estoria | (no subject)

Entry tags:

ankh,
sebastian

(no subject)

Who: Ankh

frozentear, a giant chicken, and YOU!
When: 8/12 IC
Where: Pleasure District
What: Sebastian wants cigarettes. Ankh helps him get them... maybe. If a thieving giant chicken counts as help.
Rating/Warning: Rated S for Stupid.

Closed to Sebastian
Ankh isn't especially fond of the Pleasure District. It's generally a little too full of rampant desires for his taste and he'd rather be somewhere the people aren't proving themselves to be every bit the hedonistic morons he always thought they were. But today, that's exactly what he's looking for.

He has his powers back, mostly. He can take in medals. He can fly. He knows he can throw fire because he did it exactly once to test it, before deciding that after what happened at Inugami, he was disinclined to ever do that again. But there are some pieces missing. He can't manifest any more of his Greeed form than the hand he got so used to having separately from the rest of him. He's not sure whether having more cell medals to work with would help that or not. And maybe he can make Yummies to get more or maybe he can't. He hasn't tried.

So maybe it's time to test that and find out.

He wanders around for a while, feeling out who's there that he can work with. Normally he wouldn't care what happened, but right now, he's being picky. This is just to test a theory, and he'd rather do that with as little fuss as possible. Not least because he doesn't want to see Eiji's reaction if word gets back. Eventually, he finds someone he's never seen before. A generally non-violent type with a strong desire for something material. Those are always the easiest. He'll do nicely.

Open: Around the Pleasure District
-A-
If you happen to be out and about in the Pleasure District, you may find yourself victim to today's strange phenomenon. There is a giant chicken on the loose, and it seems determined to find and steal cigarettes. It snatches the box out of your hand, or that one from your mouth that you were just about to light. Oh, you don't have any cigarettes, you say? But what's in that bag you're holding? And also the Yummy sees you clearly have something in your pocket there. Might it be cigarettes?

If there really aren't any to be found, the Yummy will give up and move on to someone else, but not before patting you down or rooting through whatever you're carrying to make sure there aren't any cigarettes hiding in there. It also probably isn't so gentle and won't have any qualms with just dropping your bag on the ground once it's determined there's nothing useful in it. Have fun with that.

And maybe if you're paying attention, you'll notice someone watching from nearby who seems entirely unfazed by this entire situation. If anything, he seems to be keeping an eye on the chicken... and decidedly not doing anything to stop it. Do you want to say something about this?

-B-
Sometime a while later, when he's decided it's time to end this reckless quest for cigarettes before it becomes city-wide news, he finally does do something to stop it. Granted, it might be hard to tell that he did anything at all. The Yummy is just about to reach for the next person who may or may not have cigarettes on them when it suddenly collapses into a small pile of odd silver coins. Ankh walks up a moment later, looking at the pile with some disappointment.

"Tch. That's it?"

(ooc: Respond in whatever format you like and I'll play along. Sebastian will also make a top level under here shortly, so reply to him if you feel like it! Otherwise you'll be getting Ankh, but if you want a three person thread with both of them let us know.)

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[A lot of things happened and Sebastian wound up in a nest, high in a tree somewhere in the Pleasure District. After a while he'd tried telling the monster (which... wasn't actually trying to hurt him, unlike the monsters in the mines...) that chickens don't roost in trees, but it didn't respond. He didn't know why he'd thought a chicken monster might. Apparently it was just as intelligent as an actual chicken.

A couple of times he'd tried to climb out, but he was never very good at climbing trees. And every time he tried the chicken monster reappeared and squawked at him until he stopped trying. He wound up giving up on escaping and just watched the goings on down on the street from over the edges of the nest. He'd considered scrolling through the network while waiting for this to be over with - or taking a picture of the monster to try crowdsourcing an identification - but his Cerevice must have fallen out of his pocket somewhere down there.

As much as part of him really liked the change in scenery from Pelican Town, this entire scenario was really ridiculous.]

[Three left. It hadn't occurred to him to ration his cigarettes until he'd been in Cerealia for several days, and the stress of dealing with so many new people at once had caught up to him before he knew it, locking himself in his new apartment for a few days straight. He wasn't sure where to begin looking for more, but someplace called the Pleasure District would be likely, right?

