soraspace | "It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack, not rationality."

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"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack, not rationality."

[There's a familiar girl walking the streets of Luceti today with an intense, focused expression, newly returned from her mallynapping. But those who know her will quickly realize that something is very off. Very, very off.

The more innocuous difference is that she's taller, with longer hair and a more mature face, though she still wears her yellow-and-black striped jumpsuit. She's also toting around a katana -- an odd choice, considering her weapon of choice as a Hero.

Ah...Heroes and HeroTV. That's where things start to get interesting with this one. If you come up and talk to her, maybe you'll find out just how interesting they are.]

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[Meanwhile, there is a judge man standing around with an aggravated look on his face. Considering what he's been through, he's almost used to finding himself unexpectedly in strange places, so it isn't surprising—just annoying.

What he does find surprising, however, is seeing this young woman that obviously familiar to him, albeit not quite so old.]

.......Miss Huang?

[Given all the weirdness she's had to deal with so far, it's practically a relief for Pao-Lin to hear a familiar voice.

Especially because this particular voice means she gets to take out her anger on someone who deserves it.]

[She greets Yuri with a very predatory smile.]

Hello, Your Honor. Or should that be Dishonor? [She unsheathes her sword and points it at him. The blade crackles with the electricity she's channeling through it.] Haven't seen you in a while. Let's catch up, shall we?

[Okay, what. No, really, what?!]

[Think through this logically. Pao-Lin Huang is older, angry, and has, for some unfathomable reason, a sword that she is pointing at him. From this, he can assume that she is somehow from the future. From her aggression and words, it's clear that she holds some sort of grudge. Probably about him being Lunatic. Fuck everything. ~~You Heroes are so sensitive about everything. Set some people on fire, and now you hold a grudge.~~

He tenses and prepares, but he's not going to activate his power quite yet. If any of the other Heroes are around and not from the future, there's no point in him exposing his identity when they could do something about it for him. If not, however...]

Miss Huang, may I ask what all this is about?

[She continues smiling.]

Oh, dear, you've forgotten already about, hmm, how to put it most charitably...the mass layoffs that were conducted at HeroTV five years ago? It was rather a drastic change to the program -- not something that should easily slip your mind like an afterthought. [A laugh.] Maybe you're getting senile, hmm? That almost makes me feel bad about killing you. [The smile drops. The sword doesn't.] Almost.

[Mass layoffs five years ago? Okay, he has no idea what that's about, but it doesn't sound like it has anything to do with Lunatic. Both good and bad. Good because his identity hasn't been compromised, bad because then he can't use his powers as he'd like. How to deal with this before she actually kills him...]

Miss Huang, I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about. I know this may sound absurd, but I have every reason to believe that you're from the future. In my time, you are still in your teens, and I have not heard of any plans for...mass layoffs.

[She is not believining to you, no ma'am-sir. It was true that the "Luceti Guide" that Alice showed her earlier mentioned something about timey-wimey fuckery, but like hell she actually believed that. She had little patience enough reading or listening to such bullshit from strangers; she wasn't going to put up with it from someone she knew, beyond a doubt, to be complicit in the deception.]

Don't fuck with me, Petrov. The public might believe that crap about the Heroes dying while trying to stop a terrorist attack, but I know better. Maverick's a rather chatty man, you see. And a bit of an arrogant asshole. [Pause.] Okay, a lot of an arrogant asshole. Either way, I'm informed on the real deal, so don't even try to deny it. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where that motherfucker is, would you?

[She's itching to just run Yuri through with her katana and get it over with, but she figures she might as well interrogate him first. It'd be hard for him to talk with a slashed throat or a punctured lung, after all.]

[Heroes dying? Maverick? This is information that he's interested in now as well. This Pao-Lin is highly volatile and dangerous, but if he can stall and coax information from her, then it will pay off. If worse comes to worse, he could kill her, but dealing with the aftermath may not make it worth the trouble. The best case scenario would be to convince her that he is on her side, although the chances of that succeeding are unlikely at the moment.]

...I do not, but it seems that you and I both have information that could be beneficial to us. Miss Huang, I understand that you are angry, although I do not know the exact situation behind your anger. What is this about the Heroes dying, and what does Albert Maverick have to do with it? If any of you are in danger, I wish to know about it so I can help you. If there something I can do to make you believe me, please let me know.

[Oh, man, she totally does not have time for your bullshit. This girl]

Yeah, there's something you can do. Die.

