originally posted in:The New Dojo
[b]A New Face | The Dojo's Gate[/b]
A sky shattering [i]boom[/i] echoes in the distance, the reverberation being felt throughout the Dojo; but it's barely noticable. A large black and crimson ship lands at the gate of the Dojo. Its sleek figure made from an unknown alloy glistens in the burning sun. The red neon lights shine brightly in the cracks and crevices of the ships hull. The cockpit to the ship opens, the dark dense glass slowly slides back into the ship; revealing the pilot inside.
His suit of armor is unnoticed by many in the Dojo, but it is recognized by only a select few. The man has been affiliated with people such as Noble, Blackjack, the honored Cobalt Phoenix, Missouri, Vernon, and Headshot. This man's name is Kent Logan, he has also been called Kent the Mad by many of his friends; but he has outgrown that title, and now just prefers his real name. His red visor glows ominously in his cockpit, the skull embedded into it looks almost black. He takes a look around, then finally stands, jumping onto the planet's surface; dust lazily blows away in the wind upon his impact.
His armor is all black with red lights built into the joints and crevices of the suit (much like his ship in a way). He is sporting an AR-15 and sniper rifle, both magnetically strapped onto his back. Two Chiapa Rhino's are holstered as his hips, and a small quiver is attached to his back waist; a bowie knife rests on his right shoulder. Red lightning slowly travels across his armor's plating, the skull's eyes in his visor are glowing a bright red.
Kent slowly walks towards the gate of the Dojo, its brown-steel studded door looming over him. He lightly knocks on it.
[spoiler]Open to interactions.[/spoiler]
English
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As Kent approaches, a familiar figure stands atop the wall, with his golden visor being the only thing that stands out from the sun casting a shadow over the rest of his being. The armor is hulking in comparison to previous models, but still has the same key features that distinguish him from everyone else, if a little modified. In fact, the only thing that really looks changed are his pauldrons, no longer being massive orbs bolted onto his arms. Now, they actually revealed the sides of his neck slightly, but also appeared to slightly protrude to the sides, guarding his arms more. Then, from the familiar man, comes a well-known voice, if a little computerized. "Kent! Never thought I'd see you show up at my old stomping-ground. What brings you to this place?" called Vernon, with joy and pleasant memories ringing out in his voice.
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Kent looked up towards Vernon, then smirked under his visor. "I thought I'd come to see where everyone started out. I always heard stories of this place but never decided to take a look at it myself." He uses his jetpack and gauntlet thrusters to boost himself onto the wall next to Vernon, trying to not cross over it since no one has allowed him clearance to enter. He extends his hand out for a formal greeting. "Good to see you again, Vernon."
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Edited by jj1042: 10/16/2016 4:03:36 PMVernon takes the hand, and shakes it. "Likewise, Kent." Vernon lets go of the hand, not wanting the situation to suddenly get awkward. He then removes helmet, taking the computerized aspect away from his voice. "Well, here it is. This place had a few rocky years while I was gone. That's why I left, actually. But I decided to pay a visit, and found that it had changed quite a bit. So, I decided to stay. Heh, you should've seen the duels Luis and I would get into."
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Edited by Old Man Kent: 10/16/2016 4:16:32 PMKent chuckled, "I think I've heard some stories about duals between you and Luis. I've heard quite a bit actually, now that I think of it." The lightning on Kent's armor fades away as he removes his helmet, revealing a quite normal face, only a deep scar was noticable on his right eye. He runs his fingers down the right side of his face, then smirks. "The burns are mostly gone at this point. It's kind of strange how when Insanity left me, [i]that's[/i] when the burns started to fade away. Huh, whatever, I'm not too bothered by it." He looks back towards Vernon, his red eyes seem to have no life to them, like he feels nothing. "So who else have you sparred here? Weren't there two guys here a while back that fought you in Luis's arena?"
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Vernon's a little unnerved by the eyes, but he doesn't show it on his face. He then looks out over the courtyard, with the cherry blossoms seeming to be in bloom for an extended period of time. "Well, they have done studies that stress reduces the body's healing capability. I still don't know how Insanity got to you, though. That asshole usually messes with me or Javic exclusively. And I did fight two guys here on my previous visit. I know that the berserker's name was Cerberus, but I can't remember the fast sniper's name. I know that it actually got pretty close, and that Luis'... late gift helped me." Upon mentioning Honor, Vernon looks at Kent for a moment, and a blue spark is visible in his green eyes, before disappearing.
