Nightshift 43: Main Hallway, 1-Center

[dahliahasthorns]

[From here]These two were just little Chatty Cathies, weren't they? Whatever. As long as they didn't start talking about how much their love could never be and got to kissing in front of her, they didn't have a problem here. Dahlia followed them as quietly as she could, doing a nice job of attempting to be stealthy and just looking ridiculously

Comments

[poolcuemurder]

Oh, there they were. He would claim they were right on time, but why lie? From the obvious cold shoulder this new-comer was giving him, it was easy to see they were not expected to get along. Fine. So long as they managed to work together despite their differences like actual professionals, there may have been hope for them yet.

...A part of him questioned how blasé they were acting in relation to the intercom, but he said nothing, only watching as both of the individuals took interest in the Sun Room. Were they really suggesting that was where they needed to go through? He didn't trust how well they could devise a plan of action, though now was as good as a time as any to change his mind, he supposed.

The question was not directed at him, but he saw no reason not to answer it. If Arlene considered herself the de facto leader, she'd have more important matters to deal with than that anyhow. "One aggressor hanging from the ceiling. Three civilians serving as distractions." And one demolished bulletin board and love seat. Sad. He had just started to like those, too.

[quickdrawbkiddo]

The Bride took the huge claymore in her hands, looking the weapon over carefully as both assassin's spoke.

"Spiderman, to be exact," she clarified. "Proportional strength and agility of a spider with a sticky distance attack that resembles webbing. Besides the irritating wall climbing ability, he has the capacity to sense incoming attacks."

Turning the blade to look at the other side of the hilt and guard, Beatrix ran her finger over the glyph on it. "SubZero. Venom," she added on as a way of introductions. Now that she'd taken care of that, an eyebrow raising as she noticed something interesting about the butt of the claymore's hilt.

"As HK-47 seems to not be joining us, we will need to be slightly more cautious going through the Sun Room." She reversed the sword so its point rest upon the floor and started unscrewing the piece that adorned the end of the blade's hilt. "We will not engage Spiderman unless he forces it." She didn't need to remind either men to be quick and silent.

Removing the piece on the end of the sword, the Bride fished what appeared to be a rolled up piece of black paper. Unrolled, it appeared to be nothing more than a black card with the same glyph on it as what adorned the sword's cross guard. Now that she thought about it, it was the same symbol on Ophelia's tabbard. Interesting.

"If my recollections of Spiderman is correct, he will protect an innocent over anything else - the self-sacrificing type. He may be under Landel or whoever has hacked the computer system's control, but I don't believe they have the power to manipulate a person's core principles completely. If he focuses on us instead of the others, we will use that knowledge and the presence of the others to get him to change his mind."

Pocketing the black card, she screwed the cap back on the claymore and returned it to SubZero. Her eyes moved to Venom. "Do you possess any other weaponry aside from that bat?"

[icy_demise]

SubZero glanced at Venom as he gave information about what was in the sun room before turning his attention to Arlene. She seemed to have more complete information about their potential opponent. "I've had to deal with opponents with grabbing ranged attacks before. If he does stick someone I should be able to undo it, but I'd rather not waste it," SubZero remarked. It really was too bad there weren't for of them, then they might be able to afford leaving someone behind.

Arlene's removal and pocketing of the black card she'd found in the hilt of the sword was a little irritating, but he had no use for it. If he had to make a guess he suspected Arlene would use it to torment the damn snake girl even more. She did seem like the type. "The enhanced strength shouldn't be a problem, but if he can sense incoming attacks it'll be a pain to deal with," SubZero said, mostly thinking out loud, "I'll go through last." Although if he was in back then Arlene would probably have to go first since Venom didn't know where they were going.

[poolcuemurder]

There was that stubborn act from "SubZero" once again. If he had a sense of humor, he would have laughed at being ignored so plainly. Instead, he just found it childish. Was there a reason for this obvious scorn? He hadn't even done anything yet.

Thankfully, Arlene was kind enough to take his mind off of that. Was that his only weapon? Why, was she offering something? He shook his head, rubbing the pad of his thumb against the damaged wood on the end of the bat as he thought. As an assassin, he had been trained to take lives with almost anything handed to him and was in fact renowned in the Guild for his ability to do so. Unfortunately, the act of assassination and the act of battle were two entirely different things. He may have been able to murder someone with a compact mirror, but he wasn't about to start a fight with one; the same went for a knife. The bat was close enough to his cue and would have to do for now. "I'll be fine. Don't waste your weapons on me."

