Blockades and Lemonade

Job Info:

Alexei Sarona entered Clover Town through the gates, looking around cautiously. For a mission of this importance that he had been given, the town didn't seem to be in that much chaos; people were still walking around happily, and the commerce seemed to be going on as usual.
It was a shame; chaos would have been appreciated.
Alexei's travels had been amusing him less and less lately; he couldn't get past events out of his head. Almy and the village, Blane and his master Rakoto, and the entire God Slayer mess that Alexei had found himself in. And above all of it, the event that caused him to discard his past trappings and become the wandering hedonist that he was now. The past was trapping him, and no matter how far Alexei ran, he couldn't seem to get away from it all.
In his desperation, he had sought out a job, any job, that could take his mind off of the past. He would never have taken this job had there been any other circumstances; it was far too simple, and didn't seem to pose enough of a challenge or be fun enough to entertain him. Now, however, he was desperate, and even this simple taste of a job would have to do.

The Clover Town Hall was about as generic of a town governmental building as one could get: Brick, with a bell tower on top and a bulletin board on the front. On the bulletin, there was a poster titled "Break the Blockade!" with a picture of a Vulcan on the front. The poster, however, was scribbled over with the words, "Taken". Alexei smiled slightly, despite himself; it was nice to know that his job position was reserved, even if it was a crap job.
The inside of the building was made to look like a rustic country building, which made Alexei scowl. More reverence for the past; the last thing he needed was to be reminded of it. He'd finish this fast and get out. He went up to the receptionist and said bluntly, "I'm here for the blockade job."
The receptionist looked up, a fake smile plastered across his face. "Wonderful!" He said cheerfully, although Alexei could tell that he was faking the whole thing. "I'll let the mayor know. In the meantime, would you like a glass of lemonade?"
Alexei's face hardened. "No. Keep your lemonade. I'm just going to go take care of the problem." He turned around and walked out, leaving the fake receptionist there in slight shock.

As Alexei walked out of the Town Hall, his thoughts continued to sour like the ungiven lemonade. A job like this would be far too short and easy to assuage his unstable emotions; why the hell had he taken it? He couldn't back out now, since he had just confirmed that he was taking it; if he backed out now, not only would people not offer him jobs because his reliability was ruined, he would also be constantly tormented by people who thought that he was defeated by this simple goblin/Vulcan combo. Just like before...
Alexei shook his head violently, drawing attention from some of the other people on the street as he neared the station. Why did the past have to keep coming up? This wasn't how things were supposed to be going, dammit! The past was just that: Things that had already happened, that had little to no effect on the current situation. Why, then, could Alexei not get them out of his damn mind?! Why must his mind torment his heart so? And if this current lifestyle wasn't working to cut out the past...why was he doing it in the first place? Was he walking down the wrong path? The path to self-destruction?
With his mind in torment, Alexei entered the station.

The entrance to the station was littered with guards, both policemen and what looked like regular volunteers. One of them, of the policeman variety, noticed Alexei approaching and went over to meet him. "Are you the wizard who took the job?" He asked the young Light God Slayer, who simply nodded. "Excellent!" He cried, smiling genuinely - the first one that Alexei had seen since entering the city. "The Vulcan and goblin are right through there. We've kept them in a standoff, but we need you to take them out so that the trains can get running again."
"I know," Alexei muttered, barely audible. "That's what the job said."
"Really?!" The guard said, laughing a bit nervously at the wizard's tone. "Well, I guess I didn't even need to brief you, then! Go right in!"
Alexei nodded again silently, walking slowly past the guard and into the boarding area. The guard watched him go, a curious look on his face. He's very young for a wizard, he thought as he stared at the strange cloak wrapped around Alexei's body. I wonder what drove him to become a magic user at that age? And what was the depressing aura around him about? The guard shrugged as he moved to take his place in the blockade once more. It wasn't his place to pry into other's matters, after all.

