The_Ninjin

Oh yeah, that wasn't good. Abbie dropped back to the roof as she shifted directly from Nova to Dwarf form, charging at the overgrown Troll with a savage roar. Placing herself between it at the other heroine she attempted to attract its attention by swiftly punching it in the face with one massive claw, in the hopes it'd focus on her rather than the apparently not as tough as she looked other one.

The blow to Mr. Bones' face sent a thunder crack of pain through his jaw. He jumped back near the edge of the roof. A portion of brain had deteriorated into a blank state of rage. For the first time, he thought to form a coherent thought that might have benefited him versus grabbing, throwing, or screaming. With the presence of two heroes, the green giant was left with few options. They'd give chase if he ran and the battle wasn't exactly in his favor so he did the best he knew how to do.

((Welcome Sylia, by the way...))

Duskblade juked left, then rolled right, one blade missing it's target by less than an inch. she took two glancing blows, one on the right shoulder, the other on the left hip. [Smoke! Shut up!] She interrupted, then spun away from a blow and brought a sword in under it's arm.

Mr. Bones was probably going to get a sore throat from all the screaming he did. The police down below were scattering about and still moving into positions. Sharpshooters continued to hold their positions as well, awaiting their orders.

The green giant attempted to fight through the pain and held the sword under his arm while the hero still held onto it. Once his peripheral caught sight of Abbie, a large hand lurched forward to grab at Duskblade's neck and toss her into Warpshroud's direction.

******

In a rather bored and not excited or manic voice so detached from her previous raving, Darkgloom sighed, "Well Mrs. Killjoy, he’s on the left. Hole'd up with his precious proximity explosives."

Crap! There was someone else in the warehouse, that's right! She wasn't even the main objective! Josiah facepalmed, but instantly figured he'd just be apart of the escorting team that took her out to the authorities so he could stock back up on ammunition and other supplies after the interrogation.

"So why you? Horton's a Bone Daddy. What's he need with you?"

Mr. Bones, who hadn't thought much past escape, fell witness to a few things happening at once.

"And you can't have her!" She made a sort of grabbing gesture in the air in front of her, grabbing nothing physically but rather latching onto Darkgloom with the same energies she used to teleport herself around, attempting to neatly rob the Troll of his prize and deposit the villain back at her feet.

Without a thought to the swirling Dark energies cloaking her form, Lady Duskblade attacked. Two swords materialized, one in each hand, and they swung down in a collision course for the thing.

"Okay, okay! I give up. Surrender, white flag, quit whatever."

The black shield flickered and winked out of existance, revealing a magical bracer on her arm where it emitted from. Darkgloom then began to apply more pressure to her leg.

"Should cuff her and remove the shield mechanism on her wrist," Josiah stated as he looked around the warehouse to find a small pile of rags a short distance away. He ran over, picked up a couple of the longest ones and brought them to Darkgloom.

"Tie that around, or whatever you want to do."

****************

Several more Skulls were crippled and arrested and Quex had began to rise past her previous wounds when she heard the growl. Quex glanced up at the charging...Troll? Strange. Still, charging opponents were some of her favorites. She growled in return and gave him a come hither motion.

Mr. Bones growled even louder and pressed forward headfirst toward Quex.

She waited until the last possible second, then spun out of rampaging man's path, the tip of her sword scouring the ground as she brought the blade up low, aiming to take the man's leg off at the knee.

A wail escaped Mr. Bones lips. His now green skin felt like it had been seared by the blade. Blood seeped out of the wound in green splatters of green. The serum had worked itself through his body quickly and the pain had subsided rather quickly. However, the cut to his spine brought him to his knees, hunched over and breathing heavy.

The deformed ogre looked behind him and then forward at the rest of the group. He was in between everything that had been going on. Given the situation, a small part of his brain still resided and he was left with a decision: fight or flight.

The wounds were slowly healing, but nowhere near quick enough to withstand several blows in succession. A low guttural growl emitted from the monster and his body sparkled in the warehouse lights so brightly that it looked like a piece of the sun got lost and landed in the room.

He used whatever temporary distraction may have been caused and grabbed Darkgloom by the waist and jumped atop some of the crates and leaped through a skylight to the roof. His speed across the rooftops was surprising, but he knew something would have to be done fast before the heroes caught up to him.

"Dreg, try that confuse on her. She seems a little weaker," Josiah tried to speak directly to Dreg so as not to let their opponent in on the attack.

Josiah took what might have been a possible opening from one of Abbie's attacks and shot two more bullets at Emily Darkgloom's knees.

