lucetilogs | Revenge is a dish that is best served now.

Entry tags:

Revenge is a dish that is best served now.

Who: A shifted Pao-Lin (

lightningbride), Kotetsu (

wildkotetsu), Barnaby (

mindgooshed), and Kazooie (

talontrot).
What: A case of mistaken identity...sort of.
When: Evening of May 5th.
Where: Starting near CH1, possibly moving to the forest...? IDK.
Summary: Pao-Lin mistakes Kotetsu for a killer, and goes after him in order to bring him to justice. Fortunately, some Big Damn Heroes are here to intervene and save Kotetsu from an undeserved fate, complete with a (1) Heroic Sacrifice. It's like canon all over again! Except without the happy ending.
Rating: High PG-13 for violence (including some bloody death scenes), overall angst, and language.

[Pao-Lin is making her way back to the forest bordering Luceti, unease screaming bloody murder in her mind. She'd been hoping to find a place to stay in town, but she doesn't feel comfortable in the innocent-looking village. Not when so many people apparently know her -- the real her, not her Hero identity -- and not when she's being told, once again, that there are things she should remember but doesn't.

Then there's the conflicting information she's learned about Luceti. She doesn't know who to believe in this situation. The people of Luceti have the advantage of numbers corroborating their claims, but Maverick (sadly and ironically enough) makes more sense to her. Or is it just that she wants his version to make more sense, because it makes things so much simpler for her? Because it makes her feel better about being an unwitting survivor?

...whatever. Pao-Lin had known from the start that this wasn't going to be an easy path for her. Obviously she'd underestimated just how difficult it was going to be; that's a mistake she won't make again. And it's not like this is necessarily a difficult suckerpunch to dodge. She'll just do a little more research over the next few days, see how things stack up, and go from there. Easier said than done, certainly, but it's a place to start.

As preoccupied and tired as she is, Pao-Lin almost doesn't notice the distinctive lanky form of a certain veteran Hero in the darkness, heading down the path to one of the apartment buildings in town. When she does recognize Kotetsu, however, she just stops and stares for a moment, her limbs going numb and her mouth going dry.

He's here.

The memories of her last night in Sternbild flash before her eyes.

...no. It's here.

And she fights the urge to just run and hide.

But...already?

That bastard Maverick. Thought it'd be fucking funny to sic one of those sons-of-bitches on her right from the starting line, did he? As if she needs more reasons to doubt that his little proposition was a legitimate chance for redemption. What's he playing at here? She's pretty sure this isn't him giving her a freebie. Is he seriously going to derive entertainment from watching her get beat down so soon after recovering?

...heh. Like I actually need to ask that question.

With that, Pao-Lin shakes off her shock and steels herself, clearing her mind for the obvious task before her. Her thumb flicks up to nudge the katana ever so slightly from its sheath as she quickly -- yet quietly -- treads over to the thing wearing Kotetsu's face. She's nowhere near as ready as she'd been hoping to face one of these androids again, but she'd be a fool to pass up a golden opportunity like this. It doesn't seem to be aware of her presence yet, so maybe she can catch it by surprise and cut it down before it can get a chance to attack...]

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[Kotetsu was just out at the bar for one drink, just before hitting the hay. He hardly expects to run into anyone on the short trip back. Something faint catches his ear before he goes back to whistling, and he turns on his heel, hands in his pockets. It's not even Pao-lin who makes the noise—it's just a woodland critter scampering through the underbrush, something with far better ears than him.

But it lets him see the figure approaching him.]

Eh?

[He sees the sword, yes, and it's bothersome. Very bothersome, and he's automatically tense from it—but more importantly, his mind is racing to figure out how he knows the shadowy face. Even though he's awful at it, the jumpsuit and the haircolor—followed by the familiarity of the face—click it all into place.]

Dragon kid??

[The sad thing is, he thinks, he truly thinks in that split moment, that she's about to protect him from something lurking beyond him in the dark.

Because heroes don't try to kill other heroes.]

