Path of the Vampire forum

Title: Iced Happenings
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Characters: Hudson, Lennox Tyler

Hudson must post first, outlining a story on the following theme (feel free to get creative):

Setting: A frosty part of the quarentine zone
Backstory: The group ended up crossing paths as a result of some criminal undertaking (some or all characters).
Occurance: You come across a bloody murder scene.
Variable: Hudson is vomiting blood.

Participants: 2
ARES: yes
Speed: very slow
Chapter: no
Minimum Words Per Post: none
Maximum Words Per Post: none

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This thread was generated via the Roleplay Matchmaking System.

The newspapers liked to twist stories, and never in favor of vampires, but Hudson had felt like the reporters, at one point. The thought of vampires had scared him shitless, to be honest, and then he'd met Caligrace, and then she'd saved his life. And if she was a vampire, well then vampires couldn't possibly be the monsters the world said they were. He couldn't hate himself, after all; he wasn't the type to mope around, crying about all of his problems. He'd never been that type of person. But yes, she'd saved his life, and he knew he owed her, would do anything for her, to the moon and back -- wasn't that some sort of saying? Hudson liked it.

He'd kept in contact with friends and family, always making up excuses to avoid meeting them in person. Lately, he'd cited the coronavirus, and none of them questioned him. At first, his family had shown up at his dormitory looking for him, but he'd paid his roommate fifty dollars to cover for him, each and every time; and after he'd graduated, they'd blown up his phone wanting to know his new address, wanting to throw him a party to celebrate. A year ago, he'd lost his grandmother, and though he visited her grave, he'd never attended the viewing or the funeral. If he hated himself for something, he hated himself for that. He found it odd, but he couldn't lie to his family. Every excuse was a truth. Why couldn't they see him? He had to go to the library. He had another job interview. Lying by omission wasn't lying to them, not in his mind.

He took to hacking to make money. People had taught him how and he built a foundation on the basics. He used terminals available to the public, and then he relocated; he learned not to hack from the place he called home, just in case someone traced the source. After he realized that he could hack with just his mind, he continued to use the same practices, always afraid that something would go wrong, and maybe that was his problem. Maybe he'd jinxed himself.

Hudson dressed in all black to meet a client. The man had designated the abandoned bar in the quarantine zone their meeting point. He was going to deliver six thousand in cash to cripple a rival business. Hudson didn't like taking shady jobs, especially not when it included anonymity, but he needed the cash and six grand sounded nice. He'd been waiting for forty-five minutes, when he knew the guy was a no-show, so he stood on the riverbank, black Sperry shoes crushing frost-covered grass, and focused on tracing the man's email to plant a virus. He heard footsteps on the pavement and decided to hide in the bar. He pressed his back against the wall to the right of the door and peered through the dusty window. Three soldiers gathered in front of the bar, all of them armed, fingers hovering near the triggers.

"He should have been here. You got the intel wrong."

"Dumbass, the meeting point is inside the bar."

"Are you sure this is the hacker?"

A few mice skittered across the table behind the bar, knocking over dusty glasses that broke on the floor. Hudson quickly unsheathed the blade on his back, but he watched a vampire snarl at the men and storm over to them, hair wild, clothing in shreds. Hudson winced when he heard the screams. A small part of him wanted to save them, but he remembered how soldiers had hurt his sire; he made the decision to stay and wait out the attack. He heard bones breaking and gunshots, so many gunshots. He could only imagine the bloody scene outside of the bar. Eventually, he'd have to go outside, but he kept his eyes closed and waited for the silence, a sign of their deaths.

Lennox had stepped away from her sire and her family to continue her education. As vampire that held a political science degree could help the community with having a vampire get into the political scene to try and help their race. She hadn't expected upon her return with a law degree under her belt that her family would be gone. She kept herself busy in Doc's lab as she had before but also studying to keep the knowledge fresh upon her mind. She couldn't have returned at a better time even though those she desired to help the most had fled. There were others of her race that needed her help as she passed a group of soldiers on the street. Wearing her favorite pair of skinny distressed jeans with a vintage Bon Jovi tee and a black blazer with black knee high boots.

