pitythefool | IC CONTACT | TEXT / VOICE / VIDEO / ACTION

Sooner?!

[He's still reeling, but anger - no, rage - is beginning to flare up in him, alongside that rising bitterness in his throat.]

Adachi, this - this isn't like-

[And then, he stops. Because this is like him - or, at least, what Yosuke had told him before. And...also what he'd been beginning to see in the last few weeks - the darker side to the seemingly cheerful detective.

God, it...it hurts. It hurts so much, knowing that he's been played for a fool this entire time. That he was so damn stupid and stubborn enough to not believe that the detective that had helped him and stood by him so long could be like this.

His mouth moves, but no sound comes out - fists clenched, eyes pained and searching over that dark red soul for something, anything that would alleviate the one question that was burning away at his soul.

The one question he was afraid to ask, for fear of the answer he'd get.]

So....That's it? You're just going to go off and fight whoever comes to you because you can?

Well, what do you expect?

[Adachi tilts his head to the side in cold regard, darker still than anything Ichigo's come to see from him in this past couple of weeks.]

We can sit back and feel sorry for ourselves all we want, but trust me when I say that shit gets old fast. And besides. All that power in our hands, kiddo, and none of it's getting put to any good use. Isn't that the real crime here?

[A light shrug of his shoulders as he continues on, nonchalant.]

The way I see it, I'm doing this place a favor. You really should be thanking me. After all, it's not like this is the first time I've stuck my neck out on your behalf for no reason.

[Wait. What?

He was about to angrily ask how any of this could be considered a favor...right until Adachi says that last bit. That...That almost made it sound like-]

What...What the hell are you saying...?!

[No. No, he wasn't going to focus on that, but it definitely doesn't make him feel any better about all of this. About who Adachi apparently really is, and the nature of what he thought was between the two of them.]

How is any of this supposed to help anyone, Adachi?! Tell me!

[Adachi sighs languidly, with about as much passion as he'd have if Ichigo had simply scuffed his shoes, not disagreed so strongly on a heavy debate of ideological differences. Oh boy.]

Every day we spend here is a day spent on their terms, no matter what we do to try and deny it. They mess with us, they kill us, then they do it all over again. Month after month after month. You said it yourself, didn't you? You're just going through the motions. You're so goddamned tired of it all. And I'm willing to bet you're not the only one that feels that way. So I think it's just about time for a change in the status quo.

Don't you get it? We don't need them anymore. Not the Techs or this world, or - or any of it.

[It was true, he was tired - tired of the pain and suffering and all the shit that was thrown their way all the time. And some of what Adachi says just makes simple sense, and it shows on his face.

But....at the same time...

Something like this was sure not to last long. The Technicians wouldn't allow it, and even if it would eventually bring about an end to all of this, there was still suffering and death being caused by it.

And even though he may feel that way...he's still human enough to want to end it.]

Adachi...Please. Stop this.

[He's practically begging, but he hopes that maybe, just maybe, there's some part of Adachi that realizes how futile this ultimately is. Some part that was actually the detective he knew that wasn't a lie or an act.]

I'm asking you as your friend - I know how you feel, but...this isn't the right way to do this!

[Desperately trying to understand him, even now.]

Please!

[Something lurches at the base of Adachi's gut. Of all the times his body could have possibly picked to act up on him... The strained grimace doesn't stay on his face for too long, as he's able to sink effortlessly back into a disbelieving grin, clutching at his sides and rattling whatever-it-was out of his stomach with raucous, cruel laughter.]

Ohoho man! Honestly, Ichigo? I don't know what's more pathetic. That you bought into all that bullshit about "friendship" all this time or that you actually thought I did even for a second!

[Even after all of what he's saying, there was nothing that hit him quite so hard as that. Saying he was the cause of all of this was bad enough, but he was trying to do it out of some misplaced attempt to make everything Better - or at least, that was how Ichigo chose to see it. It was why he'd begged for Adachi to stop, because he believed in their bond.

But in that one moment...

The question he'd been holding onto was suddenly answered, and in the worst way possible.

If the look of pain and hurt had been bad before, then it was nothing compared to what he looks like now. It felt like...like Adachi had just casually reached over and yanked his heart out of his chest with every single harsh, laughing syllable.]

Y...You're....

[Of course he 'bought' into it. Adachi was the one who he'd laid himself bare in front of, spilling his insecurites and placing his trust into.

And now, it was being crushed under the detective's heel, while the older man sneered at him for it.]

You're telling me....it meant nothing to you?! Everything we've been though...our friendship...You're telling me it was a lie?!

Uh. Yeah. What friendship isn't?

[God, he needed that laugh. Didn't quite settle his stomach, but hey. It's a start.]

