paixaorpg | Mock Interview? [Completed]

Entry tags:

Mock Interview? [Completed]

Character(s): Ivan, Laharl, and later an uninvited guest
Content: Laharl and Ivan finally get around to meeting. Important stuff goes down. Then Larxene shows up and starts stabbing people.
Setting: Havasu Medical Center, lobby
Time: after they talk about meeting. probably before dinner.
Warnings: Larxene vs. Laharl. Collateral damage ensues.

The trip to the hospital would have been a lot quicker and less nerve-wracking if Ivan had known what a train was. But he hadn't, so he'd walked, the whole way figuratively looking over his shoulder for fear that whatever had gotten Bloo and Syaoran was still out there. He knew it was kind of silly to worry about something like that, without any reason to think they hadn't just up and ditched him, beyond that they'd seriously disappeared the second he turned his back and he couldn't sense them anywhere...

All the way to the hospital, the one question he couldn't shake from his mind was why was he even going here. He'd known Laharl for maybe ten minutes, supposedly the guy was some kind of demon... but he realized what it was by the time he opened the front door and stepped anxiously into the hospital's lobby.

Whatever other world he'd landed in, his friends weren't here. If he didn't seek somebody out, he'd be on his own, and that... no. Between the creatures and people disappearing and the other worlds and everything - well, if he thought about it, Laharl seemed like his best chance of getting back home right now.

And if he didn't think about it - and he hadn't much - he just didn't want to be stranded.

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Laharl stood leaning back against a wall in the lobby, one foot, perched back against the wall. He'd come downstairs a bit ago, but had left Flonne upstairs. She'd claimed she really needed to go bathroom. That had been a bit ago, however. She was probably lost. In fact, the Overlord was sure of it.

Oh well, she'd appear eventually. Etna would understand well enough. It was typical of Flonne. The lobby was easy enough to find, afterall, so she'd appear eventually.

Meanwhile, he'd been keeping his eyes peeled for Ivan. The blond-haired kid had requested to come along, so Laharl had told him to come here. Apparently the brown-haired boy had done like Etna had originally done. Vanished. It was a bit unsettling, and vaguely he hoped the same wouldn't befall Flonne. That wasn't a thought he did not like to humor. No, she was just lost. That had to be it. Trying to make keep any thought of worry from his mind, he watched carefully for the one he was meant to meet.

It wasn't long before he picked the boy out from the people bustling around. Like all those who were outsiders, even those with blond hair, it was easy to spot a outsider from the towns people.

"Oi! Kid," he called to Ivan, not moving from his spot, "Over here."

Laharl was even easier to spot. Blue hair and antennae weren't hard to pick out among all the others, either. Ivan headed over to him - almost at a jog really - as soon as he noticed where he was.

"Sorry I took so long," he said as soon as he was within reasonable earshot. That was just like him, using an apology instead of a greeting.

The Overlord watched as the blond boy hustled up to him. He just simply shrugged his shoulders in response to his apology as he responded, "Doesn't matter, Flonne's taking even longer."

He glanced away, crimson eyes narrowing for a moment in exasperation as he muttered, "Only she'd go and get lost looking for the damn bathroom, tch."

Shaking his head a bit he glanced back to Ivan, arching a brow a bit. "So, you mentioned on the journals about having abilities that you'd only share in person?" he questioned, curious of what ability could need such secrecy.

Ivan blinked - he'd almost forgotten about that. "Oh, uh, yeah! Um..." He glanced over his shoulder at the other people milling about the lobby, debating how to go about this. It was always really awkward no matter what he did, but... "Well, uh..."

After a few seconds of dithering like that, he decided he'd just have to go out on a limb. After all, what did he have to lose? Looking almost as nervous as he felt, he directed his thoughts to Laharl. It's, uh... probably easier just to show you?

The Overlord jerked in surprise, a shocked look appearing for a moment over his face. It wasn't easy to catch him offguard, but that had. He blinked widely at Ivan a moment. That had been in his head. The boy's lips hadn't moved...

After a moment, Laharl's expression rearranged itself into a thoughtful one. "Heh... I see. That's pretty useful..."

