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Post by Marcus Prasad on Dec 28, 2012 17:33:06 GMT -8
The man stuck his tongue out as a response before turning to Joe, who had trundled up with something odd in her hands.
"Got something for ya boss. Found it off the flaming feckers corpse."
Marcus recoiled. He liked trophies as much as the next psycho hunter but that body was burnt to a crisp.
"I'm surprised there was anything left after getting caught in a burnout that size."
"Funny you should mention that. These were the only things left untouched."
The young irishwoman commented before tossing the bundle, which turned out to be a pair of black gloves, to Marcus, who caught them in his arms. The first thing he noticed was how cool they were. At the very least Joe should NOT have been able to touch them, let alone carry them over here.
"Something funny about them methinks. Might do wonders for your hands if'n you catch my meaning boss."
Looking down at the pair of gloves, the man couldn't help but have his face twist in disgust. Something about putting the clothes of a dead man on him just seemed very VERY wrong.
Clipping the gloves to his waist, Marcus gave Joe a nod.
"Nice, but I think I'll put em on AFTER they've been through the wash a few times. Get the smell of Barker off of them."
Joe simply shrugged before turning back to check the area with the others, leaving Marcus to turn back to Delilah and Orion.
"That would explain why I never noticed it before at least. Still, Totes for the last second save huh."
"Sounds like a plan. You guys have a place in mind? Preferably a place with cold running water?"
Which would feel HEAVENLY on his hands right about now.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Dec 30, 2012 18:58:13 GMT -8
"Who to answer first... well, I suppose the more formal one. Wait your turn Marcus. I figured you were someone important, Miss Black. People of your ability are not nameless nobodies here. A high-ranking Crow... we'll talk. And we didn't, but I have you at an advantage at the moment, which I find unsporting. Perhaps a rematch at a later date?"
She nodded her acquiescence there, although she bristled internally/ Delilah Black, at a disadvantage? PAH! She had fought while bleeding to death when she rescued her son. One of the scars she carried from that, it's pink, ropelike appearance was visible even now through select holes in her shirt as it laced down from the middle of her chest to her navel.
But the wisdom of it was fighting while burned was not the best of ideas. Besides, she was on speaking terms with the younger man now. And he was in a better condition than either of them were. So, she let it lie. PLUS, he had just paid her a lovely compliment: it wouldn't do to attack someone after such kind words.
It just wasn't POLITE.
"I suppose I can wait," she agreed.
"As for my glowing... I always have glowed, Marcus. I just normally wear this cloak of mine-" Pause to grab up said cloak and don it again "as it is the same color as my glow, and thus dulls it. Plus, I generally keep it tuned down, as it is... discomforting, for normal humans. End result, it's barely noticeable. It is merely one of my many "quirks" that was the end result of Experimentation I underwent in New York, at 552."
"That would explain why I never noticed it before at least. Still, Totes for the last second save huh."
Pursing her lips, Delilah followed Orion's gaze back to the bonfire before cracking a grin. It had been a while since she made anything explode. She had forgotten how fun it was...and how good she was at it.
"Well, that's quite the message to Barker. Any chance of heading to a more safe place so we can converse? You two seem quite uncomfortable."
"Sounds like a plan. You guys have a place in mind? Preferably a place with cold running water?"
Delilah would look up at the starry sky for a moment as she got her bearings before nodding her head. "We have a safehouse in an abandoned cafe four blocks East, one of the few we have stocked with medical supplies. I think that should give us enough berth from here should Barker send more troops to investigate."
That was one problem with explosions...it usually attracted onlookers and, more often than not, police. Not that police were a problem anymore, but calling down another fifty or so Qi users on their heads was probably not the best of ideas.
"It should give us a chance to talk some more, too," she said, this time turning her blue eyes to Orion. If there were no objections from either man, she would lead them off to the little, run down, out of the way cafe where they could lay low until the coast was clear.
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Orion
Soldier
Craftsman extraordinaire
Posts: 303
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Post by Orion on Jan 2, 2013 13:27:27 GMT -8
Delilah offered a nearby safe-house. Orion nodded his head.
"We would do well to be away. I would think Barker to be pissed that we just silenced to of his QI users to the point that they don't exist anymore. Lead on."
As Delilah led the way, Orion would snag a nearby piece of cloth and look at it. It was the wrapping for his weapon, miraculously undamaged! He would proceed to wrap his weapon in it as they walked. When they would arrive at the cafe, Orion noted with approval that it was a small place, out of the way. Good, quiet places were very good. When they entered, Orion would take a seat at a nearby table, leaning his weapon against it as he sat in a chair, letting his eyes go across Marcus and Delilah, as well as their squads.
"Hmm... two people of a good fighting caliber, with squads of their own who seem to be strong in their own right... It seems everyone from the old schools has taken a position of renown in some way or another. Regardless... Anything in particular you want to talk about? Now that we can finally relax, anyway."
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Jan 4, 2013 19:25:03 GMT -8
Despite the pain, Marcus couldn't help but snicker.
"Yes, we killed them....Until they were DEAD!"
Teasing Orions use of a rather roundabout redundant sentance.
Marcus let out a thoughtful grunt. Now that Orion mentioned it, most of the people with any semblance of power or authority were Public high school alumni. Most notably either 552 or 259.
