Dead or Alive - The Janus Project - Dibs
[Toggle Names]Description: The word out on the street is that major players are in the running to get a piece of DOATEC, and India is a hot commodity for major operators. The corporations are moving on something big in India, and it has something to do with a cure for Darkstalkers. Incidentally, many of the Dead or Alive qualifier matches are happening there -- for reasons that cannot be discerned. This is what draws Velvet Blue out. Unfortunately, he's going to have a hard time making it to the tournament to investigate just yet, as contracts have been taken out on just about every major Darkstalker known, public or even in some cases private. A lot of money is flowing, and now, the paranormalist has to find a way out of an explosive traffic jam after the capricious Bulleta and the deadly assassin Gregory descend upon the Mumbai-Pune expressway, as an armoured truckload of werewolves threatens to turn it into a concrete buffet!
[VELVET BLUE]
Cure for Darkstalkerism...? Well, there was only one cure for this, that he knew of--and he didn't want to think about it. This is the kind of bad feeling that manages to get Velvet Blue out of their funhouse in Southtown. Well, besides their usual shenanigans. A waist-length leather jacket with fur ruff is worn by him atm, along with one of his full-body suits, and a pair of thick leather boots that rose to about the knee.
They were positioned on the rooftop that rose along the expressway at the moment, which would have been the key on how to find them--though not many noticed them beneath the large neon sign that hawked beer or something or other. Really being under sleazy neon lights was kind of a natural habitat for Velvet, but that's besides the point. It appeared they were waiting and looking out for /something/ or someone. Convoy of that military hardware that was supposed to be moved along it? DoAtech was doing /something/ with Darkstalkers, after all, and moving around things to either contain or experiment on them was probable.
"Of course these freakshows have to pick a super out of the way country like this, good grief," he sighed, putting down a pair of binoculars, watching the vehicles speed by. There was still some waning light, but night would be soon.
[BULLETA]
Undulating along rolling green hills, the expressway has a dangerous reputation which the local government has done its best to lessen in recent years via various renovations. It's early evening, and the expressway's still choked; still humming along at a moderate clip. Beautiful, pastoral surroundings are of little comfort to people who are eager to just get /home/ already, but - so far, at least - the horns are blessedly sporadic. Most of the evening's travelers seem willing to keep their frustration /inside/.
Watching the expressway through precision-cut lenses, Velvet Blue can even find a smile on one traveler's lips if they search long enough-- though, really, it shouldn't be /so/ hard to spot. After all: most of them have cars of their own, or at least seats to call theirs; they aren't perched atop tall, blocky armoured vehicles, because what sort of maniac /would/?
Much less while garbed in a vivid, red hooded cloak billowing gently in the breeze around a red and white dress. Not to mention the eerie sparkle of excitement flickering in cold blue eyes as they roll up, up, up, until they are -- locked -- firmly -- on Velvet's.
(We won't even talk about the way her smile /grows/ after that, as if spotting an old friend.)
After today, whoever's responsible for civic planning might find themselves trapped in perpetual crunch and bedeviled by an entirely unprecedented new dimension of threat to public safety.
Tiny fingers made that much smaller by proximity wiggle-wave in Velvet's direction, and then the woman in red hops to her feet for a leisurely stroll towards the cab. Now that she's standing, Velvet can make out glimpses of the large, wicker basket dangling from one of her arms-- the one she flips open and searches through, briefly, before withdrawing a custom .45--
*B A N G ! ! !*
*S K R R R R R--!*
*B A N G ! ! !*
*S K R RRRRR-- K R A S H ! ! ! !*
-- and guaranteeing her fellow travelers a much longer and /far/ more fraught commute with two quick shots that leave the windshield painted with gore. Even as the truck careens out of control, spin-drifting across lanes, the tiny chaos agent in red manages to keep her balance as if she was born for concrete surfing, only leaping clear once the truck is moments away from slamming into two far more compact vehicles in its path and creating a smoking, tangled wreckage that doesn't stop until it's partly embedded in the verdant hillside.
[GREGORY]
A purple ring of arcane energy lining a disc of dark, inky void. There's a few moments before a man wearing a black hooded jacket with a tail that extends to the back of his knees, along with a faceless mask, and a black bodysuit under it.
