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last online Jan 2, 2024 8:01:23 GMT
The Cabal
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Post by Ryan Amador on Aug 4, 2019 21:29:34 GMT
| The young woman had clearly followed the fight and - oh, interesting - she had powers of her own. He watched her wings disappear when she stepped into his nullification field. Amrit was silent on the other end, most likely only observing now to help his presence remain unknown. Now it was all up to Ryan. If it went according to plan, Amrit's intervention wouldn't be needed.
Nihilo was crying, causing a protective jolt within Ryan but he held himself still. The goal was to eventually get Nihilo to safety, far away from Aegis. But that goal wasn't going to be achieved that day. He didn't like it but there wasn't anything he could do about it.
Tim was arguing with the young woman. She seemed to genuinely care for Nihilo. Either that or she was a good liar. He had a feeling it was the former. Considering the fact that she'd had wings and now they were gone, he guessed that she was aware of her abilities being nullified, probably not the source, but her focus was on Nihilo. Ryan admittedly admired her dedication to protecting Nihilo.
Ryan thought it was obvious that he was the cause of the nullification field - not that they could see the field without focusing their eyes hard on their surroundings. His hands still held a faint sea green glow to them as he focused on keeping it up.
He'd noticed Nihilo looked different - more human - and had figured his previous appearance was tied somehow to his powers. Odd but not unheard of.
He managed to keep the confusion on his face, now a trained confusion since he had a fairly good idea of what was going on with the other three people around him, when Tim's attention turned to him.
Every bone in his body told him not to trust Tim. He knew what he really was, what Aegis really was. But he couldn't let his dislike of either show. He had a role to play and he wasn't about to let Perses down. If it wasn't for that, he would have had a weapon on him and taken Tim out the moment he was distracted by both his and Nihilo's lack of powers. Then he would have gotten Nihilo and the young woman to safety.
Instead he listened to the questions, blinking, purposefully taking a moment as if to process all that was going on.
"I uh - I'm Ryan," he replied once the questions had stopped, his Australian accent evident. He put on a trained, sheepish smile. "You're Timothy Smith - you're with Aegis. It's - It's an honor." It wasn't but he was very good at lying. "I uh - I don't know the details of my power-" another lie "-but I've noticed people's powers don't work well, if at all around me. I don't know how far it spreads-" oh a third lie "-and I can't do it forever but... Well I'd be honored to help a hero like you. Anyway I can."
Four lies - perhaps five since he knew Tim wasn't a hero.
Tag: @astraica Words: 519 Notes: n/a |
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played by Aaron
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last online May 18, 2024 4:05:14 GMT
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Aug 18, 2019 16:26:10 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2019 16:26:10 GMT
[googlefont="Playfair Display"][googlefont="Josefin Sans"] Compassion One life is all it takes To make all the difference in the world Astra looked to Nihilo with alarm as he started crying! Fear gripped her. Is he really that hurt that he started crying?! She didn't know, and she instinctively she reached over to touch Nihilo and try to heal him, all thoughts of her powers hurting him out the window. She wasn't thinking straight, and she really should have, but she was too worried! It wasn't until her powers should have had activated and flowed over him, to heal his cuts and bruises, that she noticed it... He had skin! His clothing was real! It wasn't like a mist of darkness! She gasped! He was whole again! She had never seen him like this! It made her heart swell with happiness for him.
It was then that she realized her powers weren't working. So what's affecting me is affecting him! ... She thought with surprise, which showed upon her features, until Tim started talking and she turned to face him. Anger tinged her features as she growled out at him. "I'm not going anywhere!" She glared at him. "I trusted you! To keep your word! But you came anyway! I appreciate that you wanted to protect me, but I told you I could handle it! I'm a super! I'm not defenceless! And he's my friend! I never wanted to betray his trust! And now, you not only betrayed me, but made me betray him!" She closed her eyes and counted to ten, breathing out slowly as she looked back to Nihilo, her features softening. He seemed alright now.
