All my life I've been good but now I'm thinking what the hell (Forward dated to release)

[silver_soldier]

[A: Violent]

[Today, Sephiroth is prowling the streets. And to those who know him, or who have talked to him on the phone, he'll be borderline unrecognizable. There's an air of dangerous purpose to his movements, and his eyes - already bright from mako - are blazing. (The particularly observant may note stitches on his head.)

And if he sees anyone - drone or otherwise - he'll be making a beeline for them. There's nothing subtle in the air of menace around him; even though he's visibly unarmed, you'd probably be better off running.]

[B: Lucid]

[In the immediate aftermath of hurting or killing anyone, Sephiroth returns to his usual mindset, and can be communicated with normally - for a brief time - before the pain and violent compulsions start to recur. Anyone can luck out and find him during these lucid moments; you'll have to keep up with him during these moments, however, since he's frantically looking for a way to restrain himself before he loses control of himself again. This is easier said than done, given how strong he is and how little time he has between lapses.]

[OOC: Sephiroth is currently under the effects of experimentation, which is swinging him back and forth between his normal self and needing to harm/kill others! While you can pick either scenario, the nature of his experiment means that he can go from violent to lucid during a thread if you want, or vice versa! Also, HE WILL TRY TO HURT OR KILL YOUR CHARACTER IN SCENARIO A, so please be aware!]

Comments

A

[thebeastwithout]

[Beast Boy is not particularly observant. Observant and Beast Boy probably don't even belong in the same sentence.

It is a miracle that he even notices someone running at him before he is punched in the face.]

Gaaaaaah!

[His first instinct is to turn into a turtle.]

[silver_soldier]

[It's a turtle that's going flying if it doesn't dodge, because Sephiroth strikes incredibly hard and moves almost preternaturally fast. Beast Boy will have enough experience taking blows from exceptionally powerful heroes and villains and everything in between to be able to tell that there is way more force behind the blow than a human of Sephiroth's size and build should be able to exert.

Assuming he doesn't dodge, that is, which as a turtle...he probably can't. Tactical error, Beast Boy.]

[thebeastwithout]

[The thought, of course, was that shrinking to ground level would cause the blow to miss, but in the case that he kicks, there is suddenly nothing where the turtle was.

...Unless he looks closely enough and sees the termite, anyway.]

[silver_soldier]

[Well, that brings Sephiroth up short, registering surprise and consternation even in his half-crazed state. He looks around with narrowed eyes for the boy (turtle? thing?) that has somehow managed to elude him...but there's no sign.

Even if Sephiroth knew what to look for, not even a SOLDIER's eyes are so acute as to be able to pick out an individual termite on the ground without close inspection - and Sephiroth is wild with pain and rage and has no time for that. Frustrated, he turns on his heel and begins to stalk off, looking for a new victim.]

[thebeastwithout]

[Tap, tap.
There is something poking at your shoulder, Sephiroth.]

[silver_soldier]

[Sephiroth turns, already coiling an arm for a strike in preparation. Even insane, he doesn't loose a blow before seeing what he's dealing with, but he doesn't expect anyone or anything trying to get his attention right now to be something he'll play nicely with.]

[thebeastwithout]

[It is a 27 foot long green apatosaurus. It looks mildly aggrieved.]

[silver_soldier]

[This is enough to give even Sephiroth pause, looking up at the thing in a way that's less alarmed or even shocked than it is measuring. As if debating if he can take it, and what would be the best way to do so.

If he had Masamune in hand, this wouldn't be particularly complicated. Without it...significantly more difficult.

As his maddened brain ticks over his options, he simply stands where he is. No running or dodging - certainly not before the creature makes a move of its own. If it's large, it also takes some time to build up the speed and momentum behind a strike; he's not overly concerned. He's certainly fought ridiculously large and vicious lizards before; those just happened to be dragons rather than dinosaurs. If he weren't debating how to approach harming this thing bare-handed, he'd already be attacking it.]

[thebeastwithout]

[The dinosaur looks down at the puny human with a look of disdain. Clearly, it is the superior one. Beast Boy is happy just turning around and beginning to lumber away knowing his opponent didn't dare to lift a finger.]

[silver_soldier]

[As understandable as Beast Boy's assumption is, it also happens to be incorrect.

Sephiroth is moving as soon as the creature turns its back; that gives him all the time he needs to find an effective weapon. Nothing suits him as well as the nearly unbreakable Masamune, of course; the sheer physical strain he puts on most other weapons prohibits the use of much anything else, at least as anything other than an exceedingly temporary measure. And, of course, there isn't much just lying around to use that would be feasible even by those standards, especially not against a dinosaur.