Upon stepping out of one of his portals, the assassin stands on the rocks right above the Madap tunnel entrance where he takes a moment of time survey his surroundings before he gets to work. At first, he notices the darkstalker observing something. He's a bit farther away from than he would like to engage so he lifts his hand, letting it glow with purple arcane energy as he readies himself to form yet another portal and then he hears it. The loud gunshot that echos through the expressway between the hills and maybe even through the tunnels as well. The high pitched screech of tires heralding the loud crunch of metal on metal meant only one thing. His job was going to get messy. He /detested/ when jobs got messy.
Then he looks around once again. The only one seeming relatively calm about this development is the red clad chaos agent holding a custom firearm.
The arcane assassin lets out a sigh as he calls that purple energy to his hand before forming yet another portal that he steps through only to be dropped out right above a now stationary cargo truck.
[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet is legitimately spooked at first, normal humans didn't have senses good enough to see that far--that meant... it meant they were somethin' else. He jumps a little bit, lowering the binoculars briefly, before looking back into them--and the scarlet hood and cloak is spotted, confirming it. Yeah that's not good.
Red hood, large wicker basket, blue eyes perhaps uncharacteristic of someone so fierce, or deadly. The bat-eared entertainer is even ducking down low when that weapon is raised, despite realizing it's pointed nowhere at /him/. Vel cringed, looking again and spotting the mists of blood and painted red-look of the windshields, able to smell the iron in the air long before it reaches the senses.
"She wants my attention, she's just gonna keep doing that," Velvet mutters to himself, pocketing the binocs into the jacket and getting up. With a few harsh bootfalls they were jumping from the side of the building's roof, onto a large panel truck's trailer--and finally jumping down--all the while avoiding cars that were probably desperately trying to get away from the sudden lethal commotion.
The cold steel of the .45 pistol was in his eyes, the yellow cat-like orbs roving from one object to the next--now more chestnut or oval-shaped--until they constricted tightly into slits as headlights careened toward them--Velvet doing a diving somersault and skidding along on those leather boots, stopping before where Bulleta had been firing. They looked up and around, apparently noticing the portals popping up--there was someone else too, it seemed.
"You craved my presence, dark-hunter, has it been that long?" Velvet's tone was a bit more coy and flirty than one might expect, they did not show fear.
[BULLETA]
Which is worse:
A woman murdering two men in cold blood just to get a notable member of the Darkstalker community's attention;
Or a woman murdering two men in cold blood as a prelude to further violence?
Portals and preternatural speed make navigating the screaming chaos of an expressway turned on a dime into a bumper car nightmare. This is /especially/ fortuitous because just seconds before Velvet or Gregory make their landings, the Huntress in red fires one more shot, directly into the armored trailer's lock; rather than bounce away in a flash of sparks and smoke, the round just-- /sticks/, hissing.
Bubbling.
Eating right through solid metal as the violent banging, inhuman snarls, and blood-curdling screams that began rattling the truck shortly after its 'landing' reach a fever pitch, thanks to the incitement of a third gunshot.
"You might wanna move~" she tells Velvet, one hand cupped around her mouth as if she's sharing a secret with the person she's mercilessly bloodied on more than one occasion. She herself is tucking the pistol back into the basket, sidestepping away from the truck-- away from Gregory's landing angle. "And /you/ might wanna get your wand or whatever ready, Mr. Phantom," she adds without casting a glance Gregory's way. Her eyes are now locked firmly on the door--
-- because following a thunderclap clash against armored steel, the metal bows outwards and one door's left hanging precariously askew in the frame.
Because:
"/These/ handsome fellas were on their way /somewhere/, hours out from having /something/ fucked up happen to 'em, and if /we/ don't do something about it... they're gonna tear the poor guy who was supposed to be guarding them to pieces back there," she says, smile slipping away in sync with a tone making a steady slide into affected concern.
"And /then/ where would our lead be...?" she wonders, casual and calculated in the way she seeks to bind them to a common cause.
"You wanna know more about this cure... don't you~?"