Alexei entered the boarding room of the station, but his mind was completely elsewhere. His thoughts were in complete and utter chaos; he couldn't focus on anything as the past fought to burst into his mind, and the rest of his faculties tried desperately to keep it down. It's no wonder, then, that as soon as the door to the boarding station closed, he was knocked unconscious by a goblin with a hammer landing on his head. "I gots him, Bossu! I gots him!" The small devil cried, jumping off of the unconscious God Slayer's head to run towards the hulking figure in the darkness.
"Good job, Gord! Uhuhu~" The larger Vulcan said happily, emerging from the shadows and picking up the wounded mage. "We can make him our hostage, and get even MORE pies and sherbet! Go get some rope so we can tie him up."
"Great idea, Bossu! You're a genius!" The goblin, Gord, said, cackling maniacally as he set off to find some rope. The Vulcan, meanwhile, placed Alexei against a post with surprising gentleness. He didn't want to hurt the hostage, after all. Meanwhile, the unconscious Alexei was dreaming of times long past, much to his chagrin...

It was a stormy night, with the black clouds clashing against the red sky that surrounded the Corrupt Tower. They were having lessons indoors tonight, with Simon as their teacher. He was always Alexei's favorite; his mastery over machinery was Alexei's favorite type of magic. Today, he even promised to teach the young Alexei and his friend Vivian how to make things like he could. So here he sat on the carpeted floor, listening raptly to his lecture...
...Until the floor dropped out from under him.
Alexei fell through darkness for a long time before landing in a strange, ruined chamber, lit partially by a single large bonfire in the middle. A white orb floated above it, from which faint voices could be heard. Alexei crept closer, examining the orb and straining to hear what was being said. No matter how close he got, though, the voices never seemed to get louder. Until, that is, a voice boomed through the entire chamber, sending the Light God Slayer flying back. "IT IS YOUR DUTY," the voice boomed; Alexei quickly recognized it as Rakoto, the God from which he derived his powers. "SMITE THOSE DESERVING OF THE LIGHT GOD'S WRATH."
"But who is deserving?!" Alexei cried out, his voice rising. "Our morals are irreconcilable! Your idea of who to smite is different from mine!"
"IT DOES NOT MATTER. YOU WILL SMITE THEM." An incredibly strong wind began blowing, knocking Alexei off of his feet and whipping him around the huge chamber.
"I don't understand!" Alexei roared, but the wind was too loud in the young boy's ears to even hear the booming voice of Rakoto. The light went out, and Alexei was plunged into darkness...

And he awoke, bathed in sweat.

Alexei's eyes snapped open, panting heavily. What was that dream? Was it a prophecy? Just a fevered delusion brought on by his mental conflicts? Either way, it hadn't helped in any way. Smite the deserving? Who the hell were the deserving, if not the ones who restricted others?

Speaking of restricted, Alexei was currently being bound by some rope to a post in the station. The Vulcan and the Goblin were off in a corner, animatedly discussing something or other; honestly, Alexei didn't care what the discussion was about. What mattered was that he was being held hostage; and nobody, especially not a stupid monkey and his lackey, was allowed to restrain him.

Looking around, Alexei quickly took stock of the situation. Things hadn't changed from when he had entered for the most part; the blockade was still there, the floor was still littered with pieces of wood that could probably go onto the blockade if not for his opponents' stupidity. They were certainly sloppy; the rope, though, was tied tight. It surprised Alexei; his opponents didn't strike him as the kind to be able to tie a knot with any kind of consistency. Was there another, unseen opponent? One that would be able to take the Light God Slayer by surprise? If so, his next move would need to be planned carefully.

After a few minutes considering his options, Alexei came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter whether or not there was a hidden enemy. If there was, the Light God Slayer would deal with it when he appeared; if not, so be it. He could ask the other two if there was somebody after he beat them. First, though, he had to break out of these bonds.

