Once more into the fray...

[Luc LeBlanc (DELETED 6464)]

Once more into the fray...
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day...
Live and die on this day...

~A week or so ago~

He sat in an internet cafe reading a forum about an upcoming picnic and the brutality of cops when he noticed one post he ~had~ to reply to.

No I am saying that the police have a very good reason to be as jumpy as they are. Harper Rocks murder rate is astronomical we have military lock down on one whole district and another at a Mausoleum in another. Claims of disease and outbreak These diseased look like walking zombies. People are regularly vanishing and huge numbers of people are losing time being walking down the street or something just to wake up dazed and confused elsewhere the reports are massive.

I don't have no conspiracy theory or anything fancy to go by but I can tell you what I have seen and know ... You probably wont believe me at least not at first until it happens to you.

Fingers flying over the keyboard he replied to the posting with his own thoughts.

Vouch. Also there are places in the city that have all sorts of traps laid. A couple weeks ago I ended up in the hospital when I was trying to check out a few places off the beaten path. I was badly burned when a homemade pipe bomb or something went off and was hit with a shotgun trap hooked up to a tripwire and shot at by a sensor turret. A ******* SENSOR TURRET.

You ******* kidding me? That's serious military hardware. Where the **** are people getting this ****? Why are they setting it up in a city? Kids could wander into a place that looks abandoned and get blown to ****.

Another time I went exploring near the south edge of town and again, there were all these poison gas traps. This isn't in the military controlled area either. This is places that are in and around the city.

Who the **** does that? Get a ******* burglar alarm. The cops are useless, won't even talk to you, forget punitive damages. It seems that you can set landmines in your yard and make your house into a deathtrap and in Harper Rock that's not given a second thought.

This city is insane.

I've woken up three times somewhere dazed and confused like that post said too and I've seen some strange **** out on the streets.

Unlike the previous poster I'll say it. There are weird part shadow stuff and part fleshy stuff beings out there. In the city, on the streets. I've also seen this thing that looked like someone took the dogs from Resident Evil and used cows instead.

This place is fucked. Just fucked.

Enjoy your picnic. Don't get eaten.

He logged of of the site with no intention of logging back in. Screw their picnic. He was going to make enough cash as quickly as possible to be on a plane, train or automobile out of dodge, eat his dust see-ya-later-bye! Hell he might even leave tonight.

~Present day~

The gun kicked in his hand and Luc immediately ducked behind the parked Buick again as the gangsters returned fire, speckling the vehicle with a new series of holes. He couldn't believe his rotten luck, pinned down in the slums by wannabe hard asses he had followed intending to rob after they were done robbing the warehouse. Rotten luck. Low on ammo, low on time. Twice already his wild shots back the the punks had forced one of them to retreat, they had been trying to flank him. Outnumbered and outgunned. ****.

Raising the gun above the hood he squeezes off a few more shots to buy some time as he looks around. There. A manhole. Maybe his only chance. Another couple shots pelt the car and he rolls toward the lid drawing his knife. Slamming it between the lid and the skirt he pries, it opens enough to slide it over an inch, that's enough. More rounds hit the car and he returns fire strafing the thugs' cover, kicking the manhole cover off fully before sliding down the ladder, feet and the hands on the outside of the handrails. He hits the bottom hard and takes a moment to take stock of his surrounding. His eyes not fully adjusted he barrels down one of the tunnels into the darkness, smoking gun still in hand, the smell of cordite overpowered by the filth around him.

This is not good, he thinks. Not a good place to be. Any tunnel could be oxygen starved, the breathable air (if any of this air is) displaced by carbon dioxide, or worse. He's heard stories of CHT tanks on Navy boats being opened and the fumes instantly killing the people working on them. Still, better chance of surviving a block or two down here than if he had stayed topside and got riddled with bullets. He stops once out of one of the sludge filled tunnels and listens for any sounds of pursuit. He doesn't think the gang bangers would follow him down him, that would **** up their 'kicks'. Still better safe than dead. Damn it he'd gotten careless, greedy, let things get out of control. Right now he should be driving off with those looter's haul in their van while their bodies cooled in the street, on his way to hawk their stash at the local pawn shops instead of wallowing in human excrement and all the rest of the crap that was flushed away. He silently thanked Pi for the gun, the extended clip was the reason he was still alive. The only reason.

