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Characters: Barnaby Brooks Jr. + Sephiroth
Location: A rooftop in Death City.
Rating: PG - minimal violence.
Time: 1st of May.
Description: Sephiroth's continuing his brooding on the rooftop, and Barnaby picked the wrong day to go and play hero against him.

He didn't care about the anti-Shibusen statements going around the city by those living within it. The threats that the human population offered here now was of no interest, and he spared their miserable lives by skulking on the rooftops instead.

It had been two days since his mission with Cloud, and two days since he'd last stepped foot into his apartment. The impromptu discovery of his previous brooding location had the ex-General move to a different rooftop within the city. Each of his places of solitude seemed to be disappearing, something that the ex-General found displeasing to say the least, and the frustrations building up within needed time for him to isolate himself in order to help calm his mind. That was why he had moved away from the more populated areas of the city, and had shifted to an area less travelled as he remained crouched at the edge of his new roof.

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He couldn't say that he was all that surprised with that idiotic parasite's reaction. That fool had already proven himself to be incapable of leaving him be, and that stubborn refusal to leave was only proving him further right. The thought had him narrowing his eyes subtly in return, and in the next moment, the ex-General gracefully pushed himself up to stand to his full height on the edge of the roof.

"You are a foolish parasite," Sephiroth said with a voice as smooth as silk while it clearly drifted down to the hero below. While he was too far away to see, the smirk was clearly obvious on his voice with what he had said.

Foolish? Hah! Sephiroth wouldn't have known foolish if it slapped him in the face, Barnaby was certain of it. Trying to keep trouble off the streets was his job. Sephiroth's reactions were nothing short of childish lashing out, and it wasn't intimidating in the least. He could tell the half-winged man was trying to scare him off.

Like that would happen. "Going to come down anytime soon?" Barnaby called out to him.

He hardly cared what other people thought of him. Sephiroth never truly had when it came to what they saw beyond the monster he displayed. So long as they continued to fixate on that, he could continue to live most of his time in relative peace.

"An invitation," Sephiroth more stated than questioned as his wing extended. He could hardly disappoint one who wished for trouble, which was why he huffed quietly before pushing himself over the edge of the building. His large wing caught his descent as he shifted his body weight to allow for him to glide and swoop down before Barnaby. Landing gracefully, the jet-black appendage curled back in against his shoulder. "You should not be as eager after our last encounter."

Once they were face to face yet again, Barnaby's frown just grew. He hadn't been eager for anything. Honestly, he would have preferred if Sephiroth was just quietly removed from the city. But alas, there he was, and the two seemed to reach another impasse. Really, if Sephiroth was just going to stop being creepy, this wouldn't be a problem.

"Who said I was eager for anything?" he asked. "Really, why can't you use sidewalks like normal, non-insane individuals?"

Sephiroth didn't answer Barnaby at first. The hero would have to come up with the answer himself, as the ex-General felt no desire to illuminate him. He may have allowed this one to walk in time, but at the mention of his mental instability, all such thoughts disappeared.

"So you would have me be just like you and every other parasite?" The ex-General coolly asked. His cat-like eyes thinned as he kept his prey in sight.

"Yes, but that obviously seems like too much to ask."

Really, it did. Why Sephiroth couldn't be normal, why he couldn't just simply stop behaving in a suspicious manner... The real reasons eluded him, but Barnaby knew it had to be some sort of inherent problem. That, he knew he would never be able to fix. However, it didn't stop the amount of irritation that grew every time he so much as spotted his shadow.

He took a few steps closer. Barnaby was not afraid of this man.

"So are we going to have a repeat of our previous encounter or are you going to at least pretend to behave like any other person who thinks?"

His eyes narrowed at the answer while his lips pulled up into the barest hint of a far-too-pleasant smirk. "Is that so..." Sephiroth muttered with his voice sounding much like a delicious purr. Gracefully taking a step or two towards the would-be hero, he could feel all the anger and rage from the past coolly swirling throughout his thoughts.

"You want me to sit. To heel. To play the perfect little puppet so then you can all go about your day blinded by the foolhardy knowledge that the Weapon for this city is safely under your control?" Sephiroth more stated than asked. He was on the move in the next second, and swiping out with lighting speed as the ex-General kicked off and rushed towards Barnaby. His movements were invisible to the naked eye as he struck out with his bladed arm as he used the flat of the blade to slam hard across Barnaby's chest.

"I am not anyone's puppet, not anymore," he hissed while watching his prey react to his suddenly unrelenting assault.

Sephiroth was fast and Barnaby had been caught off guard. That was his excuse for not being able to dodge as the man rushed at him, blade slamming square into his chest. He found himself temporarily winded but definitely not stopping, taking barely a second to regain proper footing before rushing at Sephiroth himself.

Without Kotetsu as a weapon in his hands, he was easily returning to his older style of fighting, just planning on narrowing the distance before he launched an attack of his own. Once close enough, he aimed a kick towards Sephiroth's chest. But unlike how confident he was in other matches, he honestly wasn't sure if this one would end successfully.

