Setting
Chal began to pace nervously, "I...I don't know. Azzen is tough, around and maybe even tougher than Zero is. Im just worried, for the Mechanic, and myself. The Neo-Hunters to hunt alone anymore". Chal's hands shook, and she was beginning to feel lightheaded. She sat down, and held her head in her hands, whimpering, and groaning.
Meanwhile Shade put The Mechanic's hand into his bag and held out his hand to Chal. "Come on now, shouldn't be that far, plus I'm pretty sure The Mechanic must have something in the Rift Rider to help you get over that addiction, and yes I know you have an addiction, it's pretty obvious and you're currently going through-...what's it called?...withdrawls I think." Said Shade.
...so there they remained, waiting patiently, if they were needed.
(OOC: Tardisfreak, feel free to control the Nightgaunts in your posts if you want. They're eternally bound to Azzen now. They're pretty straightforward; like a cross between an Alien Xenomorph and a gargoyle.)
Chal stood up, and nodded her head, "Yeah, with...withdraw...I really screwed up and, well I want to fix everything. Its hard though. I...I really need...need", she trailed off, purposely not finishing her sentence. She blushed in shame, and hung her head low.
An inconspicuous fountain was currently unoccupied by any inhabitants. The soft trickle of water, the wisping wind through the trees, and the occasional call of a nocturnal bird... it painted the exact image of peace.
The silence is broken by a sudden whip-crack, deafening by comparison, and a bright flash of light originating about two feet up off the ground near the fountain, but thankfully not over it.
Thankfully because a group of four dropped onto the ground. Two of them landed on their feet; One, wearing a large, thick coat, and a peaked cap. His garb was almost entirely black, with the exception of some red pauldrons and other significant markings. He did not seem particularly alarmed, if his stance was any indication.
The other that landed on his feet immediately entered a crouched position, a thick blade in one hand and a similarly large shotgun held aloft in the other. He was dressed for a heavily forested environment, and was the only one among the group sufficiently dressed for the summer heat, with a tank top and baggy pants.
The other two were somewhat less graceful in their fall, but no less prepared. One, a slender figure with a long rifle, had fallen on her back with her gun ready to be aimed. Wearing thick armor and striking a tall and imposing silhouette despite her posture, she scanned the perimeter through the glowing blue scope of her rifle.
Lastly was a bulky man who hit the ground face-first and immediately began slurring out colourful, mostly incomprehensible curses. Covered not only in armor but in furs, it was without a doubt that he would likely be sweltering, even in the relative cool of the night.
"Quiet up Dog," spoke the man with the peaked cap. The grumbling curses did get quieter.
"Sound off."
"Dog," grunted the bulky man as he righted himself, scanning their surroundings.
"Wet," said the woman quietly.
"Devil," called the raspy, hardened voice of the crouching man.
Silence.
"Feth," rumbled the man in the peaked cap. They had lost people.
"Leave it to the girl named after the God of the moon to be the only person wanting to go out for a stroll during the boring old night." Vexal said aloud jokingly, though the expression on his face would show he was complaining. "Tsuki, can we go back yet? There isn't really much of a point in being here."
"You could probably use more time away from people too, you know? Besides, it's easier for me to focus in a place like this." Tsuki retorted. While Vexal liked being in the city, Tsukibaiacchi preferred the peace and quiet of the outdoors. However, before she could give Vexal more reason on why she wanted to be in the garden, their argument was interrupted by a loud, cracking noise, followed by a bright light.
Vexal shielded his eyes, counting the number of people that had just come out of the strange light, ending at the number four. The fact they were soldiers left a bad taste in his mouth, or at least that's the thought he got from their choice in weaponry. Vexal got the thought of hiding both himself and Tsuki behind one of the trees, but the number of people in the garden would make the act look rather suspicious. He duo hoped the group of 'soldiers' weren't hostile.
"Sir, locals," she said softly into her comm-bead. "And they're staring at us."
The man with the peaked cap, obviously the leader, turned his attention to the pair. 'Dog' and 'Devil' matched this.
The leader regarded them briefly. His eyes had adjusted to the dim light of their surroundings, and he tried to get a good fix on who or what exactly he was looking at.
As far as he could tell they were a pair of ordinary humans. Young, probably; unblemished surely, spared the scars of war and poverty.
They seemed stunned, but not as much as he might have expected from a group of armed soldiers suddenly appearing out of thin air. This did not bode well.
"I am Commissar Gabriel Envictus," he declared with a powerful, commanding tone. 'If that means anything,' he thought to himself. "You are locals then I should hope; where are we? Can you tell me that?"
'Wet' had taken the opportunity to expertly lift herself off the ground and into a standing position in quick fashion, and began to scan the surrounding area again, albeit without the gun this time; one of her eyes had a dim glow to it suggesting some form of augmentation.