I figured you'd be pretty handy to have around if push ever came to shove, and it turns out I was right. Didn't help that Hanamura had to try and fuck things up for us, but who cares what that little shit's got to say about it, huh? He's no better. And neither are you, for that matter. I mean...

Didn't you use me, too? All this time?

[All of this is wrong. It's wrong and it's not what should be happening and it hurts, like he was getting stabbed over and over and over.

Handy to have around - like he was some sort of tool to be easily used and then discarded when it was no longer necessary. Which...was exactly the situation, wasn't it? Adachi fostered all of their friendship, lying to his face, apparently not giving one single damn about him while he was the idiot who trusted with all his heart - all in order so he had someone willing to defend him.

And god, it sure worked, didn't it? He'd ruined Ichigo and Yosuke's friendship just so Ichigo could still be on his side when it mattered.

But what hurts the absolute most is those final, sneered questions lobbied at him. Accusing him of being just like the detective, using Adachi for his own gain...]

No!

[Rage, hot and boiling, rises up in him - mixed with sorrow and anguish, and his own self-hatred that he couldn't see this coming earlier, see the snake that had wound it's way around his heart and head until he was slapping away the hands that were trying to reach out to him the entire time.]

I never once used you, goddamnit! I tried to be there for you - help you no matter what or whatever anyone said about you!

[He takes in a deep breath, and before he even realizes it...]

All I cared about was if you were okay, because you'd always been there for me! I believed in you, no matter what!

[...Tears are trickling down his cheeks, welling up in his red eyes as he screams out everything he has.]

You were someone I looked up to, Adachi! Someone I thought I should try to be like, and I...And I-!

[I was wrong. I was taken in by your lies.

I am the biggest fool who has ever lived.]

YOU WERE MY FRIEND, ADACHI!

[Adachi maintains his slick demeanor for most of Ichigo's outburst, but then - ]

I was, huh?

[ - there it is. Again. Something inside him coils up instinctively the moment Ichigo lets that last bit out. He was Ichigo's friend. Meaning, obviously, that he's not anymore. That, most likely, Ichigo won't listen to him ever again.

If that's the case, then who cares? It's not like it matters what Ichigo - or anyone else - has to say about Adachi's ambitions, anyway. Everything's in motion and the world's about to change, whether they like it or not.]

Then let me offer you one last bit of advice. While I'm still in a good mood.

[Though it certainly doesn't look like he is. That unpleasant feeling deep inside of him worms its way across his features in a tight, resentful frown.]

Don't try and interfere. You'll only wind up embarrassing yourself more than you already have.

[And that's the breaking point. The final kick in Ichigo's side, when Adachi has already been beating him black and blue.

With that high pitched, ever so familiar vampiric cry ripping it's way from his throat, Ichigo leaps at the detective, clawed hands outstretched to tear him apart if he can get to him. The thought that Adachi still had his persona, that he definitely wasn't helpless never even crosses his mind in his utter rage and sorrow, only wanting to destroy the person who betrayed him, broke his trust, and gave him such a deep, aching wound in his heart.]

[See? Now what did he just tell you? Oh well. Can't say he didn't warn you, Ichigo.

Before the vampire can get too dangerously close, he'll find his progress impeded by the sudden appearance of a third party. In a blinding flash of red, Magatsu-Izanagi surges up from the ground, snatching at the scruff of Ichigo's neck and scooping him up into the air. It holds Ichigo there just long enough for Adachi to gloat - ]

Forgetting someone...?

[ - before it slams the vampire back down into the ground. Hard.]

[Being picked up like an angry kitten was not what he wanted, nor was it what he expected...but it happens, nonetheless.

Ichigo merely hangs in the air, snarling as Adachi gloats at him, taunting that he was in control of the situation, that he'd always been in control every time they interacted, every casual smile and goofy gesture masking the cruel creature underneath -

The ground is hard, and there's certainly enough force in Magatsu Izanagi's throw to probably kill a normal person. But even with a few broken bones, they merely begin to regenerate as he struggles against the persona's strength, pushing back up against it. He can't feel pain - so being slammed into the ground won't stop him for long.

And even as he fights to get back to his feet, he still bellows out one word - one word, as his eyes blaze with absolute killing intent.]

ADACHIIIIIIIIIIIII!

[The shriek seems to stab right through Adachi. He very nearly finds himself taking a step or two back out of - panic, maybe? No, couldn't be. He's gotten this far, what reason does he have to feel fear now?

Well. Whatever it is, Adachi slowly lets it back out in a breath he hadn't realized he'd held onto. Just a little, at first - ]

...Ha. Haha.

[ - then...]

Ahahahahahahahaha!

[He's back to full-on maniacal laughter. Magatsu-Izanagi tightens its grip as Adachi leers down at him with a wild snarling smile.]

You fucking chump! Didn't you listen to a thing I've said?!

