Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 22, 2016 9:04:48 GMT -7
It had been six days since the dragon attack now, and Aurora still hadn't slept. She hadn't gone home, she hadn't even spent a single moment of time relaxing or given her a chance to even catch her breath. The past 144 hours had been nothing but work; the time went into organizing people, figuring out how to rebuild the docks and what should go where, getting the necessary materials to do so, cleaning up the slums, figuring out the logistics of having to deal with trash, fixing the infastructure, dealing with people that were trying to take advantage of the situation, and handling unexpected situations. The entire time Aurora had been giving the rebuilding effort everything she had, and the effects of working that hard for that long without even sleeping were starting to catch up with her. Part of her knew that she was acting like this to cope with her anger and grief from the dragon attack. She didn't know the super that died in the attack, but it hardly mattered. He was still one of them, and thus the loss was devastating all the same. That didn't bother her though. The attack hurt, and someone had to fix it. Situations like these were ones she thrived in, which was why it took her breaking someone's nose because they approached her from behind for her to consider that maybe she should take some time to sleep.
However, she made that decision 4 hours ago and she was still awake. There was just so much to do still, and people still needed her, so it was difficult to stop. Aurora tried to get everything in a state where people should be busy, where they'd be less likely to be extorted or attacked, and where hopefully everything would be fine for the next 12 hours. Even so, she was apprehensive about leaving. She knew it wasn't a waste of time to get some sleep, but it certainly felt that way. There was still a lot she needed to do, and she had to completely put it on hold to be unconscious for a little while? It was hard to swallow. Her trip out of the docks was slow, and she didn't get rid of her aurora like she normally would. She went the long way to check everything one last time before finally leaving the area.
Aurora's trip home cut right through the site of the dragon attack. Her pace had been good before reaching the area, but the second she saw the crater she frowned and her pace slowed. There wasn't any rubble left, Aurora herself made sure of that the night after the attack, but the there were still scars in the ground from the dragon's blood. The sight made her realize that she never even thought about what should be done about the area hit hardest. She was a little embarrassed about that, it seemed like one of the most important things to think about. Her pace slowed further, into a slow walk, as she made her way through the area. She didn't stop and still insisted on at least moving in the direction of her home, but she figured she could take a few more minutes to think about this place too.
What should be done? It seemed poetic on some level to simply rebuild the area so it was no different from before. The neighborhood here was nice from what she remembered, and it probably wouldn't even be that hard to figure out which models the houses were, or exactly how any of the other buildings were built. It would be like it never even happened. Was that the right way to go though? Would it be best if people forgot? Aurora honestly wasn't sure. Maybe they should build a park or some other memorial here instead? She made her way through the area, half asleep and deep in thought. It was dark enough that the streetlights were on, but that hardly mattered to someone with a bright light constantly trailing behind them. The area was bright because of it. Not as bright as it would be during the day, but more than bright enough to see.
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 22, 2016 9:45:29 GMT -7
To be honest, Sin Eater hadn't tried that hard to make it to the battlefield in time to fight the dragon. She had hurried at first, certainly, but as she caught a glimpse of the battle from afar, her interest had waned. For all its manipulation of spacetime, the thing ultimately just attacked by crushing and tearing and burning. It was nothing Sin Eater hadn't experienced before, and so she had let the attack run its course.
On the other hand, there was no reason not to glean what she could from the site of the destruction. Sin Eater's power fed her plenty of information about the precise nature of each mangled piece of scenery. And once she had all the information she was going to get, she continued to loiter, an introspective expression on her face.
"You did the best you could," she said to no one in particular. "Next time will probably go better."
Sin Eater noticed the approaching nexus of exhaustion before her eyes picked up the lightshow. A smile crawled up her face. There was no point in brooding when more entertaining diversions were available. The swam of glowing particles confirmed that she had happened upon Aurora Disicio.
She stepped out onto the street in front of Aurora, walking casually through the deserted ruins as though she were a civilian on a simple Sunday stroll. Her tone was lighthearted and innocent, her smile perfectly pleasant.
"Taking notes, Aurora Disicio? Pandaemonium could certainly learn a lot about causing chaos and anarchy from our monstrous friends."
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 23, 2016 10:25:20 GMT -7
It looked like Aurora wasn't the only person here at this hour unfortunately. Even if she was heading home rather slowly, she still wasn't interested in distractions like this. She didn't know much about this person, but she was did know that this person was a super even if she didn't know too many of the details on her power, and she was quite certain that this super didn't bother to show up to take care of the dragon. That alone was enough to make her scowl at the approaching figure. It took a special kind of human scum to run away from something like that given what failure meant. She could forgive the ones that were hiding the fact that they had powers, but the ones that were public about it, especially as public as this super was, didn't deserve that forgiveness. Even though she stepped directly into Aurora's path, she showed no signs of slowing down or changing direction, granted she wasn't exactly moving quickly to begin with.
