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[furiousfists]

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BAD END AU - RAGE MODES - for Riz

[furiousfists]

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There is a lot about Adaine's "job" as the Elven Oracle that she doesn't enjoy. The constant calls from Fallinel, begging her to move back there, entreating her to read their fortunes and give them her blessings, day in and day out... It's exhausting. The only good thing about being the oracle is that it can give her glimpses of the visions and potential futures that befall her and her friends. That is one area in which she will always leap to their aid, gladly. So, during the Bad Kids' next encounter with the "Shatterstars," as they have taken to calling the scary red shards of rage that infect people and turn them into buff, angry murder machines, things take a turn for the worse. A Shatterstart infects Riz, making his already borderline feral goblin eyes glow red with a deep seething that Adaine has never seen in her friend before. And that's not all. Even with Arthur Agueforts gone on his whistlestop tour of Spyre's history, Chronomancy hasn't left the Bad Kids alone. With Conor Counterspell destroying the multidimensional clock at the heart of the Synod, time has been getting more and more quangled all over Spyre. Of course, it would choose to get even more quangled right at the least opportune moment, when Riz has been possessed by a Shatterstar. A rift in the fabric of space and time opens up on the battlefield, right between Riz and Adaine. They both look towards it, then take off in a run. Riz gets their first, both because he's quicker than Adaine, and because the Shatterstar's rage is making him even more so. He dives through the rift, but Adaine follows half a second after. As she falls through indeterminable space, Adaine has no idea where— or when— she will end up on the other side of this rift, nor does she know just how much damage a rage-fueled Riz can wreak when left to his own devices before she catches up with him. All she knows is that she has to save her friend.

[nightyorb]

Life is unfair.

This is not some new revelation. This is something Riz has known since he was four and first called a gobby. He has known it since he yowled and hissed when his tail got pulled in second grade and got sent to the principal's office for being frenzied while the kid who pulled on his tail got off scot-free.

He has known it since he was nine and his father stopped coming home.

When the shatterstar first touches his chest, he expects the sharp sting of glass digging into his skin, but instead it is the smooth sensation of wading into a pool of cool water. It spreads throughout his entire chest, down to his limbs, and for a moment, it blanks out the adrenaline of battle, the rapid beat of his heart, and the rasp of air in his throat as he gasps for it. For a moment everything goes still and so perfectly crystal clear.

Life is so unfair and he's sick and tired of it. He's sick and tired of having to work five times as hard as anyone else to get half the recognition. He is sick and tired of watching his friends drive themselves to the point of exhaustion cleaning up everybody else's messes while some people just sit back and kill fucking rats.

Though he usually tries to tamp it down, Riz knows what it feels like to let goblin frenzy sweep through him. This is like that, but deeper, sharper. His blood pounds in his ears, his tail twitches sharply at the end, and his claws curl into his own palms until they draw blood. He can't hear his friends' voices over the rush of blood in his ears, and when the portal opens up to his side on it, his eyes snap to it, his body reacting almost on instinct as he throws himself towards it.

Whatever he wants to fight isn't here, so he shouldn't be here. It's pure logic.

He doesn't quite know where the portal spits him out, but it is fine. He can work just as well from here.

First things first -- the weight that has been put on Kristen's shoulder as Cassandra's sole tether to the world is too much. Kristen doesn't deserve that. Riz isn't made to be a cleric, but belief can take many forms. The negotiations are short and quick, and by the end of them Cassandra has a warlock, and Riz has a divine retribution tingling at his fingertips. And if that pact means he has Kalina dipping in and out of the shadows at his shoulder, functioning as a conduit between him and Cassandra, well... Kalina's memory stretches far and wide. He doesn't need to like her to know he can make good use of the information she holds. Nobody knows more about the countless of corrupted ways in which the system protects those that don't deserve that peace.

The system might not be able -- willing -- to deal with them, but Riz has no such problems. It's rather easy in some ways; Collect the information (Kalina helps there), kill them, and then make sure the evidence of their illicit dealings gets brought to light, so no one can try and deny what they did.

And meanwhile Riz works and works, from some tiny crappy office in Bastion city, adding names to his list as quickly as he strikes them off. He doesn't see anyone except Kalina these days, but that is fine. He's working hard to make things better for everyone. He knows they'll understand.