A final, lowly voiced question is punctuated by a final, catastrophic crash that sends steel doors flying off their hinges and into the side of an SUV. Snarling, howling streaks of blue, grey, chestnut, and crimson begin to pour from the darkness within as half a dozen or so lean werewolves already drunk on a taste of blood turn from trying to pluck meat out from under layers of protective nanoweave armour, to seeking easier prey amongst the smoking, shrieking madness that the Expressway has become.
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool has started a fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
COMBATSYS: Bulleta has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[GREGORY]
Messy?It was at this moment that Gregory Holloway also known as (by media and law enforcement but not through him actively taking on that moniker) Phantom knew that messy was a huge understatement. His shoulders slump forward as a visible manifestation of the sigh that he does not dare to give voice to.
Instead of reaching for a wand, he takes a fighting stance that is oddly reminiscent of a judo stance but not quite there. For the moment, his initial objective is abandoned temporarily as the werewolves may end up being a more immediate concern. He doesn't immediately attack Bulleta or Velvet though right now he really wants to attack red clad huntress for making his job way more complicated.
COMBATSYS: Gregory has joined the fight here in the center.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-======
[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet was fast, perhaps not fast enough to dodge a bullet--but he's been hunted by armed groups before. He knows how to keep low and use the obstructions between him and the shooter to his advantage--however right now that also includes the van... which Bulleta also just opened up. Containing what looked like werecreatures.
Ruh roh.
Velvet has to jump /over/ the side of a car and begin snatching at doors, pulling people out and pushing at them to run, run run--as the mess of cars now surrounding them prevents them from just speeding away. Things are bound to get bloody.
Thankfully, he's able to drop his magical mask, so they're seeing some crazy wild-haired and strange cat-eyed creature with bat ears apparently trying to 'get' them or scare them away from their cars, or at least that's what it might look like if they hadn't been aware of the oncoming danger. And lets be fair, most people's situational awareness was /shit/.
"It's too bad, there ain't no cure for what I got baby," Velvet grunted and pulled the curved short sword from the sheathe tucked in his boot, silver flashing out into the light.
Turning to Gregory, he seems to not realize if Phantom here is a adversary or ally or not, but seems to try to press-gang him into help, either way.
"Hey, come take a piece of the action!"
COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue has joined the fight here in the center.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-======
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|-------
COMBATSYS: Motorists has joined the fight here on the right meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Motorists
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-======
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|-------
[GREGORY]
Gregory immediately identifies the feral darkstalkers as extremely detrimental to his objectives. After all, if they appear to be attacking indiscriminately, it will make it hard for him to achieve to most chief among his objectives. SURVIVAL
Gregory's hands glow a hazy purple color as a portal forms right in front of the arcane assassin. And he steps through. A portal opens up right behind one maybe unlucky werewolf as he leaps from the newly formed portal to slash the darkstalker in the back with an athame formed from his energy. The knife doesn't draw blood but slashes out at the werewolf's aura causing pain.
There's a glance towards Velvet before his attention falls back upon the creatures he is now surrounded by.
COMBATSYS: Gregory successfully hits Werewolf Carpool with Planar Leap - Advance.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|-------\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////////////////////// ]
|===----\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|-------
[BULLETA]
"You can save it for someone else," is Bulleta's initial response to the feline Darkstalker's charms, measured and playful in spite of her full-tilt sprint towards the truck, ending in an acrobatic leap to its tilted roof. After skidding to a stop, she drops to one knee while shoving her hand into the basket.
"Four!" she then shouts over the roaring din of a traffic accident gone feral. The handful of motorists Velvet's managed to force to safety run - or, in one case, stagger - towards whatever looks the most like safety. Unfortunately, with smoke and flaring lights and fire erupting throughout the expressway, it's difficult to trust panicked senses-- /especially/ when one of the dangers at play happens to possess predator instincts and hyperacute perception. But: if Velvet were to happen to look behind and to their right - approximately four o'clock relative to their position - they'd be able to make out both the fleeing civilians and the hulking shadow stalking through acrid smoke to corner them.
Perhaps their fortunes will hold, such as they have thus far.
And perhaps the predator's attention won't be diverted towards heartier prey.
Bulleta would do something about it /herself/, but she's busy pulling segments of gunmetal from the basket and screwing them together in a practiced hurry. Maybe twenty seconds later, she's crouched behind a tripod-mounted sniper rifle, panning-- panning--
"Nine!" she calls towards Gregory as the sorcerous killer steps out of a portal and sends a fierce, silver spray of enflamed lunar chi into the air.
