Mortal Coil (CONQUEST)

Jackie heaves a sigh and wipes some sweat from her brow as the last ones she could find are all corraled into their boxes or Russ's. Moving around so much while still hurting was wearing on her, even as she had help for it. The blue saiyan would be right there as always, pointing to the cages they made and the husks within them. The poisoned air that made these things dispersed when the necromancer did. Another loose end the kami no doubt would need to track down. Of those here, Sitri proved to be the most pressing factor.

"The city itself has a few holes in it. No doubt we'll be patching that up later once Chomei and the others gather themselves. Right now, we're focusing on the real toll taken here."
Slow, deep breaths. Jackie straightened up and held both of her hands palm outwards at the cages. Trying to suss out any sort of warmth of the soul still within. Eyes would close in this focus. Russ could feel and see that troubled reflex of her brows as she went through the motions of confirming the worst. Kami shook her head.

"It... Isn't just bad, it's dire. The people had their souls taken I feel. Warmth no longer lingers in these shells of men and women. The moment that deathly gas took over their bodies, it was forfeit."
These farses that stumbled and lashed out at the living couldn't be called alive anyway. Not anymore. Animated, sure, but no different from a crane moving its arm up and down on the job site. What had been taken from them, life, was not so readily given back. Not for the average person. She opens her eyes and just looks at Russ.

"We'll need a count, and any identification we can get. I don't know if we can give them those souls back or not."
it was about as good of an order as she could give, with the dust settling. She'd even reach out to people who either served the city or were tied to the great hospitals here. If they didn't already get the message that the threat was dealt with and they should respond, they would now. The softer, gentler, not-so-red-hot voice in the back of their heads that Jackie would articulate that the worst is over.

Moire was drawing her attention again with the yelling and sudden outburst from consuming a part of the shinjin. Jackie wasn't going to pretend she understood how it affected majin physiology. She hopped over some destroyed car to get next to the woman again, holding a calm hand up as a show of weary pacifism. There was no harm to be had here, only apprehension. Just as Vale's body fades and his voice eventually shuffles over to her own mind. She had something to say to Moire initially, something she would probably expect as a 'hey, it's alright', but now the kami just shook her head and lowered her hands.

"I'll show you a purpose alright... Life has meaning, I won't allow you or anyone you work around to pleasure in taking this privilege of experience away on a whim. So go on, wither. Wither and cry about not killing more. I'll talk with those who want a purpose."
This seemed almost more for Moire compared to the likes of Vale, who no doubt was drifting away as some soul as she spoke. Trying to talk down and reason with those who had things messed up with them, things fucked up about their past, anything that could be smoothed over or talked through to make better people attracted her attention far more than those she threw her fire and rage at. Even now, she was unsure if someone like Lottus ever wanted to change. The kami sighs and eyes her undead cages again... What to do...

---

Russ's blood felt cold as his face turned pale, some very distressing news from Jackie's mouth pass through his ears. Once the lethal gas affected the civilians, their souls are gone forever. The Saiyan narrowed his eyes, glancing down at the ground as he feels a mixture of anger and sorrow. "Damn..." he muttered softly, putting a hand over his eyes while taking a moment to breathe, holding back tears.

Russ shakes his head and goes stoic. He has to be strong for the fallen victims, Russ has seen enough death to last a lifetime. He will mourn for them after cleaning up the city. Russ felt a lot of souls transported to afterlife and turned his head to where Sitri and Gira used to be. He wonders what made the zombie owner decide to release his captives, what did Gira do to change his mind?

"That swordsman creep sent all of their souls to Otherworld, roughly more than a thousand of them. There is nothing we can do for these people now..." Russ placed a hand on a prison surface, sadly watching a dead civilian. A loud yell grabbed his attention, his head looks at the Majin's direction. Her power grew substantially after absorbing Vale which is catharsis judging by her glee from obtaining a living soul.