[furiousfists]

It doesn't take long for Adaine to get her bearings once she lands on the other side of the rift. She's only been there once before, but there's nowhere else in all of Spyre that looks like Bastion City, with its towering buildings and sleek, modern arcanotech. The question of where she is is therefore easily answered. The more important question is: where is Riz?

With time being so quangled, he could have come through the rift minutes before her, or months. There's really no way to tell. She doesn't seem to see him anywhere in the immediate vicinity, so her guess is that he's been there for a while. Thank the gods she has Locate Creature prepared today. She casts it, an arcane blue shine alighting over her eyes, but it doesn't appear that Riz is anywhere within a thousand feet of where she stands.

So, taking a deep breath, she starts walking, keeping the spell up as long as she can, but also keeping her eyes peeled for any clues.

If she's going to find Riz, she'll need to think like Riz does.

[nightyorb]

Once Riz would've been easier to find.

When he was younger and a newly minted private investigator (and before that, an unlicensed one), he had put up flyers everywhere trying to get clients. If there was a notice board, you'd be sure to find a Gukgak Investigations flyer. Not so much, these days. He still wants to help people, but he has no time for lost pets or cheating husbands.

Right now, Riz is bent low over his desk, comparing several files, and scribbling notes on a notepad. Around him, the little studio apartment can only be described as organised chaos. A very small (and poorly stocked) kitchenette and an old loveseat are the only acknowledgements that Riz has a body that still occasionally needs things other than to make things right. The rest of the room though is entirely given over to stacks and stacks of case files, nearly every inch of the walls covered in case boards displaying several in progress cases.

Riz doesn't look up when he hears a faint scratching near the window, squinting tired eyes at the almost endless seemingly ledgers as he tries to find the small, so easy to miss discrepancies that will ultimately tighten the net around his next target.

"You are not an actual cat. You don't need me to open the window for you."

On the window sill, Kalina flicks an ear at him with a silent huff, before phasing through the window.

[furiousfists]

As Adaine walks, it starts to sink in that the Bastion City she's seeing now has changed from the Bastion City she's used to. Not in an overt, obvious way. But the people on the streets have their heads down, speaking in hushed whispers about some criminal or other being "brought to justice." Only, whatever "justice" they've been brought to doesn't seem to be a matter for celebration. Large crystal screen billboards display news stories showcasing dead bodies under sheets, a swarm of police officers cordoning off the area, and speak of anonymous whistleblowers, letting the victims' crimes come to light after their deaths.

The Locate Creature spell finally fades, and Adaine will need to rest before she can cast it again. But it doesn't matter, because a different creature locates her instead. Adaine is distrustful of Kalina, of course, but follows her when promised the cat will lead her back to Riz. The whole way there, Adaine's mind is spinning with questions. Since when are Kalina and Riz working together? Where are the others? How much time has passed in between Riz arriving in this apparent future and Adaine herself following?

Kalina leads Adaine up a fire escape to a closed window. She hears a voice inside chiding the cat, at which point Kalina phases inside. Brow furrowed, Adaine steps closer to the glass, and raps her knuckle against it.

"What about me? Will you open the window for a friend?"

[nightyorb]

Riz jolts up at the unexpected voice, turning his face towards the window.

It's difficult to tell if Riz is really much older, or if it is just exhaustion making his face look wan and drawn. The bags underneath his eyes have gone from merely dark to downright bruised looking, and his skin has the slightly sallow look of someone who doesn't spend a lot of time in the sun. And hasn't gotten much sleep on top of that to boot.

Inexplicably his hair still looks amazing, though.

Riz tosses down his pen, and rushes to the window, pushing it open to let Adaine in. The clear joy in his smile doesn't fully dispel the exhaustion clinging to his every inch, but it goes a long way.

"Adaine!"

[furiousfists]

Exhaustion has always tinged Riz's features. So it is indeed hard for Adaine to tell whether the wear and tear Riz is showing is due to age, or too much work on too little sleep. She didn't think it was possible for Riz to look even more tired than he normally did, but clearly she was wrong.

She crawls inside, stepping into Riz's office and giving the room a cursory glance before turning her attention back to Riz. However, even once she turns to face him, her eyes keep flitting uneasily in Kalina's direction. She's hoping Riz will be insightful enough to pick up on her discomfort at having the Shadowcat around without her needing to say it aloud.

"Um. Hi. You, ah..." She doesn't know what to say, especially not with Kalina's ears listening.

"Looks like you beat me here."