Her blonde tresses bounced around her shoulders as she walked with a purpose and a face mask to pose as a human in this stressed time with a virus running through the world like the plague. Lennox needed to talk a walk and get some fresh air to give her a break from her studies. Carrying a reusable bag to help her look as if she was out to get groceries to avoid attention, she nodded politely to the soldiers as she passed. If she had crossed the street, she knew that she would draw attention to her and that was the last thing she wanted because she hadn't gotten chipped yet with no intentions of being chipped. Tossing each of them an apple before she completely cleared their path as everyone needs to eat.

Once she hit the end of the block, she turned back to look at the soldiers who weren't looking her way just yet. Smirking under her mask, as she turned the corner and used her celerity to put a few blocks between her and them to lose them if they decided to change their mind, doubling back to run her ID. Lennox didn't have a plan for a destination but she was being pulled towards Wickbridge...more specifically the Quarantine Zone. It had been ages since she had been there, at least since she was a younger vampire but as her destination grew closer she decided to take a look around.

As she reached the gate, she noticed that guard wasn't there as she had heard he typically was placed at the gate at all times. He had a weird thing for collecting zombie ears and paying well for them but what he wanted for them, she didn't care as everyone had a weird collection of some sort. Hers was comic books and miniatures for various games. She hoped that the guard was on break or maybe needed to use the bathroom like any normal human until she heard gunshots. "Damn it!" Whipping off the cloth mask that covered her mouth, she shoved it into her back pocket as she dropped the reusable bag as she ran towards the gun shots. There were three soldiers outside the bar attacking a vampire who was unknown to her. Seeing that they needed help, she jumped on the back of one soldier pulling him back to shield off gunshots as she watched the vampire fall to the ground. They had killed him and rage filled her.

Pulling her gun from her waistline that her blazer had hidden, she shot the soldier across from her that had just shot up his buddy that she used as a shield. The last standing soldier stared at her as she let the body drop to the ground. They were in close proximity to each other that it was pointless to use guns. As he pulled out a knife from his utility belt, she smirked as she pulled a dagger from her boot. Their dance went on for a few moments and yes she had speed and agility on her side but he was able to land a few hits on her as he sliced into her forearm ruining her blazer. Growling as she rushed at him and stabbed him in the heart while his knife got one last victory as she stabbed her in the side. "Great." She grumbled as she made a mental note that she needed to go shopping again.

Brushing off the dust that had kicked up from the tussle from her clothes. Once Lennox compiled her composure, she entered the bar to see if anyone else had gotten hurt from rogue bullets that might have gone through the window. It was better to check out the area before more soldiers arrived to see that their buddies had been taken out. Carefully walking around as she carried her gun in case there were any straggling soldiers. Turning the corner, she stopped as she saw a man that was hiding. It was clear that he was another vampire and quickly looked back at the door before looking at him. "Are you okay? Were they here for you?"

As sounds of shuffling sounded behind her, she paused. As the stench of rot or decay filled her nose, Lennox was grateful of having a decent gag reflex. "God! Why is that always so awful?" She moved back out of sight of the creature that made its way towards them to make sure the man was definitely okay before they were forced into another fight. "What brought all of this on with the soldiers outside?"

==========AUTOMATED RANDOM EVENTS SYSTEM==========

Lennox Tyler hears a strange and inexplicable shuffling, followed by the distinct stench of rot.

Gunshots in the quarantine zone weren't uncommon, but the fight seemed to go on for far too long. Hudson tightened his grip around the hilt of his blade, then he moved away from the window. He couldn't see much outside of it, as they'd moved too far to the right. There was no point remaining at the window, unless he wanted a stray bullet to shatter it. There was a pause, a lull, that had him hovering near the door. The snarling had stopped; the fighting had ceased. And then gunshots went off again. More silence. More waiting. Hand hovering over the doorknob, he turned, but he stopped when he felt someone turning the knob from the other side. Thinking it was a soldier, Hudson released his hold on the doorknob, stepped to the left, pressed his back against the wall, and waited the few short seconds it took for the door to open. He saw a flash of blonde hair, but he'd reacted too soon. Mouth open for a gasp, eyes wide with the horror of the final result of his swing, Hudson jerked the blade and it connected with the door rather than the woman's neck. None of the soldiers had been women, yet there she was. Suddenly the continued gunshots made sense. Tugging his sword out of the wooden door, he struggled with an apology.

