Into the Black

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #200 on:** September 19, 2013, 01:53:16 PM

Adrian swore under his breath as Marcus turned to face him.
"Damnit, why did it have to be him, of all people? ... At least I can safely say that the Purifiers are involved somehow. Now I just have to hope that he doesn't realize it's me...Just long enough to get what data I need, for Marita to get Rose out of here...and for Emilena to finish her dance..."
He thought, before he noticed Marcus's hand reaching for something. Instinctively, he reached back, hand finding the hilt of his sword as he tensed...

Nick22 · **Reply #201 on:** September 19, 2013, 02:38:50 PM

Marita got her Perpsi and thanked the waitress befre heading back towards the3 dressing rooms./.
- in room 5 rose stared at the mirror. a haggard tied face statred back at her. she had been working at the club for 5 years now, but her dancing had continued to decline in quality thanks to the drug addiction she had.. ' i can't.. keep going.., like this..' she said slowly, as she pulled out a small bag of stuff from her dresser. ' it contained ' sawdust' as Biproxytol was called. she had been hooked on it for years, and it had caused her breakup with marita, who had managed to break free from it. there was a knock on the door. Honey Bunny? came a voice that sounded familiar ' i'm Elisa turner , from Starlight modelling.
- STARLIGHT MODELING?' Rose shot straight up, dropping the bag of Biproxytol on the floor. Starlight was a top-flight talent agency, involving acting, dancing, and voiceover work. as long as you had talent they would overlook it if you stripped in the past. ' do come in ' she said as marita entered the room.
marita gasped involuntarily as she saw rose. she looked terrible, her teeth were stained from biproxytol use and there were bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. ' well honey bunny, today is your lucky day. i've been told you're quite the dancer. so i'm offering you an audition in Mushu city on friday. you will have to leave now if you are going to get there on time..
- excuse me' said a suit who came up behind her. ' shes on in 9 minutes! We'll have to talk after her dance, Miss Turner/
_
sir, my instructions from the agency were quite clear. Miss Honey Bunny has an audition at 9 a, Friday morning at Central plaza in Mushu City, if she wants to get there on time, she will have to leave immediately.' Marita replied pulling out a list, which was made from official Starlight itinerary. 'we will compensate you for any losses in revenue from her missing her dances for the next few days. this is a golden opportunity for her sir, and we wouldnt want her to miss it, now would we?
_
the suit looked at the list.. ' alright, alright, you' he barked at rose. ' get your things and get out!' rose got up from her seat and rasn back to where she had her meager belongings. in a minutes time she had everything.
-
give my regards to Miss Runiyuki" the suit said to Marita " Honey , you dance your ass off for them, understand, or dont bother coming back here!
_
Yes mr Means" Rose said quickly. "good. i'll get tamara to pull double duty.. have a good evening Miss Turner" the suit nodded as marita gave him a calling card. and left. rose following right behind her..- they reached the main floor , where emilena was in the last half minute of her performance...

bushwacked · **Reply #202 on:** September 19, 2013, 08:12:58 PM

"Um. Well, I've never really had many friends," Axel said, shifting uncomfortably. "I've never really been the outgoing type, you know? The only people I feel comfortable being around are Soren... and you. And my Mom, but she's up at an old folk's home being reminded what her name is, so... yeah," he added quickly, turning red.

Axel looked up. "So I guess I'll hang around. If it's okay with you." He suddenly remembered what he had in his pocket. "Hey, I might even be useful. Here." He took out the barcode sticker and passed it over to her. "I found it on your boots. Maybe it'll help us find out... well, something about you."

------------------------------------------

Marcus' grip tightened on his magnum. He felt it start to slide out from the back of his trousers... Then another stripper stepped out in front of him.

"Hey baby, you look stressed. I can help that," she said, her voice slurred from drugs or alcohol, running a finger up his chest. Marcus glanced down at her, his concentration momentarily broken.

"Not interested," he growled, pushing past her. He looked back at the person opposite, and saw him moving his hand down behind him. Right where he always kept his sword... That was good enough for Marcus. He yanked his gun out, aimed across the room and fired, the blast sending a familiar impact up his arm.

