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Post by Nightshade on Dec 11, 2017 16:49:53 GMT -8
The storm rolling in overhead was almost poetic.
He'd arrived in the small field just outside of Element City a few moments ago, and as soon as he had done so, the thunder boomed overhead, as if announcing its presence. The juuka glanced skyward, his feline features muted in the dim lighting of the overcast sky.
All was just like that day. That day long ago when the two first met. He did not know if she would show up. He did not know what she was going to do. But he had something very importand he wanted her to know. He trusted her more than anyone else at ONB. She was a true leader, she surely would know the right thing to do.
Nightshade waited out there for her arrival, wondering what her reaction would be when be'd reveal to her what time turned him into. For now, he would suppress his more feral side of himself. No reason to appear threatening. She was more of a friend than an enemy.
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Post by Kman on Dec 11, 2017 17:16:45 GMT -8
The storm itself was like a living entity, something that was almost omni-present wherever the woman went. She was rather used to it, and the one that had once been called the Storm Shaman was once more on the streets. Of course, for the last several weeks, since everything had gone down at the border, ProtoMan had invited her into an official position at the ONB, and after some talking with Blake, she had accepted. Granted, that entailed doing nothing but paperwork for a great deal of things as it seemed like there was a never-ending supply of it. It was thankfully all data and that didn't take a whole lot of time but even still, she found herself with virtually no time to herself and investigating things that were more 'rank and file' than what she did before, and it was something she was starting to regret.
But then she had gotten the message that was through less-than-savory channels. Of course, it couldn't have come through the official ones, given that the ONB would have been able to track who it had come from. She hadn't seen Nightshade since the border, but had she heard about his "exploits." And that had made him something of an enemy of the ONB. She felt that it wasn't fully justified as he was still...learning, and his NetOP wasn't exactly of a mind to make those decisions either. Granted, if he had succeeded in the things that he had set out to do, then there wouldn't have been anyone that would have spoken out against him. But the fact that he had failed left many with a bad taste in their mouth.
The woman cleared the edge of town, Lady Lightning stepping quickly across the countryside with a passive, but steady, gait. She wasn't hurried, but she was curious. Of course, knowing that he was as dangerous they supposedly said, she didn't come unprepared. Blake had her coordinates and while he wasn't keen on meeting the cat-like Navi, at the same time he understood that Kajira had a sort of personal stake in all of this.
His presence was felt first. She could sense something different about his data, but she hadn't been privy to all of the reports. She came to a stop a small distance away, her arms folded beneath her breasts, watching him with a curious expression. She wasn't friendly, but she wasn't cold, either. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, curious.
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Post by Nightshade on Dec 11, 2017 17:32:53 GMT -8
"What point would it have to state the obvious? You probably read the reports already." He simply replied, shrugging. "However, there is still something I needed the ONB to know. Since they wouldn't listen, you were the only one I could fall back to. I am sorry to have dragged you out this way."
The caț navi sighed, tip clawing over to her. "I suppose they told you I'm a rogue traitor and stuff. Not surprised. They probably told you about my progress too. However...did they tell you about this?"
The floor under his clawsd feet cracked, unable to sustain the sudden power outburst. Nightshade's body was enveloped in a purple lookign aura as his appereance began to shift. The storm seemingly worsened when the cat navi revealed himself for wat he was.
Staring at her with his piercing red eyes, the juuka stepped forward to allow her a good look. Remaining completely calm, he spoke. "Either way. I have no intention on causing you harm."
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Post by Kman on Dec 11, 2017 17:48:00 GMT -8
"You and I both know how reports are filed. It always helps to have the truth from all sides and given that you're still on the loose, I don't see that they've gotten your side of the story," the woman commented, her brilliant yellow eyes flickering over the other Navi for a moment. In the way he spoke and in the manner he carried hismelf, the woman realized that he seemed a touch more mature than before. Granted, from what she'd read, that didn't strike her as all that difficult.
However, as he continued, the navi began to draw upon some other power that she wasn't quite aware of him having. That wasn't in the files. The fact that his own data was moving at a rather rapid rate, of course, had, but not the fact that he was able to draw upon some other unique power. It felt...dangerous, whatever it was. She narrowed her eyes slightly and she could feel Blake's own concern as if he were standing right next to her, and could practically feel the Barrier chip being ready to be slotted in. However, Nightshade seemed to keep control of himself, and for that, she supposed she should count her blessings.
