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Post by Kyubey on Dec 20, 2014 2:41:57 GMT -5
When the masked crowd came into view, Lizard became noticeably uncomfortable. Her face did not change, but she did back up a couple of steps, her stance shifting into a crouch, and her back arching. There was something about the masks that unnerved her, and made her uneasy. Perhaps, the scary faces they had painted on were more effective than they might have thought. Or, more likely, it was just the mere presence of the unmoving objects, taking the place of where a face should be, that made her uncomfortable. She couldn't read a mask. The one in the white mask, especially, she was wary of. To the point that, unless it was absolutely necessary, she didn't take her eyes off him. She was so disturbed, in fact, that she didn't even think too hard about Kusu's comment about dressing like sheep, which on most days she would consider a brilliant hunting tactic.
"I never want to be alone with you," Lizard said to Sharp, "So I'd like to stay on this boat, if that's okay."
---
The more Rizzo talked, the more Timo realized that she was vastly in over her head. She agreed that the boy needed help, but it wasn't the sort she could easily give, and finding someone who could would take time. For the moment, just restraining him was all they could do. Even if she wanted to get more involved than that, she couldn't really afford to, and, she figured, she'd probably just make things worse anyway. She may have looked smart, but she was no detective.
"Hey! Watch where you're..."
When the girl rushed by them, Timo only glanced at her for a second, during which time she only got a brief glimpse of the writing on her back, but what she saw caused a total stop. She gazed back, a look of total confusion on her face, as though she had suddenly become lost. She recognized the name, Mr. Dark, but couldn't quite place it at first. Her mind reached, going back, trying to find it, and then, at once, it hit her.
"What? No way, this can't be right..." she said, entirely to herself, as though there was nobody there with her. Then, hastily, she looked to Rizzo and said, "'scuse me a sec."
Without any further warning or waiting for a response, she took off into a dash, racing after the girl.
"Oi! You!" she shouted after the hooded girl, "Hold up a sec! I gotta ask you somethin'! Hey!"
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Post by Kuro on Dec 23, 2014 12:27:00 GMT -5
"...Most peculiar."
Of all the things he had expected, from angry warlords to determined storyseekers, actual crowds of his "fans" were not one of them.
The main question in his head was "Why?". Why would anyone do this? What was there to be a fan of? Surely they could not know that much of him, yes? How would they? What sort of information on him would drive these people to such an admiring frenzy? Did they know too much? No, not possible. Right?
He attempted to look through their fears for some semblance of an answer, but there were too many people, too many screams (of joy!), too many fears all at once, rushing through every head. Except one. In an intense crowd of emotion, the human-sized hole was easy to spot.
Like Lizard, he was too focused on that anomaly to pay much attention to Sharp. When Kalen offered to go with her, the doctor simply shooed him away with a "Yes, yes". Lizard's comment had him glance at her, and he saw that she too was keeping her attention on something. The anomaly? Yes, likely.
Now, Sharp had mentioned that this...fanclub, was a dangerous thing, connected to murders and whatever had invaded their boat. Hm. If that was true, then they could be quite useful. But, if he were to "reveal" himself, then their presence on the island would be no surprise to anyone, would it? Then again, if this fanclub knew they were coming, and Sharp knew they were coming, then there was likely no surprise to begin with. How disadvantageous. At the very least, the crew could walk about without worrying of hiding themselves.
"...Kusu, Lizard. Once we reach the island, we stay together at all times, clear? The admirers do not seem to recognize me, due to my lack of mask and bandage, and for now I would prefer to keep it that way so they do not follow us every step of our journey. Try not to interact with any of them. And talk to as few people as possible, our time here will likely be full of irritating questioning. Now, let us embark."
He walked towards the boat, but stopped near Lizard. A few whispers.
"I assume you saw the strange threat. Do not let your guard down; who knows what will happen."
With that, he got into the boat, ready to reach the shores once everyone else was.
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Post by CJ on Dec 28, 2014 13:03:43 GMT -5
Kusu frowned in disappointment when Mr. Dark expressed not to reveal who he was.
