Post by Reve on Aug 19, 2008 10:15:07 GMT -5
I'm so sorry this took SO LONG. >.> Took a page out of Froggy's book. Arghh. This is not helped by the fact that I got grounded, limited to at most 1 hour per day on the computer. (I. Got. 4/20. For. Math. Lawl.) Anyway. LESS TALK
Guess who that is.
'If we wanted to kill him, we can just bust in through the front door, spray his house full of lead, then get the hell outta there at five hundred kilometres per hour,' Ganz reflected, pacing up and down the room in front of a girl, who was sitting on the sofa, staring at him.
'But there's the problem that he's behind some bulletproof thing. And he's skilled, too. Actually, I don't know. I really don't. Damn it,' he continued, slapping his forehead. ‘I’m so bad with plans...’
He looked at the girl.
She met his eyes. With that mocking gaze, the same one he had known ever since they had been traveling companions.
So mocking.
Even he, Ganz, gallant leader of the Cavalry, able to kill with so much ease, so very quick on his feet, felt extremely small when he saw himself in those pools of liquid sapphire.
'Ciel, stop staring at me,' he finally said. ‘My ego is flying out of my ears.’
Hesitation. Then, Ciel looked away, groaning with irritance, lighting her cigarette. She breathed in deep, thinking of what to say.
'You know what’s your problem?’ She said in a slightly hoarse voice. ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ve been saying it so many times.’ She blew out a puff of smoke, rubbing her temples as if her head ached. ‘ “You think and think and think you get somewhere with all the thinking but you end up thinking about the same things over and over again and get nowhere without even realizing it.” Complete q-f-t ownage.’
Ganz blinked. Then, he turned to glare at her, gritting his teeth, feeling insulted for a strange reason. ‘What? Well... I... Well! Very well! What ingenious plan do you have, then! Let’s hear it, damn you!’
The cigarette hung loosely from the edge of her mouth, and her eyes fell to form a bored expression. ‘The original plan. We just bust in through his front door as you said.’
Ganz felt as if he got punched in the face by Rick Astley.
‘That won’t work—‘
‘Why?’
‘What?’
‘Tell me why.’
‘By Kavveled... I mean... They upgraded the whole place to be bulletproof! We can’t just... Bust in! I mean...’
‘Just grab a bleedin’ bazooka.’
‘No! Even if we do bust in... Kav, I don’t know how many people are in there, is he alone or what... So many factors...’
‘I got a machine gun, for Kav's sake—Don’t talk now, damn you, I can’t take in any more of your idiocy-- I can spray everywhere, with or without bulletproof walls of s***, and even if he does block all the bullets, he'd have to face the both of us, and you know better than I that getting ganged in confined space means that you're toast. We’re not exactly terrible, after all, we can take down his stupid minions.’
‘That’s the Fable clan’s second in command we’re talking about, I have never—‘
‘Shut up, I’m not an idiot, but he can’t be really all that great either, can he! Of course, he can just jump out the window, and then we can spam at him until he dies or gets away. For the latter, we'll worry about it after it actually happens. So stop thinking about it, because you're really getting nowhere, and it’s getting on my nerves! Now, I’ll just go to sleep—Stop looking out of the window, you paranoid maniac.' She ended with a tone of finality which even Ganz could notice. Finally beefing up the courage, he yelled at her.
‘Now see here!’
She ignored him, lying down on the sofa, obviously dozing off or pretending to, smoke trailing out of her cigarette.
Ganz stood there, indignant, steaming; wounded pride. Then again, Ciel wounds anyone’s pride... Anyone... She just thinks so little of anything, and nothing impresses her! Throughout the whole speech, Ganz almost interrupted a few times, and would have, had he known what to say. But -this angered him even more so- she was completely right.
The target –A skilled Fable clan fighter of threat to the Cavalry, rumored to be the second in command of the Fable clan- should be a very skilled fighter, else nobody would have followed him.
But then again, Ciel and he were also skilled, with all fairness. They, too, were feared figures! Almost half of the Cavalry clan were feared figures for that matter.
Ganz; for his all rounded mastery, cunning, mercilessness. Ciel; her exceeding cool, ingenuity, sharpshooting, inhumanely speedy movements. Shadow; the phantom, speedy, tactical, deadly. Arladerus; his mastery of the sword, able to block bullets even when directed at the feet, quick thinking and courage. Reve; extremely unpredictable, complete efficiency in defense, a morbidly sharp aim. Legro; fastest among them all, be it sword, guns, as fast as Ciel when it came to reconnaissance.
He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deep, calming his roiling mind. Rationally thinking, there was no other way to assassinate that Fable clan dog while he’s hiding behind those bulletproof walls of his... In a place full of civilians at that. That coward.
You think and think and think you get somewhere with all the thinking but you end up thinking about the same things over and over again and get nowhere without even realizing it.
Maybe the words which Ciel had been taking care to pound into his head ever since they met had some truth in them...?
Bleh.
In an attempt to stop thinking about it, he took to looking at the girl lying in the sofa in front of him.