Damn useful. Someone who could read thoughts? He could sense prescenses, but nothing more. What was it they called that? Tele... telepathy? Something like that. He'd seen it on shows and movies on TV before. Never actually met someone who could do it though.

It was a little more understandable why Ivan had been wanting to be quiet about it. Better if the enemy isn't tipped off that you can see into their head.

Ivan scratched his head uncomfortably; that had been pretty much the reaction he was used to. If a little faster than usual. "Y-yeah, it can be," he said with a quick nod. "I mean, my range isn't super, but it's been getting better..." Granted, he wasn't sure exactly how Not Super it was, what with all his Djinni missing... so he left that out.

"There's, uh - a few other things, too, but I don't really know how useful you'd find them," he added, after a slight hesitation. His control over wind and lightning was pretty much useless, after all, except when you were fighting for your life.

... Maybe those powers would wind up seeing some use after all.

"Range, huh? Well, whatever. I don't have any vassals that can even do that at all, let alone from a distance," he replied, whatever problems it had not seeming like that big a deal to him. Anyone who could do that had potential in his eye.

"Oh? Like what?" Laharl asked, wondering what else he could do. The boy had a... mage-esq feeling to him. Perhaps some kind of magic? If so, then Ivan would really be talking Laharl's language.

Ivan kind of seemed to lack much in the way of back-bone to Laharl, but he couldn't exactly afford to be fussy. There was only the three of them, not having even a single prinny. For a kind of "temporary vassal', the kid would quite likely do the job.

He wasn't really annoying Laharl, which gave him a couple points, and he'd listened to him - he'd come here with no fuss. More points right there! Hell, most of his vassals didn't do either of those things, come to think of it!

Ivan's usefulness was growing by the moment.

Agh. See, this was exactly why Ivan hated talking about his powers. He never knew what to say or how to put it and it drove him up the wall. "Well, uh... it's not exactly... hang on." He closed his eyes for a second, trying to choose the right words... this was really making him glad he didn't have to do it often.

"I guess it's - some people - it's sort of like magic, I guess," he explained, starting three sentences at once and only barely realizing it. "I've got - that is, I can also sort of control the wind. And lightning."

There, finally his mouth and brain had cooperated with him! Even if it sounded dumb the way he said it. At least it seemed so far like Laharl was in approval - even nowadays he could almost count the number of times his Psynergy had gotten a good reception on one hand.

So Laharl had been right! Wind and lightning. That was new. "Heh, I've had wind mages before, but never heard of a lightning mage... hn."

Well, he could see now drawbacks to keeping Ivan around. None at all.

"Right, you can come along. You seem like you'd be pretty useful to me," he proclaimed, pulling away from the wall, to stand a little more upright on both feet. "I have another vassal here I have to meet up with. She's been waiting awhile, so we'll head off... as soon as Flonne figures out where the bathroom is and gets the hell down here."

He sighed. Damn that Love Freak. What was taking her so long? Sometimes she was such a pain. Still worry crept into his thoughts, but he brushed it off. He'd be patient a little while longer, before he went searching. If he went to look for her now, chances were she'd show up the moment he decided to leave.

"Thanks," Ivan replied, though he honestly wasn't sure if he should feel relieved. He still didn't really know if Laharl was the kind of person he should have just told all that to. Sure, he seemed okay (if surprisingly intimidating for his size), but what was he thinking Ivan's Psynergy would be useful for? That was the real question. The demon obviously knew more about this place than anybody else he'd run into.

"Um- after we go and meet her, where were you planning to go next?" he asked cautiously. He was guessing the answer to that involved attacking something, but he could still hope it didn't.

"Eh? Oh... Well I was planning to find somewhere to stay. Find somewhere large and abandoned to take over," he said, non-chalantly. He was a demon. Taking over somewhere didn't seem immoral at all to him. It was perfectly normal demon behavior. If there was somewhere he wanted, and if there was no one there to claim it, he would. It sure would beat a hotel.

"Then... I want to find that damn Larxene..." he added, a more serious expression falling over his face. It wasn't something he was exactly taking lightly. "I owe her a fist to the face... not to mention she's part of that Organization I think. I need answers, and just asking isn't going to work, that much is damn clear."