"You don't want to talk to the fans? Mr. Scary Man! This is the opportunity of a lifetime! I suppose if that's what you want though, I'll try to keep quiet. BUT OH BOY! A FAN CLUB! Sqwee! It's amazing!"
Sharp's eyebrow twitched when it was decided that Kalen would go with her. She gritted her teeth and eventually waved him over as she leaped off the ship by rope and climbed into her side of the paddle boat.
"Fine. Come on."
Kalen would likely feel very comfortable in the cute, padded boat. There were only pedals on Sharp's side and it was clear that the reporter had a very difficult time making the short journey from the Spirit Wolf to the docks. How then, could she traverse the crazed seas of the Grand Line all on her own when she was having trouble with this small task?
The others stuck to the Spirit Wolf's simple row boat, which was lowered to the side of the ship by a crane controlled by the zombie who commanded the ship. Once it reached the sea (and security measures were put in place), Shitty Sword flew out from the door of the control room, down the hall and out onto the deck to rest in the sheath at Kusu's side. Sharp didn't seem to notice this. If she did, she didn't seem to care, though it would likely have been the first time she would ever see such a thing.
Aside from Sharp's brief lecture to Kalen on the importance of neapolitan ice cream, the journey was uneventful until the near end, when the water underneath Sharp's paddle boat suddenly erupted. Without warning, the paddle boat was thrown out of the water by an unseen force. It was as though someone had hacked the world around them, propelling the tiny vessel with nothing. The thing would go flying inland, until it crashed into a newspaper stand near the docks, barely missing some Mr. Dark fan club members in the process. People shouted and screamed around them, though they were fortunate that no one had been hurt.
Mr. Dark might notice that Sharp hardly felt any fear when they were thrown out of the water. If Kalen was paying attention, he might have seen rage on her face. She wasn't surprised. It seemed whatever was happening to them now, she knew very well about and was furious to encounter it.
Now, she was knocked out cold. Unlike Kalen, she had taken the brunt of the attack and was now lying face down on top of what used to be a fine stack of papers. They were lucky the paddle boat had landed right side up.
"Sheepy!" Kusu shouted in sudden fear as she was suddenly unable to remember Kalen's name.
Their ordeal wasn't over yet. In reaction to danger, the sword at Kusu's side jumped from its sheath. Now, it had lost its form and seemed to try and provide a makeshift shield. There was a presence near the rowboat like the one that had launched Kalen. The metal form began to shift and shake as it held the presence back. Eventually the metal was twisted around it so that the invisible force appeared to be a hand with long, reaching fingers.
"Hil! What's going on?" the captain questioned. She shifted forward to understand better, which unfortunately rocked the boat a bit.
On shore, the fan club members began to run this way and that in the chaos and confusion. Some began to prostrate themselves on the ground and praise Mr. Dark for the presence of "holy terror." There was one that remained where he was, however. It was the man with the blank mask. Kalen and the others would see him begin to walk forward with his hand outstretched. His fingers were twitching in the same position as the force that was so desperately trying to get to the row boat.
Fear began to settle within him. If he prodded, Mr. Dark would understand that this was a fear of failure. The attacker began to lift his other arm slowly.
Mr. Dark and Lizard would begin to feel the wind shifting. Another attack was coming very quickly. They were almost at the docks, just twenty feet away. If they could get there, perhaps they could avoid disaster.
---
Jack would find that Ron was well enough. He had suffered only a few scratches on his face.
"I'm fine," he said with a tired voice. "I feel fine now. That person! I think that was the culprit! How dare he attack royalty- I mean, a normal person!"
"No time to talk!" a bright voice shouted. "Got to run!"
Rizzo heard Jack's order and sprinted forward, half way transforming as he went to gain speed. He tackled the girl and she squeaked again. The boy grabbed onto her and pulled her cloak off.
She was literally a life size porcelain doll, though she was a very odd one. The doll was fashioned with stark black curled hair. Her irises were as bright red as her rosy cheeks. Her skin was a stark white, as though the thing lacked any sort of color. Her mouth did not move, but a voice came from it.