Tsuki sighed an extended an arm in Vexal's direction, and brought the arm back to herself as she began to introduce themselves. "His name's Vexal, and I'm Tsuki. I hope you don't mind my asking, but what was with the rather, flashy way of entering?" the girl inquired, curious as to why their means of travel involved such a loud noise and bright light.
Wet did not respond verbally to Vexal's complaints. She turned and gave him a soft, sweet smile, with a glint in her real eye that said she wouldn't have hesitated to shoot under other circumstances. She then returned to scanning their perimeter, rifle held at the ready, albeit not raised.
Gabriel returned his attention to the couple when Tsuki began speaking. "A failed attempt," he replied simply. "I doubt I could explain it sufficiently to be well understood." He waved it off and took another look around. Spotting the fountain, he walked over to it and sat down, sighing as he did so. "I don't suppose you've seen anyone else of similar disposition to us? Heavily armed, armoured, perhaps a bit jumpy?"
For his part Devil had wandered over to Dog, who was still muttering and dusting himself off. Seemingly without warning, Devil tossed his immense knife blade-first into the dirt and slugged Dog in the gut; prompting the man to stagger back with a grunt. He did not otherwise react immediately.
"Come on Cadanche," Devil coaxed with a mocking tone, taking a defensive stance. "Might as well keep sparring then eh?"
Dog grumbled again and slung his rifle onto his back before proceeding to barrel into Devil.
Wet did not seem to notice, though she did shake her head ever so slightly.
James wore a large leather over-coat that went down to his shins, covering most of his body comfortably; and under that he wore a simple white tank-top and some brown cargo shorts; as well as his durable boots, made of the finest material and able to withstand years of punishment. He smiled and stopped to admire a patch of beautiful roses, looking down at them with a sense of belonging, though perhaps that wasn't the correct word.
Either way, he didn't feel so lonely, for the first time in a long while. He'd been sleeping better recently, and eating well, too. Why, just an hour ago he'd eaten a finely cooked Top Sirloin steak at a diner he frequented near his apartment. He blinked slowly and, still smiling, turned to continue down the gravel path, his faithful dog, Snow, following him happily; glad that her Master was feeling well, and was taking her on a walk again. Around her neck was a simple, but beautiful collar with the appropriate Dog-license noted with her name, and who she belonged to and where to return her should she ever be lost and found.
James' boots crunched in the gravel before he turned and faced another patch of flowers, stopping. Lily's....lovely. Absent mindedly he wondered what his Roommate, Miray's favorite flower was, and even fancied the idea of getting her a bouquet. He smiled; trying to imagine what her reaction would be; but then he shook his head, chuckling to himself while petting Snow as she sat beside him, panting softly, happy as can be.
He sighed and continued on until he found an open field within the gardens. He let out a sharp whistle and Snow barked a few times while from his pocket he withdrew one of her favorite toys; a thick felt octopus that was designed to be very durable even with rough dogs. So far it held true against Snow's playful onslaughts. So it was that the Werewolf began to play fetch with his beloved companion, tossing her octopus toy like a Frisbee, having her chase after it, bring it back, and give it to him so he could throw it again, giving her some much needed exercise.
"I suggest you make sure not to leave a trail of blood, makes it harder for someone wanting to kill you to find you." A voice sarcastically spoke before the man felt a fist connect to the back to his head sending him face first into the ground with an audible grunt. "But that just makes my job a lot more simple." the strange man grinned as he kicked the man in the side, causing him to roll over to meet face to face with his attacker. "Names Russian, I am your hitman for today."
"Wait sir! Please! Why are you doing this!?" The man pleaded as he struggled to escape. "Oh I can tell you the full story, it started by my employer calling me up and offered me a bunch of credits for you to be killed. You see, they are worried that you might reveal a little secret you know, and you are known to be weak at heart when it comes to being put under pressure. They find it much less stressful for you to be eliminated, its as simple as that." Russian shrugged as she shook his head.
"Please! Spare me, I promise I won't---" The man tried to plead but was subsequently kicked in the gut before having the barrel of a large rifle pressed against his head. "Business is business, I couldn't care less if you have a family or loved ones you want to stay with. I don't care if you promise not to speak. Unless you are offering more money then they did then I'm afraid your life is coming to and end right here and now. Nothing personal, guy has to make a living somehow." With that, Russian pulled the trigger and a single silenced shot pierced the silence. "That takes care of that, now its time to give my employers a call." He then brushed aside his uniforms sleeve and began to talk to a blurred out figure, he was talking casually despite the fact that he killed someone. "Jobs finished, I will be talking the other half of my payment now. And I must say you mob types always offer a surprising amount of money, the only other jobs that pay this much are military groups." He chuckled.
It was as the werewolf turned that he heard the gunshot, and his eyes widened. The last time he heard a gun that powerful, his family died in his arms. Turning he found the assailant talking on a phone. His lip twitched again and his canines grew sharper and longer, and his hands gripped into fists. He was conflicted; did he charge and kill the assailant; who looked like a soldier, or hunter of some sort; that boiled his blood.