Ciel was quite attractive, at least to him. Her skin was fair; very few scars for a fighter. And those eyes. Those glittering, sapphire eyes, looked so carefree and... mocking. Her hair was a smooth shade of light blonde, so light it was almost white. Her body was that of a grown woman, at 18 years old. She looked unusually... vulnerable at the moment. Ciel took care not to show weakness when she wrapped herself head to toe in men's wear during combat, but here, in their own apartment, she was wearing nothing more than a loose sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts, appearing so fragile... as if a single strike can shatter her.
Together, they made up Cavalry I.
Mmm... Nice...
'Ganz,' her sleepy voice said. 'Stop staring at me.'
'I'm not, I swear,' Ganz said stiffly.
'I'll kill you if I find out you're lyin....'
'Well, I'm not.'
Only light snoring sounds replied him then.
Kav's balls, we're made for each other.
-----------------
Shadow emerged from the room, her forearms wrapped in nothing but bandage.
Metro and Imppala wasn't much different from Shadow. The two were already sitting across Legro and Reve in the waiting room long before Shadow's burns were treated. For Metro, bandages wrapped her stomach, and another rolled about her forearm. For Imppala, he had a bandage around his head. Blood caked the cloth where the wounds were.
'Thanks, Reve,' Metro said, smiling in spite of herself. 'You saved my ass again. How much do I owe you?'
'Just pay all the medical fees yourself,' Reve replied.
'Wasn't planning to do otherwise, anyway.'
'Including Shadow's.'
This time, Metro reacted by attempting to smash a chair on Reve's head, only foiled because she found out the hard way that all the chairs in the clinic were connected to the wall, and thus making her look like a moron when she attempted to pick one up. Even more so because it was Reve who told her.
She bit back a sharp reply and sank back into her chair, thinking about how to earn back her bounty after this was over.
Imppala said nothing, reflecting on what had just happened. Reve saved them. Reve brought them here. He did not know whether to be grateful or not after he found out that she had dragged them here, happily leaving a trail of blood across the street. The worst part was, she didn't care at all. What a bastard. Imppala already had a bad impression of Reve. She had that look which told you that she wouldn’t care even if she was the cause of a million deaths and a lot of trouble. An irresponsible asshole, in short.
‘Imppala, stop staring at me as if I did something wrong,’ Reve snapped.
‘Oh. Right.’ Imppala stuttered.
‘You like Reve?’ Metro cut in, a silly grin on her face.
‘N...NO!’ Imppala exclaimed, jumping in his seat. Such an agitated reply, of course, suggested the opposite.
‘He likes you,’ Metro concluded.
Imppala’s mouth opened and closed as if to say something, but nothing came out.
Reve stared at her with an astonished face.
‘You have got to be kidding me.’
Imppala was speechless, and angry at himself for being speechless at such a crucial moment. Him? Liking Reve?! They have got to be insane to even assume that he even remotely had feelings for her!
From Reve’s expression, she was thinking the same, and only sheer willpower was holding her back from shooting Imppala just to crush any assumptions about their feelings for each other, which was pretty much pure dislike.
As the background character in that situation, Legro stared at them all as if they were crazy.
‘Well then,’ she started, breaking the ensuing silence, ‘I guess I’ll leave with Shadow and Reve...’
Reve turned to stare at her as if she was crazy.
‘Me? Where?’
‘Town-3.’
‘Nah... Nova’s there...’
‘I want you to help Nova.’
‘Why?’
And then, Legro dashed forward, grabbing Reve’s collar, slamming her against the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. She let out a short little noise of surprise, eyes widening, speechless by this sudden, hostile act. The others were simply staring, and the nurse at the counter was completely paralyzed.
‘What was that for!’ Reve growled, grabbing Legro’s wrists, threatening a throw, then felt her feet leaving the ground. Stuck. Completely stuck. Fury and indignation surged through her, but she willed her body to relax and calm down, trying not to get too agitated.
‘Don’t you DARE f**king ask why...I’ve had enough of your Kav damned irresponsibility,’ Legro said in a strangely calm voice, eyes flashing with something like murderous intent. ‘You don’t even do your part for the Cavalry—‘
‘ I was not a willing party,’ Reve said through gritted teeth, eyes narrowing, legs trembling, struggling with the temptation to kick her clan mate and be done with it.
‘Even so... Don’t you have a DROPLET of f**kING KAV DAMNED RESPONSIBILITY?!’ She yelled at Reve savagely. ‘THIS IS A f**kING LIFE YOU’RE RISKING, A f**kING 16 YEAR OLD’S LIFE--’
‘You suffering from paranoia?! Nova has Falerix and Reck--’
Legro threw Reve down onto the floor, and she landed with a loud thud as her back struck the cold tiles—Even as she threw her feet up, bowling Legro over, causing her to fall as well. Then, two sharp clacks. They were both pointing their handguns at each other--
Two loud bangs--
--------------------
Pod felt like he had no energy at all.
As if his limbs weighed tons.