[And she rushes forward with her electrically-charged sword. She's a little faster than Yuri might expect, since the Malnosso decided to boost her speed and strength just for shits and giggles. Have fun with that, Lunayuri!]

[Well, shit. Even though she's faster than he expected, he's still fairly speedy. He dodges with speed and dexterity that someone who is just a judge shouldn't have, but he's still not fast enough to avoid her blade completely. There's a slash cutting across his chest and forearm, and while it isn't too deep, it certainly is enough to bloody his clothing. He winces in pain, but he doesn't go down.]

Pao-Lin Huang, please calm yourself!

[If she doesn't, then he may be forced to act... He's not going to let a Hero get the best of him, after all. But who else here? Will he have to fight off the other Heroes as well? And...if they discover his identity, can he silence them?]

[Pao-Lin looks mildly surprised at Yuri's dexterity, but she doesn't consider the bigger implications of it aside from thinking that he might not be as easy to take down as she'd originally thought -- either because of skill or because he was Lady Luck's lover.]

Don't you tell me to calm down, Petrov! Not when --

[stab]

-- you --

[slash]

-- and those other assholes at HeroTV --

[slash]

-- conspired with Maverick --

[and slashing again]

-- to kill off the Heroes!

[And she punctuates her last bit with a very bright blast of lightning from her sword.]

[The slashes and stabs, those he can dodge—somewhat. He's taken more damage from the slashes, but nothing life threatening as of yet. The blast of electricity, however, he can't. Not without activating his powers, at least. And in a sudden life-or-death situation, he doesn't have the time to debate what the best long-term course of action is. The fact is that Pao-Lin Huang, a Hero, is going to kill him if he doesn't act.

But he will not die here. His justice will not die here, will not be done in by a foolish simpleton who could never grasp the true meaning of justice.

So he acts. Activates his powers and flies away from the bolt of electricity, then elevates himself to higher ground, whatever it may be. And his eyes are aflame, and his voice is that of Lunatic's. No point in playing around with identities anymore, especially if what she said about the Heroes is true.]

Talk. What do you mean I conspired with Maverick to kill the other Heroes? You will answer me, unless you wish for the voice of Thanatos to sentence you to a quick end.

[Pao-Lin's eyes widen at the sight of the distinctive bichromatic flames. She freezes for a moment, the implications zipping through her mind.

This man...Judge Petrov...was he really...?]

[And then she just throws her head back as she breaks out into laughter. Sarcastic, disbelieving laughter.

It figured, didn't it? It fucking figured that the man who was supposed to be representing fair, lawful justice in Sternbild, not to mention the one in charge of overseeing the activities of HeroTV, was that criminal-murdering Lunatic. As if she needed more proof as how broken and corrupt the show was.]

The voice of Thanatos can go fuck itself for all I care!

[Oh and uh as for the answer to your question, you'll be receiving another lightning blast to the face, dragon-shaped for your displeasure.]

[He maneuvers himself out of the way, and remains in the air. He's unprepared for this fight, and without his crossbow, cannot go on the offensive without getting close—something he's not planning on doing at the moment.

Her behavior is highly troubling, and her words more so. Jab at Thanatos aside, everything she's said has contributed to his worst fears about Hero TV come true. Oh, he'd always known it was corrupt—what happened to his father was more than enough proof of that—but to the point where they'd purposefully kill them off? And Maverick—he knew there was something suspicious about that man, and now he has a witness.

A witness that's trying to kill him, but a witness nonetheless. For once, he's asking first and shooting later.]

Hmph. Hatred has consumed you, and caused you to be both reckless and foolish. I have no quarrels with Heroes so long as they do not get in my way, and even then I would not conspire with those corrupt corporate executives. Now answer my question:

What did you mean when you said that I conspired with Maverick to kill the Heroes?

[Boy howdy, he's really starting to get on her nerves. To think that she'd once talked to him as though he were a rational, sane adult. Why is he asking her questions that he should already know the answers to? Is he trying to rub salt into a still-bleeding wound, making her relive memories she'd rather bury six feet under?

Pao-Lin swings a free hand, using her powers again, but instead of the quick sharp bolts of earlier, it's a whip of lightning she's flinging around, hoping to catch Yuri with it. ~~shut up lightning can totally do that now okay okay~~]

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"It's mercy, compassion, and forgiveness I lack, not rationality."

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Pretend his eyes are on fire, IDK

1/2 I AM PRETENDING WITH ALL MY PRETENDY POWERS...

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