She completely missed Tim grabbing Nihilo's arm and checking it, but she looked over curiously as he talked to someone else. Her eyes widened as she realized that this man must be the source of their powers being nullified! She quickly looked to Nihilo, whom she hadn't taken her hand from his chest since trying to heal him, and then back to the newcomer, an angry look as Tim described Nihilo as a criminal, but stayed quiet, until he came over with the handcuffs. "He's not going in a cell!" She growled out at him, eyes on fire. She tried to stop him, but he was stronger than she was and really, just putting her hands over Nihilo's wrists didn't really do much, Tim just manoeuvred around them. She noticed Nihilo not resisting, really, and then he got her full attention when he mumbled about not feeling pain anymore. Her eyes turned sad and she whispered an. "Oh, Nihilo..." As she looked down at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so glad you're alright." She said with a sad smile, her hand briefly touching his cheek before pulling back to face Tim who had spoken to her.
The look was enough to set her off, but his tone suggested he cared. She gave him that, and breathed in before speaking. "As I said before, I appreciate that you care enough to want to protect me, but, if this is how Aegis operates, I may just have to withdraw my application." Her eyes were firey as she spoke, she was clearly pissed at his actions. "I expected more out of Aegis, you should have trusted me. And yet you didn't. Nihilo wasn't going to attack me, and if he had, I could have handled it. I don't appreciate that you jeopardized the whole thing just because you thought I couldn't protect myself against a friend. I'm not going home." She almost yelled the last, being so forceful in its deliverance. "I'm going to come with the both of you and make sure that Nihilo is treated right." Her eyes flashed as she spoke her next sentence. "You owe me that much, for what you've done. And you know better than to think that Nihilo will attack either of us now, after this!" She gestured over Nihilo, suggesting that she meant the nullification of his powers. "Thank you for letting me have the privilege to see him while he's in captivity." She shook her head. "I'll give you my number for that reason only, and I will cooperate. I just don't want him harmed." She realized that there was nothing she could do to stop Nihilo from being taken in... And it might even be a good thing, a chance for Tim to develop a power nullifier that would work on Nihilo at all times. She gave him that, too.
She looked over to Ryan as he spoke and nodded to him in greeting, noticing his hands glowing green now, and realizing that he was, truly, without a doubt, the one behind the power nullifying. She smiled at him and spoke. "Thank you for keeping the field up. If you come with us, maybe Tim can make a power nullifier for Nihilo." She looked back down to her friend with a fond look, then back up to Ryan. "You're very lucky to have such a power. It really came in useful. I'm glad you're not hurt." She said with kindness and caring. She was really glad that he wasn't hurt, and if he hadn't had his powers, then he might have been! He was very fortunate. She turned her gaze back to Tim, waiting for what he would do next.
TAG: Nihilo NOTES: Astra hopes to come with! X3 WORDS: 876
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last online Nov 7, 2021 21:12:53 GMT
The Cabal
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Aug 18, 2019 18:57:33 GMT
Post by Nihilo on Aug 18, 2019 18:57:33 GMT
A look of relief washed over Tim's face when Ryan said he would come along. "Oh thank God. If you dropped this field, those cuffs wouldn't do anything, and I'd be hard pressed to protect both of you. We've had a lot of trouble bringing him in." He put a hand to his earpiece and asked Alice to send non-powered transportation. Nihilo didn't care at the moment. He was oblivious to everything except for one thing: The source of this null field. His eyes locked on to Ryan. He was going to stay as close to this guy as he could. He made it stop hurting. He didn't care where he ended up after that right now. Tim turned to Angel, Astraica. He gently tried to pull her to the side so he could talk privately with her. "Listen. I know you care. That's great. I did keep my word. I said I wouldn't come with you, I never said I wouldn't follow you to make sure you were safe. Nihilo is my responsibility. My burden to bear. You need to understand something though. I know Nihilo better than anyone. We used to be the same person. Right now, yes, he's harmless, but if and when that field goes down, all bets are off. He doesn't trust you. You shouldn't trust him. Angel, I know this. I know because he's me. I told you about this, remember? I can't... I can't have him hurting anyone else, because in the end, anyone he hurts is my fault, and I need to make up for that. Bringing him in is only the first step towards making some of my mistakes right." There was understanding, care, and sorrow all mixed together in his tone. This was an immensely personal battle for him, and he was finally getting a chance to set some things right. "He's not going to be just sent away for good. HIs situation and his crimes will be carefully evaluated and then we'll figure out how best to proceed. Astra..." He sighed. He could tell that he had met another stubborn, determined soul, and that if she wanted to come along she damn well was going to. "If you come along I cannot promise that I can keep you safe. I'll try, but... please just go home. I don't want one more death on my conscience. I already have so many." He turned back and walked towards Ryan as an Aegis vehicle started to pull up. "Okay, Ryan. Thank you, thank you, thank you again for agreeing to come with and helping with this. It's a longer discussion to have at another time, but I would love it if you might be open to letting me observe and test your powers some. There's a lot of lives that could be saved if we could synthesize your abilities somehow. For now, though, if you're ever going to need to drop the field, please try to give me some warning, and we'll try to get you someplace safe. Okay? The last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt." Ryan Amador
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played by KingJ
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last online Jan 2, 2024 8:01:23 GMT
The Cabal
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Post by Ryan Amador on Aug 29, 2019 3:39:25 GMT
| Both Ryan and Amrit were listening intently and paying close attention to the young woman's reaction to what had happened. It seemed Tim was showing the true colors of Aegis, at least to a degree. He'd manipulated this young woman, used her trust. If it wasn't because of his current mission, Ryan would've acted on his desire and detained Tim while his powers were nullified.