-- cracking the air with a shell racing towards a shaggy, chestnut-furred werewolf lunging towards the sorcerer's left flank -- 9 o'clock.
As for the other, grey and mottled and charging directly at Gregory? Bulleta trusts an experienced assassin to be able to handle it on his own. At least /one/ of the creatures is already down, body rippling and distending wildly between man and beast for several seconds before settling back into lupine form, barely conscious as his ruptured aura scabs over.
Just as Bulleta's about to call another number, a beast slightly thicker than the rest slams shoulder-first into the truck, shoving already precarious footing into a deadly slope and forcing her to scramble to steadier ground or suffer the consequences.
COMBATSYS: Motorists successfully hits Velvet Blue with Crowd Control.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|----===
[VELVET BLUE]
"Those uh--those aren't good, they tend to go after anything running and screaming, and us--" Velvet was pretty aghast at this situation, since now the two feral ones were right in the middle of a horde of fleeing people--who were running madly now to get away not only from the gunfire, but from the snarling creatures that had been freed from the back of the van. By Bulleta, of all people. And not just to facilitate her own ends, he figured--she was having fun with this.
He could just go after her, technically--though he didn't seem eager to try that again, even if the last time they ran into eachother it was some dumb SNF. Right now it was more important for him to try and make sure the wolves didn't get to their handlers, and yet more important the crowd. It would be like watching a pitbull with a ragdoll, if the werewolves grabbed hold of someone.
Vel runs right for the crowd--only to ironically get bowled over and trampled, having to pull himself up, before approaching the werewolves that approached in their wake. Out of the smoke comes both of Velvet's boots, flying and headed straight for the werewolf headed straight for him, before he can can get the drop on him!
COMBATSYS: Gregory blocks Werewolf Carpool's Fierce Punch.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|=------\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|----===
[GREGORY]
First she sets these things free and then she's calling out directions to help them deal with them? What the hell is up with the Little Red Gun Bunny hood? At least those are the thoughts running through the mostly silent arcane assassin's head. At first, he was intending to take her call outs with a grain of salt but his ears confirm it. The wolf is coming in from 9 o' clock.
Gregory spins around grabbing a fist full of the werewolf's neck fur like it is the lapel of a gi while the other shoots out to the fur of the arm. He yanks down to break the posture before pressing his hip into the darkstalker and taking the creature up and over his shoulder and slam it down to the ground if all things go as planned.
He turns to the huntress in red before returning his attention to the feral creatures near him.
COMBATSYS: Motorists successfully hits Bulleta with Crowd Control.
- Power hit! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////////////////////// ]
|==-----\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|----===
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool endures Velvet Blue's Double Dropkick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////////////////// ]
|=====--\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool blocks Gregory's Medium Throw.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> //////////////////// ]
|======-\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool blocks Bulleta's Crushing Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////////////// ]
|=======\-------\1 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|--=====
[BULLETA]
The rifle shell draws a long, thin crimson fountain from a werewolf's neck just as Bulleta crashes to the asphalt, her split-second decision to prioritize not letting the rifle be smashed to pieces over a safe landing costing her a bounding trip across glass and debris-strewn gray.
Meanwhile, Velvet and their canine opposite trade lunging assaults, with Velvet coming out firmly on top when their boots crash against the creature's ribcage with a series of horrible - or satisfying, depending on one's tastes - cracks. The motorists manage to make it beyond the worst of the chaos while the two Darkstalkers fight, and while the werewolf doesn't seem particularly keen on getting back up... whatever savage bond formed between imprisoned Darkstalkers means that he isn't alone.
He has a /pack/, and that pack senses the brutal incapacitation of half its numbers at the hands of the hunters and the entertainer.
While there's something like loss in the chorus of howls that suddenly rip through the air, there's no sense of /mourning/-- just raw, unbridled fury for everything that is not them.
One of the remnants scrabbles around the truck, sliding along asphalt on wicked claws for a beat before hurling the entirety of its weight towards the diminutive Huntress picking herself up from the ground, forcing Bulleta to not just hustle, but throw herself headlong to meet it with a clubbing blow from her basket.
