[semi-open] If you're trying hard to breathe in the dark

[likethelight]

Who: Allen & others, possibly Argonaut appearances
What: Event-log and other April-related prompts. Plotting prompt stuff!
When: Throughout April
Where: Various

Content Warnings: SAD THINGS, harm and death to NPC children, mutilation, nightmare fuel mindfuckery, high corruption and beasthood.




⛧ 1. if your screams don't make a sound (wonderkind/AKUMA) ★

[ You were probably just minded your own business doing something totally normal — and then you got caught in up in Allen Walker's vortex of bad luck. Sorry. It's just a thing that happens. He doesn't even have his unlucky rabbit's foot on him! He learned better really quickly...!!

Regardless of whether you might have been haggling with a bakery over the price of day-olds, sipping tea in some little shop, or maybe this is your house that he's... about to put a hole through. So sorry — but all of a sudden part of the nearby brickwork explodes as a slender figure is bodily slammed entirely through it.

Yeah. It's that kind of day.

It does not look comfortable. And it does not look like something anyone could have gotten away with without some broken ribs, but as the dust settles the boy that was indeed used as a wrecking ball of sorts starts coughing and trying to sit up. This is just -- ugghhh...

Coming to his senses quickly though, dressed in a black and red jacket underneath what seems to be a impossibly volumous feathered white cloak that seems to be made of moonlight itself he -- blinks. And then whirls around, realizing you're there.

His left eye has bled black throughout the sclera, and the iris has shifted to glowing red rings that shift in and out like a camera lens focusing. There's a dark, corrupted sort of smoke that seems to be pooling around it as well. His expression is wide with alarm, actual fear for a moment at seeing you there, before he stumbles back up to his feet. To square his shoulders, face the hole he just was thrown through—

And rip back, shouting at you over his shoulder as he spreads a single arm out in warning. ]

RUN!

[ Because, over the edge of the rubble... there's a faint sort of here-but-not dark glow. And the world seems to desaturate, fading from color into the black and white. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like you're even looking through your own eyes.

And then you hear a faint sobbing. Distant, but far too close as well. Like it's there in your own skull. Faintly.

And a figure floats into view, cresting the stone. At first, it looks like... an extremely mummified corpse. Bone dry, curled up in a fetal position. It isn't even the thing crawling up and through the hole, but that seems deem and distant right now. It's attached to it.

Because the sobbing stops as soon as you look at it, and the specter stiffens suddenly. Socketless pits for eyes turning right towards you as it realizes you see it —

—and its jaw falls open as it screams. ]



⛧ 2. if your heart just cries too loud all the time (butterflies/beasthood) ★


[ He knew this worked like a game of Russian roulette, he really did. And he doesn't even want to have to destroy any of the butterflies that have flocked to the Trench. It's fine when they stay up and away from people, but when they choose to land near populated areas...

It's not even for misjudging his own ability to purge corruption from his own body! It has limits, he knows that... too much can still be too much if it's all at once. But he has to keep trying. Better him than someone else. Or at least, thinking about that...

...it's easy to forget the actual consequences.

Maybe you were there when he destroyed the butterfly, a boy who suddenly transformed into into a white harbinger wreathed in what looks like condensed moonlight taking the shape of a huge feathered cloak and wielding a great broadsword as long and broad as he is. Maybe you just see the consequences of that — or hear the sudden howling gale.

A whirling gale of feathers, light, and tattered wings made from moonlight themselves that rips upwards from a doubled over figure. A white and gold gigantic masquerade mask floats above as well, twisting to and fro from the feathered cloak like it's unsure how to hold its shape, like it's too angry to remember its shape and cares not for what it was, but is trying to contort itself into something new. But the winged sort of cloak looks almost angelic, glowing white-gold and ethereal. It's beautiful, and somewhat terrible as well. Especially as the figure, with his hands clutching his head like it wants to split in two, would not seem to have a normal left hand but a great white and gold monstrous sort of claw instead. But it too can't seem to hold its form, splitting into glowing feathers along his arm that twist in the air.

It's like a howling monster clinging to the figure even as it also tries to rip away.

And if you're caught staring, an edge of that tattered, feathery wing-cloak rips out towards you and slashes into—and through the brickwork by your head. And that's when you might realize that even though it looks like a cloak and feathers, it cuts as sharply as any sword. ]

Stay— [ It's a boy beneath all that. A teenager, pale and ethereal himself as the feathers around him, with a dark red scar cutting through the left side of his face. And he pants and rasps it out, gritting his teeth audibly and fixing a surprisingly sharp and hard dark eye on you. A window of raw clarity in a maelstrom.

