It came out harsher than he expected, but Ferrucio simply didn't see the point of stepping around the issue, of delaying the conversation, when such a response alone was already enough to confirm things. There were others who had remembered the reversed future. With Rodin and Lucas both alluding to this, as well as the changes in behavior that he witnessed in Ophelia, the mongrel-son could even conclude that only those who made it to the final fight, perhaps even those who only witnessed the clash between the Demon Lord and the Patriarch, were gifted this...what?
Reward? To be burdened by what is to come, and to desperately chase after a way to undo things?
He looked towards Rodin, then to Lucas.
"I've suffered such awkward encounters for too long before, Rodin, and I've no longer the stomach for it now." His eyes narrowed in contemplation. "If you'd like to share a table at the cafeteria though, I wouldn't mind. Though from my perspective..." The Patriarch matched the Demon Lord while injured, and that was after 11 years of growing older, of exhausting himself in battle. "...convincing the House to strike preemptively may make for a simpler solution than letting it all spiral out of control."
It really didn't matter to him who listened in. Let them draw their conclusions.
In his previous life, he was simple. This time, he didn't mind being mad.
@PapiTan Neo-Astraea at night was, for those Talents with heightened senses, perhaps worse than it was during day. Regulations by the Ministries meant that the majority of businesses shut down before 5PM, after all, leaving only entertainment and service facilities open and occupied still. From low-stakes gambling to simulated horse racing, from gorging at buffets or clanking mugs of frothing beer, the six hours of leisure that every working adult had to themselves was spent as if in celebration of the very prosperity that the city promised all its residents. Neon lights chased away the gloom of the evening, while even now, Talents clashed over the cityline, a mythic theater playing out overhead.
Tonight, three Districts were restricted from interference from other Agencies, due to bookings by various events. In the meanwhile, the Battle Tower once again featured sub-300,000 Fame Talents challenging the legends enshrined within, seeking to 'awaken' the latent powers dwelling within through suffering and hardship. The daytime concerts that a Talent like Kirara showed up for were dwarfed by the sold-out lives for Cabaddu the Carnivorous, who mixed horridly gluttonous displays of cooking with slasher metal. And, of course, all that noise, all that fervor, were simply appetizers for the midnight release of Scheifele the Coruscant Fatality's latest arthouse film: "Breakwaters Upon the Pentacle", where the famously reclusive and masked Talent (whom nevertheless peaked at 2,639,337 Fame) was rumored to finally do a face reveal!
And Amaris, her senses stretched taut by the worship of her followers, could feel that thrumming of the city, celebrity consuming heroism, greed and parasocial joys causing so many to turn a blind eye to smaller faults, crimes on an individual scale. Corporations, who manipulated belief just as freely as Agencies did, and the personal losses that would occur due to that.
It had been nothing if not fortunate that Elpis kept her mouth shut. She had failed to move the naive fool, but things turned out in such a way that the GAG representative was likely to not make any immediate moves. That young man came away with just a concussion and a cut to the head; likely, they would send an agent incognito to simply...redirect his memories of the accident in a fashion where it was only himself who was at fault. He'd be out a car and there'd be a mark on his driving record, but as far as such things go, it could be worse.
There were many times where things turned out for the worse.
Sparks spread, fell, burnt out. She was a comet too, flying, disintegrating.
Her personal device buzzed, a message from the idiot who somehow turned out to be her only friend.
lol so im in the hospital right now. get me my gibblewhizzler? sneak a couple beers in too pls.
Phoebe didn't have to wait long for Pandora, otherwise known as Pearl Blanchflower, to arrive at the humble diner. Dressed in a dark blue tracksuit and with her black hair tied up in a ponytail, it was clear that the girl had been spending after hours at the gym again, even if she had at least done the courtesy of getting a quick shower before joining her fellow Aspera Agency Talent for dinner. A smudge of blue facepaint laid on the side of her neck, standing out against her pale complexion, but perhaps it wasn't facepaint at all, but simply a physical 'alteration' that was made permanent as Pearl and Pandora became closer and closer to being a merged identity.
While Magical Girls had the ability to Transform, the same couldn't be said for Fallen Magical Girls, after all. They had thrown away their civilian lives at the height of despair or wrath, abandoning their humanity for greater power...or so the lore went, at least.
Sitting in a prim and proper fashion with her back straight and her hands folded upon her lap, Pearl's sheltered upbringing was still clearly at display here. "Well, I am here. What's been troubling you?"
Aaaand thanks for the wait. It's a bit short cause I just wanted to power through it, but the day's activities are done.
