[Active/Open]

[optionalwangst]

Characters: Vincent Valentine, Rion Steiner, anybody else joining EPIC CRAB ADVENTURES
Content: After a couple months of being trapped in a musty old basement, Vincent finally re-emerges into the outside world.
Location: The former Meteor Mansion - Spring Street
Time of day: Evening
Warnings: Violence, some blood, and craaaaaaaabs.

Comments

[axinfinity]

With the knowledge of the kind of help that was coming, Rion wasn’t too keen on staying out in the open. He had no reason or sense of duty to the guy that was hurt to stick around him, though. Nonetheless, the boy figured he would stay at least unseen all the while as the injured guy rested. If he died, then it was no fault of his own, since Rion did the only thing he knew.

Should help not have come at all, Rion wouldn’t have been surprised. After some time, however, he began to notice the sounds of someone lumbering down the street. He crouched behind a dumpster in the nearest alleyway, a few yards from where the near-dead man lay and where his would-be “doctor” would come by and aid him.

Then, Rion glowered a little.

Parano. That stupid fuck. What the hell was he even doing here?

Surprisingly, the freak didn’t even make any efforts to kill the already dying man (although it might have been considered an act of mercy at this point). Rather, from what Rion gathered just by hearing, he actually wound up tripping on the lying man and subsequently prodding him...

Preoccupied with the guy, Rion decided to take initiative and sneak around the dumpster, grabbing the nailed plank he’d carried with him. His fingers twisted around the handle as he slowly rose to his feet, moving around the alleyway corner to where Parano was.

Instinct told him that Parano’s back was turned to Rion right now. The same instinct that told him that this was no doctor to begin with over the network. Lying was a little difficult when you were dealing with pseudo-precogs.

Gripping the plank, Rion raised it over his head and swung, ready to catch the unwary moron from behind while he was least expecting it. Just as he had on their first meeting. An eye for an eye, after all.

[benbernanke]

So he was alive. The man didn’t look all too pleased about it though. He looked more pissed off than anything.

What a grumpy asshole.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked, taking his foot away from the other’s side. “Crabs? Lynch mob? Birdm-“

A sudden rushing of footsteps from behind caught his attention. Whipping around, he saw a familiar, eyeless face approaching with a wooden plank raised and ready to bash his skull in. Oh, cute. Fucking shitbag couldn’t wait two God damn minutes before breaking into this old song and dance. Parano ducked immediately as the angry, wooden plank-wielding boy swung.

Swing and a miss!

Before he could give it another go, Parano’s hand shot upward to grab onto the end of the plank. He yanked down, pulling it and Rion down to his level. His other hand curled around the boy’s wrist, much too tightly for comfort. He leaned in close so his face was only inches from the other’s. His lips curled back and a low growl rumbled its way up.

“That’s not any way to treat people you asked to come all this way to help, Rion.”

With that, he let go of Rion’s wrist, put both hands on the plank and pulled back as hard as he could, freeing it from the younger boy’s sweaty grasp. His feet then both came up and kicked at Rion’s stomach, sending him stumbling back a few feet and out of strangling range.

[talebeyonddeath]

It was difficult for Auron to stay in one room for too long, even with the increased danger the crabs now presented. They were harder to kill now, though how this had happened and where these crabs had come from was a mystery. They hadn't been seen until now, so it was safe to say they were hidden (or even unleashed on them) before then. That, though, was a question that would likely answer itself in time. For now, what mattered was getting rid of as much of the creatures as possible. They were more aggressive--more of a threat--and less likely to allow a closed door or window to stop them from attacking. All the time he spent killing these creatures made the time spent resting all the more valuable. A sign of changing times.

He had been out for a couple of hours now. He'd encountered and dispatched a few crabs, so far--enough for today. There was no use in getting himself bitten now because of a foolish mistake.

