Howling too is the wind that blows against Meditat's body, combing his hair back, strands waving like his cape. He has a neutral expression, contemplative and reserved, his starry azure eyes gazing aimlessly at the grid of buildings he looms above. He doesn't swing in grandiose arcs, as the most his cables are utilized for are brief zips from his shoulders, attaching to various rooftops just to boost him ever so slightly. He lays flat parallel to the world, his body expelling the blue propulsive energy that forms the comet's tail, lacking any of the acrobatic exaggerations of his swinging for a calmer flight.
His gaze sways practically everywhere but directly before him, where the pink ray lingers ahead, Kokei's long pink hair dances as her outlined body drifts without the same tightly aerodynamic formation. She has a similarly aloof presence, keeping to herself as she too just lets her eyes scan over the city with little focus. Her stare is subtly sterner though, watching over, seeking over.
Behind her, Meditat turns his head sharply to the right, towards the direction of the warm red sunlight.
Facing the direction of the red sun that has noticeably declined from the peak of the sky, Meditat observes past the several city blocks that compose the capital's island –for they roam not far from the edge–, and focuses onto the river that separates it from the other island that's clearly less urbanized, as it's in fact practically desolate from his position. There's no visible bridges connecting the islands, like a great moat around the city.
That moat triggers a curious frown in Meditat's expression, prompting a hum with the sharpening of the eyebrows. He then alas shifts his gaze back to Kokei before inquiring, "The water, at least by the dock, it was practically boiling hot. Is that a unique attribute of that body of water…or is that a property of all natural water on this Earth? It's not one I've observed from any back home."
Ahead of him, Kokei's eyes roll to the side before she has to turn her head upon better hearing the question, which is when a smirk flares on her face. She then spins her entire body around to properly face Meditat before assuring, "Oh no, that's just that one dock, weird right? But if you're worried it's like that everywhere here, don't worry, that'd suck. Here, I'll show you, follow me."
Her flight path banks to the right, and her body then turns to match her new heading as she soars towards the river before the sun.
Watching her change direction, Meditat's eyebrow lifts in further curiosity and he pulls his arm back to fire a cable onto one of the rooftops to help turn him around, completing a roundabout before ditching the cable to launch himself after her, a destination finally given to them after hours of roaming. They no longer travel above a street but instead cut over blocks, and given their current speed, it wouldn't take long for the pink ray and blue comet to reach the edge of the city.
Flat rooftops of the rectangular buildings are passed with such rapidity that they appear in shutters, their metal ventilation units –defined by the boxes connected by pipes– only barely perceptible as are the doors presumably to enter the building itself. While most of the rooftops are empty, there are a few that are passed, which are occupied by a few civilians, many of them looming by the edge. Their bodies are practically a blur from how quickly they're flown past, though it's discernible that many of them are faced up to the path of the soaring observer.
That observer stares back with gentle, azure eyes, his face downward thus not obscured by his flowing hair, a soft smile of admiration for those who could hardly perceive him.
There comes an eventual end to those rows of buildings, the last rooftop Kokei passes over, past which the surface doesn't rise to meet her, and so she begins subtly descending whilst soaring onwards. Meditat follows behind, gliding high above the city's surface, not over the dark roads but a salmon-shaded sidewalk that runs along the rim of the island, an outline of the city. At the very edge is a tall fence and by it are scattered groups of civilians, some of them focused on each other in casual conversation and others staring off between the fence's bars to what lays ahead: the river.
Standing behind the metallic fence that stands between the city and river, the few civilians raise their heads upon hearing the whoosh of what they witness to be the pink ray soaring over them, prompting them to stumble backwards, perturbed. They murmur amongst themselves before the following blue comet evokes a more perplexed tone. They watch both streaks soar over the river in a gradual descent, far past the barriers holding back the civilians, the barriers so seamlessly bypassed.
Upon descending to just below ten feet above the river, Kokei and Meditat flatten their flights to fly parallel to the waters, not a single obstacle possible in their path. Kokei remains leading Meditat, glancing back behind herself with a gentle smile to confirm his presence, finding him to have his head down, facing the water.
Evening brings a warmer sunlight that soaks the river in red, and staring at those vibrant waters intimately is Meditat, the blue of his comet forming a cut through the water's color due to its luminescence.
A similar warmth resides on Meditat's face, his gentle smile facing a direction that couldn't be observed, yet it's genuine to himself. His hair continues to dance as does his cape, but neither of them damage the close view of the waters. He doesn't raise his head until he'd be called upon, as for now he appreciates the quiet ride.
Returning her focus forward, Kokei notices the shrunken gap to the island on the other side of the river, as they have speedily drifted across the moat. That land-based destination prompts a concerned frown from her, grimacing subtly before she alerts, "Here," before swinging her feet forward.
Her entire body flips upright as the outline around her body dims along with the deceleration of her being, and she spins around to face the passenger in their travel.
Acknowledging the callout, Meditat swings his feet forward to stand upright albeit without any land to ground himself. Just like Kokei manages to cease movement while maintaining height above the ground, Meditat holds himself in the air as fine as her. Both of their trails dissipate in the lack of momentum, allowing them to simply face each other, standing above the water which Meditat briefly glances back down to, choosing the simplest aquatic area for the proof of safety.
Then, a mischievous smirk flares on her face.
"Anyways, as I said," Kokei recalls as she points her finger down to the water beneath Meditat's hand, "You're free to touch the water, it's refreshing I'd say even. Not that I recommend drinking from it of course, you get what I mean."
"Right," Meditat recalls, and he drops his gaze to the stillwater beneath him, extending his hand towards it as he seriously plans, "I'll collect a sample here, I'm curious to compare it to the port's," which furthers Kokei's smirk.
"Here's a sample!" Kokei counteroffers with spirit as she flicks her brightened wrist up, and along with her hand rises a splash of water from the river itself carried by an illuminated outline, regularly harmless in fact traditionally playful.
However, upon the water's contact with his azure suit, Meditat's arms immediately draw forward in a protective cross, his face wincing and head turning away before exclaiming, "Augh that's boiling hot, I thought you said it wasn't!"
At last, Kokei bursts out in laughter, kicking her feet which drifts her slightly backwards, covering her face with her waving hands and sneering, "Ahaha, naturally boiling water is like one of the main things this Earth is known for, I don't think I'd have been able to pull this off on anyone else! I'll have to remember this!"
Her vision is largely covered by her hands that wave assuredly albeit that assurance provides little support relative to her mockery, but that at least descends as does her laughter. Still in a giggly voice, she reasons "I was contemplating against it but I knew I wouldn't get the chance like this again, can you blame me?" as she lowers her hands, allowing her eyes to set on the sight of Meditat who stares directly at her with one hand gripping a long silver cylinder by a handle with a trigger almost vaguely resembling a firearm albeit with a black tube running from in front of the trigger down into the water, and at that very instant he pulls the trigger which fires a concentrated ray straight at her face.