He doesn't hear anyone coming after him from behind him so he relaxes slightly. Best to go a couple blocks, surface and hope to come up in an alleyway, but first. He pulls out his webphone, places a 911 call and gives the address along with reporting that there were gunshots fired. Maybe he'd disabled their vehicle and he can at least get some measure of revenge he thinks as he hangs up the phone. Fuckers. **** them and **** his rotten luck...

Bright side, at least the gang bangers didn't have a sensor turret. His wounds had healed miraculously, but he would have scars.

He turns and walks toward another murky tunnel with a sigh. He hated Harper Rock.

[Kira]

Kira sat outside, trying hard to focus on nothing, mediate. Visualizing in her mind, Warrior locked up in chains, a cage. She wondered how much influence Warrior really had on her. She was tired of her getting in the way of things. She heard a loud growl in her head, she fell backwards, she felt like she had been punch but no one was there. Kira's green eyes turned to that of a cats, returning a growl herself.

"You are so god damn domesticated, it makes me sick." Warrior's voice said.

Kira got to her feet, moving to the nearest reflective surface, a window. She could see Warrior there, looks just like her, only red hair and colder. "This is't your life. How many times does someone need to tell you that." Kira replied, she was pissed at this other side of herself for taking control long enough to gain power from a fracture. She was just going to throw an empty bottle at it, supposedly they could be closed that way but Warrior couldn't resist the power that it supposedly offered. What if someone found out about it? She couldn't just blame it on some other side of her, it would make her seem completely loney. If wasn't for the fact others have had come face to face, so to speak, to this bitchy woman, Kira would have believed herself insane.

Warrior smirked, "Where is your boy? Out again, busy busy. Shouldn't he be spending his time with you..?"

Kira glared at her red headed twin, then rolled her eyes. "Training as always. You certainly remember all our time alone, my time alone. It doesn't bother me." she said. As it was, spending all her time with him had taken a lot to get used to, past the distrust of men in general. "Suppose I would train all the time too if I had lost all my powers.." she added. She counted on her powers a lot but also her strength. As a killer, Kira would have thought brute strength would have been enough for Reggie but he must think he can't protect her now, not that she ever needed protecting.

"Then you really should be out killing some evil, don't you think. The last good kill was when you brought the last furball home and she's not a kitten anymore.." Warrior mocked. "We have our needs."

Kira ran a hand through her hair, she remembered killing that animal abuser well. Had it really been that long? Nothing rewarding anyway. She had a small pile of bad guys that needed to be taught a lesson. But that took time to track them down. There was always her favorite prey, gangsters. "I don't want to hear your annoying voice for awhile." she grumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets and floated off to check on the animals before she left to hunt down someone to kill.

She headed into town, the slums were of course the best place to hunt for a large number of gangsters. She just had to make sure there wasn't any witnesses. She had gotten into plenty of trouble being hunted by gangsters after not making sure they were all completely dead. Then there has been accidentally siring...that never turns out. They needed to be dead, completely dead.

As she neared the slums, the sound of gun fire, the smell of it. Followed by the sound of cops. "Well ****." Kira muttered. Seems the fun was already spoiled and she wouldn't be getting any fun here. She sighed softly, sirens reminded her of Jarrett but she knew her friend wouldn't be among these cops, if he was even in town at the time.

She pushed the thought aside, thinking of what would at least be a fun challenge without having to ritual track it. The hunters in the sewers, she suppose they would at least be fun to play with. She hated the sewers though. The only plus side was the fact she floated now, no longer touching the ground, save for a new moon, she wouldn't touch the nastiness of the floor.