Anguished clarity, his face twisted in tragedy.

But that eye is blood red and black, and the scar surrounding it twists itself restlessly across his face like an angry, living thing. Black smoke bleeds from that left side of his face, mixing in with the white. ]

—back...

More closed prompts below! I'm trying to do more closed/planned things since I have a lot going on this month and a bunch that are sequential, but please feel free to hit me up on my plotting prompt and I'm happy to plan something and do a private prompt for us! He will be generally collecting the hope orbs, mostly for Viktor, getting fucked up with his restored memories/tether and hiding from people later in the month, and trying to purify and reverse the corruption/beasthood of any turned, especially as a result of the butterflies. So, especially if you want to get your character in on realizing even full beasthood can be reversed by exorcists and other sorts of purification abilities and you want them to be able to see the human souls still in them... 👉👈 hit me up.

Comments

2/2

[likethelight]

[ --and then he takes a breath, and his invocation surges into existence.

The same sort of feathery, winglike cloak from in the catacombs, but it whips up around them into existence with a surge of spiritual force and mass unlike before. Like something that presses down on someone's intangible existence like another set of gravity, or being in the presence of something absolutely massive. Some kind of gentle and intangible weight of grace that smells both electric and wintery. Like thundersnow.

Pulling his hands from his head, he breathes out then. A long, smooth, only shaky towards the very tail end of it exhale, before he turns towards Shouto then. Slowly, fixing one extremely pale eye and one dark as the void to his own mismatched ones, paleblood still coursing freely from his left. It's so inconvenient. That his tears are even blood in a place like this, it's so inconvenient. But that's such a small matter right now. ]

We have to go back. [ It's utterly calm yet, while spoken so very softly, with a shift in demeanor that is urgent and absolutely unyielding too. Gaze flickering across Todoroki's face in a searching and insistent manner. ] -- I need to go back.

[ It's an important clarification, and he leans in with a weight of gentle insistence, mismatched eyes still unwaveringly locked to mismatched eyes. This is important. Please. ]

If no one is there to fight it... [ if he isn't there... ] it's just going to find more people to kill. Something like that--

[ Dead serious, his tone. Gentle, as soft-spoken and delicate as the ethereal down of his cowl, but absolutely dead serious. ]

It could kill everyone in an entire city like it's nothing.

[swellter]

[ Flooded with a curtain of light, he jerks his hand back, away from the feathery wisps of holy cloth.

It's... heavy.

Weight shifting under the massive presence, he loses balance and falls back, palms breaking his fall. Squinting against the luminous cloak, a holy presence looms over him, heavy and insistent, yet warm and welcoming. A dichotomy that leaves him at an impasse. ]

... Allen.

[ Spoken softly; overwhelmed. He's no priest or exorcist to feel at ease with the weight of that grace pressing down on him. The added burden slows his omen's movements, weighted down by holy chains. ]

Allen... what is... that?

[ The answer, when it comes, makes less sense than the massacre they left behind. ]

... Back? You want to go back?

[ Kizu rejects the proposal on the spot and tries to pick up speed.

Todoroki for his part doesn't dismiss the idea outright. Looks back at the priest, catching sight of blood and tears overflowing from his eyes. He's seen this before, the dichotomy of Heaven and Hell.

Still, before he can give him an answer, he needs to know. ]

... Are you going back to kill it?

[likethelight]

[ What is that...?

It's ghostly, and the white and gold masquerade mask that settles gradually as a clasp of sorts at his throat tips to the side at that question. Entirely on its own, as it would seem no movement from Allen or wind made it do that. Some coy or cheeky little twist of an expression.

But, startled, Allen's stopped from answering and his expression flickers when Todoroki asks him that, are you going back to kill it. Looks at him like that, and abruptly the weight in the air shifts and seems to vanish even if his cloak doesn't. As he regains a proper sense of himself and his synchronization, even as his brows knit together as if in some pain at that question. ]

....No. [ It's quiet, and he presses his lips somberly together. ] It isn't alive, but I want to save it. [ Just that. Just that simply, with clear and certain eyes.