A second opens its jaws wide as it leaps from the top of a downed trailer, reddened fangs poised to sink into Velvet Blue's neck-- provided that the entertainer can't find his way clear of the predicament, of course.
As for the third: he's already entangled with Gregory, the magician adroitly driving him to the ground with a shoulder throw. Supernatural agility means that while the landing's a rough one, it's also relatively safe, with the beast twisting to take it on his back instead of his neck, then rolling through-- only to throw himself right back /at/ Gregory, intent on opening his belly with its claws.
COMBATSYS: Bulleta successfully hits Werewolf Carpool with Shyness & Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> //////////// ]
|=======\===----\1 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 0|-------|--=====
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool successfully hits Velvet Blue with Gravestone of Final Acts.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ |||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|--=====|=======
[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet's main goal is to keep the werewolves away from the people--the guards, are kinda secondary, but still important. It's not with any lack of distaste that he does this--he still has dreams about when Kira's werewolf packs invaded Southtown, a moment in time he did not cherish. He didn't enjoy, nor want to enjoy doing this--but the problem with these sorts of werebeasts is they were really easy to spawn more of, if you wanted. And so they tended to be used like this.
"Ahhh!" Velvet screams as the werewolf grabs hold of one bicep--his hand winding up clasping against the other's clawed hand, in a sort of parody of a dancer's embrace before it darts it's head forward with adder-like speed, sinking the teeth right into his shoulder area. It's not as bad as it could have been--even with the obvious squirting of blood--he had to try and tear himself away, headbutting viciously and digging his own claws into the werewolf's furred hand that he was holding to try and get them to let go!
"Aw, hell--" he'd dizzy from the shock of it, likely there's some really horrid things happening in his body, now--but he's still conscious, and he has to act fast.
"Here wolfy--" he flexes his now freed right hand into a fist, charging it up with blue glowing chi as he sends a super fast, super hard right cross to the Wolf's snout--dashing forward in one swift movement!
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool successfully hits Gregory with Gravestone of Final Acts.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ////////// ]
|-------\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 1|-------|=======
[ ||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|-------|=======
[GREGORY]
The arcane assassin attempts to turn aside the claws but the werewolf's savagery manages to overwhelm his defenses. His guard is battered aside as claws dig into his stomach. His blood pours from his stomach freely and a hiss in pain leaves his lips. So much for remaining silent during this encounter.
The one known as the Phantom was enraged. In spite of not shred of skin not being visible, his emotional state was clear. The main indicator was the tightly balled up fists which would probably be white knuckled if not for the gloves he was wearing.
Gregory's body glows with that hazy purple energy. Suddenly, several portals appear around him and the ALL of the werewolves. A purple ball of energy forms in the one hand he lifts up and opens a moment before it's sent through the portal.
The ball of energy rips through the werewolf nearest to him before going through a portal to exit near the portal near Velvet to go through his werewolf only to enter another portal and exit to go through the werewolf near Bulleta. This continues over and over again from a variety of angles until the ball of energy returns to Gregory where he attempts to absorb the energy back into himself. Hopefully with the energy ripped from the bodies of the werewolves included.
COMBATSYS: Velvet Blue successfully hits Werewolf Carpool with Star Struck.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> /// ]
|====---\-------\0 Werewolf Carpool
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-------
[ ||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|-------|=======
COMBATSYS: Gregory successfully hits Werewolf Carpool with Thinking With Portals.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 0/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ]
|=======\==-----\1 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-------
[ ||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|-------|=======
COMBATSYS: Bulleta blocks Werewolf Carpool's Gravestone of Final Acts.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ]
|=======\==-----\1 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-------
[ ||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|-------|=======
[BULLETA]
One werewolf's jaw is torn clean off the rest of its skull in a single blow from a very, /very/ well-packed picnic basket. Another collapses to the ground, twitching while brilliant blue chi seethes around his body.
And then /all/ of them erupt with deep purple energy jutting from the entry and exit points Gregory's ball sears through each feral body, leaving none of them standing.