Kira moved over to the nearest manhole cover, pushed it open and dropped down, though stopped short of touching the ground. She moved down the tunnel, a ball of light shown in her hand, giving off a glow which made the rats ran off. While she could see fine in the dark, she liked a little extra light. Her other hand reached for her bladed tonfa. She saw movement up ahead which made her quicken her pace and let the light disappear from her hand.

[Luc LeBlanc (DELETED 6464)]

It wasn't a noise that attracted his attention toward the nearby tunnel, it was a light. A light that disappeared as he moved toward it. Since he couldn't see in the dark, he slowly and carefully backed up, putting his back close to the wall and peering out into the blackness.

He wants to pull out his phone, use the assistive light app on it to see what he heard but in doing so he's worried he'll catch a bullet through both the phone and him. For now he chooses caution. Who the hell would be down in the dark *** sewers besides him that had good intentions? Best case scenario is that this is a cop up ahead and in Harper Rock that's still not a good scenario. Worst case it's one of the shadow monster things he saw the other week. He finds himself hoping it's just a gangster.

He brings his gun up, bracing it with both hands for accuracy and stability and calls into the darkness "Harper Rock Water and Sanitation! Is anyone there? Sure could use a flashlight..." Having said that he takes a few tactical steps to the left, silently, feet making not noise the flowing excrement around him does not cover. He crouches down and quietly waits for any signs of where the light came from ready to shoot if anyone appearing like a gangster approached from the fetid shadows.

[Kira]

Kira tilted her head when the person she spotted spoke. This wasn't no hunter or paladin. Not even a vampire. Why would anyone else be down here? Sanitation worker? In all her time here, she had never seen one down here before. Surely it wasn't their job to clear out the dead bodies. Wouldn't they be dressed differently too?

"Sanitation? Shouldn't you have a flashlight, a headlamp? Did you drop it in the nasty water?" Kira mused pleasantly enough, slipping her weapon back into its place. She reached for a gun instead, odds were high this person had a gun so she may need to shoot instead. She kept it hidden, her cell phone would have a different glow to it but she had a plan for that too. "My cell phone died. You haven't happen to see a cat down here? Sof is normally so well behaved but she ran out the door." she said, lying through her teeth.

She moved along the wall but she made no sound by walking since she floated everywhere. She did hear sounds coming from other tunnels, lovely, that's where the hunters were.

[Luc LeBlanc (DELETED 6464)]

2nd Witch:
By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes. -Knocking-
Open locks,
Whoever knocks!
-Enter Macbeth-

Macbeth:
How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags!
What is't you do?

Macbeth Act 4, scene 1, 44–49

Neither of them were good liars Luc figured. His story of being a sanitation worker alone in the sewers without a flashlight and her being just a cat-seeking and phone-less person out to forage for her fearless feline. More than the disgusting water flowing by them smelled like ********. He listens closely trying to figure out where her voice was coming from but the echoing of the tunnels makes it impossible. He pivots his body slowly from side to side with his gun held out in a practiced two hand shooter stance.

"You I dropped my flashlight and you dropped your cat...." Wait, there. Footsteps. He drops his voice to a whisper, an urgent one at that. "Hey look, can you lead us to the exit? There are some pretty nasty fuckers I got into it with topside and they might be following me by the sounds of it. I have a phone, you can use it once we get out, but no light for right now. Can you guide us back the way you came from?"

He figures there are at least three sets of footsteps coming from a nearby tunnel, maybe more. He can't see **** in the darkness. He doesn't hear her moving along the wall without her feet touching the ground, has no idea how close she is. For being in this situation she would probably notice how insanely calm he is and from the squinting of his eyes he is obviously unable to see anything.

