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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 16, 2012 21:53:19 GMT -8
"I don't believe that." she said with a hint of consternation. "Order is necessary, of course, but people tend to gravitate towards order anyway. Anarchy is limited: it only lasts for a short time as people usually group together for protection or just to be near someone with a plan.
"In a way, then, society does rebuild. It will be a shadow of what it was, but because there is order, people regain their civility and sense of community."
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 16, 2012 22:09:56 GMT -8
"Then you end up with a tribal system. Everyone in their little groups fighting over resources. Fighting over power, land, and anything else of value."
He shrugged.
"Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to live in a world where everyone is out to steal from everyone else. Looking to be the next tribal leader. I would rather see a strong central Government with sweeping laws over the land. The same laws applying between main street and 32nd street."
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 18, 2012 22:08:05 GMT -8
"Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to live in a world where everyone is out to steal from everyone else. Looking to be the next tribal leader. I would rather see a strong central Government with sweeping laws over the land. The same laws applying between main street and 32nd street."
"Ideally, yes, but we both know Barker is trying for that as well. If you just make a general statement for the majority, some are bound to be unhappy with the result. Crow's has their own government and it works for the small area we have, but once Barker's dealt with, we will all need a parliament, representatives to ensure the people's voice is heard, unified for and elected by the people. If there's just one person doing it all, we run the risk of having to do this all over again."
She would quiet herself for a moment after this. Even in spite of the state of the world, Delilah chose to believe in a better future for the people around her, whether they deserved it or not.
Now, however, they were approaching the park. Delilah had no trouble seeing in this level of light, but she suddenly became perturbed, a hand moving to her knife as she picked up on something she couldn't quite see.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 18, 2012 22:11:35 GMT -8
"Maybe, though I don't know how many of the movers and shakers are willing to do that. I am pretty sure I am the only one of the God's that doesn't actually think he is a God."
As an example. And who knew how the experiments dealt with things. But they seemed to stay in their corner, so he hadn't bothered with them. He noticed her hand moving to her knife and he made no move to show anything might be wrong. Instead he turned to face her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"What time did you say you were expecting Kiyoshi by the way?"
Did she see something? If so this would be her chance to say a time to indicate the direction of the trouble she was sensing. If she knew. If she didn't he just hoped she would say she didn't know. Or couldn't remember.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 18, 2012 23:40:17 GMT -8
He moved in front of her as they approached the park, placing a hand on her shoulder. Distracted from trying to figure out what was bothering her, she looked at him quizzically.
"What time did you say you were expecting Kiyoshi by the way?"
What in the hell was he talking about Kiyoshi for, she never said she was getting picked up!
She realized his meaning a second later and she nodded. Damn, he was quick.
"I'm trying to figure that out, actually," she'd admit, looking around using her peripheral vision and her general awareness given most situations, using Mathew as twelve o' clock. Still, she saw nothing. "...nope, can't remem--"
There was a sudden shift in the shadows behind Mathew and she moved without thinking.
Drawing her bowie knife, she stepped to the side and threw it in that direction, pinching the knife by the blade with her forefinger and thumb before hurtling it into the darkness.
-WHUNK-
"ARGH, WHAT THE FUCK?!!"
"GODDAMMIT NICK, YOU BLEW OUR COVER."
She knew that voice and her frown deepened.
"What in the blue fuck are you lot doing here?"
A very bored looking, Russian man with heavy facial scarring would emerge from a tree, dropping down softly onto the ground near them. He looked pained by the company he kept, as if he could do a million times better on his own. It was true. "Apologies to beink disturbing you. We tracked a gang of raiders to this area that stole from one of our outposts. They were supposed to be meetink here to move the goods over to another cartel." his eyes would move to Mathew and he studied him, saying nothing but looking suspicious at his familiarity with his troop's leader became apparent.
"...I should warn you that Birch is patrolink perimeter."
Kind of an inside joke, but mostly still serious. If he showed up at the right time, Birch would inevitably run his mouth and Mathew would either find him amusing or punch him right in the face.
Delilah would nod, still realizing that they were potentially headed into another fight and look around at Mathew. "Mathew, this is Sergei, one of the people I train. Nick is on your left behind the tree with my knife stuck in it and Talon is behind that over turned dumpster there."
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 19, 2012 9:31:00 GMT -8
Mathew nodded to each of the men as she introduced them. He still didn't seem to be startled by the fact that so many of them had been there out of sight. Though a small smile did play across his lips. His eyes switching between them and Delilah. Those gears in his head spinning again. Taking note and calculating. He didn't even try to hide it.
"Very nice job hiding."
A compliment.
"And very fortunate that you are friends of Delilah here."
