Once Again, The Board is Set (Jean-Luc/Savage) [Saga]

Savage was a man of large appetite both literally and metaphorically, no matter where he went or what he did he'd take it to extreme levels. It was his greatest strength and his kryptonite, since Savage was reborn in a trial of blood and fire he has set the world to siege and takes no prisoners.  It's never been easy, especially with his impulses, but despite all the inconceivable hardships him and the Vagabonds have faced they've never let up, through thirty different countries tearing a war path through the world he felt only now after almost twenty years of hard labor, only now did he feel he was on the precipice of his dream. 

A dream weaker men called unachievable or outright foolish, Savage had maintained a steady stride towards. But although Savage's energy for battle is unmatched, although were he born in a prior time period he would been a legendarily grievous warlord who's death tolls would aim to overcome Genghis Khan in collective damage to the human race, even Savage occasionally needs to take a moment to pause; Almost similar to a holy sabbath Savage sometimes takes a day where he simply doesn't commit murder, arson, torture, theft, or any other crime for that matter. A day where for just a moment he upholds normality, walking when the signs say to, holding the door open to people, actually paying for goods, not brutally murdering people who have a strange propensity to walk into dark allies at poorly lighted times of the day. (Even if he does think about it) These days he also takes to be nostalgic, with his constant forward momentum Savage usually doesn't dwell on the old days as much as he should, perhaps if he did he could actually learn from his mistakes or remember times when the Vagabonds were naught but Jean and Savage or remember the older members of the Vagabonds who by now are either dead, missing, or hostile.  It's also fun to imagine all the various chaos the group has gotten since its inception, remembering the highs of it just so he can make them grander as is Savage's nature. 

However this "sabbath" also had a dual purpose, to remind him of the monotony of day to day existence, where one simply goes through the motions. The day always ended with Savage feeling a renewed vigor in his lone war against civilization, speaking of his war it had taken him to a new front. Jean had learned and later confirmed via the Vagabond's new associate  Kyoko of a military-grade auction, although in truth he didn't care, having close contacts with Ana guaranteed all the weapons he actually cared about he decided to go mostly to see if there'd be anything of interest. Wasn't as if there was much for him to lose by attending anyway. But because of it Savage decided that the Vagabonds may as well relocate to Shinagawa for the time being, if only because where they had their base currently located started to bore him.  This mean't Savage was out taking a walk in Shinagawa, something Jean would usually vehemently protest but he wasn't there to nag Savage to an early grave today, this mean't he was likely somewhere enjoying his own day off.  If Savage knew anyone who needed his rest it was Jean, the man's work ethic would probably land him in an early grave but in fairness that applies to all of the Vagabonds with no exclusions. 

Roaming around in Japan was always an odd experience, while Savage was used to standing heads and shoulders above anyone he met in Japan it was at an all time critical with some women being below his belt line as he walked through the city wearing a hawaiian shirt combo'd with sunglasses to accentuate that he was a tourist here from some foreign country;yes he was wearing summer clothes in October, Savage thanks to his muscle mass rarely feels cold. Anyway, Japan itself left Savage with a mixed bag, the attractions he expected to be interested in were mostly shallow and not really all that fascinating, the land was various shades of light grey to darker grey.  Sure there was the odd tree to "brighten" the view or the neon signs but it was overall a bland depressing place with limited or artificial coloring to at least hide the bleakness of it all, meanwhile however the rural areas of Japan Savage thought highly of.   But the environment of Japan was nothing compared to the people of Japan, the most boring subservient drones he'd ever met, all functioning in to Japan seem like an unlikable experience that one might regret. But while the day to day and the environment of Japan are rather... passe, Nippon has one area to highlight. The Heroes, sure they may be drones of the government, but the idea of a new caste of warriors made to dispense with those gifted with abilities above the capability of the law, or even using the new generation of super humans in any capacity left Savage with an uplifted feeling.   Again, a mixed bag.

It was wandering this concrete jungle that Savage liked to go near parks as a way to sort of refresh his eyes and it was there that he saw something peculiar, on a cold October day he noticed the familiar cephalopod alone at a table setting up for a game of chess. This wasn't the first time he'd witnessed Jean playing chess with himself but it was truly an ironic coincidence that Savage saw him on their shared day of rest.  He noticed he was on the black side and he was just starting, normally in a circumstance like this Savage would at least make an attempt to preserve the rare moments of Jean's tranquil pass time but Savage wasn't doing anything of particular note at the moment so why not go bug him?

Waltzing over with a large grin on his face, Savage put his hand on the open chair. "Looks like you could use a second player~"  After flashing a smug smile Savage would gesture over to the chair. "May I?"

Savage slid into the chair with great care, if he did it too hastily he could very well shatter the chair with incredible ease should he be a tad too hasty to sit down, a fact he was very experienced in resulting in his preference to either stand or use couches or other such furniture more capable of holding his weight. The chair it self was hardly what one could consider comfy but Savage wasn't one to particularly care about comforts, instead his gaze focused  on the chess board scratching his chin in contemplation of his opening move.  "Heh, I could say the same for you as well!"  He said a grin briefly flashing his face before returning to a more neutral expression. "Ah, but no you won't be hearing any sirens. I've done nothing but walk about the city." He said putting his finger up to briefly pause their conversation whilst he thought of his opening move.