Gently and apologetically, he extends his right hand towards the other boy, the one gloved in Innocence. To help him sit back up, if he wants it. ]

It isn't a beast, even if it seems similar... it's an akuma. A living weapon that's made from a human soul. One that's been corrupted and loses itself the more it has to kill. I'm sorry. I think -- [ He realizes he's starting to ramble and stops himself, worrying at his lip. Wonders if it's true, but... realizes it most likely is, and his eyes drop. ]

I think... it must be my fault that it's here. [ His eyes stay downcast and flicker aside briefly; guiltily. ] If it slipped through a crack from my world like others did. [ Which means all those deaths -- what Todoroki just saw and got caught up in so far... ]

I'm sorry. [ It's heavy.

But wallowing won't help anyone so he stops, looking back up at Todoroki then. ]

I'm an exorcist, that's why I have to go back. I have to destroy it. [ It's clear as a bell with that calm sort of urgency again. ]

It's the only way to still save a soul like that.

[swellter]

[ The weight vanishes and he can breathe again. Kizu too, picks up speed, heading for the beach away from the massacre that left him paralyzed and broken. Focused on the priest, he's doing better, but she knows the toll he paid for what little he saw. When she jumped out to save them from the gas, she saw it all in stark clarity, everything he missed. That small glimpse of death still has its claws in him, reshaping his world, tainting it black. She won't have him go back. If they need to fight, then they'll do it at away from that cesspool. Determined to keep him away, she ignores his calls to slow down.

No... but I want to save it.

His eyes fall to that hand wrapped in holy cloth, hesitant to take it. He looks back at Allen who continues to explain about akumas, souls, and exorcists. It's all meaningless to him. He doesn't know his world the same way he does, but he knows that look. The need to protect. The sentiment that drives you past all your limits to save another. That he understands and it's the only thing that matters. Everything else is details.

He takes his hand, and grips it firmly between his fingers. ]

Okay. We'll go back.

[ He sets a hand on his arm and helps him up; back on their feet. ] You're not responsible for the wrongs of your world. This isn't your fault. [ He squeezes his arm, grey and teal locking on grey and red. ]

I'll help you. Only... [ he looks past him to the town ] I don't know how.

I'll get us there. [ Shifts eyes back to him. ] You lead the fight.

[ Don't!

The great head of the leopard snaps around, biting down on their position, but he's in her head as much as she's in his. She hits nothing but ice.

Ice surges beneath his feet rising into the air and plunging down like a rollercoaster, twisting and turning back toward the town as a giant leopard chases after them, attempting to swallow them whole. ]

[likethelight]

[ He hates it, dragging Todroki into it. As grateful as he is when he clasps his arm in return and gets them back to their feet, surprised gratitude stamped on his face, that's still...

We're the same age, you fight too and you're a "Hero" who protects people, but... you've never seen anything like that before, have you?

-- danger. ]

Kizu?! [ He flinches on instinct when she whips around, even if the wall of ice saves them. Before the ice twists under them and lifts them off, and he clings on with his less dangerous hand to Todoroki for balance. Aaa, it's much different when they aren't confined in a place like the catacombs. He can get a lot of height from it.

That said, the effect is also lost on him from the more alarming fact. ]

Why is your omen trying to attack us?! [ That could HAPPEN?

A trail of white smoke peels off him though, easy to mistake as just part of the rippling effects of his cloak. Darting around the ice behind them, it forms first into the regular, grapefruit-sized form of Timcanpy --

-- and then expands drastically, matching Kizu in size and hurtling straight into her open maw like a great golden, growling, slightly squishy ten ton bowling ball. _{Immovable object meets unstoppable force. Bite down on this.} ]

[swellter]

[ Kizu breaks the ice - You can't go back there! - and he makes more - I have too. ]

A disagreement.

[ Focused on generating their escape, he doesn't look back at the giant leopard lumbering behind them, snapping at the makes-shift ice to stop him from going back. ]

She doesn't usually listen to me.

[ Said, as if the notion is the most natural thing in the world. Don't all omens have free reign and do what they want? His does. He's issued a command only once and she listened because their goals aligned. Right now, they don't. Which is too bad. He lets her be so long as he has no issue with it. He has an issue now.

He keeps his grip on Allen in case his maneuvering throws him off-kilter. Busy swerving left, away from those giant jaws, he doesn't see the white smoke peeling off his cloak, but he feels Kizu's 'surprise' behind him which has him snapping his head back long enough to see Tim - Big Tim - hurling toward her. ]

Watch out!

[ The response is automatic, ice coming to a stop in giant concentric circles moving up to eat up their momentum. As they twirl around in tight circles, he watches Kizu disappear, and Tim just keeps flying...?