She was talking and he was still feeling the rush of adrenaline and fear. He could have killed her! That was why he preferred doing things alone. He was a walking hazard. She asked if he was alright and he managed a slow nod. Reaching up, he ran a hand over his messy brown hair, still hoping she wouldn't comment on his mistake. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was hoping they would kill each other off and save me the trouble. But this works too," he grinned. He went to hold his hand out to greet her, but he realized he still had the blade in his left hand. Right it was.

As a human, he'd been terrible at telling humans and vampires apart, but things had changed. Beyond the fact that normal humans -- sane humans -- didn't typically venture into the quarantine zone, she didn't have the same pull that a human did. He found himself trying to reach out mentally, but stopped himself before he could go there. Some vampires -- most vampires -- didn't like people rooting through their minds. He feigned a cough, but before he could say anything else, he heard the same shuffling. He looked away, trying to find the source, then he looked back at her. The scent didn't hit him all at once. The stench slowly came over him, like a rising tide, and he quickly shielded his nose with his right wrist, letting out a quiet groan as he attempted to keep himself from throwing up all over the woman. What a first impression, Hudson.

The zombies slowly made their way closer, five of them all walking crooked lines, bumping into one another. Chivalry was dead, but he wasn't the type to sit back and let a lady defend herself when he was there and capable. His swords skills were impeccable, even if he preferred to spend his time hacking. He heard her words, even over the groans and hisses of unused vocal cords. He really didn't want to advertise the fact that he enjoyed hacking, let alone that he spent the majority of his time ruining people's lives.

"I was supposed to meet a client outside of the bar, but it turned out to be a trap. I came in here to hide, then the feral I'm sure you saw outside decided to make an appearance. I might know how to fight and hold my own, but I'm a survivor, first and foremost," Hudson replied, deciding that his explanation was both informative and vague. He couldn't lie, not that it mattered -- he didn't like lying. "So it looks like you're my white knight tonight."

The first zombie, the one focused on reaching them, rather than the ones that had broken away to wander aimlessly, opened its mouth and the bottom of his jaw fell off, landing on the wood floor with a dull thud. The sound got the attention of the wandering zombies and suddenly there were five all over again. "Do you want to?" Hudson jerked his chin toward the oncoming zombies, then met the first zombie in the middle.

It wasn't a difficult fight. He hadn't tussled with zombies in a while, maybe years, because his skills had advanced to the level that fighting zombies was children's play. He hacked off one arm, then ran the zombie through in its midsection. Old blood spurted from the wound, some of the droplets hitting Hudson's black peacoat, seeping into the fabric. The smell was disgusting and he quickly beheaded the zombie and turned away from the corpse. He gagged a few times, swallowing and swallowing to keep from vomiting. Twice, he'd wanted to empty his guts. It really was a terrible first meeting.

"Well, looks like I'm here. What are your other two wishes?" Hudson dodged a zombie and stabbed it in the shoulder. He'd been on a kick with pick-up lines, and they distracted him from the overwhelming smell of rot and decay.

Lennox didn't move when he had the knee jerk reaction to attack when she opened the door. Okay so he was willing to fight and that was good. If he truly wanted to hurt her he wouldn't have missed or maybe he wasn't that great with the blade he chose to wield. As he pulled the blade from the door, she nodded toward the blade in his hand. "Need more practice with that? I'm sure I can manage to help you practice." The killer chuckled inwardly to herself at the thought. She was well versed in both guns and blades so she might be convinced to help train this poor sap.

He was fine... Well that was a minor relief as the situation could have been much worse and with the dead soldiers outside, it still had opportunity to get much worse. Him being in good condition meant that there would be two of them to fight should it come down to it. Perking her brow as he stuck out the hand with a blade only to quickly switched hands which made her chuckle. She took his hand and gave it a shake. "I'm always in for a good fight. Lennox by the way. You?"

Since her return from school, she had focused on fighting all of the wild baddies in the city to keep her skills shape. She refused to be a worthless killer because if her family returned at some point, she wanted to be someone that they could count on and if they didn't, maybe she could sell her services to help others when they were in trouble. Then go home to relax with her comic books and video games. It was a simple life but one that she enjoyed. So far no one was interested in disrupting that life but she was still young yet and knew anything could happen. Hell she could find her way to the Shadow Realm only to fight her way back but to her every happening or event held opportunity, just depending on one's mental state and what they could handle.

