(Nitrine has two powers: Super strength when full of adrenaline, and the ability to form an ethereal cannon that shoots molten plasma.
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As Lucent floated through the city, the swirling blue vortex of a warp exit point materialized in front of him, and he tensed, slowing to a stop. Who...? "Father." He did not relax.
"Lucent." Reala inclined his head in greeting, arms already crossed. "I hear you've been raising hell out here."
"I would not contest the fact."
"But Master's worried. Says you're unstable."
"It hasn't been exactly the best of days."
"So," Reala spread his hands out as he spoke, smirking some, "I've been asked to take you home. Will you come willingly, or will I need to drag your ass out of this putrid place?"
Lucent thought about that choice for a few moments. He remembered the old woman, then smiled at his father. "Come and get me."
Both men tensed, analyzing the other, watching. The atmosphere closed in and became oppressive. Reala's fingers twitched, and Lucent flinched back. The rest faded away, and it was only them. The calm before the storm. Reala clicked his heels and began hurtling forward. It had begun.
Lucent didn't even try for an offense; he warped out of the way. Reala skidded to a stop and looked around, honing back in on his target, and flew at Lucent again, who warped away once more. Reala huffed, a bit frustrated, but gave it one more try. The moment he correctly anticipated Lucent's disappearance, he turned, arcing up and hoping he'd be somewhere close. He was right. Lucent appeared in front and above him, looking around. Lucent turned just as he reached him, scraping his claws up Lucent's thigh, inciting a shout of pain. "You can't run forever!" he said with a grin as he wound up a roundhouse, but Lucent was gone. He whirled around, locating Lucent again, and shot back up towards his son.
Lucent clutched his leg, hoping to stem the bleeding. Shit, that had hurt more than he expected. Seeing his powerful father barreling towards him, Lucent raised his hand, but for half a moment, he lost his nerve; rather than sending off a bolt of favored electricity, he threw a fireball. Bad choice. Reala didn't even try to go around it; he shot straight through it, too fast to be burned, and his fist smashed into Lucent's tender gut with all the ferocity of a jumbo jet. The air rushed out of Lucent's lungs; he tasted blood, but amid the pain he absorbed all the kinetic energy that Reala had moved with and internalized it. When Reala swung his arm to strike again, Lucent caught it and pulled, swinging Reala down into the ground with a crack and shock of brilliant yellow pulsing across his vision. His father laughed. "Much better!" He launched back up into the air, above the gasping Lucent, and grinned, then flew at him again.
Lucent's vision blurred, tinged with red, and it focused just with time enough for him to swing his hand up and release a bolt of lightening that crackled and bent to strike its target. Reala grunted and his muscles seized; his path swerved and swiveled, so instead of passing harmlessly by, he crashed directly into Lucent, taking them both barreling down into the ground. Lucent bore the brunt of the force; an unhealthy crack accompanied their fall and Lucent screamed, his vision completely obscured by red.
Nitrine froze and tilted his head. Faintly, he picked up on the sound, that scream of excruciating pain, and gasped, turning to Jade and shaking her tunic. "Did you hear that?"
She tilted her head and nodded. "Sounds like Lucent..."
"Sounds like he's been hurt! Come on, we have to help him; come on!" He shook her especially violently, and as she put her hand on her head to steady herself, spiral irises swirling slightly, he was already gone. Laughing, she followed just behind.
Reala recovered much faster than Lucent, who lay stunned below him, and shook the voltage from his system, grunting, then grinning. "Looks like you screwed yourself, Lucent." He pushed himself into a sitting position. "Though, before we go, it is my unfortunate duty as a father to remind you of the... painful consequences of rebellion."
Reala raised his claws, paused for a single dramatic moment, then swung them down, digging them into Lucent's abdomen, straight through the cloth and chain mail that made up Lucent's shirt, and Lucent cried out in pain, tears pricking his eyes. Reala withdrew his claws, but before he could strike again, froze and looked over as a voice shouted, "Get off of him!" Nitrine by that time was too close to stop; he grabbed onto Reala and threw him with all the strength his fury and adrenaline provided into a nearby building. With that threat at least temporarily removed, he looked down at his brother and gasped, seeing the blood seeping from his various wounds. "Ohmygod, LucentLucent, are you ok?"
Lucent groaned.
Nitrine began to say something, but his gaze snapped up at the sound of shifting rubble and the sight of Reala emerging from it and dusting himself off. "That almost hurt," he commented, and looked over at Nitrine, grinning. "What a fabulous day. I get to beat some sense into two of my sons instead of one." Nitrine floated back an inch, intimidated a moment, but then he clenched his hands and steeled his resolve, growling, his cannon appearing and arming itself. Reala had this coming, big time.
Reala kicked off his flight towards the brothers, but stopped short as a being of writhing, blackish indigo smoke dived between them. The energy dissipated to reveal Mica, swinging up into a standing position, who glanced at Lucent and whistled, "Wow~ Looks like you did quite a number."
"Out of my way, Mica! I'm on Master's orders. I'm supposed to bring Lucent back."
"You're not laying another hand on him!" chimed Nitrine, moving around Mica and aiming at Reala, but he never got the chance to fire; Mica whirled on him, putting a hand on his shoulder and pushing his cannon down towards Lucent.
She spoke with a quiet urgency as she said, "Don't even think about it; if you pick a fight, not only will you get your ass kicked, but we can't afford to just leave Lucent lying on the ground like that while you two work out your issues. Got it?" Nitrine studied the mask, looking for the expression behind it, and she looked back at him steadily. "Trust me; I know what I'm talking about."
He heaved a great, frustrated sigh and glared at Reala a moment before crossing his arms and looking away, off to the side, and growled, "Fine..."
Mica grinned and turned back to Reala, who had waited patiently for the girls to talk. "Is that so?" she asked. "Looks like you were just beating him up."
"He resisted."
"Unusual~ Did Master give you a time limit?"
"Yes. Master wants him immediately. Why?"
"Let us take Lucent back and take care of him. If you don't, we'll both fight you tooth and nail, and you know how pleasantly tangling with me always ends for you, regardless of how badly you may pummel me in the fight. Never mind any injuries sustained thanks to Nitrine's talents and powers. Blame me for the delay if you want."
Reala grunted, glancing down at her wrists and remembering the enormous frustration, pain, and helplessness that accompanied her sickness. Fucking poison. "Fine."
Nitrine stayed quiet throughout the whole exchange, as requested, floating protectively over the agonized Lucent, but now he knelt down and picked his brother up, who gasped and clutched at his hoodie, fingerknives slicing through it. Nitrine bit his lip as his brows creased in worry, watching blood bubble up anew from Lucent's fractured horns. A drop fell and hit the ground. They were gone by the time it splashed.
(To be continued.)
