Into the Black

bushwacked · **Reply #1280 on:** March 13, 2014, 05:12:32 PM

Axel stared as Tony walked off with the man. He glanced at Bitparte in confusion, but he didn't seem to know any more about what was going on than he did. Turning, he took a few steps towards where the pair was walking, then froze as a black car pulled up suddenly by them. "Tony! What's... what's going on?" he called after them. "Tony?!"

Pterano · **Reply #1281 on:** March 13, 2014, 05:20:41 PM

Tony paused in mid-stride as he heard Axel, but was shoved forward once more by the man behind him. "Keep walking!" he ordered, and the ferret closed his eyes momentarily, wondering what he could do. He didn't have any further time to think, however. The door opened, and a man in a black suit motioned for him to get in.

"Tony Stracci... we have some business to conduct." he said, waving his fingers forward.

"What's this abo-" Tony began, but then cried out in pain as he was pistol whipped from behind, the butt of the gun smacking hard against the back of his skull, and causing his eyes to close and his body to crumple forward. Taking hold of him as he tottered, the gunman shoved him towards the door of the car, and hands began pulling the ferret in to their interiors.

"Go!" the man in the black suit ordered, and the sedan's tires burned rubber as the car shot backward away from the curb, pulled into the street, and started screeching off.

Nick22 · **Reply #1282 on:** March 13, 2014, 05:33:01 PM

masrita jumped into the drivers seat and motioned to AXel' Get Back in here! We're going to follow them! She said. as she turned the key in the ignition.'come on!"
Those bastards just took tony! Rose said. " not for long" Maritas said. as she pulled out of the parking spot.

bushwacked · **Reply #1283 on:** March 13, 2014, 08:17:39 PM

Axel stopped dead as he saw the man behind Tony strike him in the back of the head, and someone else drag him into the waiting car. His hands jerked up involuntarily. "Holy shit!" he gasped, started to reach back for the luger he'd been handed... but the car was already speeding away, and it wasn't like he could shoot out the tires.

Swearing under his breath, his voice shaking, he turned when he heard Marita call out his name. Seeing the Pierce-Arrow's headlights spring to life, he forced his trembling legs to start moving, heading back towards the car.

Nick22 · **Reply #1284 on:** March 13, 2014, 08:33:40 PM

Marie opened the door for Axel as marita pulled up alongside him ' Hurry Axel.. we can catch them if we hurry' Marie said quickly. marita waited until axel got in them floored it, speeding out of the garage and after the black tinted limo. thanks to the modifications Don Straci had put in place, the car could top 100 easily.

Pterano · **Reply #1285 on:** March 13, 2014, 10:23:25 PM

The sedan wasn't driving particularly fast, and instead, they proceeded at a leisurely 45 mph or so before turning into a large parking lot for a nearby office building about three blocks from the mall. The red brake lights came on, and the door opened as they rolled to a stop. Tony sailed out of the door and landed hard on the asphalt. He didn't appear to be very conscious. The man in the business suit stepped out behind the prone ferret, and grabbed the scruff of his neck, yanking him upward to a more or less kneeling position. "Get up!" He yelled, shoving his gun into the back of Tony's skull.

He then waited for his pursuers to catch up, and held the gun to Tony's head with steely determination. Time to end this game.

Serris · **Reply #1286 on:** March 14, 2014, 03:03:56 AM

(Purifier Compound)

Aaron had a mag-rifle dangling from a sling as he stood in one of the watchtowers that ringed the complex. He also wore a HMD that looked like a set of glasses, giving him night vision, infrared, UV and telescopic vision.

-----------

(Lanthae Streets)

Soren hastily stuffed the pizza down his throat as he ran after Maria and the others. He leapt into the Pierce-Arrow's trailer.

"Fucking hell, I lost my shotgun at the mall," he said.

Anne drank a bottle of beer. "Knowing the shitstorm that's brewing, someone's probably already used it."

Soren drew the Luger from his pants pocket. Anne did the same, pulling it from a pocket in her dress.

"So what's our plan?" the mare asked.

"Full throttle action movie didn't work last time, so I'm thinking something more subtle. Like say, sniping the guys?" Soren replied as he sat on the couch and crossed his legs.

Anne's ears gently splayed to the side. "Okay, who's skilled enough with a rifle to shoot their target from about 300 meters away, kill them with one shot and not accidentally shoot Tony?"

bushwacked · **Reply #1287 on:** March 14, 2014, 04:19:37 AM

Eyes widening as he saw Tony collapse out of the vehicle, Axel gasped when he saw the man drag Tony up and put a gun to his head. He turned to Marita and the others desperately. "Oh shit... shit!" He bit his lip, heart pounding. "Look, there's a... an intercom on the dash, use it to talk to Soren, come up with some... some sort of plan. Someone needs to go out there and talk to them, maybe I can... distract them or something..."

Swallowing, Axel cautiously opened the car door and stepped out slowly, keeping his hands in the air. "Wait! Please just... just stop!" He waited a second for his breath to steady, then called across. "What do you want?! We can talk about this!"