As if his limbs could not even carry energy, for that matter.
His eyes felt dry, sleepy and exhausted. He felt strangely weak and exposed at that moment. His world was all black. He tried to open his eyes once, but the light outside was too blinding. Much, much too blinding... Torture.
Then, he became aware of the state he was in. Grimy, dirty, aching all over. His hands were covered in dirt, he could feel it. And his back felt like something is poking it, digging into his skin. His whole body was slick with sweat. For a strange moment, he felt like taking a bath over all the other things he would have liked better.
Pod groaned, the only thing he could do. His mind was a blank. Driven by the urge to do something, he rolled over. His back stung as the object –a piece of concrete- poking him was suddenly removed from the point of contact and blood rushed back to the spot. His hand reached for the sweet spot, feeling a small dent it. He ran his fingers across it several times, feeling mildly amused by the mild ticklish sensation.
And then, more important questions. What in the name of Kavveled had happened? He felt like something exceedingly important had just happened... But he couldn’t’ remember what. Not really. He got unconscious... That’s right, he fell... Oh, that beautiful blonde woman... People shooting... And...
Letting go of...
‘SPADE!!!’ He suddenly yelled, eyes snapping open, jumping to his feet... Then they closed, his balance wavering. He put a palm over his eyelids, massaging his eyes to ease the sudden dry and blinded feeling.
Spade. He lost Spade. He let go of him. He--
‘POD!!!’
He spun around, opening his eyes again, looking for the source of the voice. It was a man’s! Could it be Spade? He quite recognized it, however... But it wasn’t really Spade’s...
‘Here, you little moron!!!’
Pod felt himself being smacked in the back, and stumbled forwards a few steps.
He turned around, scowling, prepared to curse and swear—Who dared to hit him!-- when he finally recognized Falerix- With his tall, dark form, brown raggedy trenchcoat, his two jet black submachine guns, the handle of his sword poking out of his coat’s folds. His mischievous grin hinted peril, his eyebrows half-jokefully raised, his dark brown spiky hair grimy and more ruffled than usual.
‘Fal?’
The man beamed with Pod’s recognition.
‘Yeah. Yeah...Yeah! Glad to see your head cleared up!’
Pod stared at him as if he were not real. His mind was fuzzy.
‘Okay... Fal? Falerix. Born 18 years ago to a pair of poor idiots...’
‘Okay,’ Falerix interrupted, gritting his teeth to stop himself from punching Pod for insulting his parents, not that they were alive. ‘There’s a lot going on right now, sorry for dragging you here—‘
‘Dragging?’
Falerix stopped for a moment, as if just realizing the implications of his words. Pod hated to be dragged... But wait.
‘Think about it this way, Pod, you dragged Spade too.’
Pod scowled at him with slightly more passion. Then, he felt the cold sweat forming. Spade. Spade! Where? He left him in that bullet rain!
‘Oh, and, where’s Spade?’ Pod said, struggling to keep the worry out of his voice.
‘What?’
Pod felt his heart accelerate. What was this? They didn’t know where Spade was?? ‘I... I Dropped him... Back there, when running away from the firefight...’ He stuttered, giving up the fight to sound unworried.
Which amused Falerix evidently, seeing that he let out a laugh.
‘Oh, that boy? Don’t worry, Nova’s got him...’ Falerix looked around now, slightly distracted, but not very obviously so.
‘Nova?’ Pod blurted. The name sounded familiar... He couldn’t quite put his finger on what...Probably nothing...
‘Reve’s partner, only Reve never really helps out, so Nyfe and I does double shift. Nova’s quite inexperienced, see.’ Falerix had that touch of seriousness to his words which troubled Pod slightly. Then again, he didn’t see enough of Falerix to see his serious side.
‘So... Spade is either alive or dead in the hands of this Nova?’
‘Well. No idea. Depends on...Well. I wouldn’t know, really! I dragged you behind the buildings and stood guard. You little bastard, not even waking up after I poured water on ya and ...’
Pod advanced on him.
‘And... Fed you with nuts?’ Falerix added gingerly, raising his hands slightly.
Pod kicked him in the nuts. Hard.
In the distance, someone screamed something about hating her shirt.
--------------
‘Damn the leader,’ Rae hissed. ‘Damn the leader of this Kavvdamned clan. Damn everyone in it.’
For someone who was under fire, Rae seemed calm and careless about their situation. She sat against the back of a wall, slowly reloading her rifle, while hearing the bullets thud into the floors next to her. The gunman’s aim was sharp... But he was just wasting all his bullets.
Or not.
A girl- her clanmate- screamed in pain as a bullet sank into her thigh just as she rushed out of cover-- another bang and the familiar spray of blood, throwing her backwards a step, before she fell with a clatter of noise, lifeless eyes staring up at the sky with a ravaged forehead.
Two down, Rae thought. Idiots. The whole lot of them. The whole Fable clan. The whole damned world.
Who was the retard who designed the stupid shirt, anyway? The one she was wearing, with the word “Fable” on it.
