Apollo Akagawa | Archer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hailgiovanni) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
maskormenacelogs2019-10-22 06:07 pm
hailgiovanni) wrote in maskormenacelogs2019-10-22 06:07 pm
Entry tags:
Shade and Shadow
WHO: Archer, Shadow!Archer, YOU!
WHERE: Around Maurtia Falls.
WHEN: Around Oct 21st.
WHAT: Archer's Shadow is a pretty bad guy, and Archer doesn't like the bad press.
WARNINGS: Violence - both needed and unneeded, murder of a Shadow, will warn for anything else.
Shadow on the Loose.
It starts in the afternoon. The man (the shadow) walks down the sidewalk like he owns it. And really, why shouldn't he? This may not be his world, but should his boss arrive perhaps he'll see fit to treat it as if it was. In the mean time, acting as if it isn't below him doesn't suit his purposes. He has things to do - people to see, individuals to blackmail, things to threaten. His other self wasn't working fast enough. Act as though you have the power you want, and it will come to you so long as you're smart about it.
He was about to take a turn down a street when someone knocked into him. He barely heard the 'sorry' before lashing out and forcing the person against a wall with his hand around their neck. "Watch where you're going."
The person seemed to panic, and he felt nothing but disgust at them. He pulled his arm back, bringing their neck with him, then slammed it back towards the wall before letting go and walking off.
Should anyone else get in his way, they're likely to meet similar fates, or worse - though, nothing deadly. Naturally, the lack of care taken by this being meant that social networks were going to be reporting on the 'rampage' with pictures, and even video.
Let's Go A-hunting.
It is well past sundown when Archer gets out of questioning. He had evidence to prove whoever had been going around attacking people was not him, ending in his release. This was far from the end of the story however as Archer would not have all the good will he had been building up with the public be squandered by this look-a-like. If he were to gain power he would need the public on his side.
Naturally, this means he is on the hunt for his doppelganger. That said, it would be perfectly understandable if someone mistook him for his shadow and tried to get the drop on him...
Catharsis? (Closed to Archie)
Archer played it all out in his head, and still he couldn't make sense of it. He and Archie were working together on something that didn't involve Nikolai. With both of them covering ground it hadn't been particularly difficult to find the Shadow, not when using social media to find out where the last attack happened.
It eventually lead, much to Archer's chagrin, back to his apartment. Between what was soon to come and some false report that he held loud parties, Archer was not getting his safety deposit back.
"Of course," he said with a sigh, then looked to Archie. "Try not to forget which one you're working with during the fight."
He was spiteful.
WHERE: Around Maurtia Falls.
WHEN: Around Oct 21st.
WHAT: Archer's Shadow is a pretty bad guy, and Archer doesn't like the bad press.
WARNINGS: Violence - both needed and unneeded, murder of a Shadow, will warn for anything else.
Shadow on the Loose.
It starts in the afternoon. The man (the shadow) walks down the sidewalk like he owns it. And really, why shouldn't he? This may not be his world, but should his boss arrive perhaps he'll see fit to treat it as if it was. In the mean time, acting as if it isn't below him doesn't suit his purposes. He has things to do - people to see, individuals to blackmail, things to threaten. His other self wasn't working fast enough. Act as though you have the power you want, and it will come to you so long as you're smart about it.
He was about to take a turn down a street when someone knocked into him. He barely heard the 'sorry' before lashing out and forcing the person against a wall with his hand around their neck. "Watch where you're going."
The person seemed to panic, and he felt nothing but disgust at them. He pulled his arm back, bringing their neck with him, then slammed it back towards the wall before letting go and walking off.
Should anyone else get in his way, they're likely to meet similar fates, or worse - though, nothing deadly. Naturally, the lack of care taken by this being meant that social networks were going to be reporting on the 'rampage' with pictures, and even video.
Let's Go A-hunting.