Serris · **Reply #203 on:** September 19, 2013, 08:35:44 PM

The gunshot had its effect. The stripclub instantly flew into a panic with patrons, strippers and everyone else pushing and shoving in their haste to make it to the exit.

Sanjay Bhat gulped down his cocktail and slithered into an open liquor cabinet. He silently swore as he tried to calm his racing heart and ignore the shouting.

---------

Soren returned clad in a full-body powered exoskeleton. His face was hidden underneath an armored helmet while his body was concealed inside a bulky armored metallic suit. Worklights attached to the sides of the helmet lit up the dimly lit kitchen with beams of stark white light. He reached an armored hand up to his helmet and flipped up the visor.

"Well," Soren said. "If either of you need me, I'll be outside. Help youselves to anything in the kitchen."

He opened the backdoor and stepped out into his yard.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #204 on:** September 19, 2013, 09:06:46 PM

Adrian swore as the gun was drawn, drawing his sword in a flash, using it to deflect the bullet as it flew at him, sending it ricocheting off into a ceiling light. In a flash, Adrian had grabbed a table, flipping it up and using it as a makeshift shield as he started making his way towards Marcus...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #205 on:** September 19, 2013, 10:06:03 PM

She took it. "Is there are way to track these sorts of things? Maybe find out who bought the boots?" Her eyes lit up. "Could I actually figure out my identity?"

--------------------------------------

Emilena has just finished her strip dance, and was about to angrily chastise the audience for not paying better attention when a shot rang out. Very quickly any patrons with firearms/combat-oriented augments of their own got involved. And considering the dangerously high levels of intoxication/drug use, it was guaranteed to get ugly fast.

One thuggish augment with cybernetic parts covering his face, torso and muscular hands leapt the stage. "Hey dancer, you're coming with me," he sneered. "I'll protect you, and you can give me and the men another...performance at the barracks." One of his index fingers flipped open to reveal a loaded chamber.

"Well, I'm glad somebody liked my performance--hey!" Suddenly she realized what he had meant. "No, get the hell away from me," she snarled.

The thug chuckled and pointed his hand cannon at her. "Yeah? What's your butt-naked ass gonna do to stop me?"

She dodged his meaty fist when it tried to grab her. "You really should have developed a fetish for skin and fur," she retorted, pulling out a thin slip of metal which retracted into her beloved katana. With a twirl reminiscent of her recent performance, she dismembered his hand cannon. "Get a metal one of these!" she spat, stabbing him through the crotch viciously as he staggered backwards.

She saw security coming from behind the stage, so she vaulted into the melee in the seating area. Time to find Adrian and hope he'd made progress locating the hidden recesses of this facility.

Nick22 · **Reply #206 on:** September 19, 2013, 10:31:38 PM

marita had gotten rose out of the building before the shooting had started. rose got into adrians car, the backseat to be precise. ' thank yo for giving me the opportunity to perform, miss Turner.' She said. 'how long have you worked there now/ Marita asked . " 5 years, 5 long interminable years. the pays horrible, the guys and girls are often drunk, and its degrading in a way you wont believe.." " not as bad as the the biproxytol you're still hooked on.." marita said. 'what- how did you know?" Rose demanded. ' your teeth are stained yellow, you have bag under your eyes, and your arms are pockmarked.. Marita said ' All telltales signs of biproxytol use..
- yeah, i'm been hooked on it for a long time. to get clean would require like half a million dollars.. which will take me at my current salary about 200 years. i mean if you can give me the gig..'

Serris · **Reply #207 on:** September 19, 2013, 11:17:14 PM

The Golden Retriever dancer bolted for the door and with a burst from her equinoid augments, she leapt nearly fifteen feet straight up. The floor cracked as she landed, the augments taking most of the impact. Luckily, no one noticed her run away.

An massive but unaugmented Bison was trading blows with an Augment. The sound of tearing metal was heard as the Bison grabbed his opponent's arm and tried to rip it from its mountings.

