Beware the beast in black

[iron_traitor]

Characters: Judas Liz, Terra, Linkara, stealth Mechakara
Time: Evening
Location: Between the Blackstone and the Bean
Content: Linkara comes running to pick Liz up, but it's not the Liz he knows and loves. PLUS aftermath with Mechakara.
Format: Prose
Warnings: Probably gonna get a bit violent, or at least very creepy.

Comments

[iamaman_punch]

Linkara hadn't moved this fast in quite a while. It was one thing to have random people show up at the Bean and ask for help; it was something else entirely to have his girlfriend, one of the people he'd been missing most, arrive in the city. He'd grabbed his gun and gone, stopping only once on the way - to knock on Terra's door, explain the situation in twenty words or less, and ask for backup. Much as he was eager to meet Liz, he didn't want to run into a group of blampires or Mechakara, wherever the bucket of bolts had gotten off to, without backup.

"I told her we'd meet her on the way," he explained, mid-stride in the very fast walk he'd been using. "I just hope we don't pass each other by completely."

[eroded_earth]

Terra wouldn't have needed a long explanation anyway. Linkara had quickly become a best friend to him and that meant all Linkara really had to do was just say the word and Terra would be by his side.

Which he was, literally right now since they were running together. Well, not so much running and moving quickly. Terra could tell Linkara was excited and he couldn't blame him, he would be too if the tides were reversed. Besides, Terra was curious to meet friends of Linkara's, so far he'd only met Mechakara and that was no friend.

"Don't worry. We'll meet her I'm sure." Linkara had a bond with this Iron Liz and Terra had no doubts that the bonds of the heart would bring them together. If only he knew how wrong he was.

[iron_traitor]

Judas heard two pairs of footsteps running toward her. She was right, he was bringing backup. At least it only sounded like one other person. She waited a moment for them to pass as she hid in the alley. He looked a lot tougher than herself, but knowing she was going to have to strike now if she was ever going to get a chance at the Champion, she was going to have to take the risk, relying on the element of surprise. At least he didn't appear to be armed.

In a swift, silent motion, she darted out of the alley, behind the two of them, and grabbed Linkara's friend by the wrist, twisting his arm sharply behind his back as she touched Frostmourne's blade to his neck. A wicked smile crossed her face as she made eye contact with Linkara.

"Hello, lover."

[iamaman_punch]

He heard the extra set of footsteps, heard the sudden and complete stop, and started turning around, but it didn't really click until he heard the voice. It was that same voice that had brought him out here - it belonged to his girlfriend, but at the same time the words were just wrong. "Liz?" He couldn't help but gape a bit.

Never mind just the words - all of this was wrong. Liz would never use those words, especially not in that tone; she'd never wait in the shadows; she wouldn't attack Terra, not if it was obvious he was with Linkara, which it was; and-

-And that was the wrong sword.

He wasn't gaping for long. A split second later, everything clicked, and his face twisted into a snarl, the magic gun out of his holster and pointed at her - as much of her as he could see behind Terra, at least - in the blink of an eye. "Who are you? And what did you do to Iron Liz?"

[seesonlyred]

Judas had insisted upon facing the Champion alone. Ordinarily, Mechakara would not have accepted such a slight, but the idea of Linkara rushing to meet his girlfriend only to fall to her duplicate's blade was simply too wonderful to pass up. Of course, the robot had no intention of staying away from the fight; he would witness the whole thing.

He'd chosen a nice nearby rooftop as a vantage point. His senses were far superior to a human's, so distance wasn't an issue for him. He watched as Liz chose her hiding place and waited. He watched as Linkara came running, dragging along one of his little friends. Mecha recognized the man from his research: Terra, a Keyblade wielder, like the woman he had fought previously.

It was clear at that point that this fight would not go as Judas had planned. Still, Mecha stayed where he was, watching. If the woman fell, then she wasn't worth working with.

[iron_traitor]

Judas scrambled unsteadily up the stairs of the fire escape where she'd finally gotten away from Linkara and Terra, cursing to herself half the way. Clearly it had been too long since she fought multiple targets, let alone anyone who fought back. Normally that wouldn't be a problem but she couldn't help being angry at herself for underestimating both him and the brunet nuisance with the key...honestly how is that even a good weapon?! And on top of that her pants got scuffed up when she fell.

She considered herself someone with a high tolerance for pain, but she had been lucky enough to not have to include gunshot wounds to the pain list until now, and as the adrenaline started to wear off everything started to really hurt, and this building was entirely way too many stories to climb all the way to the roof, which gradually made her hobbling run become a painful crawl, dragging herself up the stairs with her hands.

[seesonlyred]

As Judas dragged herself up the fire escape, red eyes were tracking her progress from the roof. As Mecha had predicted, the woman had failed in her mission. Had Terra not been there, she likely would have succeeded, but Judas was an assassin. She ought to have been better prepared.

At least she'd managed to get away properly. The robot watched her slow progress up to the roof, tapping his robotic fingers against the edge of the roof thoughtfully. She'd failed, yes. But he knew she was capable; he'd seen what she could do. Mecha didn't like to consider himself forgiving of the faults of humans, but surely any ally was better than none?

Finally, the robot rolled his eyes and started down the fire escape towards Judas. Upon reaching the fallen woman, he looked her over coolly. "Can you stand?"

[iron_traitor]

She didn't look up at the sound of the voice in front of her, but it was obvious enough who it was. Judas didn't say anything in response, out of breath, and instead got a shaky grip on the railing of the stairs, pulling herself back to her feet, pain shooting through her wounded shoulder in protest as she steadied herself against the wall of the building. The bump on the back of her head still throbbed with the memory of Terra's strike, and she felt a sense of vertigo as she lifted her head to finally make eye contact with Mechakara.

Then as she took one last step to meet with him, her body apparently decided at last that it couldn't take it anymore, and she keeled unceremoniously onto him, not even able to catch herself on his shoulders before she blacked out.