As he began to explain if the soldiers were here for him or just an inconvenient happenstance, she listened carefully. Meeting a client, huh. The feral hadn't surprised her given where they were but the soldiers...they were quite unexpected. "What kind of client? What were you supposed to meet over because the soldiers outside isn't the usual response to a business transaction." She paused as she looked around and scoffed. "Actually never mind...it's obvious that it was illegal or you wouldn't be meeting in a run down bar." Lennox was caught off-guard when when he called her his 'white knight', that was new. She would be lying if it didn't boost her ego and she would definitely keep that in mind.

They were interrupted with the constant shuffling behind them and she turned in annoyance to take in the situation and how quickly they needed to respond. Five zombies wasn't anything that was dire but he clearly thought differently when he asked what she wanted to do. "Well we could just kill them and get back to our conversation." Killing was always an option especially if anyone or anything was rude enough to interrupt. This man was the first person she had talked to since she arrived back into the city and yet, they couldn't be left alone for at least five minutes.

He didn't seem to waste any time as he took down the zombie in the center. Crossing her arms as she stood there and watched him. One arm down and then running through the center. He seemed like he knew what he was doing at least so why not fight earlier. It was then she watched the suddenly gagging after blood hit his jacket. Oh! There is was...the reason he hadn't fought. Laughing as he tried desperately not to throw up. Quickly she whipped her gun to the ready and took a shot at the two on the left and as he stabbed the zombie in the shoulder that manage to reach them as the others fell into wasted clumps of rotting bags of flesh. Laughing once again as his playful pick up pressed passed his lips. Quickly she grabbed her dagger from her boot and throwing it cross the space between Hudson and herself, hitting the zombie as the dagger stuck out of the creature’s eye socket. Lennox figured that she would play along as she smirked. "Oh well that's good. I don't know what I would have done without you. Though I think I might pocket those wishes for now, never know when they will come in handy." She gave him a playful wink as she walked over to him, getting close enough that their bodies were just barely from touching each other. She looked up at him in the eyes before, she casually squatted down to retrieve her dagger from the zombie. Standing back up, she took only a single step back leaving him to make the next move.

He honestly didn't even know where to begin with her. He'd never expected someone to show up, let alone someone more than capable of handling soldiers. It was the quarantine zone. Everyone knew zombies owned the quarantine zone, not soldiers. She was funny though, and he liked funny people -- he considered himself funny, after all. Unanswered questions aside, he expected her to leave the moment the zombies turned on them, but she didn't. He didn't need her help, not against zombies, but it was nice having a little company. He mostly put up with Jayden, the antisocial porcupine, not that he hadn't grown used to the man, per say, but he appreciated conversation. It was a shame the zombies had interrupted them. He risked a glance in her direction and a zombie hit him with a clumsy punch that had the creature's arm falling off. Alright, they weren't that threatening, but a hit was a hit. He punched the zombie in the gut, then drew his gun to shoot the zombie in the face, point-blank range. She took his pickup line joke well, as well as could be expected, at least, so he grinned to himself.

He toyed with the idea of telling a stranger -- Lennox, not a complete stranger, at least -- his name for several minutes before finally giving in, for better or worse. "It's Hudson." It was the name he embraced, not his birth name, but all that mattered. He was Jensen to his family and old friends, and Hudson to everyone else. He'd learned to accept that he wasn't really Jensen anymore, but he thought that he would preserve that buried name for the last shreds of his human life. "As long as you let me know your wishes, I'd say that's fair." He chuckled at the words, choosing not to take his eyes off of his target.

The glass windows in the bar shattered, the loud sound causing him to jerk, his blade completely missing one of the last remaining zombies. The whole interior was a mess of old blood and body parts, a lovely murder scene to match the one outside of the bar, no doubt. For a second, he wondered what had shattered the glass, but something hit him square in the gut. He stumbled back a few steps and knocked into the zombie crawling along the floor, the one he'd tried to finish moments before. When he looked down, he saw a hole in his coat and a growing wet spot blooming on the fabric around the circular hole. He was momentarily stunned, then he aimed his gun at the zombie clawing at his legs and fired two shots. More bullets whizzed past him, one more hitting him in the gut. He doubled over and choked up blood. That was going to leave a nasty mark, not that it wouldn't eventually heal.

"Ugh." He groaned, trying to stop himself from choking up more blood. He didn't succeed. "Reinforcements? Don't these guys have anything better to do? I'm a hacker. Yeah," he said, turning to look at Lennox, "I'm a hacker. I offer my services for cash. That's what this is all about, unless there's something I'm not seeing."

