Into the Black

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #240 on:** September 28, 2013, 10:17:24 AM

Not one for small talk, the Strain fired both cylinders, reloaded, and prepared to fire again. He prepared electrically charged bullets so they'd lethally shock if blocked with a sword.

Emilena had a very hard time of it, but managed to get her damaged hands to complete the download, remove the chip, and wipe the database behind her. Dropping to the floor, she used Adrian's distraction to grab her sword.

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

"This was all a big misunderstanding," the wolf agent assured. "We're on the search for a dangerous fugitive, and Mr. Exstasis got a little carried away. We were only supposed to ask if you knew anything about this individual."

He showed a picture of 'Lily North,' a pristine headshot that looked like it came out of a company personnel bio. "She is a danger to others and herself, and needs psychiatric help. It would be for her own good to come with us. Anyone who helped us locate her would be amply rewarded."

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #241 on:** September 28, 2013, 12:08:48 PM

Adrian twirled his sword, parrying the first two bullets, then darting in for a sliding kick at the Strain's legs.
"Heh. Not much of a talker, are you? Well, that's fine. You'll end up as scrap soon enough."
He said, slashing upward, aiming at the Strain's arms...

bushwacked · **Reply #242 on:** September 28, 2013, 06:11:04 PM

Joe Gittsun groaned as the the two women helped him up. Just minutes ago he'd been comfortably buzzed, the drinks making him feel like the king of the world. Now, pain and fear had cleared his head until he felt almost sober again.

He looked at the Great Dane supporting his left arm. "Th... thanks. I don't know what I would've done..." Joe turned to look at the girl on his right and his eyes widened in recognition. "Rose? What're you doing out here? There was shooting..."

Serris · **Reply #243 on:** September 28, 2013, 11:40:08 PM

Soren took the photo and looked at it. "Can't say I've seen her."

He turned to the agent. "I'll let you know if I see her. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to fix my apartment and charge my exoskeleton."

Nick22 · **Reply #244 on:** September 29, 2013, 12:56:45 AM

The club's collapsed and everyone is running wherever they can' Rose replied. " as for shootings, well we've had a few of those in the club, especially when two girl dancers refuse to make-out for the guys entertainment, a lot of those guys are drunk and packing heat. thus shootings and generally, lousy aim" She turned to Marita "in the parlance its a twin bill with cherries' she muttered to Marita. i've heard of it. as if showing them your goods wasn't enough.. marita nodded as she tightened her grip on Gittsun's Shoulder

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #245 on:** September 29, 2013, 02:40:01 AM

"Of course," smiled the wolf. He made to leave, but noticed the burnt workshop. "Good Heaven! Whatever happened there? That doesn't look like Mr. Extasis was involved."

He stepped forward and examined. "This was almost certainly caused by arson," he noted. "As I'm sure you've figured out as well. Mr. Almaya, the government takes care of their citizens. I can promise you that I will personally divert manpower to finding out who burnt your warehouse and reimbursing you for the damage...as soon as I'm not so preoccupied with finding the missing fugitive..."

He smiled, hoping Soren caught his drift.

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Lily nodded. "We should investigate that sticker from my boots first chance we get," she agreed. "Assuming I survive this man's visit..."

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Every one of Adrian's strikes rang true, and the Strain found himself a quadruple amputee in seconds.

Staggering forward, Emilena held her sword in both mangled hands and plunged it into the Strain's neck, for a particularly unsatisfying kill.

"Let's...go--" coughed Emilena; the room had filled with smoke. He way back to the strip club was almost certainly unusable. "Why did you *cough* come back for me you *ack* damn fool?" she choked, honestly not understanding it. Nobody she'd ever met before would have bothered to try and rescue her from a burning building.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #246 on:** September 29, 2013, 03:12:12 AM

Adrian smiled at her, then reached into his coat and pulled out a small breath mask.
"Because. You mean a lot to me, Emilena. I know that the feeling is probably not mutual, but I'm not about to let you die."
He said softly, the system over his right eye glowing as he scanned the area...

bushwacked · **Reply #247 on:** September 29, 2013, 06:30:19 AM

"Don't worry, Soren'll get rid of him," Axel reassured her. He watched as the wolf made to leave and then stopped to gesture at the ruined workshop. "Come on, get out of here!" he muttered.

He flicked his tail impatiently, and accidentally caught a row of bath product bottles, knocking them off the side of the bath with a loud crash.

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

Gittsun winced as Marita's grip hardened. "That's quite a grip you have there..." He watched as black smoke poured out of the club's cracked windows and flames occasionally flicked outside. "I don't think I'll come here anymore. Maybe it's time for a break for you too, Rose. You never looked...ow... happy here."