‘Egregiously ridiculous! Humiliating, embarrassing, idiotic, gay, nerdy!!!’ She yelled as the firing ceased, lunging out and squeezing on the trigger of her submachine gun, shooting at the vague black figure in the middle of the road before throwing herself back behind the wall. That annoying kid was blocking all the damned bullets!!
Vicelin, the girl squatting next to her, sighed.
‘Stupid ol’ Relat!!’ She suddenly burst. ‘Relat this, Relat that, Relat says put on the shirt, we put it on, Relat says we go bomb this café, we bomb the café, we bomb the damned place, then stupid CAVALRY clan show up, and killed two of us, and stupid Relat wants us to kill all Cavalry members... DAMN HIM!!!!!!’ She screamed, smacking the wall with her gun.
Rae nodded. That damned Relat, that damned moron who thinks that he’s all that, that damned big hotshot with that massive ego... Just because he’s second in command...
‘I HATE MY SHIRT!!!!’ Rae screamed at the top of her voice.
Vicelin stared at her.
‘That was random.’
Rae stared back, her head steaming. She gritted her teeth, then closed her eyes, breathing deeply twice, before opening them again.
‘Okay, okay, I’m calm.’
Vicelin looked away, peering over the wall.
‘Hey, they’ve stopped firing,’ she muttered. ‘And the guy’s taken cover.’
Rae buried her heads in her hands, as if exhausted. ‘It was like that after I screamed about the shirt.’
‘Great job, you probably made them think that you’re an insane idiot.’
‘Admit it, you hate the shirt too,’ Rae mumbled without looking at her.
Vicelin groaned, smacking her own forehead.
She didn’t particularly adore her clan, but...
Rae and I... We’re epic failures of the Fable clan.
‘Where is the Froggy, anyway!’ Vicelin said. ‘I got no more ammo.’
Rae peered over the wall.
‘Well. I see him.’
Vicelin blinked, then broke into a fit of laughter.
‘Oho, let’s see how the Cavalry idiots handle ‘im.’
Rae made a funny expression.
‘Yurith damn him, may Kav smile upon them all-- he uses a damned, ridiculous grappling hook!’
-----------------------
Nova stared at Reck, who was crouching behind a devastated car.
‘Did she just scream “I hate my shirt”?’ He asked, eyebrow raised.
Nova rubbed her throbbing temples, a headache forming. Oh, Kav. ‘Apparently, yes,’ she said after a long silence.
Reck was silent, however; examining his blade with the cross of a scowl and a pained expression—Nova had to admit that she was very impressed, he didn’t let a single bullet through. However, it was at the cost of his blade. After that much abuse, even a blade made of very hard bulletproof steel would dent and chip. That was what had happened to Reck’s sword—It was dented, chipped, and even breaking at the tip. He would never be able to use it again, from the looks of it.
‘Damn, I had this sword for a couple o’ years now,’ he said miserably.
‘Not so much of sentimental value, but, uh,’ Nova said, ‘How are you going to block bullets now?’
Reck’s made a face.
‘Just had to remind me, eh! I was starting to get over it, damn you!’
‘Sorry.’
Reck smacked his head, groaning again. Great! Nova decided to play hero and take care of the body of the person apparently named Spade, and now, besides having to deal with these Fable idiots, they have to take the body to the safety of a house. What a workload.
‘Ok,’ Reck finally said, ‘Here’s the plan. I decoy them and you just run into Falerix’s apartment, you know where.’
‘Decoy them?’ Nova repeated. ‘Won’t you get... Well...’
‘Just had to remind me again! Just stop talking, damn you!’ He scowled.
‘Oh, fine...’ Nova said, but her voice trailed off as something flashed in a remote corner of her vision—
And then, she lifted her rifle to her head just as something solidly struck it, slamming the damned thing into her face, making her stumble heavily backwards against the wall, a cry of surprise escaping her lips as strength suddenly fled her limbs. Hot blood trailed down from her forehead.
Reck jumped at Nova’s cry, head snapping up to see a blur of a human figure-- and a silver bullet zoom towards him. His sword snapped up and caught the bullet, then, with a sharp, savage splintering sound, it shattered into pieces.
‘s***!!! KAV--’
He dashed towards Nova, hearing bullets thudding into the walls behind him, one of which nicked some rubber from his boot. Reck grabbed Nova’s arm, throwing her over his shoulder – He heard her battered rifle clattering onto the floor behind him- and jumped up at the wall, running across its length, determined to get the both of them to safety—
DAMN, what the heck should we do about the Spade guy??!!!
He risked a look backwards, then saw his assailant reloading, using a grappling hook of a sort to fly upwards, higher than Reck and Nova— Rattling sounds as he fired at them again—
Reck tugged Nova’s sword out with extremely tensed arms, launching himself off the wall in a somersault. He saw the bullets come at him, the sword whipping back and forth to deflect them all---
And suddenly, unexpectedly, something connected with his side in a solid hit worthy of Kavveled—A blunt strike to his head and his world flashed black.