It is well past sundown when Archer gets out of questioning. He had evidence to prove whoever had been going around attacking people was not him, ending in his release. This was far from the end of the story however as Archer would not have all the good will he had been building up with the public be squandered by this look-a-like. If he were to gain power he would need the public on his side.
Naturally, this means he is on the hunt for his doppelganger. That said, it would be perfectly understandable if someone mistook him for his shadow and tried to get the drop on him...
Catharsis? (Closed to Archie)
Archer played it all out in his head, and still he couldn't make sense of it. He and Archie were working together on something that didn't involve Nikolai. With both of them covering ground it hadn't been particularly difficult to find the Shadow, not when using social media to find out where the last attack happened.
It eventually lead, much to Archer's chagrin, back to his apartment. Between what was soon to come and some false report that he held loud parties, Archer was not getting his safety deposit back.
"Of course," he said with a sigh, then looked to Archie. "Try not to forget which one you're working with during the fight."
He was spiteful.
Shadow on the Loose
"Hey! You can't just act like that, you know." People acting like purposeless jerks was one of those things that got right up Carter's nose. Bereft of any self-preservation instinct in this regard, Carter got right up in the strange man's face to protest.
Re: Shadow on the Loose
'Archer' heard the man and paused, turning just in time to get the man's face so close to his. He raised an eyebrow. "I can, and I have. I will continue as I see fit." He moved to get closer to the man, if that was even possible, and locked eyes with him - yellow irises seeming to glow as the angle blocked out the light.
"What does a worm like you think he can do?"
His tone seemed calm on the surface, but there was just an edge of tension to it. He was impatient, only holding back because maybe the response would be interesting enough to make the wait worth it.
Re: Shadow on the Loose
"I can call the cops, is what I can do," says Carter firmly, in the style of a man who thinks that will actually do something against the superpowered threat. "So why don't you just move along, pal?" He leans in, trying to resist that voice in the back of his head shouting that this is a dangerous plan and a terrible idea.
[Nothing more severe than a broken arm and mild psychological trauma, but definitely can toss him around. If things get too hot for him he will probably run.]
Re: Shadow on the Loose
Without so much as a flinch of his expression, he moved to grab Carter and slam him face-first into the fence.
Re: Shadow on the Loose
Despite somehow making it several years in the military, not to mention being a spy and saboteur, Carter had the combat reflexes of a groggy cow. Archer had no trouble grabbing him or smashing his face into the chain-link.
What came next was a reflex running on the deeper instincts that Carter had been trying to ignore, bolstered by the nanites in his system. Carter's body made a light explosion, throwing him away from the fence and sending most everything else within a two foot radius away from him at rapid, gunpowder-scented speeds.
Re: Shadow on the Loose
Though, for the moment he looked more annoyed by the mess than he was by the attack, sneering at his blackened (formerly white) suit.
He then remembered himself and looked to where he last saw Carter.
u know
It's not clear if he's being serious or not, but... hey! Who knows what these guys look like! ...Maybe he just wants to make Archer squirm a little, too.
Re: u know
That or they would think he had killed Archie, which was something he could live with, seeing as how that was an idea prominent in his mind in this very moment.
He grimaced at the bandanna and tied it around his neck.
He wanted to rip the damned thing off and toss it in the trash where it belonged.
no subject
Finally, as they get to the door.
"Go in first. Does it have copies of your team?"
no subject
He released his misdreavus after making a 'shhh' sound at the pokeball so that the ghost wouldn't come out wailing loudly as it often did. The ghost looked at its trainer annoyed, as if demanding to know why it was told to be quiet. Archer looked towards the door of his apartment, the damn thing nearly off its hinges. "Scout ahead," he whispered.
The ghost was off, going down through the floor, first. It would be coming up under the computer desk.
It didn't take long for the pokemon to float back shrieking. Archer grimaced as he heard the sound of something heavy being knocked over, a voice almost identical to his own speaking out with far more gravitas than the situation required.
"I know you're out there. Do come in."