It was even busier here than in the city he'd been to before, and... oh, it's that kind of pleasure district too, huh. The sights distracted him from his goal a bit, but he still knew what he was after as he searched among the many shops.]

[Ankh approached after a moment of watching him, his demeanor not friendly, but not unpleasant, either.]

What are you looking for?

[Small talk, or perhaps an attempt to be helpful. Those would be good guesses if either were things Ankh was inclined to do.]

[Suddenly being approached by a stranger was not really what Sebastian was after. Maybe he knows the area better, though, since he's asking.]

...Do you know if there's a place that... sells cigarettes around here?

[It's a little bit hesitant. He knows he should quit, but hasn't been able to.]

[Cigarettes, huh? Provided he doesn't have any plans to try lighting them all at once, it seems like a harmless enough thing to try to gather. Good, then. This will work. He smiles just briefly, and there's something a little bit sinister about it.]

I have no idea. [He opens his palm, revealing a cell medal, and seems almost thoughtful.] But this might.

[Before Sebastian can ask how a coin can know where cigarettes are, he tosses it at Sebastian, who might spend just a second unaware as the coin sinks into his head and a a creature starts to spawn, separating from its host as it steps out in front of him.]

[There's a moment where he's not sure what happened, and then there's suddenly some kind of creature in front of him. He stumbles back, unsure where it came from or if it's going to attack. Part of him thinks he should tell the other person to watch out, but... he did something, didn't he? Wide-eyed, he turns his head to look at the other person.]

[It doesn't attack. If anything, it seems to be looking around like it's gaining its bearings. And predictably, Ankh seems unfazed. Maybe even pleased. He gestures to the creature, then back to Sebastian.]

This is your desire. [As if that explains everything. The creature walks a few steps, peering around a corner, then seems to get excited and runs off down the street. Ankh moves to the corner, vaguely gesturing for Sebastian to follow.] Look.

[Disoriented, he follows at the gesture, not sure what he's supposed to be looking at. This person has control over monsters... he's never heard of that before. But there's a lot he hasn't heard of here.]

[There is something to look at when he gets to the corner and can see down the street. There's the Yummy, a bit down the street approaching someone leaning against a wall with a cigarette in his hand. He's about to put the end of it in his mouth when the Yummy reaches over and snatches it out of his hand. There's a brief burst of confusion and annoyance at that, and the person tries for a moment in vain to grab it back, but ultimately seems to shrug it off.

Ankh can't help being a little amused by that, and how the rest of the people don't seem to find this monster worth more than some odd looks and comments amongst themselves. Back home, people would be running and screaming by now, but he supposes after things like mostly invisible animals that share your memories, a strange creature taking someone's cigarette really isn't that surprising.

Having gotten what had caught its interest, the Yummy returns to where they're standing, grabbing Sebatian's hand and pressing the cigarette into it.]

[So that's what he meant about desires. It's kind of fascinating but... also annoying? Look, if that was some corporate overlord that'd be one thing, but don't take stuff from random people. Even though that guy seemed to shrug it off quickly, that's really not cool.

Also, be careful with that before you burn someone.]

Ow- [He shakes his hand where it was burnt a little. What a particularly stupid monster.] Uh... no thanks.

[He glances at Ankh.]

I get the point.

[The first attempt may not have been entirely successful, but it did at least successfully return the right item to its host, and in the process learn that its host has no need for cigarettes that are already lit. To Ankh's surprise, this is enough to allow it to transform into its real form. It sprouts a beak and yellow feathers and turns into something resembling... a chicken. Ankh just stares at it for a second. This is probably the stupidest looking Yummy he's ever seen.

Then he glances down the street again and happens to notice behind the Yummy's back that the man it had taken the cigarette from is about to light up another one. He apparently had more on him that were not lit yet.

Correction: This is the stupidest Yummy Ankh has ever seen, period. He's not sure whether to blame this place, its host, or the fact that he's mostly human at this point and not completely a Greeed. But regardless, if that much was enough to make it take the form of a bird, then maybe letting it run free for a while is still a worthwhile exercise. He still wants to know whether having more cell medals makes much of a difference at this point.