This is now moved to the evening, allowing for either some reflections and thoughts on the day, conversations with management or friends, or perhaps just continued nightime heroics, if your character is NEVER off the clock.
If anyone wants a bit of a starting scenario, give me a heads up and I can provide.
@PapiTan@Digmata There was nothing else to be said. It was the space of a few meters, perhaps, but in that moment, in that frothing, seething moment, Elpis could feel it.
A chasm. A chasm unfathomable, one that could not be circumnavigated no matter how grand one's wings were. An alien gale whipped through sheer cliff faces, while beneath bubbled black waters whose toxicity caused birds themselves to plummet to their doom. Such was the hatred, the spite, the obsessive rage lying beneath the surface of the Moon Arrow, that all thoughts, all mirth, all childish petulance was silenced by the shadow within Amaris. There was no coming back from that. No coming back from this.
And perhaps, there never was any chance to begin with, that they could have been any friendlier than what the executives demanded. Not with this innate disgust would colour every interaction, past, present, and future.
The sirens caught up by then, the police having slowed their chase once Talents involved themselves. There was no need for Neo-Astraea's law enforcement agencies to be involved in anything more than the cleanup and aftermath. Two approached Elpis, still stunned by what she had peaked within the dark side of the moon, and statements were given, evidence gathered, the scene cordoned off. Within another fifteen minutes, traffic started flowing through this artery of District Mu. Within the hour, there were more exciting incidents for media drones to track.
They all left, leaving the Maiden of Hope alone, lost in the thought that she did something wrong.
@Taka@Psyker Landshark@Yu Narukami A hundred cameras were recording, and countless more were watching all across Neo-Astraea. Re:Arcade? The next advancement in VR gaming technology? Now THAT was something worth getting excited about in Play/Tech! There was not a single person under the age of 30 that hadn't fostered dreams of becoming a Talent, of becoming a superhuman worshipped by the masses, and if there was a simple device that could safely let one experience all that?
Well, of course people would get excited!
Even as the air seemed to be a couple degrees colder than it ought to be, the fervor of the crowd ramped up. News reporters were pushing forwards now, demanding answers to their questions about this new invention, the specifics behind the pseudo-scientific principles that it ran on. Fans online were already starting up their own little wars, especially with Zephyr's own gauntlet thrown down to challenge not just Ladyice, but also Armada himself, the KING of gaming. Sure, he didn't show up nearly so often in realheroics, but who could deny his skill in virtual environments, where he could literally supersede the code? It was the sort of overconfident brashness that people loved.
Both positive and negatively.
Which way it all fell, in the end, depended entirely on the three Talents performances in Re:Arcade tomorrow.
...
Anyone with a brain, of course, would understand then, that the victor would be decide before this demonstration of a fight began.
//News Round Up
"Huh, didn't know she was tough like that."
"Aw, she reminds me of my daughter. As a matter of fact, I'm going to adopt her!"
"Did no one at Aspera teach her how to handle traffic incidents? That was an entirely reckless way to stop that car!"
"Wasn't there supposed to be that collab stream with Elpis today?"
"Shot through the heart <3"
"What a bitch. Didn't even come back for Elpis afterwards. Typical het-Talent, too busy giving self-insert options."
"UOHHHHHHHHHH!"
"BROTHERS! LET US UNITE! Crush those bastard Zeph-Heads! I don't want to see a single ONE of them on stream tomorrow!"
"...hey, wait, how do I redeem that whole 'spend a week with her thing'? I was the only one to buy that thing, I think..."
"Prince Armada is radiant as always uwu"
"Ugh, why is he spending any of his attention at all to those skanks and bitches?"
"Anyone know anything at all about Re:Arcade? I can't even find like, a price tag for it."
"Sorry guys, we'll be locking down the discussion channels until afterwards. But don't worry, the Skybreaker is going to absolutely ANNIHILATE these frauds."
>several memes and 'highlights' of all the times Zephyr has fumbled in public, with clown music as the soundtrack
"Hey, take that shit down guy. Camrips are NOT ok. If you were a true fan, you'd want other fans to support our Light properly."
"Anyone find the address of those scalpers yet? Think I got them pinned down to RD Chi."
>a 50 minute long reaction video to a three minute long music video, where the opera singer simply nods his head, replays the song, and eats some spaghetti.
There is but a single post tagging Astraea. In it features a Hero and a Villain. The Hero directs the Villain to fight him somewhere more empty, before the two of them transport to Astraea's empty 'Daily Posts' page.
Kronshi
The Otter
RPM
Yankee
Altered Tundra
Alisdragon911
stone
VitaVitaAR
Animal
LanaStorm