Archer looked to Archie and whispered 'stay hidden for a little longer' before composing himself, pocketing the bandanna for the moment, and heading for his door as if he owned the place.
Which was presumptuous when he was merely a renter.
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HELP, i did not think through how much this would need my char to talk to himself. I am a FOOL.
At first the conversation was your typical posturing and beating around the bush that came part and parcel with breathing the same air as Archer. 'You have caused a great deal of trouble for me' followed by 'and you have been slacking'. The original was clearly insistent on holding up the facade that he didn't plan to do anything illegal, despite the shadow goading him into saying what he really wanted to.
All in all it was exhausting and neither was giving an inch until...
"You know, I ran into Nikolai on the way here."
"If you hurt him..."
"Maybe I did, just a little. It doesn't matter. He doesn't matter."
"You undoubtedly know how much he matters." Archer's voice finally took on a tone of anger, rather than the bored drone he had kept it to all this time.
"What use is looking after the son of a master who isn't coming back? Perhaps the boy is right about one singular thing in his life, that perhaps his father isn't-"
There was the sound of movement, the sound of a struggle following almost immediately.
"Do not dare say such-"
And then here was a loud crash, as if something large had been thrown across the room and into a wall.
LAFFS
Maybe if he was a better person, the crash wouldn't just feel satisfying instead of anything else.
"Yo," he says to Misdreavus. "Dunno how much of a shit you give about your trainer in there, or how likely to listen to me ya are, but if you could go in through the wall and fire a Shadow Ball or Night Shade at the one that's not got a bandana."
A beat.
"Actually, do you know Screech? That'd probably fuck 'im up good."
VALID
If Archie were to enter the room he would see that it had been wrecked. The computer setup had been shoved to the ground. The TV had met a similar fate. There was upended furniture, wall furnishing strewn across the place, a curtain from the nearby kitchen had at some point found its way into the mess.
Oh, and there was a hole in the wall where Archer had been shoved into it hard enough that either the drywall gave, or he did. His shadow, who was holding him by his collar was looking to the ghost that was flying along the far wall.
While Archer - who was momentarily stunned - had managed to pull the bandanna out of his pocket and gripped it like a lifeline, it was hardly needed to tell the two of them apart, not now anyway. For one, his shadow had glowing yellow eyes. For another, he had particularly canine-looking claws.
no subject
"Well, well, well. The hideous sludgey copy of Giovanni's pet Wurmple. Cute. Didn't know ya could get uglier."
Archie looks between them both, but his eyes flick down to the bandanna while he's in Archer's view, no matter how obvious the differences are.
"You lashin' out 'cause daddy ain't here?"
no subject
"You know, I have wanted to hurt you since before we even met." He took a step closer. "Perhaps you can give me a good reason not to."
no subject
"Why don't you make good on somethin' you're gonna do for once, instead of continuin' all this pathetic Rocket posturin'? I mean, I know ya'll are used to it, given Gio didn't even bother to show up after what you morons pulled in Goldenrod..."
Shannon stop forgetting the Underline challenge
"I don't want that weakling around any more than you do. Waiting for a man who abandoned us to return as if he is some prophet? Bothering to keep a connection to the man's brat? There are better uses of his time. I suggest something very simple. Allow me to do what I want to him," he gestured once more to the original Archer, as if Archie were too stupid to keep up with the subject of the conversation, "and I will never bother the boy. He is of no concern to me. He is of no value to me, and I am satisfied with simply allowing him to continue his foolish practices unhindered. You will be left alone to do as you please with him."
Of course, there was the matter of the fact that this one was far too... Well to call him a destructive asshole would perhaps be a bit of an understatement after he went around breaking arms of people who merely bumped into him.
The original Archer had reached for two pokeballs, and was moments away from releasing the pokemon inside.
cw neck snappo
"You talk too much," Archie sneers, and does something he very likely could not do to or for anyone else: he twists until there's an audible snapping sound, then shoves the shadow away from him.
