MURDERAN: THE STORY OF A ONE-ARMED MAN AND HOW HE TOUCHED PEOPLES' LIVES

[loving_killing]

Who: Ladd Russo, J.J, Moses, Alexander Wolfgang, Firo Prochainezo, Zack Fair, Allen Walker, Miles Edgeworth, Jonathan Teatime
What: Ladd's Fun Murder Spree Adventure!
Where: All around Nautilus!
When: Late Saturday afternoon into the night.
Warnings: Character death. Copious violence. Probably language especially considering we have an Alex.
Notes

Comments

ooc: handwaved deaths

[loving_killing]

J.J. and Moses are already on this list.

Reply to this comment if you want to handwave Ladd killing your character! I won't be offended, promise.

[citygrit]

Alexander was already dead. And by dead, that didn’t mean he was inanimate. His body stopped functioning, he was aware of that. He was also aware of the fact that he shouldn’t be alive at all, not like this. Not at all. But here he was, alive in spite of his decay, his disease. A living corpse in Nautilus

[loving_killing]

Lucky would really depend on your point of view.

Here was a nice contrast; for all that Alex was a dead man clinging to life, Ladd was a vivacious and healthy guy clinging to death. It was beyond obsession or a 'problem' at this point; it was just part of his character. At one time, there might have been a Ladd who wasn't a vulture, feeding on others losing their lives. But that person was long gone. Even when flashes of him were visible, it was brief and twisted.

Now he saw his first victim. Yes, victim, because he was a terrible killer, and he knew it, and others knew that too! Which was just right. He didn't have trouble admitting it. The gangster's steps were casual and unconcealed; being sneaky was seriously not his strong point. That was further compounded as he shouted out to the stranger over their small distance - thought it was a stranger, anyway.

"Hey, you!"

[citygrit]

It was easy to sneak up on someone like Alexander. He didn’t particularly care enough to pay close attention to his surroundings. The guy would probably walk into a meat grinder without realizing it.

His attention was called when he found someone, a complete stranger no less, hailing him from a short distance. As the dead man squinted through the shadows of his hood, he found no recognition in that blurred face; neither did he distinguish the voice with anyone else Alexander knew.

On a matter of principal, Alexander didn’t care to be addressed as hey you. Something about that grated his nerves. He used to pride himself on the fact that he was part of a well known terrorist group, and that they ought to be feared.

The whole fear part gets old after awhile.

To Ladd’s perception rather than Alexander’s, the killer is free to note the moving shadows beneath the dead man’s feet. Though they pose as no threat, they appear alive and shapeless, trapped in the realm beneath the surface that cannot be touched by anyone but the light.

[loving_killing]

Ladd would have offered a snarky comment on the other guy's squinting and lack of response if it weren't for the sudden movements he noticed almost immediately once he got a better look. Below the guy's feet - his shadow, it looked like - something was undulating and writhing about in a most unnatural way. Though he'd been in Nautilus for quite a few months now, he'd never quite seen something like that, and his face showed it. So his words changed quite drastically

The Carefree Camorrista

[morte_e_vita]

     The smile on his face was a little easier to wear, once the day had started to chug along. It wasn't all that long ago that they were all acting so strangely, and what had been said had hardly been brushed away from his mind

[loving_killing]

And Ladd was headed in about the same direction, too. He lived in the East in that little Manhattany area; it definitely wasn't Chicago, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Maybe if he got bored enough, he'd Bend up a little piece of Chicago for himself and Lua.

Really, that kind of idea was a joke; he was just terrible at making things. Not as bad as Graham, but not a whole lot better. But it sure sounded appealing when he was trying to distract himself from the 'dead space' like this in between kills. Filling his head with fluffy ideas wasn't too bad.

A bit of surprise was visible on his face when he rounded a corner and then saw the guy he recognized as Firo across the street. Ladd had a shotgun cocked over one shoulder as easily as if it were a bouquet of flowers; an alien-looking metal hand rested with swagger on his hip. His carriage was so casual, but his image was immediately threatening.

"Heeeey, hey, hey! Firo! That you?!"

His shouting immediately removed any kind of secrecy he might have been trying to keep,

[morte_e_vita]

     It may as well have been just another stroll, the only obvious difference being the considerably lack of foot traffic in the area. Such only made Ladd's approach more obvious, but Firo hadn't immediately glanced in the man's direction when he'd noticed the movement, only looked when his name was called.

Firo hadn't ever met the guy in person before, but he was well acquainted with voice and looks by their conversations over the network. The boy grinned, seeming to pay no heed to the shotgun Ladd carried as he tipped his hat in acknowledgment. Wasn't like he was unaccustomed to conversing with such people anyway.

"Ladd, right? How ya doin'?"

[loving_killing]

It was nice to be well-received for once. And kind of funny, considering what Ladd's plans for the night and even for Firo were. Nonetheless, he returned the grin, and skipped over to Firo so that he might walk alongside him. Even if there was a shotgun in the way - that was kind of rude, so he lowered that so it rested by his leg.