At speeds like a bullet, that ray nearly strikes her startled face if not for the invisible barrier that coats it in a pink outline and wards it off in all directions, a splash of the highly pressurized water being forcefully dispersed away from her face, maintaining a dry state.
Releasing hold of the trigger which halts the firing of the pressurized water, Meditat hums in observation of the attack's failure before simply concluding, "Hm, worth the attempt."
Baffled by the uncharacteristically unremorseful reaction, Kokei just stands there with a dumbfounded expression for a moment before chuffing, crossing her arms over her chest, and reprimanding: "Hey, even if you knew you couldn't catch me off guard, that doesn't give you the right to try anyways! It's a crime for you to even attempt to ruin my perfect face, no matter how futile!"
A smirk crosses over Meditat's face, and he chuckles unabashedly, lowering the arm holding up the pressure washer. That washer then ignites in an azure flame along with the tube, and they both disperse into the open air as he drifts towards Kokei with a smooth boost, his movement traced with a faint blue propulsive trail in the few feet he advances forward.
His chuckling subsiding, he shrugs his shoulders and vindicates, "Well now, you did actually splash boiling water onto me, my retaliation was hardly a valid attempt given that I knew you had a protected 'perfect face.'"
To the mocking tone of those last words, Kokei's cheeks involuntarily redden, followed by the moment of her own awareness which further flusters her in embarrassment to her own reaction, reddening her greater. Her arms unfold and her head shakes, her mouth opening but stammering speechless to respond with only "Uhmmmm, uhhhh," to fill what'd otherwise be awkward silence.
She clenches her teeth to force her expression to flatten, though recognizing its insufficiency in recoloring her face prompts her to spin around and hastily schedule, "Anyways yeah I just wanted to show you the water ahah, boiling hot as it will be anywhere on this Earth, okay let's move on uh here let's go fly around here now." Without allowing for a verbal response, she then launches off the air with a whoosh, soaring in the direction of the land opposite from the city, her path marked in pink.
Initially puzzled by Kokei's abrupt reaction which leaves Meditat's face bewildered, a silent understanding relaxes him with a teasing smile. He sighs and bends his knees, acknowledging in a volume he knew he couldn't be heard in: "Of course, of course," before he springs himself after her, following her towards the land on the opposite side of the river, his blue streak chasing after hers.
Leading at a cruising pace, the pink ray allows the blue comet to catch up quite suddenly, reaching its side a few moments before they then cross the river and soar over the shore, flying above solid ground. While there are indeed buildings in the distance, there are not any present directly below the two as instead they pass natural plains, and the buildings present in the distance are not the tall city structures but rather they are all no more than two stories tall, resembling houses more than anything. While there are several of those buildings close together, they don't form a portion of a city but rather more resemble a village given that they are better spread apart with far fewer.
Not paying too much mind to the distant village, given that it's already been passed, Meditat briefly glances towards the direction of the village before setting his focus back on Kokei with observant eyes.
Whether it's sensing the glance onto herself or simply hearing the sound of the comet's approach, Kokei turns to face Meditat, her cheeks still red but she flashes a smile nonetheless. Her gaze then shifts to the river they've crossed, and her head traces down its path forming the outer perimeter to the city. She banks in a sharp turn to fly alongside that river, keeping proximity to the city whilst remaining outside, approaching the general direction of the village though not in a trajectory that'd reach it. She faces forward, perhaps in a deliberate choice to avoid eye contact, though being unable to read her expression makes any reading of her thoughts difficult.
Meditat instinctively opens his mouth to protest the avoidance, but he hums to himself before determining to close his mouth, and he simply focuses on following her at her side.
Soaring onwards, along the remote plains where nature takes far greater prominence than the city had, Meditat follows after Kokei with his hands at his side, relying entirely off consistent propulsive thrust to carry him without any structures to swing and zip from. From the side, he's able to note that she's faced forwards, guiding him towards the horizon at the end of the river, walls on both sides whether it's the city structures on the distant side or the hills on the closer side, not assessing him as she expects him to follow without need to monitor.
He does so diligently, for it's not that difficult when there's no structures manmade nor natural that reach remotely as high as them, for even the hills ahead are well beneath their altitude. It means his flight is far simpler, gliding in a direct path as opposed to the fluid dance of swings, but it allows him to just maintain a consistent pacing with her.
He scans the environment around him, granted compared to the city there isn't nearly the same density of interest for him to grasp to. His head turns back in the general direction of the village they've now passed by, though that's when his eyes sharpen in puzzled curiosity, his head slightly tilting.
That perplexity is derived from the view of not only that distant village by the river, but a flare that rises from it, flaring a bright pink hue that contrasts against the red sky sufficiently to be registered. It appears to have been emitted from the center of the village, which remains too far to register any potential commotion, but the visual itself is definitive enough as a reason to concern.
For a few moments, Meditat is simply enamored by the flare, silently watching while Kokei presses forward, her gaze locked dead ahead whereas the village would be to her right, effectively placing it in a deadzone off her periphery.
Ultimately, Meditat shakes his head and turns to her before declaring, "To your right, do you know the meaning of that?"
Kokei's serene drifting expression is maintained as she casually turns her head to the right while answering the assumed question: "You mean why the villages are so much ol-," until her vision centers on the true sight in question, causing her response to thin out as her eyes widen. Dread consumes her face, her hanging jaw clenching by her teeth, and immediately she declares, "Follow me," before sharply turning towards the village with a sudden acceleration that surrounds her in a brighter outline, thickening the trail.
The sudden switch does catch Meditat off guard with wide eyes, though he's quick to follow in a sharp turn with her own, and he matches her acceleration before she can separate too far ahead.
The two rays intensify in brightness and thickness as they race towards the distant village by the otherwise empty hills where the pink flare looms over the red sky and dark clouds.
Able to surpass her speed enough to claim a position at her side before subtly adjusting himself to maintain her exact velocity, Meditat follows alongside Kokei, his gaze locked forward the same as hers but able to still communicate to ask: "What does that signify? Is the village in danger?"
Her expression less fearful but rather apprehensive, Kokei winces before answering, "Seems like it, Michi had been noticing an uptick in terrorist activity in the towns closer to the capital. But for it to happen this close…I wouldn't think it'd be this soon."
Meditat's compelled to face her upon the explanation, his hair dancing wildly in the current he blows against, same as her. His voice is definitely more fearful upon discerning, "There's a terrorist there?? Oh no…those townspeople could get hurt. We need to stop them." He squeezes his arms together, and he suddenly accelerates at a rate that far surpasses even Kokei, practically launching himself like a rocket enough that it releases a boom which even manages to startle her. She grits her teeth anxiously before exclaiming, "Wait! Meditat!"
