The neon lights make me numb (Ch. 5: Day 3)

Greens · Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 6:17 pm

Just moments before Ember came to Ace's supposed 'rescue', a desperate plan snapped together in the serval's mind. With a palm pressed against the shield that was very nearly choking him, a blue glow, subtle, yet steady, began to encapsulate the hunk of X-gear metal. He didn't know what would happen, he did know it wouldn't be pretty, and he prayed that by some miracle Tracer wouldn't notice it. And just when it seemed like it was on the verge of doing something violent and drastic...

The damn thing was peeled from his grip, like a plug ripped from an outlet. It lost any 'power' it had contained in the blink of an eye, and he had lost his balance, horribly. As cat-like as his reflexes may have been, they couldn't save him from Tracer's fist-- a fist no less mighty than his own, and wrapped in metal. Just like that, Ace lay right where he stood not moments ago, trying to make sense of the swirling, nauseating mess that used to be the hospital cafeteria.

Thankfully, he wasn't dead. He wasn't even knocked out, really. He was still breathing, even if exclusively via overwrought pants that were too short for his own good. But the way he tried to pick himself up by... slumping against the wall and vaguely swatting at imaginary flies, it was safe to say he was out of commission.

psikeout · Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 7:47 pm

"I'm alright," coughed Casey. Squinting and shaking his head, he tried to sit up, gravelly bits crumbling off his well-worn red jacket. "Just get that guy—"

He pointed up at the mysterious troop only to find him gone.

"Aah, heck..."

It turned out that Dian hadn't stuck around even to say anything to his coworkers. He was quick and crafty, and vanished just about as soon as he'd appeared and toppled the big pig, slinking quickly away from the well-lit helipad and into the shadows of the rest of the rooftop.

NPC · Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 9:13 pm

As much as it seemed there were stalkers stealthily skulking about, even they had stalkers of their own. Right under the raised helipad structure, amid the support beams, wiring, and various underpinnings, was another figure, watching Dian and the others. He was colorful, for sure, and when stray beams of light from the orange sodium vapor lamps caught him, he gleamed, but he did pretty well to stay out of sight.

"Got visual on the mirror," whispered the colorful bird guy into the mouthpiece of a communicator clipped to the side of his head.

"I'm a little busy," replied another voice, albeit audible only to the pheasant. "Somethin' goin' on down here on the 19th floor."

"Well I can't get it by myself and I think they're about to leave! Get up to the roof!" hissed the bird.

"How many? Do we know who it is?" asked the other.

"Uhh... Six or seven. There's the bow-and-arrow guy and the mouse, and they're fighting some... crazy guy in a cape, and that big pig, and a green hedgehog, I think," he answered.

"Wait," the voice on the other end blurted with urgency and renewed haste. "Did you say 'green hedgehog'?"

"Uhm, yeah, he's wrestling with the archer," answered the bird, confused.

"I'm on my way right now," said the voice darkly.

Mie · Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 10:34 pm

"Safe place for Mako-la, safe place for Mako-la, safe place--"

Latika really wasn't being picky, but the louder, and more evidently destructive the fight she'd put behind her and her charge had become, the more certain she became that a less obvious place would be better. Thus,

"Try not go anywhere," she said, setting the shark down with as much of a compromise between urgency and gentleness as possible (urgency came out just a little on top). "Well... anyway. Don't think is problem for you. But I promise I come back; in mean time, there plenty of, ... of," seizing the pull-chain light, and turning it on, the loris at last took note of where she'd made Mako's bed, and winced. "...bleach. And... cleaning tool."

"Anyway, this place safe for you."

With that, the porter seized hold of the doorknob, turned it, and eased it open to check the coast before heading off -- Her caution rewarded her, not from what had been avoided but what had been gained:

"Get up to the roof!" came a grainy, and clearly not present voice, as if from a radio.

"How many? Do we know who it is?" asked another, distant, and resonant, but still in the vicinity.

"Uhh... Six or seven. There's the bow-and-arrow guy and the mouse, and they're fighting some... crazy guy in a cape, and that big pig, and a green hedgehog, I think."

"Mr. Casey!," breathed Latika inaudibly. "And Green-Sonic! And guy no one want around!"

"Stay here!"

Like a wisp, the girl slipped soundlessly out of the maintenance closet, closed the door behind her, and disappeared into the stairwell.

Seafarinhare · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 8:39 am

Archer had not expected the hedgehog to meet his head-first dive-tackle with a charging shoulder. In response, he tucked mid-dive, and lowered his head as he collided with Geoff.

And what's a pair of antlers if you never gore anyone with them? Geoff's shoulder would hit, not chest, but pointy antlers. This would no doubt be pretty painful, but hardly enough to take him down for the count. As they tumbled to the ground int he midst of the antler-to-shoulder bludgeoning, Archer made efforts to assert his grapple-war dominance by pressing his bow at Geoff's neck with both hands.

