A spark of conflict

New York was another example of this worlds humans and their ingenuity. Massive buildings rising to the heavens, forged from course earth they called concrete with steel as its bones. While others were desensitized to the sights, he couldn’t help looking in wide eyed wonder at every sight despite the fact he had been here for a good while. Christian was the poor human that had to deal with him, occasionally glancing at the smartphone in hand. They had after all come to this city for more than just gawking at the spires called Skyscrapers. ”Do you think these buildings truly can scrape the sky?” He inquired of his friend, eyes looking upwards at the many buildings. More like a child looking at new things rather than the adult that he physically was.

”No, they don’t actually scrape the sky. It’s just some name to make them sound more impressive than they are.” Like cruel reality Christian cut into his pleasant wondering.

”Well that’s no fun. You’d think they would have learned to incorporate magic into their technology by now. The dwarves did that back in my world and they achieved some amazing things.” if there was one thing he liked to talk about, it was how amazing his old world was. It almost drove Christian mad sometimes.

”Uh huh, elves and dwarves. I’m sure your world is very interesting.” More casual dismissal as if he were disinterested in the concept or didn’t want everyone around them to think he was crazy. Not that people babbling to themselves about crazy thing was unusual. ”What are you looking at now?” He questioned as Cas seemed to look off in the distance, eyes narrowed in an almost deliberate fashion.

”Think I heard one of those gun things fire off.” He noted already walking off this eighteen looking good in camo patterned shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Hardly threatening despite the fact he did look impressively built.

”Cas, I don’t think this is a good idea!” He shouted to no one listening as he came upon what looked to be the police in a stand off with someone. Was that what he was looking at. These police people were equal to the guards his home used to have, with less armor and strange weapons of course. One of the officers turned towards the strange male approaching with the weapon raised.

“Hey, is anyone keeping the civilians away?” He snapped, almost confused but why he didn’t step back from the gun in his face.

”Hi, i’m Cas and I was seeing you were having issues with brigands in your bank.” He smiled in that almost dopey expression that Cas tended to wear when dealing with people. It was almost impossible to hate him, despite how wrong he was doing this. ”I was hoping I could help.”

“Oh great now we’re dealing with a crazy one.” The officer rolled his eyes while Cas raised a brow and shrugged. Without preamble he drew strength into his legs and propelled over the cops, slamming through concrete walls and landing on the tile of the bank floor with a resounding slam. People screamed in surprised as guns were all on him.

”Looks like i’m in the right place.” Then they all opened fire.

Caspian was out in New York City, trying to pick up some hero work—but there didn’t really seem to be anything going on today. Normally, Caspian only really took on petty crimes, as he wasn’t really important enough or well known enough to be called on for bigger missions. Though he had to admit that he probably wasn’t good enough to take on anything too tough yet. Plus, if his parents found out that he was running around New York City, he’d be on the first bus back to Connecticut. Being the heir of the Heathcliffe family meant that his family had considerable interest in protecting him, and making sure he didn’t get into any trouble. Of course, Caspian had other plans. He yearned for a life of excitement and fun and herowork; but that meant actually finding some herowork to do…

Caspian was walking down the street, yawning to himself when he heard the distinctive pop which was likely gunshots. Finally, something exciting! Plus, if he did well, maybe some hero would see him and think that he was worthy of taking on as an apprentice or sidekick or something! If he could do this, then maybe he could actually become a hero like he’s always wanted to. Whatever hesitations that had lingered in his mind about taking on something tougher evaporated as he sprinted toward the noise.

Caspian rounded the corner of the block, and gasped when he saw what was going on before him. It was either a bank robbery, or some kind of cop appreciation day at the bank…and since there were gunshots, Caspian was pretty sure it wasn’t the latter. Slipping into the bank was easy enough, as another boy seemed to be distracting some of the cops by talking to them. He slipped in through a shattered window (likely from the gunshot) and took in the scene around him.

That boy was there, plus several angry looking bank robbers. Luckily, they seemed to be focused on the other boy, who looked weirdly happy for someone in this situation. Sneaking behind a trash can, Caspian took a deep breath. This was definitely scarier than anything he had faced before, and he was starting to wonder if this was a good idea. He took a deep breath and tried to concentrate, letting out his calm pheromones, which smelled like mint. He kept the potency low, as he didn’t want to throw off the other boy, who seemed much more competent than Caspian.

“Over here!” Caspian yelled out when the guns started firing, hoping the other would hear him “Quick!” He started to amp up the potency, just wanting the guns to stop.

The bullets hit his flesh, feeling like nothing more than annoying insects buzzing around but they did nothing more than annoy. Cas frowned as he considered the people now emptying their clips into him as if that would do something, All it did was damage his clothes, which more than anything annoyed him. He huffed and looked down to the small, yet noticeable rips within his shorts and shirt. ”These were bought for me by a good friend.” he huffed, gold flames beginning to lick over his frame and replaced cloth with golden colored plate armor. Everything was then covered by this, save for his face which was still screwed into an annoyed expression, eyes burning like molten gold. That’s when he heard someone else shouting at him and the young god turning his attention to the male that did so. He looked more like a person that would...well not be robbing banks and for some reason the air smelled of mint.