But he couldn't make a move against the other man without jeopardizing the mission and the Cabal's secrecy.
As the young woman and Tim exchanged words, he noticed Nihilo's gaze on him and looked down to meet it. He hoped that Perses would get to work soon on the plan to rescue Nihilo from Aegis' custody. Clearly Nihilo held some sort of threat to Aegis. He hadn't been briefed on his abilities but whatever they were, they were enough to worry Tim.
He knew it'd be smart to try to recruit Nihilo to the Cabal but unlike Aegis, the Cabal didn't use people, they didn't manipulate their trust. The Cabal were the good guys. That was something Ryan strongly believed to be true.
He wanted to talk to Nihilo but he didn't think that was something a normal civilian would do. He hated having to wait but there wasn't else he could do.
His gaze returned to Tim and the young woman when Tim used her name - Astra. He knew Amrit would be filing that information away for later.
He returned Astra's smile when she addressed him. "I definitely didn't expect this for my first time visiting the States," he explained light heartedly, "But I'm just glad I can help." He hoped, mostly for his mission's sake, that she wasn't thinking too much into how convenient it was that he was there with his ability, the one ability needed to stop Nihilo. He didn't know what he'd do if someone thought too much into that.
He glanced at the Aegis vehicle before turning his attention toward Tim. "I'd actually love to help you with that," he replied, "I wish technology like that already existed - my little brother would benefit a lot from that kind of technology." That last part wasn't really a lie as he thought about Joan's radioactive abilities.
"The closer he is to me," he explained, "And thus the smaller I can keep the field, the longer I can keep it going without it affecting me."
Tag: @astraica Words: 405 Notes: n/a |
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played by Aaron
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last online May 18, 2024 4:05:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2019 3:34:29 GMT
[googlefont="Playfair Display"][googlefont="Josefin Sans"] Compassion One life is all it takes To make all the difference in the world Astra's eyes went wide at Ryan's admission. It was his first time here and he had gotten into this mess! Her eyes softened and she smiled. "You're a good man. I just wish circumstances had've been different for you. You should be out seeing the sights instead!" She teased him lightly, trying to brighten the mood, but her eyes still strayed back to Nihilo and saddened. She didn't know what Aegis had in store for him besides curing him, or how many tests that would take, but she was going to stick by him through it all and make sure he was well treated.
She took her hand from his chest as she noticed his eyes, she followed them with her own and nodded to herself. It made sense, that poor man was the centre of his focus right now. He was in for a lot as well, agreeing to come with Tim. She would look after him as well. She suddenly felt very mother-like to these two individuals, which, kind of didn't sit right with her, as she knew, though didn't admit to herself, that she was attracted to one of them. Still, her heart overflowed with protective love for them both as she listened further to Ryan's story. She frowned and felt a pang in her heart. His brother... He suffers similar to Nihilo too? She thought sadly as her gaze turned back to the other in question.