His voice changed, but his mannerisms hadn't. She didn't let down her guard, though, and he would see lightning dancing along her arms as she watched him, curious but cautious. "I can't imagine that you want to retain that power for long. Scanners everywhere will be picking you up if you hold it too long," she spoke, her own tone guarded now, not wanting to let on that she was a bit unnerved by this development. "I'm not going to ask about that. I don't want to know. Plausible deniability. BUt you did mention you wanted to pass a message to the ONB. I'm curious to know what's on your mind." she spoke.
While she wouldn't go so far as to call Nightshade a close friend, he had been an ally, and while his mistakes were greivous, she had made them too. Difference being she had made them when they hadn't counted as much, and Nightshade had simply gone further and further downhill after that incident.
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Post by Nightshade on Dec 12, 2017 1:48:07 GMT -8
"Eheh. I would not want to sound cocky, but after all I've been through I doubt there is anyone in the ONB that could match me. Just like with Ruin at the border, they will just send yet another navi to their certain death. Besides, you know me. I don't really like to hide, even if I had something to hide in the first place."
The juuka chuckled and sat down right in front of Kajira, he could smell the tension in her posture. "Relax. I am not the criminal they made me be. Anyway, I was given the mission to travel to Netopia and contain whatever was hiding there. So I did, in a way. Turns out there were not one but two Cybeasts hiding. What I did not expect was everything else."
Nightshade pulled his paws up and crossed them, his tail wagging slowly. "Listen up. There is a lady that goes by the name of Magnolia, probably associated with the Creamland Knights, that has been scheming behind almost if not all of Netopia's happenings. I saw not one but both Cybeasts get deleted by an unknown force. I saw dead navis not able to reform or use backups to return. In short, Blues sent me in alone, with no support, in a place where I would most probably not come back.
Maybe he wanted to get rid of me. Or he knows something he doesn't want us...rather, you...to know. I have witnessed Magnolia in action and she seems to possess the power to completely delete anything and everything around her. Something that has such power I would dare say it's an Ultimate Program. If she were to come here for whatever her reason might be, well... I doubt you'd be able to defend anything, unless you know how to counter a navi that can erase things from existance at her leisure. I have no idea how or why she got a power like that. But I suppose it is no longer my job to find out."
Keeping quiet for a few moments, the juuka thought back at their first encounter. "One last thing. While I was in Netopia investigating for Blues, the NIA approached me. They already knew everything about my mission and I collaborated with them for a while. If it weren't one of my friend's naive idiocy, I would still be wearing their uniform. By the looks of things now...I guess if I were given a choice I would join them rather than coming back to the ONB. Although, for some reason, they seemed to have arranged something to contain a Cybeast. For what reasons or what purpose... I do not know, but there is something going on with the NIA as well, so keep an eye out. They do not seem bad people at all, but they may know something else about this or they just are cautious about their problems. To top it off, Forte is on the move. I have met him twice, actually."
The juuka ended with "That is all I had to say." Before quieting down.
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Post by Kman on Dec 14, 2017 18:32:58 GMT -8
The woman watched him for a moment, before she gave a simple shrug of her shoulders. "Suit yourself. If someone from the ONB shows up to arrest you, I will assist them. My loyalty is to them over you," she spoke, her yellow eyes even as she looked over Nightshade. He was not the navi that she had seen at the border. Something had infected him, and it had changed him. He was in control, but that didn't mean that there weren't changes. She was curious about the current content of his code, but getting caught with something like that without explanation was possibly worse than meeting with him off the record.
He continued then, indicating that he wasn't the criminal that he was made out to be. The records that she had showed that he had revealed himself as ONB when he wasn't supposed to, and then there was a laundry list of other things. She had taken it at face value when the reports had come in, but she supposed that some extra digging couldn't hurt. However, her thoughts were dead-ended again when he mentioned he was sent to Netopia to contain something. Hadn't his orders been simply to spy and then report back? If his orders had changed early on, then that was one thing. If they hadn't, then that was another entirely. Another thing for the to-do list for her to check on after this little meeting was done. She didn't want to discuss those points with him further if she didn't need to. She was already breaking ONB protocol by being here, but she felt she at least could hear the Navi out.