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"Hm, your eyes. I'm guessing that has something to do with what Luis gave you?" He sits down on the wall, then pats the surface next to him, gesturing for Vernon to sit down. "You have time to tell me about it?"
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"Sure, but I get a question afterwards." Vernon sits down, putting his legs out in front of him. He then looks at his gauntleted hand, with a somewhat distant look in his eyes. "Back before Luis became... whatever it was they called him before he died. He and I had one last fight. My mind was being torn apart by Insanity, and the Summoner's stupid Chaos magic tricks. I lost control of myself, and wound up calling my ship to do bombing run on what I thought was an empty field that he and I were fighting in, just outside the Capital. Turns out, I was being tricked by both the Chaos and Insanity, and I had just bombed a shanty town of innocent people..." He pauses, as if to reflect or internally scold himself for being so blind. He then speaks more. "So, Luis went all out. He wound up killing me by crucifying me with flaming spikes so that the Imperium wouldn't hunt me down. But, before he did that, Insanity and Chaos took over my body with Despair, and wound up leaving, they tried to take Luis, but failed. They were then reduced to nothing but a spectral suit of black armor, and a black bastard sword. Luis took my armor, and made some modifications to my cannon. Once I revived, I found the modified suit of armor, and Luis was gone. Next time I saw him, he was on the Harbinger's ship. After that, I went to his grave. I paid my respects, and began to walk away. But I heard, or rather felt, somebody or something telling me to go back. Hovering above his grave was a blue flame, and a message left for me. He told me to grab it, and what it did for me. So, now, whenever R&D isn't exerting too much power, and I'm wounded, I'll be engulfed in blue flames. But, I can have the power to control and shape ash into whatever I can imagine, and I can control fire..." Another pause. And then a question: "So, my turn. What happened to [i]your[/i] eyes? They seem.. almost lifeless. Like your very soul's been stolen from you."
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Kent stares down at his chest, then hands, which have now been tightened into fists. His eyes seem to shake and quiver for a few seconds, small streaks of lightning slowly moving in and out of his iris. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes, then opening them again. They were normal. The shaking had gone and the lightning stopped. "Well, ahem-" He is hesitant at first, but finally begins to speak. "Back when Insanity inhabited my mind, I was close to doing some pretty dumb stuff. I almost used Mobeus on a planet full of people, but I fought the urge to do it -- thank God. But uh, I sort of learned that not paying attention to Insanity, and not feeling any emotion settled it. It sort of became annoyed that someone with my mentality was so resilient to such actions. So it finally left. But when it left, it basically... uhm-" He cut himself off again, staring off into the distance. Lightning started to swirl around his iris' once more, but this time he didn't try to calm himself. "It basically took away most of my emotions. Most of my nerves to feel anything special. I became a hollowshell of a man who didn't know what to do with himself, because I never felt anything like it before. The feeling of emptiness. It... eats away at you. That's why I took such a long break away from everyone, I needed to recuperate. So I went to this one planet that resembled Earth the most, and stayed there for a few months. But I found out that, with most of my emotions gone, my body started to behave as if it were a corpse. I used to have problems with my skin being pale, and my heart rate slowing to the point where I thought I was dying for real. My skin would even become cold to the touch. But I figured out how to control those aspects of my body, now it's just my eyes. They look lifeless most of the time. Even my augmentations can't help it." He then closes his eyes and the lightning fades away once more. "And that's basically it. That's why my eyes seem so lifeless."
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"Damn it, that bastard's taken too much from us. Made my life a living hell, and I'd argue that he did much worse to you. I think I know what he did with your emotions, too. He's probably using them to fuel Javic. Who knows what happens after that. I don't even know what he does with stolen emotions. He mostly boosted mine, so that he could siphon them whenever they ran exceptionally high." Vernon looks at himself, and then at Kent, then to the sky. Strangely enough, he starts to laugh. "Heh, it's kinda funny, I have too many emotions, to the point where they are my armor and weapon, but you can't feel a thing. We're practically two sides of the same cursed coin."