“First I get yanked, then I get pushed!” she squeaked. “How dare you treat me this way?”
She squirmed and held aloft a circular metal locket with a dark, black gem. Upon close inspection, one could see the image of a dark veiled woman like a hazy mirage, hidden within the gem.
“Behold, my amulet of darkness! With it, I shall steal your shadows and make the sun burn you alive!”
Rizzo simply grabbed onto the jewelry and tossed it to the side on the road.
“ACK! MY AMULET!” she squealed. “Alrighty, folks. No pressure. No pressure at all. I didn’t mean to kill you for insulting Mr. Dark, me and the Mr. Dark Fan Club. Nope. Nope. Nope. I’ll just be on my way now. OK?”
The doll began to shiver, shake and sweat pure water. Rizzo frowned as he kept holding onto her, sitting on the ground.
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Post by Franky on Dec 30, 2014 20:41:27 GMT -5
Once Ron was firmly back on his feet Jack motioned for him to follow him and made his way over to the small clearing in the street crowd where Rizzo had the girl pinned down, getting there around the time she started pleading with him. "Nice, good job there Ri..." He looked down at the porcelain doll quickly looking more and more nervous. "...Huh, I heard rumors about an island with living toys, never thought I'd see one though". He stepped over to her ad knelled down, his face showing a trace of anger despite his smile still being in place. He placed his finger under her chin, sticking it there and tilting her head to look at him. " Now... how's about you tell me exactly why you messed with my friend here and just who this Mister Dark is, hmm?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jan 5, 2015 1:56:07 GMT -5
Kalen had no idea what a Neapolitan was, but he liked spending time with Sharp. She seemed quite interesting and her personality was a vibrant, happy one that made being around her, at least for him a fun experience. Plus she wasn't half bad looking by any stretch, all contributory factors that led him to being at least a little enamored with her, and it showed in his near-awe of her as she spoke.
And then everything exploded forever and always.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- actually this isn't even that strange for me by now..."
When the small boat touched down, Kalen indeed wasn't as bad off as his guide, but he was still shaken up. Thrown clear from the boat by a few feet, he sat up in a daze, a number of winged sheep making circles around his head. Shaking the feeling off, he jumped up when he saw what had actually happened with the boat.
"Sharp? Miss Sharp, hang on there, it'll be alright."
He went to see his guide's condition, and made an attempt to carefully pick her up in his arms. While he tried to get an idea of her state, he wasn't a professional and so soon found himself scanning about for any signs of a doctor or clinic. If any were apparent, well then he'd head right there immediately. If not, he'd turn to anyone nearby, if anyone was nearby to ask for help.
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Post by Kyubey on Jan 5, 2015 20:49:14 GMT -5
Lizard's focus hardly shifted as they transitioned from the Spirit Wolf to the rowboat. No matter where they were, her eyes were always fixed in the direction of the masked figure, her face perpetually locked with the same serious expression. And yet, even as she was moving, she never bumped into anything or went in the wrong direction, despite apparently not looking where she was going. For a while, the only time her eyes wavered was when Mr. Dark whispered to her, at which point her eyes, and only her eyes, shifted to look in his direction.
"My guard is never down," she said, speaking just as quietly as he was. Right after, she went back to looking at the masked man.
Her glance was taken off focus again, for an equally short amount of time, when Kalen and Sharp were sent flying into the air. She had thought that taking that boat would have been a bad idea, and it seemed she was right. All the more reason not to have trusted Sharp. "They're probably dead now," she observed flatly, and promptly stopped thinking about them. If anything, the hordes of adoring fans seemed to trouble her far more. The noise and movement they were making had a noticeable effect on the hunter, to the point where she was having a difficult time focusing, and shifted back quite a bit.