He was ready to use force to get them since there didn't seem much alternative. The people he had grown suspicious of offered nothing in the way of an explanation. Then there was that mayor. That was just a laugh to the Overlord. Some mayor. He was spouting nothing but excuses. No answers were going to be found that way. A more active approach was needed.

Okay... that wasn't so bad. Ivan could totally understand Laharl wanting his own place, and given that he himself was pretty much broke, it'd be better if he didn't have to stay in a hotel again. The idea of going out to beat up this Larxene person was a little out of his comfort zone, though, just on principle, since he had no idea who she was. Nor had he heard about any organization here, as far as he could remember.

"Well - if it's just answers you need from her, I can help with that," he offered. Mind reading was something he'd admit came in real handy sometimes. "... What'd she do, though?" he added after a second; something about the way Laharl had said it made it sound like there was more going on there besides just miscommunication.

"What? Haven't you seen her on the journals? She's an annoyed, insulted, and taunted just about everyone... especially me, hmph..." he grumbled.

"Not to mention... she.. justaboutkilledsomeoneI... know..." Laharl mumbled quickly, not wanting really to admit to in part be after her due to Timon. Which deep down, certainly did play into his reasoning for tracking her down.

"I'm pretty sure she's part of some organization that's tied to those creatures, "Nobodies", that attacked the city the other day. They might've been the ones controlling them," the Overlord added, since it seemed Ivan didn't know much at all about what had gone on. Which was stupid considering it was all over the journals, if you looked.

((Just quick post before I run away for a bit here... if ya want to mind read on Laharl over his reasons for Larxene, feel free. He'd find secretly he does care about Timon :|b ))

Larxene hadn't taken the orders to go capter Laharl herself very well at all. The idea of facing someone who could possibly outclass her wasn't something she revelled in at all. And she wasn't supposed to be on collection duty, either. This just compounded the problem.

Do one thing right, and they always expected more, she supposed, as she glanced over some of the serums in Vexen's lab. She had invited herself in, because she needed something, something to help her out. If there was an ounce of truth to what Laharl said about his power, then she needed the appropriate drug.

With a delicate giggle, she plucked the vial off of the shelf, and a kunai appeared in her hand. Uncorking the vial, she poured the contents onto the kunai, humming all the while. It would do the trick she figured. Her journal lay on the table beside her, and she cast one final look at it before opening a portal.

Everything after that happened in all of a split second, as soon as she could see that obnoxious scarf of Laharl's. Her speed was unparalleled among the Organization, and she didn't think Laharl stood a chance against it either.

One second, she was in Vexen's lab, the next, she was practically breathing down Laharl's neck. Her laced kunai buried into his back with a "splinch". She giggled at him before he could really react, and jumped away, giving him a girlish wave.

"Miss me Laharl?"

Ivan yelped and jerked back in shock as the woman appeared out of nowhere. He might not have recognized the name, but he knew the face, which just made it even more surprising. What in the-?!!

It actually took him a few seconds to realize what had happened. She'd just come out of thin air and stabbed Laharl in the back! "Laharl!" he shouted, unconsciously tightening his grip on his staff - and loosening it on his Psynergy.

But - nothing. He didn't sense anything out of Larxene, just like when - when the silver ghosts, the Nobodies, had attacked him and Bloo... The apprehension of that was what kept him from acting any further right this instant.

What the...

There had been no chance at all to react to the split second realization that something was behind him. In that second he already had felt something sharp stab painfully into his back. A look of shock bolted across his face.

He grimaced letting out a grunt of pain, gritting his teeth as he clutched at his side as pain spread through his back.

Pain was quickly replaced with anger as he glared up at the blond haired women. "You..."

He left the kunai be for now, as he had no idea what to expect from her, and was hesitant to take the moment to pull it out when he could be reaching for his sword, which is what he did instead. His scarf shifted to his side at his silent command as he seemed to pull the large sword from the scarf, lifting the blade that was as long as he was tall as if it were nothing.

Holding it up in a defensive stance, he watched her carefully as this was the first time he'd ever set his own eyes on her, despite their many communications on the journals. The irony that she had appeared just as he'd been talking about attacking her was not lost on him. Had she been watching? Or was it some extremely stupid coincidence?

"Larxene... What the hell do you want?" Laharl practically snarled.

If she thought she was going to take him down by merely stabbing him in the back with a knife, she had another thing coming.