As it turned out, it was easier than expected; despite being tied well, the ropes themselves weren't the best quality, and his targets were too busy arguing about something or another to realize Alexei's efforts. His hands had just enough wiggle room to reach the rope; after using his Hard Light skill to make a small dagger, he cut through the binds with ease. He rose up, flexing slightly; however long it took to get out, it had been long enough to cause his muscles to cramp up somewhat. He settled into a sprinters' starting position, aiming directly at his oblivious targets. After taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, his Brightshade Cloak flared to life and he enchanted his legs with his Blacklight Barrage, further increasing his speed. He took off towards the pair of beasts, eyes locked onto his targets.

--

Alexei Status

HP: 100%
MP: 95% (signature spell and 1 D-Rank used, 3 posts until regen)
Current Speed: 420% of base

Spells on CD:
Hard Light (Signature): 3 posts
Blacklight Barrage: 3 posts

The poor beasts never saw it coming.

The Vulcan was definitely the top priority target, so Alexei took him out first with a fully charged Hand of Judgement backed by 29 meters per second of acceleration in the unsuspecting enemy's back. The bizarre ape let out a yelp as he was sent flying forward into the wall, leaving the goblin to deal with the angered Light God Slayer. "I-it wasn't my-" he began to stutter before Alexei's powered up foot collided with the little gremlin's face, launching him backwards and up. Alexei followed up with a quick toss of the Hard Light Dagger he was holding, launching it in the goblin's path of flight; unable to dodge, the goblin was impaled through with the dagger, signaling the end of what Alexei had no doubt was a pathetic life.

With both of the enemies out of the way, Alexei turned his attention to the blockade. Although it took a few tries to find a suitable spot, he succeeded in creating a small Flashbang bomb in a space inside the blockade. Within a short time, it would detonate, destroying the blockade that was made mostly of rotting wood. That would signal the end of the mission, and Alexei could finally move on with his life.

--

Alexei's Status
HP: 100%
MP: 80% (used a C-Rank and D-Rank spell this post; 2 posts until regen)
Current Speed: 420%

Spells on CD:
Hard Light: 2 post cooldown
Blacklight Barrage: 1 post duration, 2 post cooldown
Hand of Judgement: 3 post cooldown (was fully charged)
Flashbang: Set up, waiting for detonation

As Alexei waited for the Flashbang bomb to go off, something was annoying him in the back of his head: Who had tied that knot? It certainly wasn't these two; Alexei doubted the late goblin and his buffoonish boss could be trusted to wipe their own behinds, let along tie a knot that could hold a person. There was definitely something else going on, but what?

A rustling sound somewhere behind him caused Alexei to whirl around; sure enough, the Vulcan was getting back to his feet, glaring at Alexei. "How dare you," The Vulcan growled. "He was my friend, uhuhu~"
"How dare you tie me up, then?" Alexei responded, venom clear in his voice as he walked over to the Vulcan. "Restriction of freedom is the worst possible thing you can do to a person. Anybody who does so - even with as simple a thing as tying a knot to restrain me - is to be punished by death."
His eyes flared purple, signaling the activation of his Eyes of God; the Vulcan, unaware of it's paralytic power, found himself unable to move. "W-what did you do to me? I can't move!" It cried, whimpering. "You're a hypocrite, uhuhu~"
"An eye for an eye," Alexei responded evenly. "If you restrict others' freedom, you yourself will be restricted. That is your punishment."
"B-but I didn't even tie the knot!" The Vulcan responded, whimpering. "That was the man, uhuhu~"
Alexei's eyes faded back to normal as he crouched in front of the still-paralyzed Vulcan, staring at him with cold eyes. "Tell me about this man," Alexei said, his voice like iron.

--

Alexei's Status

HP: 100%
MP: 76% (used one post of Eyes of God; one post until regen)
Current Speed: 280%

Abilities on CD:
Hard Light: 1 post CD
Blacklight Barrage: Worn off, 1 post CD
Flashbang: Set up, not detonated
Hand of Judgement: 2 post CD