"I doubt you would know, given you weren't even here."
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 23, 2016 11:03:33 GMT -7
Sin Eater turned so that she was walking in the same direction as Aurora, keeping pace with her as though they were old friends out for a walk together. The comment only served to make her smile even more widely.
"Of course I wasn't. It was nothing special, as far as dragons go. What would I have to gain by fighting it?"
She gave Aurora a sidelong glance. Being the subject of an interrogation didn't really appeal to Sin Eater, but there was ample room to turn things around here. She laid a finger on her chin, inquisitively tilting her head to the side.
"I was more surprised to see the likes of you there. Isn't Pandaemonium all about taking everything you can from society without any concern for the ramifications? Your leader certainly seems to think so."
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 23, 2016 18:41:23 GMT -7
Aurora's frown deepened when the super started following her. It was bad enough that she was talking, and sounding like a total idiot while doing it, but she wasn't going to be able to go home like this. She couldn't just reveal where she lived, or even the couple of places she kept a change of clothes so she didn't have to go into her neighborhood as Aurora Disicio. She still didn't bother speeding up or changing direction, but at this point her thoughts about the area were pretty much gone. This was enough of a distraction that her tired brain couldn't handle thinking about that and anything else at the same time. Fortunately, it wasn't so tired that she couldn't at least turn the conversation back. She had no intention of letting the other super turn things around.
"It's less about what you gain and more about what you lose dumbass. And Keepers are supposed to know a lot about dragons and how to fight them, but they were just as clueless as the rest of us back there. What's your point?"
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 24, 2016 3:13:24 GMT -7
Sin Eater giggled. It felt almost like cheating, needling someone who was already this close to collapsing from exhaustion, but she got the sense that this person was hardly a paragon of patience even on better days. She increased her pace, walking side-by-side with her unwilling companion.
"My point, Aurora Disicio, is that you're an outlier. Some members of Pandaemonium are afflicted with a sense of machismo that demands they prove their bravery against dragons. Some have a personal vendetta against dragons in general due to some past loss. Some simply have a death wish."
She tapped a finger to her lips, clearly deep in thought. The facade of innocence began to slip as she continued to speak.
"But you... The dragon is long gone, yet here you are. Any threat the dragon could pose to your personal life has passed. People are gossiping about the work you're doing. It would seem that the dragon itself has little relation to your motives."
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 24, 2016 21:17:22 GMT -7
Aurora rarely had any patience for people that beat around the bush or tried to use other events to ask questions rather than ask her directly. Tonight she had even less than usual. The fact that the other super seemed so amused by this whole situation meant that it was obviously intentional and just irritated her further. At this point she was one off color comment from just punching the girl's lights out and moving on with her life.
The comparisons she drew were just so absurd. Obviously Aurora wasn't like that, it hardly needed to be stated. She had no need to prove herself against anyone, she wasn't some kind of insecure idiot. She knew what she was capable of, and didn't particularly care what people thought of it. The only reason she was prone to showing off or trying to project an image was because she knew she needed other people to work with her in order for her to accomplish what she wanted to accomplish. She had no vendetta against dragons, she just wasn't about to let them destroy her city, and she certainly had no desire to die. The fact that these things motivated people was irritating to her.
"Obviously," she huffed. "If you have something to ask, ask it. I don't have time for this bullshit."
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 25, 2016 8:34:54 GMT -7
"Isn't it obvious?" Sin Eater spread her arms wide, as if giving up. "I just want to know why you're doing what you're doing."
She felt the anger flaring up in the other super, strong enough to be compared with the exhaustion. However, that wasn't all she sensed. There was also something else, something covered up by the concealing costume Aurora wore, but Sin Eater could detect it and recognize it as all-too-familiar.
She grinned. "After all, I don't think it was a dragon that gave you all those scars."
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 26, 2016 1:18:51 GMT -7
Aurora was content to continue walking until the other super mentioned her scars. She wasn't surprised that someone out there had superpowers that would allow them to see them despite her best efforts. She wasn't ashamed of them, but they were something that would make her very easy to identify. She took a few more steps and looked at the other super dead in the eyes while she mulled over whether or not this was a bluff. If there was a single member of Pandaemonium that didn't have scars somewhere she'd be surprised, excluding perhaps the newer members. Aurora was not a newer member. However, that made most scars rather mundane for people in Pandaemonium and yet this super still found hers notable. Not surprising given the nature of hers, but it made her think it was less likely that this was a bluff of some kind. Aurora came to a full stop and turned to face the other super. It was difficult to stay standing like this because she hadn't been sleeping, but she would manage. This girl had her undivided attention.