Her attack wasn't without merit. She just had to wait, and this was going to be the hard part, until the drug took effect. There was no point in taking chances, after all, with such an important guest. Her eyes wandered over towards the other, just for a moment, before she dismissed him.

"Laharl, would you like to play a game of... tag? Because," she announced with a giggle. "I believe you're it now. And no tag-backs!"

She called her kunai to her hands, to give Laharl the impression that she was actually serious about fighting. She wasn't-- it had been an interesting enough day for her, and she really didn't feel the need to add any other accomplishments to her list. Why, if she did, they'd have to promote her a few numbers.

She actually liked the idea of that, though it'd never happen.

She smiled ruefully at Laharl, her voice lyrical and teasing, "Alright, Laharl-sama~! Here I am."

A flash of lightning, and she was behind him again, another giggle escaping her lips. "And now I'm here!"

She vanished again before he could swing at her. No thanks, she didn't want him to be able to lop her head off just yet... Especially over such a pathetic fight as this.

Ivan took a couple of steps backwards, thoroughly freaked out now. Laharl was practically unfazed at being stabbed, he'd pulled out a ginormous sword that he definitely hadn't had a second ago, and now Larxene pretty much teleporting all over the place without even trying...

Ivan was starting to get the impression this fight was way out of his league. But the conflicting instincts of "Don't just stand there, help Laharl" and "Don't just stand there, run the hell away" cancelled each other out, and he could only just stand there, rooted to the spot in indecision and fear.

"Hmph. Tag, huh? Better watch out then, cause here I come!" he replied, as he hefted his sword diving towards her only to have to slam on the breaks as she practically vanished. Shit. She was FAST.

Next thing he knew she was behind him. He whirled around to bring his sword down upon her, but she was gone again. Damit! This was going to make things more difficult.

Giving Ivan a brief glance, Laharl watched carefully trying to get a sense of where she was, readying to attack her the first moment he got. He just had to wait for her to hold still long enough to rush at her. He figured he'd stick to the basics right now since anything bigger needed more space.

At this thought he did eye the door. This place was not really large enough to perform some of his bigger attacks. At least, not without taking the place down ontop of their heads. While he had no real issues with that, Flonne was in there somewhere, not to mention Timon and his friends and, as much as he begrudgingly had to admit, he didn't reaaaally want to kill all these humans, as much as they annoyed him. It would be pretty pointless.

So, with a dash, he made for the door. Larxene would undoubtly follow him since she was the one who started the fight. Who cares if he was it? He was going to play this game by his rules. He was the King afterall.

Larxene watched as Laharl fled outside the building, stopping and waiting, giving him enough time to get ahead of her. He was attempting to lead her outside, so he could break out the big guns. Aww, how precious! She giggled and took a step towards the door.

Electricity, static, and poping could be heard around her, and seen. She smiled and was she ran, lightning trailed behind her, and left sparks in front of her. She was aiming for Laharl. No doubt, this was one of her faster attacks, and she could recover quickly to dodge any retaliation he might throw.

Besides, she couldn't really just run around the whole time. That would get boring and rather redundant. She liked a little spice to life!

And besides, how long did she really have to hold out? The tranquilizer would kick in at any moment, she figured with another giggle.

As Ivan watched the fight beginning to unfold, the "help Laharl" instinct gradually started winning over. Larxene was really freaking fast, and apparently an Adept besides - but maybe he could throw her off long enough for Laharl to get outside?

He glanced frantically around, looking for anything he might be able to use, but all they had here was furniture and plants and frightened lobbygoers. If he'd had Isaac's powers instead of his own he might have been able to do something with that, but...

Okay, then. At least he had air.

Ivan lashed out with his mind, sending a sharp, focused wind to follow her - hopefully powerful enough to knock her off balance if it connected. She couldn't be much faster than that, right, if she wasn't expecting it?

Laharl heard a strange noise behind of cracking, he wasn't sure what was happening behind him, nor was aware of what Ivan was trying to do, as he had just exited out the building. However, to not take any chances he lept high to escape whatever was coming from behind fast.

Tucking his sword back into his scarf for a moment he twisted mid-air bringing his fist forward as purple power crackled into light around it.