A low and loud growl came from around a corner near where everyone was fighting. A large seven foot tall green body rampaged through the mass of Skulls, knocking over whoever was in his way. Shreds of clothing fell from the man's body as he made a furious beeline like a linebacker in Quex's direction.

“I’ll finish off the Skulls.”

"Fair enough," Josiah sidestepped towards the Abbie as Quex switched positions with Dreg.

Plucking a drawstring bag from her belt, Quex opened it and tossed several arrest tags onto the floor. “Just grab one when you want the pain to stop.”

Man, that's hot, Josiah thought, lost in the scene Quex displayed with the Skulls. he shook himself free of the moment and turned his attention to the rest of the team.

Mr. Bones finally had been freed from the terror that was his mother and rubbed his eyes of any remaining murky visions. When he could see clearly, he noticed the arrest tag at his feet. There wasn't much time to consider lock down before a tall brute of a woman charged forward with a sword.

"Augggh," Mr. Bones screamed over firing bullets as he scooted back on his butt as far as he could get, "Augggh! Augggh!"

When his clip was once again empty, he threw the semi-automatic in Quex's direction and looked for an escape. Hopefully by the time they got to him, he'd be forgotten or long gone. He was banking on the latter.

A body flew past him and slumped like a ragdoll. A small vial with green liquid rolled out of the fallen man's pocket. It came within inches of Mr. Bones and he grabbed it up quickly and read the contents. SPRD 2.6? Holy crap! Superadine? Two point six? This stuff isn't even supposed to be out yet. I've been mixing the old version in the durgs we sold. How did h-

Another body flew past him, this time closer to his head than he would have desired. Mr. Bones immediately, without a second thought, opened the vial and started to drink. The regret tasted like a mix between something gross and a hint of green apple. Mr. Bones rolled over in pain while everything happened around him. He tried to make his way around a corner. Screams of agony escaped his lips and the bullet in his leg popped out and onto the warehouse floor. The red blood that seeped out had a bright green tint. His body increased in size, but not enough to come out his clothes, just make them look like it was time to do a little shopping.

"Oh...God...," Mr. Bones mouthed out through convulsions of pain.

Meanwhile...

Instead Dreg went with just pure mental energy sending a mental blast at the brute.

With proper timing, Josiah retrieved the weapons from his side and shot two bullets to arrive within Dreg's energy blast and hit Darkgloom at the same time. Hopefully it was enough to give Abbie a break.

Gonna let Rebel and Rotten post first.

"Clarence, what did I tell about this room? Didn't I tell you to clean this room? Boy how many times do I have to tell you...you know what, doesn't matter. Cause in a few minutes, you won't have any of it!"

Mr. Bones forgot about the pain in his leg for the overbearing female voice that shouted in his head.

"Mom?!" Mr. Bones searched the warehouse frantically for where her presence was coming from, but all he could see was everyone who was there to begin with.

A small bed, unmade with a Statesman sheet set and Back Alley Brawler pillowcases, materialized in front of Mr. Bones.

"Clarence!"

"Mr. Bones nearly shook out of his skin from the voice that sounded like it was coming directly above him. One look up and he saw a towering figure in a purple robe and black slippers. A belt was in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

"Mom!"

"Look at this mess," Clarence's mother eyed the bed and almost seemed to make an entire room appear with every direction she looked. Clarence sat back on the floor in shock and fear for what his mother might do to him...or his room. As Mrs. Clarence's Mom approached, he scooted back onto a pile of clothes, unsure if they were dirty or clean.

"Boy!" The belt raised high in the air.

"No mama, please! Please don't. I'll clean. I'll clean! I promise. PLEASE," tears began to stream down Mr. Bones' face as he waited for the leather strike across some part of his body.

As far as anyone else could see, a young boy of eighteen was rolling around on the ground, crying and calling for his mother to stop.

Meanwhile, Josiah took his new opportunity from the distraction Dreg provided and ran forward as Quex went crashing into the wall. He was there immediately with a hand to get her up while mentally recalling the number of bullets he fired again

"Dreg seems to be handling the Skulls well. If he can keep that up, we can turn in on this heffa over there," Josiah nodded towards Darkgloom, "and help Warpshroud bring her down."

Did I miss something?
Did something happen to Amerikatt?

Having no qualms about bringing backup, On her way, Darkgloom picked up two patrols of skulls, adding six more guns. "Just stay back and shoot them. Its not difficult, but I'm sure you'll all fail miserably at it."

"It's not difficult, but I'm sure you'll fail miserably at it," one of the Skulls, who dreamed of being Skulls ever since he was a kid, mocked Emily Darkgloom while she gave instruction. He tapped the guy next to him and pointed at her with a laugh. There wasn't much of a response.

