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Who: Sovereign, Iron Dragon, and Starbreaker
Where: Sovereign's headquarters dealie??
When: THE FUTURE like 2020 probably
What: A superhero wants to do some recon, and a supervillain wants to turn over a new leaf. Spoilers: It's not gonna end well for either of them.
Warnings: time travel crud but also, violence, murder, Gajeel's mouth

Most would probably consider this to be an incredibly stupid idea. You don't just sneak around on Sovereign's land, around his freakin' base of operations of all things. It's not something that you do unless you want to get horribly slaughtered.

Or maybe unless you've got a disgruntled (to say the least) former employee with you.

In this case, said former employee, having proclaimed his intention to help out with recon to use against Sovereign in the future, has pointed out a particular winding, scenic cliffside path from the beach to be the safest way to get close to the building itself without being discovered.

"Gonna have to watch our asses after that, though. Guards may not be too hard to take down, but they might try to call in reinforcements 'n shit. Worst-case scenario, the call the old fucker himself over." Gajeel doesn't even look at Starbreaker as he speaks, apparently preoccupied with glaring at the path ahead. He knows that he hasn't given a whole lot of context for why he's doing this, let alone reason for her to trust him, but he doubts that there's much he could say that would prove his intentions anyway.

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Milly -- though she hasn't used any name but Starbreaker in years now -- follows closely behind, her expression intent. A lot has happened in the last several years...the rift between her and her father only grew wider, particularly after he'd involved himself with Sovereign. Once in a past life, when she'd been young and naive, Milly thought that working with Sovereign would help the world...but now look at it.

She doesn't know if she can trust Gajeel, but it's hard to know who to trust anymore, in this world. Besides, just working for Sovereign isn't enough to condemn someone, not in Milly's book. She worked for Sovereign once too, even if she didn't know what he was up to at the time. She should have looked harder, closer. All that really matters now is that Gajeel is willing to help, and more than that, he's the best chance Milly stands at getting some recon. She wants to pry away Sovereign's grip on the world around them, but she wants him seen to for what he did to tear her family apart, too.

"I'm not afraid of him," Milly says fiercely, and mostly she means it; she's a lot tougher than she used to be, not the least because of her advanced cybernetics. Before everything had really gone to hell her father had continued to build on his Cybertronian-inspired ideas, and once Milly got less freaked out over the idea of having transforming limbs, she became considerably more of a powerhouse. "I don't want to have to fight him or anyone, not right now, but if I have to? I will."

Frankly, Gajeel would love to make use of everything he learned working under Sovereign to punch him in the face one or two or a dozen times. But the guy didn't get to where he is now by luck alone, and even Gajeel knows that taking him down will take some doing.

The idea that this may be the first step toward that is pretty encouraging.

"If this goes off right, that won't have to happen - not yet, anyway. Might as well save it 'til we've got a good chance." He kicks a bit of debris off the path in front of him, sending it tumbling down the cliff face. Oh, he's definitely determined to make sure they get that chance eventually. The sooner, the better. He doesn't even know how long he went along with that guy's orders, going above and beyond what he was told to, making sure he did his job and did it damn well, without knowing just what was being held out of his grasp.

Gajeel had been loyal, he had tried so hard to keep Sovereign's approval, and he had been manipulated. That isn't something he's going to forgive easily.

He pauses briefly, red eyes narrowing as he glances around for something. He definitely heard something, but right now he can't be sure if it's significant or if he's just jumpy.

After a moment, he starts walking again. "Shouldn't be too much further. Maybe a couple more minutes."

Milly's not looking for a confrontation, either -- not yet, anyway, although she'd be lying if she said her heart doesn't burn with the desire to hurt Sovereign back, just for the way he's hurt her family and everyone. Her face is drawn and set as she marches on, brushing off the first sound they hear as a false alarm. There are plenty of things moving about that aren't Sovereign, and she's had her senses augmented with cybernetics over the years.

They're hardly foolproof, though. She hears another sound, just on the edge of hearing, but this one catches her attention -- it's not unlike the first, not unlike a foot crunching lightly over sand and gravel, and she stops in her tracks, alarm written in her features.

"Gajeel -- wait." Her voice is low. "Something about this feels wrong."

Edited 2015-02-17 19:52 (UTC)

First time could be a coincidence, second time makes him inclined to assume something is up. He stops where he is again with a quiet, cautious growl of agreement.

He glances around, searching for any visual sign of disturbance, but before he actually sees anything, he sniffs the air carefully - and, there. Through the smell of saltwater and earth and the familiarity of the area as a whole, there's another scent that he definitely recognizes.

"...shit."

about time

did warn you

some

never

listen

They are of no consequence. What matters is the fact that his home, his sanctuary, has been violated; Ori, no, Sovereign has only ever had so much patience for an invasion of privacy, ^{further agitated by how little he has in the first place}, and the fact that he innately knows that he is not alone...

no more than any other time, at least

...he's torn between being angry, and laughing at how utterly foolish those two...

Oh.

Oh no.

He sees them from above, standing upon an outcropping where he can see the path, and those on the path have only so good a view of him- at least, unless they're alerted to his presence. Which he has no hesitation in doing, freely calling out-

"My prodigal children. What a sight."

After all, each did spend a period under his hand, one less so than the other. Nonetheless...

"I'm afraid I haven't a warm welcome for you- but I can certainly have the guards fix something up. Would you prefer irons, or coals?"

Edited 2015-02-18 05:39 (UTC)

Milly's eyes widen as Sovereign steps into view, drawing in against herself -- but no, she's not afraid of him. She won't be afraid of him.

"Sovereign!" she cries, her voice filled with bitter hurt. Her eyes flash as she balls her hands into fists, and she looks like she's struggling to hold herself back. They came just for recon, but it's hard not to be angry, not after all he's done, even if Milly's lines are cold with fear knowing that the worst case scenario has kicked in. "We're not children anymore. I don't think you're going to find it so easy!"

Gajeel's breath pauses in his throat for a moment, then starts again as a low, quiet growl. This is a disaster. This was the last thing they needed, but here Sovereign is, and now they're gonna have to deal with that.

At the same time, of course, the anger welling up in Gajeel's mind is making it a little easier to accept the possibility of fighting him.

He doesn't actually set any spells in place, not yet, but his magic has started to gather and focus, roiling over his skin. "She's about covered it, there. You think you can get rid of us so easy, you're gonna be in for a surprise."

Nevermind that he's still definitely concerned about how this is gonna end up, but no way is he giving any hint of that to Sovereign.

The air around Sovereign has a subtle pulsing element; a potentiality, just waiting to be manifested in to being. He raises his hands, palm-up, on either side- a sweeping, expectant gesture. "I'd be disappointed if it were easy," he says to no one in particular, a wide smile crossing his face.

They'd be disappointed, as well. And while he still doesn't care what they think, it's so much better when they're all working in concert...

First, however, he clenches his hands- the ground about Milly and Gajeel's legs abruptly shifting, crushing, a subtle decision in Sovereign's mind that he would very much like it if it altered to grab them and if they're hurt by it, why, all the better...

"...but it will still happen."