The whump of compressed air was heard as the Augment fired his built in line thrower at his attacker, nailing him to the bartop.

The arm whirred as it severed the cable and attached a new tip to the line. Glistening metal plates slid back into place as the launcher morphed back into a hand.

He clutched his right arm, now dangling by a few wires and dripping hydraulic fluid and rushed for the exit.

--------

Sanjay gulped as a harpoon ó probably fired from a modified line thrower augment ó slammed into the liquor cabinet. He dared not enter the fracas ó lest he be killed. At the same time, when the police came, he was going to be in deep s---.

He had to make a choice.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #208 on:** September 20, 2013, 12:52:28 AM

What was I supposed to be doing again? thought Emilena, as she parried a drunkard's swung bottle and slashed his stomach open. "Now you've achieved your lifelong dream of having a disc drive, you freak!" she taunted.

Someone was making a run for the exit, who appeared to be a peddler of neurocotics, illegal mechanical skin patches that use artificial "cells" to alter desired brain functions, for a drastic, irreparable, and incredibly damaging (but incomparable) high. She thrust and stabbed him through the thigh.

She advanced on the horrified dealer, who was not pleased to see a naked psychotic stripper with a bloodied katana approaching him. "What's the matter?" she smiled widely and narrowed her eyes. "You like sex don't you? I've heard its kinda like this...only it's your turn for a whore to penetrate you."

She was raising her sword over the sobbing man when a bullet grazed her arm. She turned and noted that a deer with a small assault rifle was firing on her. Well, she'll deal with him as soon as--

"--Aughh!"

Taking advantage of her distraction, the neurocotic dealer had slapped a patch onto her hip. Immediately, Emilena felt woozy, and stumbled. Smashing her knee against a table, she tumbled to the floor as the dealer bolted for the exit.

Feelings...pain...maybe...she couldn't tell. Her head was spinning, but she forced herself to remember the skin patch was rewriting some aspect of her brain.

Groaning, she stumbled to her feet. Another bullet embedded itself in the floor near her. The deer hadn't forgotten about her, and only his severe intoxication had prevented her from being hit already.

Shaking her swimming head, she glanced around at her environment. Her eyes lit upon a Black Mamba hiding behind an upturned table. Is it the skin patch, or is that Sanjay Bhat, escaped Augmented soldier and treason-class felon?

She stumbled over to the panther and rolled awkwardly over his table. "Sanjay Bhat," she said through slurred speech, "Public enemy number 7, wanted for...uh...cases of Augment theft, evasion of arrest, and violation of your sworn...as a national soldier...you are in...so much deep... if you don't kill that deer. I'm a cop and...will have them...you in jail after they rip the...from your body!"

What was this feeling the patch was pumping through her system? If she could only keep her damn head straight!

Nick22 · **Reply #209 on:** September 20, 2013, 01:10:21 AM

so how much will this gig pay/ rose aske d eagerly.. : well, rose you need to detox before you are going to dance..' detox? but that would take weeks.. isnt the audition friday..
- there is no audition. i merely said that so i could spring you from that awful place..' Marita said. " its been a long time Rose.. and to be frank, you look awful..
- Rose stared at her blankly.. then her eyes flew wide as she recognized her at last../ MARITA? how.. wait.. so you're not a talent scout..
- no but you are going to get detox, but i have to help a cop bust some Augment dealer shes trying to nab first' marita said. ' you're coming along for the ride. and maybe.. when we get some alone time.. ' roses began to smirk.. ' just like old tmimes huh.. look ii'm sorry i haven't been able to kick the stuff.. you were always the stronger one marita.. how old are you now?
25 and you're 24 right.. ' next week, so 23 for one more week..' rose said.

bushwacked · **Reply #210 on:** September 20, 2013, 04:34:40 AM

Axel nodded. "Yeah, should be simple. It'll let us know where you got them, and from there we could get into their system and see who bought them using the code as a reference. Unless you were some kind of notorious shoe thief," he teased.