The name Magnolia came up, and Kajira frowned. She'd heard the name mentioned here and there, but nothing concrete, and took down the information as he spoke it. Being able to delete things without allowing a backup to form? That seemed to be...wrong. On a number of levels. She didn't want to go out to Creamland but she was curious on this. She might have to see if Serix had been out that way and had any information. It was hard to say. Blues was quiet on a lot of information, as was Gravity Beetle and Trishula too. She hadn't been an official ONB agent until recently, and before it was strictly need-to-know, and so in the event that no one thought that she needed to know something, she wasn't given the information. She was used to operating on less than normal, but lately it seemed like there was more going on than she could keep up with.
"Or maybe he had no idea what was going on in Netopia and that's why we needed a spy to get in and out to let us know about these things before taking action on their own," Kajira responded, the woman watching him, defending Blues for the choice that he'd made. She didn't think it was wise to send in an inexperienced Navi like Nightshade into something like that into potential enemy territory, but Blues had made the call and she'd stick by his decision, personal feelings aside. "But the information on Magnolia will be something that I definitely look into and see what I can dig up. Do you have any information on someone named Rosso?" she asked, curious just what the navi represented. There was definite anger in her words as she spoke the man's name, and lightning, unbidden, danced up her arm accordingly.
Before she got her answer on Rosso however, Nightshade indicated that he had either joined, or gone undercover with, the NIA. She wasn't sure which, but the fact of the matter was, he wasn't with either now, regardless of his choices. But his own internal conflict with the ONB aside, he did mention that they had something to contain a Cybeast. That was interesting, especially considering they had both been deleted, according to his previous words. Either the containment unit had been built in advance and was now useless, or there was more at work here.
And of course, her mind simply stopped when he mentioned Forte. She blinked several times, before exhaling. "I see." Her words were quiet, contemplative. She wasn't sure how much of this that Blues was aware of, but she did need to make some kind of report on this. She couldn't make the decisions, and with there being several in the ONB that outranked her, it was her position to relay this information. However, stating how she'd acquired it would not be easy. She needed to talk to Serix. Or to Xion. If either of them had any degree of matching information she could state she got it from them. The pull of the Dark Recovery lingered in the back of her mind. It was a comfot to have...but she wasn't going to use it. Not yet.
"I'll take this information to heart. I'll do what I can with it. But I can't meet with you again on friendly terms until you're of the ONB's list. So if there's anything further, spill it now. I'm not comfortable spending this much time with a fugitive," she spoke, and there wasn't any teasing or somesuch in her words. Despite their temporary friendship, Nightshade was still a fugitive as far as the ONB was concerned and if they met again, they would be on opposite sides.
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Post by Nightshade on Dec 14, 2017 19:00:24 GMT -8
"...Rosso's code cannot be traced, copied or manipulated. He seems but a hollow shell. He works with the NIA and was the one who seemingly would be designated to the whole cybeast containment. A friend of mine told me he saw him fighting Genesis. He seemed to stand at the same level of a Titan's destructive power." Was all he added. "Nothing else I have to say. Actually..."
Exibiting a speed tens of times better than what he used to possess at V5 during their first encounter, one moment he was standing a few feet away...the next he was right in her personal space, with his right hand on her shoulder. "I would rather not have to fight and kill a friend. So if Blues is searching for me, you can tell him that he can come find me at the border himself. But if he sends someone else and this someone else attacks me I will defend myself. Apparently, in this world you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain, so far I am already deep down in the rabbit hole. I am no longer the naive innocent navi I was back then. If you have the intention to kill, don't expect a Juuka like myself to show any mercy in return."
With the last message set, the juuka let his hand fall off to his side as he walked past Kajira. "...I don't know if your Op knows...but you stink of DarkChip's corruption. I would stop using it before it's too late to go back. Catch ya around, Kaj. Oh, congrats on your promotion." He ended without turning back.
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Post by Kman on Dec 18, 2017 13:19:22 GMT -8
Rosso was...NIA? That was interesting, but what perked her interest more was the fact that there seemed to be three power players that she hadn't realized existed until recently. Magnolia of the Creamland Knights, Rosso of the NIA, and of course, Trishula of the ONB. She hadn't seen Trishula until recently and, while that sort of thing wasn't completely unheard of, the chance of all of these three appearing nearly simultaneously, and on three factions that didn't directly oppose one another but at the same time had a bit of...tension...didn't strike her as coincidence.
