Who said anything about being missing in action?

[secondcity_npc]

Characters: NPCs and you!
Time: Wednesday, after sunset
Location: Oriental Theatre (Ford Center for the Performing Arts), ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WANT Jump into one of the later threads if you want a vamp attack!
Content: Remember those missing people? Maybe you can find them!
Format: Whichever you prefer
Warnings: Vampires.

Comments

[godofcologne]

"We are the ones standing with the pantsless wonder," Thomas muttered at the more reasonably sized man. He realized belatedly he didn't know either of their names and mentally dubbed them Hat and Pants. And then the cop got out of his car, bringing with him the distinct and unforgettable scent of grave dirt and rotten meat.

"Empty night," he breathed, stiffening. He'd never forgotten that smell. Not when the Black Court was responsible for the what had happened to his employee Sarah and her friends. Employee? She was a doe. Does are meant to be hunted. And they were responsible for what had happened to Justine. Justine, our doe, our bottle of wine, ours, ours, ours... He shook his head firmly. No, what had happened to Justine wasn't their fault, it had been his. His and his demon.

The weight of the Desert Eagle tucked in the back of his pants was cold comfort against the vampire approaching them, but Thomas didn't reach for it, not yet. Maybe the vampire just wasn't hungry.

He glanced over at Pants. Or maybe the vampire could just eat the big guy.

[supremeweek]

That was the thing about having your nose replaced with metal: smelling got a lot harder. Franky was used to some pretty bizarre-looking people back home, and this didn't really measure up to his idea of being worthy of worry.

The massive cyborg sneered. "You got rules against lookin' weird?" He didn't care that it was night. He tapped down his sunglasses. It was the look that mattered here. "You're gonna have a damn hard time with me, then."

[secondcity_npc]

The cop stopped a little ways from them, staring at Franky with a deepening but oddly rigid frown, as if his lips didn't move quite as well as they should have. "'Fraid we do," he drawled, stepping forward again. "Call 'em indecent exposure laws. Now if you'll excuse me, boys, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave one last time, politely."

The closer he got to them, the more obvious it was that he was most definitely not alive. And the more hungry his grin looked.

[godofcologne]

When Pants opened his mouth, Thomas clenched his teeth. That guy was definitely getting eaten first. He eyed the vampire as it came closer and shifted on his feet. This was not a fight in his favour, but even he wasn't enough of a monster to let two people get chomped to death by one of the Black Court.

"Guys," he muttered as he reached up for the waist of his pants in the most casual way possible. The vampire was going to hear him no matter how low he whispered, and supernatural speed or not it was going to get ugly. "It's a vampire."

Before the first word was out of his mouth, the Desert Eagle was already in Thomas' hand and he squeezed off a shot.

[iamaman_punch]

Linkara opened his mouth to make a comment about how bad an idea it was to make fun of the living dead - and how had Franky not noticed that this guy was dead anyways? - when the new guy's comment hit home, followed by the sound of a gunshot going off near his ear.

Oh. That cleared things up.

"Really?" He'd already pulled the magic gun out of its holster and laid the barrel across one of his arms in a practiced motion, using his arm as a level. "See, I-" He fired a shot at the vampire cop without missing a beat, the circle of energy flying out of the barrel and towards its target at an incredible speed. "-was thinking zombie."

[supremeweek]

Franky was finally starting to get the feeling that there was something vaguely amiss about this jerkwad. Namely, that the guy wasn't going to stop getting on his nerves anytime soon. Indecent exposure laws were possibly the most stupid law he'd ever heard of. He had to hand it to this guy, he didn't see too many official types who didn't keep their uniforms all clean and pressed; irony was a bitch.

Then the skinny dude said something about vampires, and there was a gunshot.

"...Eh?" Franky paused, as Linkara pulled out his own gun. The recovery was quick, vague surprise pulling back to a grin, and he lifted his left arm, his hand suddenly shifting down to reveal four small bullet holes in his wrist. "Sweet, works out for me! BEANS LEFT!"

[secondcity_npc]

It was surprising just how fast a human-shaped thing could travel if it didn't have to worry about the limitations of pulled muscles and the like. The vampire moved as soon as the Desert Eagle made its appearance from behind Thomas' back, a good two feet closer by the time the first shot rang out.

Said first shot took a dessicated chunk out of its gut, which the vampire ignored, as it tried to lunge for the trio. The blast of energy from Linkara's gun did little better, taking a chunk out of the vampire's shoulder. "Little mortals," he growled, dry and rasping, completely ignoring the small bullet holes in Franky's wrist as he dove for the big blue cyborg with supernatural speed and inhuman hunger, "I will drain you dry."

[[ooc: Back to original NPC-Linkara-Thomas-Franky order?]]

[iamaman_punch]

Linkara blinked as the vampire kept moving. Huh. He usually had better aim than that.

No time to think about that, though, as the vampire was still going and spouting threats. "I don't think so," he started, smoothly holstering the magic gun. "Because you're just a vampire-" He lunged towards the vampire, hoping to intercept him. "And I AM A MAN!" With that, he threw a hard right cross that would, with any luck, cause some significant damage to the vampire's head if it connected.