Damn, the ground...!
Nova screamed vague words, his feet feet suddenly leaving the ground as well...
~To be continued.
Guess who that is.
'If we wanted to kill him, we can just bust in through the front door, spray his house full of lead, then get the hell outta there at five hundred kilometres per hour,' Ganz reflected, pacing up and down the room in front of a girl, who was sitting on the sofa, staring at him.
'But there's the problem that he's behind some bulletproof thing. And he's skilled, too. Actually, I don't know. I really don't. Damn it,' he continued, slapping his forehead. ‘I’m so bad with plans...’
He looked at the girl.
She met his eyes. With that mocking gaze, the same one he had known ever since they had been traveling companions.
So mocking.
Even he, Ganz, gallant leader of the Cavalry, able to kill with so much ease, so very quick on his feet, felt extremely small when he saw himself in those pools of liquid sapphire.
'Ciel, stop staring at me,' he finally said. ‘My ego is flying out of my ears.’
Hesitation. Then, Ciel looked away, groaning with irritance, lighting her cigarette. She breathed in deep, thinking of what to say.
'You know what’s your problem?’ She said in a slightly hoarse voice. ‘I’ll tell you what. I’ve been saying it so many times.’ She blew out a puff of smoke, rubbing her temples as if her head ached. ‘ “You think and think and think you get somewhere with all the thinking but you end up thinking about the same things over and over again and get nowhere without even realizing it.” Complete q-f-t ownage.’
Ganz blinked. Then, he turned to glare at her, gritting his teeth, feeling insulted for a strange reason. ‘What? Well... I... Well! Very well! What ingenious plan do you have, then! Let’s hear it, damn you!’
The cigarette hung loosely from the edge of her mouth, and her eyes fell to form a bored expression. ‘The original plan. We just bust in through his front door as you said.’
Ganz felt as if he got punched in the face by Rick Astley.
‘That won’t work—‘
‘Why?’
‘What?’
‘Tell me why.’
‘By Kavveled... I mean... They upgraded the whole place to be bulletproof! We can’t just... Bust in! I mean...’
‘Just grab a bleedin’ bazooka.’
‘No! Even if we do bust in... Kav, I don’t know how many people are in there, is he alone or what... So many factors...’
‘I got a machine gun, for Kav's sake—Don’t talk now, damn you, I can’t take in any more of your idiocy-- I can spray everywhere, with or without bulletproof walls of s***, and even if he does block all the bullets, he'd have to face the both of us, and you know better than I that getting ganged in confined space means that you're toast. We’re not exactly terrible, after all, we can take down his stupid minions.’
‘That’s the Fable clan’s second in command we’re talking about, I have never—‘
‘Shut up, I’m not an idiot, but he can’t be really all that great either, can he! Of course, he can just jump out the window, and then we can spam at him until he dies or gets away. For the latter, we'll worry about it after it actually happens. So stop thinking about it, because you're really getting nowhere, and it’s getting on my nerves! Now, I’ll just go to sleep—Stop looking out of the window, you paranoid maniac.' She ended with a tone of finality which even Ganz could notice. Finally beefing up the courage, he yelled at her.
‘Now see here!’
She ignored him, lying down on the sofa, obviously dozing off or pretending to, smoke trailing out of her cigarette.
Ganz stood there, indignant, steaming; wounded pride. Then again, Ciel wounds anyone’s pride... Anyone... She just thinks so little of anything, and nothing impresses her! Throughout the whole speech, Ganz almost interrupted a few times, and would have, had he known what to say. But -this angered him even more so- she was completely right.
The target –A skilled Fable clan fighter of threat to the Cavalry, rumored to be the second in command of the Fable clan- should be a very skilled fighter, else nobody would have followed him.
But then again, Ciel and he were also skilled, with all fairness. They, too, were feared figures! Almost half of the Cavalry clan were feared figures for that matter.
Ganz; for his all rounded mastery, cunning, mercilessness. Ciel; her exceeding cool, ingenuity, sharpshooting, inhumanely speedy movements. Shadow; the phantom, speedy, tactical, deadly. Arladerus; his mastery of the sword, able to block bullets even when directed at the feet, quick thinking and courage. Reve; extremely unpredictable, complete efficiency in defense, a morbidly sharp aim. Legro; fastest among them all, be it sword, guns, as fast as Ciel when it came to reconnaissance.
He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deep, calming his roiling mind. Rationally thinking, there was no other way to assassinate that Fable clan dog while he’s hiding behind those bulletproof walls of his... In a place full of civilians at that. That coward.
You think and think and think you get somewhere with all the thinking but you end up thinking about the same things over and over again and get nowhere without even realizing it.
Maybe the words which Ciel had been taking care to pound into his head ever since they met had some truth in them...?
Bleh.
In an attempt to stop thinking about it, he took to looking at the girl lying in the sofa in front of him.