The eighteen year old kid's name was Mr. Bones. His friend, Mr. Cross, had been sent to prison two weeks ago for a faulty bank robbery after he was left behind. Now without the combined moniker with his comrade, Mr. Cross didn't sound that cool anymore. He wasn't sure how long Bones would be in prison, so lately he'd been thinking of a new name. Besides, they were so low in the gang that no one ever called them mister anyway.

Under her breath, Darkgloom muttered,"Klaatu Verata Ni...no...Fithos Lusec Wecos Vino...that's not it either...hell with it,"

Mr. Bones and another Skull looked at one another the way people do when something shocking happens then turned their attention back to her again.

Pointing her finger, Emily Darkgloom shouted, "Ominous Latin Chanting!"

A cloud of darkness formed around Josiah, making it terribly hard to see straight, the cloud emanated for several feet, catching Warpshroud in its edges.

"This heffa doesn't even know what she's doing. Eff this!" Mr. Bones took several steps forward after Emily charged and set his sights on Josiah. He set his rifle to emit three round bursts and fired on the clouded rookie. Nothing he fired hit so he moved a couple steps closer and tried again. Nothing.

"How do we suck this bad?!"

Josiah immediately dropped the rifles and drew out his pistols again. He wasn't quite sure why he did it, but it felt more comfortable having something in his hands that he was more closely familiar with.

"What the hell is this, a cartoon storm? Is it gonna rain?"

His answer came in the form of an impact wave of Darkgloom's attack on Warpshroud. Josiah's body flew backwards into the hallway wall while two bullets flew out of each barrel. One of them caught Mr. Bones in the thigh.

"Sonuva," he dropped to the ground and fired back at a fallen Josiah with every bullet he had left, screaming his lungs out from pain and frustration. Josiah landed on the ground with the wind knocked out him, which only doubled his breathing issues with the billowy mass that continued to surround him. The only thing he could really make out was shapes and few bright colors. Could anyone even see his head in this mess? Pieces of exploding wall debris nicked the side of his face.

Am I being shot at?

He moved swiftly along the wall while still on the ground until he found another set of crates. He scrambled behind one of them and hoped for the best. His focus never left what he could make out.

"Umm... help," He finally said like it was a question when trying to wait it out didn't seem to work.

The continuous clicking from Mr. Bones' trigger finger followed Josiah until he was behind the crate. Not one bullet hit him. It wasn't close.

"Come on!" Mr. Bones slid backwards in a sitting position where other members of the Skull faction were adding their own method to the madness.

Josiah peered slightly over the top of the crate to assess his next move. Abbie was playing the game of distraction and from the looks of it, the Skulls were winning. That was good for Josiah. He leaned over the side of the crate and targeted shoulders and kneecaps. Within seconds, Skulls dropped their rifles or faltered back, one by one. Through the confusion of trying to determine where it was all coming from, Josiah dove outward and ran full speed at the group. The ground beneath him disappeared as he swan dove over Warpshroud and landed into a tuck and roll with two assault rifles in his hands once he was standing up again for a two-handed 180 degree arc spray of the enemies in front of him.

Josiah's arms stretched out on either side of him as his eyes and ears focused on every small movement or sound that was made. He backtracked to Warpshroud and while moving the rifles in the direction where possible threat occurred. Once he was next to Abbie, he looked for Quex and Dreg.

Quex followed, grabbing the hoodlum by the collar and throwing him back towards the others, just as more assault rifle fire opened up, sending Quex retreating back.

As if on cue, Josiah dove outward from behind his crate, guns drawn and firing around Quex's retreating body. He rolled into a standing position and strafed until he came to the other side of the hallway where a crate was waiting to be hidden behind. With a quick mental count of the amount of bullets he fired, he stood up and provided select cover fire.

One bullet bore a hole into one of the skulls hands while another pierced a second Skulls' shoulder. He took cover again, thanked the Lord for extended clips, and waited for the sounds of reloading rifles.

Josiah arrived inside the warehouse, guns drawn and ready. He took cover behind a stacked set of crates and waited until it was time to move. Crouching behind one crate, at his size, was not an option. He was working on his stealth options, but for now he'd rely on what he was taught. For a kid who has never been in a fight outside of his military training, he knew he was about to see firsthand how often what you learn is different from what you experience.

He made eye contact with both women and gave them a quick nod. He checked his belt for additional magazines. None. A slow exasperated sigh escaped his lips.

Worst. Day. Ever.

"There once this starts I be messing with their minds from a distance. I might be able to get a few to fight their friends."