Pterano · **Reply #1288 on:** March 14, 2014, 11:42:50 AM

The abductor didn't flinch when Axel exited the car with his automated hands in the air. "Keep back, augment! One step closer and I blow his brains out! What do I want? Nothing you can possibly offer me, rest assured of that!" was his response to Axel's question as he dug the gun against Tony's head. The ferret's eyes were fluttering a bit as he struggled to regain consciousness and fight the painful swimming sensation in his head.

"Axel?" he asked weakly, hearing his friend's voice.

"Quiet!" the man shouted down at Tony. "There's nothing to talk about aside from this: get back in your car, turn around, and head on out of here. Forget your friend ever existed, and stop pursuing us. Failure to comply will result in me torturing him in front of you, and possibly even putting a bullet into his brain, got it?" he asked threateningly. "Don't test me!" he snapped.

bushwacked · **Reply #1289 on:** March 15, 2014, 06:41:36 AM

Axel froze, the colour draining from his face. "Alright! I get it! Just... just please, don't hurt him!" His mouth opened and closed as he searched for something to say. "Look, the... the Purifier's just announced that tomorrow they're going to try and take over Lanthae... thousands of innocent people are going to be slaughtered! We're going to try and stop them, but we need him with us to do it! Whatever this is, just... just please stop..."

Axel's eyes darted around desperately, trying to find a way he could save his friend, but there was nothing... and if he made a move he had no doubt it wouldn't end well for Tony.

aabicus (LettuceBacon&Tomato) · **Reply #1290 on:** March 15, 2014, 02:22:23 PM

Emilena stumbled out of the melee in the parking lot in time to see her old friends driving away. At the very least, she recognized Axel, who she hoped to speak to.

Sprinting through the parking lot and leaping through hedges and anything else in her way, she came huffing and puffing up to the scene in time to witness the standoff.

Keeping her presence secret from the others, she circled around the back and slinked into the best position for the shot, hidden in the bushes beside the road. The man holding Tony was facing the opposite direction, towards the street and Axel.

Taking careful aim with her pistol, she sighted the man's head and fired.

Serris · **Reply #1291 on:** March 15, 2014, 04:01:59 PM

Soren remained in the trailer with a rifle he had found hidden under the sofa at the ready. Luckily, a combat helmet and a set of armor was also at hand and he had donned them.

He peered out the door and waited to fire if things went foul.

Anne clutched her pistol tightly. Her arms jittered as she began to feel the effects of withdrawal.

Nick22 · **Reply #1292 on:** March 15, 2014, 05:42:34 PM

marita clutched the wheel hard, her mind racing, trying to think off a way out of this situation. the car was parked 30 yards from where the man and tony were. ' trying to drive at him would be a death sentence for tony' she thought ' he'd blow him away before i moved 10 feet' marita hated being stuck in a situation like this. She could try and shoot at the man holding tony hostage, but she wasn't a very good shot with a gun, and in order to save tony, shes have to get off a very very good shot. she shook her head, and continued to watch the drama playing out in front of her.

Pterano · **Reply #1293 on:** March 15, 2014, 06:01:43 PM

"That's the idea!" the man shouted back. "Moving against the Purifiers is not beneficial to us! We hold him... and then kill him, we've removed a major threat to their plan! So just back off, ya hear? Otherwise, I guarantee I kill him right now!" He pressed his gun tightly against Tony's head to demonstrate he was serious.

Vergil too had been left behind when Marita roared off in the car, and had ran down the streets trying to catch up. He'd been distracted by looters advancing towards the car, and had had to defend the trailer as they had seen the flashy wheels and wanted a piece of it. After flipping over them and then mentally picking them up to slam them back down into the street, he was off, racing down the sidewalks to catch up with his new comrades. Shorter legs meant longer transit time though, so he huffed along, his cheeks inflating and then deflating with every so many feet he sprinted. He kept an eye on the vehicles as they seemed to pull into a parking lot up ahead... great... hopefully they wouldn't be gone by the time he'd get up there.

As Emilena fired, the man heard the gunshot, and reacted... but whether for being shot at or as a reflex couldn't be determined. As her bullet struck his head his gun went off, and as blood sprayed out of his skull, blood sprayed out of Tony too, and the ferret fell forward, a look of anguish on his face as the man fell on top of him. Where he'd been shot was impossible to say for now, as it had all happened so quickly and the man was now on top of Tony, masking him from view.

Almost immediately, another man stepped out of the car and opened fire on Emilena's position with an MP7, his back to Axel. The driver of the sedan rolled down the window and opened up on Emilena with a pistol he stuck out the car as well. "Get Stracci back in the car!" shouted the driver.

"Working on it!" the guy outside yelled as he began sidling over to Tony's position, which was already beginning to grow moist as Tony's and the man's blood pooled around the two of them.