[Shit, he saw her! That makes her task so much harder, in more ways than one.

No matter. She'll just have to roll with the punches, so to speak.

So as soon as Pao-Lin sees that Kotetsu's spotted her, she'll break into an outright sprint. In that same moment, she snaps her sword out -- SHNNNK! -- and flings a bolt of lightning his way.]

[What—

It's a good thing his reflexes are sharpened from years of hero work, because he immediately goes blue with light before running out of the way of the blast. Something's not right, something's wrong—that's definitely Dragon Kid, right?? She'd been mallynapped, so the malnosso must've done something to her. That's his only conclusion, and not one hard to reach.

He skids on his feet, eyes wide and confused.]

Dragon Kid, what's wrong with you?? What happened??

[Sorry, Kotetsu, Pao-Lin's all (nottalking) at the moment. All of her concentration and energy is on taking your pathetic ass down. She fires off more lightning bolts with sharp swings of her sword.]

[That's not good. He's fast, but lightning is pretty fast, too. He manages to duck and weave around them, but some do meet—graze across his arms and shoulders as he moves, leaving singed clothing and burns. He hisses at it behind clenched teeth but doesn't let go of his convictions: something's wrong with Pao-lin, and he's going to help her. Definitely. And it's not because he's a hero.]

Talk to me!

Oi, Pao-lin! Did they do what they did to Bunny?! Do you remember me?!

[Shi--that one came dangerously close, too--]

We're friends, dammit!

[Pao-Lin, remembering the harsh lessons of four years ago, bites down on any response she might've had. If she, for one second, gives into the illusion that this is the real Wild Tiger before her, she's a goner. And her resurrection will have been for nothing but Maverick's own amusement.

She notes with mild satisfaction that she's at least leaving some marks, but he doesn't look to be slowing down. Pao-Lin temporarily switches gears and throws out her free hand instead for a different manifestation of her powers: producing a whiplike stream of lightning that's perhaps slightly slower than her bolts, but has greater range, maneuverability, and staying power. She aims for Kotetsu's head, or at least somewhere in the vicinity of his upper body.]

[He's trying not to have to hit or hurt her, because honestly, it's hard to even imagine let alone do—as he evades the last bolt, the next that flies passed him catches him off guard (a really long bolt?) and he's moving so quickly, he's not sure what to make of it.

That is, until it whips back like a ricochet, snapping sharply across his back and sending a wave of lightning through his already glowing form. He sees white and red and flashes of other colors for a moment, thrown forward—

but he manages to dart as soon as he hits the ground, evading whatever may follow the temporary little victory. He feels heat on his back where the power scorched through his clothes and skin, leaving a harsh mark similar to Lunatic's own brand of fire from back when he'd been struck.

Not good. He swallows the urge to gasp at the pain, gritting his teeth instead as he keeps his recovering gaze focused on Pao-lin.]

Why are you doing this...?! Aren't we supposed to be heroes? We're allies, remember?!

[Most importantly, his face draws into a saddened, strained expression.

What did they do to you, Pao-lin?]

[She sees that expression on Kotetsu's face, and her heart breaks, if not her determination. That's certainly the complete opposite of the last time she saw him: smiling placidly as he punched her into unconsciousness. Well, she supposes Rotwang must've done upgrades to the original Hero androids, as well.

She snaps her lightning-whip back and forth for as long as she can hold it, still attempting to gain on Kotetsu. She remembers from her last confrontation that there seemed to be some sort of industrial-strength circuit breakers built into the H-01, considering that a point-blank blast of electricity at full voltage didn't even slow those fuckers down. But maybe she can at least force this one into an awkward spot and trap him so she can go in for the kill.]

[Dammit, that one was too close, too. It singed a few stray bangs as he ducked away from it.

And really... He's really got no choice in the matter, does he? He swerves and rushes toward her, fast as a bullet, his hat already lost from the speed of it all. He aims to give her an elbow to the stomach, wanting some way to at least stop her from trying to kick his ass. If he can do that, then maybe he can get her to stop long enough to ask her what the hell is going on]

Sorry about this—!!