Unleashed by the urgency of civilian danger, Meditat soars alone in a tight posture fit for diving, keeping his figure as lean thus aerodynamic as he can, the comet's tail which is the exhaust of his propulsive thrust being notably brighter than before. The hum of his propulsion has grown louder too, pitched higher to signify greater energy output, the wind blowing against him matching up as shown by the greatly intensified blowing of his hair and cape. His azure eyes squint, yet the starry irises still peer through, concentrated. His chest insignia brightens as though more energy is being drawn from within, carried into the streaks that course around his suit. He takes a direct path with no turns, though he does tilt himself to adjust with the current, refining his pose for aerodynamic efficiency, even if the difference is nearly imperceptible.
Whether it's due to that commitment to maximize his figure against the current or the overall output of his propulsion, it doesn't take long for Meditat to reach over the town, directly charging towards the flare which seems to have originated further in the back of the town. He passes a variety of buildings, those first passed resembling residential houses before passing larger buildings better fit for shops. A few taller buildings are passed, one of them vaguely resembling a church with stone material, for it seems the town's structure places the homes at the edge in order to position the shared community spaces and structures in the center. A small outdoor plaza that'd seem proper for a marketplace is passed, none of them truly inspected by Meditat, for his focus remains on the flare and the effort to trace its position back to its origin.
That origin reaches past many of those shops, reaching back to residential spaces as rows of houses, though he doesn't need to travel much further past the border between residential and commercial before being able to finally attain a view of the flare's origin: On a street of the neighborhood, a crowd of civilians are gathered around a smaller group composed of eight figures dressed in dark uniforms who stand by a far designed like a van with an open back door. Upon closer proximity, shouting of many voices can be heard, the tones different too as the larger crowd sounds distressed whereas the inner crowd is more commanding. There is one shout within the inner circle that is more distressed, that being from a young boy who's, at that very moment, shoving one of those uniformed men back. Another uniformed man immediately then shoves that young man to the ground with both hands just before they ignite in flames, which are already aiming at the young boy.
With a swift downward tilt, Meditat alters his trajectory into a dive straight for the center of the commotion, and he raises his left hand to project a blue cable while his right hand ignites in an azure fire that fans into a disk. That cable reaches the street between the altercation, the wire tightening and then reeling Meditat as his own fiery disk materializes into a circular shield –held in Meditat's hand which is then raised forward– made of a silver metal that then projects an additional barrier of blue energy like a second layer, one that's more curved.
All at once, Meditat flips forward to reorient himself upright to the surface as the barrier of the shield projects forth, the shield that he raises forward in a defensive stance, one that he lands in upon impact with the ground right between the fallen man and the one standing above him, who at that very moment releases a ball of fire from his hands straight for that downed man, an attempted attack that could've definitely resulted in fatality.
Yet, just as the dust begins to kick up off the ground upon the landing, the fireball strikes the energy barrier of the shield, which it manages to absorb perfectly to completely cease the strike. Within that very second, just as the dust expels from the point of landing and blows past the assailant, the energy barrier projects additional energy although not in the form of another barrier but rather a direct blast of power that strikes that assailant, sending him flying down the street.
Roaring, not in distress or authority but rather shock and pain of the surprise strike, the man slams into another with the same wine red uniform, both of their caps flying off their heads. All of the others stumble backwards to that sudden blow, all quick to focus on the projectile that's landed into them, raising their hands defensively in anticipation as the strike had been joined by a cloud of smoke that obscures the point of impact, having spread at the very instant of the retaliation.
All six standing men in uniform hold their balled fists up towards the cloud, though they don't have to wait for a slow dissipation as the entire cloud then erupts from within, a shockwave knocking them backwards enough that two of them fall to the ground.
The remaining four have no delay in witnessing the center of that shockwave: the man in the blue suit whose black cape waves in the wind like his hair, his sharp starry azure eyes glaring above the raised shield emitting its additional barrier, his stance defensive as he stands over the fallen young man protectively. His golden pauldrons shimmer as the frosty crystal ornaments flare, positioned to stare down at all eight of the uniformed men, the four that's fallen scrambling to get back to their feet before stumbling away from the Hero.
After instantiating his stance, the Hero takes an additional moment to properly examine the scene, which is when the attire of the harassing party triggers his glare to break into a shocked stare, for he only recognized who he slammed into after committing the action. He blinks twice and takes a step back in disbelief to whom he stares down, unable to even speak from the sheer flood of conflictions in his head, though he does maintain his protective positioning over the shoved man.
Five of the officers now standing, the one who was struck by the concussive blast still struggling to keep himself seated up, they all raise their fists, and with the collective simultaneous chant: "Watashi wa tamashi o moyasu," all of their pairs of fists ignite with purple and red flames, like a spark activating on an oven, awakening several burners to set blazes promptly.
Meditat begins to take a step backwards, but he halts and reclaims his step, understanding that he was just a foot away from the dropped civilian thus couldn't afford to make additional space. He holds that protective position, choosing no words yet, for he still struggles to understand the situation and how allegiances could be maintained.
It's one of the officers however who declares, "You are interfering with police actions and obstructing justice, including having committed assault on an officer. You would be wise to surrender and we will drive you back for further questioning."
Behind the shield, Meditat's teeth grit as his cheeks clench, his concerns confirmed in verbose verbalization. He chuffs before seeking, "What crime was committed that requires immediate public execution?"
Answering the question isn't any of the officers in front of Meditat, but rather a fairly elderly woman's voice from behind, apologizing in a shaky voice: "I…I wasn't meaning to get in the way…I didn't mean for this to happen…."
Turning his head around but keeping his shield raised against the officers, Meditat faces the direction of that voice to link it to a woman who seems to be in her sixties or so, standing at little more than five feet, hunched forward as senility has begun to claim her body. Her cheeks bear streaks of tears, and she shakes her head before recounting, "I was just having a walk and their far was very loud…I thought their engine was failing. I was just trying to help…I didn't mean to offend…."
She then lowers her head to the civilian on the ground: the young boy, before then clarifying: "I certainly didn't mean for someone else to get involved, even if they shoved me, I didn't want anyone else to be hurt for my disturbance…. I'm so sorry…I should've kept to myself."
That officer who declared the threat grunts as if irritated by the interaction. He leans back then upright before answering in a casual shamelessness, "Interruption of us officers' duties is treasonous, assault of one is well past what calls for a death sentence. We'll just take her in for interrogation after handling this boy, but I guess we got to deal with you too now."
Laying on the ground, the boy huffs as he supports himself on his elbow, facing up towards the officers with a rageful glare before he reveals spitefully: "You were shoving her around, you were going to break her before you'd bring her to whatever torture chamber you had lined up!"