[Kira]

Dropped her cat? It seemed lying for either of them wasn't getting them anywhere, unless he seriously thought she believed his story and vise versa. Kira was glad Sof wouldn't be caught dead down here, she was far too high mighty to go somewhere like this. And Kira sure wouldn't want to give her a bath if she did manage to fall in such a nasty place. Right, that would be Dave's job.

She tilted her head again as he asked if she could lead them out of here? She didn't need his cell phone and she wasn't sure she wanted him behind her. She looked back towards the sound of footsteps. "Oh? Was that you that caused that commotion up top?" she mused, and she thought she was a trouble maker. She didn't want to leave, she wanted to kill someone and this guy, he didn't seem like he'd be much fun to play with and she wasn't sure what kind of person he was. Hunters and paladins attacked on sight, good or bad, well they were bad for vampires, she would kill them.

Focusing again on the footsteps again, counting how many sets there were. If she returned home worse for wear, Reggie might have a fit. Choices, choices. She didn't want to be overpowered though, that wouldn't be much fun or a trip to the shadow realm. That would be embarrassing and Reggie would be pissed.

Damn it.

"Yeah I can find the way I came.." Kira replied, she would use his lack of seeing in the dark to her own advantage, mainly to make sure he wasn't going to shoot her in the back. She kept her own gun, loosely in her hand. "This way." she said, taping the side of the wall with her heel. She started to move down the way she came. Coming to realize that if someone called her right now, that wouldn't be good. She wouldn't be able to turn the sound off without either making a sound or showing the light. She was just going to hope her phone would stay quiet like it normally was.

She looked back, making sure he wasn't aiming the gun at her though she wondered if he was lost or was it a lie. He would surely be dead if the group of footsteps were people he had pissed off.

She could make out the ladder in the darkness, kicking it with her foot. "Here it is. Though seems someone put the manhole back though. It was hard enough moving it the first time. Do you mind?" she asked, playing the weak female was annoying but she wanted him to be at the disadvantage of moving it instead of her.

[Luc LeBlanc (DELETED 6464)]

Following the sounds she makes to guide him, Luc moves forward without hesitation. The noises come from the gang members he had had it out with earlier he wanted to be as far away as possible and even if they didn't he doubted they came from any real sanitation workers. Best to be out of the area. He holsters his gun as he approaches her standing at the ladder seeing her in the dull beams of light cast down into the murky depths from the holes in the lid above. He can only make out her outline, silhouetted in the darkness black superimposed on a blacker black.

**** it he thinks as she defers to him. He has to climb up first, he can do that. He doubts that someone of her stature could raise the manhole lid to begin with and doubts further that within the brief time she would have taken to get from the entry point to where he first spoke with her that anyone would care enough to replace it. She was obviously stronger than she looked or had someone topside waiting for her and covering her egress from the sewers.

Still, better than getting gunned down by pissed off gangsters and his body being left to rot amongst the plethora of human waste and other nastiness down here. "Yeah, I'll get it," he says as he moves past her and grips the rung in front of him. "Just hurry up after me. I got into a scuffle with some gangbangers back there. They likely aren't too happy and well, I don't think I need to tell you what they'd do to a woman alone if they caught you down here." He begins his ascent having said that, climbing quickly up toward the small pinpricks of muted light and reaching the top quickly. He braces himself on the ladder and reaches up, using his legs to push in order to displace the cover from it's housing and then pushing it off the the side. Looking down at the woman who had until now been a disembodied voice in the darkness he frowns. "I don't know what the hell you are actually down down here and I'm not sure I want to know, but come on, hurry up and let's get out of this **** hole."

With that he peeks up, seeing the manhole is in an alleyway and scampers through the orifice, emerging from the disgusting sewers as though being birthed into a world full of fresh air and vibrant colors for the first time.

Once out he moves back away from the orifice and waits for her to appear.

[Kira]

Kira put her gun away as he agreed to go up first. She blinked when he brought up what the gangster might do to her, oh they would so be missing what makes them a man if they tried anything of the sort. ****, Reggie always knows when she's in danger. Suppose it would be best to avoid a conflict, she didn't want to hear about how she's always getting into trouble.