That had been the only warning that Sephiroth would give, and he wondered why he even bothered doing that much. Obviously this filthy world had changed him in ways that have dulled his blade as a warrior. The monster within craved more than this fool's blood, and as it subtly filtered through a plan of its own, he felt his energies heighten and his smirk grow at the sight of Barnaby returning to attack.

Sephiroth didn't need his wing to dodge, but that didn't stop the fighter from using it as he gave a large beat to aid his body in dodging out to the left of Barnaby's attack. At most, the heroic fool's attack brushed against the tail end of his jet black feathers, but Sephiroth had no care over such things as he instead used the momentary distract to launch his blade, sharp end and all, towards the irritating insect's side.

"In my world I had been both feared and awed for my ability on the battlefield, even long before I discovered just what I truly was. There wasn't a single soul who could best me in battle, and entire nations would crumble by my hand alone," he smoothly muttered before continuing on with his assault. Uncaring to whether Barnaby dodged or not, he struck out next with a series of eight swift slashes and impaling swings that mirrored his Octaslash as he smiled much like an angel of death. "And just like I could in my world, I can fight non-stop without tiring for days without losing a single ounce of my strength. Can you?"

The kick hadn't landed at all, merely trailing against the end of feathers as Sephiroth sidestepped his kick. It had only been a second after putting his foot down and readying for another kick before Sephiroth had launched at him with his sword. The slashes were intense and Barnaby had to put all of his focus into dodging them, quite regretful that he didn't have his hero ability at the moment. While he was still fast enough to dodge most of them (but just barely), the sword did nick his forearms twice.

And that smile was nothing but haunting, chilling to the bone. Sephiroth's words ran like ice. Fighting nonstop... That was nothing short of inhumane, completely impossible. But he didn't want to reply to that. Instead, he threw a punch at Sephiroth's chest, trying to regain some distance between them again.

He could see the haunted expression filtering through Barnaby's eyes when he had spoken the reality of what he was. It had only been a mere shard of what lay beneath it all, but if that had been enough to cause such a reaction, he doubted that the heroic fool could handle the truth of it all. That came as no surprise, and it was the way that he would keep it in the end.

"I take it from your lack of response that you cannot," Sephiroth needlessly mentioned right as Barnaby moved in to throw that punch. He made no move to dodge it, and allowed for the attack to land as those knuckles slammed against his chest, causing his breath to rush from his lungs. The pain that reverberated from the contact was nothing in comparison to all of the experiments Hojo and the other scientists had put him through, and his smile seemed to widen as his arm transformed back right before his hands snapped tightly around Barnaby's wrist and elbow. Using his larger form, Sephiroth moved to spin them around so that he could slam Barnaby up against the wall beside them.

Barnaby just decided it wasn't worth trying to bait Sephiroth in the middle of their fight. He had already gotten into enough lengthy word battles with this strange man, and he knew Sephiroth would just try to twist things around. It wasn't even worth it trying to argue. So he just didn't, putting more energy into the fight than listening to Sephiroth.

Once his fist connected, he withdrew, ready to throw another--but the surprise came as Sephiroth grabbed hold before he could completely move back. What in the world... Winded and yet still this quick?

Barnaby really hadn't been expecting the wall until his head knocked right into it. Honestly, he thought they had been a little further than that, but paying attention to the current setting was--or rather, had been--the least of his worries. The collision was enough to stun him, his vision blurring and blacking out for a few seconds. Dirty move, Sephiroth.

There was a satisfying smack as Barnaby's head hit hard against the wall. Unlike his battles with Cloud in the past, he had no intention of dragging this one out as long as possible. To him, there would never be another who could give him any level of challenge, let alone be as entertaining as his once-puppet had been, and so he saw little reason to even honour Barnaby with a true fight.

Sephiroth was right there to take the advantage when Barnaby found himself stunned. There would undoubtedly be some form of concussion thanks to the impact, but the ex-General gave little care to the implications of such a thing. Pinning Barnaby there with both one arm and his body weight, the other transformed back into a blade as it came up to slice open a wound on the palm of his right hand. Blood began to pool in the wound, but Sephiroth paid it no mind as the bladed arm reverted back and that hand came to grip at the foolish Meister.

"So unworthy of my attention," he silkily murmured as the bleeding hand shifted down until it gripped around one of Barnaby's open wounds on his forearm. He knew well what that action would bring, and the thought had the mako within his eyes flaring with strength as he smiled far too pleasantly at his prey.

"Did you know that I became known as a nightmare to all those in my world, but not because of my fighting prowess, because I am the perfect monster. Even a single drop of blood of mine was enough to cause catastrophic situations, and do you know why?" Sephiroth more stated than asked. With his voice sounding a delicious purr, his unnatural gaze remained fixated on the foolish Meister as he felt his cells beginning to run through the bloodstream of the would-be hero. Leaning in closer, his face was mere inches away from Barnaby's as he spoke again, "Because I am a living and breathing hostile virus."