Nick22 · **Reply #248 on:** September 29, 2013, 04:06:47 PM

I hated the club anyway' Rose repl;ied. ' so i'm going to find new work, something a little more dignified/
- i"m Marita' marita said " rose is an old Friend of mine. I'm helping her land on her feet. As for you, well no ones going to the black sheep anymore.
- you can say that again, said a voice behind her ' It was the waitress who had served her at the club ' mind if i tag with you folks for awhile.. my car got totaled when the back of the building fell on it.. so i'm rideless for awhile.
_
Sure Marita shrugged. ' you can tag along..

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #249 on:** September 30, 2013, 09:56:56 PM

"Well, Mr. Almaya?" The wolf waited. "It's not a difficult question. If you know anything about the missing fugitive, there's a 1 million dollar reward for her safe apprehension. We only want to give her the therapy and rehabilitation to live a normal life. And in addition I would be honored to help you discover who burnt your warehouse, and aid in their apprehension."

The wolf's smile widened as he heard the crash, but he didn't take his eyes off Soren and otherwise made no indication that he had heard it. "If you can't help, I'll just have to continue my investigation into these matters alone..."

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Emilena slipped the mask on and breathed pure air. Her eyes still stung and her ash-choked fur reeked of smoke, but she could see the outside of the burning club.

"We must be gone before the other police arrive," she said urgently, for she heard all-too-familiar sirens in the distance. "My apartment is too far away, and I no longer have the key. Do you have a dwelling or elsewhere we could hideout in?"

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #250 on:** October 02, 2013, 12:24:34 AM

Adrian nodded, eyepiece flaring as he searched the room for a weak point they could use to escape.
"Yeah. I have a bolthole somewhere not too far away. First though, we need to get out of here."
He said, finally pinpointing a target in the wall...

Serris · **Reply #251 on:** October 02, 2013, 02:35:15 AM

Soren pondered for a moment. The million bucks was awfully tempting and he knew nothing about Lily. At the same time, he realized Axel had decided to help her ó and betraying his friend was pretty much a dick move.

He made up his mind. "Sorry. I have better things to do than help you deal with a potentially dangerous fugitive."

Soren then turned around and headed into his house through the ruined back door. He groaned as he realized that the sun had begun to peek through the smoggy skies.

----------

Sanjay waited until the repulsorcart's engine shut off and then slithered down the vertical side. Luckily, the men driving the vehicle were too busy in charging the vehicle's batteries and getting something to eat to care about the figure that just slithered behind them.

The Cobra scowled as he realized he was in a nasty truck stop. Empty vials littered the ground and armed drones flitted overhead in the smoggy sky. A large electronic billboard advertised the latest model hoverbike. Two women ó one an Augment ó loitered outside. Both of them had the unnaturally blue eyes that came with the use of carboxzyal ó AKA Bliss ó a drug once developed for memory enhancement but withdrawn once it was found to be incredibly addictive. Prostitutes favored it for its alleged ability to enhance sexual prowess.

Feeling the need to relieve himself ó and decidedly not wanting to enter the truck stop, Sanjay ducked behind a scraggly bush next to the building.

bushwacked · **Reply #252 on:** October 02, 2013, 05:19:41 AM

Axel was holding his breath, his face frozen in a grimace. When Soren turned back to head inside the house, he let it out with a whoosh. "I think it's alright, that guy must be leaving..." he told Lily. To be sure, he kept peeking over the edge of the window to see what the wolf would do next.

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Gittsun nodded along with Marita, sneaking a quick look at the waitress' chest. "Sure you can come, the more the merrier!" he grinned, apparently pleased with the way things had turned out. "Any of you got any booze? Because... uh, my leg is starting to hurt again."

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #253 on:** October 02, 2013, 06:44:47 AM

The wolf shook his head sadly. "A shame. Oh well. Not your fault you don't know anything...But we all must make sacrifices in the name of global protection. You have 24 hours to change your mind in case you recall anything you may have forgotten. And I must remind you, every minute we are getting closer to finding her. And we will do whatever it takes for her apprehension."

With one glance, he glanced around and noticed Axel. Giving Axel his largest, toothiest grin, the wolf turned and left the building.

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"Well? It's not a particularly difficult shot! Fire!" snapped Emilena, losing her patience. "Would it help if I rubbed your--!?"