She looked back towards the sound of footsteps. Her hand twitched, wishing still to have killed them, she should have just looked on the Misfits crownet and see if there was a fadebeast to play with somewhere. She forced herself to focus and quickly followed up the ladder to the surface, moving away from the manhole. She hoped the smell of the sewers hadn't seeped into her clothes or she might have to burn them.

She finally looked to the man, now able to see him clearly. "Suppose it's not safe to stick around in this area." she said, she wasn't sure what to say as to why she was down there, not that she had to tell him anything. They had no need to stick around each other either. She still wanted a fight before the sun came up.

Kira turned towards the sound of another manhole being moved down at the end of the ally. A bald head popped up followed the large body of a hunter. Seriously? She thought they stayed in the sewers. He had his gun out but wasn't aiming it just yet.

"Are they both or just one?" the hunter asked.

Kira blinked in confusion, she hadn't heard the paladin come up from the sewer entrance they had just gotten out of until she felt the presence of someone behind her. She spun around and quickly took a step back, growling at the naked man. She could deal with them when it was dark but there's street lights up here for crying out loud.

"Oh she's one of them. I feel sick.." the paladin replied.

Kira tilted her head, "Since when do you guys work together?" she asked.

"They know for sure who to attack. It's better than just shooting at anything that moves, it could be a poor human." the hunter replied. "So what of the other one?"
The paladin looked to the other man there, "She's the only one making me sick here." he said, "I suggest you get out of here." he added. "I bet she was planning on making a meal out of you."

Kira rolled her eyes, "I was not." she snapped. The paladin would be far harder to fight than a hunter, and the hunter had a gun while the paladin had a sword, plus their powers. She wanted to take the hunter out first. Wait, wasn't there three sets of footsteps? Was there a third enemy ready to pop up? Then she had no idea whose side guy from the sewers was going to be on, she had to assume theirs as who would be on the side of a monster.

"Ready to go to your dark hell, vampire?" the paladin hissed.

Kira grinned, her fangs showing. "No thanks." she replied, grabbing her tonfa and giving the paladin a good whack on the head. Distracting enough as she turned and ran towards the hunter who opened fire. Kira put her tonfa away, taking out her gun and returned fire. She ran across the alley wall, the bullets hit his shoulder then one right in his head. She turned back to the paladin who was getting up. Kira put her gun away as they came near each other, Kira took out her tonfa again but this time it wasn't blunt, it was bladed.

A blue wave came out from the paladin, Kira gasped as the blood inside her dried up. She really hated their powers. Kira used Harmful Illusion, the paladin started to scream, holding his head. Kira moved forward, their blades clashed together. She focused on the paladin's face, she reached her hand out, touching his cheek, the next moment the paladin's face was on fire. He backed off, patting at the burnt spot.

Click. Bang.

It was unexpected, feeling the pain in the back of her shoulder. Kira turned towards the roof of the building. That's where the third hunting party member went to. The paladin charged at her but instead of attacking with a blade, he used Rigormortis, which made her twitch and slow down. The hunter from the roof shot her in the stomach before Kira could back flip onto her hand and pushed herself against the wall where the hunter couldn't just shoot at her.

[Luc LeBlanc (DELETED 6464)]

Luc had never been good at following orders. One of the reasons he had been kicked out the military. "I suggest you get out of here." the guy had said "I bet she was planning on making a meal out of you." That didn't make sense to Luc since she would have nabbed him before he could climb the ladder. He did take a few steps back though and when the fight breaks out, and seeks cover behind a nearby dumpster. He watched the woman take down one of them, he was somewhat impressed. When the guy makes some blue wave thingy come out at the chick, well, now we aren't talking human vs monster, it's monster vs monster. At least Kira had guided him out of the sewers, might have saved his *** from the gangsters. That decided his role in the battle... He hits the button on the bluetooth around his neck turning on the digital radio. He expects something like AC/DC For Those About To Rock to blare in his ears.