Glancing down from above, the officer simply scoffs at the boy's statement and shrugs, "Yeah well maybe we'll throw her in the back with extra force thanks to you, how about that?"
"You're not Michinomiya's royal police force," Meditat sneers with a sharpened glare, his shield still raised, "You're criminals, monsters disguised in uniform. I'm sure she'll be ashamed to hear of your actions, all of you. You're not throwing anyone in your far, rather you're all coming with me, and I'll apply force as deemed fit."
"Wait Meditat, wait wait wait wait," exclaims the voice of Kokei from above, prompting Meditat to raise his head the same as the officers, the boy, and the surrounding crowd, though dread consumes the face of the boy and elderly woman.
Descending from the sky, her presence carved against the cloudy canvas in bright pink over her flapping robes, Kokei stares down at the commotion with radiant eyes in an expression that's nearly godly, a stern expression judgemental.
A smile of relief rises from Meditat upon the entrance of support, and he slightly lowers the shield in that comfort while reporting, "There you are Kokei, I'm unsure if these people are falsely parading in these uniforms or if they're corrupted officers but regardless, they're acting far out of line."
"Actually Meditat, I hate to say it but it's you who's acting way out of line right now," Kokei rebukes, completing her descent in front of the officers, placing herself between them and Meditat as if protecting them the way he did for the boy. She doesn't fully touch the ground but instead halts about a foot above, enough to position her at a height slightly greater than Meditat's, allowing her to look down at him.
That smile on Meditat cracks ever so slightly in bafflement, and Meditat scoffs with a subtle head shake before asking, "Excuse me?"
An epiphany dawns on him as told by the lighting of his eyes, and his smile restores itself as he explains, "Ah right, you missed the beginning. These 'officers' were about to execute this boy for simply stepping in when they were physically harassing this woman, who was only asking them if they had any problems with their far's engine. It sounds comically atrocious, but ask the officers themselves, they'll shamelessly accept those events."
"Then there's no misunderstandings here, Michi's officers were doing a job, some of these people got in the way, and they're handling it. We were called down here to help deescalate the altercation, not further impede it," Kokei callously explains back, her arms crossing over her shoulders as she stands protectively before the officers.
Again, Meditat's smile cracks though more so as it's less an issue of a simple misunderstanding causing a misalignment in a situation's perception, but rather the appalling intentional misalignment of morality. His smile drops to a frown as his voice's energy does too upon his question: "Is this…normal to them? Is this normal to you? I…thought…."
"Look Meditat, this is already more than a scene than it needs to be, we can talk more in the sky but let's just get this over with," Kokei brushes off, unfolding her arms and extending her hand in the general direction towards Meditat.
"Let's get these two detained so the officers can figure out what to do with them, and then we can go back on our cruise," upon which the outline around Kokei's hand brightens ever so slightly.
A morbid staleness takes Meditat's expression, an overstimulation to this inexplicable behavior that practically renders him reactionless to her fine words. That locking trance breaks upon hearing the boy's wavery voice exclaim, "Hey, wait!"
Meditat immediately turns his head to see that the boy, still laying on the ground, is now encapsulated in a pink outline of his own, unable to scrub it off despite how feverishly he tries with his hands. Behind him, the elderly woman takes notice of her own body becoming outlined, though she doesn't react as dramatically as she's more rather puzzled by the phenomenon, just staring at her outlined hands silently.
Turning his head back towards Kokei, Meditat's expression has transformed to active dread, lowering his shield fully before frantically pleading, "Wait Kokei, we cannot just mindlessly go along with this, I mean take a second and think about the situation. Clearly these officers are abusing their authority to punish innocent civilians for entirely trivial inconveniences, wouldn't you prefer to at least assess the dispute deeper before just acting on their behalf?"
Scoffing from the repeated doubts, Kokei keeps her hand raised as she lectures, "Look, I'm not here to judge how everyone feels, that's not what we're here for. These officers aren't fake, and this happens all the time. So again, we can talk about it later, but just let me get this sorted out first."
That attempt at resolution only sparks greater angst in Meditat's eyes, as a revelation dawns on him, one that recalls the image of the driver of the defective far, specifically the absolute terror in his eyes which sparked at the very moment that Kokei had introduced her presence. It was a brief interaction in an admittedly complicated situation, but it was one that Meditat had taken a light note of, and has now returned to the forefront of his mind.
The specific phrase that prompted such retrospect is repeated by Meditat: "This happens…all the time…?"
Scoffing again at the insistent questioning, Kokei waves her hands and irritatedly confirms, "Yes, oh my god, some dumb civilians get into dumb arguments with random officers, it turns into this whole big dumb mess, and then I have to go clean the dumb mess. At least here I don't need to use as much force to restrain them, but yes this happens, it's like most of what I deal with day to day, just get over it. You're very sweet for caring so much but you're wasting your thoughts on these weaker people, really you don't need to think about this so much. Here, just let me wrap this up, and we can go wherever you want. I was going to take you to some of the ranges, you'll like the views there."
Before Meditat could even produce a response to that anvil of statements, the boy behind him begins to raise from the ground, not from lifting himself up but rather his body is hoisted off the surface, hovering against his will as he begins swinging his arms wildly, crying out: "Wait wait wait, put me down! I don't want to go with them, please!"
Meditat sharply turns his head to watch the boy's body begin to float towards the far as the elderly woman's body lifts a few inches off the ground too, frowning in dread as she softly asks, "Am I…going to be able to see my granddaughter again?"
Sharply turning his head forth again with gritted teeth and fiery eyes, Meditat boldly commands: "Kokei, stop!"
Sighing from the continuation of his complaints, Kokei rolls her eyes and dismisses bluntly, "You stop making a fool of us."
At that very moment, as the two civilians are slowly dragged behind him, something within Meditat snaps which causes his eyes to twitch.
His eyebrows then furrow, and the shield in his hand ignites in an azure flame that then disperses, freeing both of his hands that are extended backwards, both releasing flames which reach halfway between him and the civilians before expanding off into a wall, one that then materializes to a metallic composition: heavy steel. The wall is large enough to completely obscure the two civilians, only leaving Meditat in sight.
Her casual sighs and scoffs becomes a truly aggressive grunt as Kokei drops her arm upon the severance of her sights to the civilians she was just trying to detain. Her eyebrows also furrow as her irises flare brighter, and she raises her arm once again, her hand's outline still notably of a higher intensity, and she simply determines, "Fine, you too."
It's not either of the two civilians who become highlighted in an outline, but now Meditat himself, who only notices right before his body is raised and flung to the right, thrown towards the accrued crowd who all gasp and race away as he crashes into the street's curb. The force of the throw alone sends rubble flying, smashing a chunk of the curb in that one action.