He inhaled a few times, and appreciated that scent which seemed to calm him down somewhat. Even the ones holding their guns visibly did so, letting their guns lower just a bit. In a dash he took off, quicker than the robbers themselves could follow and darted towards Caspain. Stopping a few steps before him with a head cocked to the side. Almost silently questioning what he was doing here.”Isn’t it a little dangerous for you to be here? Those people have guns and those are pretty dangerous...to humans anyway.” He sounded oddly sincere despite how that could have come across as condescending. In his mind the safety of people was more important than his own, and that drove Christian crazy even thinking about it. Friends were a little odd in that respect, yet he was more than fine with it.

”Not that I don’t appreciate your help...unless...are you one of those heroes?” He lit up almost, smiling widely as he turned around. ”If that’s the case then i’m sure you can help me clean this up!”

Caspian went wide-eyed when he saw that the bullets didn’t seem to be harming the other boy at all. Yep. This boy definitely had to be special, like Caspian was—though Casp was pretty sure that he couldn’t take bullets like that guy. All Caspian could do was make it smell a little better. As if the other boy couldn’t have been any more amazing, he then was engulfed in golden flames, and covered in armor. Caspian was visibly awestruck, wondering what else this magical boy could do.

Snapping somewhat back into reality, Caspian increased the potency of his fragrance just a bit, seeing that the other robbers were lowering their guns, if only just a bit. Casp was pretty sure that their minds weren’t very strong, if they couldn’t resist his calming pheromones at their weakest level. The handsome boy was suddenly in front of him, Casp not even having seen him move, and a light blush was upon Caspian’s cheek. “I heard a commotion and thought I should come check it out…” He put his hand behind his head and laughed nervously “Though I can’t do anything like you can. I mean I just sort of…make people feel things…with um…smells…sort of like potpourri,” He stuttered out, feeling completely incompetent compared to the other person.

“I’m human, but I can help you! I don’t think they’re too strong, judging by how they react to even the faintest of my pheromones,” Caspian remarked and looked back to the robbers quickly “What do you need me to do? I can make a distraction, or try and make them fall asleep, or try and hijack their minds, but I’m not the best at that yet…” Caspian admitted and looked to the amazing boy for guidance.

Cas hated guns. They were loud, and tended to kill people when they hit them. The young god loved humans, which made that part of things all the more annoying. An explanation for why he constantly threw himself into danger and so willingly even. Now approaching the strange person, he wondered if they were trying to do the very same thing. While some of those granted with powers through unknown means tended to help, others would also oppose for strange reasons. Good and evil abounded in equal measures within this world. Their abilities sounded like they used scents, which could be useful in some settings. ”That sounds pretty cool actually. I mostly just...well smite things and stuff like that.” Was what he said, knowing his own power was useful when it came to hurting people. Divine might rarely every was able to fully avoid causing harm to humans.

The other male mentioned not being able to do much, which showed he didn’t have much confidence within himself and that made the young god worry slightly. There were so many people that didn’t feel much about their abilities, which didn’t bode well. Mostly about their potential performance under stress. It was true the people attempting to rob this place were nothing in terms of strength however, which meant he wouldn’t have to worry too much. ”Putting them to sleep works if you can do that.” He offered the suggestion, knowing that people put to sleep would be much easier to apprehend. Not that Cas had a great understanding of how the justice system worked in this world beyond the concept of jail and killing not being as big of a thing. Culture shock as a friend had once called it.

As they spoke, the people that had been lulled by the pheremones began to shake the tiredness off. ”Okay, do your thing before they start shooting again. Don’t think the hostages can take bullets like me.” Cas trusted the male would know what to do, if only because he assumed he had done this before.

Caspian was quite surprised to hear the other boy say that all he did was smite people. Smiting people sounded a lot cooler than just making the air smell nice and stuff; but there wasn't really time to debate that issue, as they still had the bank robbers to deal with. Although bullets didn't seem to affect the other, Caspian was pretty sure that one bullet would pretty much kill him. Caspian cautiously peeked out from behind their safety wall and frowned. These guys did not look like they were messing around--Casp was positive that they would have no qualms about maiming and killing as long as they got what they wanted.

"Sleep...right. That would be way easier than trying to hijack their minds. I don't really have too good of a grasp on that yet," He admitted "Try not to breathe in any of it. I don't know how this stuff affects you, since bullets didn't seem to hurt you at all, but brace yourself," Caspian warned, not trying to put this strongman to sleep. Caspian took a deep breath and began to excrete the sleeping pheromone at max strength. The smell of lavender began to permeate and spread through out the room, a light blue mist quickly began to fill up the room. His energy quickly began to drain, as it often did when he was putting out a lot of pheromones.

His eyes a bright shade of pink, which happened when Caspian activated his powers, he couldn't really see if the robbers were going down--another drawback of his powers--his vision decreased as the potency of his pheromones increased "Alright, are they down yet?" Caspian yelled out, the strain on his body was making him feel woozy as the exhaustion was setting in "I can't keep this up much longer! So do what you've got to do!" He called out.