==========AUTOMATED RANDOM EVENTS SYSTEM==========

One of Hudson`s unfortunate curses chooses this moment to manifest itself in a large way.

To say that she wasn't having fun would be a lie and that was one thing she was incapable of doing. Not that she hadn't tried when she was younger because who didn't try to lie to there parents but when she opened her mouth...nothing but the truth fell right out of it. It was why she thought it was ironic that she studied to go into politics because they were all liars and yet here she would be doing nothing but telling the truth. Probably would be refreshing to everyone to have one person actually do what they said they would but yet that was a very dog eat dog world. It might have been why she went back to school to get a law degree. Two power house studies meant that there would be opportunity for jobs. Maybe one day, she might even open up her own law firm. She just needed to get out there an actually meet people, she was an introvert at heart. Well...she kinda was meeting people now.

As he finally decided to give her his name after a few awkward minutes between fights, she smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Husdon." It was a unique name but one that she would remember. This man in front of her intrigued her enough that she wasn't just going to walk off and leave him to his own devices. Chuckling as remarked on her statement of his well delivered pick-up line, she couldn't help but deliver a quip of her own instead. "A master may only ask for the wishes but it's the Genie that gifted them who owns them. No other person would be able to grant the wishes that I could possibly ask but you." She flashed him a smirk before she placed the dagger back into her boot and he went to take on another zombie that rudely invited themselves to their little party.

An instant reaction to duck when she heard the glass windows of the bar shatter. Turning to see what they were about to encounter only frown. Reinforcements came quicker than she thought. They must have been ready if the other team didn't return by a certain time and of course, their bodies lay in a pile outside the door. Never leave the evidence behind and that was exactly what she did. As another bullet came screaming through the window, she watched him pause and then look down. Frowning as her eyes followed his... He had been hit only for another round of bullets to come flying at them like hungry screaming eagles. He was choking and her eyes went wide as she saw the blood shoot out of his mouth as he coughed. Another bullet shot through the window and hit him. He was definitely the target. He hadn't answered her questions before but she had given him an out when she figured he was meeting over illegal matters. Now words spilled from his lips as he told her why he was there and what his career choice was. Shaking her head as she looked at him. "Do they know you're a vampire? Never mind, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is getting out of here alive."

Adrenaline began to rush through her as she turned and grabbed him. Hudson continued to choke up blood only to throw it up on her as took hold of him. Not letting it phase her for now, Lennox pulled him out of the line of fire but not before one hit her in her left shoulder. Growling as she rounded the corner with him and pinned him to the wall. "Hold still..." It was a new power that she had been wanting to try out and now was as any good a time to try. Closing her eyes, she focused her energies on him as she pressed her hands to his chest. It didn't take long before she felt the warm between them and her energies seep into him. After a few short moments, she opened her eyes but not letting her hands drop. "How do you feel?"

Her body was on fire with rage. He was hit, she was hit, and they were just starting to get along as well as two strangers could. How was she able to make friends if there would be bullets whizzing by, threatening their lives. Sticking her head around the corner to try and size up the situation. So far they had only been shooting through the window but they had to know they were in there or the shots would have stopped. She could see at least two off to the right but didn't have sight to those that stood on the left. She would have to dash across the room in order to get the full picture. Just as she thought to sprint, the door came crashing down and the mounds of dust kicked up like thick fog. Checking the clip in her gun, it was almost spent. Sighing as she switched clips which was her only extra clip, Lennox reminded herself that she needed to leave the house with more ammo than anticipated for events like this. Turning back at him smiled and patted his cheek. "Looks like we are going to have to fight. Buck up, Pumpkin...I need you to be like Deadpool and shake it off because this is going to be a wild ride."

Stepping out from around the corner, she looked the soldiers straight in the eyes a laughed. "A little late to the party aren't you?" She lifted her gun as she winked at them, letting her finger pull the trigger before they could. She normally had a near perfect shot but as her first bullet left the chamber, six others shot back at her and she jerked her gun as she dodged. Her bullet ended up landing in the kneecap of the guy on the far left. "****!" Pulling a table down to use for some cover, she tried to aim for her next target. "That was a warning shot...you really should just home and hug your children. We have a nice bubble bath we would like to get to." The soldiers looked at each other and made their choice as they took steps toward her...someone was going to die tonight. Lennox shook her head and laughed. Alright...play time it is.