First watching the crashed body to confirm no movement, Kokei turns her sights back to the steel wall, which is maintained despite the creator's state. She grunts and raises both arms towards it, gesturing her clawed hands together with her knuckles touching, as if trying to dig her fingers into a physical object. She then swings both arms away, causing the entire steel wall to rip apart from the center and bend outwards, forcing the barrier open to reveal the two civilians, the boy revealed to be frantically attempting to escort the older woman down the road.
Kokei drops her left arm but keeps her right trained on the two, and they both are once again highlighted in a pink outline before being raised off their feet, the boy's legs swinging uncontrollably, crying out in fear again as the crowd cries back too at the horror of the scene.
Her teeth clenching at the cries all around her while she attempts to navigate and detain the two civilians, Kokei turns to face the crowd and orders in a charged shout: "SHUT UP" at the very moment that a ball of a steel-like wire soars straight at her, but is overtaken by the outline and suspended just a foot from her left cheek. She turns to face the projectile, observing it to resemble a ball of steel wool the size of her head, but before she can fully examine it, it ignites in an azure flame and disperses just as another of the same ball is thrown at her face, however this time it explosively unfolds automatically before reaching her, opening up into a metallic net that drapes around her.
The net doesn't reach her skin, though it leaves her distracted enough to lose the hold over the two civilians, who immediately resume their attempt to leave, once more the boy helping escort the woman.
Kokei chuffs at the slipping civilians, but turns her attention back to the unraveled net, and with the wave of her hand she prompts the net to be flung off to the side. Before her arm can complete its motion, a barrage of plasmic azure laser bolts nearly strike her, though they suspend just a foot from her face.
Holding the silver handgun that had fired those rounds, Meditat meets Kokei's flaring glare. He raises his free, left hand which breathes a flame that produces another circular shield generating an outer energy layer just as Kokei's glare causes all of those rounds to reflect back at him, which he absorbs with his shield. He swiftly swivels his head to remind himself that surrounding them are crowds of civilians, and his handgun dissolves in an open flame that remains burning his hands as he exclaims: "Everyone, clear the area!"
That crowd begins to scramble away on that order, shouting and crying out frantically from the sudden battlefield birthed in their neighborhood, and even the officers jog away from the altercation as they realize the storm they'd rather not be caught in.
Meditat then raises his left hand and releases a flame towards the crowd, which stops short before expanding out in an arc that continues to grow into a whole circular perimeter that's drawn right behind the boy and elderly woman, encapsulating only himself and her. The perimeter wall rises to about fifteen feet, curved inwards slightly like the start of a dome, though before the wall can join at the ceiling, Meditat raises his shield again in anticipation of Kokei who aims her finger at him and fires a shaky pink orb the diameter of that shield. While he does technically block the orb, it doesn't dissipate or reflect but rather attaches, warranting a puzzled glance from him.
The orb then begins traveling back towards Kokei, dragging the shield and Meditat with him, causing him to be yanked, losing concentration on the perimeter wall which hadn't yet materialized, losing shape instead and dissipating.
His teeth gritted upon glancing at the dismantling of his barrier, Meditat faces Kokei and allows the shield in his hand to melt into flames, freeing him of the direct hold although his body is still dragged forth due to the attractive force of the orb. He's at least able to counter the weaker force with an oppositional backwards boost, coupled with two cables firing from his hips and attaching to the curb behind him, yanking him with enough force to rip him off of the orb's control.
Using that moment of freedom, he materializes a silver compound bow with an energy cable string, loaded already with three arrows that each have a glowing blue tip. While his body is thrusted backwards, he launches his arrows forwards.
From the string to the target, the three arrows fan out as the upper and lower tangent further from Kokei while the center maintains a clear direction straight for her, all of them moving quite fast though she has the time to raise her open hand, coating the central arrow in a suspensive outline.
She balls that hand, causing the arrow to snap in half as the other two fly past her, but just upon passing her they both detonate with plasmic explosives that prompts her head to turn, albeit neither explosion truly impacts her as the blasts wrap around her rather than consuming her. While still surrounded by the blocked blasts, her balled hand extends her fingers in front of which manifests a pink orb, though one that she holds for an additional moment. That orb, while initially vibrating like the first, visibly stabilizes as the shaky body sharpens into a refined sphere, as if compacted in such a way that it glows brighter. She releases that orb with the flick of her wrist as the missed explosions dissipate around her.
Faced with an approaching projectile in the form of that refined orb, Meditat instinctively evades left in a dash well before it could reach him.
However, he turns his head to gauge the trajectory of that projectile past himself to find that it'd hypothetically reach the street where much of the crowd is still running away, evacuating the area but not absent enough yet.
His cheeks tense in this realization, and so he strafes again but to the right, negating his own evasion as he raises his right hand which is equipped with a silver shield, but one that's unable to activate its additional barrier before being struck by the orb.
Like being punched by a bomb, the collision erupts an explosion of pink light that blasts Meditat backwards, crashing him into the ground.
While Meditat luckily didn't strike any civilians in his crash, he struck the road with enough force to create a crater, blowing small rubble and rocks out of the road some of which fell on the fleeing townspeople. They scream upon the crash, though most of them don't turn back, but rather focus on flooding out deeper into the neighborhood in hopes to escape the chaos.
Much of the crowd is clumped together in the middle line, though one of the civilians who drag towards the back of the evacuation is the boy who was originally knocked down, as he gently escorts the elderly woman even still with the scene behind them. He is clearly panicking though, trying to hurry the woman forth as much as he respectfully can, glancing back to assess the battle and their subsequent safety.
What comes to view upon that head turn however is one of the officers mid-pounce, leaving the boy only enough time to let go of the woman and stumble away from her before he's tackled to the ground by the officer.
His face slamming against the asphalt road, the boy groans in pain, unable to lift his head as it's held down by the hand of the officer. That policeman has the boy pinned down, using his own body as a weight, and he turns to the five other officers to command: "Get the far prepped for evac, one of you help me with the boy and another two get the old lady!"
Those five policemen who remain standing by their van all nod and break out, two of them racing for the front of the vehicle, swinging the physical doors open to slide into the cabin. The other three officers race towards the commanding officer, though two of them pass the officer to instead target the elderly woman, one of them snatching her by both hands and shouting, "You're under arrest, any resistance will be met by appropriate punishment!" The third policeman drops down to the commanding officer, grabbing the boy's shoulder, allowing the commander to focus on grabbing the other shoulder so the two of them can lift the boy off the ground.
Laying in the crater dug into the road, Meditat groans in pain, still clinging to his shield which has been bent inwards, an energy shield projection attempting to appear but only managing to do so in brief flickers before surrendering its function. He doesn't react immediately, for the strike had knocked the wind and energy out of him, leaving him to slowly begin recovering.