"Someone is enjoying this a little TOO much." Russ commented. Jackie is handling her friend, no need for him to step in.

Focusing on the task at hand, it was time to clean up the bodies. The vigilante sighs pulled out a phone and called 9-11 "Hey operator? Can you send all of your paramedic trucks and ambulances down to Central City? We got an estimate death toll of one thousand five hundred civilians, we need a bunch of em down here pronto. Thank you." He hung up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He almost forgot something, turning to Jackie. "Oh yeah, you can have this back, guess I don't need it after all." He did a similar transfer technique to give back her stuff she wanted him to hold.

Apparently, the soul shenanigans aren't done making Russ' life a living hell. Due to that female Majin consuming up Vale, his soul continues to linger around. Almost as if the man believed he can still make a difference in messing with the heroes. Russ sternly looks at the malicious soul and made a final statement, right after Jackie made her speech. Russ points an index finger at the soul. "And the next time you see Eris, tell her I'm gonna hunt her down. She WILL get what's coming to her for everything she's done. I swear it." Declaring war on the rogue Shinjin.

Russ waits for the medical staff and police to get here; he helps them put the bodies on stretchers and used his magical powers to help patch up the holes caused by the fighting. He is going to be here for a long time.

Jackie gave a nod to what Russ was doing, going off and eventually helping the staff with who was injured but not necessarily killed by these smoke zombies. She winces at the number but takes solace in knowing just how much worse it could have been if it was allowed to break out for much longer. In terms of time to deal with a threat, they were surprisingly fast here. Chalk it up to the largest threats having their morale crushed by Vale, or dragged off by said largest threat. She clenches her fist a little, watching the scene before her...

She finally catches a glimpse of Moire readjusting, finally. Flexing and feeling her rise in power from the simple act of taking away Vale's husk. The guardian chuckles a little, shaking her head as a faint smirk breaks that solemn look she had before. The woman laughs. Of course, Russ might have been a bit apprehensive seeing her do all of this, but it was a relief to Jackie at least that she approached and calmed herself down.

"Intimidated? Hah, you're asking the wrong woman."
She recalls trying to give both Lottus and Salvo their pieces. It wasn't going to be the power that unsettled the kami at this point. She's still standing, as well as one could with part of their back torn open and forcibly closed back. It was a constant soreness on the back that would heal like any other. The majin's concern was going to be rebuked with her own assured breath. "I meditate, hoping every day's the last day we've gotta do something like this. I'm fine, trust me. I think I've been through worse."

Jackie couldn't sense something was off immediately. This quiet and sudden silence between the two as Jackie looked at the crowd wasn't lost on her though. if she had a curious little ear, it'd perk at the odd lack of noise.

"Moire?"
Then came thunder. Or, rather, the crackle of lightning under pressure. The kami turned to see the majin gripping her shoulder in place as the other hand was grasping hold of a single ball of purple lightning. The woman stops and widens her eyes at the sudden turnaround here. Confused might be a word, but it was almost more like a dangerous bit of nostalgia. How many times...? And here of all places? Was there ANOTHER rotten soul controlling the people she was looking after? Cared for? She couldn't be for sure about anything except that this had happened before.

"Moire!"
That dark energy she let off after absorbing Vale? Maybe it had something to do with it. But Jackie wasn't sure of any way to
Not again. Before the majin would move to strike at her Jackie yanked a hand forward to clamp down on the majin's wrist. Keeping the attack held back and at a literal arm's length she threw the other arm around the majin's shoulder. Trying to pull her close into a half hug as sudden warmth starts to wreath the two. She had to be close, had to feel what Jackie felt for this crack shot to work.

"If you won't talk, I'll light the path for you! You control your fate, but let me guide you out of that dark!"
With a desperate cry and tension between the two, Jackie did the one thing she only remembered the masters for; Purified Immolation. It's what led to one, in particular, holding off her village's nightmare long enough to preserve part of her heritage in jewelry. Clutched in their hand, they could fight off overpowering fire with their own. Applied to the body itself... Maybe it could burn off any nasty presence?