The information regarding the aggressor was useful enough (how did she know so much about him, though?) and he listened to what the other two said of the situation quietly. Ranged attacked, ability to scale walls, able to sense incoming attacks (a perfect person to ask if they wanted to join the Guild, really), selfless... But from what he had seen, the group in the area had positioned themselves directly in the middle of the room. There wasn't much of a chance they could enter the room without being noticed by someone, meaning they would most likely have to create some sort of hostage situation if it became too much and, if this Spiderman was proving to be an antagonist, would that really work? He had no doubts that these two could indeed handle themselves in a fight, but could they diffuse one without resorting to murdering bystanders? Still, he voiced no objections to their plotting. Right now, he wanted to see what they could do.

It was just too bad he couldn't use his magic. It would have been easier to lock down their opponent in the corner and punish any attempts to get out of it, but he would have to make due. Hmph... To be weakened so badly after all of his hard work was a slap to the face.

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Beatrix gave Venom a nod. Good. Just because she was willing to give up one of her knives did not mean she wanted to. It was also good to know that SubZero could handle the webbing if needed, but she concurred that it was something they should avoid.

"I'll take point," she informed the men. "We'll stick to the side of the room the other group is furthest from and move as quickly as we can." She regarded the newest to the group. "Our destination is the main kitchen once we're through here and the cafeteria. With an aggressor here, there shouldn't be one in the next room, but with the unknown situation and the irritation of the intercom I am unsure."

"Do either of you have anything else before we move?"

[icy_demise]

While it wasn't necessarily helpful to the current situation, SubZero did have something else to add before they moved on, so he unhappily muttered, "I liked this better when there was less talking." Although there was usually some talking outside the sun room. Apparently Arlene hadn't given Venom very many details before he showed up for the night.

That was probably for the best, since there was no way to know how much they could trust him. Hopefully a little more than Ophelia, but SubZero wouldn't have been surprised if they were back to the routine of trying to kill a former team mate in a few nights. "Ladies first," SubZero said, gesturing to the door.

[poolcuemurder]

...That was how the man was going to act? Really?

Venom blinked at that. He turned back to look up at the taller man, eying him carefully before giving him a cold, serious reprimanding, bat gently resting at his side as he did so. No, it didn't matter if the man was bigger than he or if he held a sword, nor did his seniority faze him; the Guild Head was not afraid of someone who just ruined all of their credibility with one sentence. "I'm sorry. If that is a whine I hear coming from you, I will be very disappointed. I suggest you either act as your profession requires you and I will pretend I did not hear that, or you can leave if your idea of effective communication and strategic efforts involve you pouting like a child because you feel the need to be excluded from the basic knowledge of how a proper business works." He picked the bat back up, placing it as he usually did into both of his hands horizontally while he continued his speech. Even the children of the Guild knew not to show the tale-tell signs of their ages, but this man had done nothing but ignore him, cast him blatant glares, and was now complaining on top of it. If he wanted to be treated like a five year old, Venom would oblige him. "I remind you that you are not working alone and as such will be required to speak and listen to your fellow coworkers. I don't ask that you like my presence. I do not even ask that you show me respect, but I expect you to act as an adult. If this is too difficult for you, again, by all means work alone. You will show just how much of a 'professional' you really are."

It was funny. He had thought he stopped working with women after Millia had left. Somehow, he suddenly felt that that wasn't the case anymore.

He turned back to Arlene, the thorns in his voice all but gone as he addressed her with a hint of respect (not because she had obviously let this behavior of the other man's go unattended, that was unfortunate, but because anyone who was not SubZero deserved some at the moment). "No. That should be all."

[quickdrawbkiddo]

Beatrix agreed with SubZero, preferring how little need there was for communication between her, SubZero and HK-47 over having to explain things to Venom. She tempered her thoughts with the knowledge that Venom was new and he probably didn't even know about the basement or many of their prison's hazards. She was far more used to working with a group than SubZero was, but the Deadly Vipers (when they weren't at each others' throats) had a similar ability to not need to talk more than absolutely necessary when working.

The acknowledgment was in her eyes when she looked at SubZero, about to say something, when Venom opened his mouth. She suppressed the urge to break his jaw, instead raising an eyebrow as the man chided SubZero as if the assassin couldn't just turn him into a Popsicle. Granted, Venom wasn't aware that the other man was capable of it and the Bride momentarily entertained thoughts snapping off bits of Venom's frozen hair before he managed to thaw out. Thankfully, she was far too disciplined to let any of this show on her face.

Before SubZero could react, Beatrix stepped between them as that was the shortest route to the Sun Room doors. She did pause and look over at Venom.

"He's not the whining assassin - that's the droid. He bitches, you are patronizing, and I'm a sociopath. Not everyone likes to talk, and this is not your Guild," she stated. Her eyes flickered between the two men and her voice grew as cold as her eyes. "Enough. Hold your tongue, both of you, before I remove it. We have work to do before the night runs out."

Without another word, the Bride left both men behind her and entered the Sun Room, not a single glance behind to see if they were following.

[to here]