[Pao-Lin's eyes widen when she sees Kotetsu zooming towards her. The lightning fizzles from her hand, and she instead channels her power back into her blade, which she slices outward in a dual offensive-defensive maneuver. If Kotetsu's close enough when this happens, he's going to get both cut and zapped.]

[He darts to the side immediately at the sign of hostility (really, this whole affair has been hostile, but still), zig-zagging so that he'll be a harder person to spot before shooting at her once again, this time flying at her back. If he could just get a clear shot at her side, he can at least hit her to daze her momentarily—

He just wishes she would talk to him, let him know why she's doing this.

Without a word, but determined, he flies in for a strike. He's hit 3:00, but he thinks he's got enough time to work with, power-wise.]

[When she misses with her sword and he moves out of range, Pao-Lin falls back on her lightning, shooting short, sharp bursts in a wide spread to hopefully catch Kotetsu with a few. As a result, she doesn't pay close enough attention to Kotetsu's exact position, and she loses sight of him long enough for him to get his attack in.

WHAM!

It's not a full-on blow -- she managed to dodge at the last minute -- but it's still enough to send her flying into a tree trunk some distance away.

Ow.

Pao-Lin slumps to the ground, her sight filled with the haze of pain. The impact had definitely bruised one of her wings or something, because her right side is suddenly throbbing sharply and she feels a bit nauseated in addition to being dazed. It's a good thing she had her wings wrapped, tucked, and bound close to her body under her clothes, because otherwise that blow would probably have twisted or broken the wing outright. Hell, maybe some of the bones in the wing are shattered and she just doesn't know it yet.

With a hiss, she maneuvers herself upright again. One hand is braced against the tree trunk, supporting her. The other hand brandishes her charged sword. She's waiting to see what Kotetsu will do; she needs the moment to recover, and she's lost the advantage for the moment, so it wouldn't do to just blindly rush in and waste energy or risk getting hurt again.]

[Kotetsu simply skids to a stop, holding his side in his hand as pangs of pain flash through his ribs. Lightning hurt, especially concentrated lightning. He swallows down a wave of nausea, glad that his powers are leaving room for him to not pass out outright.

2:50... 2:49... Focus, Kaburagi.]

Now can... we talk? Are you going to tell me what's going on?

... Did you go back home? You're older...

[Goddamit. Rotwang really did manage to upgrade the personality programs for these androids, didn't he? This one had pretty convincing expressions (she doesn't remember them showing too much pain before), and the voice range was expanded, too. How is she supposed to fight this without completely losing her mind?

Or...maybe she doesn't have to fight it. Not in the obvious way.

It hurts, but her observations give her an idea.]

...I haven't been home in four years. I just woke up from the coma that you put me in.

[Talking. She swore she wouldn't do this not moments before, but again -- she's trying to buy time. Words didn't work on the androids from four years ago, but this one oddly seems inclined towards conversation. It's a risky move, because there's a good chance that it's trying to lull her into a false sense of security the way she's attempting to do to it now. But if it turns out that the upgraded Hero androids can be caught off-balance with words, then Pao-Lin will take that route as much as possible. Not because she feels any sort of weakness or softness towards the mechanical monstrosities pretending to be her friends (or perhaps she does -- she's only human after all, and still has a heart, even as broken as it is), but because it's the sensible thing to do. She might feel the urge to just pound away at them, but it's going to waste her precious energy reserves and possibly get her killed. Besides, it's not like beating the shit out of the junkbuckets is out of the picture completely. It's just that now it's a fallback option, instead of her modus operandi.]

... A coma? Why...

[Whatever hopefulness toward her speaking gave him, it all melts away as something caught between guilt and shock catches the shadows of his face. He didn't... expect that answer. And frankly, he didn't know if this was the malnosso, or... if she really did return home. What happened? He was going to retire after that battle with Maverick and the androids, right??