And an unspoken threat. Because if they weren't and had jumped them. They would have been in for quite the surprise he imagined. He turned his head to face Delilah, that calculating smile still on his lips. Though it was slowly fading away.
"It would look like this is where we part ways. If a man jumps me or attacks I will do you the favor of asking if he is Birch before I kill him. Alright?"
He was kind of joking. Kind of.
And if she didn't say anything about him staying he would turn and make his way to leave now that she was with friends.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 19, 2012 16:36:18 GMT -8
"Very nice job hiding."
Sergei blinked in surprise at the praise from this strange man with no shoes, unsure if he was being genuine or not.
"And very fortunate that you are friends of Delilah here."
The Russian furrowed his brow at this, but nodded politely at Mathew and Delilah before returning to his post. Nick, a disgruntled looking white man with a bald head and many anti-racial tattoos covering his arms and neck, stepped forward and returned Delilah's knife, holding the blade flat in his hand with the tip pointed towards him, the handle ready for her to take. She took it back with a nod of thanks and Nick turned his hazel eyes to Mathew, studying him for a moment before retreating back to his little hiding spot.
"It would look like this is where we part ways. If a man jumps me or attacks I will do you the favor of asking if he is Birch before I kill him. Alright?"
"Wait," she would sheath her knife and quickly turn to follow. There was something else after all. She would speak quietly so her team wouldn't over hear her. She had noticed the calculating smile and it had given her an idea. "Listen...would it be alright if I asked you for a favour? My little group," she jerked her head back at the now still area behind her. "They're good, better at least when I grabbed them. But they're inexperienced with certain things, like dealing with Qi users. I'm one thing, but my Qi isn't long range. It might be asking a lot of you, but it would be huge for them to fight you. They'll lose, there's no doubt, but they need to know that it's not just me who can kick their asses from here to Detroit."
She would pause a moment, folding her arms across her chest. "In return, I'll do you a favour of your choosing. Hell, if you have anyone you're currently teaching, I'll throw in being their punching bag for free. Consider it thanks for earlier."
This was just an assumption. Someone as skilled as Mathew was bound to attract followers sooner or later, and Delilah herself was a unique opponent in that she knew how to respond to anything and everything thrown at her and deal with it while remaining calm. The fact that she had trained her own little team was testament to this.
"What do you think?"
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 19, 2012 16:45:16 GMT -8
"You know what."
He said loud enough for everyone to hear, turning to face Delilah with a wink. He was in, but it would be much better if they were trying there damned hardest.
"On second thought I think you are coming with me. I think I can find a use for you. Not like this little rat pack here can stop me. They are to busy hiding to do so."
He grabbed Delilah roughly by the wrist.
If this doesn't spring them in to action they will be hopeless.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 19, 2012 17:33:02 GMT -8
"You know what."
She caught the wink and had to struggle to keep the grin from forming on her lips.
"On second thought I think you are coming with me. I think I can find a use for you. Not like this little rat pack here can stop me. They are to busy hiding to do so."
Ever since the incident at the Correctional Facility, Delilah had been known for her improvisational acting skills that she had used to convince an incredulous bus driver that she was about to kill his ass when in fact all she did was knock him out. Even "Unfettered" had chastised her for it afterward, having believed the conviction she spoke with.
And so as Mathew seized her wrist, she tried to pull away, looking alarmed and even frightened.
Before she could speak, or command him to let her go, something would buzz just in front of Mathew's nose, making a high pitched whizzing sound as it passed.
Sitting high up in the foliage of the tree nearest them was Heather, her hand drawn back as she pulled the wrist mounted slingshot back to her ear, already loaded with another ball bearing. Her big doe eyes were hard with intent to kill. Now that she had done it before, it was far easier for her to get to that place of kill or be killed.
Sergei would drop back down from his own tree, walking forward at a measured pace while Talon in all his bulky might and crooked brawlers teeth leaped the dumpster and ran towards Mathew. He was surprisingly agile for a man his size and without any pre-fight banter, he would get close to Mathew to aim a powerful kick for his midsection.
As he did this, Nigel, the muscular black man who blended in with the darkness better than anyone else on her team would approach from behind and attempt to grab Mathew by his arms to open up his midsection to Talon's kick would land.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 19, 2012 17:41:50 GMT -8
Good, they were coming at him as a unit. Not a bad start. And if he was some punk thug it would probably work. But no, he is a Dragon. No, not even a Dragon. He was the Earth Dragon. The Dragon who has held his title the longest. He was all but indestructible, and with the earth at his command he could not lose.