He'd snorted at her comment about the genie, not in a bad way, as he'd found it amusing, so he'd hoped she wouldn't take it wrong, if she did hear the quiet, nonverbal response. She was funny, he reminded himself. In their situation, they needed humor. If the shooting hadn't started, he might have made an actual comment, made something witty, maybe another attempt at being suave or cheeky, something, at least; instead, people had decided to crash their party, and all he could think was how he really hadn't signed up for the garbage. He was a hacker, not an enemy of the city. The fact that kept repeating on a loop, brought on by his admission to Lennox. He wondered if she would look down on him for doing shady business, but she didn't seem to care, at least not right then.

Hudson swiped his right wrist over his mouth to try and clean the blood away, but he simply smeared it over his chin and around his lips. He wasn't pale, so the blood didn't stand out too much; still, he would have preferred not vomiting blood, especially when it meant vomiting blood on her. He was mortified, to be honest, but the bullet wounds burned and ached, which kept him grounded. She'd asked him such an important question, and he couldn't answer; he honestly didn't know if the cops and soldiers knew he was a vampire or not. Both parties were trigger-happy morons with chips on their shoulders. If he had to guess, he would say no, that he didn't think they knew. He looked human, even if he still had the aura of a vampire. Compared to some of his kind, he appeared completely normal, something he was proud to admit.

"I don't think they know. They shoot first and ask questions later. I hit a few big scores recently. I planted a lot of viruses. Maybe they traced me. I was in pretty deep," he admitted, pressing his hand to his stomach to try and stop the blood still slowly oozing from his wounds. Before he could say anything else, more shots were fired and he watched as a bullet hit her shoulder, narrowly missing himself. He couldn't heal her. That was the first thing that came to mind. He was a telepath, nothing more. She asked him to hold still, but he managed to rush out a question. "Are you alright?"

Of course she was alright; of course he was alright. They were vampires, and they healed. A little blood. A little patience. They weren't hurt bad enough for a trip to the shadow realm. He shuddered at the thought. Everything about the shadow realm sounded awful, even if they would eventually return. But it didn't matter then. Neither of them would die there. A little finesse. A little bloodthirsty behavior. They would easily make it out of the mess. He thought everything through, thoughts going in time with the throbbing in his stomach. When the blood-flow slowed, he blinked at her for a few minutes. She'd touched him and the thirst for blood was gone, replaced with a steady warmth that cooled as the seconds passed. The wounds were still there, but the need to replace the blood lost seemed gone.

"Alright. What did you do and can I learn to do that?" It was the wrong time to ask, maybe the wrong thing to say, but he was shocked. He knew there were other powers out there that wraiths could unlock for him, but he'd been so focused on learning his own abilities. He didn't expect an answer, since he'd mumbled to himself. When she patted his cheek, he grinned to himself. "I'll take Deadpool. I'm apparently supposed to be a badass now. I'll roll with it."

When the door crashed open, dust particles flying in every direction, he recovered the sword he'd dropped, sheathed it, and focused on his gun. He had to add more rounds, but he had a box in his coat pocket. He tried to make sure he had enough, since he spent far too much time in the abandoned sewers. He took a moment, then he left their cover and counted the soldiers standing before them. One stood in the doorway, assault rifle aimed and ready, while two other soldiers were further inside, flanking him. Hudson thought he was a great shot, so he stifled a laugh when her shot missed. The soldier still went down, but he crawled behind an overturned table to hide and continue the fire. When the guy went down, three other soldiers inched into the bar. So he shouldn't have hacked the same businesses or planted viruses when he couldn't find what he wanted. His bad.

"We're skipping a few steps somewhere, but I like bubble baths." Hudson fired a shot and ducked behind the bar for cover. He kept firing on the injured soldier until he scored a head shot that completely downed the man. He forgot how fragile humans could be. "Since they aren't leaving, they must be bad fathers," he joked, ducking down to avoid a spray of bullets. The shots completely shattered several glasses hanging over the back of the bar, sending glass raining down on him. He returned fire, hitting one man in the knee and then in the throat. Not bad. "Tell me more about this bubble bath," he continued, flashing her a smile. He ducked as more bullets and glass rained down on him.

"Just die already," he sighed to himself.