Ciel was quite attractive, at least to him. Her skin was fair; very few scars for a fighter. And those eyes. Those glittering, sapphire eyes, looked so carefree and... mocking. Her hair was a smooth shade of light blonde, so light it was almost white. Her body was that of a grown woman, at 18 years old. She looked unusually... vulnerable at the moment. Ciel took care not to show weakness when she wrapped herself head to toe in men's wear during combat, but here, in their own apartment, she was wearing nothing more than a loose sleeveless shirt and a pair of shorts, appearing so fragile... as if a single strike can shatter her.
Together, they made up Cavalry I.
Mmm... Nice...
'Ganz,' her sleepy voice said. 'Stop staring at me.'
'I'm not, I swear,' Ganz said stiffly.
'I'll kill you if I find out you're lyin....'
'Well, I'm not.'
Only light snoring sounds replied him then.
Kav's balls, we're made for each other.
-----------------
Shadow emerged from the room, her forearms wrapped in nothing but bandage.
Metro and Imppala wasn't much different from Shadow. The two were already sitting across Legro and Reve in the waiting room long before Shadow's burns were treated. For Metro, bandages wrapped her stomach, and another rolled about her forearm. For Imppala, he had a bandage around his head. Blood caked the cloth where the wounds were.
'Thanks, Reve,' Metro said, smiling in spite of herself. 'You saved my ass again. How much do I owe you?'
'Just pay all the medical fees yourself,' Reve replied.
'Wasn't planning to do otherwise, anyway.'
'Including Shadow's.'
This time, Metro reacted by attempting to smash a chair on Reve's head, only foiled because she found out the hard way that all the chairs in the clinic were connected to the wall, and thus making her look like a moron when she attempted to pick one up. Even more so because it was Reve who told her.
She bit back a sharp reply and sank back into her chair, thinking about how to earn back her bounty after this was over.
Imppala said nothing, reflecting on what had just happened. Reve saved them. Reve brought them here. He did not know whether to be grateful or not after he found out that she had dragged them here, happily leaving a trail of blood across the street. The worst part was, she didn't care at all. What a bastard. Imppala already had a bad impression of Reve. She had that look which told you that she wouldn’t care even if she was the cause of a million deaths and a lot of trouble. An irresponsible asshole, in short.
‘Imppala, stop staring at me as if I did something wrong,’ Reve snapped.
‘Oh. Right.’ Imppala stuttered.
‘You like Reve?’ Metro cut in, a silly grin on her face.
‘N...NO!’ Imppala exclaimed, jumping in his seat. Such an agitated reply, of course, suggested the opposite.
‘He likes you,’ Metro concluded.
Imppala’s mouth opened and closed as if to say something, but nothing came out.
Reve stared at her with an astonished face.
‘You have got to be kidding me.’
Imppala was speechless, and angry at himself for being speechless at such a crucial moment. Him? Liking Reve?! They have got to be insane to even assume that he even remotely had feelings for her!
From Reve’s expression, she was thinking the same, and only sheer willpower was holding her back from shooting Imppala just to crush any assumptions about their feelings for each other, which was pretty much pure dislike.
As the background character in that situation, Legro stared at them all as if they were crazy.
‘Well then,’ she started, breaking the ensuing silence, ‘I guess I’ll leave with Shadow and Reve...’
Reve turned to stare at her as if she was crazy.
‘Me? Where?’
‘Town-3.’
‘Nah... Nova’s there...’
‘I want you to help Nova.’
‘Why?’
And then, Legro dashed forward, grabbing Reve’s collar, slamming her against the wall, knocking the air out of her lungs. She let out a short little noise of surprise, eyes widening, speechless by this sudden, hostile act. The others were simply staring, and the nurse at the counter was completely paralyzed.
‘What was that for!’ Reve growled, grabbing Legro’s wrists, threatening a throw, then felt her feet leaving the ground. Stuck. Completely stuck. Fury and indignation surged through her, but she willed her body to relax and calm down, trying not to get too agitated.
‘Don’t you DARE f**king ask why...I’ve had enough of your Kav damned irresponsibility,’ Legro said in a strangely calm voice, eyes flashing with something like murderous intent. ‘You don’t even do your part for the Cavalry—‘
‘ I was not a willing party,’ Reve said through gritted teeth, eyes narrowing, legs trembling, struggling with the temptation to kick her clan mate and be done with it.
‘Even so... Don’t you have a DROPLET of f**kING KAV DAMNED RESPONSIBILITY?!’ She yelled at Reve savagely. ‘THIS IS A f**kING LIFE YOU’RE RISKING, A f**kING 16 YEAR OLD’S LIFE--’
‘You suffering from paranoia?! Nova has Falerix and Reck--’
Legro threw Reve down onto the floor, and she landed with a loud thud as her back struck the cold tiles—Even as she threw her feet up, bowling Legro over, causing her to fall as well. Then, two sharp clacks. They were both pointing their handguns at each other--
Two loud bangs--
--------------------
Pod felt like he had no energy at all.
As if his limbs weighed tons.
As if his limbs could not even carry energy, for that matter.