Sounds useful enough, Josiah thought to himself, almost forgetting that he was bothered by everything that had happened thus far on his first day.

He tensed up and stood a little straighter when Quex approached him.

"Sorry." She said, then her brow furrowed as she paused again, "It was...joke. A joke. Teasing. Blowing up is bad...so don't get blown up."

Shrugging, Quex added, "English...is not my first language. My jokes...not funny sometimes."

Josiah stared at the ground for a moment, thinking, then looked back up at Quex with a raised eyebrow, "Yea, I suppose blowing up would be bad."

"Captain," Josiah called out, "What's the status?"

Quex reached into her hip pouch and produced a Cell phone blue-tooth headset. She also produced a small beat up black box and turned it on. She pressed a few buttons then turned on the cell phone head set.

Pulling her own Two-Six earpiece off, she handed it to Josiah and put on the older piece of equipment with much difficulty. She idly wished Kasoh was there to put it on for her. The black box then went back into her pouch.

Josiah squinted his eyes at Quex as she tampered with the device around her ear. More than anything, it just seemed like a painful task. He took the device and placed it around his right ear. After a quick adjustment, he activated the minesweeper.

"Thanks. I-"

"Getting boomed because you were impatient is not good impression, so don't. Use this until you get your own."

Josiah watched Quex walk away, "Really? You too? Not that I know you enough to be surprised about this, but...really?!" Josiah threw up his free hand in defeat.

"Alright, cool. You two come with me." Josiah stepped backwards and beckoned the other officers to follow him. The two looked at each other and then back at Josiah.

"What? What is it," he stopped and stared at the now nervous looking men.

"Well," one of the officers stepped forward, "No disrespect. We're sure that you're a part of the Two Six division for a reason but..."

"You're a rookie, kid," The Captain interjected, "They were following the warrior woman. Not you."

Josiah didn't hide his surprise, "How could you even... you didnt even know who was coming."

"Please kid. You smell of rookie," The Captain pointed while Josiah looked down at himself in confusion.

"You walk and talk like a rookie. Might as well have it stamped on your forehead."

At this point, anyone who wasn't getting ready to infiltrate the warehouse had eyes on Josiah and Captain Hammer. The "kid" looked at everyone and just nodded his head.

"Ok. Ok...," he continued to nod his head and handed the minesweeper to the first officer he came to as he passed them by. He leaned on the back of one of the vans, folded his arms and waited.

Cham- Yea... I guess there's a difference between Gun Kata and Gun Fu. Gun Fu, you can see in a lot of Hong Kong cinema, John Woo flicks, and even in a graphic novel...titled Gun Fu. It does seem to be just a pretty power.

The wait had gotten the better of Josiah. The little bit of sniper training through an M-IV marksmanship course taught him how to discipline himself to stand still for hours at a time, but he wasn't posted up on a rooftop or a hillside. Standing around, with or without purpose, got to Josiah.

He approached Captain Hammer and waited to be recognized.

"Do we have eyes on every side of the building?"

The Captain nodded. "Doesn't mean that every inch of the place is covered. There are plenty of obstacles blocking my sniper's viewpoints."

"What about the initial breach? Did your guys surround the place?"

"Regrettably, no. Once our Picks were in place, we breached the side entrance, thinking less of the circumstance. It won't happen a second time." The words almost spat out of the Captain.

"I imagine not," Josiah peered behind Captain Hammer to the side of the warehouse building, "Captain do you have any minesweepers on you?"

Hammer nodded behind him, "In the armory, why?"

"Well, the Skulls know we're still here. And there's nothing to stop them from resetting that doorway with more mines. And if our additional eyes can't make every inch of this place, I'd just feel a little better scanning the perimeter myself."

The Captain closed his eyes and thought momentarily, "Understandable. But take a couple of mine with you," the SWAT Lead snapped fingers off to the side and two officers rushed over. He directed them to follow Josiah.

After obtaining a minesweeper, Josiah approached Quex, "You coming? Gives us something to do. If not, cool. Either way, can you let Abbie know what's going on?"

Rebel Scum- That would be the objective, I think. Are you speaking of the Gun Fu or showboating specifically or using pistols in general?

DeviousMe- Gotcha. Thanks. Sounds relatively basic and you're giving it that Devious swag. :-)

Zortel- Nice stories. Enjoyed the amount of interaction there was with your weapon and the character as she went about her business. It was as if the guns were apart of her.

Ravenswing-That training scenario... I had to read it twice because of all the detail you put into the action. Action-inspiring.

Preciate the input everyone.