His abilities held no bearing upon emotions and instead he had to affect them through more conventional means. For a god of creation his abilities were a little more direct, something that caused harm and potential stopped harm, nothing more than that however. These humans were not messing around, which meant he had to get the innocents out of here while there was time to do so. Meaning when these criminals were being incapacitated by the strange metahuman and his interesting scent based powers. ”Don’t breathe any of it. Sounds like a nasty thing to let your allies breathe in.” With a palm open skyward, flames danced around it and formed what appeared to be a gas mask. Without wasting time he strapped it over his mouth as the lavender mist washed over the room, most of the men beginning to sage and even drop as soon as the smell hit them.

It wouldn’t have been wrong to say that he was surprised by how quick it worked. A few stayed conscious but nothing that really threatened them. ”That was pretty great.” His mildly muffled voice spoke through the masks filter, patting Casp on the shoulder while motioning for those of the hostages that themselves were not knocked out to leave while they had the chance. Having abilities that were so prone to friendly fire did not sound that great honestly. Without really needing a prompt he walked towards the few that were awake, smiling almost innocently at them while the side of his fist was more than enough to send them to sleepy land. His friend sounded like he was tired from exerting himself, and things were wrapping themselves up just fine now.

Everything was going fine, and then things didn’t seem to be going as fine. It was one of them taking something, was it a powder or pill? Cas didn’t figure that out before pressure hit him square in the stomach, an invisible force that dented in the armor and sent him backwards. The wall of thick concrete cracked, his own breathe seemingly unable to be controlled for a few seconds. The one that attacked stood to his feet, gusts blowing away the vibrant blue mists while they tried to stand on uneasy feet. ”Damn, first this weird armor kid and now some smelly rat. This day is just getting better and better.” They growled with a slight slur to the voice. Cas removing himself from the wall, looking down at his armor and back to the criminal.

((Feel free to control the bad guy a little!))

Caspian had been hesitant about using such potency with an ally around. In the past, he never really had to worry about it, as he never had allies before. Though something told him the other person would be able to handle it with relative ease--since bullets didn't hurt, he doubted that his own measly powers would. Still, the fire gas mask was pretty cool. Caspian wasn't surprised to see the men fall so quickly, their weak wills were so very apparent from the beginning. In fact, Caspian probably shouldn't have even used as much of his powers as he did; but he was still getting used to this whole heroing business.

Luckily, it seemed like this conflict was going to be resolved with minimal injuries. Though the hostages did look drowsy, Casp guessed it was their fear that didn't completely knock them out. His powers could be a pain sometimes...as the potential to hurt his allies was great. He was learning how to shape and control the pheromones, but it was hard and as he didn't have any sort of teacher, he was kind of flying blind when it came to teaching himself how to control his powers. He was surprised when the other complimented him, and he desperately hoped that he couldn't see the slight flush that had spread to both his cheeks. Caspian was rarely ever complimented by a beautiful strongman.

Just when things seemed to be winding down, the godly boy was knocked back into the wall and one of the criminals was moving to attack Caspian. By some unknown miracle, Caspian evaded the first punch--but not the second. He was knocked to the floor and pain radiated throughout his body. Before he could properly react, the man was on top of him, and got a few more punches in on Caspian's face. Caspian raised his hands and blasted whatever control pheromones he could muster, but all it seemed to do was slow the other man's movements. This mind was too hard for Caspar to fully hijack "Uh...dude...you might wanna do something...don't know....how long I can hold him here!" Caspian yelled.

Cas hated being thrown into walls. Normally that kind of thing was annoying, hurt even depending on the kind of wall. Luckily this wall brought about more annoyance than actual pain. Hopefully it would become obvious that these criminals could do nothing to him and would turn their attention to...well not committing this crime. However that was not the case as they began attacking the other hero, one who did not seem to sturdy. A small amount of dry wall dust fell around him, some smudging his armor like a thin dust. That was when the criminal began swimming at the nice hero, first missing and the next few strikes managing to make their mark. Likely small little bruises would result from that but he was hoping that wouldn’t lead to any lasting damage.

A low growl worked from his throat while he rushed towards the crook who only had a second to look before an armored foot connected with their chin. The sound of bone crunching came as he was throw backwards, clutching his chin while screaming in agony. Kneeling down with a hand offered, he tried to help the male up. ”Are you okay?” Despite the seemingly dangerous atmosphere his attention was on the potentially injured male, expression almost worried. Either way the crook was rolling on the ground, eventually rising from his back and glaring at Cas. ”I’d suggesting you not throw around anymore wind. I don’t like hurting people but if you hurt anyone else I won’t hold back.” His voice normally so kind became sharp like knives.

”Fuck you!” He shouted in frustration thrusting out a palm forward only to have it grasped, fingers crushing around the hand and causing him even more pain.

”No! Bad.” He grumbled, headbutting the criminal and seemingly knocking them out.