"We done here? Figures you didn't bring a fucking gun, ya useless turd."
CW: Body horror
He was about to speak when his voice was heard.
"Really? Is that all?" His shadow said, moving to stand. "You don't even make sure your opponent is dead?" The creature's neck was still out of alignment, though he moved his hands to fix the issue.
While Archer found himself agreeing with the sentiment, he wasted no time in releasing his houndour and houndoom from their balls, using a hand motion to tell them to use Flame Thrower.
At least he had the courtesy to release them at an angle where their attack wouldn't hit Archie.
no subject
Unfortunately for Archie, he makes the mistake of visibly flinching back from the Flame Throwers, even if they weren't directed at him. If Archer was paying attention, that'll out him as having something of a fear of Pokémon generated fire, or just fire in general. Funny, that.
Releasing Crobat, he gives a sharp order: "When those Hounds pause for breath, take his head off."
Crobat lands on the carpet and leans forward, ready to launch itself. A sick, enthused grin crossing its features. One of the most dangerous predators in the Pokémon world focusing on prey it considers nothing more than a wounded Lopunny.
CW: Just assume body horror will pop up regularly from now on.
He stumbles to his feet, despite his body attempting to betray him by moving incorrectly, and motions for houndoom and houndour to split up the moment they finish their attack. He hoped to spare them from being harmed - they had to recover the old-fashioned way, after all - but this turned out to be in vain. The moment that the Shadow's head was on straight again it lashed an arm out, it extending far past a reasonable human limit to claw at both pokemon as he swung around to attempt the same amount of damage to Crobat.
it really do be that way
"Super Fang!" He calls out as Crobat takes off towards the shadow with a shriek. The claws hit it, but Crobat's a seasoned battler. He tanks through the damage without so much of a flinch as it darts forward to sink its gigantic fangs into the shadow and pump as much poison as it can into it.
no subject
Archer's dogs were recovering from the blow that hit them. The problem was the force of the attacks knocking them off their feet, more than the damage, though houndoom did have scrapes along her side that were thankfully not so deep as they could have been.
no subject
"Fuck this for a laugh," he mutters, releasing Muk. Not his house, not his problem. "Sludge Wave!"
no subject
The Shadow took the sludge wave, and so did Houndour. It looked down at its suit and let out an angry huff. "Really now?" While he sounded unimpressed, he did seem to be somewhat less lively all of a sudden. Much like a pokemon that had just been poisoned.
Archer recalled houndour. "Keep mind of my pokemon." He sounded kinda pissed. Was it because Houndour had to be recalled? Was it because his apartment now qualified as a toxic waste zone? Why not both?
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As an aside to Archer; "I'll heal him later, don't worry. He'll be good as new."
no subject
As Muk's ooze did its work, decaying the clothes that the man wore to reveal inhuman muscle and flesh dark and reflective like an oil slick - if one dared to call it flesh at all. Worst of all, where the ooze had flecked on to various parts of his face it seemed to be burning through to something else beneath the pale skin, the shape not being quite right on any level. In some areas it looked as if the oilslick below was growing out of the holes.
The Shadow held up both hands, no - claws, and brought them down on Muk, a dark energy seeming to run through them. While Archer wouldn't recognise it as such, it looked eerily like Night Slash.
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"Looks like you're gettin' worn down, Rocket scum. Any last words?" he spits, perhaps a little over confident.
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Archer meanwhile takes this moment to head towards his dropped gun, hoping that it was out of the way of the wave of sludge. He's sure that Archie can take care of himself in this particular moment. And if he can't? Well, that's too bad.
no subject
"Hurry up, dumbass! Shoot this motherfucker!"
Oh god I am so bad at fight pacing. I'm so sorry.
Archer wastes no time and fires more rounds into the creature in quick succession. He disengages the clip and starts towards Archie. Naturally, Archer is reaching for a fresh clip from his back pocket.