His eyes felt dry, sleepy and exhausted. He felt strangely weak and exposed at that moment. His world was all black. He tried to open his eyes once, but the light outside was too blinding. Much, much too blinding... Torture.
Then, he became aware of the state he was in. Grimy, dirty, aching all over. His hands were covered in dirt, he could feel it. And his back felt like something is poking it, digging into his skin. His whole body was slick with sweat. For a strange moment, he felt like taking a bath over all the other things he would have liked better.
Pod groaned, the only thing he could do. His mind was a blank. Driven by the urge to do something, he rolled over. His back stung as the object –a piece of concrete- poking him was suddenly removed from the point of contact and blood rushed back to the spot. His hand reached for the sweet spot, feeling a small dent it. He ran his fingers across it several times, feeling mildly amused by the mild ticklish sensation.
And then, more important questions. What in the name of Kavveled had happened? He felt like something exceedingly important had just happened... But he couldn’t’ remember what. Not really. He got unconscious... That’s right, he fell... Oh, that beautiful blonde woman... People shooting... And...
Letting go of...
‘SPADE!!!’ He suddenly yelled, eyes snapping open, jumping to his feet... Then they closed, his balance wavering. He put a palm over his eyelids, massaging his eyes to ease the sudden dry and blinded feeling.
Spade. He lost Spade. He let go of him. He--
‘POD!!!’
He spun around, opening his eyes again, looking for the source of the voice. It was a man’s! Could it be Spade? He quite recognized it, however... But it wasn’t really Spade’s...
‘Here, you little moron!!!’
Pod felt himself being smacked in the back, and stumbled forwards a few steps.
He turned around, scowling, prepared to curse and swear—Who dared to hit him!-- when he finally recognized Falerix- With his tall, dark form, brown raggedy trenchcoat, his two jet black submachine guns, the handle of his sword poking out of his coat’s folds. His mischievous grin hinted peril, his eyebrows half-jokefully raised, his dark brown spiky hair grimy and more ruffled than usual.
‘Fal?’
The man beamed with Pod’s recognition.
‘Yeah. Yeah...Yeah! Glad to see your head cleared up!’
Pod stared at him as if he were not real. His mind was fuzzy.
‘Okay... Fal? Falerix. Born 18 years ago to a pair of poor idiots...’
‘Okay,’ Falerix interrupted, gritting his teeth to stop himself from punching Pod for insulting his parents, not that they were alive. ‘There’s a lot going on right now, sorry for dragging you here—‘
‘Dragging?’
Falerix stopped for a moment, as if just realizing the implications of his words. Pod hated to be dragged... But wait.
‘Think about it this way, Pod, you dragged Spade too.’
Pod scowled at him with slightly more passion. Then, he felt the cold sweat forming. Spade. Spade! Where? He left him in that bullet rain!
‘Oh, and, where’s Spade?’ Pod said, struggling to keep the worry out of his voice.
‘What?’
Pod felt his heart accelerate. What was this? They didn’t know where Spade was?? ‘I... I Dropped him... Back there, when running away from the firefight...’ He stuttered, giving up the fight to sound unworried.
Which amused Falerix evidently, seeing that he let out a laugh.
‘Oh, that boy? Don’t worry, Nova’s got him...’ Falerix looked around now, slightly distracted, but not very obviously so.
‘Nova?’ Pod blurted. The name sounded familiar... He couldn’t quite put his finger on what...Probably nothing...
‘Reve’s partner, only Reve never really helps out, so Nyfe and I does double shift. Nova’s quite inexperienced, see.’ Falerix had that touch of seriousness to his words which troubled Pod slightly. Then again, he didn’t see enough of Falerix to see his serious side.
‘So... Spade is either alive or dead in the hands of this Nova?’
‘Well. No idea. Depends on...Well. I wouldn’t know, really! I dragged you behind the buildings and stood guard. You little bastard, not even waking up after I poured water on ya and ...’
Pod advanced on him.
‘And... Fed you with nuts?’ Falerix added gingerly, raising his hands slightly.
Pod kicked him in the nuts. Hard.
In the distance, someone screamed something about hating her shirt.
--------------
‘Damn the leader,’ Rae hissed. ‘Damn the leader of this Kavvdamned clan. Damn everyone in it.’
For someone who was under fire, Rae seemed calm and careless about their situation. She sat against the back of a wall, slowly reloading her rifle, while hearing the bullets thud into the floors next to her. The gunman’s aim was sharp... But he was just wasting all his bullets.
Or not.
A girl- her clanmate- screamed in pain as a bullet sank into her thigh just as she rushed out of cover-- another bang and the familiar spray of blood, throwing her backwards a step, before she fell with a clatter of noise, lifeless eyes staring up at the sky with a ravaged forehead.
Two down, Rae thought. Idiots. The whole lot of them. The whole Fable clan. The whole damned world.
Who was the retard who designed the stupid shirt, anyway? The one she was wearing, with the word “Fable” on it.