She heard Ryan speak about the smaller the space, the better for him and Nihilo, and planned to sit so they could be as close as Ryan deemed comfortable. It was then that Tim touched her. She didn't exactly pull away from it, but she didn't exactly come without resistance either. Nonetheless, she did stand and follow him to the side and listened to what he had to say.
After he was done, she growled and pulled her arm free from his grasp. "YOU MANIPULATED ME!" She roared and glared at him. Closing her eyes, she counted to ten and then looked at him with a calmer expression. She seemed to be doing that a lot during this confrontation.
She looked to Nihilo and then back to Tim, her gaze softening for a moment on seeing him and she spoke. "I understand that you don't trust him, but I do. And it won't change." She sighed and continued. "You mean well, I'll give you that, but keep in mind that you're both also not the same person anymore. It's been years... You both have become independent people. I'm willing to give him a chance, and you should too."
She reached out and placed a hand upon his shoulder. "You can't put what he's done on your head either. He's not you any more than you are him. Your actions are different, your personalities are different. And you can't do this alone. Ah!" She wagged a finger with her free hand. "I know that's what you're trying to do." She smiled. "I've seen this complex before... And..." Her eyes went dark and downcast. "It got him killed." She shook her head and looked at Tim again. "The moment you start treating Nihilo as a person not an object is the moment you will both become better versions of yourselves and your conscience can start to clear. He won't become a problem to fix any more, but a person to help. Tim." She pleaded with him. "Try to see beyond your guilt and see the man before you. He's more like a brother now."
She nodded and released his shoulder. "I'm glad you will be treating him well at least. But!" She gave him a stern look with a smile. "I'm still coming with you to make sure he is!" She screwed up her face a bit at remembering his comment of her going home. "I understand you want to protect me, but I can protect myself. I won't die Tim. I'm coming with you." She was all serious with her words when she spoke, with her last sentence being said without room for argument. She wanted him to know he could rely on her, she wasn't a burden. She never wanted to be.
TAG: Nihilo NOTES: She got deeep! WORDS: 702
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last online Nov 7, 2021 21:12:53 GMT
The Cabal
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Post by Nihilo on Sept 6, 2019 3:10:54 GMT
Stay close to this Ryan guy.That was all Nihilo got out of the conversation. After the shock of the pain just being gone, he had hyperfixated on the source and was mentally locking away anything and everything that could keep this up as long as possible. He slowly started to try to shift toward Ryan. Tim noticed, but also noticed that Nihilo wasn't be aggressive, so let it slide. Ryan makes the pain stop, the closer I am to him the longer the pain is gone.Tim went and stood Nihilo up, trying not to gawk too much at the fact that he was able to actually touch him as opposed to hurting both of them. He had to be professional, after all. "I don't like you having to be so close to him. I don't want him to hurt you, Ryan. But if that's the way it has to be to keep this field up as long as possible, he's far less of a threat without his powers. If you would, the agents here will get Nihilo and you situated in the van." He turned to Astra, and just took the verbal lashing she dished out. "If you're really going to come, I won't stop you. I owe you that much. I don't like it at all, but.." He sighed. "Honestly I don't feel like I manipulated you. I let you do exactly what you would have done anyway. I made choices based on knowing what you would do. And I'm prepared to live with the consequences of those choices if it means I'm making amends for mistakes I've made before. I'm going to ride in the back to keep an eye on Nihilo. The front seat is more comfortable, and Jerry is very friendly." Tim gave a polite wave to the driver of the vehicle. "I'm sorry if you feel like I hurt you or your trust, but I did what I felt needed to be done." With that, he turned and began to help make sure Nihilo was secured in the vehicle and Ryan was comfortable as close as was reasonably prudent to Nihilo. "Anything else you need to grab before we leave, Ryan? I can run grab it for you." Ryan Amador, also @astraica, but Ryan's up first ((Also I think we're almost done with this thread and on the verge of another, set maybe sometime later? Are y'all good with wrapping up with one final round of posts and then figure out on Discord where we want to go from here?))
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played by KingJ
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last online Jan 2, 2024 8:01:23 GMT
The Cabal
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Post by Ryan Amador on Oct 14, 2019 1:15:35 GMT
| He'd have to mention Astra later to Amrit, making sure she wasn't accidentally listed as a member of Aegis and thus one of their enemies. She seemed like a sweet, kind young woman who genuinely wanted to help Nihilo, genuinely cared about him. And she seemed to have a growing disdain toward Aegis. Perhaps she could find purpose with the Cabal, he wondered.
