.

[Descartes]

In the direction Rodrigo shot from, he was shot back. It was a split second that the possessed had to react. The black prism seemed to motion him slightly away, but not quickly enough. An arrow had grazed Rodrigo on his left elbow as he sidestepped away from the shot. He put his cheek to the stock well once again, looking through his iron sights to try and locate his target.

An internal struggle had occurred within Rodrigo. He was unsure why he was fighting this man, and he was unsure what he had just fired, as his magazine was empty before. Though Rodrigo could not notice, he had fired a shot of black prism. For whatever reason, however, he could not see it as such. Perhaps it was a way for his brain to cope; perhaps it was the work of the black prism itself. In a frenzy, Rodrigo pulled the trigger again, only to have it click as if the rifle had never been loaded in the first place. Rodrigo pulled the charging handle and looked inside the dust cover to see that his rifle was in fact empty.

That was when it happened again. His heart shuddered, but Rodrigo didn't take notice. He curled slightly over before naturally leaning back into a more relaxed position. He pulled the charging handle again. Through the dust cover, a glowing black energy was seen. Rodrigo attempted to line up his sights with his moving target.

Quickly, he pulled the trigger, as a shot of black energy came forth in Mason's general direction.

[Impaqt]

Between the tinkering with his weaponry and the crowds of people running for cover, Mason was long gone before his opponent's shot. The second shot seemed to startle a lot more than just a crowd of people though. As birds fluttered from the trees above, Mason began churning Ultra-violet into his control, with his Yellow Prism. His opponent, depending on his speed, would be here in moments. The head start was advantageous. The Ultra violet he had summoned, he began to quickly weave into thin invisible lines that stretched from himself across the trees in this section of the park, in different directions and at varying intervals. They were thin enough for his opponent to walk through unaware. He'd try to stop his opponent if he could, but he was definitely ready to kill.

A bright red seemed to glow around the prismatic rainbow of Mason's eyes. His next move would potentially be devastating to his opponent, and he felt... Great! Passion surged through his veins, as he was ready to take this guy down. The full effects of Infared Prism ready to form. His body prepared for it as the heat seemed to vanish from the air. A cold night was suddenly becoming even colder.

[Descartes]

For whatever reason, Rodrigo did not bother to give chase. The max effective range of his rifle was somewhere over 500 meters, and so he wouldn't need to take the fight up close so long as he could still get a visual on his target. Rodrigo was unaware why he was even firing. Was he the target? Was he the one targeting? It was confusing, and yet his body moved all on its own, as if trying to accomplish something.

Rodrigo lined up his sights again. With his eye-sight, it should be easy enough to hit something that was 400 meters away. He scanned the area for his target. Before he could aim and fire, however, his arm moved away from where he believed his target was, to another target. This was some innocent female in her twenties or something. She wore basic streetwear. Rodrigo did not intend to shoot at her, and yet he did.

"Wait, run away!" he managed to squeeze out, before squeezing the trigger. The woman screamed before hitting the ground. Straight through her chest, a bullet hole. Her eyes were wide and she was in a panic. Rodrigo seemed to have conciously pulled the rifle away, the shot hitting just off the woman's heartbox. In other words, she was alive. Strangely enough, while there was an exit wound, the cavitation seemed minimal- or at least less than the ammunition an AR-15 would produce.

[Impaqt]

A momentary gasp escaped Mason's lips. His target was way to far away to see, and obscured by the trees that now stood between he and his opponents, but he could feel the black energy burst forth, an unidentified projectile that would pierce an innocent through the chest. Mason's eyes seemed to light like a fire. He could tell his opponent's goal was to draw him out, but even he had a hard time struggling to stay put. How could he allow this to continue? That poor woman.

The bright red in Mason's eyes began to turn into a white light. His own emotions were creating chi, that sunk into the Earth and everything around him. He could feel it all. The trees, the ground, the heat gushing from the woman's chest as she struggled and clung to every breath she could take. But that wasn't all he felt. He could feel a darkness, and the man shrouded in it. A scared man. If there was anyone that might know more about this man, it was the man himself. His Chi reached into the subconsciousness of the man's mind, simply as a voice, speaking out. "Hello?"

Meanwhile, Mason stood, prepared. He didn't know if he'd be able to save the woman, but even if he managed to get to her, he wasn't sure there was anything he could do. He could feel a sudden tear running down his face, as he still felt the woman and her pain. He was suppressing his anger for now, but he wasn't sure for how long. Red, Prism, leaking from under his shirt, down his arms and into the palm of his hands like a puddle of blood. Nothing about this was idea, but if he could take a shot at saving both of them, he would.