-------------------------------------------

When Marcus saw his target deflect the bullet, he swore loudly. It IS him! He started striding forwards, continuing to fire on the upturned table Adrian was using as a shield. The bullets punched through, not finding their target. "Just die, you slippery bastard..." He snarled under his breath.

All around him, hell had broken loose but he paid no attention to the screaming, the gunfire, the terrified patrons tearing for the exit. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed one of the club guards, a human, running towards him with a taser. Marcus slid a combat knife free from the sleeve of his trench coat. As the guard reached the taser out, he quickly leaned back to avoid it, then brought his arm upwards in a sweep, cutting the man's arm off at the elbow. As the man stared in disbelief at his stump, Marcus spun his revolver around and put a shot through his chest, sending him flying backwards.

Focusing his attention back on Adrian, Marcus speed-loaded his gun, a well practiced move that took only a few seconds, then leaped over the barrier onto the dance floor. Bulling his way through the screaming civilians, he charged towards Adrian.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #211 on:** September 20, 2013, 07:57:53 AM

Adrian growled as the bullets struck his makeshift shield, one of them grazing his left arm just above where the augment stopped, causing him to wince in pain. The instant he heard the sound of Marcus's gun reloading, however, he sprung into action. Quickly assessing the situation, he saw the deer with the assault rifle, saw Emilena go down when the drug dealer slapped something on her, and noticed a Black Mamba slithering off. Without hesitating for a second, he turned, using the augmented strength in his arm to fling the table at the deer, striking him soundly in the chest and sending him sprawling. However, throwing away his shield was a poorly-planned idea, and as he did so, another human member of the Purifiers fired at him with a high-powered handgun, several shots tearing into the vulnerable skin at the base of his augmentation. Adrian staggered a little, cursing as he tossed his sword up, grabbing a throwing knife from a leg pocket and sending it through the man's throat as Marcus charged him. Flipping himself over another table, he caught his sword as it fell, dashing towards Marcus.
"Damn you, Marcus. This time...I'll pay you back for what you did to me...with interest!"
He chuckled coldly...

bushwacked · **Reply #212 on:** September 21, 2013, 07:19:09 PM

"I'll finish the job this time, freak..." Marcus snarled as he ran forward. He leaped up onto a table between them and kicked himself higher into the air, firing continuously at Adrian whilst drawing back his combat knife with the other hand. As they came together, he sliced the knife downwards, aiming for Adrian's face.

Serris · **Reply #213 on:** September 21, 2013, 11:32:29 PM

Sanjay considered helping the cop but seeing as someone already killed the target she told him to attack ó and that said cop was currently drugged, he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"See ya!" He crouched low to the ground and hugged the wall, avoiding gunshots and other projectiles.

Seeing as the liquor cabinet was smashed open, he took the opportunity to swipe a bottle of Kozlov brand vodka.

------------

Soren tossed aside a several hundred pound piece of concrete as he worked under the dim light of dawn. The rubble had cooled enough that it was safe to handle barehanded ó not that his exoskeleton would have been affected. He scowled.

He hauled out a crushed and scorched case and placed it aside. He smashed a large piece of concrete with his fist and threw the pieces aside.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #214 on:** September 22, 2013, 04:00:37 AM

Emilena glared as the cretin dashed away from her. Why the hell did she think somebody would HELP her anyway? That's not how the world works.

In her hatred for the punitive figure vanishing into the darkness, she had her first clear, unbothered thought. I am going to stab that man without warning if I ever see him again...

That was what she needed, she realized. Genuine rage. The only thing that can cut through this fog of confusion that damn patch had done to her.

Channeling her years of overreacting into a new focus, she got to her feet. She gripped her katana. "I cannot afford to be incapacitated now..." she hissed through gritted teeth to nobody in particular.