He could feel the flanking attackers come at him. Every footfall leaving a vibration in the ground. He could deal with that blindfolded. He pivoted to his right to gain a bit of cover from the sling shot and avoid the kick and the grab. Shoving Talon toward Nigel to keep them tangled up for a second. He turned toward the tree and winked at the attacked before he slammed his foot down in to the ground hard.
The earth trembled and rumbled violently. He didn't hold back on that one.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 19, 2012 18:28:58 GMT -8
Talon and Nigel collided, but broke apart quickly, rounding on Mathew. Heather high up in her tree would draw back to fire another projectile at him (noting and blushing at the wink earned her from the handsome man) and Nick was now walking carefully around Mathew's left flank.
Mathew stomped his foot and the ground trembled beneath it. Surprised, Heather nearly fell out of the tree as leaves cascaded down around her. Nigel, Talon and Nick both stumbled in surprise at this new development. The only one who didn't adversely react to it was Sergei, the man who had sprinted across shell bombarded sands when the Russians had occupied Afghanistan was doing so again, unflinching as the ground rumbled and roiled under his feet.
About six feet away from Mathew, Sergei would dive forward in a roll, bringing himself up around Mathew's knee level and slashing with the little shiv he kept in his coat.
Her balance regained and now hanging upside down, Heather would launch three little ball bearings at Mathew in rapid succession. Nigel and Talon would both move on opposite sides of Sergei to cover the Russian's retreat and get close enough to fight the man in close quarters. Talon would piston his heavy fist out at Mathew's face while Nigel would aim a shot for his kidneys.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 19, 2012 18:36:47 GMT -8
As Sergei tried to slash him with his shiv he would find Mathew's arm pointed at him. A spear of stone shooting out of it and shooting through the shoulder that of the arm that was trying to slash at him. It might stop the shiv, it might not. But he had other people to fight too.
The spear broke off as more stone slid up his pant leg. He would grab Talon's heavy fist and pull on him again to try and move him in the way of the shots aimed at him, but he would take the shot to the kidneys from Nigel.
Shoving Talon back more he would kick at Nigel, the ground rising up in the arc of his kick to send a spike hopefully in to the meaty part of the black man's thigh.
"It's a wonder I don't just kill you all now and do what I want with her. Maybe I will take both women."
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 19, 2012 19:50:14 GMT -8
"GAH!"
Sergei rolled off to the side grabbing his now bleeding shoulder. His knife hand was limp and he was gritting his teeth in anger at the situation. What even was that?
Mathew would succeed in misdirecting Talon's fist and pulling him into Heather's line of fire. He would cry out in pain as the heavy little metal orbs burrowed into his flesh. Distracted, he let himself get pushed away, forcing him to reset.
Nigel grunted as his fist contacted Mathew, thinking he had done something to the man. When he received no response, his brow dove downward towards his nose, and that was all the time needed for the stone spike to drive into his thigh. He jumped backwards with a gasp of pain, favoring his leg by keeping weight off it.
"It's a wonder I don't just kill you all now and do what I want with her. Maybe I will take both women."
They all bristled in unison and renewed their attacks. Heather dropped down form her tree but remained far outside the range of attack, moving in rapid circles to aim more shots at Mathew around her comrades' shoulders.
The two injured guys, Sergei and Nigel, would shift to Mathew's left, attacking in tandem with Sergei aiming to sweep Mathew's legs out from as Nigel aimed to punch this guy in the side of the head. Meanwhile, Talon would stand nearby, ready to snatch Mathew off his feet whether or not he avoided the sweep or the blow headed for his temple and put him in a choke hold.
Heather would fire four more little metal balls at Mathew's face as she moved in and out of shadows behind and around her teammates.
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Post by Mathew Amtrum on Oct 19, 2012 20:07:49 GMT -8
He laughed as his legs were kicked out from under him. Falling would thankfully save him from the shots to the face as well as the punch. As his body slammed in to the ground the Earth shook once more. Blunted pillars of stone erupting from the stone around his body that would slam in to everyone around him.
He would sink in to the ground.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Oct 19, 2012 22:32:39 GMT -8
If the laugh Mathew emitted wasn't unnerving enough, what happened afterward sure was enough to make Delilah's rag-tag little gang of fighters think twice. And then every single one of them got hit by the Earth pillars, as it was the last thing anyone expected.
The team returned to the ground with dull thuds that fell like heavy rain against the grass, complete with varying cries of surprise and pain. None of them would pass out from the fall, but they would be sporting ugly bruises within a couple of hours. Groaning, they got to their feet.
"Where the fuck did he go?"
"Maybe he ran away?"
Everyone looked at Heather incredulously.
"What? I'm just saying it'd be nice."
"He's around here somewhere. Let's spread out to find him."
Watching from her little hiding place in the shadows, Delilah would shake her head, knowing that was far from the best idea.
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