When the focus of the attacks was shifted to their rowboat, however, her demeanor did not take long to turn grim. Still never taking her gaze from the one point in which it was locked, Mr. Dark and Kusu would have heard a familiar low growl, her usual response when she sensed danger. She kept still, even as Hil attempted to block the invisible threat. As the masked figure was moving his hand, it did not take a great amount of time for Lizard to piece together what he was doing. When the wind shifted, warning her of a second attack, she wasn't about to wait around for it. Before it struck, she silently jumped off the boat and dove into the sea, quickly swimming to the docks. Assuming she was able to close the short distance, she would have started racing towards the masked man, jumping over and around fanclub members that were in her way, if she had to. What she intended to do, if she reached him, she gave no indication.
---
It had been about a year since Timo had heard the name "Mr. Dark," and she had mostly believed that she wouldn't ever hear it again. Even back when the name was still fresh in her memory, she had doubts about whether or not the elusive and mysterious man was even real, and that it was apparently now being spoken by a living doll did not exactly put those doubts to rest. Whatever the truth was, it was something she had missed out on, as far as she was aware. Compared to hearing that name again, even the fact that she was currently looking at a talking doll didn't seem all that strange, and she was very much beginning to think that she might have been dreaming. From the sound of it, however, Jack didn't know what was going on either, so at least she wasn't the only person who was lost.
"I'm interested in this myself, kiddo," she said to the doll. "Ya wouldn't happen to know where I can find this Mr. Dark cat, do you?"
Even though she was the one who had asked, the others may have sensed a slight hesitation in her voice as she said those words, as if she was making herself ask it. Even she might not have been aware that there was a small part of her that didn't want answers. Of course, that was also assuming that the Mr. Dark she knew and the Mr. Dark that had a fanclub were, in fact, the same person.
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Post by Kuro on Jan 10, 2015 14:41:35 GMT -5
Perhaps one day, the crew could arrive at an island, take what they needed, and leave without any incident. No explosions, no villains, no conflict, just a simple task and a leave of the shore, all according to schedule.
Maybe one day.
For now, Mr. Dark looked at the sudden displacement of Ms. Sharp's boat. His eyes followed the reporter and shepherd as they and their boat soared through the sky, and in their voyage was something odd. Ms. Sharp was not panicking, or fearing pain and/or death. Very strange; she knew the island well. Was this a common occurrence? Or did she fail to tell them of yet another danger?
Silver flashed in his peripheral and he turned to see Hil guarding them from something unseen. He looked to the blank-masked stranger and noticed yet another oddity: This attacker feared failure.
Failure to a cause? Or to a superior?
When both the foe and the winds moved, Mr. Dark moved a hand into his coat, fingers wrapping around a gun. But not a moment after, a blur moved from boat to sea, and Lizard was no longer in sight. He drew his hand back to his side, empty-handed. There was no way he could swim to the shore given the weakness of devil fruits, and Hil could not sail them across for the same reason. He hoped that Lizard could execute a rather effective solution.
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Post by CJ on Jan 12, 2015 20:54:50 GMT -5
Rizzo was about to give a cheerful thumbs up to Jack when the doll squirmed even more in his grasp.
"LIAR!" the porcelain doll shouted with a closed mouth. "I am no toy! I'm a little girl!"
It seemed she was offended by Jack's comment. She thrashed her arms in anger, but Rizzo was sure to keep a tight hold on her.
"I didn't mess with him! I used him for the glory of Mr. Dark! Mr. Dark is the most amazing person ever! He came to me in a dream and commanded that I worship him! So I do! I wouldn't tell liars like you where Mr. Dark was! No way, no how! Besides, even if I could... well, I can't, really. I don't know where he is."
The doll began to cry water tears again. She glared as spitefully as she could at Timo.
"All I know is that I want to find him. I started this whole club to try and find him and if I don't find out where they've gone, I never will! And liars like you are making this whole situation even more worse! How dare you attack me!"
Meanwhile, Ron picked up the discarded amulet on the ground. He began to look at it closely, moving the amulet around in his hands. His shadow began to waver on the ground, but it wasn't incredibly obvious.
---
Sharp was out cold for a moment until she groaned and opened her eyes. Her pupils widened as she took in Kalen's concerned face. She reached up to touch his face. Her cheeks flushed.
"You..."
Seemingly remembering herself, Sharp blinked and regained her usual demeanor. She closed her eyes and motioned her hand slightly toward the scene.