Auron stopped, hearing the sounds of a struggle close by, and turned down one of the streets, eventually finding the two young men fighting one another. The corner of his mouth twitching downward into a scowl, Auron slowly approached the two, soon catching a glimpse of red on the ground. A second glance revealed it to be a cloak--a familiar one. Vincent. Injured, it seemed.

He affixed the duo with a glare, walking closer. "What are you doing?"

[optionalwangst]

Didn't seem like the other kid was too fond of sticking around at first, which led him to first suspect this was some kind of trap laid out for him. But as the second kid stopped prodding him - and thankfully for his own welfare. One more poke and he would have wrung his neck. - and started asking him questions, he opened his mouth to answer before the boy was knocked back by a sudden force. The first kid was out of hiding, looking furious and holding a wooden plank out in an attack position. Whatever was going on here, he didn't want to be a part of it. But still, he couldn't seem to force himself to get up and move out of their way.

Rolling over onto his side, the ex-Turk choked and spat out a rather large wad of blood and spit, feeling sharp pricks of pain stabbing through his head and a dumbing dizziness which ensured him that any further movement woulod most definately cause him to black out. Not good, if he wanted to at least get out of the street and out of the way of the two fighting boys.

So focused on the sounds of battle, he laid his bleeding head back down onto the concrete and noticed a swish of red not too far off from where he was laying, along with the heavy sound of footsteps. While he couldn't find the strength to look up, and even after months of being gone and trapped down there, the voice still registered in his half-conscious mind.

"...Auron." He breathed out weakly, coughing at the pain the effort brought.

[axinfinity]

Anyone could just blame Rion’s inaccuracy for his state of blindness, yet even then the boy had generally made do just fine without his vision. He hadn’t had too many run-ins with Parano in person and, frankly, he didn’t care so much to have any meetings with him anytime soon. If ever.

Here he was, though, trying to play doctor or the helper or whatever. A guise that Rion wasn’t so willing to easily acknowledge. This guy was way too batshit to be taken seriously, just like the rest of his kind that Rion had fought (and killed).

The blood-soaked boy did not expect Parano to be so quick to retaliate, grabbing the plank and throwing him off balance. His feet lost all equilibrium, the plank slipping from his grasp while the rest of him hurled onto the pavement with the switch kick.

Winded, Rion grasped his stomach and did not sit up right away. Rather, he struggled for the very air to breathe and turned his eyeless face up to Parano’s general direction, though heard his voice coming from a little farther to his right from where he had landed.

Help? He couldn’t believe this. Parano coming all this way to help?

“That’s bullshit.” Rion snapped, but the words drowned in the sharp sting in his gut as he clutched it tighter.

Then there were more footsteps. Someone else was approaching. The strides were also different; someone Rion didn’t know. He still wouldn’t put it past anyone to try anything, however, especially with Rion currently down and vulnerable.

Which was why, slowly, he reached for the hair spray with one hand; tucked away in the pouch at his belt. He couldn’t give two shits about what happened to the injured guy. They could deal with him. But if any of them came close to Rion...

The new guy asked what was going on; Rion did not respond. He was so sick of dealing with people anymore. He’d rather have a run-in with a dozen of those super mutated freaks hopping off walls, than to deal with trying to engage in conversation with some of the people in this fucking city.

[benbernanke]

Parano got to his feet after delivering the sharp kick to Rion’s stomach. He smirked to himself, pleased to finally not be on the receiving end of an attack. For the moment, he’d forgotten about the injured man behind them. His attention was all on Rion now. What a little shit. The nerve of him, coming up behind him like that, ready to bash his head in without so much as a second thought. Someone needed to be taught a lesson in proper etiquette. Tightening his grip on the wooden plank, Parano made his way over to the fallen boy. Killing Rion hadn’t been his intent. He still didn’t plan on ending it here and now. But the desire to beat and rip and tear into him was so strong now. Intoxicating almost, now that he’d made an opening. If he got carried away, no one would be there to stop it. And he certainly couldn’t control himself once he got started.

Oh well.

