@untales: 86﹕ sender brings receiver to their knees during combat / machine herald viktor @ jayce
it all felt like a nightmare, to raise an army to fight against a dear friend, to bring harm to the one person who had saved his life so many years ago, but what choice did he have? blinded by the promise of a glorious evolution, he had no choice but to fight against him, the promise to this time succeed echoing in his mind. deactivating the hexheart was a lengthy process and he'd been nearing the end when the herald made his loud entrance. the sound of heat cutting through metal had started him, prompting him to try and power it down faster.
and all for nothing, the nodes shuddering and clicking back into place, undoing all of his hard work. there was no time to do it all again, and no opportunity now that viktor was here. fingers curled tightly around the hammer's shaft as the other approach, unrecognisable, a shell of a great man he once knew. it made his gut twist and heart clench, a deep sorrow weighing heavy in his chest. what had happened to bring them to this moment in time? what had gone wrong?
the anomaly shrunk within the palm of the herald, and in that moment, jayce knew he had to act before it was too late. inwardly hating his own decision, he leapt into action and brought the hammer up and down towards his partner's back, almost relieved when the hexclaw caught it. almost. wrenching it free, their attention had turned from the arcane and towards him. a surge of energy brought the weapon towards the other again, quicker this time, however despite his best efforts, they were all in vain. how could he fight against something like this?
teeth bared as an iron grip wrapped around his throat, barely healed leg giving out under him with the pressure placed on his body to pin him down. and with the claw clamped around his dominant arm, the one means of defense was taken from him, unable to move it, let alone swing. ❝ this isn't what we wanted. ❞ he ground out between clenched teeth, fingers prying at the herald's hand to no avail. had he truly forgotten why they had done this in the first place? ❝ our goal was to help people, not enslave them! ❞
