whitehairedprettyboy | 02 $$ [action for anywhere] (fourth wall!)

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02 $$ [action for anywhere] (fourth wall!)

[ He's dreaming. He has to be.

But even once Valmont's done rubbing his eyes in disbelief, they're still there. All twelve talismans, lined up nice and neat on his nightstand.

Well then. He still doesn't know what's going on with this world, but if it brought the talismans here, to him... he might not dislike it quite so much as he did before.

And so, if you see a guy this weekend levitating around town, occasionally shooting fire out of his hands and/or laser beams out of his eyes, and looking giddier than anyone here has ever seen him... Well. That's probably V. Feel free to talk to him/try to keep him from blowing up something of yours. He's in a good mood. He might listen. ]

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[Alas, no, there is no amount of saying please that is likely to save Valmont now, if only because whatever fuckery has just been inflicted on Nagi here is not actually Schwarz-sanctioned fuckery in any capacity, and the fact of the matter is that these two men aren't so much concerned with Nagi's well-being in and of itself as they are making sure that it's very clear who is and isn't entitled to fuck with it.

With a wrenching twist to another part of the brain (which will likely feel like a brief stab of pain reminiscent of a really bad headache), Valmont's body will puppet itself up onto its knees, wobbling for balance as his arms jerk outwards to form a horizontal line. In the moments shortly after, his left arm bends at the elbow to bring his hand against his hip, and the other bends upward at an angle toward the sky.

I'm a little teapot, short and stout; here is my handle, here is my spout...]

[And that, that right there, tells Nagi all he needs to know about what's going on. Schuldig is here, somewhere, and he's not only rendering Valmont helpless but having fun while he does it, which is pretty much par the course. There's relief to be felt, sure, but in spite of that he can feel a hot wave of embarrassment overcome him for a brief moment. Having to be helped wasn't exactly how he imagined this fight ending, but he also hadn't gone into this expecting for Valmont to be able to heal no matter what he did to him, either.

So with his vision swimming a little he watches Valmont in silence, waiting to see where Schuldig plans on going with this...not yet realizing that he's not alone, either.]

[ He hasn't even got time to catch his breath - not that he could if he wanted to - when he feels his body pushing itself upward. Oh god, what's it going to do now -

Wonderful. This thing controlling him, whatever it is, has a sense of humor. Humor at the expense of his dignity. And the most humiliating part isn't that it's making him do a silly dance. No, it's that it's making him do a silly American dance. Really, he didn't deserve that.

He grits his metaphorical teeth. Wasn't this supposed to be the best day of his life? Where did he go wrong? ]

[And that's about the time, while Schuldig remains out of sight and keeping Valmont pinned, that Crawford opts to put in his (vaguely dramatic, this fucking guy) appearance, stepping out from the shadows and calmly straightening his tie as he advances on Nagi.]

Having a pleasant afternoon, are we?

[Crawford, this one guy's being danced around like a marionette and the other one's been beaten all to hell and may actually have grievous internal injuries.

YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR IS NOT HELPING.

He tips his head a little to the side, listening to something that isn't there, then nods amicably at Valmont.]

Ah, Mr. Valmont. I do hope you'll forgive this brief interruption of your recreational activities.

[And when things get back around to Valmont, he'll find that control over his voice has been handed back to him, because it'd just be rude to leave him incapable of reply, now, wouldn't it?]

[Whoever Nagi was expecting to see walk into view just now, it was not one Brad Crawford. That feeling of hot shame turns to ice as he instinctively moves to stand a bit straighter, even though his head is still bowed. His breath catches but he doesn't speak, instead keeping his eyes trained on Crawford as he approaches. Everything has sharply taken a nosedive and honestly he cannot place whether or not he's happy to see Crawford here, only that he knows that he's here and that means that things may very well go pretty badly for Valmont in a moment, as if they aren't on that path already.]

[ Valmont tries to growl in frustration - and finds that he actually can. Well. Suddenly growling at this (admittedly well-dressed) gentleman wasn't particularly dignified, but it's no less so than what his body's currently doing. He figures he's justified in a little more indignity. ]

Are you the one doing this to me?! I - I demand you release me! Right now!

[ It's so cute how he thinks he actually has any control over the situation. ]

Of course I am.

[Which is in a very loose sense technically true in that he absolutely condones this and has the authority to do something about it, but part of the game is protecting your team, and that includes the guy who's still going to be here three days from now when he himself is not.

So much the better to dissuade any unpleasant questions right from the start.]

And I'm not feeling particularly inclined to honor demands from someone who was just recently preoccupied with attacking one of my subordinates.

You know this brat - er, this young gentleman? [ Oh no. Did he just piss off psychic boy's psychic dad? ] I mean, I - that is - he started it!

[ That's a gigantic lie and you know it, V. ]

Look, I - I'm a very busy man, you know, I haven't got time to - will you let me go - please?

[ Ooh, he must be pretty desperate if you've gotten the P-word out of him. That ought to fix everything, right? ]

That's true; he did start it. Which I'll admit leaves me rather curious why I've found myself here finishing it.

[Can you just hear the "NAGI..." implicit in that.]

[ABOUT THAT...]

...I warned him not to fight me.

