Breathe In Half Stop (Ch. 3b: Day 1, pt. IV)

NPC · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 9:07 pm

The restoration of ARK's power lead to an instantaneous lull in almost everything. The crowd was less panicky, the air was clearer, the ARK was no longer being bombarded on every side with pieces of debris. Doors had begun to open around the ship, and everyone was cautiously beginning to move supplies out from the Hangar, into the hallways beyond.

Almost everyone.

The word ‘almost’ was important, because there was one individual who seemed quite bent on making sure that nobody else could get their jobs done. Murdoch was, just as Astrid had warned, introducing the unfortunate people around him to his metal-backed fists of pain, spewing an impressive litany composed entirely of foul swear words and insults. He, if there was any meaning at all underneath the profanities, was ‘looking for an explanation.’ Theoretically.

Yeah, really, it was probably more of a ‘starting something for the sake of starting something.’

Rodolf, meanwhile (with a bit of blood dripping down his face, as he had been one of those who had gotten quite personal with the Tasmanian devil) was losing his cool, and looked half-ready to tackle the short little man, even as he hung back.

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psikeout · Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2011 9:50 pm

Quite honestly, Rock couldn't tell there was a fight when he first set foot into the docking bay. People were already injured from the incident, and after all the gravity mayhem, things were bound to be a little out of place. Factor in his general haziness and pain, and the long trek back up, and you had a normally razor-sharp, attentive guy who was unusually oblivious to the trouble afoot.

Of course, it only took a few more seconds of ambling through before he found where the crowd was being drawn, and heard the yelling and thuds of bone and flesh. Did it matter, though? Not really. He was the type to figure that if someone was getting beaten up, it may have been for a reason.

That said, though he slowed to survey the action, head raised, peering over the skirmish, he just scratched his neck a couple times, shrugged indifferently, and kept on rollin' through, making his way back toward where their ship was parked. He'd likely continue that way unless interrupted or approached by a familiar face.

Greens · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 3:48 pm

"Damn, man... What a day."

Not far behind the first primate trailed Ace, looking... a bit worse for wear than he did when he first arrived on this damnable colony. While his weariness extended nowhere near to the point Rock was, it showed with his long, cheek-puffing sigh, and it showed in his slurred steps. All the same, as much as he wished he could avoid whatever kerfuffle was wrecking up the place, he was taught better than that. And besides, the idea that they went through all the trouble of saving everyone's lives for some impatient asshole to ruin the fun for everyone rubbed him the wrong way.

With a glance to the others, he graced them with a mention of "I'll... be right back," before wading his way through the crowd for a closer look at all the ruckus.

Mie · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:50 pm

Much like her companions, the pinker of the primates trudged back to ground zero with all the urgency of pouring molasses. If only because everyone else was doing it, she stopped to indulge in a little rubbernecking, but ultimately found herself at the midway point between Ace's indignation, and Rock's indifference. She remained paused between the pair, as they widened the gap in their respective directions, but ultimately decided she felt better about leaving the cat to fend for himself than the guy with half his head missing, and a broken arm; she followed Rock with a parting, "Catch you later, man," to Ace.

"So," Jam prefaced, more to announce her resumed company than anything. "At what point in time are you gonna lay down an' let yourself heal, like a normal, sane person?"

Seafarinhare · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:11 pm

As the group rolled into the hangar after another deep space adventure, The scarfed hero also stopped to assess the situation regarding a certain Tasmanian Devil and supposed innocents.

Unfortunately, as Rock and the others were perfectly content with ignoring the situation, one among them could not. As a Defender of Justice, it was impossible for Wild Badge to keep his nose out of other people's business.

And from the looks of it, there was injustice afoot. He glanced at the backs of his company's heads, then giving a sigh, as it looked like the cat was the only other one who felt compelled to act. Fists clenched, he took a deep breath and approached Murdock.

"That's enough!" He demanded, reaching out in an attempt to grab his arm before it could be acquainted with yet another innocent face.

"Do you have a problem?"