That recovery is expedited however upon the hearing of the boy's shouts, prompting Meditat to sit up and turn to notice the officers dragging the boy and woman to the back of the far, its two doors already swung open to reveal a passenger space with two benches against the interior walls. The boy is the first to be brought to the vehicle, being shoved in through the door before the officers climb up to follow, grabbing and dragging him to the right bench.
Meditat groans louder, dissolving his shield in an open flame as the woman is dragged into the van next, escorted by the remainder of the policemen who shut the doors behind them, allowing the far to begin driving forward down the vacated street, tilting upwards to initiate its climb.
He then turns his head to face Kokei, who glares down back on him from her levitating pedestal. She raises one hand which begins generating another orb, which she releases without refinement, racing straight for Meditat.
At once, Meditat raises his gaze to the sky where he launches himself towards, dodging the orb which continues towards the crater he was just laying in. The orb doesn't impact the ground and dissipate however, instead it begins orbiting the crater, vacuuming the rubble and debris caused by the cratering in order to form a field of rocks around the orb. After the completion of an orbit, the rubble reinforcement armors the sphere in layers of compacted rock around which a field of thinner debris and particles hovers, slits of the pink light peeking out between cracks of the armored layer and radiating the particle cloud.
Up in the air, his black cape and hair flowing from the currents he's created against himself, Meditat scans the neighborhood around him to evaluate the civilian evacuation, finding that many of them have now successfully escaped the street whether through backyards or following the road down to intersections. What matters is that there aren't many civilians left near the battlefield, at least out in the open, as he's then reminded that not all of them have been accounted for upon hearing the roar of the far engine that points him to the ascending van that's now passing him in altitude.
Before he can spring towards the van, his attention is pulled down upon hearing the humming of the orb that's clad itself in rubble. It completes its orbit where it then pauses for just half a second before launching straight up to him as if slingshotted, carrying the dust cloud like an aura.
Meditat raises his knees and kicks the air, propelling himself in a backwards boost to dodge the rising sphere, which then shifts direction to chase after him in a honing behavior. After a sideward strafe to evade the projectile a second time, Meditat spins around to glance down towards the commander of the orb.
Remaining by the ground near the crater, Kokei hovers whilst glaring up at Meditat, one hand held forward which seems to be commanding the orb as she swings her arm once again.
Meditat doesn't need to turn his head to know to dodge again, this time executing a downward boost to narrowly avoid having the cannonball soar through his head.
He lays in the air on a downward descent, staring up at the rubble ball which pauses once again before once more changing directions in a sudden plummet for him. Rather than dodging again, he extends both flaming hands up and releases those fires which take the shape of a cube, and protruding from the corners of the cube inward are rods which connect to the corners of an additional inner cube, shaped similarly to a tesseract. The outer cube is fully constructed to be composed of a translucent blue, glassy material –albeit leaving the face pointing up to be open– which reveals the inside to have flickering black rods connecting to the inner cube which is made of a plasmic blue energy.
Holding his position, Meditat watches the ball drop through the open face of the cube, snagging into the plasmic cube which causes the inner cube to brighten and for the four rods to bend, as though being stressed by the power of the orb. Regardless, that orb has become contained, so Meditat projects a blue cable onto the back, spins, and throws the box down towards Kokei with a grunt, releasing the cable in follow-through.
Closer to the ground, Kokei chuffs as she stares at the approaching box, the orb no longer in her control. She bends her arm, and as the box enters within ten feet of her, the glassy exterior is highlighted pink and frozen, halting the reflected projectile.
That projectile's inner cube then flares brighter as do the rods extending from it, and immediately it then combusts in an explosion that blasts the rocks of the orb in all directions, causing Kokei to drift backwards as all of those individual shards are then suspended in outline along with the cloud of plasmic explosive energy.
Recognizing that the attack didn't land but at least caught her attention, Meditat shifts his own back to the van, aiming his right hand towards it which ignites and blazes forth an expanding flame that takes the shape of his arm from the shoulder, although at a much greater scale that being as wide as himself. The arm manifests with an open hand that grows at the end before materializing with a skin-like exterior purely white, the translucent properties revealing dimly azure wires within akin to veins. The palm has a black rubbery pad, which begins to brighten blue as the hand takes advantage of its perfect positioning to seamlessly close and grasp onto the back of the van, grabbing it out of the air.
Freezing the van with the titanic arm, Meditat peers through the construct from where it'd been attached to a shoulder, revealing the arm to have a hollow tube running through the center, wide enough for him to fire two cables beside to then launch himself into. Zipping through the tube, he's surrounded by the veiny wires that operate the arm, though his focus remains ahead at the end of the arm, where a translucent blue barrier of sorts is present.
He reaches that barrier and passes through, entering out of the palm and into the interior of the van itself, as the rubberized palm seems to have formed a gateway into the vehicle for him.
It does shock the four policemen, pairs of them sitting beside the two hostages on opposite benches, who all stand up and raise their fists. Their movements are too sluggish however as Meditat summons a pair of silver pistols, raising his arms in a T-shape to fire a shot at the two nearest guards swiftly, then swapping those pistols for a pair of hilts that extend plasmic blades just in time for his momentum to carry him between the further two guards, effortlessly stabbing both of them in the chests with said blades.
At once, all four of the guards collapse unconsciously on the floor, yet Meditat doesn't pause, instead he constructs a spherical shield blade of the same rubbery black material that brightens blue as he lands on the floor of the van before springing towards the far wall, and he balls his body behind the shield as he crashes through that wall, which practically melts against the shield, carrying him through and into the driver's cabin, dropping him on the aisle directly between the driver and front passenger.
Just as both of them turn their heads to the intruder, that intruder has already dissolved his shield and swung both of his arms into both of their faces, knocking them out without the need of any devices.
All six officers defeated, Meditat kicks backwards to launch himself through the hole, returning back to the two hostages who now stand around the four bodies, the boy and elderly woman both in shock at the sudden change in status. They turn to Meditat, who declares confidently yet gently, "You are both safe now, I'll escort the two of y-," before he silences upon hearing a sharp whistle outside, indicative of a speeding object.
Without turning his head, Meditat's back immediately projects two cables, one to the arms of each of the slumped officers in the front, and they're rapidly reeled out of their seats and down by his feet. At the same time, he wraps his arms around both hostages and his entire body releases a blaze that encapsulates all three of them as well as the six knocked officers, which then materializes out of the frosty crystallic material the moment before the entire van explodes around them, the fiery explosion infused with the pink radiance of the weapon.
Their ball begins to drop upon the floor's crumbling, causing both of the hostages to shriek in terror, though Meditat remains calm. He watches the explosion through the translucent crystal, judging when the ball has fallen past the blast area and confirming that there'd be no falling debris above them.