"Heh! I've seen you around, but never actually met you! Those little movies just aren't the same as seein' someone in real life, right? I'm doing fine! It's a nice night for gettin' things done. I'm gonna make the most of it. That what you're doin', too?"

[cheerfulcrazy]

Teatime was walking his dog.

It seemed a strange thing to do for him, but despite himself he actually liked the little thing. It was cute (for a given value of what the Assassin considered cute) and ran around and barked and acted generally in the energetic way dogs usually do.

It reminded him of being little. (Granted, Teatime's childhood memories consisted of creeping everyone his age out by being terrifyingly happy when practicing inhumation methods, but it had included dogs too. He'd liked animals.

They didn't judge him, or stare at him, or call him funny names.)

So the Assassin, with his usual cheery smile and spring in his step, went walking around the Western District with the little dog at his heels, and all the while paid very close attention to his surroundings. It never hurt to be too careful, after all.

[loving_killing]

The Western District was just the right kind of setting for something like this. Well, maybe it was a little on the gaudy side - Ladd did like some elegance with his killing. But it was the flash and emotion that really made the difference, and the West sure set the mood right. It wasn't uncommon for him to hang out there even when he wasn't on the prowl.

Which is why it was a little weird to see a harmless(? - from a distance, maybe)-looking man walking a cute little dog around in a place like this. Briefly, Ladd entertained the idea that the guy liked to feed his dog on the corpses or something, but wouldn't that make a dog sick? Who knows how long they'd been sitting out there?

Well, if he hung out in the Western District, maybe he liked to do that. That idea put a smirk on his face.

Seated comfortably on a gravestone, Ladd called out as he caught sight of Teatime. "Interestin' place to be walkin' your dog, huh?"

[cheerfulcrazy]

Teatime was far from harmless. People thought he was, certainly, until the knives and the grinning came out and by that time it was far too late.

"Well, it is the place I woke up in!" the Assassin called back, crouching to pat the dog and then turning to walk towards Ladd instead - still smiling pleasantly, as usual.

Funnily enough, Teatime hadn't even flinched in surprise when Ladd called out. It was as if the young man knew that he was there already.

[loving_killing]

Ladd did notice that he was quite unaffected. So was this guy a freak, too? It was a little early to be jumping to conclusions, but for some reason, he'd never been half bad at reading people. That was how he decided who lived and died so quickly and easily.

Well, whatever. Ladd liked weirdos. They were usually better people in his eyes. So, not moving from his seat, he smiled back; however, calling the gangster's ferocious grin pleasant might have been a stretch.

" Heh! You too? I wonder -- heeey, wait, I know you. You're that Teatime guy, aren't you?"

[lady_adventure]

Just a run, a regular old run. Normally Lara would have stayed cooped up in her personal gym, running the treadmill, climbing the fake rocks. Yet this was a beautiful night, a flawless night, a night where nothing would go wrong. People were just off the effects of the storm and the city breathed a sigh of silence and relief. It even seemed quiet enough for her not to bring her guns along for a change.

Step, step, step, step, breathe, out, bu-bump, bu-bump...

The only sounds she could hear, the only she wanted to.

NO GUNS? LARAAAAA GOSH

[loving_killing]

That kind of thinking - 'nothing can go wrong' - was exactly the kind of thinking that Ladd hated the most. Not that he could peer into anyone's thoughts or hearts; he was no wizard or fortune teller, just an assassin with too much poison in his brain. But he could read peoples' eyes and faces, and when he saw those things there, it made his trigger finger itch like hell.

So when he poked around the corner of a street and saw Lara coming, he was doubly excited. One, because here was a person he'd always wanted to kill - he'd promised! Would Ladd break a promise? Never. Heh. And secondly, even from a distance, he could tell. She was feeling like that - the way she was running, how she looked - she didn't have a care in the world right then. Carefree. Nothing would happen to Lara Croft if she didn't believe it would happen

WELL WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED A WILD LADD WOULD APPEAR?

[lady_adventure]

She would have liked to think it was years of training and keen senses that made her jump out of the way of the blast, but in the end it was more than likely luck. But it wasn't luck that had the blast go into Lara's lower leg instead. Holes of shrapnel peppered her calf as she went down in a scream of pain.

With instincts she reached for her guns and grasped only air. Idiot! She should have known this city is never safe. Not for a second. Not with men like him.

"What- I don't- What the hell is wrong with you?"

USE THUNDERSHOCK LARACHU

[loving_killing]

"So many people ask me that, and I never know how to answer!!"

Watching her scrabble for her guns, seeing his shot at least partially hit, her angry cry - that tickled him just the way he liked, and Ladd laughed boisterously. Even then, he didn't stop moving for a second; he was about as good at standing still as he was at sneaking around. With long, eager strides, he broke off into a dash to get to where she was - he didn't know how bad that injury was. Either way, running would get his blood pumping.

"Oh, look - for everything that's wrong with me, I still got honor! I see you're unarmed!"

The shotgun in his hands went clattering to the ground as he ran.

"So I'll be fair!"