She broke off. She was about to sarcastically suggest she do something incredibly inappropriate, supposedly to 'motivate' him. She had never made a lewd remark about her own actions before. Concerned about what was happening to her, she merely remained silent and waited for him to take the shot.

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Lily was huddled close to Axel. She wasn't brave enough to look herself, but she shivered as she listened to Axel's interpretation of the situation.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #254 on:** October 02, 2013, 09:52:08 AM

Adrian chuckled, smiling at Emilena as he turned and drew a set of knives, flinging them into the wall before dashing at it and kicking it cleanly apart.
"There. We got our way out. And if you're gonna rub anything, it'll have to wait until we get out of here."
He said with a grin, offering her his uninjured arm.
"Shall we?"
He joked...

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #255 on:** October 03, 2013, 08:57:15 PM

Emilena dove through the hole and went tumbling onto the asphalted ground of an alleyway. She quickly glanced left and right; nobody had arrived yet.

"Lead the way," she said, refusing his arm.

As they ran, she looked troubled. "A drug dealer tagged me with...something in there," she admitted. "I suspect it was a neurocotic, but I don't know...and now I can't figure out..."

She trailed off. Not only can she not figure out how she felt, she couldn't even think of the words to explain how she felt.

Nick22 · **Reply #256 on:** October 03, 2013, 09:44:42 PM

no, i have no booze' marie the waitress said ' All the booze we had went up in that' she motioned back to the fire. ' booze is the last thing you need right now anyway' Marita said ' those bandages are the only thing keeping you from bleeding out. if you bump into anything, the bleeding will start all over again. so its best to be sober.
- rose paused as they continued down the alley, flickering red and blue lights showing that the police had arrived to investigate the fire.

StarfallRaptor · **Reply #257 on:** October 03, 2013, 10:57:10 PM

Adrian looked at it, then blushed slightly as his overlay processed what the drug dealer had stuck Emilena with.
"Uh...Emilena? I think I know what you were stuck with..."
He said softly, then stepped around in front of her.
"We'll look into it when we get to my hideyhole. How about that?"
He said with a grin.

Serris · **Reply #258 on:** October 04, 2013, 01:38:55 AM

Soren headed back into his ravaged apartment and into the basement where he plugged his exoskeleton into the charger. He found his shotgun in the foyer where it had been discarded by Axel in his haste to get Lily away from the agents. After checking to see it was still intact, he kept it in hand as he headed upstairs.

A yawn escaped his mouth as he willed his muscles to keep moving. After trudging upstairs, he flung open his bathroom where he found Axel and Lily.

A scowl was on his face as he kept his shotgun aimed at the ground. "Okay, I want the full story on this." He thrust the poster that the Wolf agent had given him at the two. "I know that y'all are hiding something from me and it cost me thousands of dollars in damage. Now out with it!"

The open blister pack of moziafil -- a powerful drug that allowed one to function perfectly for over a day with minimal to no sleep -- on the countertop tempted him. But he decided against taking it right now because the act of reaching over and grabbing the pack might give the two a distraction that they could use to disarm him. Moziafil had very few side effects and was non-addictive; unfortunately it was extremely expensive. The six pack he had on the counter cost him nearly a month's pay to buy. All this was due to the long and complicated synthesis, expensive feedstocks as well as the very low yield.

bushwacked · **Reply #259 on:** October 04, 2013, 04:29:12 AM

Axel blinked uneasily at the shotgun in Soren's hands. "Soren, wait, we aren't hiding..." He trailed off as he noticed the picture being held out to them. "Hey, that's you!" he exclaimed, looking back at Lily and pointing.

He leaned in to look at the name printed on it. "Lily North. That's a nice name. Ah, I mean it's nice that we finally know what your name is!" He said quickly.

Looking back at Soren, Axel's eyes widened. "What did that guy want? You can't trust him, he's a spook!"

(OOC: I'm assuming her name is on the picture, if it isn't I'll edit my post.)

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"If you say so," Gittsun groaned. The flashing police lights in the distance made his head hurt, so he looked down at the floor. "Maybe they'll catch the bastards that did this."

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Marcus grunted as he hoisted himself onto the rooftop. When he'd heard the police sirens approaching, Marcus had used a dumpster to boost himself up, clambering up the side of the building it faced against.

A sharp pain ran up his right arm, and he glanced down to see a cut running up his coat. Shrugging off the sleeve, he saw a deep laceration running up his arm, the sleeve of his T-Shirt stained red. Blood tricked down his fingers to drip on the gravel floor. One of Adrian's attacks; he hadn't felt it in the heat of the moment. I'll deal with it later he thought, as he watched the alleyways below from the darkness.