Showdown at Frost Mountain

[npc_kun]

Characters: NPCs Fugue, Orca, Locke, Nothing, Charger, Steve and OPEN
Date/Time: Monday, September 26, 2011
Location: Frost Mountain (mostly the caves)
Rating: PG, possibly upwards for violence and/or language
Summary: Orca is executing the last steps in his plan to abduct and subdue Fugue. Locke says hell naw. Meanwhile, the rest of the Sphere

Comments

[lockeandshock]

Oddly enough, when Locke discovered Orca's plan, he felt no anger rush through his veins like it once would have, back when his life had purpose and he believed that he was moving for some larger goal instead of simple escape. The goal that he strove towards was still a large one, but it was far less urgent. Should Orca succeed in his plan, he reasoned, he would simply put a bullet through that infuriating man's head. Orca's plan was far from elegant, and he scoffed quietly to himself to know how simple it was to foil.

He had no allies from his speech and Calkins was dead. These were but small obstacles, for he knew that he could only truly rely on himself. He shed the guise of the scholar and donned a bulletproof vest on top of clothing made of stuff far more hardy than he was used to wearing in this place. He did not bother concealing the firearms he carried on his person.

Locke discovered where Orca was hiding out of sheer logic. Frost Mountain simply made the most sense, and that was where he went. He stood outside the caves, bright blue eyes snapping with ill concealed frustration at how infuriatingly simple this entire thing was. Did Orca think him a fool? His scarred face twisted for but a moment before smoothing back into indifference.

"Is this really your master plan, Orca?" He called out, unafraid of what he may face. "It appears that you are in need of my assistance. This plan of yours is little more than an interlude in the grand scheme of things, my old ally."

[hooksandlines]

Well now, wasn't that voice a blast from the past. Orca pulled back on the reins of the griffon, causing it to curb the flapping of it's wings so as to tread the air about two hundred feet from the mouth of the cave where Locke stood. He had expected interference, of course, but it was a thorn in his side that it had happened now of all times. Everything was so close to coming to completion--he couldn't let anything or anyone get in the way.

"'My old ally'?" It was too far for Locke to be able to tell Orca's facial expression but the derisive, almost amused sneer in his voice would be able to help the other man fill in the blanks. "So how is it you're expecting this to go, Sarge? I come to you for your 'assistance' and you shoot me and the Old Man down? Put us back where we started, undo all the work and planning I've done? Because you want go up in a puff of the metaphysic? No, I don't think that'll be happening."

He had lashed his rifle to the griffon's saddle because trouble was bound to raise its head sooner or later and a man needed to be prepared. Now Orca released it from its confines and aimed it at Locke. "Instead, I think I'll 'assist' you. Give you that freedom you've been wantin' so dearly." Orca fired a shot in Locke's direction, crowing:
"Here lies the body of Sergeant Locke!
Came to the party to offer a shock.
But to his surprise
He met his demise
At the end of a shotgun stock!"

[lockeandshock]

"Don't be ridiculous," Locke scoffed, raising his own shotgun (an Ithaca 37, and if he was one to still feel happiness, he felt happy to have found it). When Orca shot at him, he scarcely flinched at the sound and only took a step back once it embedded itself in his bulletproof vest. "I wish to shoot you down without any farce preceding this game, though it seems to me that you are one step ahead of me."

When he squeezed the trigger, he aimed for the head.

[hooksandlines]

Damn it, Locke had broken out the kevlar. Orca tried pulling back on the reigns of the griffin so that it would flap out of the way. It saved him from having his brains blown out, but it punched a hole in the creature's wing. Struggling through a flurry of fur, feathers, and blood the beast barely managed to land in one of the caves not far from Locke. Orca grabbed hold of Fugue and jumped towards the cave floor before the griffin could hit to avoid being rolled on. It wasn't a pretty or a graceful landing, full of scrapes and bumps. Still, it was better than being crushed under the heap of ailing animal that had just hit the wall.

"Hnnrgh. Gettin'... too old fer this."

With some effort, Orca managed to haul himself to his feet. That was a start but he still had to drag Fugue's dead weight down the caves without Locke finding him first. Grumbling, Orca fetched his shotgun from the side of the ailing griffin. The beast was worse for wear, one wing shot through, the other broken, meaning it was wailing something fierce. It wasn't likely to last. No sense in letting it suffer (or, more importantly, call attention to them). Putting the barrel to the creature's head, Orca pulled the trigger and put it out of its misery.

With that done Orca slung his shotgun so that it hung in front of him, looped Fugue's arms around his shoulders, then set off down the cave in a gate that was half-trudging, half-limping.

"Yup, def'nitely gettin' too old."

[lockeandshock]

Bulletproof vests didn't mean that the pressure of the bullet didn't hurt, but Locke had long learned to tune pain out. After all, he knew that the pain he felt was but a fabrication, along with the rest of their petty existence. Orca had turned tail to run, but Locke was in no such hurry. Even if Orca did manage to put Fugue into a coma, it was of little consequence to Locke. After all, putting one out of a coma and into death was as simple as a bullet to the brain.

He walked into the caves, then frowned as he saw the labyrinth that appeared in front of him. A bit of a bother to be sure. He walked slowly, lest his footsteps cover up the sounds of Orca fleeing that he was listening for. He was gratified when he heard a familiar grumble come from the right.

"You are no older than any other in this place!" He said, knowing that if he could hear Orca, Orca could surely hear him. "With two exceptions."