IC || THE LAST CASE || VIDEO

[incriminating]

[From the moment the video feed rolls, the audio is distorted with static and a tinny, dual-toned laughter that lacks any real warmth or cheer. No, the sound is instead cold and cruel, cutting through the tranquil silence of night like a knife, as sharp as the smile that now twists its owner’s lips. Crowing, Tohru Adachi stares straight-on at the

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ACTION THREAD FOR NORTH EXIT OF VILLAGE

[incriminating]

[ ooc || please feel free to have your characters confront Adachi at the north exit of the village, past the forge...this is the last area he may be encountered]

[bloodforlight]

[It's taken her this long to get here from where she patrolling with Kanji. But better late then never, she knows, and what matters is that they're here to meet him. Her sword was already in hand, shield strapped to her arm - urgency was more favourable than anger right now. Anger would always lead right back to herself, for falling for lies.

Restless, she stretched, arms above her head. Light blossomed at her fingertips, around her feet - blessing, something to make the people around her stronger.

And then she set her jaw, rolled her shoulders, armour ringing.]

[needling]

[ Kanji's angry. Still. But that isn't much of a surprise. Adachi had a way of getting to him, and unlike a lot of his friends, he was pretty quick to take the bait. If he were more calm, he would probably punch himself and tell him to stop being so freakin' easy to rile, but he was still pissed.

Freakin'. Adachi.

That dick was going down.

...Again.

He didn't have much in the way of a weapon aside from a chair, but whatever. He was good at bludgeoning people with items, apparently. Or at least that's how it was in the TV World (otherwise he preferred the grounding feel of a good punch to the face). He could feel his persona scratching at the back of his mind, something he also only felt in the TV world. It was strange to feel it on a daily basis, but it grounded him. Sort of. ]

[whichofspace]

[ It didn't take too long for Jade to arrive either - that post she had spotted on the network made by Duibhin had been incentive enough to get running already, and the replies to it had told her where to go. There had already been enough threatening in Adachi's initial post - he had even mentioned Karkat, right? And all the other people here.. She couldn't just let herself sit back and let this happen. Normally she tended to be pretty pacifistic, but this.. This was like fighting back home. For a good sake.

It wasn't hard to spot Aureln and Kanji already there, especially not since she recognized Kanji, and ran the last bit towards them. Jade gave them a slight nod with a grim sort of determination on her face, much different from her usual somewhat dopey grin; she figured she wouldn't have to say much else in a situation like this. Her rifle was already in her hands - pretty much unused in this place. Until now. ]

SHOWDOWN || RESERVED FOR SOUJI || THE FINAL ENCOUNTER

[incriminating]

[toplay_thefool]

[He runs.

It must be adrenaline spurring him on, adrenaline and determination and fury, because he's already bruised and bloodied, but it doesn't matter. It occurs to him that it keeps boiling down to this, him chasing after Adachi, and now he's sprinting over the ground, sword at his hip.

He's too exhausted to really summon Izanagi - Adachi had made sure of that. But it doesn't matter. What matters is that he catches up.

Other people will come too, he knows, but he has to be there. He has to put a stop to this - because he started it. His ineffectiveness, his hesitance, his good will --

Thinking like that won't do him any good, he knows, so instead he focuses on running. There's a stitch burning in his side but he doesn't care. He won't slow down. He can't. He can see Adachi's shadow up ahead, a silhouette in the dark night, and knows that if he gets into the forest he's as good as gone.

So he moves faster, somehow. Because he needs to catch up. He needs to finish it

[incriminating]

[No. No, no, no, no, no, no! The word repeats desperately like a mantra in his mind - his mind, which is so devastatingly empty, so painfully void, he swears he can hear his own thoughts echo. It isn't possible, it can't be possible, he refuses to allow it, refuses to acknowledge it. So he runs. Shoes tearing up grass and dirt, tie little more than a noose around his neck as he pants heavily for air, dragging in each breath with more and more difficulty. The magic is failing, he can feel it. With each step he takes, Annowre's healing grows fainter and fainter, and with each gasp he makes, his chest grows tighter and tighter.

Continuously, he calls out to the god, tries to reconnect to Magatsu Izanagi, but the being is silent. No, it's more than that, and he knows it. His persona has been defeated, the Fae Queen's boon, useless! He should have known! That witch, that fucking enchantress! The way she looked at him when she blessed him, that enigmatic smile she flashed him. She knew this would happen! What is he...nothing more than a

[toplay_thefool]

[He sucks in a breath. Where does he go from here? He didn't have a plan before - he didn't need one. There was a fight to focus on, and then the chase, all of that taking precedence in his mind. Now, though... Now he has to figure it out, doesn't he?

He needs to be incarcerated, he thinks. Locked up, guarded, so that this can't happen again. His eyes track the blood trickling down Adachi's face for a moment and he shakes his head. When had that happened? Did it matter?

Shock starts to ebb away, making way for the pain he knew would come. He'd been Adachi's target, and for all his friend's shielded him - they shouldn't have had to, this shouldn't have happened, my fault my fault my fault - the brunt of the damage was still done.

He doesn't know how long he can keep standing. But he does so, anyway. He stands, and faces him directly, surprising himself with how still his voice manages to be.]

I'm taking you back to the village.