MuffinUnsane · Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:22 pm

Swatted away like a fly, the bird managed to at least extinguish herself before flying back like a skinny mess of limb. At the last moment she managed to turn herself around so she could at least see whatever it was she crashed into. Wolverine or not.

Rachel · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 6:21 am

Finally she managed to knock the cat silly. Tracer wasn't about to waste her opportunity to put an end to this mess. she put her gear on her back and grabbed the cat. Since her back was more then burdened with her gear she carried him under an arm like a large fuzzy yellow football. With him in hand she rabbited, bursting into a nearby room, which was thankfully empty, she didn't break stride even as she leaped onto the counter and smashed out of the window. For a terrifying moment she free fell before her booster fired and launched her at the building across the street.

She aimed for the fire escape, grabbing onto the rusted iron with her remaining free hand. The entire escape rattled and groaned from the sudden weight but it didn't budge. The llama tank turned back to glance at the window she came through. The shoulder mounted cannon fired once more, not at the broken window but above it, so as to block the way she came with some fresh debris form the unsuspecting floor above.

"I'm clear. Heading to rendezvous." She said over her radio, now that she was out of the building she'd begin 'super leaping' her up the building and away to where her helicopter waited.

Sheff · Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 10:56 pm

Yeah, that was definitely a stinger.

It was one thing to launch yourself at someone head on, but to be met by antlers? All sorts of regret ran through the hedgehog as a spike of pain shot through his shoulder, not even given the chance to grasp at it out of sheer reaction before he was nearly being pinned by the deer's bow. Hands with a white-knuckled gripped latched onto the weapon as he tried to push it away, teeth gritted and an eye twitching at the fire that still pulsed on his upper arm. However, even with the pain, he was at least gaining an inch or two of breathing space.

A few seconds later, Geoff attempted a quick forward burst of his arms that would throw the deer to the side if it succeeded. If freed, the hedgehog, instead of pouncing Archer to restart the struggle, would instead roll away and get on his feet, perhaps to gain his bearings.

Zaka51 · Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 1:37 am

The mouse remained where he stood on the roof. Archer and the green hedgehog were duking it out, the pig was disabled with the spear-toting madman attending to him, and Dian had vanished into the shadows yet again.

And he was still holding a cold, dark, dreary mirror of indeterminate origin and power

He gave a soft sigh when he heard something that sounded a lot like a laser ripping into a building. Today was quite hectic. But maybe now it was going to improve. Soon as Archer wrapped up his business with the green hedgehog, maybe they could finally depart. These thoughts swam through his mind at a mellow pace, despite the fact two grown men were trying to gouge each other only about seven or eight feet away from him.

The wolverine did what any person would do if a baseball was flying at their head: catch it. In this case, she ended up catching a screwball. Getting hit by an entire person sent her stumbling back a number of steps, but at the same time she managed to get a grip on the "projectile" and stay upright instead of just being knocked flat on the ground. But as soon as she regained her balance and unceremoniously dumped Ember on the floor, Tracer had blasted out the window. The wolverine did try to follow, but soon found the entire place blocked by debris from the laser blast, effectively cutting her off completely.

So the wolverine stared at the pile of rubble. It was slowly sinking in that the llama had escaped with the cat, and she couldn't do anything about it. Her attempted rescue had utterly failed.

"...Son...of...a..." she began whisper as it dawned on her, but it quickly devolved into a low growl, then into a much louder shout of rage as she suddenly turned and kicked a random cafeteria chair, sending it sailing across the room and into a wall, where it left a nice little dent and clattered to the floor with a couple broken screws and bolts.

What followed was what sounded like enraged ranting, except every word was half-growled so gutturally that it just came out as very furious gibberish. She was quite unhappy at the turn of events, it seemed.

Seafarinhare · Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 5:26 am

In the midst of his struggle with Geoff, a transmission came through in his earpiece. From none other than his favorite partner in crime. Mission Success. When Geoff gave a forceful shove, Archer was thrown to the side and he did a smooth tech roll to a knee.

Instead of taking the offensive, much like his opponent, he opted to space himself, reaching for one of his last arrows. This one was a traditional looking arrow, with a couple exceptions. There was a spool attachement on the shaft, which clipped to the bow, and also there was another pointy end on the fletching. He pointed that end at the ground and the small harpoon shot into the ground. He tugged on the wire to test it's integrity before arming the arrow into the bow.

*Click*

The spool attachement snapped in place, and he pulled the arrow back and fired at the slightly lower roof of an adjacent building. The arrow flew, but the spool stayed, feeding wire until it reached it's destination.