For the moment focused more on the game at hand as he was in the middle of taking his opening move, deciding to go with E4 moving it tap tap two spaces forward. Afterward he relaxed a bit in the uncomfortable chair folding both his arms waiting for his psionic compatriot to go next. Savage's expression once again shifted into a grin as he took off his sunglasses to get a better look at Jean. Putting an arm on his chest he said "I swear I have done nothing but walk in the city! I even waited for the signs to tell me to walk! I've been nothing but a good upstanding member of society, I even contemplated helping an elderly woman cross the road, I didn't, but as they say it's the thought that counts no? Pffshfshahaa!" He said with a bit of a chuckle at the end still wearing his cheeky grin, however realizing that he may be perceived as mildly sarcastic Savage once again reaffirmed. "But yes, I haven't committed a single act of arson, murder, theft, torture, battery and whatever else is usually thrown at us. Counterfeit?" The counterfeit was intended as a joke but honestly although Savage felt like he has never committed counterfeit with all the various exploits the Vagabonds have gotten themselves into over the years he wouldn't be surprised if he had and simply wasn't remembering at the moment.

He could tell Jean was half joking with the questions, but of course it was only half joking as there had been dozens of times when Savage in the past lulled the squid into a false sense of complacency only to thrust upon him some wild scheme or horrible news, mostly for Savage's own amusement over Jean's temper tantrums. So his mild paranoia was well-founded, Savage after all is nothing if not spontaneous. "No plans, none at all. No pitches, no bodies, no schemes, it is the sabbath today. All of that can be left till tomorrow!" He said raising a finger in exclamation as he reached over to reveal his aggressive play moving his left knight into play in response before once again leaning back in his chair, starting to rock himself back and forth complacently with one foot.

As the two played it started to bring back memories that seem to have both been centuries and moments ago. He remembered it well, Paris, 2056, riots had struck at the heart of the state and many thought another republic was about to be born from the ashes. There were too many would-be revolutionary to count but of them there was one that stood shoulders above the rest in his ideals, with dreams of a society where those with special abilities aren't persecuted for their superiority, this was a time before the boys before even a Savage. At the time he went by Boris, he was young, in his prime, and full of zeal, but this was also when he was hiding from the world something that he still feels some secret shame over.

As a cold wind blew over the pair Savage felt the area around him start to melt away as he closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. Suddenly he was there again, he was stalking through the smoked out ruins around the Monument à la République, at first only observed from the sidelines as the self-proclaimed Vigilantes surrounded the once glorious leader of revolution in Paris. Although his abilities were strong he couldn't last forever, Boris knew it, he noticed the revolutionary hand's begin to shake and attacks starting to find their mark. As exhaustion finally took its due and the rebel could no longer even manage to lift his arms up it was clear what was about to happen, these Vigilantes saw him as a quirk supremacist, a man who would only bring disaster in the future and in order to preserve their fake balance they planned to slay once illustrious leader. Boris wondered if he should intervene or if he should keep the facade, if he merely let the Vigilantes kill the man he could stay in the shadows a little longer, for a moment longer he could maintain normalcy.

He's never told this side of the story to Jean but for a moment he was reserved to let the revolutionary die, before they could actually deliver the final blow he declared his war. The great war. No more hiding, no, from now till his last day he was reserved to struggle against the innumerable, it was at that moment Savage moved like lightning. Easily he tore the Vigilantes apart, it was so much easier back then, that was his peak he felt invincible in those days. Eventually he lent a hand to the downed rebel and said his famous words that he has repeated to each and every new member of the Vagabonds. "Stand with me and no one will ever hold us back." Although he wouldn't get the name till far later, that was the day Savage was truly born, that was the day the Vagabonds came to be.

Suddenly he'd be called back into reality as Jean asked him a question. "Huh? Wha- Uh." He looked up thinking while stroking his chin, before shrugging. "Why not both? Let's see where it goes?" He said waiting for Jean's next move. "You know? This reminds me of the first week after Paris, remember when you and me played chess in a bombed apartment and you interrogated me? Tell me, have you ever figured out how much what I told you back then was true?" He said flashing a smile before pondering his next move.

The giant flashed a grin. "Ah. I remember that, truly unfortunate for all those involved but, you know me. Tit for tat, blood for blood, waste my money and I ruin your economy so utterly that a new currency is required to reverse the damage."  It was a happy memory, from a time where things were simple and more malleable. That wasn't all the pair had done in Bolivia around that time either, he remembered their hidden wars with the local drug cartels, the beautiful women, and the murder of an archbishop. It was truly an eventful time in the history of the Vagabonds, it was a pity that Eduardo or Ryung hadn't been around for it, they would have enjoyed it. Now all Savage has left are naught but stories and memories, but that's just the way of life is it not? Well, stories and the Archbishop hat... What? It was comfortable to wear sometimes when going to bed.