[Descartes]

The noises in Rodrigo's head began as a light murmur. They were little more than indistinguishable gibberish. Meanwhile, Rodrigo ran to the lady, dropping his rifle, and putting his hand over the fresh bullet wound. The woman looked on him with both confusion and anger. Perhaps it was anger that she was being touched by her assailant; perhaps it was against her religion to be touched by a man. Nevertheless, Rodrigo was there, not only attempting to stop the bleeding with his hand, but to also stop the air from escaping from her lungs.

The man had worked in an ER before, but had never had to deal with chest injuries before; The paramedics had already done it for him by the time they reached his workplace. Treating the woman was something a little foreign to him. Rodrigo reached into his pocket with his free hand to take out his phone, dialing 911. When someone answered his call, however, something else happened.

Within Rodrigo's head, the voices began getting louder. They were screaming in fact and what was once indiscernible and seemingly chaotic became crisp and somewhat rhythmic. "Murder...murder...murder...MURDER...MURDER..."

Rodrigo gripped the phone in his hands, and bashed the woman in the face with it, her head hitting the concrete with a loud thud as both blood and brain matter spilled over the ground. Quick and animal like, Rodrigo turned to face Pathos's direction once more. He made a face and an audible but low noise that could only be described as a snarl.

[Impaqt]

As Rodrigo's hand fell toward the woman's head, Mason reacted without a second thought. He couldn't save either of them, but it didn't matter any more. Rage ran through his bones, but his mind held a sense of cold logicality. His fingers along with his bow, twisted and turned as Mason lined up his shots. His opponent hadn't realized it, but he'd already been setting this battle up since the go. Flows of color were already shifting into place.

Lines from his Ultraviolet prism stretched through the forest in various angles. The purpose of this would allow him to control his shots with more agility and pattern. The lines snapped into place, pointing not at Rodrigo directly, but at the small holes in a wall of yellow prism that now formed around the mad man. A near impenetrable force restricting the man that he had been working at. His intention had been to capture, but at this point, he knew that wasn't going to fly. Even with the most absurd strength, the wall would hold just long enough for...

At a single snap, 9 arrows fled from Mason's bow, following a trajectory defined by the ultraviolet lines. Had he not had the lines already in place, there would be no way he'd be able to shoot so many arrows with such accuracy. However, in this case, the arrows flew towards the small entry holes in the yellow prism cage. 5 into the cage, and 4, surrounding the cage, in case the man miraculously escaped narrowly in time. Mason's plan didn't finish there though.

The ultraviolet arrows cut through the holes in the cage, threatening to cut deep into Rodrigo. Unbeknown to his opponent though, the ultraviolet, although solid was not quite strong enough to resist that much of an impact. Sure they'd cut the man, leaving some harsh wounds, but the real blow was within the arrows. A small wall of ultraviolet was all the separated the red goo of Red Prism and a crystal of Infa-red Prism. Once the arrows hit the man, the inside of the yellow cage, or the outsides of the cage, Kaboom! The explosion of reacting reds would be devastating. Not only to the man, but to the yellow wall. The wall, ignited in flame, would return to it's gas state causing an ever larger explosion. Enough to disintegrate his opponent, and unfortunately the girl.

He knew he was crossing some lines here, but witnessing the madness inside the man's head, he held no doubt that he was doing what was necessary. Still, he grimaced as the arrows arrived at their destination. He is a hunter and tactician before anything else. He'd do what was necessary to make the mark, even if he hated himself for it. He was glad his plan went so smoothly. If only he could have saved them though. He waited, sensing the area for any signs of life. A stream of yellow prism coming to life around him, just in case.

[Descartes]

As the arrows came flying, the mind of whatever had taken over what was once Rodrigo did not cease. It did not think, and the only words that were on its frontal lobe were the same echoed over and over. It was a droned, monotone "MURDER" which screamed, but in a depressing way, but seemed itself devoid of suffering.

The creature blinked at Pathos, showing its blank expression, before standing upright. It held its hands out as two black balls formed before them. Suddenly, the entire area around Rodrigo's body turned completely black. It was not a failure in electrical wiring- the lights were fine elsewhere in the city and some lights around the border even seemed to be half operating and not. Simply, the area around Rodrigo was in complete absence of light, that not even Rodrigo himself could see.

The only noise that could be heard was the low, predatory snarl. Still, the droning continued. "Murder... murder... murder..." it thought.

[Impaqt]

Mason smirked, as the explosions went off, his opponent not even making but a minor ineffective move. His Prism, although formed from light did not need light once it was created. Even in those cases where he had no light, the Prism was also able to be created off emotions, in the pitch black darkness, although he wouldn't have been able to produce the same amount. In this case however, his Prism was already on the go. Whoever the man was, made a logical move, but the momentary sphere of darkness that he tried to project would not have any effect. Direct hit. Mason sheathed his bow, and bowed his head. The loss though, was tragic. "Señor, ten piedad de mi alma" |Lord, Have mercy on my soul.|