"Who are you?" she blinked sleepily a few times, considering whether or not she should bothering answering the question. "I'm only concerned with what's right. I fought the dragon to stop it from destroying my city. I'm rebuilding the city because leaving it in its current state would be stupid and inefficient, and we are perfectly capable of moving past the damage the dragon caused. I'm with Pandaemonium because they're useful and anything I get them to do is likely going to be a better use of their time than anything else they would do."
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 26, 2016 8:18:14 GMT -7
Sin Eater stopped when Aurora did, staring back for a moment before a laugh abruptly bubbled up through her lips. She paid no mind to the question about her identity. "Aha, so that's what you are!"
Another laugh forced its way through as Sin Eater began to move again, quickly walking on a collision course with Aurora. "So noble! So determined! So selfless!"
She abruptly slid to the side, practically dancing as she spun in a circle around behind the other super. "Ah, the common people would sleep so much easier at night if they knew that the superheroine Aurora Disicio had infiltrated Pandaemonium to fight on their behalf!"
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 26, 2016 11:55:16 GMT -7
Aurora's expression remained flat, and somewhat sleepy. She folded her arms and let this idiot keep rambling and dancing around until she stopped talking. It was clear by the super's tone and antics that this was probably meant to annoy her. At this point, it was probably the least obnoxious thing she's done so far. Aurora wasn't going to get upset over someone saying something true, even if they were saying it sarcastically. And while she doubted she was that selfless or that the common people would rest easy with her around, she knew she was one, if not the most, heroic super in the city right now. Most of them were too weak to do what was necessary, too short-sighted to know what needed to be done, and knew so little about themselves or how the world worked that they probably couldn't accomplish much of anything. The other super's speech didn't get more than a sleepy yawn out of her.
"Is that all you wanted to know?" she asked flatly.
Without bothering to wait for an answer, she quickly spun on her heel and reached out for the collar of the other super's shirt. In one swift motion, she grabbed it and lifted her off the ground. Aurora still had no patience for any of this.
"Then answer mine."
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 26, 2016 17:41:50 GMT -7
There were times that Sin Eater needed to avoid confinement or injury in order to achieve her goals, but this wasn't one of them. Even as she saw Aurora move to grab her, she made no effort to evade. The slight strain in her voice from being awkwardly lifted was the only aspect of her tone that changed. Her smile remained plastered on.
"Why would I do that, when you avoided mine with such cowardly grace? What's 'right' has a billion different meanings between a billion different people. 'Efficiency', 'usefulness', utterly meaningless without context."
Sin Eater exerted her power, absorbing Aurora's pain and exhaustion. She went limp in Aurora's grasp, her voice quieting almost to a whisper.
"I've woken you up a little, so give me a straight answer this time. Let's hear an outcast freak's opinions on good and evil."
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 29, 2016 15:01:03 GMT -7
Aurora's eyes narrowed further as this super spoke. How the hell was she supposed to give an entire speech on the ins and outs of what she thought when it was already this hard just to stay vertical? Further, this wasn't a topic she could just start talking about most of the time. It wasn't a small subject and there were so many subtle little pieces that it was difficult to explain them all, or to even know where to begin explaining them all. Given this person couldn't even be bothered to state her name, it hardly seemed worth Aurora's own time to ramble on with no starting point or direction. She was considering just hanging the super on a nearby lamp post just to be done with her, but then all signs of her fatigue suddenly vanished and the lingering pain from getting shot and the dragon suddenly vanished. She lowered the other super to just below her eye level, keeping her at arm's length. If the girl was generous enough to make it so she didn't need sleep anymore, she could at least humor her for a few more minutes before hanging her on a nearby lamp post.
"That's a neat trick you got there, shame all your other ones suck. Your attempts to provoke me have been transparent, so much so that they were obvious to me even though I haven't slept for nearly a week straight. The fact that you seem to think they'd actually be insulting is even more pathetic. Am I supposed to be bothered by the fact that I am not like most of the idiots in Pandaemonium? Am I supposed to care that prominent people in the faction care or don't care about certain things? Am I supposed to be insulted by the word 'hero' when I am very clearly the most heroic thing in this city? Not that it's hard given how useless everyone here is," she scoffed. "Am I supposed to resent the idea that I live on the fringes of society, even though society is corrupt to the point that it practically needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up? I chose this path for myself, I was hardly forced into it. You seem to think you're just oh so clever, but you're little more than a teenage edgelord. I'm not surprised that I seem so confounding to someone like you given you appear to be incapable of thinking past extremely short term gains given how you treated the appearance of a dragon.
