[DARK STAR]

What a-- bizarre question to simply blurt out. Without context, or prior conversation.

Malpercio paused, and considered, before replying,

“No.” his response is immediate, though Malpercio does give pause. He considered, before clarifying, “although he no doubt will wish that I had simply done that.

“This seems to be the will of the people.”

A chill – sheer fear – ran down Ryker’s spine. Wide eyed, he had begun to turn, but then felt Malpercio’s large palm, long fingers, grip at his face. He was slammed into the ground, and Ryker flailed, kicked, but he felt like his body was being forcibly gripped by the very ground itself.

And it was; like a maw, the earth had opened up beneath him, like jaws, jagged parts of the ground clamped around the backside of Ryker’s body.

Malpercio watched stoically, as he pushed Ryker’s small body further against the jagged maw of the earth, his gaze narrowed. Then, beneath Ryker, the earth gave way, and began to bubble upwards. It bubbled upwards with a dark red, like blood, then dark black, like tar, mixing and oozing together.

Gurgled, groaned noises, some high pitched, others deep and resonating; hundreds of them. Slowly, arms, hundreds of arms began to pull upwards, out of the tar, that blood. All of those arms, their hands, gripped at Ryker’s body.

Ryker screamed, that noise louder than the sound of the thousands of creatures that were currently beneath him.

Malpercio idly released his hold on Ryker’s face, and stepped back. Instantaneously, the earth’s jaw grew in size, massive, far above where Ryker was, those hands still clawing and pulling at Ryker’s face, his stomach, his arms, chest, legs: Ryker still screamed.

Then, the maw clamped shut, violently, and pulled Ryker downwards, before it settled naturally.

--------------------

Alcoholism. Amnesia. Anxiety. Appetite Loss. Binge Eating. Co-Dependence. Cynicism. Defensiveness. Denial. Depersonalization. Depression. Derealization. Devaluation. Displacement. Dissociation. Drug Abuse. Dysphoria. Emotional Detachment. Flashbacks. Flat Affect. Guilt. Hallucinations. Hypersomnia. Hypervigilance. Hypochondria. Idealization. Insomnia. Intellectualization. Introjection. Isolation. Low Self Esteem. Narcissism. Night Terrors. Obsessive Compulsion. Overeating. Panic Attacks. Passive Aggression. Paranoia. Phobias. Projection. Psychosis. Rationalization. Regression. Repression. Restrictive Eating. Risky Sex. Self-Harm. Somatization. Splitting. Sublimation. Suicidal Ideation. Sleep walking. Suppression. Thousand Yard Stare. Triggers. Trust Issues. Violence. Whiplash. Temper.

--------------------

DEFAULT TO BRAVERY

It sounds like something Silver might say. Scarily so. (Well, not entirely alone, but… near enough. And he’s certainly been feeling it more prominently as of late).

“ … I think I can understand that, ” he shrugs, looking for somewhere else to look. He finds maintaining eye contact with this… being, in particular to be… unnerving.

“ I mean, I… I guess if you ever want some company… I won’t mind? ”

What? Why did he say that? This person has an air about him that Silver can’t quite place, and air that leaves him somewhat unsettled. But… in the corners of his mind… there’s a small hope that this feeling may dissipate in time.

Maybe it stems from the shared experience of loneliness. Maybe it’s just his desperation for company himself. He can’t really tell.

Given Malpercio’s general height compared to most nowadays, eye contact seemed a tad difficult to maintain. Not that he cared, terribly; after the first initial attempts of it, Malpercio himself had also given up keeping eye contact. Unless absolutely necessary.

The other had mentioned to him, how Malpercio had looked ‘lonely’, which had prompted Malpercio to respond as he had done so. He had merely been speaking the truth: Malpercio had not been looking for either sympathy nor empathy.

So, for the silver mobian to agree, and then offer to give him company. Well. Malpercio paused, and considered before responding.

Rouge goes to comment on that but keeps it to herself. Something about that wording struck her as incredibly odd, as if a number of other things weren’t already setting off red flags in her head. Like for instance, right now, with the levitation of this unconscious man. She was no stranger to powers that had to do with the manipulation of gravity but something about this just felt… different.