The pair would suddenly combust in a brilliant orange and white flame. It didn't nearly hurt as much as one might think, thanks to Jackie's control over said flames, but they seemed to latch on further than skin deep. The soul itself was given a little roast. This burning radiated out to anything else in the area that seemed to possess the same malignant energy. Dissipating the lightning stake, shaking a few other's evil aura in the far distance, but most importantly this burning would start eating away at a certain pesky little shinjin that decided to stick around too long.

The kami held onto Moire past the mild pain for a moment, resting a head on her shoulder as she tried keeping her close, avoiding burning her for as long as she could manage. To cap off the display of purifying flame, Jackie does eventually pull the hand grabbing Moire's now disarmed hand long enough to light it aflame. Aiming to dispel and throw off the remaining fires with a sudden chop to the forehead. Hoping to drop any sort of resistance the majin could put up past this. The other arm cradling her back would make sure she didn't fall immediately.

"Haah... Did that do anything?"

---

Moire feared what might've happened to Jackie as the majin had lost control over her own body, swinging the bolt of lightning right towards her gut as she tries to stab her against her will, eyes wide open at the horror in front of her. Jackie, however, would prove to be quite perceptive, and fast to react to the incoming strike, and so grabbed hold of her wrist before she could strike. At that moment, Moire feared Jackie's retaliation against her. This could've been it right here. She could've perceived this as an attempt on her life, and so taken the majin's here and now. She could've severed her arm and charred the stump, slowing her regeneration down to prolong a conflict.

... Instead, she was greeted with a hug of all things. The pair were suddenly surrounded by a wall of orange flames, covering most of their bodies as the fire licked at them, but the two weren't engulfed and being consumed by the flames. Though it did sting while inside of this pillar of fire, it wasn't nearly hot enough to burn the skin, completely unnatural to how normal flames work. These ones were special, and as they continued to graze the majin's body, Moire could feel more of her body coming back to her, being able to move once more as the lightning stake slowly dissipated from the power of the flames.

Moire's hand moves to Jackie's back, her eyes still wide right open, body shaking as she could feel the fire still burning at whatever corruption was lying deep inside, but even she knew that something like this wouldn't be able to solve the problem. Whatever it was that that damned shinjin did to her... What she ate... It was trying to consume her, to get her to commit actions against her will, against her own autonomy. Jackie's remedy could work for now... But... She still tried to strike her down.

Even if it wasn't her fault, even if it wasn't on purpose... It was still her hand that threatened Jackie's life, just as she once threatened back in the forest. She was being consumed on the inside, though neither by the corruption of the shinjin nor the flames of purification around her. It was, instead, another feeling that was tearing her to pieces: Guilt.

After a sudden chop, Moire lost control of her body again, though not by the corruption of the shinjin, but rather that she felt rather weak from the purification. Her power drastically dwindled as she couldn't utilize her power anymore, completely empty and sapped of energy. Jackie catches her before she could fall however, and she meets the Earthling's gaze once again. Despite the warmth she felt from those eyes... Despite not wanting to look away previously... She couldn't stand looking at Jackie, not with the majin's own current state.

She gently wriggles out of Jackie's grip, legs a bit wobbly after the purification before she falls on one knee, grunting before slowly rising back up, a look of worry and fear stricken across her face before looking down at her shaking hands. She gives Jackie another glance, her breathing picking up as she opens her mouth. "... I.... I....." There was nothing more she could say, too choked up now. She takes a step back from Jackie, and another, right before jumping back, floating up into the air, and trying to fly away as fast as she can from the scene. These hands... These hands with murderous intent behind them... She couldn't be here, not when Jackie's this close... She needed to be isolated... She needed to be alone... Alone so she can either figure out how to purge herself of this curse... Or be alone for the rest of her days, a hermit once more.