He swallows dryly, his heart dipping into his stomach.]

... How?

December 10, NC1978, on top of the Justice Tower. What do you remember about that night?

[Pao-Lin's guessing that this Kotetsu believes he's the real thing, judging from his reactions thus far, so she's testing the limits of its personality and memory. If it does remember laying the beatdown on the real Heroes that night, she might be able to use that to her advantage. Though it's interesting enough just to see what it might "remember".]

[Well, dropping his guard is easy enough. His whole body relaxes at that, because he remembers quite well—and he hates remembering most of it.]

When we fought Maverick and the robot goons...? He was trying to replace all the heroes with robots—with that... that Rotwang guy. We were all there...

[Said in a way that wants to know why it's relevant. Because we won, remember?]

We kicked their butts and outted Maverick for being a creep.

[Pao-Lin probably hates remembering that day even more than Kotetsu does. When he finishes speaking, she can't help but snort a cynical laugh. How nice that everything worked out in the end!

Too bad that it's all a total lie to her.]

Really. [A pause as she carefully considers the next thing to say.] And how's Kaede doing?

Kaede...? She was with all of us. Don't you remember?

[He doesn't like this. He doesn't like the cynical laugh, the sharp words, the way she stands on the defensive. It's not right. None of this is right. He takes a step forward, letting his hand fall from his side.]

... Dragon Kid, what happened since then? Did something go wrong? Let's talk about it.

[Good. Get closer, Kotetsu. And keep on believing that this can be settled with words.]

I know she was there. I just wanted to know what you remembered.

[Which apparently seems to be a version in which this guy thinks he and his robot buddies were the real Heroes, and that Pao-Lin and her fellow Heroes were the fakes. Hmph.]

Where was the last place you saw me, and when? And have you seen any of the other Heroes lately?

[It could be possible that the clones were in communication with each other, if Rotwang managed to make their simulated personalities sophisticated enough. And this would give her an idea of where to look after she dealt with this one.]

Ah—well, here it's just you and Bunny! The last place I saw you... uh, back home, anyway, it was after we put Maverick in the police van. Then I saw you here in Luceti, too.

[He smiles a little, hopeful that she would at least calm down now.

We could make this work; it's definitely fixable.]

How about I call Bunny and we just have a talk about things? I bet you're just kinda confused; I was pretty confused about everything myself, sometimes, especially when you get kidnapped here.

[Such a way with words, this one.]

[Diu lei lo mo, there were two other Hero androids here in Luceti? This situation is worse than she thought. If he called the Barnaby and Dragon Kid ones over -- ]

No. It's fine. [She lowers the sword slightly, because her arm's starting to get tired -- and because she figures it'll make for a good feint. With a wince, she raises her right shoulder up and down slightly, testing the pain on that side. It's starting to recede.]

[Aa—he takes another step, cautious, mainly so that he doesn't freak her out. They must've done something to her head, so... being careful, for once in his career, seems like the nice thing to do.]

Are you alright? You didn't bust your wing, didja'? [He points behind him, oblivious to the painful burns on his shoulders and back. Funny how that is; he's just never any good with dealing with his own.] I can take you to the clinic if you want. The doctors there are pretty cool.

[E-even if he avoids it like the plague. He puts a hand out, as if asking for hers, certainly asking for hers.]

Put the sword away! There's a bakery and a store and stuff, too, if you're hungry. We'll go for a walk, get some fresh air.

[Pao-Lin gazes at the outstretched hand, resolutely not meeting Kotetsu's eyes. Her breathing is steady even as her heart pounds. This is it: the deciding moment. She could either pull off a damn miracle or completely fuck herself over.]

...

[With agonizing slowness...

She steps forward...

And takes Kotetsu's hand.

Her fingers tighten their grasp, and she yanks him towards her -- ]

[ -- in the same instant that her other hand comes up to shove the katana through his torso.

In her mind, she'd been aiming for his heart, but given her range and the height difference between herself and Kotetsu, she probably got him in the gut instead.]

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