At his comment and with his gaze set firmly on her, she blinks a few times but decides against questioning him on this and giving him the benefit of the doubt. The bat cautiously closes her eyes and places a very clear image of the local G.U.N base in her mind. Just the outside of it, last thing she wanted to do was bring unauthorised personnel into the base.

He kept his gaze on her, and slowly, that image settled inside of his soul. Malpercio inhaled deeply, and if Rouge had her eyes open, she would see the world around them shift, as though ripples of water were endlessly distorting their surroundings.

Instantaneously, they were outside of the very base of operations that Rouge had just pictured. The unconscious male’s body limply dropped onto the ground, and Malpercio stepped away, those ripples having faded as soon as they’d appeared.

Inside, some G.U.N agents were scrambling as their chaos energy radars, things no doubt reserved for the chaos emeralds’ general whereabouts and tracking, were going haywire.

Merely because Malpercio stood outside of the building.

Rouge has to stop herself from scoffing in amusement at the man’s words, giving a mild shrug of her shoulders.

“ You didn’t strike me as the sympathetic type anyways. ”

She crosses her arms over her chest and lets out a small sigh. She didn’t like that she was being targeted like this. It was a bit unusual but at the same time? Typical, really freaking typical. G.U.N had plenty of enemies and eventually? She was going to be on that list. But for the time being, she was simply going to have to treat this as business as usual.

“ Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s an operative targeting scheme running around. Those are really more frequent than most people think. But, that’s how being a government spy goes. ”

“Yes. That is generally how I am perceived.”

He glanced over, and idly shifted his head some; and the unconscious man’s body on the ground rose up, levitating above the ground. Malpercio then turned his attention back to the woman as she continued to speak.

“I am well versed in assassinations. Now. I must have you picture in your mind, your base of operations. Just the image of the building shall suffice.”

Rouge freezes, a chill jolting up her spine as her ears twitch at the sound and she watches unflinchingly as this man before her manages to take out another that had clear intentions of wishing her harm. What struck her as far more impressive was the fact that he was able to easily cauterize the wound of the man after knocking him out, rather than simply doing what most people would and killing him.

After a beat, she lets out a sigh, her wings flexing as a result of her relaxing and letting the tension unwind from her body as a result of her fight or flight instinct. The bat clears her throat awkwardly and manages to muster a polite smile at the very least.

“ Well then, thank you very much~ I wouldn’t be as well off as I am presently if it hadn’t been for your uncanny timing and excellent skills. ”

She momentarily eyes the unconscious man, mentally noting any details that struck her as alarming before continuing.

“ I’m sure I can find an empty interrogation room to use back on the base with little to no issue. Especially if I explain this was an attempt on an agent’s life and all that jazz. ”

“Very well. I would inform your base of operations soon: this may not be the only attack on your peoples.” Malpercio cleaned the blade of his sword as best he could with the materials at his disposal, before sheathing it at his side again. He paused a moment, stared down at her, and cleared his throat before adding,

“Make no mistake: this was not about saving you. I had merely been curious about the events that were to unfold. Assassinations do not happen without due cause.”

“ Un… injured? ”

The bat blinks, looking herself over throughly. Had she gotten hurt when she wasn’t paying attention? And just… who was this guy? He gave off a vibe of sheer power that gave Rouge chills.

“ I mean, I feel fine, I appreciate someone asking, I suppose~ ”

“You... Hm. I could have sworn,” Malpercio murmurs to himself, then his brows furrowed. “Ah. I understand.” He turned then, swiftly; and the sound of his sword leaving its scabbard cut through the quiet; then, another noise. Blade through flesh, the screams of a man as his limb was cut away from his body.

Malpercio had severed the man’s leg, mid jump; and the male landed on the ground, bleeding. Malpercio moved, again, but instead of killing the other, he simply knocked him unconscious with the blunt end of the sword.

Malpercio’s hand glowed, and he reached over to cauterise the man’s wound so he wouldn’t bleed out and die. While Malpercio straightened his posture, he turned to glance down at the bat mobian,

“My apologies for startling you with my earlier, no doubt confusing, question. At times I see events before they unfold and it can be challenging to discern them.