I'm going to have a talk with that Priest. Worried eyes find her on the ground, back to her regular size, keeping pace at a dead run. Are you sure about this? ]

Yes. [ Mist escapes his mouth as they stand atop a winter wonderland a kilometer above sea-level. It's a bad idea. ] It's the only one we have. [ It's still a bad idea. She ends the conversation, a begrudging feeling of acceptance billowing through their bond. ]

You don't have to attack her. [ He turns to Allen. ] She won't attack us anymore.

[ With his omen settled, he forms a linear path back to the city, hoping to get there before it finds any other victims. ]

[likethelight]

[ Don't worry, Timcanpy isn't someone who can actually attack. Aside from biting occasionally and headbutting to make a point. But he sure makes a great hindrance _{and entrance.}

As soon as he's made his point and the disagreement seems settled, he pops back to normal size and rejoins Allen and Shouto. A bit agitated looking maybe, zigzagging around and snapping his teeth together with a chattering like he's chastising them, but mollified. ]

I wouldn't! [ It's an emphatic as it is surprised, jolted from momentary wonderment at just how high up they are -- or that for a moment Shouto seemed like he was talking to him. ] Tim just wants to protect me... too.

[ --that was it, wasn't it. And he trails off at the realization, going a little quiet for a moment. ]

Todoroki... [ His voice has dropped a little, more serious. Soft, but more burdened. ] ...are you sure about this?

[ His grip tightens for a moment in a way that has nothing to do with needing balance, looking straight ahead as they move back into the city, but mouth working for a moment like in some internal conflict that's only sorrowful. ]

You can just drop me off. It's okay, I'll be fine. [ It's a bit of a blatant lie. It's a level 4, the birth of one. He knows that, he's seen it before. And... he's never been able to defeat one on his own. The last time with another exorcist arguably stronger than him, and just barely. And at great cost. ] Seeing something like that -- fighting something like this...

No one should have to.

[swellter]

She likes Tim. She wouldn't bite him.

[ Hence, she returned to normal size, realizing she was overstepping when another omen found fault with the chase. She understands Tim's need to protect Allen and holds no grudge against him. The priest on the other hand, she finds a little too persuasive.

It's not the tone of voice that keys him into the turmoil curling through his companion, but the grip on his hand tightening out of nowhere. He looks back, long enough to catch the shift in expression.

His brows crease, not understanding the root of the burden painted on his face until Allen keeps going and his own grip tightens, expression going cold at the suggestion. ]

I don't abandon my comrades.

[ Fire flickers across red strands, dying out a few inches from his hair. ]

I'm not running away while it goes after more civilians. I chose to be a Hero. Just because they don't exist here doesn't mean I'll stop being one.

Not you or Kizu or anyone else is going to change my mind. So, tell me what to do or get out of my way.

[likethelight]

[ It's the answer he expected, and it's why he hadn't pushed from the very beginning that it should be his fight alone. After all, up until now hadn't Todoroki always been the one who rushed ahead of even Allen to try and help anyone he could? Far more heroic than he, like it really is baked into his very being, at least in Allen's opinion.

So even if his tone is cold and that last sentence so harsh, Allen smiles lightly at that and looks away. It's bittersweet, but also glad in a sense. Grateful. No, no surprise at all. He's sorry to imply anything else, but he still needed to say it before just dragging someone else into something solely the domain of exorcists. Something that was obviously going to cause a friend a lot of pain, and that so often resulted in death.

Except maybe it isn't just exorcist business -- and thus solely his own business anymore. That's also the reason for his hesitation, having already been in the Trench for so long. ]

...Every time we meet, there's always something terrible happening. [ It's an idle musing, rhetorical and said in that soft and bittersweet manner. Situations like this really are the only ones they seem to meet up under, aren't they?

They really should rectify that later. ]

It can only be destroyed and the soul saved by a weapon like mine. [ Immediately to business. ] By Innocence. Anything else... it can barely touch it. Although I don't know how your ability might work on it, if your ice could crush it... [ Fire -- no. Fire had seemed to give it joy and life when one he'd seen danced in an inferno of its own making. ]

...but it wouldn't save the soul. It would just be lost. But... [ His eyes cast aside again, debating if it's something he should mention. ] If it's the kind I think it is, I've never been able to defeat one on my own before, either. [ It's quieter; not an easy admission, and entirely not because of any pride. ] It's hard, trying to pierce through its corrupted shell.