However, his strength is enough to give him more options than most. And almost anything can be a weapon when thrown with sufficient force behind it. He heads directly for a nearby house, where he'd flung a drone straight through the wall before spotting Beast Boy.

Several seconds later - long enough for Sephiroth to get in range and position - a chunk of splintered beam nearly a foot thick is speeding through the air at the dinosaur's back, thrown with the speed and strength of a javelin.]

[thebeastwithout]

[Fwumph. It is a direct hit. The dinosaur falls sideways with an unceremonial flopping motion.

Well, that sucked.

Beast Boy assumes the charateristic swirl in his eyes as he lies twitching on the ground for a few moments before rapidly shrinking back to his normal size and shaking it off. Given that his mass was a tiny fraction of the apatosaurus', the massive injury he had just received was rendered into an insignificant wound - his rapid cellular reorganization took care of the rest.

It was so on.]

Returning to lucid state

[silver_soldier]

[Even though the massive damage he'd done was rendered almost instantly insignificant, he'd still gravely hurt the dinosaur - which is enough to satisfy Sephiroth's forced bloodlust. The incredible pain in his head subsides, and with it his unreasoning violence, and he simply stands where he is for a moment, trying to process where he is and just what he's done during his last loss of self-control.

It's...not easy. His memories are confused already from his altered state of mind, and the strange events from the last few minutes aren't helping him piece together what just happened any more easily.

Did he really just attack a giant green dinosaur that turned into a boy?

After a few long, uncertain moments, he walks forward, approaching Beast Boy. He tries to think of something to say, but what the hell does one say under the circumstances?]

[thebeastwithout]

[Approaching may not be the best idea, given that a green tiger is now leaping at his head.]

[silver_soldier]

[Sephiroth isn't particularly surprised. Instinct starts him moving to catch the cat in midair, to either arrest its flight or redirect its trajectory in a throw - something no normal person would even think of attempting, but his exceptional strength makes feasible - but in mid-intercept, he hesitates.

Why defend himself? He has no right, of course, having attacked this shapeshifting boy first, but more to the point...he's been looking for a way to stop himself, to prevent his making any further attacks when he loses control. He hasn't found a way to do so successfully yet - but perhaps he doesn't need to. He could let this boy do it for him. It seems like a more feasible option than any other he has.

And then it becomes a moot point, because in his hesitation he's gone down beneath several hundred pounds of angry tiger, one way or another. He hits the ground hard, the cat on top of him, and - with a concerted effort fighting his own combat instincts - offers it no resistance.]

[thebeastwithout]

[Luckily for the both of them, Beast Boy is a superhero. The primary compulsion of any hero is to bring the perp in without lethal damage, but it is, usually, necessary to disable them.

Sephiroth will find himself the subject of a disgruntled pinning from a small elephant. Given the size of what had hit him, this was probably someone with super strength; he had debated blue whale for a few moments before deciding that was probably going overboard.]

[silver_soldier]

[The weight is crushing, but Sephiroth is built to take far more abuse than any ordinary human could. He's by no means comfortable, but he's not being actively injured by the weight, either.

But he is, effectively, immobilized. He doesn't actually know for sure if he could move the weight of an elephant under ideal conditions - he's never tried - but he most certainly can't shift one in this position. And his primary reaction, overriding even the pain of a pachyderm parked on his chest, is relief.

It's a struggle even to breathe, but he manages two short words.] ...thank...you.

[thebeastwithout]

[If elephants could raise eyebrows effectively, Elephant Boy's would be up there. The dilemma, of course, was that he couldn't talk when he wasn't human, but turning back would give this guy the chance to escape, too. Beast Boy continues to perch on top for a few awkward minutes longer before...]

What was that again?

[silver_soldier]

[Sephiroth blinks when the pressure is suddenly gone, and he finds himself with a boy on his chest rather than an elephant. He makes no effort to move, all the same - though he does take the opportunity to breathe deeply again.

So he'll be able to explain himself. That's...something of a relief. There's no excuse for his actions, but he still feels the desire to apologize - and this boy also possesses the capability to perhaps keep him from attacking anyone else. Explaining himself isn't just something he wants to do, it's something that could be vital to preventing any more incidents like this.]

I was taken last night. Something was...done to me. [He - slowly, as non-threateningly as possible - raises a hand to his head, pushing his hair away from the stitches there.] I keep losing control of myself - becoming violent. I only regain control of myself after I've hurt someone...or killed them. It's happened several times now, but I haven't yet found a way to restrain myself before I lose control again.

...I thought perhaps you could stop me.