That reminded him of other adventures the pair had gone on through the years, from the sperm whale, to the Sudan "incident." It was seeing all these other beautiful places that made him look at Japan with disdain, it wasn't nearly as exotic or interesting, the people here are too set in their ways and too dogged in their government worship. It was pathetic when compared to the luscious jungles of Africa, the seedy slums of South America, or the battle-torn fields of China, it held no discernible features other than its mediocrity and a hold over of the age of "civilization." Savage stopped rocking himself for a moment as a word suddenly started to echo through his mind, Sudan, it was such a momentous place that just thinking about it made Savage giddy.

This was a little bit after they recruited Eduardo, they were involved in the ongoing civil war that had once again rocked region. They had been going in between the various warring factions to sow chaos and find interesting quirkers for Jean, he remembered how they helped insurgents storm the capital. Oh the slaughter that was had, it was a perfect maelstrom of absolute brutality, but it was all ruined when the hopped up warlord they had installed had the audacity to betray him and tried to stage a surprise attack on the boys as they planned to exit the country. It made Savage's blood boil at the time when he awoke to the sounds of insurgents storming his base. "Tell me Jean, of all our personal achievements, which do you hold the highest?" He said genuinely curious, after all Jean and him had far different interests so what for Savage felt like a his greatest achievement for Jean would probably be an exercise in tedium. There were so many things the Vagabonds had done over the years that perhaps for Jean it may be hard to choose but for Savage the answer was simple.

"Mine was in Sudan, after that dog betrayed us. Do you remember it? We were finally leaving the country after
months of 'helping' the locals. And that ungrateful bastard sent a strike squad after us, I'm pretty sure he even killed a few of Eduardo's poor frogs, truly a sad day." He said with genuine pity for Eduardo's amphibians, taking a moment to take off his sunglasses as to better look at his surroundings. "Even now I can still remember the joy I felt when he decided to give us that parting 'gift'." As he went on he made a responding move to Jean putting his bishop into play. "Fourteen days of hell we reaped as we made our way to the blasted ruin he claimed a capital, I remember your plan to infiltrate at night and assassinate him rather than risk fighting a combined army. It was smart but I was afraid of being left unsatisfied, fortunately his bodyguards were quite the challenge, at least he had a single brain cell large enough to know that our reprisal would be swift and layered in bodies. So he bought mercenaries honestly thinking that those who fight for common currency could ever match us."

By now Savage's smile had turned devilish as the images flashed in his head. He had taken three body guards, a mantis mutation who had long serrated blades for hands that we easily capable of slicing through steel, a man who had atomic breath, and another who could melt in and out of solid objects able to move unseen. "The melee that was had... Oh." He said closing his eyes and wishfully thinking about that moment. "The one with the breath had gotten you good but that'd be his last breath as you used the warlord's scimitar to impale him from behind, quite the move. The other two though I had to deal with, Eduardo was able to slow the mantid's movements so I wouldn't have too much trouble but still... I've always hated those who prefer to keep a distant and attack on their own terms, they're always so trouble some. Especially the phasing one, his gunfire couldn't possible kill me but it did take its toll after a while, I still remember the look on his face you bent his gun inward after convincing him of your own wounds, and I still remember grabbing him by his leg before he could melt and tearing him in half down the middle. It was such a lovely puddle of memories we left there, unfortunately insectoids and me don't quite mix well and soon enough." He smiled as he slapped his knee. "I'm not sure if you were conscious at the time, but I still remember when that thing split my leg open much like I did to his companion. Thank fully that put him within grasping distance and well... It was a good site seeing his broken body fling about as I tossed him off toward the wall."

Savage leaned back in his chair. "But none of that compared to after, not even killing the warlord compared to it... It was that look they gave us. Guardsmen stormed in, with the assault rifles, we were all incapacitated and if they had opened fire there I'm confident that might have been our end. But... They were too scared, I could see it in their eyes. Most of them knew us and what we could do, and it probably didn't help that I was so engulfed by the blood lust that I wasn't thinking straight so I." He started to chuckle before he pounded his chest, causing a small tremor to resound in the area around them as Savage raised his voice which would probably raise looks if anyone were walking around. "I believe it went something like 'SHOOT ME! YOU CAN'T KILL ME! YOUR BULLETS CAN'T HURT ME I AM THE BRINGER OF CHAOS AND DEATH, I AM THE KINGSLAYER, SHOOT ME OR ELSE I WILL EAT YOUR YOUNG AND YOUR WOMEN WILL WORSHIP ME LIKE A GOD!' It probably didn't help that I took a bite out of their former leader as I said that, heh. Then of course you ruined the fun and had them gun each other down in their hesitation, honestly if you hadn't I'm confident I'd be the ruler supreme of Sudan as of this moment. Imagine it, being too scared to fire at a man with a splintered leg. Heh, cowards." Savage said finally toning it down to make another move.