If you can help restrict its movements... I'll have a better chance at that.

But you can't let it hit you. [ His tone drops slightly, more sober and blunter to emphasize how direly serious he is. ] Its blood has a virus, and it can make bullets from it. If one even grazes you... it'll kill you within seconds.

[ He's quiet for a moment after that, thinking. And the arm around Shouto to hold on softens slightly, his grip gentler at considering something, and his shoulders drop a little. ]

...Promise me that after this, we'll find something fun to do. Something we can talk about and enjoy. [ Quietly said still, like this is a sober and important thing, and he smiles lightly again. Sad-sweet, trying to look back and catch his eye. ]

When the world feels dark, it can help to have something to look forward to.

1/2

[swellter]

[ He's trained to become a hero all his life. It's why he was conceived. A notion he wrestled with for years until he threw off his father's expectations and allowed himself to want things of his own accord, even if those things lined up with Endeavor's wishes. Watching All-Might rescue people with a golden smile of the age, he became enamored with him, a hero whose presence put others at ease, the opposite of Endeavor, who terrorized his family for his own ambitions. He worked hard to forge his own path forward, separate from the legacy his father wanted. Found meaning in his brand of heroism and even allowed himself to gravitate toward field medicine, adding medical supplies to his costume to ease the pain of others when violence was no longer needed.

Allen's answer, when it comes, eases him back to neutral waters. Ebbing away from the fire, his thoughts settle and he meets that sentimental thought with his own - completely missing the sentiment. ]

That's my fault. Whenever I'm involved, something bad always happens.

I'm cursed. [ Serious. ] Your hand might get injured if we keep working together.

[ Yes, he is very serious. He also knows Allen's resolve; it's the same as his own. He knows he won't persuade him to find someone else even if he warns him about this curse, not with the time they already lost, so it comes as no surprise when he gets straight to business and lets the subject drop. ]

I keep it busy with my ice, and you attack with your weapon. [ He summarizes, noting the fact that he never mentioned-- ] What about my fire?

[ Focused on him, he notices when he starts to doubt himself. He knows what kind of doubts can come during a briefing before a battle, and sets a hand on his shoulder to remind him he's not alone. ] If the shell is hard to pierce, I'll help you smash through it with my ice.

[ There's a reason his quirk is considered one of the most versatile aside from Yaoyorozu, who can create anything from her body. ]

Understood. [ The bullets don't frighten him. He's faced off against worse. ] I've dealt with a similar situation back home. [ Shigaraki's quirk allowed him to decay anything he touched, including people. ] I won't let the bullets touch me.

2/2

[swellter]

[ He assures him, not quite sure how to address that last request. It seems out of place; odd. Like his expression: quiet, soft, and sad. His shoulders slump and Shouto shakes him a little growing worried. ]

... Allen?

[ Why does he look so sad when he smiles?

Promise me...

His thoughts cease before they have a chance to fully form, caught up by his momentum the more he speaks.

When the world feels dark, it can help to have something to look forward to.

Oh...

Touched by the sentiment, he lets go of his shoulder and steps back to really look at him. Not the holy cloak or demon hand. Cursed eye. Or anything else about him that fools the senses including that smile.

Locking eyes with him, he answers. ] I promise.

1/2

[likethelight]

[ ??? Cursed?

Todoroki, you get... such a baffled look from Allen at that dead-serious statement, wondering for a moment if he forget he's literally cursed. And he's worried his... hand might get crushed... that's... ]

2/2

[likethelight]

[ ...he laughs at that. In truly good spirits. ]

Then it's a good thing I can restore my own hand if it's broken, isn't it? [ The absolute irony of that statement, Todoroki. It utterly refreshes him. As does the matter of fact way he processes everything Allen tells him in such an even and calm manner. It helps ease Allen's own nerves of someone who isn't an exorcist joining in such a fight. ]

I don't know about fire... I don't think so. [ Lavi's would, but it wasn't normal fire. It still came from Innocence. But then, Shouto's isn't exactly regular fire either. Still: ] I've seen them in fire before, and they only seem to enjoy it. But...

[ His expression softens when Todoroki steps back to look at him though, a little surprised by how intently he's looking at him. Like he's trying to look straight through to him. It's -- ...it's how Lenalee would look at him sometimes. Straight past whatever smile he tried to put on. (Lenalee, who... aah. He'd even forgotten most of her for all these months too, even everything he'd promised... It squeezes his chest in an awful, heavy and painful sort of way.)