Beyond that, the navi didn't believe in coincidence.
As soon as Nightshade moved, electricity erupted from where he touched her, unbidden, but simple reaction on his movement. His defenses would have nulled the damage some, but his hand would no doubt have some slight scarring on it from touching her directly, like a live wire. "I don't recall you ever being one to give me orders, Nightshade," the woman spoke, electricity dancing in her eyes as she watched him, talking right over him even as he continued to speak about Blues sending anyone after him. "If I get the chance to speak with the Commander, I'll pass along your message. But if I'm the one tracking you down, don't expect mercy." she continued.
The last words, however, were the ones that sealed the deal. A torrent of electricity, unbidden in anger, rushed down her body and she turned to glare murderously after him. Who the hell did he think he was, to criticize her? Anger built within the woman and she lifted a hand toward Nightshade's retreating back. There was only a moment of hesitation before a winding black bolt of lightning burst forth from her right hand, streaking faster than anything had any right to toward him. She didn't speak, but the rage was clear on her face, plain as day.
The dark chip she had was something that she knew was a crutch. She knew it was dangerous. She knew all of that but she couldn't just cast it aside. It had saved her life a number of times already, and she had been able to bring several criminals to justice with it. She knew that Iria wouldn't understand and while she expected that from the morally palpable woman, she did not expect it from someone who was already apparently letting some other power pulse through him. That hypocrisy, coupled with her own conflicted feelings over the Dark Recovery, caused those emotions to explode outward toward the retreating cat-like navi.
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Post by Nightshade on Dec 18, 2017 15:59:25 GMT -8
Nightshade's right claw sparkled with his own electricity, bolts of greenish tint, with the cat navi cutting through the lightning bolt with his own. "Kaj...if you die now, there is no coming back. I do not know if they told you. But if you die, you're gone. Forever it seems. Or at least until someone finds a way to fix this mess."
Nightshade grunted, dispelling his energy. "I can't control myself to perfection...yet. I don't want this to end in a massacre. And I wouldn't want you dying because of a chip either. If there is anyone around here who I actually trust will solve this, is you. Attacking me will change nothing. If fate will want us enemies, so be it. But not today. Not today."
The little cat shook his head, looking as his greiga themed apparel. He never had been any good with words. Coiling up his legs, Nightshade jumped up on a building's roof and took a moment to glance at his ex colleague, before hopping away and disappearing in the mist.
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Post by Kman on Dec 19, 2017 8:30:44 GMT -8
The woman watched Nightshade with a dark expression as he spoke, though the reminder of permanent deletion sobered her, but only a moment. And only because of Blake. If she were to be deleted but stop one of the main ones that were causing all of this strife in her world, she could rest easy. But she didn't know if she could leave Blake behind. He was young, and he didn't particularly know how to take care of himself all the way. If she wasn't around, she had no idea what Blake might get himself into and she didn't want that. She didn't know if she could handle that.
She gave a low, scoffing sound at Nightshade's words, but the thought of Blake had sobered her up, at least somewhat. She felt like she was betraying herself by letting Nightshade go. She had gotten some very important information, but at the same time, she also felt that getting such from Nightshade would weaken its credibility. She needed to talk to Xion, or to Serix. Someone had to have some more information about this and anyone who did would help her put this puzzle together. She didn't know if she suspected Trishula yet- she had no reason to. He had assisted at the Border Crossing to stop Ruin, and now the Navi was somewhere across the border, and hadn't done anything. He'd gone dormant, and it made a lot of people nervous.
Her gaze followed Nightshade for another moment before she exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. So the felon was entrusting her with this information in hopes that she could sort it all out. To clean up his name? To do right by the world? Some combination of the two? It was difficult to tell, and right now the only thing that she wanted was to relax for a bit...but there was almost certainly more going on somewhere. There was never a chance for her to relax- everything always seemed broken and the only thing that she could do was keep fixing it as best she could.
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Post by Nightshade on Dec 22, 2017 16:22:43 GMT -8
Kajira gains 25xp 250z Nighty gains 35xp 350z
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