She marched forward, one step at a time. She had to find her own way into the recesses of this facility. She can't rely on anybody else.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #215 on:** September 22, 2013, 10:26:56 AM

Adrian spun his sword gracefully, knocking each bullet fired at him aside before bringing his sword up to meet Marcus's knife, stopping it mere inches from his head.
"Heh. Is that the best you have? After what you did to me last time...I was expecting more from you!"
He taunted, slinging a foot up to meet Marcus's chest...

bushwacked · **Reply #216 on:** September 22, 2013, 05:26:51 PM

Marcus grunted as Adrian's foot connected. He recovered quickly and kept pushing forwards. "You got lucky last time," he growled, baring his teeth, meeting each of Adrian's attacks with his knife. A disorientated patron stumbled towards them, and Marcus kicked him away.

"But your impants can only take you so far!" He roared, as he ducked under Adrian's sword and swung his arm up, smashing the butt of his revolver on the underside of Adrian's visor.

-------------------------------------

Axel heard a crunching sound and looked over his shoulder. Through the window, he could see Soren out in the yard, clearing through the burned ruins of his workshop. "Aw man, I feel so bad for him. Who the hell would do this?" He winced as he recognised a expensive augmentation part sticking out of the smoking cinders.

"Do you think we should try and help him out there? You know, before we ask to borrow his computer?" Axel said, looking back at Lily. "That workshop was his life..."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #217 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:39:34 AM

Lily wanted no more than to go to sleep, but Axel made a valid point. She nodded sleepily. "If we can help, we should. He's sticking his neck out for us, letting us stay here."

She walked out to the workshop. "Hey Soren, can we help you rescue what we can? Or at the very least clean up..."

-------------

A security guard had his pistol out and was accosting two drunks wielding broken bottles. "This is your final warning! Leave now!"

The drunks looked itching for a fight, but after a glance at something behind the guard immediately complied. Out of his peripheral, the guard noted a lithe female form.

"Can I escort you to safety ma'am--" he started, but before he could blink a blade was pressed against his throat and she had him pinned to the ground.

"I know there's a hidden facility here," she whispered huskily. "Take me there or I slit your neck!"

She seemed to be drugged or something, so he kicked her in the stomach. She staggered, and he pistol-whipped her in the head. As she slid backward screaming along the ground, he aimed his pistol but hesitated; he wasn't one for shooting wounded females. Instead he decided to go warn the higher-ups that the underground facility had been compromised somehow.

Shooting two Hell's Angels out of his path, he reached the offices and punched the entry code into a seemingly unusued one. After rotating a potted plant, the desk slid aside to reveal a set of stone stairs leading down.

As he began his descent, he felt a sickening thud and fell to the floor, unconscious. Emilena stood behind him, shaking.

"You brought me here as promised...so I'll let you live..." She muttered even though he can't hear her. She stepped forward.

But something made her pause and look at the unconscious man lying below her. Nobody would know what she did here...she could stroke his hair, expose his body...do other things...She felt a surge of blood in her abdomen thinking about it.

What the hell? Why am I suddenly thinking such horrid thoughts?

Repulsed, she tore her gaze away from his body and staggered down the stairs, sword at the ready. She had to get to the bottom of this. His body will still be here when she gets back.

Serris · **Reply #218 on:** September 24, 2013, 03:23:48 AM

Soren hurled aside a large piece of concrete. He turned to face Lily. "Dunno what's left to salvage but I could use a hand."

--------

Sanjay slithered into an alley as two tracking bots flitted over the dirty road. He looked upward and noticed a fire escape. He slithered onto a dumpster and reared up as high as possible. Teetering precariously, he grabbed hold of the rung and wrapped his body around it.

With a grunt of effort, he began slithering up the ladder.

bushwacked · **Reply #219 on:** September 24, 2013, 04:55:01 AM

Axel followed behind Lily and stood looking at the wreckage. "Alright... do you want us to clear out some of the stuff that's collapsed inside?" He took out a cigarette from his back pocket and started to light it, then paused as he realised it might not be in the best taste. "Sorry."

He seized a piece of concrete and, after struggling with it for a few moments, managed to push it along the floor with a grunt. He went back to the ruined workshop and leaned inside. His nose twitched. "You know, I think you were right to be suspicious. It stinks of gasoline in here, and not the type you normally use."