[The ground beneath Ichigo begins to crack, hands pressing down so hard with nearly all of his formidable strength, trying to push the persona off so he can tear into Adachi, pull his fucking traitorous heart from his goddamn chest and crush it into a pulp before his eyes before he dies. Kill him kill him kill him KILL HIM-]

SHUT UP!

[The words are akin to a howl, distortion rife in his voice as his eyes flip between red and yellow so fast that the colors are nearly overlaid on top of each other.

He's listened. He's listened over and over, and now he's done listening.]

I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!

Edited 2014-12-23 00:57 (UTC)

Oh yeah?!

[We'll see what Magatsu-Izanagi has to say about that. Its grotesque claw twitches with electrical energy once, twice, like a chainsaw Adachi's struggling to rev up before one last yank - ]

Get in line!

[ - and then the lightning courses freely into Ichigo.]

Edited 2014-12-23 02:05 (UTC)

[There's nothing but pain. Over and over again, both mental and physical. It's been like this ever since he found himself trapped in this accursed place, and now...

it just proved to him yet again that his only purpose here was to suffer.

There is no pain as the lightning rips through his body, but that didn't mean it doesn't take it's toll. His muscles twitch and jerk, the skin blackening and bubbling and then lying flat as his regeneration works on the wounds. But even vampires are susceptible to brain injuries - and all the electricity coursing through his body hits his brain in all the worst ways. His eyes roll up in the back of his head as the attack destroys tissue and wrecks neural pathways, the angry screams that he'd just previously had dying down into hideous near-gurgles.

When the lightning stops, he flops down like a rag doll, face first - unable to get up again, even with his regeneration already kicking in. All he can do is helplessly twitch, raising his head as much as his over flexing neck muscles will allow to blearily stare at the dark red of the detective's soul.]

A...Ada...Ah...

[Nothing's working - his mind, his voice, his body - but somehow, he manages to gather enough energy to mumble that out, to regain that utterly anguished look he'd had before his rage overtook him.]

...A....chi....

[Slowly, jerkily, he reaches out with one of his arms, clawed hand outstretched in a pitiful display. And that, more than anything, is what he truly is in this moment - a pitiful, betrayed being, laid low by the one person he thought was his closest friend. Reaching out one last time, not in anger and hatred....but in pain and sorrow, outstretching his hand and the last fragments of humanity still left in him.]

...Pl...ea...

Edited (html :|) 2014-12-28 11:46 (UTC)

[...Tch. The feral look in Adachi's eyes dulls itself out as he fixes Ichigo with a dissatisfied frown.]

You really should've listened to me, y'know? I mean, I did warn you.

[But in spite of that remark, Magatsu-Izanagi finally relents. The lightning stops and the bloody red specter disappears, leaving nothing between the detective and the wounded vampire. Nothing but the fog, along with something else in the air that hangs even heavier over the both of them.

No real sense in beating a dead horse, is there? No matter how good it seems to make him feel, or how effectively it seems to muffle out the rest of that unpleasant noise.]

Just don't expect me to go so easy on you again. Because next time, I won't hold back. You understand?

[...No good. Even that final reach was no good, in the end. He'd placed his trust, his heart, in the hands of a man who crushed it in the end. And that heart - the bond between them, the trust and friendship they'd built up - was now gone, smashed into a thousand bloody pieces.]

...A...hhh.....

[And in the face of all of this - this anguish, this betrayal - he just...doesn't have it in him to remain conscious for any longer.

So he does what should have happened a few seconds ago - he shuts down, falling unconscious as his brain begins to restructure itself from the nasty electric shock he'd gotten.

His arm flops to the ground uselessly as his eyes blank out, lids slipping half shut - looking as if the detective had finally managed to kill him, even if that was impossible.

And at the end, one last, final tear makes its way down his face, landing on the ground below him.]

Edited (phrasing) 2014-12-31 06:57 (UTC)

[Oh. Shit. He didn't -

Adachi nearly takes a step forward before cutting himself short. Dumbass. Of course he didn't kill him. It takes more than a bit of magic to kill a vampire, so there's little point in asking.

Magatsu-Izanagi reappears several meters behind him, blade drawn once again. Adachi spares the beast a glance over the shoulder, sees the way it clutches the hilt of its blade so tightly. The way it extends a hand in Adachi's direction, beckoning him forward with a curl of its index finger.

It's time to go.

The detective remains stationary for a moment longer before finally pivoting on his heel to face his Persona, tossing a hand into the air in a half-hearted wave.]

Seeya around.

[He then shoves his hands back into his pockets and marches away from his former so-called "friend." Rigidly, at first. But about ten paces in, Adachi begins to relax, slouching into a more comfortable state of being as Magatsu-Izanagi calls forth a cloud of billowing red mist that envelops them both.

The mist will disappear in time - but by that point, they're already long gone.]

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