[Hell yeeeeeaaaaaah X3]

[godofcologne]

Thomas had been about to squeeze off a couple more rounds when Hat decided to indulge in some Stupid Heroics, effectively getting in the way of any other shots he could fire. "What the hell are you doing?!" he screamed, pulling the Desert Eagle out of the way. "Get out of the way!" He sincerely hoped Pants wasn't going to shoot the idiot in the head. But on the other hand, that would give them all a nice distraction to run away retreat with.

As Hat threw his punch, shouting for all he was worth, Thomas couldn't help but stop and gape despite knowing the danger of stopping with a Black Court vampire trying to eat them. That was up there with the frozen turkey for weird. And that was a dumb battlecry.

[supremeweek]

Franky didn't blink in the slightest as the man darted straight on in spite of the bullets tearing through him. A couple shots barely ever worked against people, let alone the undead. The guy had just gone from one shade of pompous dick to another, it was nothing bizarre from where he was standing.

Just as he was about to fire off the rapid succession of wristbullets, when Linkara decided to jump in with a slightly awesome battlecry and attack, though Franky had to make a sudden quick effort to keep from catching the little guy in the crossfire.

Irritated by his lost opportunity to shoot the damn thing in the head, the cyborg stomped his foot, apparently forgetting any imminent danger in favor of scolding the kid. "OI, WHAT THE HELL, HAT-BRO! Quit gettin' in my shot, I won't hold back next time!"

[secondcity_npc]

Being light due to the lack of flesh and water in its body and supernaturally fast meant the vampire could duck with an ease that was patently unfair. It turned as the punch connected, deflecting most of the power of the blow into little more than a glancing hit on the cheekbone, and seemed to rethink its action. Instead of going for Franky, it reached for Linkara while stepping to put the man between itself and the cyborg and Thomas. Its lips peeled back from yellowing teeth and it laughed, triumphant as it went for the little man's throat.

[iamaman_punch]

Funny, that usually worked. In fact, this was really only the second or third time it hadn't. Obviously vampires cheated.

But this was probably not the best time to be thinking about that either, as Linkara found himself in a very bad position: grabbed from behind by a vampire who wanted him to stay for dinner (badum-tish). The situation probably would have been even worse if the vampire had thought to grab Linkara's right arm, or if he hadn't had his magic gun.

Working more on reflex than coherent thought, Linkara grabbed the butt of his gun and yanked, pulling the trigger just as soon as the gun was clear of the holster and pointed behind him and slightly up. He may not have been caught up on his horror stories, but he was fairly certain vampires couldn't stand up too well against a point-blank chest shot, especially from a gun that fired pure destructive magic.

[godofcologne]

Well that was just great. Thomas left the rest of the berating to Pants, who was really doing a much better job, and raised the gun again, trying to get a clear shot. With Hat in front of the vampire though, the odds of getting a shot in were slim. He was a good shot, but he wasn't about to take a shot where half an inch was going to be the difference between hitting the vampire in the head and hitting an innocent idiot in the head.

So Thomas fell back on what he did best, shooting off his mouth, and hoping he could distract the vampire enough that Hat could do something productive like running away and not try more punching. "Try again, cousin," he snarled, eyes flashing silver. "The little man's easy pickings because you can't do any better."

[supremeweek]

Oh great. Now the kid was getting himself into more trouble. Franky curled his lip in a snarl as the creature turned his attack onto the smaller guy and angled Linkara between the two of them. "Dammit, gettin' in the way..." He hadn't even gotten to fire off a shot yet, that was the real kicker.

The skinny guy was apparently picking up the banter end of things, while Linkara was attempting a more direct approach. "I dunno, looks like he can't even manage that much. Guess he decided he wasn't up for big game like me." Never mind that drinking blood from someone whose whole front half was reinforced with steel would be pretty damn hard. Franky sneered, cocking his wrist again in hopes Linkara would get out of the way.

[secondcity_npc]

"Cous--" The rest of the word was drowned out by the shot Linkara fired, which managed to fling the vampire backwards a few feet, its fingernails raking against the man as its grip was forceably loosened.

For a long second, the vampire lay twitching on the ground, the smell of burnt clothes and meat rising from the long dead corpse. But the vampire rose again, a quarter sized hole burned clear through its chest, inches right of its sternum. It swayed as it stuck a finger into the hole, wiggling it almost comically, and wheezed at the three of them, "You missed, little man."

But, it didn't seem quite so eager to eat them.

[iamaman_punch]

The second he felt the vampire's grip torn off him, Linkara was gone, getting out of the way and out of reach as fast as he could. One brush with death was enough for today, thanks.

Once he was a safe enough distance away, he turned around and looked at the corpse. The last thing he needed was for it to get up and-

Oh. Great.

How could the thing say he'd missed when he was standing there sticking his finger in the hole? For crying out loud, it was-

Oh, right. The heart. Got it.

"Yeah," Linkara admitted, jerking a thumb at Franky and the other guy, "but I don't think they will."