Vergil finally managed to reach the parking lot, and his eyes got even wider than they already were upon witnessing the scene. "Oh shit!" he breathed, and steeled himself for another dash as he ran on, trying to reach the scene in time.

bushwacked · **Reply #1294 on:** March 15, 2014, 06:47:06 PM

Axel flinched back when he heard the gunshot, seeing the blood and brain spray out from the man's head... then, gut-wrenchingly, he realised that Tony had been hit too. Horrified, he stood motionless for a split second, time seeming to pass in slow motion before the shouting from up ahead snapped him out of it. "Fuck! Tony!" he yelled, darting around the car door and starting to sprint across the parking lot towards Tony's position.

Gunfire exploded from the car up ahead, and Axel's teeth bared in a snarl as he saw another man exit the car and start heading towards where the injured ferret lay. He didn't register that the man was shooting at someone else, that someone else was helping them. The rat only saw that the man's back was to him, and he seized his opportunity. Wrenching the Luger from the back of his jeans, Axel raised the barrel and charged towards him, screaming as he tugged back on the trigger.

The first two bullets missed their mark, but the next two slammed into the man's back, the force spinning him around to face Axel. The fifth tore through his throat, exploding out the back of his neck. As the man fell, Axel slid on the floor to where Tony lay sprawled under the first body, the rough asphalt tearing through the knees of his jeans and skinning him. Grunting, he heaved the corpse off him as machine gun fire continued to rattle from the car. "Tony, come on! Talk to me!" Shifting to the side, he wrapped his arms around the ferret's torso and started to drag him away from the gunfire. With so much blood spilled, it was impossible to tell how badly he was injured. "Shit!" he gasped as he continued to try and move Tony to safety.

Nick22 · **Reply #1295 on:** March 15, 2014, 07:02:20 PM

Marita stepped on the pedal and drove as fast as she cpuld could towaerds axel he turned the car as she did blocking the other car from seeing what they were doing. she stopped inbetween Axel and the other car, as marie threw open the passenger door ' Get in Axel! Quickly! She yelled, her arms outstretched to help Axel get Tony in the car. rose was huddled in-between the back seat and passenger seat.
- marita glanced nervously around, waiting for the moment to drive away, once tony was safely inside

bushwacked · **Reply #1296 on:** March 15, 2014, 07:17:56 PM

Axel panted with exertion as he lifted Tony up, blood dripping as he and Marie heaved him into the vehicle. Please don't let that be his... Sliding him inside, Axel turned to slam the door shut... and caught a view of Vergil across the other side of the parking lot. "Dammit, Vergil's still out there!" he shouted, "We can't leave him!" Leaning out, he took another few pot shots at the kidnapper's car.

Nick22 · **Reply #1297 on:** March 15, 2014, 07:25:20 PM

Marie grabbed tony torso and dragged him into the car. ' Run Vergil! She called out. " we;re leaving" she shouted, as rose tried to help as best she couls from her position.
Marita honked the horn, so Vergil could hear it and know that they were about to leave." you've got 10 seconds Vergil! Marita shouted out the open door..

Pterano · **Reply #1298 on:** March 15, 2014, 07:52:02 PM

Tony coughed as he was hauled up into the car, the leaking blood coming from his neck, where he'd been hit by the man as he'd gone down. It looked like the shot had also grazed the side of his head, creating a lot of blood, but only a superficial injury there. His neck had been hit close to where the shoulder connected to it, and it was hard to tell if either his carotid or jugular had been sliced, but from the lack of arterial spray, it didn't seem like it... but that could be because he'd lain on the ground for a bit of time too.

Cracking his eyes open, Tony seemed to be struggling with recognizing even where he was. "Axel..." he sputtered, reaching up for the rat's face now. "H-help me!" he exclaimed weakly, and it was clear that wound in his neck would need to be patched, and from how he could barely move, it was also clear the blood loss meant they had mere minutes to help the ferret.

Vergil heard Marita yelling, and raced over to the car. "Wait!" He shouted, holding his hand out, then skidded to a stop, and focused on the black sedan ahead of them, and prepared to flip the car end over end. Focusing with narrowed eyes, the sedan was suddenly tossed into the air and landed hard on its room, its horn blaring for a moment and then going silent as the air left it.

Running up to the car now, Vergil stopped beside the driver-side door. "Is Tony all right? Who shot the guy holding him hostage? One of you guys? I couldn't see clearly from this angle!" he said, practically out of breath.

Nick22 · **Reply #1299 on:** March 15, 2014, 08:01:41 PM

hes been shot in the neck. here vergil, help close up the wound Marita said as Marie fumbled for the bandages and gauze they had brought in from the camper while they had tended to Axel's Ear. " ok, once vergil's gets in, i'll floor it, we'll drive someplace nearby and sew up the wound in his neck" Marita said after getting a look at the wound in Tony';s neck.' Rose put a cloth on tonys neck , and squeezed hard, the towel acting like a tourniquet stopping any further blood loss. Marie bandaged the wound in Tonys neck, trying to tighten it as much as she cold.