Two things:

1. Has anyone played in-game Dual Pistols? What do you think?

2. For those that have (and some that haven't), has anyone played with the thought of RPing a DP character and how have you characterized his/her movements through writing? I know they use the whole Gun Kata that I know best from Equilibrium, but that's definitely a challenge when it comes to writing about it.

Alright, cool. That inquiry had two-fold reasoning in it. About to head out for the afternoon, but will get down once I get back.

Kasoh, is it cool to go inside to the warehouse or am I being impatient? o.0

"Oh right, rookie. Umm... When you feel like you're being pulled in every direction at once, that's me trying to teleport you. Just don't resist it and you'll be fine."

"Molecules. Dissection. Rebuilding. Teleportation. The idiot can follow," Josiah said with a quick smile and a raised eyebrow.

He watched Abbie until he couldn't anymore and turned to Quex. His first thought, as it was when he first saw her was how tall she was. For some reason, it wasn't something he'd gotten over. He was used to being one of the tallest in the group. It didn't necessarily matter to him, but when he thought down deep, maybe it did.

Josiah shook all erroneous thoughts out of his head and approached the warrior, "My comms are down. And by down, I mean non-existent. I'll try to keep a close perimeter, but you know better than me just how this might go down. My experience is a little...lacking." His eyebrow raised again as he reviewed what he just said to himself.

"In combat! Lacking in combat! I...the umm.. missions we had were for the most part controlled and you know... theres only so much realism that goes..." Josiah cleared his throat while surrounding officers that heard the debacle chuckled or just shook their heads.

Josiah was left giving sideways glances, "Hurry up, Abbie," he muttered to himself.

Quex smirked as Josiah loaded up on gear. "You going to grab a bow and stay low tech with me?"

"Is there one in here?" Josiah, with joking curiosity, turned and studied the armory one more time, "Hmm...guess not."

The soldier patted the sidearms on his waist, "Im just sayin, Quex. And these bullets are about as pure as they come."

She thumbed the Vanguard Sword's hidden switch and the bright monomolecular blade shimmered into existence. Holding it in her left hand, and her family blade in her right, she tried a few swipes and dual bladed blocks.

"And you didn't ask for my opinion anyone, so please feel free to disregard," Josiah smiled and walked toward the gaggle of officers making final preparations to move into position. He still had to wonder where this newfound confidence was coming from. It was as if someone was pushing his buttons while he watched.

Quex clashed the two together and the metal sword sizzled and glowed faintly purple. Quex was somehow satisfied with that result and stowed both weapons.

"I am ready." She declared.

"Kid, if you who didn't think to grab some equipment that is neither my fault nor my problem", she answered him before turning back to the SWAT captain.*

"Well I-" Josiah started to agree, to an extent, with Abbie but was cut off.

"You have a spare gun for this idiot?"

The SWAT Captain pointed Josiah to the mobile armory, it had a variety of weapons for gun specialists.

The rookie walked toward the armory and passed by Quex, who been deciding on a weapon to use.

Quex reached into a belt pouch and retrieved a gray metal device that looked like a sword pommel. It was a Vanguard Sword and she looked between the hi-tech sword and her traditional family blade. Which one was better against magic?

"Use the other sword," Josiah said, pointing to Quex's regular blade.

"A lot of older swords, and I say that because of how it looks, were subject to certain purification rituals that disengaged any type of magical prominence anywhere on the sword."

Josiah opened the double doors to the mobile armory and scanned the lining of the van where the various weapons were hung. His focus felt different the moment Abbie insulted him and he was pointed to the truck. It was almost like a trigger.

"It just has impartialities," he picked up a modified M-16 with grenade launcher, examined it and put it back, "that the brute won't be able to use against you."

Josiah's eyes popped open on a set of dual Desert Eagles that, if he remembered correctly, were the same type his Command Leader used during a training operation. He grabbed them off the wall and gave them a once-over.

Three port comp. Modified rubber grip. Lightweight. Bore gauge for lineup and accuracy. Hard chrome. Feels kinda like a 44 mag.

Josiah unlocked the clip and let it fall into his hand. He unhooked a bullet and smiled. On the rim underneath the primer was a "P.I."*

Pure impervium.

Once he was all set up, he grabbed a holster and looked up at Quex again.

"So go with old school. Leave that tech stuff out of it."*

A sub-conscious pull tapped in to Josiah's brain and it almost felt like a portion of him was splitting apart. A few blinks later and he was left wondering what had just happened. It almost felt like someone had borrowed him.

Out of town with parentals for stepsisters graduation. Will get a post in sometime today. Thank you, iPhone.