[Which is about as much of a non-answer as you can get. While technically true, it doesn't explain how he got himself in this much of a mess, either. But he's not sure what else he can really say in his defense, considering the implication that Crawford and Schuldig have been watching this occur for some time now.]

You warned me?! I - I utterly destroyed you! The only reason you're still alive is because your friend here bloody cheated!

[ Big accusations from a man who still can't move a muscle. Someday he will learn to keep his mouth shut. Today is not that day. ]

Really, Mr. Valmont? What a coincidence you should mention that.

[Look at that glasses flash.]

Considering you sustained life-threatening injuries yourself, which were mitigated only by your possession of the...Horse and Dog talismans, was it?

[Life is good when you've got a sidelines telepath pulling information and feeding it to you to help you look cool, man. Everybody should have a sidelines telepath.]

How did you know about -

[ Right. Psychic. If he's telekinetic, why shouldn't he be telepathic as well? Just Valmont's luck, really. He tries very hard not to think of anything embarrassing. ]

I mean - I'd hardly consider that cheating! It isn't my fault the talismans have those particular powers! And what was I supposed to do, not heal after he threw a bloody postbox at my head?!

[ He intends to point at his head for emphasis, but then remembers he can't actually move, still. Pity. It would have been very emphatic. ]

Edited 2014-11-30 05:46 (UTC)

Of course you'd hardly consider that cheating; you're the one who benefits from it. The decision of what's fair and unfair is made by the winners, isn't it?

Regrettably, that decision won't be falling to you this time.

[He casts a glance at Nagi.]

Relieve him of his talismans and clean up after yourself when you're done.

[Nagi looks back at Crawford with an expression as impassive as he can muster, but he can tell that he's screwed up. He just inclines his head slightly in something of a nod, his gaze brushing briefly over the two talismans he procured before looking up at Valmont, still held in place by Schuldig's influence. The hate still blisters in his gaze, but it's somewhat dampened by the man standing in his presence. Clearly, Crawford has quite a bit of influence over Nagi, here.]

You wouldn't - I need those!

[ He looks just about as terrified as possible right now. If the boy takes the rest of his talismans, he'll be helpless to defend himself from... whatever these two might see fit to do to him afterwards. And they might see fit to do quite a lot. ]

I wouldn't?

[Does this look like the face of a man who is joking.]

Well, all right, I suppose you probably would, it was a figure of speech, what I meant to say was don't, rather -

[ He's babbling, but you get the idea. He really, really does not want to lose those talismans. ]

I'm not interested in your groveling.

[He pauses, checking his watch.]

As a matter of fact, you're keeping me from something I'd much rather be doing, so let's not drag this out any longer than necessary.

[He casts a significant glance at Nagi.]

I'll expect to hear from you when you're finished.

[And that's his cue to leave.]

[Alright. So now he has a job to do. He looks over at his Abra hovering nearby, who moves to scoop the talismans from the ground. Without moving just yet, he looks to Valmont, and suddenly invisible hands are on him, probing for the rest of the talismans on his person until he finds the one he wants.

The stone engraved with the horse hovers to Nagi's hand, which he grips like his life depends on it. He isn't sure how these things work, but assuming just holding it does enough, he's going to thoroughly unbreak his ribs before continuing.]

What are you - that tickles - stop -

[ But even though he can suddenly move again, he can't block whatever it is Nagi's doing to him, and he's powerless to do anything but futilely grasp at the talisman as it floats past.

He lets out a groan at seeing that the one Nagi's got hold of is the horse talisman. All that beautiful damage, undone! And then it suddenly occurs to him that if Nagi has the horse talisman, that means he doesn't have the horse talisman, and all at once this is beginning to look like a much bigger problem. ]

[Nagi can't help the sigh he lets out when he feels the horrid ache in his chest finally go away as the talisman does it's work, though he doesn't take the time to heal himself 100%. The broken bones were the worst part, and everything else he's felt a thousand times over to the point where a punch to the face is no worse than a slap on the wrist.

Once he can walk properly he takes a couple strides closer to Valmont, reaching out again with his telekinesis to relieve the man of the rest of his talismans. Nagi hands most of them to his Pokemon while letting the snake talisman hover in front of him so he can get a better look. When he talks again he doesn't look at Valmont, pretending to be particularly invested in it.]

I wonder just how adept you are without your trinkets.

[ He swallows, hard. This situation is looking less and less favorable by the second... and he doesn't like the look in Nagi's eyes one bit. ]

Not... very?

[Once the boy is just a few paces from Valmont he stops, giving the last talisman to his Gardevoir. Then he focuses his gaze on the man standing before him, eyes almost shining behind his bangs.]

What was it you said? About you saying you wished me luck in trying to kill you?

[All of a sudden, Valmont will feel that familiar force holding him in place. It hasn't wrested his ability to move or speak like before, but he'll be disappointed if he tries to run.]

I don't need luck.

No - I didn't mean it, I didn't, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, oh god, please -

[ He can't escape. He hasn't got any powers left. So this is it. He's going to die. When it came down to it, somehow he'd never quite pictured that he'd go out begging for mercy at the hands of a fifteen-year-old psychic. He'd rather enjoyed not picturing that, as it happened.

Bugger everything. ]

CW: Death

unkinder - 2014-11-30 22:00 (UTC) - Expand

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whitehairedprettyboy - 2014-11-30 22:15 (UTC) - Expand

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