"...How much longer are you going to keep on talking? You get tired, don't you?" Asked Vere, casting a furtive glance at Morrigan. He was curious, sure, but she was visibly huffing. She didn't even breathe once during that whole spiel; it only made sense that she had to refill her exhausted lungs.
"I'm--! Exhaust-ed! But you're gonna rake a whole crop-heap of Merits for me, so I gotta do my best." Morrigan held up a finger as she spoke, her waist bent forwards as she rested an arm alongside her knee. The answer roused Vere's curiosity, though.
The $3.56 in his pocket felt a little threatened at this moment. He was almost afraid to ask...but he was compelled to ask this question that lingered on his tongue.
It was promptly shoved for later, though. He wanted a little more distraction before he ruined his mood. Morrigan recovered before he could even reconsider letting himself down preemptively anyways.
"Alright!" The alluring detective gal with a ghostly countenance stretched her limbs, spinning at the waist as she cocked her arms akimbo. Pressure began to build as a whir sounded deep within the confines of her petit frame, reflecting in Vere's eyes as fluctuating black tendrils wafted off of her form.
A grin filled her face, this time with ecstasy. She shot towards Vere's fist first, prompting him to attempt to duck.
Black threads of Thought Power cloaked her fist as Vere bent downwards, shifting the momentum in her favor as she took the reins of the battle. The more swings she made, the more powerful she became, growing the black threads into billowing strands that spared no quarter.
A gut shot rocked against Vere's firm abdomen, causing him to stagger backward. Morrigan took the opportunity to batter him with her fists, playfully unaware of his darting eyes.
Reflected in his deep dark pools of perception were uneven footsteps, erratic chest movement, and the telling exhaustion that seemed to permeate Morrigan's body. Then, finally, a yellow and red light seeped from his body, materializing a Cognitive ability!
A conspiracy board appeared only to him; the man could always sense its current state. Nevertheless, there was a nagging feeling commanding him to consider the Details he had established so far, something beckoning him to his self-imposed duty.
(Uneven Footsteps)----(Erratic Breathing)----(Increasing Exhaustion). A line was drawn, linking each Detail into another to form a complete conjecture. The red and yellow light formed into an outline that coated his body, his mind quickly connecting these Details together as his feet seemed to speed up tremendously.
He was instinctively progressing--he knew he had no clue what he was really doing. But something about it seemed almost natural to him as if he was made for this very purpose.
Click.
As his fingers danced along the cold steel chassis, the revolver spun in a garish flourish. The glove around his hand tightened as he aimed the barrel at her abdomen, where her defense felt the laziest.
A purple glow filled the insides of his right iris momentarily, and he could swear he heard a familiar noise as it did so. It was like a hunchback tolling a bell, flawed yet distinct in its own peculiarities. The gut feeling he sustained rang true; taking that shot was the best thing to do in this situation.
As he made his move, his lips started parting and closing in succession. The bound Details revealed a special link, exposing the truth of the matter.
>Case Understanding Lv 0 to Lv 2!
Those words were displayed on the light panel hiding within his bracelet, these exact words being shown directly in front of him. The SAD was analyzing and transmitting data that he surmised into his brain nigh instantaneously.
"You aren't taking this seriously, are you? Such lazy movements will get you killed if this is what a Case is here." The red and yellow haze crept up onto the rampaging woman, whispering conspiracies that didn't seem inaccurate to the truth. The man in her eyes became a bit more mysterious as he continued to list the Details he had bound together successfully.
"Those uneven footsteps, that erratic breathing, and visible exhaustion. A woman that can effortlessly jump out of a window is fretting after giving me a mere bruise?"
That's right; her punches stung as they barreled into his flesh. Moreover, the slightly tangible black aura seemed to boost the effectiveness of each strike, making his ribs and stomach languish in constant pain.
Morrigan rapidly shook her head as the energy threatened to make her question her own movements, or at least it would in a real fight. Although she was putting on an act, her pupils constricted when she detected the faintest bit of muddle-headedness clogging her thought processes...
The second she took stretched into at least four for Vere. His feet darted and weaved in a strange tempo as the yellow-red aura carried his feet ever forwards. Exhaustion had started to take root, but he wasn't finished yet!
The Detail (Playing Around) was fully formed in his psyche. As the man and the woman glowed different shades of purple, two effects occurred at once!
Morrigan dispelled the befuddlement after being duped by his dangerously effective Conspiracy utilization. A hawk's cry resounded in both their ears as she attempted to peer through his assumed facade, yet a hunchback tolled a bell in response.
The perspective of the Detail Vere created was transmitted into plain meaning as it forcefully stuck to Morrigan's neck like a vice. He had successfully [Implanted] his perception onto her, making it take physical root because it resonated with her Motive. Implanting Details only ever worked if the [Hunch] was correct.
Black wisps coiled around his digit as he squeezed the trigger, his 6'4 muscular frame becoming even more intimidating underneath the light black aura. A sly grin slid over Vere's face as he flawlessly [Bluffed] under the effects of [Threaten], causing his blood to rush with adrenaline.
Blue mist pressed against the confines of his flesh as it stained his blood, creating esoteric ramblings scrawled along the muscles within his body. The Detail (Playing Around) manifested as a blue spark ignited a few centimeters away from him, revealing a mirror that sought to reveal Morrigan's thoughts.
"Admit it. This is the lamest child's play on the planet." The implanted Detail worked with Morrigan's feigned guilt to bring her face into the mirror. Inside its depths was an obtuse, bizarre smile.
"Alright, alright! You caught me--so let me go already. You were supposed to figure it out later, damned party pooper. Tsk" Morrigan's countenance immediately crumpled as she huffed to herself in annoyance. She figured this would at least take an hour, not five minutes!
Even geniuses had to contest for at least thirty minutes before her assessments.
"...Nah, I don't think so." Vere's agile finger clamped down on the eagerly awaiting trigger of his revolver, expelling heat and a speedy shell of lead towards her abdomen.
"UGHK-!" Morrigan spat out blood as Vere lifted his shirt, revealing the most amusing fact to him out of this whole encounter.
A deeper wound than the rest was reflected horizontally onto his stomach, where his bullet was lodged into her flesh. They were both bleeding around the navel.
Vere chuckled a bit as his face threatened to revert to an empty canvas. The yellow-red aura intensified as his demeanor shifted just enough to engrave the humor onto his mind. The Rami within his Cognitive Nexus began to grow, the Conspiracy Rami growing the most out of all of them.