It's Taylor Swift, Style. You kidding me? **** it.

He makes a choice and draws his pistol, aiming it at the woman as he strides forward. She's been shot twice by the time Luc makes his play. "I got this." He says to the advancing paladin, his gun pointed at Kira's forehead. The other man draws up short, "Fresh meat, **** her up!!" the guy says, happily expecting Luc to be a new hunter to join their ranks perhaps. This better work, Luc thinks to himself. One step, two steps, three. Close enough. He whips the gun in the direction of the smiling face of the paladin and unloads a short burst of fire straight into the man's grinning features... the bullets strike with wet splatting sounds, the retort from the gun's barking hitting Luc's ears a split second after the rounds strike, shifting the features on the man's countenance in grotesque ways as they lodge into his skull. One eye bulges with the first round, half his cheek evaporates in a red mist with the second. His head snaps back with the third and the lifeless body slumps to it's knees and pitches backward awkwardly, chest and groin to the heavens with the shins under the newly made corpse's thighs. Dead bodies are flexible until rigor mortis sets in.

Midnight,
You come and pick me up, no headlights

It doesn't take long for return fire from the roof to send Luc scampering to the side, arms raised in a protective shield over his head. Not that they would likely do much good if a bullet hit them. Flesh vs. bullet had a nasty habit of seeing the bullet be the victor. As soon as he's around the corner of a nearby building. He leans his head and arm out and fires off a few more shots before hearing the dry clicks of the empty weapon. Damn it, never reloaded after the gangsters. Ducking back behind the cover he yells over to the woman "If you ain't dead this is a good time to get that *** in gear!"

A long drive,
Could end in burning flames or paradise
Fade into view, oh, it's been a while since I have even heard from you (heard from you)

He scrambles frantically through his pockets for a fresh clip as he ejects the spend magazine onto the ground. He'll have to remember to pick that up. This gun is custom and he doesn't need to leave any more evidence behind that he already has. Hopefully the woman isn't dead from the shots and that blue wave thing earlier.

should just tell you to leave 'cause I
Know exactly where it leads but I
Watch us go 'round and 'round each time

He slams the clip into place, cursing at the music blaring in his ear and leans back out, laying down some more coverr fire before glancing over to where he saw the girl drop.

[Kira]

Kira watched the paladin, if she left the cover, she'd be shot at which she could live through but it wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. She preferred being cut up if she was going to pick wounds. Guns required digging around for the damn bullet.

The man from the sewers got involved now, of course he picked their side. The gun aimed at her head, she didn't want a head wound, they were damn annoying. She would have to go all out now. She got distracted for a moment, hearing some faint music playing. Taylor Swift? That song wasn't much of a battle theme. Well, at least it wasn't that damn Britney Spears. She hated that pop star and always being mistaken for her.

Focus.

She was about to react to the new threat only for the paladin to be shot up and killed. Oh...it was a tactic. Make them think he was on their side, giving him the upper hand. A tactic that worked but now they still have the man on the roof.

She removed her hand from her stomach wound, wiping the blood on a clean spot on her shirt, looking up, judging where the man was at. She jumped up, leaping up passed the roof. The look of shock on the hunter's face. She landed next to him, knocking his hand away as he went to shoot her. She grabbed his wrist, punching with her other hand, there was a snap as the bones broke in his arm, followed by the sharp scream of pain that escaped his lips. She grabbed his neck, snapping it in one quick motion, she let the body fall off the roof, joining the bodies on ground below.

Kira stepped off the roof, not able to control the wings that popped out as she descended from the down. She looked over at the bodies then to the man from the sewer. "Thanks for not shooting me in the head." she said, course if he had shot at her, he might be on the ground with them. Now the question was, did he already know about vampires or is he going to be a problem.