children, wake up; hold your mistake up

[headandhand]

WHO: All new and remaining Dualizens
WHAT: A mysterious return! And the start of Act II.
WHERE: Begin at the dorms, move on to wherever else in the city you want.
WHEN: Right meow c:
WARNINGS: Please use these in thread headers if applicable!

Maybe it’s a stream of sunlight that invites you back to consciousness. Maybe it’s a sound - a slammed door, your roommate’s snores, panicked shouts in the hallway. Whatever it is that wakes you, you find yourself in a plain bed inside a plain room, groggy and disoriented.

Maybe this room is a familiar sight, or maybe it’s a place where you’ve never found yourself before. Whether you’re new to town or an old hand at navigating the neon-lit streets of the city outside the dorm room window, one thing is for certain - you are one of only a very few people still populating this city, and not much about Dualis is as you last remember it.

Time to wake up and start looking for answers.

Comments

[firacrux]

[Huh... Well now, that's definitely the sound of someone or something moving about the city. And here he was being the only traffic in the street. The roar of an engine, one he wasn't paying quite enough attention to right away to bother differentiating between bike or car, was warning enough that it was about time to pack up and get out of dodge while the getting's good.

Dragging his last pile of scrap into the bed he hopped back into the cab in an attempt to make a hasty get away. Whatever was coming for him he wasn't in the mood to play, had far too much valuable to get back to the shop, thank you.]

[bravers]

[Closer, closer, and closer indeed.

By the time Seifer should have got back in his cab, the dim gloom of the barely lit street shouldn't... be like that at all now. Because there's a single headlight shining directly in front of him- perhaps 20 yards, give or take.]

...

[Whoever this is sees you. Perhaps Seifer could make him out- or perhaps not. Headlight and all. It hardly matters. What does matter is that the figure is staring, moving only to pull something from a holster on his back. The gear is slipped, and the bike shudders into life as it advances.

Then there's a gigantic bang. The sound of metal scraping against metal as said object pulled from the back collides with the side of Seifer's van. Perhaps it's enough to jolt the vehicle. But it's certainly enough to take a lot of paint off.

The bike circles, and comes back<. Perhaps this time the rider's going to try and put a window through./small>]

[firacrux]

[He sure can't see who it is, nor entirely make out the shadow being drawn off its back. What he can make out is the obvious threat, and unfortunately it's about then that he really regretted that this old truck didn't have a lot of horsepower.

The whole thing rocked from the impact, some of the over-stacked scrap clattering from the bed onto the street.]

Oh you son of a-

[Wait. With the bike wheeling around he could actually make out the stupid hair and even more stupid sword]

Yo! What the fuck, Cloud!?

[Alright. Now he's pissed. And really fucking mad he didn't have any magic stocked. Well, just going to do this the hard way. Before Cloud could ram into him again he grabbed his gunblade from the seat and hopped out, using his shadow tendrils to help brace the vehicle should Cloud come in for another pass while he's trying to orient himself. Guess someone's in the mood for getting his ass kicked, huh?]

[bravers]

[The appearance of the shadow tendrils do nothing to put him off. Instead, he simply looks at them- his gaze neutral- eyes cold, unchanging. He doesn't even respond to his name- instead swerving sharply toward the van, in the intent of wedging Seifer between it, and his bike.]

...

[Think fast, almost SeeD!]

[firacrux]

[Oh. Good. He's a robot. Well, that's annoying.

All the more reason not to go easy on him, however. A disgrace like this using Cloud's face? Unthinkable. Don't worry buddy, he'll avenge your untimely death.

Gripping the top of the vehicle with his tendrils he used them to heft himself up even as Cloud was rapidly approaching. Though, instead of taking shelter up there he used the side instead as a launching point, trying to time a roundhouse swing and fire with his gunblade for right as Cloud got close to him.

Gotta try to knock him off that annoying bike somehow!]

[bravers]

[Seifer's efforts would be rewarded with a success. A partial success anyway- the blast from Seifer's gunblade hits the front of his bike, and the thing veers, topples, and drags with a loud screech on its side- sparks dragging along the floor as it passes him.

...Great, right? Well. ...Kind of. Because as it does, Cloud's upright on the thing- standing with straight legs on the side of it as it drags along the asphalt. As it passes him and the van, he slices to the side- sword cutting through two, three, no, four of the tentacles holding the man off the ground.

Then he jumps from the bike, sword raised high to catch him with it as he falls.]

...

[firacrux]

[Success is success, no battle worth fighting is won in a single blow. He feels the tentacles dissolving as they're broken by Cloud's blade before he sees the swing, instinctively tucking himself in a roll that would allow him to get his feet under him in a crouch as soon as he hit the ground.

Which was good, because Cloud's blade was coming down on him hard. There was no sense in trying to block that attack unless he wanted his gunblade shattered, and instead flung himself in another roll away from that crashing blade. In response an aura of shadowy flame burst boiling hot from around him, this time using the momentum of his roll to push himself to his feet and into a spinning slash toward his target as swiftly as he could.

Cloud was stronger, no doubt about that, but Seifer could move with surprising speed when he got himself going. That aura of burning darkness only served to fuel the strength behind his swing.]

[bravers]

[His sword crashes upon paving slabs with a terrible sound, cracking them and kicking up quite a bit of dirt and concrete dust. That... Should be it, right? No way anything alive would be after that. But as the dust clears, he finds nothing but broken ground underneath.

Then he hears it. The sound of Seifer's power causes him to turn, and it's all he can do to deflect the blow by raising his sword diagonally between himself and Seifer. It's... not exactly easy. He gets there in time- of course he does- but he... was really travelling at some speed. The force of the deflected blow pushes him back just a little- and the soles of his feet scrape against broken slabs as he's pushed- perhaps half a foot, back.

Time to finish it.
He moves his sword in front of him again, pushing himself forward this time in a leap- to try and impale him straight through.]

[firacrux]

[That's cute, thinking Seifer would be an easy kill. Sure had he taken the blow he'd be undoubtedly dead, but Seifer cut his teeth on dinosaurs, Cloud wasn't all that different from one.

Using the force of the deflected impact Seifer pushed himself away from Cloud, landing fluidly to return to his combat position. For someone so large, he was remarkably light on his feet. He let the aura die for the moment so it wouldn't be tearing him up too much while he was out of Cloud's range. That's a spell best used for emergencies, of which this certainly was one.]

Disappointing. [He mocked.] I make you this big ass sword, and that's the best you can do with it? [He crowed, hunching low and preparing a spring for Cloud's charge. With such a heavy weapon he wasn't likely to be making quick turns, so Seifer was going to take the chance in staying put...

Just long enough to let him get close, before dancing to the side in yet another spinning slash, aiming to try to catch Cloud along the shoulder. Again the roaring bang rang out as the trigger was pulled just as the blade should impact. Now more than ever he was glad for the trigger modifications, his timing could be even more precise.]