‘Egregiously ridiculous! Humiliating, embarrassing, idiotic, gay, nerdy!!!’ She yelled as the firing ceased, lunging out and squeezing on the trigger of her submachine gun, shooting at the vague black figure in the middle of the road before throwing herself back behind the wall. That annoying kid was blocking all the damned bullets!!
Vicelin, the girl squatting next to her, sighed.
‘Stupid ol’ Relat!!’ She suddenly burst. ‘Relat this, Relat that, Relat says put on the shirt, we put it on, Relat says we go bomb this café, we bomb the café, we bomb the damned place, then stupid CAVALRY clan show up, and killed two of us, and stupid Relat wants us to kill all Cavalry members... DAMN HIM!!!!!!’ She screamed, smacking the wall with her gun.
Rae nodded. That damned Relat, that damned moron who thinks that he’s all that, that damned big hotshot with that massive ego... Just because he’s second in command...
‘I HATE MY SHIRT!!!!’ Rae screamed at the top of her voice.
Vicelin stared at her.
‘That was random.’
Rae stared back, her head steaming. She gritted her teeth, then closed her eyes, breathing deeply twice, before opening them again.
‘Okay, okay, I’m calm.’
Vicelin looked away, peering over the wall.
‘Hey, they’ve stopped firing,’ she muttered. ‘And the guy’s taken cover.’
Rae buried her heads in her hands, as if exhausted. ‘It was like that after I screamed about the shirt.’
‘Great job, you probably made them think that you’re an insane idiot.’
‘Admit it, you hate the shirt too,’ Rae mumbled without looking at her.
Vicelin groaned, smacking her own forehead.
She didn’t particularly adore her clan, but...
Rae and I... We’re epic failures of the Fable clan.
‘Where is the Froggy, anyway!’ Vicelin said. ‘I got no more ammo.’
Rae peered over the wall.
‘Well. I see him.’
Vicelin blinked, then broke into a fit of laughter.
‘Oho, let’s see how the Cavalry idiots handle ‘im.’
Rae made a funny expression.
‘Yurith damn him, may Kav smile upon them all-- he uses a damned, ridiculous grappling hook!’
-----------------------
Nova stared at Reck, who was crouching behind a devastated car.
‘Did she just scream “I hate my shirt”?’ He asked, eyebrow raised.
Nova rubbed her throbbing temples, a headache forming. Oh, Kav. ‘Apparently, yes,’ she said after a long silence.
Reck was silent, however; examining his blade with the cross of a scowl and a pained expression—Nova had to admit that she was very impressed, he didn’t let a single bullet through. However, it was at the cost of his blade. After that much abuse, even a blade made of very hard bulletproof steel would dent and chip. That was what had happened to Reck’s sword—It was dented, chipped, and even breaking at the tip. He would never be able to use it again, from the looks of it.
‘Damn, I had this sword for a couple o’ years now,’ he said miserably.
‘Not so much of sentimental value, but, uh,’ Nova said, ‘How are you going to block bullets now?’
Reck’s made a face.
‘Just had to remind me, eh! I was starting to get over it, damn you!’
‘Sorry.’
Reck smacked his head, groaning again. Great! Nova decided to play hero and take care of the body of the person apparently named Spade, and now, besides having to deal with these Fable idiots, they have to take the body to the safety of a house. What a workload.
‘Ok,’ Reck finally said, ‘Here’s the plan. I decoy them and you just run into Falerix’s apartment, you know where.’
‘Decoy them?’ Nova repeated. ‘Won’t you get... Well...’
‘Just had to remind me again! Just stop talking, damn you!’ He scowled.
‘Oh, fine...’ Nova said, but her voice trailed off as something flashed in a remote corner of her vision—
And then, she lifted her rifle to her head just as something solidly struck it, slamming the damned thing into her face, making her stumble heavily backwards against the wall, a cry of surprise escaping her lips as strength suddenly fled her limbs. Hot blood trailed down from her forehead.
Reck jumped at Nova’s cry, head snapping up to see a blur of a human figure-- and a silver bullet zoom towards him. His sword snapped up and caught the bullet, then, with a sharp, savage splintering sound, it shattered into pieces.
‘s***!!! KAV--’
He dashed towards Nova, hearing bullets thudding into the walls behind him, one of which nicked some rubber from his boot. Reck grabbed Nova’s arm, throwing her over his shoulder – He heard her battered rifle clattering onto the floor behind him- and jumped up at the wall, running across its length, determined to get the both of them to safety—
DAMN, what the heck should we do about the Spade guy??!!!
He risked a look backwards, then saw his assailant reloading, using a grappling hook of a sort to fly upwards, higher than Reck and Nova— Rattling sounds as he fired at them again—
Reck tugged Nova’s sword out with extremely tensed arms, launching himself off the wall in a somersault. He saw the bullets come at him, the sword whipping back and forth to deflect them all---
And suddenly, unexpectedly, something connected with his side in a solid hit worthy of Kavveled—A blunt strike to his head and his world flashed black.
Damn, the ground...!
Nova screamed vague words, his feet feet suddenly leaving the ground as well...
~To be continued.