Upon both conditions being met, he dissolves the ball to allow himself to better view the battlefield from above, specifically centering his sights on Kokei who hasn't moved from her original position other than keeping one arm extended, her hand in the gesture of finger guns, following through with her attack.
Meditat grits his teeth with an enraged glare upon the attempt of civilian casualties, and his arms both breathe flames that attach silver backpacks to both of the near-victims, backpacks that lack any physical straps but just seem to attach to their backs as if magnetic. Both hostages' bodies flash a translucent blue material that then persists at a weaker opacity: a shield that protects them as Meditat releases his hold on them both. The two hostages aren't sent into free fall however as the backpacks themselves begin carrying them down towards the village floor independently like jetpacks albeit with no visible thruster.
Simultaneously to the creation of the jetpacks, six streams of fire spread from his knees, each reaching a different officer, each of them consuming and encasing them before materializing into silver coffin-like boxes akin to those used in the battle by the port. Those boxes independently soar down towards the floor too, safely landing the officers in protective shells whilst also restraining them.
Freeing up his hands, Meditat equips both of them with hilts that extend plasmic blades, and he grits his teeth with flaring starry irises. He reorients himself to aim his body towards Kokei, lifting his head up; he then bellows: "YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN THEM KILLED!" before launching himself straight for her in a direct assault, able to focus exclusively on taking down the one who's made herself a threat as explicitly as she could possibly have.
That rage drives him towards Kokei who hovers just a foot off the ground, staring back at him with a serene, practically uncaring expression, her body outlined in pink though significantly brighter around her hands which she brings together in the clap. At the moment of that clap, she calmly chants: "Absolute Divine Shrine."
At the moment of the clap, a flash of pink light flickers before being smoldered between the hands, though rather than being entirely snuffed out it instead travels down her body from her hands to her feet in a wave of pink light. Upon reaching her sandals, the light spreads out in all directions from her, forming a square plane over the road and field, one that spreads beneath Meditat.
It doesn't spread far past him before the light of the expanding plane bends upwards in patches, rising a perimeter of poles that grow above Meditat. The light of the poles then again bend back flat, forming a platform connecting the pillars like a ceiling, one that rises in the style of a traditional Japanese shrine. In fact, as the roof takes shape, additional details of the structure are formed such as additional flat bars that thread between the pillars, lanterns that hang from the roof canopy, and a staircase that connects the elevated floor emitting from Kokei's feet to the floor, all to construct the structure to resemble a Japanese shrine.
Upon completion of the shape, the pink light of the shrine subtly brightens, humming with an ethereal wind that's almost majestic.
Within the newly built shrine, Meditat –who grips both plasmic blades he intended to strike with– soars towards Kokei with rage burning in his eyes, though his whole body is then suspended in the air, much to his shocked expression.
What puzzles him more is that his body hasn't been highlighted in a pink outline nor struck by an orb, yet it no longer moves to his command. He clenches his teeth to try driving himself forward, yet it's to no avail, he attempts to dash evasively, yet no propulsive energy is emitted from his suit.
Staring up at the caught Hero, Kokei breathes a gentle sigh, a tone of disappointment. She maintains the clapped hand gesture as she just watches before then nodding her head downwards.
At once, Meditat's body resumes movement, although he's brought directly downwards with no remnant of his forward momentum. He grits his teeth just before landing, all the force of the drop forced on his feet. He stands up straight, though that's when he feels an invisible force begin pressing him down as if trying to force him on his knees, nearly causing them to bend though he manages to stand his ground by squaring his stance.
In front of him, Kokei just observes with intrigue, seeming to be surprised by his resistance. She doesn't seem concerned though, instead breathing a soft sigh before gently explaining, "Resistance is kind of pointless, you're not going to be able to get out of here for as long as I decide to keep you."
Gritting his teeth, Meditat raises his head against the intense gravity, his starry irises flaring bright. He's already formulated his escape plan and designed the tools in his mind, he only now needs to construct them in the physical plane. So he does, releasing the fire that'd manifest his tools into existence, yet what blazes from his hands is not those azure flames but rather weak sparks that blurt from his hands, seemingly vibrating as if being pressured by the same freezing force before dispersing.
Unable to even move his head due to that force, Meditat's eyes then dart to those failing sparks, his determined glare shifting to shock from the phenomenon he hasn't at all anticipated. He attempts another manifestation, but is met by those same feeble sparks that disperse just as fast as they're created, failing to mold into any semblance of an object, for they're far too few and thin to be able to form a shape, as is the third attempt which bears no better results.
Watching the insistent attempts at rekindling his power, Kokei sighs before elucidating, "You're not going to be able to use your powers here, you're in my shrine, silly. I get total dominion over anyone and anything in this space, so where you go and what you can do. You're effectively paralyzed now, so I'll end this here and I guess I'll just let Michi know that I had to let you go."
She sighs again, although in a more disappointed fashion, shaking her head and admitting, "It's a bit of a shame how this had to go, but I guess I should've figured from the start that you'd be…sensitive like this. Maybe I could've prepped you earlier, but I guess you'd have just switched up then. Man…and here I was starting to think you might be a little like…well…I guess I know better than to entertain that idea."
His head still stuck in the same position as is his body, Meditat can only train his eyes on Kokei, his glare mixed with rage and deep mourning, betrayal he can't verbalize as his mouth wouldn't abide by his demands. It's not that he feels necessarily held in space the way her other attacks would grab or drag him, but rather it felt like the space around him was dictating his actions. His mouth wasn't being held shut, he just wasn't allowed to open it. All he can do is glare.
"Well, this is going to be awkward to tell Michi, I'm sure she'll be way stricter against random people I bring to her palace from now on, so that'll be a bit unfortunate. I really did stick my neck out for you, but oh well, I guess it's not like I foresee running into another 'you' for at least a century or so, so I'll deal with the next emperor when that comes," Kokei contemplates, her tone still casual, practically just thinking out loud to herself.
She does catch her monologue as her eyes center back onto Meditat, and she huffs before refocusing, "Oh right, you," to which Meditat is suddenly lifted up in the air, not by a pink outline or orb, but his body is simply dictated to be raised from its former position. He's brought about ten feet in the air before being stuck in place once more, again only able to stare back at Kokei, his mouth stuck in a grimace.
Her head raised up to gaze at him while her hands remain clapped together, Kokei clicks her tongue twice before continuing, "So I guess you wouldn't really know my shrine since you didn't really know me. Well, you tried to pretend that you did, that I was some other alternate version you somehow met and knew, but I guess she was different enough that you weren't expecting this. But anyways, I'll have the shrine dispose of you now, I mean your body will still be here but your brain will be effectively shut down permanently. If you believe in an existence past death, I hope you find your Kokei there."
