Brucenorris007

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Okay, hear me out," Bruce said, addressing Zelriane and Shaidra directly. "You're both ascended beings. You're immortal and you routinely cross the borders of dimensions and realities. That means that you'll eventually do everything, which includes," Bruce swirled his finger in a circle. "Turning your backs and letting Jenso up those stairs."

Shaidra blinked many times, the gears in her head almost visibly straining to process what Bruce said. Zelriane looked mildly irritated, but crossed his arms and nudged the black dimension hopper.

"I cannot argue with that."

Zelriane and Shaidra both turned around and Jenso went careening up the stairs to the next level.

Alvios's eyes were wide and he barely kept his jaw from hanging slack.

"I can't believe that fucking worked."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce felt he was getting nearer the peace Nexus advised him toward- every time he focused on being aware of that, it fell out of his reach.

Instead of trying to force it, he concentrated on the present. He'd ended up between Jenso and Alvios, with Zelriane nearer the light wielding swordsman than him. Even if Alvios could handle himself, Bruce would rather take the hits himself, if anyone had to.

Bruce had two lengths of chains shoot out from each of his arms, one snaring around Alvios' torso, the other looping under and around Jenso's shoulders and back.

Alvios, Bruce flung toward Jenso's position, the chains around him dissipating once he'd thrown the other swordsman.

Jenso, Bruce yanked backward into the air, manipulating his chains so that he came back toward Bruce feet first. Earthen material slithered out of his bag and formed an angled platform in Jenso's path.

"Move, Jenso." Bruce said simply, only urging Jenso forward. He trusted Jenso would know, or at least have a pretty good guess, at what Bruce expected from him.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce, like the others, flew backward on Rajaka's shockwave, though not quite as far- he was a little heavier in his Sage state.

He heard Alvios' warning, but only in a distant sense. Bruce had delved into a sort of meditation again. Compared to what he'd been doing in Shaidra's dimension, it was sloppy, but he navigated the wall within the depths of his soul nonetheless. It was a dangerous time to do so, but he had the distinct feeling there wouldn't be any other opportune moment. Would it help him find the peace Nexus talked about?

He had no idea.

"Regroup where?" Bruce asked absently. He wasn't entirely conscious of his own speech. Thoughts flitted through his mind, yet he wasn't thinking. That was meditation.

The Order members seemed to be ignoring him for the most part. Earth flowed out of his bag, not taking form, simply swirling around his body.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce had first been meditating in a pocket dimension, then asleep and in a realm with his two companions, then the pocket dimension fell apart, and now he was back in his universe. His disorientation was more than slight.

His senses sharpened when he felt the atmosphere change as a result of two Order members putting on their game faces. Almost reflexively, he spread his stance, placing himself between the green and yellow masked men and Jenso.

"Seems like something's changed," Bruce said quietly. He darted his eyes between Alvios and Jenso. He cursed in his head- regardless of how they divided up, someone would be left on their own. His skin darkened a shade, entering his Sage state.

"If you want to avoid the yellow one's instant death bomb, avoid talking too much," Bruce said to Alvios, speaking so quickly that his words threatened to meld together into incoherence. He summoned his chains around his body, wrapping them around his limbs beneath his clothes. "As for the green one... just don't get hit."

Not the most helpful advice, but it was all he could give. Bruce glanced behind him at Jenso.

"And you need to go."

Bruce insisted in a tone that left no room for argument, even from one stubborn as Jenso.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce clenched one hand into a fist. The strategy Jenso described to get Shaidra's attention, a sudden spike in Ki- his idea for Ki transference might fit the requirements.

He shifted his gaze downward.

He wasn't nearly as prepared to try it as he wanted to be. If he manifested his Ki again and it came out golden, it would be because he'd forced it that way- the red streaks of his repressed emotions and the stain on his soul would be straining for release. It would be equivalent to regression to before he'd had that much needed talk with Ross.