Kazz · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:25 pm

The diminutive devil was, in fact, rearing back to deliver his particular brand of pain unto another innocent, just as Wild Badge grabbed his arm. He whipped to face the raccoon, raised an eyebrow...

And proceeded to bust out laughing. "Pfffaaahahaha! Nice f*^@#in' scarf, buddy!" Even as he laughed (and the person he had just been about to punch got as far away as he could), he suddenly jerked his body around, hopefully enough to wrench his arm from the hero's grasp. Failing that, he struck out with his free arm, aiming somewhere in the vicinity of Wild Badge's solar plexus.

"He's absolutely out of his mind," the bloody-faced Rodolf remarked, suddenly, limping up near Ace as he drew closer to the scene of the... incident. Rodolf vaguely remembered the cat, something vague from back on Westside, which was as much as he needed to know about him to... well, honestly, see if he could shepherd him into trying to stop the Tasmanian devil.

Tau · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:35 pm

Unconcerned with the well being of those unfamiliar to him, Tau had no desire to head off and investigate the crowd as several of the others did, nor did he pay attention to the crowd any more than need be to to insure no hostilities came his way. Instead, he quietly chose to head back towards the shuttle along the path of least resistance.

Upon reaching the shuttle, Tau quietly shifted a glance between Rock and the distant crowd prior to moving on towards the shuttle's hatch with the intent to board the craft and simply get away from the crowded hangar, but not before mentioning flashbangs were available for use to the white simian.

Seafarinhare · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:57 pm

Wild Badge pretty much expected a similar reaction. As he jerked his body, Badge let go of his arm and then as the punch was thrown, he took the cautious route and jumped back just out of striking distance.

"What's the matter with you?! Why are you hurting these people?!" He once again prodded for answers, hoping to end things peacefully. Something in the back of his head told him it was an exercise in futility, though. ...He usually ignored that part of his brain.

Greens · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:08 pm

Jam's quiet goodbye was fortunately not lost on Ace, and he turned his head for a curt nod as he continued marching towards the scene of the crime. As it was, he arrived just in time to see Badge confront the devil in about the same manner he thought he would (although to his credit, Ace was half-expecting a 'Halt, fiend!' somewhere in there). It was abundantly clear that whoever this scraggy looking dwarfman was, he had no intention of being reasoned with, even without the caution of the pale-looking unicorn at his side.

But he didn't stop to hear his advice, or anything else for that matter. Ace simply kept plodding up behind Murdoch with the same unamused grimace. His steps were steady and sure, but with the same subtlety of any other member of the crowd. Badge, being such the good guy he was, seemed to be keeping him busy talking to him.

Ace was not such a good guy. Ace did not like to use unnecessary words. Ace had, with remarkably quiet footsteps, swiftly shifted just behind the diminutive devil, placed a palm above his forehead, and unless quickly interrupted, delivered a swift and particularly brutal cross (with his good hand) directly into the back of his skull, where the bone was thinnest. His palm was used to push his temple further into the blow, but was quickly retracted, so as not to make his own fist anything like a resting place.

Kazz · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:33 pm

"Ain't you just a @*$^'in boy-scout?" Murdoch sneered at Hoji, stepped within punching distance once more, and indeed prepared to strike...

... until Ace came into the picture. Though he curled his lip and seemed prepared to bite Ace's hand off, that whole course of action was abandoned the second the cat's other hand connected with the back of his head.
Thwock.

At that point, there were exactly two thoughts in his scruffy little head:

HOLY $%@& %$*# ASS $%@&

stomp Ace's head into it

The angry little man proceeded to tumble -- or perhaps a better word would be crumple -- to the floor, though he did it with a surprising amount of forward inertia. He might even have bowled straight into Wild Badge, if he didn't hop out of the way. The string of curse words pouring out of his mouth was nothing short of impressive, if rather half-slurred and muddled slightly by the fact that, oh, he had just been struck in the back of the head.
It was actually pretty damn impressive that he wasn't out cold, honestly.