After hopping to her feet, Bulleta walks - rather less lackadaisically, now that she's suffered falling from the top of a truck - towards those ripped open doors. Blonde hair's been pulled out from under the hood in wild tangles; the hood itself managed to get away with little more than grime and blood. Inside - as promised - there's a man in what looks like the sleekest bulletproof vest to ever hit the market, breathing erratically due in all likelihood to the myriad of bloody wounds marking his limbs, among other things.
"We're gonna need a big fuckin' portal," she muses with a passing glance towards Gregory, "'cause I don't think /any/ of us are gonna wanna be here whenever the cops manage to make it... and /this/ guy's gotta tell us what he knows about this cure bullshit." There's a slight pause as diverts towards the one she tagged with her sniper round, bleeding out and gripping his throat. She glances between the assassin and the Darkstalker before squatting beside the 'wolf, careful to keep her eyes pointed towards Velvet and Gregory.
"Which," she then allows with a taut, rueful smile, "is probably not /much/. /But/:"
Armed with a knife from -- /some/where -- the Huntress in red drags her index and middle fingers along the creature's flank, prompting snarling and thrashing, but little else.
"I bet between the three of us, we can figure out a way to take advantage of how grateful he oughtta be-- we saved his /life/, after all."
Pausing at a point a few inches south of the wolf's ribs, Bulleta prods once, twice-- and then the knife /tears/ through lupine fur and flesh, opening a long, slender incision for the blonde to shove her free hand into, just as casually as she might her own basket.
"You both remember the absolute fuckin' nightmares Volkov and Jedah've dumped in people's laps, don't you? And now, someone's supposedly got a cure...?" Her eyes flick towards Velvet while she leans a little further forward, tongue slipping out of the corner of her mouth as she roots through the werewolf's innards amidst a chorus of agonized whines. "How much longer do you think /you're/ gonna get to dance around out in the open without some mob coming for you with torches and needles, all hot to make the world nice and safe and boring?"
Bulleta bites her lip, plants her free hand against the wolf's body for leverage--
"Not to /mention/-- what happens to the job market-- once the supply of furred and feathered assholes gets jabbed outta existence. Hope you're ready for a fuckin'-- /horde/ of displaced monster hunters-- comin' for your contracts, Phan--!"
/Finally/, the whining stops.
She punctuates this point with a mighty jerk, falling back to the ground with gore dripping down her hand and forearm. Hopping back to her feet, she holds her prize up proudly for inspection, pinched between thumb and forefinger:
"They buried the tag in /deep/, but why let /that/ get in the way of doing the needful~?"
COMBATSYS: Bulleta takes no action.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
> ]
|=======\==-----\1 Werewolf Carpool
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-------
[ ||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|-------|=======
COMBATSYS: Werewolf Carpool can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Bulleta 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Motorists
[ |||||||||||||||||| ]
Gregory 0|-------|-------
[ ||||||||||| ]
Velvet Blue 1|-------|=======
[VELVET BLUE]
Velvet is too busy choking and retching from his wounds to be able to yell out in protest as Bulleta and Gregory take out the werewolves, he sets his jaw and clenches eyes shut in a wince, knees hitting the ground as a light-headedness nearly pulls his feet out from under him. He has to take a moment to deal with the wound to stop it from bleeding, applying chi energy from his hand to the coursing shoulder and neckwound.
His first still hurt from where he'd delivered the knockout punch to that wolfman and was all abraided, shaking he pushed himself up, chest rising and falling.
"There IS no cure, not for that, or what I am," eyes wide, cast on Bulleta, feeling sick at the open air slaughter house she'd turned the place into with that knife of hers--only frowning and narrowing his eyes when the DEVICE is yanked out of the werewolf carcass.
"Was only a matter of time before someone got ahold of enough test subjects to start experimenting on dark ones, are you surprised?" He leaned up against a car, taking what looked like a scarf out of his jacket and proceeding to tie it around the still grisly-looking wound, looking over at Gregory.
"Looks like they want to put /you/ guys out of business, meanwhile," he warily eyed the other man, and then eyes shot back to Bulleta.
"The man in the vest--how can you just kill people like that?" his voice was almost hollow, sounding about as weak as he felt at the moment.
[GREGORY]
The arcane assassin is quiet as he considers the hooded girl's words. After a few moments of what looks to be contemplation, he turns towards Bulleta.
"God damn, do I hate messy jobs."