"All those things you tried to provoke me with? None of them matter. I'm glad I'm not an impulsive moron with the attention span of a goldfish. I'm glad that I'm not so insecure that I have to risk life, limb, and dignity just to prove how amazingly tough I am. I'm glad that I can fight for more than personal vendettas and hatred. I'm glad that I care enough about this city to fight for it rather than be an aimless peon that's just looking to punch whatever annoys them that day. I'm glad that I'm not directionless and miserable that I'd find a way to try to kill myself just to make myself useful or to make it stop. No one in Pandaemonium even gives a fuck about what Mosh Man thinks, but even if they did, I certainly wouldn't. He can do what he wants, it has no bearing on any of my choices. I joined because I needed the manpower, stayed because they're likely the ones that need me most. I don't care about the titles people give me, or what they think of me. I went into this expecting the whole world to hate me, so their opinions mean very little to me. People can call me a hero if they want, people can call me a villain if they want, people can call me a tuna sandwich if they want, it changes nothing. People can appreciate my work, people can resent me for it, people can refuse to use what I create, destroy what I create, none of it will stop me. Public opinion isn't a good measure of success."
Aurora took a few steps along one of the routes she took home, only to realize that wasn't necessary anymore. She wasn't tired, she didn't need to sleep anymore, she could get back to work already. She glanced at the other super for a moment, adjusted her grip, and turned around to head back to the docks. This time, her pace wasn't casual. In fact, with all her pain gone, there wasn't any reason not to move as fast as possible. She jumped into the air with her aurora at her feet and started spawning various bits of rubble and building materials she had stored in it in order to get some air, so she could simply run over the city rather than having to worry about the terrain.
"You're coming with me. If you're too much of a coward to fight dragons, the least you can do is help us clean up afterwards. Maybe you can learn a thing or two about doing things that don't appear to have any immediate benefit, but do in the long term."
|
|
The Keepers
Posts 90
Power Level 24
|
Post by Sin Eater on Jul 30, 2016 10:38:34 GMT -7
Sin Eater continued to hang as limp as a corpse, flopping about as Aurora jumped across her makeshift platforms above the rooftops. Despite the borrowed sensations she was feeling, Aurora's retort injected some life back into Sin Eater's voice.
"I don't care that much whether you're insulted or not. I'm just... curious, that's all. And perhaps a bit envious.
"I understand the pain and exhaustion you've been fighting through, and I have to wonder what makes it worthwhile. How happy must this sort of thing make you if you keep on doing it instead of just laying down and letting the pain subside for awhile? What pleasure can you take from helping people you so clearly despise?"
At the comment about using Sin Eater's power to help, she would have straightened up if not for the fact that she was being carried around like a ragdoll.
"And suppose I do help you, what happens then? You speak of 'long-term' benefits, but what do you ultimately hope to accomplish here, and why should I care about it?"
|
|
Pandaemonium
Posts 381
Power Level 31
|
Post by Aurora Disicio on Jul 30, 2016 14:40:54 GMT -7
Aurora didn't believe for a moment that this super didn't care that she didn't manage to upset her. The curiosity she could believe, but the provocation was so obvious and the change in demeanor when it clearly wasn't working was so apparent that there was just no way anything this super was saying was true. She was content to ignore it for now, though she wouldn't forget it. It wasn't surprising given how dishonest people were as a whole, but it was always disappointing when people thought they could hide it.
"I like watching things progress. I don't like watching things be in states they clearly shouldn't be in. It's not complicated. What happened at the docks is an obvious example. It was already a total shithole before, but it doesn't have to be. It can be better. Nicer. An area people actually want to live rather than being forced into it. The roads don't have to be narrow, convoluted and barely accessible for cars. They don't have to be covered in trash and god knows what else. Soon enough, they won't be like that, they'll be much improved.
"People are the same. Those in power give them short hand morals and ideas to cling to, but they're very shallow and rarely stand up under scrutiny. They try to make people afraid of doing anything, to make them accept the status quo so that nothing changes. To try to keep them in their place, make it so most people never realize exactly who they are. So I shove all their stupid ideas into their face and make it clear exactly how stupid they are. I try to make them think, so that they can be better, so that they can improve. So that they can understand who they are and what they need to do.
"It's a broad idea, but it has to be to accommodate everyone. People and situations are all very different, so trying to put them all under the same umbrella is very difficult. I wouldn't use the word 'efficiency,' I wouldn't classify it under 'happiness' because unhappiness is vitally necessary. If I had to pick a word..." she paused for awhile. "I would use 'self-actualization.'"
Aurora landed on the roof of one of the taller apartment buildings with a clang. Rather than spawn new pieces of rubble to jump off of, she just started running across the edge of the roof. She just rolled her eyes at the other super's question.
"Given you didn't even bother to show up to fight the dragon I shouldn't be surprised that you can't even see past what's happening now. Even from a purely selfish standpoint there's no reason to leave the city like this. The reason humanity has as much as it does is because of what we as a collective are able to produce. Stability makes it easier to produce more. Chaos and poverty make it harder. Thus, fixing the area will have returns even for you at some point.
"Now are you going to introduce yourself and tell me what your power does, or are you going to keep ignoring me?"
|
|