All the sudden, Meditat's whole body begins jolting as he surges with pink flashes of what resembles electricity, yet it doesn't seem to be striking him from any specific direction, but rather it's as if the space around him itself is electrified and he's absorbing it all over his body. The sensation is clearly agonizing enough that he roars through his frozen teeth, from a mouth unable to contort. His body doesn't move, but his muscles do clearly tense as though hit by a taser, wishing to balance the pain with movement but disallowed from such privilege.
While Meditat writhes in pain above, Kokei stares up at him from her lower position –albeit not grounded– and consoles, "Look, I'm sorry about what happened to your friend, but it sounds to me she was eaten by the sun and died. I only knew of you when I met you at the docks, I'm used to other people knowing me of course but they at least know some face of me, it's usually way more surface level but it's technically accurate. But you swung in with a whole deep image of this other 'Kokei' and it was all wrong, and it seems like you never really learned that, huh?"
His cries can be heard by her despite being muffled by gritted teeth and the fixture of his muscles, which she watches with a muted expression, as if uncaring to the pain before her, that or desensitized. She does interject with the harsh statement: "Maybe if you didn't hold me to such weak resolve as her, you'd not have been so surprised by me, but I guess what's done is done."
A faint white light emits from the direction of Meditat, one that travels further than the blue of his flames, enough to raise Kokei's attention but what shifts her expression to puzzlement is the sound of his voice grunting, "Stop…slandering…my…friend…."
Before Kokei's eyes, Meditat's body begins to jolt in ever so slight micromovements, his vocals ever so freer. What's more, a dim white light has appeared behind him, taking the shape of a ring, like a halo. His eyes are exclusively on her, his face flickering from constant shocks striking his skin from all directions constantly, but he manages to agree, "You're right…you're not her…and I'm sorry I couldn't help but see her as you…that was incorrect…"
As if being roasted by the sun, rays of white light discharge off his body and are vacuumed into the halo, which when facing the halo head-on, appear to extend off into a vanishing point infinitely far.
However, from an angle it's revealed that the rays don't actually pass through the halo but are caught by it, as if the halo is a disk that absorbs the rays, a strange optical illusion that itself begins to breathe a deep, ethereal hum.
Those rays off his shoulders flow into the halo like a cape, and his head slightly raises to track Kokei's gaze as he sneers against the nonstop zapping, "You're not her, that's unfair to her. Her resolve was far stronger than yours, she used her power to protect others rather than oppress them. Her character was far stronger than yours, she was kind and gentle rather than arrogant and narcissistic. She was far stronger than you, she accepted challenges if it's what's right rather than what's easy."
"She was a hero, and you're a monster," Meditat roars at the exact moment that his eyes flash a bright white light in tandem with the halo behind him, which results in the environment –the shrine and sky behind it– visible through the halo being suddenly obscured by a white layer. The ring therefore loses its transparency, and now facing it shows the sight of what effectively appears to be a gateway of sorts, an entrance into a plane or perhaps a tunnel given that streaks of whiter light seem to flow past the gateway, providing a sense of current deeper into the void which pulls his cape and hair. Its hum more than doubles in volume, louder than that of the shrine, overpowering the prison.
Dread widens Kokei's eyes from the stunning activation, her mouth hanging in utter disbelief at his resistance to her dominance, and the manifestation of power in a domain she's restricted. She drops her arms to her sides, breaking the gesture although the shrine itself remains intact, allowing her to then raise her right arm again, her extended pointer finger manifesting and refining an orb. She aims her attack for Meditat's head, and the orb then fully refines, its wobble entirely cleaned, the brightness raised to indicate condensed intensity.
From her perspective, she has her right arm positioned such that her hand is centered with her peripheral vision, and her pointer finger is lined up perfectly on top of Meditat, thus so is the orb. She stares right at Meditat, his white glare hateful enough that he endures the torture that feels like his body is being fried from inside and out, the portal behind him brighter than the shrine that's meant to contain him. His escape was imminent, and so at this moment it'd be prudent for Kokei to release that orb and execute her newly defined enemy.
The orb has been fully refined, there is no more stalling necessary to take action. Yet she stalls further, as if there's something else restraining her. But he had obstructed justice, both of the policemen and her. He's struck and defeated a group of officers in fact, doing more than enough to brand himself a fugitive of the nation, and an enemy for her to rid. He had even attempted a strike on her, if anything all of her actions against him could technically be seen as a form of self defense as if she did require a justification to herself.
Though if anything, no justification seems sufficient, as while the refined orb sits before her finger, primed for fire, she just stares with a troubled, perhaps sentimental face. A frown has been cast over her, a twinkle of doubt holding her from release, a hint of a truly genuine apprehension worn on a face that dresses itself in boastful insouciance.
Binded to the air within the oppressive shrine, Meditat still cannot move his limbs or head, nor can he exercise flames a foot past release. Yet as he hovers in front of the humming gateway, directly in the line of sight to Kokei's lethal orb, his body flashes with an outline that's not pink but rather white, and at that moment it's pulled into the gateway with a forceful yank, dragged into the void. As his body slips past the ring, the electrocution halts as if he's exiting her reach therefore no longer under her domain that asserts power onto him, and the moment his body is fully submerged past the halo, that halo shrivels into a singular point and vanishes absolutely without a trace.
Astonishment sweeps Kokei's expression, for he's entirely disappeared from her despite being contained in her shrine where she had demonstrated her ability to oppress his power. That initial shock is then washed over with a face of fretful dread by the clench of her teeth, though that quickly relaxes to a somber surrender, a frown to the conclusion of a battle ended not in victory nor defeat.
Standing on the luminescent pink floor of the shrine, Kokei holds her priming pose, her arm extended to guide the concentrated orb before her finger, and she holds that pose as the shrine around her melts like ice, quickly deforming into a shapeless wave that begins crashing down on her before then evaporating into a vapor that swiftly thins and fades, leaving her just casually hovering about a foot off the true ground that being the asphalt of the neighborhood. In front of her is the crater made in the battle, and scattered across the lawns around her are debris of the exploded far, leaving chunks of metal everywhere. Among the debris are the six coffin-style pods housing the restrained officers, their silver cases shinier than the rubble.
The shrine walls and poles are no longer present, returning sight to the houses that surround the road, which are entirely silent as is the street and surrounding area, for not a single civilian is left in sight.
The dispersal of the shrine roof returns the view of the dark red skies past sunset, the smog-like clouds further obscuring the little color above.
Beyond her passive luminescent outline, she's well brightened by the orb before her finger, though that orb then wobbles and loses shape before exploding in a thin cloud, sparks of pink light scattering away before disappearing, leaving her only light by the dim outline.
A gentle breeze whistles through Kokei yet her clothes don't flap nor does her hair dance, for she stands entirely still like a statue.
That breeze is the only sound that reaches her, for there's truly no exposed property of an active community around her.
For they've all run away.
Away from the enforcer of the nation meant to serve them.