He hung there a moment before falling with great speed, the glow growing as he slammed his fist to the ground creating a huge, firey explosion that would take some quick moves to avoid.

He landed, uneffected by his own blast, then hopped backwards, withdrawing his sword from his scarf in a smooth move. He ready to deal with whatever came next if he hadn't caught Larxene in the blaze, but something unexpected happened. He nearly stumbled. Digging his sword into the ground, he steadied himself, wide-eyed at the sudden feeling that something was very wrong.

((Oops... reposted cause lol ... couple really stupid typos))

Larxene's mind paused a moment, taking notice of the sharp wind behind her, and the gathering of energy in front of her. She was being caged in, and she really didn't appreciate the move from either boy. Perhaps this was a lesson to her to pay attention to all the guests, and not just her toys, hmm?

She watched, and ran, and at the last possible second curved sharply to the right, away from the two blasts. She watched them meet each other, and she could swear there was a sort of whirlwind forming. She watched for a moment, and then her gaze shifted to the overlord.

"Aww, Laharl-sama! Whatever's the matter, hmm?" she asked, before she giggled, pressing her hand to her mouth.

Once the spell had passed, she took a narrow eyed glanced towards the entrance of the hospital, watching for Ivan. After a moment, she decided she could adjust for anything he might throw at her. After all, she wasn't fighting seriously, right? Of course not.

She crouched, before taking off again. Her kunai were clutched tightly in her hand, ready to attack the youngling overlord.

Gah!! Laharl could use fire? If they weren't careful they'd burn down the hospital! And it kind of meant Ivan would have to back off, too. Fire and wind were obviously not a good combination - plus he was a little reluctant to actually shock Larxene yet, even though it certainly seemed like she was out-and-out trying to kill them.

Or at least Laharl, but... well, Ivan knew she'd noticed him. One way or another, he was involved now.

For the moment, though, he stayed inside the lobby, watching but trying to be out of sight. It looked as if Laharl had the situation under control, but if he did turn out to need help, Ivan was ready to give it.

((OOC: haha possibly? I got permission to cause some collateral damage, cause they said they wouldn't expect a Laharl VS Larxene fight to NOT have damage. XD;;; And np! Glad to see ya back :O Was gettin' lil' worried.))

Laharl gripped his sword tightly. His legs felt weak. Why? And why was she... Wait...

As Larxene had a giggle fit, the demon reached behind him, grasping the handle of the kunai still wedged in his back, and with a cringe, yanked it out. He brought it before him, eyes passing over it in quick examination. Around the metal near the handle he swore there was something on that kunai other than his own blood. She'd... poisoned him? He wasn't sure what it was, but it was affecting him. Fast. He couldn't lie that it worried him. He'd have to end this quickly.

Grasping his sword again, he brought it up as she came at him with her kunai, parrying the attack with surprising ease. He didn't dwell on that fact as he used the momentum to leap a good distance back from her. He felt his knees almost drop out as he landed, but quickly dug his sword into the ground to once more steady himself.

Releasing it he gathered his power, tossing his arms up above him as eight large, fiery orbs appeared dispersed above. He cried out the attacks name, "Overlord's Wrath!" as he dropped his hands, the orbs hurtling towards their intended target, set to make a huge explosion when they hit all at once.

As his attack hit, he could only hope Larxene had been in it, as the ground shook and cobblestones were misplaced. He found himself falling to his knees, then to his side. Weak... he felt so weak... What the hell had she done to him?!

He snagged the journal from where he kept it stored in his scarf, he wasn't sure what to write, but he typed a few words out fast, but quickly his vision blurred as his head felt heavy. He passed his finger over the send button and the journal dropped from his hands.

Larxene's laughter was cut short, as she noticed the orbs coming straight for her person. No doubt, the was going to have her luck cut out for her on this one. She moved, there was no way she was going to stand still while waiting for those orbs to converge around her.

Her eyes glanced around the area-- no more sight of Ivan, or his wind, and she smirked. Also, even better, and much more worth note, Laharl had finally collapsed. A second to pause for that realization, and it was a second too much.

She hadn't gotten out of the blast range. While no longer the center of it, as the attack had intended, she was quite certainly not out of it. She screamed as fire laced its way along her skin, the inertia knocking her off balance and into the nearest wall.