But he blinks at that quiet sort of answer -- before smile he does, cocking his head slightly to the side. But not the same as before. ]

Mn, I'm glad. [ It's a smile that's fragile as glass, but also so truly happy too. Effervescent. ]

I promise too.

[swellter]

[ Allen's laugh harkens back to the first time he made his thoughts known about the curse to both Modoriya and Iida. They laughed too thinking he was joking. He wasn't. Isn't. Thrice now, he's had the same reaction and wants to plead his case, but Allen is in such high spirits while heading toward death, he's unwilling to dampen his mood. ]

It... is. [ Hesitantly. Why doesn't anyone ever believe him? Is it... part of the curse...? ]

[ Tactics are easier to digest. Familiar with brainstorming a plan on the fly with different quirks involved against an unknown foe, he's quick to adapt to every new piece of information, even if it means using half of his quirk - he's used to it. ]

My ice is stronger anyways. I'll use my fire to maneuver, not attack.

[ What comes after is not all that unfamiliar now that he's allowed himself to have friends. These brief moments after a brainstorming session. The ones filled by better people than him who joked and smiled; promising tomorrow.

Allen does too in his own way. A bright smile, delicate like spun glass, he's afraid to respond for fear of breaking it inadvertently. So, he nods instead, stretching the moment as far as it'll go.

One. Two. Maybe three seconds before Kizu warns him of the city limits. He looks past Allen, his ice still generating beneath them at a rapid pace. He slows down, moving with more caution as they approach ground zero. ]

[likethelight]

[ Oh, no, he absolutely figures Todoroki isn't joking. His demeanor was far too frank for even a poker face. And that's honestly what made him laugh and appreciate it as he did: that it was so genuine, that ironic concern. How could he not be fond of that?

Unfortunately, it's short lived. They're arriving back at the area, and Allen's demeanor quickly sobers. The smell has returned, and this time he keeps both an eye ahead and one on Shouto as well. To take in his reaction this time and not make the same mistake as before.

To offer a quick, reassuringly firm and grounding squeeze of the hand with his one good one if it looks like his emotions might falter.

Especially when they get close enough to see the broken remains of the akuma's previous evolution, the arms that had been pulling their way from its eyeball had morphed into various staged of half-formed other, more humanoid creatures. Stacking up upon themselves like tortured monsters reaching towards the sky, frozen and statuesque, until the giant statue of a fully human woman finally peels upward and out of them. Bent backward with her arms now limp behind her like a grotesque sacrifice to the moon above --

-- and her swollen belly shattered open, empty save for smoke pouring from it. ]

It's already been born... [ It's murmured uneasily, and even someone like Allen sounds unsettled by it. He didn't know how long it might take; he'd missed that part before. But he tenses suddenly, head snapping to look towards the base of the statue's legs.

Nothing yet in sight, but not even a fraction of a second later... there's an eerie, disconnected giggling. ]

[swellter]

[ Take the high ground. Kizu commands in a tone that has him accepting her condition without quarrel when the scent of something rotten hits his nose. He breathes through his mouth, ignoring the smell and the look from his companion. ]

Kizu is staying on the ground this time.

[ He answers in turn, keeping his eyes trained ahead. When they reach the epicenter, he takes his time to slowly peer down at the carnage below, catching sight of that shattered belly amid the devastation.

He looks away within a few seconds, rattled by the sight, but keeps his quirk in check this time. He feels a comforting squeeze, returns it, but doesn't try to look down again. ]

The Akuma?

[ He focuses on their enemy instead of the corpses, focusing on what he can achieve. In answer, a tittering sound between eerie and human echoes through the air, sending him on high alert.

He lets go of Allen's hand, stepping back to a sturdier posture searching for the sound while Kizu tries to sniff it out. ]

[likethelight]

[ On high alert, Allen barely notices he let go. One of the fingers on his left hand twitches slightly, the bladed claw bouncing for a moment as his posture is like that of a dog straining on a leash. ]

Mn. [ As he speaks, a human-sized form peeks from around the legs of the statue. Like a small child might hide behind its mother's skirt before peering around it, it stares up at the two of them with wide, utterly unafraid eyes. With intelligence and childlike curiosity, and looking like a twisted, pot-bellied corrupted cherub. Glowing wings like a fairy and a series of halo-like discs above its head, it has ball-joints like a doll come to life with one male breast, one female.