He glances back at Sebastian, meeting his gaze for a moment, then looks away again, shrugging dismissively.]

It's all yours. [Not that he won't dissolve it when the time is right and take the medals, but until then... This is what your desire spawned, Sebastian. Have fun.]

[So that's how it's going to be, huh? Summon some weird desire monster, have it try to fulfill his wishes... on one level that sounds kind of cool, but also, it's really poorly trained. And kind of stupid. There are robots around here, right? Why couldn't he have one of those instead? Even a walking skeleton would be better, as long as it was caged.

And it's a chicken now. A stupid looking giant chicken. He doesn't even like eggs.]

Hey! Take it with you. It's your pet monster, you should keep it leashed.

[Have fun his ass.]

[Ankh narrows his eyes back at that.]

I don't think you understand. This is made from your desires. Its actions, it's form, everything... comes from you.

[So he's rolling with blaming the host because honestly he's kind of annoyed with it himself and throwing insults is a satisfying response. He's about to make some comment about how unusually stupid this one came out and what must that say when the Yummy interrupts the conversation by scooping up Sebastian and running away with him.]

...........Tch.

Jinga had watched the show from a nice resting spot a couple stories above the street. He was Makai enough that going high was pretty natural, as was stretching out where no one can bother them for a quick nap. When he had first saw the strange chicken monster, Jinga admitted to giving himself a second pinch just to make sure he wasn't dreaming. When the chicken monster did not turn into vapors, he sighed, sat up and started watching.

It became pretty apparent to him after a few minutes that it wanted cigarettes. It also became apparent that someone was almost as interested in this trainwreck as he was. Chuckling to himself, he sent his butterfly down to catch Ankh's attention before calling out to him.

"So, that's your doing?"

Ankh had been so fixated on the Yummy that he hadn't even noticed Jinga up there until the butterfly came by and directed him to look up. For a second he seemed almost frustrated, having someone else presumably watching this for the trainwreck it was. On the other hand, the question indicated Jinga already understood more of this situation than most people would. He didn't think the company was a bad thing.

"Yeah." A moment later, and he flew up there to join him. The vantage point there was just as good for keeping track of the stupid thing as following it around was. "How long have you been watching?"

"Long enough to question whether it's a very bad dream or if Ceres decided being extra silly this month."

He crossed his legs at the ankles and caught the butterfly as it flapped its way towards his head. The resulting chimes had him let it go, but it decided to stay on his hand, wings flapping lazily.

"Experimenting with your natural skills?"

Good guess, Jinga. Though this hadn't really been going as Ankh planned, aside from the part where he succeeded in creating something mostly harmless. Sadly, also horribly incompetent. He watched with distaste as the chicken dumped the contents of someone's shopping bag onto the street only to find there was nothing in there remotely resembling a cigarette.

"Is it normal for this place to make something like that this stupid?"

"I would hazard a guess as being 'yes'," he replied, blowing on the butterfly and watching it as it flew off to follow the chicken. Jinga snorted to himself about the nature of the creature and then looked over at Ankh.

"At least you were able to create something remotely normal to your abilities. Outside of some rather nasty poisoning cases, I have yet to make anything like I was use to making."

He kept his gaze on the stupid Yummy, resigned at this point to it being exceptionally bad at its job. He wondered how much longer he should let it run free, and whether it was even generating any cell medals this way, but for now he would let it be and just watch.

"Poison, huh?" He sounded almost amused, wondering if that was really what was intended or something halfway there like this chicken. "What else are you used to doing?"

Even if it was being stupid about its business, it must be an experiment for something otherwise Ankh would have probably taken care of it by now. It was entertaining, even if it was dumb. Jinga never seen some many people get freaked out by something trying to bum cigarettes off of them before.

"Creating pockets of Inga... You can call it true evil, I suppose, that infect those that touch it and allow Horrors to possess them. One way is through my blood, but it now just acts like a poison and does nothing for the Horror part."

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