This was a rarity. It wasn't often that /anyone/ has heard the man speak when he was actually on a job. It wasn't something he'd like to make a habit of either. One gloved hand moves to his hooded and masked forehead with what one could assume was a facepalm.
"Thankfully my contract doesn't have a deadline."
Gregory turns towards Velvet for an instant before returning his attention towards Bulleta.
"Well, put her out of business and oversaturate my particular job market though I could always fall back on my other business venture."
Even if the assassination job market gets rough for him, his portal magic still allows him perform his courier duties in a way that not many others could. But there was still something nagging at him.
"I wouldn't be too sure no cure part though. I heard rumors that Ultratech was working on something to that effect. Even if they can't find something transform them to human, who's to say that the 'cure' isn't just making darkstalkers dead. I mean that type of 'cure' has been attempted before in Europe. Either way..."
He first creates a small portal that he can see through. This is his portal that he utilizes to scout out a potential landing location for the travel portal. Once he has his target location he opens a large travel portal and dismisses the scouting portal. With that, the arcane assassin tilts his head indicating the others should follow and walks through.
[BULLETA]
"What-- /them/?"
A bemused Bulleta glances between Velvet and the truck, then leans slightly so she can gesture towards the cab turned killing floor with her gore-slicked hand.
"Br--" she starts, shifting her attention back to Velvet.
A beat while blue eyes squint curiously and Bulleta's head cants slightly. She starts to open her mouth, but--
"-- ah, god, pronouns later," she mutters with a brisk, dismissive wave, "getting the fuck out now-- anyway, THOSE guys? Were getting paid a shitload of money to drive /these/ guys,"
A bloody thumb jerks towards the werewolf at Bulleta's feet.
"to a lab, to be experimented on. Save your tears, sweetie; they're not worth 'em. Focus on figuring out how bad you /really/ wanna gamble that Ultratech's pumping money into-- /this/--" comes with a broad, circular gesture towards the truck and the savaged bodies, "because it /doesn't/ have something fucked up to trial on people like you?"
Her bloodied hand disappears beneath the cloak for a few moments as she starts towards the truck. Despite a limp and intermittent moments of favoring her left shoulder, she's smiling like the three of them just passed a particularly pretty patch of flowers on their Sunday stroll. Passing Velvet, the Huntress slows long enough to flash him a look at her phone screen, where the entertainer can see a high-def picture of himself accompanied by an enormous dollar amount and a bold, red
'WANTED: ALIVE'
"Lucky for /you/, I'm good at prioritizing~," she lowly remarks before getting too far away. "You /probably/ don't wanna find out first hand how real it is or isn't!" follows, louder now that she's close enough for a long leap that leaves her briefly wobbling, but ultimately perched at the edge of the truck's cargo area. "Like the man said:" she adds with a glance towards the Darkstalker, "there's a real good chance you woulda just ended up dead~. Anyway!" Blue eyes shift forward; her smile widens.
"Business first. Let's go, asshole--"
A minute later, Bulleta's got the remaining guard draped over her good shoulder. Most of him's dangling loose, dragging on the ground; he'll live, she reasons.
"Maybe after this," she asides to Gregory in passing, "we talk about expanding your portfolio a little~," a nigh-predatory gleam in her eye before she turns away to hurl the guard through the portal, then step through herself.
[VELVET BLUE]
"Doesn't answer my question, does it," Velvet gives a bit of a tired stare to Bulleta, now having caught more of his breath, he begins to slowly walk over to where the still alive guard was, and begins to try and pick up the man and haul him towards the portal Gregory is creating.
"I know how much I'm worth," he gives Bulleta a side-ways glance, before continuing on. "These things aren't that hard to control, if Volkov could do it, than so can these Ultratech people--" casting a glance towards the wolves, grabbing the man's ankles to assist with carrying him--which is not a small feat, even for a supernatural person. The guy is dead weight, and he's carrying a load of gear. Vel waits at the entrance to whatever portal Gregory conjures, still breathing a little hard. Looks like the adrenaline is starting to crash out of him, with how trembling he is.
"We should go--especially before Red gets ideas," he doesn't look at anyone in particular after saying that. Yikes~
Log created on 16:26:32 01/18/2022 by Bulleta, and last modified on 21:55:28 03/09/2022.