She could hear something crack. Her skin was wet in spots now, and she was very sure that it was her blood. That little brat! She snarled as she forced herself up.

The ground was hot on her feet as she walked towards him, barely containing a limp and a cry of pain. She smirked beside him, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "Stupid brat... That'll teach you so manners though, won't it?" She giggled again.

But there was no feeling in it.

At the second, much more powerful onslaught of fireballs, Ivan braced himself - he ought to be okay inside the walls, but that wasn't any guarantee, especially since a large window nearby him shattered from the force of the nearby explosion. He yelped and ducked to protect his face, and something stung his hands, but he was still unhurt for what counted.

When he looked out the empty windowframe, he expected to see Larxene either down or burnt to a crisp or something - that had been colossal! - so he was stunned to see the exact opposite. Laharl? He'd taken the blast, or...?! Larxene looked like she hadn't escaped it herself, so Ivan really couldn't tell who'd just done what.

Not that it mattered. Now Laharl was in trouble, and even if Ivan didn't really understand what was going on, he wasn't going to just let Larxene kill him. The space where the window had been was easily large enough for him to step through, so he ran toward them, hoping it wasn't too late. "Stop!!"

Even before he'd stopped, he'd already let loose, sending a powerful bolt of white lightning straight for the Nobody. He couldn't have known the effort would be useless.

Damnit. Damnit. DAMNIT! Somehow she'd gotten away from being hit directly as she should have. Damnit! This wasn't good.

She was there... looming over him. He cringed at her touch, glaring up at her as he found he couldn't seem to lift himself to even punch her in the face. Damnit! If only Flonne hadn't gotten lost... he needed her. An espoir. That's all he needed...

He vaguely could make out Ivan yelling. The kid was trying to help...? Everything was dark and blurry... his head felt like it was spinning, and there was nothing he could damn well do about it. Flonne...

Larxene glanced up, and smirked as the lightning shot for her. She laughed when it did nothing as it hit her-- it took a little bit of the pain away perhaps, but it didn't really give her anything to worry about. She smirked, placing a lazy hand on her hip.

"Hmm, Laharl, I'll be right back," she said with a giggle, before vanishing.

It shouldn't have been any surprise to see that she was behind Ivan when she finally reappeared. The move, in and of itself, had taken more out of her than she wanted to admit. Her body was screaming in pain, and she knew she'd need to take at least a nap before anything else happened.

Lightning flared around her, in violent streaks and snaps, sparks flying off her kunai, all present and accounted for. But... That wasn't the only Larxene. Two of them, and she wasn't directly behind, but off to the side. A giggle was all the warning he got before she charged.

Two kunai tore into skin, one in the abdomen, and another in the opposite thigh. Couldn't have him chasing her, could she? She laughed again, before both Larxene's vanished and reappeared next to Laharl. "Let's go, hmm, Laharl? You've got so many friends to meet."

She sank to her knees, not quite as controlled as she wanted. Xigbar was going to pay for this, she swore to herself, as the tendrils of darkness carried her and Laharl away.

Ivan stopped in his tracks, startled - he'd hit her, he knew he had. That would have been enough to bring any normal person down. But he didn't get a chance to think about why it hadn't worked.

Before he knew what was happening, Larxene just - wasn't standing there. He jerked in surprise at the giggle right behind him, but that was all he had time for before Larxene - both of her - were upon him. He shouted in pain, and the leg she'd stabbed gave out, toppling him awkwardly to the damaged pavement. He opened his eyes just to see her and Laharl disappear in a black mist. No!

But it was too late. They were gone, and he was bleeding. He had to get up, but it hurt. Right now all he could do was clutch at the wounds to try and stop it - they weren't shallow. Damn it, damn it, damn it... what was he gonna do...?!

Out of nowhere, he thought of his journal. That was it. People knew Larxene. Someone else would be able to stop her. With one hand, the other still holding his hurt leg, he got it out and punched in a short message - all he had time for before his ability to concentrate left him completely.

Within a minute or two, a couple of nurses braved the still somewhat burning aftermath to bring him inside the hospital, but beyond cooperating with them, there wasn't anything he could do.

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Mock Interview? [Completed]

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