It took Barnaby a few long moments to regain a proper semblance of consciousness after that smack. While slumped against the wall, heart and head both pounding in unison, he couldn't hear or feel much outside of the pressure of the wall against his face and some force pushing him back. And that hand, some stiff grip on his arm, stinging, along with a warm, wet liquid flowing down his fingers.

His eyes opened wide at that, and the world seemed to come into a very disjointed focus. Sephiroth. Sephiroth, right there, the force against his back, the grip on his arm--Barnaby knew this was a very, very bad place to be. Ready to struggle, he was actually somewhat surprised when his limbs didn't quite seem willing to cooperate, his movements far more disconnected than he had been hoping for.

Finally turning his head over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Sephiroth out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help the look of shock on his face. A hostile virus... Barnaby honestly wasn't even sure what the silver-haired soldier meant by that, but he was quick to assume that the liquid dripping down his arm was blood. Sephiroth was definitely bleeding into his arm--on purpose.

"NO!"

Immediately, he just decided to struggle, attempting to yank his arm away while also trying to turn his shoulders. It wasn't working nearly as well as he had hoped, but he needed to get out of this situation, and fast.

The reaction was near instant to his words, and he kept his grip nice and tight on the would-be hero. Sephiroth didn't bother hiding the amused chuckle when the struggle followed, and the loud shout had him pressing Barnaby even more firmly against the wall as his cells rooted themselves within Barnaby's body.

"Aa but it's too late. I can feel my cells joining with your own as they float through your bloodstream," Sephiroth purred while remaining in close to the young Meister's body. Keeping him pressed against the wall, the ex-General tested the connection between them,forcing Barnaby to feel a heavy pressure in him, as his face twisted into a look of dark pleasure. "Those who house my cells become a part of my own body - an extension of my will. Can you feel it? That wonderful pressure of ownership?"

While Barnaby was actually rather ashamed in himself for his sudden outburst, his panic and confusion far outweighed paying attention to his own half-conscious self-awareness. He hated the mere idea of running, but it seemed like the best option at the moment--and completely impossible, as that pressure formed and held him there. Cooperating with Sephiroth's words, the pressure had just begun to grow, keeping him pressed in that spot and hardly able to move.

"An... extension of your will?" he gritted out. Stubbornness almost came into play, with Barnaby almost playing completely oblivious to Sephiroth's taunting, but he needed to know what was happening, and what the hell Sephiroth did to him.

Chuckling lightly, Sephiroth leant in close enough so that his breath brushed over the hero's ear. Looking much like the cat that got the canary, the ex-General tightened his grip on Barnaby as he smoothly muttered, "You will discovered in all good time."

Sephiroth was releasing Barnaby in the next moment before he leapt back to put distance between them. He didn't fear for any attack, not in the slightest, but he felt nothing but the desire to watch the struggles and denials this fool would go through as the reality of the situation eventually sunk in. The awareness the cells within Barnaby's body now gave the back of his thoughts, just as the foolish hero could feel a dull tugging towards his direction.

With his wing flaring out wide, the display to further show Barnaby just how inhuman he was, Sephiroth silkily spoke, "You would find death a blessing to the fate now placed on you, Barnaby."

The more Sephiroth spoke, the more Barnaby actually felt panicked over what could potentially happen to him next. But... This couldn't be that bad. Nothing Sephiroth did to him--whatever he did to him--could be nearly as bad as Sephiroth was trying to intimidate him into understanding. Once he felt that hold released, his body slumped against the wall and he dropped to his knees.

Inhaling a deep breath of air, one shaky hand gripped for the wall, and Barnaby turned to look over his shoulder, a glare holding nothing but hatred in emerald orbs.

"Try to intimidate all you want, but you'll never win," he said slowly. "Whatever you've done, I'll surpass it. I'll always surpass it."

It didn't matter to him what the fool thought would happen. Nothing would change the fact that Barnaby now housed his cells, and while he could have reaffirmed that fact at this moment, the ex-General lay silently biding his time. The smile never did leave his face though, and he chuckled at the heroic idiot's attempt to remain brave.

"Believe whatever you will," Sephiroth said with his voice as smooth as silk. "You should keep reminding yourself while you lay awake with the constant feeling of my presence within every cell of your body."

Barnaby just turned his head away, focusing on taking deep breaths in order to bring himself to his feet again. Once he felt steady enough to stand, he did, although he didn't quite let go of the wall just yet. He avoided looking at Sephiroth again.

"You wish. I still doubt you've done anything; this won't do a thing."

Sephiroth didn't say anything, but simply watched Barnaby with that smug expression when the blonde fool denied it all. Not that Barnaby would see it given that he refused to even look at him. He'd allow for the heroic idiot to discover the truth on his own, and should Barnaby attempt to hinder or harass him again, he had yet another means to an end for that outcome.

There would come a time where he would punish the fool, but for now, Sephiroth chuckled lightly before he flexed his wing and began heading the opposite way down the alley.

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