But the sound of footsteps a short distance away caused him to halt. He stood perfectly still, listening closely as the sound got closer and closer. He looked over his shoulder to see if he could catch a glimpse of the newcomer, not too terribly concerned with who it may be. It sounded human, so why dignify it was a full turn-around? A very strangely dressed man approached, looked to be older. Definitely human.

“What are you doing?” it asked him.

Parano raised an eyebrow. The dying man choked out something in response, but he couldn’t understand it.
Who did this guy think he was? Strolling on in on his business and demanding him to give an answer.

“And what business is that of yours, friend?” he asked, now turning around to face the other. “I’m only here to help.”

He wandered away from Rion to retrieve the bag he’d dropped earlier, raising it up and shaking it slightly in the air as if it all should have become so obvious right then and there.

“I got a call, you see. They called for me specifically to come help this poor man.”

He stepped a little closer to the fallen man.

“Came here as fast as I could. But then that little guy over there decided to start swinging. Had to sort of… put him in his place before I could get to work. But, now that that’s under control…”

He dove a hand into the bag and retrieved a small tin container of some sort.

“I’m ready to start what I came here for.”

Some attempt at an honest smile.

[talebeyonddeath]

Auron looked between the two. One of them was particularly on edge. He was going for something, though what kind of weapon the boy was wielding Auron couldn't see from here. He could, however, see the dark shadows where eyes were supposed to be on the boy's face. So he was blind. Wonderful. There was something about the other, more vocal of the two that was suspicious. Maybe it was the fact that it looked like he had been going in for the kill instead of getting him away.

Whatever their reasons, Auron wasn't impressed. There was an injured man laying there, someone who could easily get caught up in the violence without intending to. If they wanted to fight one another, it was none of his concern. If they had a grudge against one another, it was none of his concern. They could fight all they like without hurting someone who was defenseless, and if they continued as they were, he had a feeling that that was what would happen. The blind boy already looked ready to continue.

"Then do it. And find somewhere else to fight," he ordered calmly, though there was an edge to his voice, an unsaid warning. "There are better places to go to kill one another."

/feel free to godmod next round

[optionalwangst]

Blood dripped and splattered onto the concrete, his clothes, his battered and broken arm. Remaining awake, aware, and alert was becoming far too difficult a task for the injured ex-Turk. So he slowly lowered himself onto the ground, allowing the voices, the sights, and the bickering to fade from his hazy, blood-deprived mind.

Sleep... he needed sleep. It was too much, just too much effort to focus.

A dark haze fell over his vision, and he calmly blacked out right then and there.

[axinfinity]

Whatever. None of this had anything to do with him. And as Rion heard the bleeding guy make some noise, and knowing that there was at least someone else here to regard his injuries, then this made it no more Rion’s concern. Not his problem whether someone lives or dies, or if Parano killed anyone. On the other hand, it seemed that, for whatever reason, the idiot wasn’t in a punching and stabbing temper today.

Never mind. The boy got up onto his feet and brushed off his jeans, then casted a turned head to the man who just arrived, and then to Parano. His brows furrowed; Rion was not in the mood for this.

Better to leave now before it became any more his problem, and Rion wasn’t eager to get himself wrapped up into the affairs of others anytime soon. He’d had enough on his hands to deal with.

Before deciding to be on his way, Rion held out his hand at Parano’s direction. The wood plank. He needed it. “Give it back.” He wouldn’t strike out this time once he had it. In fact, the boy was more intent on getting out of there than anything else, as he was sick and tired of fighting for the day. Already he was covered in the gore from all the things he’d killed, including the twitching monster corpse next to the bleeding guy.

Never mind the fact that Rion was the one who made the call in the first place. He wasn’t going to start taking credit and be some kind of Good Samaritan about it, since he couldn’t care less what happened. Everyone in this city were all as good as dead anyway.

Still, he was puzzled by Parano’s sudden shift of character in offering his assistance. What was he up to?

The answerer to the radio call lied to him-said he was a doctor.

Doctor. Para... medic.

Para-Medic.

Oh good god.