Allen swallows, a strange sort of expression coming over him. Wired as much as it is suddenly quite calm. ]

Level four...

[ Beasts, in the Trench, do not so much speak as howl. Raging and crying out, they more or less rampage like wounded animals. They look and sound inhuman, and therein is one of the biggest differences between them and an akuma. Especially one this evolved.

It's intelligent and speaks perfectly well, with a thin and sing-song voice as it looks first to the thing it's been holding in its hands, then back up at Allen and Shouto.

It decides they're more interesting and drops the severed head, chewing on its pinky instead as it cocks its head to the side.

"Do you... want to play?"

The head hasn't even come to a stop before Allen leaps headlong forward and down without so much as a second look. ]

[swellter]

[ The uncanny valley between human and inhuman. Form familiar but not quite right. Alien-like. It stares and Shouto stares back, unease creeping up his spine. Almost human, but wrong. Voice musical but off-key, oscillating from one frequency to another, the tones clash, and he feels repulsed by its bastardized form. Angel-like but malformed. Insect-like wings. Halo cutting through its head.

Unholy.

His pulse picks up at the sight of the severed head in its hand, mouth stained red from... His stomach revolts at the sight and he feels such a stark aversion to it goosebumps break out on his skin. Catching himself, his hands turn to fists, fingers digging into his skin, grounding him. Righteous anger rises at the dismissive way it tosses aside its meal. Curious and child-like with blood dripping from its lips, SHouto's expression grows cold.

Allen dives in for the first attack and he swings his hand for the next. A glacier five stories high explodes from the ground within two seconds cutting off its escape. Attack began, he circles the area ready to lend aid when needed. Kizu is in his head coordinating what she sees from the ground - not the dead, she keeps that to herself. Prompts him to focus on the beast - Akuma. Level Four, Allen called it. It means nothing to him. A category system most likely. Like the Nomu. It makes sense then, but its powers remain elusive, so he watches from afar, sending out long-range attacks that won't interfere with his teammate's movements trying to suss out its abilities while he lends support. ]

[likethelight]

[ It watches the wall of ice shoot up behind it with a passive sort of disinterest, not seeming particularly perturbed and more intrigued than anything. And its attention shifts back to the other one, to Allen as he closes the gap. Exorcist. It knows that, and its eyes light up.

Allen, meanwhile, moves like someone possessed. Lightning quick and still in mid-air, he reaches with his right hand to grasp the small crown circling his other wrist. Pulling from that arm in a transformative burst of light a gleaming white and gold greatsword as long as he is tall and almost as broad. Something he takes his full weight and the speed of his descent with and slams down into the ground where the akuma was a moment ago, leveraging that advantage as much as using the unique nature of the sword to help buffer his own fall. But it sidestepped, seeming amused, as he rounds and presses in on it with a series of desperate, rage-filled blows.

Emotions, for an exorcist, need to be channeled; to be understood. Rage, despair, love, sorrow -- the emotions that make someone want to protect something else and the literal source of their power, and what can cause devastating effect and failure if their heart should falter. And Allen -- he has the deepest, if most turbulent connection of them all to that power. With a heart worn literally not on his sleeve, but by a full body armor in the form of that cloak.

The two of them weave in tight circles, Allen pressing for an opening and the akuma studying his movements as it continues to dodge easily, floating along the ground and dipping with an agility not unlike Timcanpy. Until it raises a hand finally and, clang, catches the edge of the sword easily in its hand. Like it was absolutely nothing, and, while Allen falters for a moment in trying to pull it free, spins its whole body around like an owl might its head and kicks him with a force that sends him flying backwards, hard enough it'll make him slam into one of the buildings. ]

[swellter]

[ A shield wall snaps up between the Exorcists and the Akuma, blocking Allen from view. No point in going to him. Allen's strong. Besides, it'd only give the monster two targets for the price of one attack. Cold calculation mark his thoughts, trained in tactics since he was old enough to read, Todoroki abandons his right and dips left.

I've seen them in fire before, and they only seem to enjoy it.

Good enough.

Skating up an ice ramp reaching for the sky, he shoots past it. Lets himself free fall through that arc. Calm and collected, he locks eyes with the Akuma before igniting his flames, accelerating past it. Not an attack, but an enticement. Engaging in a deadly game of tag while his teammate get his footing.

Follow me. ]

[likethelight]

[ Ah. ♥ It likes tag. Tag is fun. That one is fun.

