Catalysts: IC (Oh the thread is slowly dying...)

Turning to Nox he smiled. He had no intentions of harming this person; Nox was the only one whom he genuinely didn't want to use.

"I'm acting of my own will. Please don't draw weapons on me, nor judge me. The blind must be made to see. And, to add insult to your attempted injury.. The sun's rising, my friend. My powers have no time limit. Yours... Well, from what I've seen, you're toughest at night."

He turned back to winter and smiled, his eyes sparkling a bit with fake tears. He contorted his face about to make a look of someone who was smitten or enamored.

Angry now, Winter spun on her heel. "ENOUGH with the fucking beauty comments! I'm not that easy to sway, you... creature." She took a moment to compose herself before continuing. "You're thinking like them, don't you realize? War is not the answer! War is what got us into this. War is what they know how to fight. How would they fight it if the country's economy drew to a halt? Where would they get the funding from then?"

"And another thing, if your plan is to fight these bastards, then why exactly do you want me dead if I don't go along? We want the same goal, we're just going about it... differently."

Snap. That was the last straw. Ragnarok lost it.

His anger flowed outwardly, leaving almost a feeling of RAGE in the air as Winter's health began drawing, to the point where she'd have to fall flat on her rear. He snarled, like the creature she claimed he was.

"I am the judge! You listen here you DUMBASS, this might be a militaristic society but if ONE CITY GOES DOWN, THE ENTIRE COUNTRY DOES NOT! This city isn't even all that important aside from their data on the Catalystic Project!"

Ragnarok spoke too much but he gave up caring. He pulled his shirt up revealing a large barcode over his midriff and glared.

"See this? I dont have a kidney, a liver, or even a fucking PANCREAS because they disected me. Humanity is lost! You're fighting for a lost cause because for every one good human, there are ten complete ASSHOLES!"

This hostility was far too much. To hell with Ragnarok. He had been friends with Winter far longer. Nox drew his katana and used this chance to attack Ragnarok. Savo for a miracle, he would invariably be skewered. The lesser of two evils, you could say.

Winter fell to the floor, not even hearing the paint canisters scatter as her face hit the tile. Cringing, she attempted to lift herself to her feet, but even the slightest effort of raising her head was exhausting. She felt pinned by some unseen force.

"You... don't... understand..." Winter managed to gasp. "Not... one... city... the... entire... country..."

She stopped for breath, a salty sting blurring her vision. "More... people... than... an... army... could... ever... muster."

"Just... Stop... Fighting."

The pierce would have worked. But the energy he had absorbed from Winter proved to heighten his senses, allowing him to jump back a good enough distance and draw his weapon. He glared at Nox, actual tears in his eyes.

"You know the damages they deal. She's too fettered. She'll be KILLED damnit! I need to sway her in any way! You saw what they did to POW's! But I saw what they did to the first of us! She'd be RAPED, tested, and forced to make 'super soldiers'! That's what the project's for!"

He heard Winter speaking and let up on his anger, some of it focused on Nox to make him tire out easier. Coughing up a bit phlegm, Ragnarok looked down a bit shocked. Despite his dodge.. He had been cut across. The barcode had been sliced, with his skin.

"I side with my friends, fool! You should have done the same!" At this he charged and let loose a barrage of slashes. Upwards, downwards, everywhere. Spinning a web of death. The deadly spider come to collect his prey. The recluse of the night. Swish. Swish. Whoosh.

He took some of Nox's energy. Nox's slashes were slower, and he used that energy to harden his skin slightly, grabbing the blade of the katana. He looked at Nox, crying. He had a feeling of freedom, yet betrayal.

"I judged you wrong apparently.. Listen here you.. I want to hear her talk. If you forbid me from doing such, then you're just like the people who marked you. If you side with your friends, then why attack me. Words have no harm. I didn't intend to kill her. I worry for women."

This was all true. However, his draining had its limits and he had to wait for dawn to come to weaken Nox further, so that his ability of rage couldn't be reached.

Winter, having seen that neither of these men would listen to reason, ceased all efforts to rise or speak, and simply lay there.

Her mental focuses were diverted towards the very ground upon which she lay, seemingly helpless - her mind wiped blank with the force of her concentration, as she attempted to perform a task the likes of which she'd never before conceived.

"Then why do you drain her as we speak?" He felt a strange desperation now. He had to stop the death before dawn. Soon he felt the cold fire licking at his core. The darkness again roiled around him forming a "shield." His eyes again turned red. He felt strength surge through him. He renewed his charge, hoping to end the draining at least.

The draining he was doing was fully placed upon Nox by the time of the fighting. But he ended that quickly and shook his head slowly.

"I stopped draining her... I.. You.. You cut off the barcode.. Which camp were you in, David?"