The creature meanwhile gets to its... le.gs? Whatever it was now, it was not bipedal, and looked like some weirdass combination between man and dog, having an almost houndoom-esque appearance in some ways. Though, the way it dripped with a shadowy liquid was perhaps not particularly canine or human.
At least there was the small mercy in that it looked ragged.
Though it was already moving to jump at Archer.
SWEET SHANNON U ARE PERFECT
With Muk healed, though bubbling in concern at the blood streaking down Archie's arms, it's back on its bullshit. Muk dives forward to take the hit from the shadow, goopy body able to take quite a lot of punishment.
no subject
"Curse!" Archer says, and Misdreavus comes out of its hiding spot. A dark aura forms around the pokemon, and seems to envelop the shadow as it claws to try and get free of Muk. A moment later the pokemon is back in hiding and Archer is lining up a shot.
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Before long Archer releases one of his dogs. "Tear it apart!" he commands, not bothering to hide the anger in his voice.
While the creature has not managed to hit him in its wild attacks, it has done quite a number to the walls of his apartment.
Shadow on the Loose
He'd seen Archer's 'rampage' on social media, and after a good ten minutes of literal sniggering about it, he did decide to track the Rocket down. Or, at least this one.
There's a cold look and crossed arms, the teen (and sneasel at his side) standing back. Close enough to talk, but far enough he has some warning if things go south.
"And you complain about me getting negative press. Hmph. Aww whatever. Not like Rockets are good at self-restraint."
Re: Shadow on the Loose
"You always have had a mouth on you. It's unfortunate that you will never live up to your father. He knew when to speak, and when to allow those around him to give him information. Ah but you, you've always had a big mouth. You've thought too much about your own supposed greatness while you failed to realise it was your father that made you great, not anything you did."
no subject
But, since when were the man's eyes amber...?
Nikolai draws himself up with narrowed, calculating eyes. Sure, his height's not that impressive at 5'3ish, but he's not about to be cowed or bullied. Anyway, Archer had cyan eyes, not amber. Either this a cosplayer, or this is related to the weirdness going around and his money is on the weirdness.
Or someone's managed to go and clone Archer.
"Awww whatever. You can't even get his eyes right! Some genius you are!"
no subject
Well, it really wouldn't matter if he had his way (and he will have his way), because he was going to take the place of that incompetent who refuses to simply cease the power that Archer rightfully deserves.
"You hardly care about something such as that though," he said taking a step closer. "Anyone with my face is your enemy, because you don't know how to be obedient."
no subject
Nikolai keeps his face blank and cold as he thinks, unwilling to let a shred of emotion betray him. At least he knows he's better at now than when he was eleven. The man infront of him could try to murder him or at least disable or maim him in some way, and while he's confident in Zuzu's ability to defend him it came down to it...
No. Pulling out Baku would be the wrong move. This Archer would have zero qualms about outing how damn dangerous a gengar was to the whole world without a damn care. Normal Archer would at least be calculated about it, and Niko's not keen on giving him that chance.
"I am a teenager. Oyaji," and how that word burns his mouth right now, but it's a term he has used to refer to Giovanni as -Father and Boss- and he makes sure to put in the respect he used in the past. It's a word that is likely the safest one, with Father a close second. He juts his chin up slightly, refusing to be cowed. He's his father's con and no one will cow him. "Would see it as me testing my limits. As coming into my own and gathering allies in a world without pokemon."
And he does have allies, after a fashion.
no subject
Archer did not question Giovanni. Archer made excuses for the man at every opportunity. Archer insisted that Giovanni knew best above all.
But this was not Archer, or, not all of him. This was what Archer hid from others, including the slowly growing suspicion that Giovanni had perhaps not been so pristine and nigh infallible as he had thought. This was the part of Archer who knew something very important, and would not soon forget it...
He had been abandoned.
"I should have taken you solely into my care back then. You would be far above where you are now if I had. Of course, I knew not what I do now."