"Pretend I'm out cold for your own good. I think that guy's figured out what I am and he won't treat you fairly if he sees I'm awake."
She gritted her teeth.
"I never thought this would happen. Dammit. OK. Listen close. Look at the boy's hands. See how he's holding them out like that. He can move objects from a distance with his hands. Other than that, he's a normal person. If we can hold the boy down, we can stop him."
Boy? What boy was Sharp talking about? Perhaps she didn't get a good look at the masked man.
---
When Lizard dove into the sea, the masked man started to get desperate. He pulled back his one arm and tightly clenched the fingers in his other.
The metal spirit protecting the boat made a loud snapping sound and shifted back into a plain sword. Had the sword been strained enough to exhaust itself? Was there a limit to how much the sword could transform? It seemed to be suspended within mid air. It was likely whatever power kept it there was holding it in place and Mr. Dark wouldn't be able to sense fear or any sign of consciousness from it.
"Hil!" Kusu cried out. A rush of anxiety came over her as she leaped out of the ground. Her wings exploded out of her back, barely keeping her in the air as she reached for the sword. She was quickly snatched by another force, which dragged her brutally across the water and up onto the docks.
The masked man drew his right hand up and held Kusu in the air before him. Her legs kicked this way and that as her face began to turn gray. Her fear for Hil quickly escalated into terror. She seemed to understand who this man was and now she didn't see an escape. She felt she was truly going to die.
But like Kusu, the masked man was also terrified. He felt a horrible fear. Fear of failure. Fear of a looming presence. He wasn't supposed to be here.
He was fearful. Fearful of Kusu. Even now, helpless within his grasp, the girl was like a diseased, squirming nightmare. He couldn't hear the scores of fans cheering him on. He couldn't see Lizard and Kalen and what they might do. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.
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Post by Franky on Jan 15, 2015 3:37:35 GMT -5
"Alright, alright, jeez!" Jack said letting go of her chin. "If you say you're a little girl you're a little girl". Jack paused and tilted his head back to look up at the sky then after a moment gave an exasperated sigh. "Look, I get ya, You don't like the paper bad mouthing this Dark guy you're into. BUT, if you're gonna do something about it, do it YOURSELF!" He said, giving her forehead a painful flick. "I can't have you going around manhandling people on the streets for no reason, especially not one of my crew" He took another pause then looked up at Timo. "...But ...Since there seems to be a lot of group interest in the guy." He stood up and looked down at the doll. "I guess the best way to keep you off the streets is to just help you find the guy". "I don't want you pulling any more shadow tricks though, so we're gonna hold on to your amulet. She said that's the source of her powers right?" he said looking at Rizzo, then over at Ron. "How's it looking Ron?"
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Post by Shark a' Pult on Jan 19, 2015 3:38:25 GMT -5
Kalen went to take Sharp's hand with his own, but the moment had already passed and she turned her attention to the scene proper.
"I don't care who he is, he's not getting in the way of an interview. We'll have this taken care of, no trouble at all."
Although he offered a quick response, at Sharp's bidding Kalen acted as though she were still out, but moved into a better position. A clearer sight of the stranger who seemed to be the cause of the trouble going on. He had an idea of something that might work, but he needed a spare hand. Kneeling down so that he could substitute holding Sharp with both arms, to just one and resting her against him, he reached for the back of his belt and pulled forth a set of bolas. For him it was pretty straightforward, he had much experience with catching animals in the same way, so he didn't need to really think about it. He just gauged the distance, brought his arm out to get the bolas in a steady swing, and let them fly.
Even so however, it wasn't the easiest shot to make, since the throwing conditions were still not optimal. Still, even if he didn't manage to tie up the stranger's arms with them, the chance was good he would snare some part of his body. Even if it only acted as a distraction, that was sufficient for him.