"Well, that's one way to do it," Rodolf remarked dryly from somewhere behind Ace, his eyelids sliding down halfway.

Greens · Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:56 pm

Ace's punching hand stayed in its retracted position for just a second longer than one might expect it to, but with a quiet sneer, the serval eventually shook his knuckles out and put it back to his side. The guy had a much thicker skull than he'd expected-- even on the relatively unarmored backside. But beyond that, he didn't miss a beat. With the perpetrator successfully incapacitated, he wasted no time advancing to where he'd fallen, and crouched down beside him with an almost uncharacteristic air of severity to him. He spoke softly but sternly, like an aggravated parent, offering a view of his face and his extended index finger should the devil care to see it (or remember it, as the case would very likely be).

"...Calm down."

And so long as Murdoch didn't find the strength to trip him by his ankles, he rose once again with a much more jaunty (even apologetic) sort of glance to his ally in the scarf. "If y'got any more Wild Handcuffs..."

psikeout · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 12:22 pm

"The second I find somethin' soft to fall on," answered Rock to Jam tiredly, but with satisfaction. No, he didn't enjoy doing these things to himself, and it was obvious, but he did it because, well... he had to.

As he went up the ramp into their ship, though, he paused and shot a glance back, his newly-found elevation just enough to see over the crowds, and catch a glimpse of Ace delivering what could best be described as an executioner's punch to some little guy's head.

This brought a rare smile to his face.

Kazz · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:01 pm

Murdoch did, in fact, turn his head enough to get a look at Ace. He curled his lip, and spat something like "I'm going to $%@&in' kill you". He attempted to push himself up, got a short distance towards returning to an upright position... and then, all of a sudden, was summarily out like a light. He fell back to the floor with a resounding thud. Delayed reaction, much?

At any rate, that was one problem solved.

Kythe-X · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 1:21 pm

There was one person who'd had a keen eye on the tasmanian devil since suffering a hefty blow to the back of head from his fists. At first, she wasn't sure how to feel about this unprovoked assault on her person but soon after elected to make a point to everyone and now was as good a time as any. Gently pushing her way past the crowds, she stepped beyond the fleshy barrier that had formed around the fight. A few people glanced at her bold approach towards the freshly fallen Murdoch. Was she looking to take revenge? It would seem that way up until the point where she deftly stepped atop Murdoch's body and swung her arms out, using the tasmanian devil like some sort of podium. It didn't take her a second more to make her expected announcement

"This bad man got what he deserves because hitting people is wrong!"

Hardly statement of the year, but the girl had some look of determination on her face, like this was a point she'd been dying to make. Her eyes dotted about the crowds and her face trembled for a moment - her first 'speech' to people and she hadn't exactly expected stage fright like this. Nor did she actually know why she was afraid of all the eyes being on her for the moment.

Mie · Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2011 7:54 pm

With a frustrated sigh, Jam shook her head and rolled her eyes, shifting her helmet (which she now carried under her arm) from her right hip to her left as the latter jutted outwards. Fuss mode was on.

"Damnit, Rock, how much-- Wait, what?"

Cue record scratch, confused, incessant blinking, and scrutinizing, did-I-hear-that-right gape.

"Oh!" was all she could think to blurt, in a starkly contrasted, pleasantly surprised tone. "Well... good!"

Still looking a little bewildered, but in generally higher spirits, her curiosity was piqued at the bandaged simian's stare unusual show of amusement, and her eyes traced his stare to the short green rabblerouser and his striped silencer. With her own grin of approval, she turned to continue on into the ship, after Rock, but paused on the ball of her foot at a shrilly exclaimed statement so unbelievably obvious, the monkey had to glance back to scan for traces of sarcasm, which, perhaps were lost in the massive hangar's reverberation.

One brow arched high over the other at the... decidedly odd kitten, but with a bemused head shake and shrug, Jam resumed her stride.

Breathe In Half Stop (Ch. 3b: Day 1, pt. IV)

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