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Kent smiles then let's out a chuckle, "Don't mention coins around me, Vernon. You and I both know what I used them for." He sheathes his bowie knife on his shoulder, then rests his elbows on his knees; running his fingers through his hair. "We've experienced quite a bit. Enough bloodshed to leave us broken... time, after time."
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"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." Vernon stares at the Dojo, with a smile on his face. He relaxes, seeming to be momentarily at peace. "Yet, we have to ask the question; are we two shattered men, going around from place to place with no rhyme or reason? Or have we been broken so many times, that we know how to put ourselves back together so well that we're so much stronger for it? I think I may know the answer, but what's your take on it?"
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He stares at the Dojo as well, then gives his answer. "I agree with the latter. We have been broken enough times to the point where we know how to repair ourselves. And because of that we grow and overcome the things that once defeated us."
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"If I had a drink, I would toast to that." Vernon sits up, and then rises to his feet. "So, I think you're good to enter if you want. If you wanna duel anyone, though, you've either gotta fight a sensei, or Tesuto. I'd recommend looking for Tesuto around red walls." Vernon then turns around, and offers his hand to Kent to help him up. "Unless, of course, you wanna add anything else."
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Kent takes the help up to his feet, then puts his helmet back on. "I'm good. Thanks for the advice." He sighs then looks towards the Dojo again. "I'm glad we got to talk for a bit. We'll probably see each other around eventually."
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"Eventually. It's a surprisingly small place." Vernon begins to walk away, but he stops, and turns around. "Hey, if you want, I may know of two ways you could get your emotions back. One of the ways is suicide without a team, however."
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Kent shrugs, "Why the hell not? What do you got for me?"
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"Well... the less dangerous option would be stabbing you with Despair, and maybe the flow of emotion that it causes would... jumpstart you, for lack of a better term. Or, we would have to fight and beat Javic when he's got quite a bit of power. Whenever he's majorly beaten, his armor reverts to a much less powerful state, and you can almost feel the power he once had flowing away. Maybe if we get you near that, your emotions would return. They're both really big "ifs." One could get you killed, the other could leave you with no emotions aside from anger and sadness."
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Kent looks down at the ground for a moment, then up at the Dojo. "I think I can live with little to no emotions for a while. Hasn't done me much harm since I lost them." He sighs. "It's better than possibly dying or becoming angry and sad for a good while."
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Vernon shrugs, as if he expected that response. "Alright. If I ever fight Javic though, you'll get a call."
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[spoiler]Sorry for the late reply.[/spoiler] Kent nods. "Will do." With that he leaps down into the Dojo, making his way towards the nearest pub.
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[spoiler]It's alright.[/spoiler] Vernon nods slightly, as if expecting that much out of Kent. He then puts his helmet back on, and stares out onto the landscape of Tatakai. Under his helmet, Vernon's smiling to himself. "Maybe this place'll be safe after all. Forever."
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A lone United Legion trooper, from the 241st Infantry Battalion with a U70- Burst Pistol in hand, strides towards Kent. Body language from soldier details hatred, but knows who Kent was. "I remember you, back during the Battle for Frontier, you were with the Coalition ." He lowers the pistol, not trying to do anything to him, and looks at the towering door, leading to the Dojo.
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Edited by Old Man Kent: 10/16/2016 5:45:33 AMKent continues to stand in front of the door, not batting an eye towards the soldier. "That's true. I [i]was[/i] a part of the Coalition, but we've disbanded since then. As you probably have already guessed." He knocks on the gate one more time, still awaiting a greeting from someone to allow him clearance to enter freely. "But I do still go to Beku from time-to-time. I have my men stationed there still, just in case something happens that could potentially screw everyone over." He sighs. "So why are you in a poor mood? The way you were walking gives me a reason to believe that you're quite angry."
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"What, disputes, didn't know what to do with it? The Battle for the Frontier is what destroyed the Solis Empire, destroyed a chance for a perfect society without any further conflict." He turns his attention from the door, the back to you. Pistol still in hand for any reason at this moment of time. "Everyone else scattered, can't track down a single associate of Solis Personel. Now, I'm stranded here of course, knowing my luck. What brings you here?"
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He chuckles, "Perfect society? Glad you're thinking on the healthy side there bumpkin." He looks over towards the soldier, then back at the door. "I'm here because I decided to come to where it all started. Where most of those I've met began. I was lucky enough to be recruited into an organization before dealing with this place."'