While Allen pulls himself from the rubble he was thrown against and gets his bearings, the akuma takes off in hot pursuit of Shouto. Fast, incredibly fast on those wings. Enough to come up abreast of him without seeming to even really exert itself that much.

"Can't you go any faster?" It's smiling, like it's having a grand old time. Like a child playing with its toys.

And then it flicks its finger at him.

Just that. Just one single little flick. A ball of dark purplish-black energy sparks at it, energy crackling, and hurtles at him with the full force of an electrocuting semi truck. ]

[swellter]

[ He's faster than Inasa!

It whips past him to and fro, playing games. It smiles at him with those painted lips still red with blood and Shouto feels a deep-seated aversion to it. Tries to get away, but even at his hottest, it runs circles around him. Comes up beside him when it gets bored and has the audacity to ask him that!

It reaches out to him - Don't touch me! - and Shouto blasts it with fire, instincts taking over. The roar of the flames covers up the snap of its fingers birthing a fireball of energy that hits him full-on blasting him through his own wall of ice knocking the breath out of him. ]

[likethelight]

[ It's the unfortunate part of fighting creatures that are holy or unholy in nature: they're cheats.

But as it surveys the damage its done and seems pleased with itself, a luminous ribbon whips out and binds itself along its forearm. It makes it tug on it, curious, right before Allen slams into it blade first. With the vicious force of a small wrecking ball himself, the other end of the ribbon-like tether attached to the part of the cloak that's around his wrist. Sparks flying from where his sword drags across the hard shell of its arm as it parried at the last moment, they begin to trade blows. Each of his hits gets parried by its arms, but each time it punches or kicks him away he pulls tight on that tether and yanks himself right back up into its face.

Taking a beating, but this time making sure it can't get rid of him that easily. ]

Todoroki!

If you can hear me... [ If you're conscious. Please be alright. ] Don't worry about my movements! I'll manage!

[ Nng. It lands a hard blow to his side that staggers him even with his cloak acting as a buffer, and he's quickly put on the defensive. Bringing the flat of his sword around to bear more like a shield to block a hammering rain of quick hits. ]

Just use your ice!

[swellter]

[ A large chunk of ice breaks off from above, crashing near him and continuing on its downward trajectory, hitting the ground below and splintering in dozens of pieces. Todoroki sits up among the rubble, tossing aside smaller chunks off him and gets back to his feet just as Kizu summits his position. Moving gracefully through the debris she slams straight into him back to her perch, disappearing from view.

Teeth gritted, he looks for Allen, not questioning her reasoning. Finding him, he generates another ramp and gets moving. Clearing the rubble he can see his great sword rammed into the thing, hears him call out to him, and does as he'd told.

Holding nothing back, he sends a massive glacier down on his position. It falls down to earth like a comet, blocking out the light of the bloodmoon. The pointed end aimed straight for the handle of that sword.]

[likethelight]

[ While he gets into position, Allen uses a second ribbon to snag its foot and rip it off its feet. One opening, all they need is an opening. And so, stabbing downward, he wedges the dip of his sword into the beveled edging of the star on its potbelly. Not enough leverage or strength when this close to pierce it, but he grits his teeth and bears down to hold it. It's screaming in rage now, no longer amused. "Let go! Let go of me! Dirty, dirty!"

So when a shadow suddenly falls over them both, Allen takes a quick breath as his attention momentarily snaps upward to... ice. A glacier hanging momentarily like an island in the sky -- and coming to a tapered point above his head. And his eyes widen in understanding. Like Lenalee. Somehow, he knew to do it like Lenalee did.

But unlike Lenalee... it's big. And would crush him, but if he lets go the squirming and shrieking akuma will just toss his sword aside. So he puts his weight behind it and bears down. Gotta just hold it until the last moment then.

"Dirty, dirty, dirty Innocence! Let go of me!" ]

I won't. [ It's muttered grimly with déjà vu, locking eyes with it. But something... sparks in its. Intelligence and desperation. And it lets go as both of its arms twist into massive, organic gatling guns. Pointed directly at his face.

His eyes go wide, not even having the time to breath. ] !

[ The sound of machine gun fire echoes in the night. There's a scream, and a slender, cloaked form is thrown back (pulled back? hard to tell, for a moment it flung wide like wings). Clear of the glacier as it slams down into where the akuma was in a fragmented explosion.

But this time Allen lies still. His cloak tattered and looking far worse for wear, riddled with holes and the pale glow of it making it hard to tell if there's blood. ]