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Post by Kyubey on Jan 21, 2015 20:16:12 GMT -5
By all appearances, the masked man was not about to stop Lizard, even as she came right at him. Since Kusu was behind her, she did not know the effect his motions had, but whatever he was doing, it did not impede her progress, so she did not think about it. He was distracted, and she was on the hunt. Running forward, at her full speed, she was beginning to feel a familiar, comfortable rush. Her movements were fast, too fast to be followed by the average human, but steady and methodical. Almost without being aware of it, her fingers tightened around the knife in her hand. Her prey may have been powerful, but she was unobserved, and she only needed a moment.
Just then, her mind, steady and focused, was invaded by an unwelcome thought, a memory of what Kusu had told her. The words, "...I won't tolerate people who kill on my crew..." seemed just as fresh as though they had just been spoken, and stopped Lizard cold. Even though the crew was in danger, and the danger was right before them, Lizard couldn't do anything about it, or else she'd be in an even worse position, no longer having a place to stay. Lizard was a hunter. A killer. She could tear her prey apart in moments, but stopping them without killing them was beyond her. Put simply, she just didn't know how.
Lizard had stopped mere inches away from the masked man. The sudden halt caused her to be far more aware of her surroundings than she had been, and from the corner of her vision she sensed Kalen doing something. If she turned to look, she would have had a better idea of what was happening, but her focus was still entirely on the masked man. She backed up slightly, enough to get away from any oncoming projectiles, but the masked man still probably would have found her uncomfortably close.
"I don't like what you're doing," she snarled. Though she could not attack, her tone and body language was still threatening, suggesting she was poised to strike. "Stop, now."
She was not at all aware of how ridiculous her request actually was. In fact, it seriously seemed as if she fully believed she could get the masked man to stop his attack simply by telling him to.
---
"Wow," said Timo, "You really sound a lot like Do... er, someone I know."
Strange as it was, the porcelain doll's story did not seem to shock Timo all that much. In fact, the notion that Mr. Dark appeared to her in a dream made much more sense to her, given what she already knew about the figure, than if the doll had suggested he was an actual, flesh-and-blood person. Even so, that still opened up a few mysteries. Whether Mr. Dark was real or not, how did the doll find out about him? And what, exactly, was he?
"Hey hey now, don't cry, kid," she said, crouching down to the doll's level to look her in the eye. "I ain't ever met Mr. Dark, but I hear he's a pretty neat cat. So, hows about you cool it and help us out? I mean, It's easier to find stuff if you do it with a group, y'know. So? You cool with that?"
For the moment, it seemed Jack had the best idea, so Timo went along with it. With the way things were going, assuming nothing further went wrong, she might actually come closer to getting some answers. With any luck, she might even find who she was looking for.
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Post by CJ on Jan 25, 2015 0:30:34 GMT -5
OOC: I'll update the other scene when Kuro posts.
"Owie!" the doll squeaked when she was flicked in the head. Her head tilted up to peer at Jack with her unmoving eyes. If it wasn't for her obnoxiousness, it might have been hard to tell that she was upset.
The doll's eyes began to sparkle and glitter when the idea was brought up that they would all work to find Mr. Dark together. She didn't seem to give a moment's thoughts as to what the motives were of the people around her. She assumed they all were as interested in him in the same way.
"Yes! We shall become a glorious team! Together, we shall find Mr. Dark and eradicate all the liars in the world with the power of fear!"
Rizzo let go of the doll and she stood up straight. She brushed the dirt off of her coat and began to walk around. Her movements were rather static. Though she was the height of a young child, she moved just like a puppet or a marionette. Her painted lips curled up in one quick frame of animation toward Timo.
"I'm so happy! Where should we begin? Ah..."
"Morgie!"
Ron was about to tell Jack something when he was pushed aside by another cloaked figure. People around them had stopped to observe the wonder of the moving doll when they began to scream and run away at the sight of the second hooded figure.
She pulled off her hood off to reveal a lightly skinned woman with stark black hair. She had a sort of odd beauty to her, as though she was an apparition. She seemed to be in her late thirties
"Morgie! What did I tell you about going out into the human world!" she shouted.
"Shut up! I'm going to find Mr. Dark and finally eat salted pretzels!"
"You fool! If you eat those, you'll die! You're coming back with me right now!"
"No! No, no, no!"