He HATED hunters. The urge to tear the man apart with his bare hands was growing faster than normal. Sensing the anger rising in her master, Snow's hackles raised and she snarled and barked viciously at the man calling himself "Russian." At an equally savage snarl from James, she stopped after barking twice more, curling around the back of her Master's legs and staying low, growling softly, hackles raised high.
"Now I got a ship to catch, some money to grab and then I'm off to finish my job. You probably will never see me again but I don't really care, so you and your dog can growl all you want just just know if you try something I wont think twice about taking you out like I did to that person on the ground...huh...already forgot the guys name, guess I don't have to worry about him but now I have to find out where his relatives are...they also put a bounty on their heads, not as much as that dead guy but a little extra money never hurt. Anyways enough talking for me, I got more targets to take out so you have fun now." He soon began to walk away while waving back at the man.
He sighed and turned, shaking his head. "People like you are what killed my family; and continuously try to kill me....." He sighed again, whilst Snow stayed a distance away by a tree, growling, low to the ground and out of the way.
"Tell me....how much would the head of someone like me....go for on your particular market...I'm curious as to why hunter's even bother..."
"You want to know much much your head is worth? Maybe you would go for...a thousand credits? Maybe more maybe less. I don't know, but right now you are getting on my nerves and that dog is also getting irritating with all the growling. So it would be in your best interest to turn around and leave or else I will find out how much your head is actually worth. So don't test me because right now I can tell you are testing me." He motioned at the rifle still in his hands.
"Course...then again, what kind of person hunts others for money? Guess you're all the same." he sighed, hands in his pockets as his head gently bowed, walking slowly; boots thumping on the ground. Whether the taunting was meant to make Russian make the first move, or it was just due to the extreme amount of hate was hard to tell. It was likely that both fueled the taunting, and perhaps curiosity as to what would happen.
Now pointing his rifle at the man, he took a shot and backed away to clear the distance. If that man was fast he was going to have to be careful, no telling what he has under his sleeve, super strength? Mutations? Could even be a cyborg for all he cared. All he had to do was survive then he can easily teach him that he messed with the wrong guy.
Soon however there was coughing, and he stood up, the bullet falling to the ground, covered in blood. "That was my lung, you prick." he growled, tilting his head to either side, neck popping loudly. He turned and yawned, his canines coming into view now as his eyes hung half open.
Unbuttoning his jacket he tossed it to the side before lunging forward, his 6'3 body a blur as he moved, aiming to grab the barrel of the gun with one hand, and then attempt to slam a car-window shattering punch into Russian's face. What would follow next would be a flurry of moves, providing they hit. A punch to the jaw, jab to the solar plexus, low round-house to the knee, followed by a spinning-hook to the head. He moved twice as fast as any Human could, and hit four times as hard. Assuming that none of these worked, he would attempt to then initiate a grapple.
The man soon lunged at him, almost like a blur but with his genetic enhancements and a millennium of fighting experience he could easily cope with the mans inhuman speed. The first move the man made was to grab his gun which he gave up rather reluctantly but in the end it would be useless in close quarters, next came a punch aimed at his face which he just moved his head out of the way all the while moving his feet so he kept having room to dodge. He soon avoided a punch to his jaw by moving his head, a jab by quickly moving backwards but with how fast it was it still connected but the force was minimized enough so it did not have enough to incapacitate him, quickly jumed into the air to dodge the roundhouse to the knee and finally ducked the roundhouse to his head which knocked the cap that was on his head. It took a lot just to keep up with him but close quarters was not his strong suit without any specialized help. But what was bad was when the man attempted his grapple, with all the dodging he was out of room to avoid the grapple, however he had a plan to avoid this move and he crouched and tried to tackle the mans legs. He just had to buy at least a minute so his delivery could arrive.
However, should he find himself unable to kick his legs out, he'd begin to pummel on the man's back, aiming especially for his kidneys in particular; to make him release his legs; which were strong, and damn near unmoving for a regular man due to his deep stance, and inhuman strength to begin with. The thought of transforming and simply eating this man now crossed James' mind, but no, he'd not transformed in almost a few months....he intended to keep it that way.
Soon he heard the familiar sounds of something falling in the sky, one things was falling from the sky. His ace had just arrived and he smiled. "Looks like I just...gained an advantage." He suddenly let go of the mans legs and rolled backwards just as a single pod landed in the ground. He soon jumped into the pod but it did not open up.
His stance deepened with a bend of his knees, and he opened his fists to make claws with his hands; he'd rely on a more physically demanding fighting style, one that kept an onslaught of attacks going for as long as he needed. With that he lunged forward again towards Russian, body blurring as he jumped, throwing a side-kick that could shatter a concrete wall easily towards his foe.