#synthetnick

「𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔤 𝔟𝔞𝔫𝔤!」- Again.

It was happening again. The second time since he'd gotten back, not even a month after the first attack.

He could feel it buzzing along his skin. He had to get away-!

Vash's left arm had a firm grip on his right as stumbled into an alleyway a little off the main street - privacy, he hoped (As if any of this would stop it). He pressed his forehead hard against the brick wall, hard enough to nearly cut himself on the rough surface, a sheen of sweat quickly forming over his face.

Blue eyes glanced down at his arm, watching the glowing white feathers slowly spout. Unfurl, coil and swell, take shape -

No. No no no no no no!

He couldn't --!

They curved and twisted from his hand, seemingly desperate to form the Angel Arm once more. As if thrice in his life were not enough!

Pupils were pinpricks as he watched it slowly come into being, morphing his skin and body as it grew.

The glow permeated the shadows of the alleyway as the Plant fought himself.

"Just let it happen. Annihilate them, Vash. Stop playing pretend and let your power loose." - Knives' voice hissed in his ear. Not the one who was here, echoes of vestiges from more than 50 years ago playing on loop in his nightmares even now -

"Stop...!" he hissed the word, strained and teeth clenched so tightly that his jaw creaked.

Power, unbidden and writhing to be let loose crackled along his skin, appearing as racing cracks along his very being. As if his very body were fracturing. Feathers unfurled, forming from his skin and the sleeve of his shirt. They stuck out of a cheek, growing and multiply upon themselves, curling around him.

Vash's heart was so fast in his chest he thought it might explode through his ribs. He was heaving. Gasping. Suck it back in - He had to suck it back into himself before it-!

Even in the frantic, crushing panic he caught a noise - but if he took his eyes off of it - (What if it consumed him? Again.)

"DON'T COME OVER HERE!"

DND 5e SKILLS STARTERS — ACROBATICSthe ability to stay on your feet in a tricky situation.

He almost thinks it's a particularly large bird, at first, the noise from up above, and Nick leaves the overhang he was leaning under just to squint skyward. But the sky is shockingly empty, save for the shadow that passes briefly overhead— it's not a very bird-shaped shadow. Is that somebody up on a roof? Balancing along a gutter, a tree branch? Of all the stupid—

Whatever it is - whoever it is, - it's damn heavy, a fact he only discovers when it crashes down and lands smack atop him, and he can't even feel that bad about all the metal joints digging into the fella because as far as Nick is concerned that's a fair turn. "Jesus, you alright? Didn't quite stick the landing, did you?" He bends, unbends, the one arm not currently pinned to his side under their weight. "Think you bent one of my struts..."

Don't ask why he was up there, what was happening-- it's par the course for Badou, daily, even, running from whoever for whatever job he'd fumbled just a little. Most of the time he gets away without much of a scratch.

This time around, he'd fallen, on someone, even-- and that's not just embarrassing, that's--

"Speak for yourself! You're boney as hell, not cushion-y at all!"

He sits up with a groan, rubbing at his bruised head to peer down at whoever had mercifully taken the brunt of his fall. They're-- a little creepy looking.

"You good down there? Don't know much about strutting but maybe you shouldn't do that."

❝   o  h  .  well  ,  could  you  not  ?  i’m  sorry  ,  it’s  just  — i  do  so  enjoy  a  i  r  .  you  know  what  i  mean  ?   ❞

You feel stillness and motion pressing upon you from all sides. From this, you are stirred, and spurred by your awakening, you step from the long quiet.

You, NICK VALENTINE, find yourself standing before the Temporal Tower, in a garden seemingly tucked away from the seasons of time. Still, people flock here beneath the borealis that lights the sky above, here to greet you. A Guardian approaches.

Hello…. Echo. Well don’t look so confused, everything is exactly as it was made to be in preparation for your arrival. I would know. Yada yada yada, we hope you enjoy your stay… don’t break anything.

You receive the following:

A House Key. Emblazoned upon it is: 109, Eterna Village

A Standard Issue Phone. It lights up when it manifests in your hand.

A Detective Kit, with all of the tools one may need to solve all of the crimes. The guardian looks you over and comments on how you look like you belong in the traverse trove. But he respects a man of justice... and rule-following.

Welcome to the Aevum Isles.