The cloaked woman reached out for Morgie to tug and grab her by the arm. It was a forceful grab and she didn't seem to think that the others would have any objection to her taking the doll away.
"Jack," Rizzo said quickly. Hair began to grow from his ears and the sides of his face. It seemed he was waiting on the Captain's orders before he would proceed to stop the cloaked woman.
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Post by Franky on Jan 26, 2015 6:14:21 GMT -5
With all the talk of Human worlds and deadly salted pretzels, Jack scratched his head with a confused look on his face. Man, I got a deck full of questions and no one's dealing any answers He gave Rizzo a calm look and leaned back folding his arms. For a moment it looked like he was going to just let the situation play out, But out of nowhere his eyes widened with a sudden shocked look and before he or anyone else knew it he had moved between the woman and the doll, intercepting her outreaching hand with his own bringing them into a friendly (but inescapable) handshake. His usual smile had already instantly reappeared. "How ya doin'? Name's Jack Ringer. This little chip a friend of yours?"
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Post by Kuro on Jan 27, 2015 23:36:31 GMT -5
This was unexpected.
She was right. There. And yet...
There stood Lizard, doing absolutely nothing.
The sight was incomprehensible. Lizard was a hunter, a killer. He had taken no action against the thread because he had expected her to remove it, something that he was sure she was more than capable of, and now she stopped. Why? To negotiate? Did she even know how? Come now! Tear him to shreds! Render him unconscious! Do something! This is inconceivable!
A sneer contorted his face. How useless, so very useless!
For a moment he paused, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Numbers, calculations, and diagrams rushed through his mind.
He drew his pistol and fired, fired, fired. One at his torso, non-lethal. One at his leg. One at his hand, though that could easily miss with a flick of the target's wrist.
If it were not for Kusu's presence, Mr.Dark would have ended him then and there out of frustration.
Realization struck. He thought back to Lizard. Did she actually take her ban on murder to heart? What would she care for the words of a child? Surely Kusu had no power over her? Did she?
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Post by CJ on Jan 31, 2015 2:20:22 GMT -5
Lizard was greeted with the sound of a low laugh.
"Stop?" the masked man asked with a cynical tone. "Why stop? This is my chance to avenge my family."
But he soon lost his opportunity when Kalen's bola struck his hand and began to wrap around it. Mr. Dark fired at the masked man. One of the bullets ricocheted off one of the balls of the bola and struck the side of his face, shattering the lower part of his mask. The other bullets hit their marks.
Kusu fell to the ground with a thud and began to painfully lift herself to a kneeling position. Lizard might have felt the winds suddenly begin to change again, but the killing intent was completely absent. Air spun around the girl for a brief second, almost as though it was pulled toward her in a vacuum. She let out a raspy gasp as air began to fill her lungs again.
In a manner of a few seconds, her sword was back by her side, now freed from the man's unnatural hold on it. It floated in the air, rotating as though it was assessing the situation.
"You imbeciles," the masked man growled in his pain. "Why would you help someone like her? She's killed thousands of people! She has to die!"
He clutched the wound on his stomach with shaking hands. His neon green eyes glared out from the holes in his blank mask. He was furious.
"If I can't kill her, I'll take from her what she's taken from me. You can't stop me. Just try to kill me, you monsters!"
But what the masked man was saying didn't make any sense. He just sat there unmoving, even as the Kusu's sword began to spin rapidly toward him. Unlike Lizard, the ghost inside it didn't care for sparing the man's life. For all it was concerned, he needed to die immediately.
Kusu reached out to Lizard weakly and spoke with a harsh voice. Her eyes were full of desperation.
"Lizard. Stop Hil."
---
Sharp watched with half open eyes at the scene before her. She remained silent until Kusu was freed. At the sound of Kusu's quick gasp of air, the reporter clenched her fist.
"There it is," she muttered to herself.
As the mask man was taken down, she looked up sharply at Kalen.
"Nice work there, but we're not out of the fire yet. We should probably get that Kusu girl out of here. Seems like she's the center of this weirdo's attention. What do you say? Can you get the girl to a safe place?"
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