But it wasn't his call to make. He'd have to discuss any possible recruitment with Perses first.
When Tim showed concern - probably just a show - for his safety, he had to bite back a response that he could take care of himself. Instead he put on a smile and said, "I'm with one of Aegis' top agents, I know I'll be safe."
He looked to the agents Tim referred to and nodded. He moved once they started moving Nihilo to get him into the van. He knew exactly how close to stay in order to not be too close and have the field easy to keep up. He also knew how to make it subtle and not appear as if he'd had any training.
He glanced back when Astra started yelling at Tim, close enough still to hear her words. He resisted the urge to glance to the sky, wondering how long Amrit would keep watch, if he'd stopped already. He knew the teenager would be radio silent until it was safe to establish contact again.
Once he was situated in the van near Nihilo, his eyes casually glanced over the other Aegis members, putting a look of awe on his face when what he was actually doing was sizing them up. He doubted the order would come but he knew he needed to be prepared in case he was suddenly ordered to bust Nihilo out.
He may have been without his weapons but he knew where to place a foot, a punch, even a simple jab, to swing a fight quickly in his favor, especially since the van was small enough that, if he wanted to, he could cover it entirely with his nullification field.
Instead, though, like he expected the order never came so he simply sat back in his seat, eyes briefly glancing to Nihilo, wishing there was something he could say without blowing his cover.
Tag: @astraica Words: 384 Notes: Feel free to end this with your next post, King. |
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played by Aaron
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last online May 18, 2024 4:05:14 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2019 2:36:18 GMT
[googlefont="Playfair Display"][googlefont="Josefin Sans"] Compassion One life is all it takes To make all the difference in the world Astra set a determined look upon her face as Tim talked to Ryan and then told her she could come. She nodded. She would stay with Nihilo as long as she could. It was the least she could do for him. Her look only deepened and turned angry when he didn't take responsibility for lying to and manipulating her.
Oh, you manipulated me. She almost said out loud, but she said something else instead. "No. You broke my trust in you. You said something that could be taken a completely different way by someone who has full trust in you and your actions. That's what manipulation is. I'm not likely to make the same mistake again." Her expression turned a bit sad, but still angry, pleading with him to realize what he had done. She had been manipulated before, she never thought it would happen again. Well, now she knew better. "I just hope you realize that."
She turned, and heard Ryan speak to Tim. She shook her head. His trust was really misplaced, she shot him a sad look, almost pleading with her eyes to trust someone other than Tim, other than Aegis, and turned back to Tim. "Just for the record, I don't think I'll trust your word on that either." She said to his mentioning Jerry as being friendly, and got into the passenger seat of the van.
"I'm sorry too." She said to his last thing, leaning through the door to see him. He had been her hero, she had looked up to him, hoped she would become a member of Aegis one day... And he had dashed her dreams and view of him in one fell swoop. It broke her heart. Then, she got in and shut the door, and started watching to make sure Nihilo was treated well and wasn't hurt as they put him into the van.
TAG: Nihilo NOTES: Tim's reeeaally not scoring any points with Astra X3 WORDS: 314
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last online Nov 7, 2021 21:12:53 GMT
The Cabal
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Post by Nihilo on Oct 18, 2019 3:10:14 GMT
Nihilo cooperated, quietly. He was still honestly in shock at not being in pain anymore. He'd been wanting that for so long... He was grasping what was being said around him though. Apparently it had something to do with this Ryan guy. Nihilo stared at him, memorizing what he looked like. He hadn't quite figured out how he was going to get out of this, but when he did he was going to find Ryan and enjoy this feeling as much as possible. Tim sighed as he took his place in the back of the van, watching Nihilo like a hawk. He knew that Astraica felt betrayed, but he didn't feel like he had betrayed or manipulated her. Why couldn't she see that he did what he did for her own good? To keep her safe from the monster he had created? Maybe.. maybe she was just upset. Maybe she'd calm down and see that really, he was looking out for her. "Alice, prepare the cell. We're finally bringing Nihilo in." @astraica, Ryan AmadorEND
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played by KingJ
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