Bruce glanced up at Jenso. Ki transference, at least the way Bruce had in mind, would mean their very souls interacting with one another, right? Just the concept was enough to give any reasonable person pause, but with the psychological garbage Bruce had brewing within, it was much worse than that.

If he tried it now, he had a strong inkling that Jenso could die. And it would be Bruce's fault.

Bruce sighed, reaching inside his robe absently.

'Wait a minute...' he thought.

"What about Jeff's power pills?" he asked. Bruce had honestly not been paying the utmost attention at the time, but perhaps there was a safer way to make Jenso's idea work.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"You won't be lying if you tell her Yzeira wants to know your answer. And you'll only be halfway deceiving her if you say that you'll only give it to him in person." Bruce said.

"The only true lie you might have to tell," Bruce said, scratching his head. "Is that you need us freed to make the decision. But then, maybe there is something else you can say or do to get her attention and work earnestly with her."

Bruce leaned back, pondering the question.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce blinked. Then sniffed.

"Don't feel much different at all really." He conceded, retracting his Ki flow. He regarded Jenso with a lazy eye.

"She's already left once- even if we bait her to our individual dimensions again, how are we going to get her to let us leave?" Bruce asked. He figured Shaidra, or Alexis, had little reason to see any of the three of them again, unless Yzeira asked for Jenso to be released so that he could give him an answer.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce regarded the idea. It seemed plausible. He hoped it was as relatively simple as that.

He raised a brow at the flames that engulfed him, yet didn't burn. He wasn't sure this was quite how Nexus had used Alexis' knowledge of Arki to save his life, but if it made his friends more comfortable, he wouldn't speak against it.

"I don't know how it will work in this place, but here goes nothing." Bruce said.

Quietly, breath bated, he called up on his Ki. The familiar form of his blade materialized into his hand, and he held it aloft over the ground. It wasn't even a decent fraction of his reserves, but for a test, the volume should be enough. He'd focused it, layered the Ki several times over. He imagined the feeling that had come over him when Mikey had shattered it with such ease.

Had that really only been a week ago now?

He felt a small whiplash in his soul- Mikey had mentioned that having weapons destroyed could cripple weaker men. For Bruce, he was simply aware of it.

The Ki shattered in his hand.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce set his teeth.

The theory that Shaidra was once Alexis wasn't inconceivable. And Jenso had laid out pieces for the idea in such a way that was not only logical, but convincing.

"It's possible. It's not often, and maybe nothing she's said can prove it, but there are moments when she seems less like an animal and more... Alive."

Bruce sighed. He knew it would be difficult to persuade Jenso, but his tone made it obvious that the sooner they began working it out, the better.

"Jenso, this isn't the same as us asking you to sit out when one of us puts ourselves in danger for reckless or selfish reasons." Bruce said, fixing the golden fire-wielder with a resolute gaze.

"We're asking that you step up and bare the burden of being the hero in this story we're making. That means setting aside your characteristic ideal of never letting your allies do anything on their own. You are our greatest warrior with the best chance of delivering us from destruction. That means there are risks you have to be willing to let others take."

Bruce smiled a little- he seemed to be in situations that always led to him making speeches.

"Only one of us needs to do this for us to get out of these prisons and move forward. I volunteer myself because I'm already a possible hazard to our progress with my... Emotional conflicts. I'm somewhat accustomed to psychological duress. Perhaps that will prepare me somehow."

Bruce quieted after that, to allow the others to speak. Hopefully now they could focus on he actual how of the problem instead of who.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Bruce nodded in agreement with Alvios' assessment of the pieces of Nexus' story and his decision to veto Jenso out of the risks involved in working with void.

"If possible, yes, Jenso should avoid such a risk. If we're intent on choosing an ideal candidate, in terms of the risks of insanity, I'd be best. My mind has its share of problems already."

Bruce repressed a sigh, not mentioning that he had been in the middle of addressing that issue in order to be more capable for his companions. If he brought that up, Jenso would be much harder to dissuade.