He did all of this in a hurried fashion, expecting no less than assault from the green hedgehog once he realized that the deer was trying to get away. So, he wasn't going to stick around. He simply shouted to the mouse as he dropped off the side of the building, letting the zipline do the rest.

"Don't fall behind!"

He had no idea what the mouse had planned for escape, but if he planned on escaping with them, the zipline would be his only avenue. As much as Archer appreciated the assist, he was not part of the initial equation(As far as Archer and Tracer had planned). It'd sure suck if he went and lost the mirror here.

Then there was Dian. Who knows where he disappeared to.

MuffinUnsane · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:15 am

At least she had been caught; and a person was softer than the floor. Much softer since she managed to compare the two in such a short amount of time. Scrambling up, she was just in time to see Tracer shoot through wall. Along with a hopefully still breathing Ace.

Ignoring the rantings of the wolverine, the bird rushed over the wreckage to the llama-induced hole. There was no sign and most likely no way she could catch up with her. Besides, there would be the risk of Ace falling and that would just make everything worse. However, there would still be a chance. With that heavy suit, Tracer would have to stop somewhere.

Roof.

There was no chance of mucking through that wrecked room, so she did a turn and sprinted towards the stairwell. Pausing at the door, she glanced back at the newcomer.

"Hey, stop yelling at the floor and come on! I still expect you to hit that llama."

Without waiting for an answer, she was already on her way up the stairs.

NPC · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 11:38 am

The roof was quite a long way up for Ember (this being an unusually tall hospital built with all the rationale of Dr. Eggman), and going to it wouldn't help her since Tracer had actually ditched to the building far across the street. Tyra could sort out whether or not to follow; either way, they'd encounter no resistance going up the stairs if they did choose to, mainly because it seemed like everybody was going up.

Like that guy who just wildly, raucously burst out the roof-access door and went speeding across the roof toward the action. The pointy-eared, green-colored individual of indeterminate species skidded to a stop not far away, some sort of odd-looking energy cannon in hand. Deja vu—this was one of the longcoat-wearing guys from the train.

As for Dian? He resurfaced again from behind a nearby AC unit, where he grabbed the mirror-toting mouse by the material of his sleeve and pulled him blatantly toward the zipline. As soon as he got to it, he thrust a burly, black, metal flashlight into the guy's grip and pointed at the line. He meanwhile kept his rifle trained loosely on the nearest threats with his free hand. Apparently, he was supposed to use that flashlight to go down the zip line...

Meanwhile, it seemed like Geoff couldn't get a break. For whatever reason, the guy with the big energy cannon shot first at him instead of the crooks making off from the scene. What was even going on?

Sheff · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 12:37 pm

Did Geoff have all the time in the world to stop the zip line escapes? Maybe. Did said time get abruptly cut short when a ball of crackling energy came rocketing towards him? Why yes.

The hedgehog flew as he dove clear out of the way of the projectile's trajectory, rolling and scrambling once hitting the gravel-covered roof. The other green guy's appearance hadn't gone unnoticed by the hedgehog, so it wasn't like he was unprepared for a backstab of an attack. It was just after managing to recognize the person, Geoff was baffled to why he was the target. From his perspective, Mr. Longcoat should have every reason to pursue the other party.

"The hell are you doing?!" he yelled from behind the safety of yet another AC unit. "They're right there!"

NPC · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:12 pm

"Could have asked you the same thing!!" shouted Geoff's attacker with genuine rage as he fired another blast, then another, slowly striding forward. He still had a good amount of distance to close before he was near to the hedgehog, so the machinery on the rooftop was about to get wrecked pretty fast as long as the target kept dodging. "You don't even remember, do you?! Who do you even think you are?!"

Zaka51 · Posted: Wed May 30, 2012 3:54 pm

Once again, the mouse was being forcefully tugged out of harm's way and into safety. He was likely starting to find it flattering. But now it seemed his fun was over; it was time to leave. It was clear to him what the flashlight was for, since he certainly wasn't going to use the Circle, which he had to awkwardly jam into his belt to secure it. Without another word, and only a glance behind him to see the lovely light show, he took a running leap off the building and onto the zipline, sending him away from the conflict very quickly.

Such a fortunate distraction. This is going much better than yesterday.

Tyra, on the other hand, still wasn't pleased. She knew there was no way they could catch up to the llama. But maybe it wasn't so hopeless. That bird spoke perfect English, so maybe...

She did quiet down when Ember yelled to her. The wolverine blinked, and then realized that Ember was running off ahead. "Hey, wait up!" she called as she ran to follow the myna bird. She'd tear down half the hospital if she ended up getting ditched now.

The neon lights make me numb (Ch. 5: Day 3)

Who is online