He had read part of Nox's past through the staring and the draining itself; he knew that Nox had been tested on and created. As for Winter, he did not know. He suspected she was born one like the legendary King Arthur.

Nox lowered his katana, tears in his eyes. He was shocked that Ragnarok was using diplomacy. "I was made what I am in Ferrum camp. I was made a monster. I am a monster." At this he exited "Rage" mode. "Please. I'm dizzy. I need air." He collapsed, thinking back to the camp. The burning serum. The cold, uncaring looks from the gas masked soldiers.

He flowed back the energy into Nox. This gave him the feeling of rebirth. A feeling of being at the prime of his life once more. The rage mode, without the actual rage mode.

"I was made what I am in Aurum camp. I am Catalyst #4... The fourth manufactured by the U.S. Military..."

He had flashbacks of his own; none like Nox. He saw his fellow original manufactured being violated, dissected, and KILLED before his eyes. It was by miracle he had escaped.

Unable to perform the task, Winter gasped, only then realizing that her strength was slowly returning. Rising to her feet, she eyed the men with curious gaze.

I should just leave now before they notice. Forget the paint... I can come back for it.

Yet something kept her rooted.

His eyes turned to Winter. And then, suddenly, he flowed back all of her energy and some of his own before speaking dryly.

".... Why do you lie to us, Winter. You hide your name with the pseudonym 'Bloom'... However.. I can practically tell your personality. I told you.. I'm an empath.."

He raised his hands slowly in a surrender stance and let his head fall forward.

"However, you all think I'm dangerous. So.. I surrender."

"I am the only generation three survivor. And only because I escaped. They were euthanising us all. I killed the doctor responsible. With my bare hands." The retribution was bittersweet. Even for all his evils, the doctor had been at least apologetic. The flames tore through the barracks, killing all those damned hazmats.

"Of the generations created... and not born.. I am the first generation, fourth member. My DNA is almost the strongest of any created catalyst.. And I have the capability of immortality."

This much was true. Had Ragnarok kept absorbing life forces, he'd be capable of extending his life span extremely. However he was also very poor at fighting unless it was an ambush, so this left him equally capable of death as it did immortality.

"Then why not become a sage? Why not live a cozy life, alone and at peace?" The question was important. This would be a cloudy insight as to Ragnarok's morality. How did it work? What made him tick? Was he driven by hate, or rage?

Winter gave a short sigh as she felt life return to her limbs. "You misunderstand, Ragnarok. I am Bloom. I realize this now. And if you're quite done fighting eachother, I'll be taking my leave."

"That is, unless you really do plan on killing me," she added sarcastically, picking up the paint cans for the second time in as many minutes.

Ragnarok bit his tongue inside his mouth and felt his head hurt. He knew what he had done and sighed before speaking up.

"Do come live with us. I don't want you hurt, and pacifistic efforts against them would have you searched and killed. With someone who can eat life itself and a person who's practically a sword-god, You'd be save and prote-"

His eyes buldged and he suddenly turned to Nox with a surprised look before shouting.

"YOU ONLY HAVE ONE KATANA!"

And like that, his OCD began acting up.

"It's a hand & a half sword. I can only use one." Duh. Hadn't he ever learned anything about katanas, or even swordplay? Back to topic. Nox turned to Winter. "You'll be completely safe with us. We also have a decent food supply."

He looked at nox and twitched again shouting unecessarily worried.

"C-CAN'T YOU JUST FUCKING DUAL WIELD KATANAS?!!?!"

Left-Right symmetry and even-number symmetry were his two pains. If he couldn't find something even like that, he'd often go into insane bouts of rage or confusion.

"Can YOU dual-weild broadswords? No." Duh. OCD was irritating. Somewhat. But if Ragnarok was hounding him he would be a bad roomie. The only real problem problem so far was OCD.

"You act as if I am incapable of taking care of myself. Goodbye." Winter would have crossed her arms were they not full. One minute he attacks me, then he's saying he's worried. Oh, I might never have met anyone with that sort of power before, but I've seen more than enough manipulation to know that I do not want to side with this guy.

Not that she would anyway, in her new mindset. Perhaps an older Winter would be vengeful, cruel... but she was starting to like her new set of ethics, even though this skirmish would likely not be the last she would see because of them.

It's time I started resisting... in my way, not theirs.

Ragnarok nodded swiftly in reply to the possibility of dual-wielding broadswords.

"It's no problem if you move your weight proportionally. See all you have to do is find the right stance. Don't worry. Back to Bloom..."

He swiftly lifted his hand and reached for her, finally speaking his true wishes with a deep seated weakness in his voice.

"No.. Wait.."

He croaked out the words, not knowing why.