'Makes sense though.'
Marcus thought to himself.
'Grow up in a school where you had to fight fore ever scrap you had and you enter adulthood with those same principals. Kind of makes our generation the most suited for the task really.'
"Well for starters, Lets ask the obvious of how the hell did those guys know you two were at that bar when even I didn't and I'd been following them for awhile now?"
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Jan 4, 2013 21:05:00 GMT -8
Coming up to the cafe after a few minutes of steady walking, Delilah hurried a couple of paces ahead to look inside through the grimy windows. Didn't look like anyone was inside...not that too many people would have found it easy to get in anyway, not with the way the place had been rigged.
...What? It was necessary just as much as it was a hobby!
Nodding as if to herself, she would skirt around the perimeter and count the little ticks hidden in the wall until she found the one she was looking for. She flipped open her pocket knife and started tracing a line downwards and then to the side. With a slightly audible 'pop', a little hidden panel came loose in the wall. She slid it out of place, exposing the interior of the cafe in a 2x2 little hole. Scrambling inside, she replaced the little stopper and then went to the door where the others were waiting, disengaging the match-lock mechanism she had in place and opening the door.
Her team scattered through the small cafe, looking around with interest at the veritable relic. No one was making coffee any more, as it couldn't be transported, harvested or roasted, so the place had been abandoned. It was lucky they found the place: it was hard to find a decent building that hadn't been totaled by a bomb or other falling structure.
Delilah herself took a seat, grabbing a chair, giving it a spin and sitting in it backwards as she leaned her arms against the back of the chair. She would just take a moment to breathe and think while the other two men sat down, shedding herself of the last of her adrenaline.
"Hmm... two people of a good fighting caliber, with squads of their own who seem to be strong in their own right... It seems everyone from the old schools has taken a position of renown in some way or another. Regardless... Anything in particular you want to talk about? Now that we can finally relax, anyway."
"Well for starters, Lets ask the obvious of how the hell did those guys know you two were at that bar when even I didn't and I'd been following them for awhile now?"
Delilah shrugged, tilting the chair back and forth on it's back legs. "Hard to know for sure, simple to speculate. They knew we were there and who we were: makes me think someone tipped them off about our location. Probably a mole or someone just wanting to get on Barker's good side." Again, she would shrug as though it didn't matter. It was one of the unspoken rules of war, something historians chronicled during the second World War: Jewish prisoners helped to hasten the death of others to prevent their own deaths, though they couldn't see how doing so only brought their own deaths that much closer now that any 'resistance' had been quashed.
"I'm actually rather curious about you, though, Orion," She admitted, turning her head slightly to look at him. "Tell me a bit about yourself and the Free Experiments. I'm sorry to say I don't know too much about your organization, something I hope to remedy."
Courteous as always. But before she cemented anything, she needed to know more.
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Orion
Soldier
Craftsman extraordinaire
Posts: 303
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Post by Orion on Jan 5, 2013 13:55:38 GMT -8
Orion frowned at Marcus's comment. Guy was stealthier then he had given him credit for, he hadn't realized he'd been followed. As Delilah elaborated an idea about what happened, Orion made a mental note to start moving in stealth instead of blatantly announce himself. Also, find out who the hell Marcus was; someone this strong, and he hadn't heard of him?
"I'm actually rather curious about you, though, Orion."
Orion blinked at his name, turning to Delilah.
"Tell me a bit about yourself and the Free Experiments. I'm sorry to say I don't know too much about your organization, something I hope to remedy."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Well, where to begin... Let's start with the basics. My name is Orion Smith. I was born in New York, attended Public High School #552, was taught very briefly by Shugo Yuy and Narin Carter, and due to a human experimentation project, I am what you see before you. I glow, am immune to pain, heat, chill, drugs, and alcohol, and I'm a broadcasting empath, meaning other people can feel my emotions. Right now it would be amused, by the way."
Orion would let that sink in for a moment. After any comments, he would continue.
"Let's see... moved here to California afterwards, meaning that no, I was not one of Barker's experiments, worked with Jayr Bryne in an attempt for the Student Liberation Front, Barker sent the world to hell, and I joined the Experiments after saving an asset of theirs, hence the double-halberd. That would be my history in a nut-shell, skipping over the psychotic alter personality and the brief civil war at 552 due to Vaughan's enforcers being idiots and damn near blowing up the school."
Another pause. He figured the psychotic alter personality comment would get their attention.
"Psychotic personality is gone, by the way." Reassurance. "As for the Experiments... they're a group formed of Barker's escaped experiments and some sympathizers of "normal" folk. The experiments all have QIs, aside from myself, offsetting their lack of numbers with varied abilities. I have encountered a telepath and a snake summoner. Oh, and whatever you classify Rina Vade's abilities, who is also a member of the Experiments."
Orion frowned.
"Now we get to politics. The main goal that all factions agree on is Barker's downfall. How to go about it, how to interact with normal people, what to do afterwards.... that is what is being argued. So, while the higher-ups bicker amongst themselves, I've been traveling across Long Beach as a Diplomat to gather attention and form alliances."
He shrugged, his expression returning to a calm mask.
"And that would be it. Any questions?"
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Jan 10, 2013 22:31:56 GMT -8
In all likely hood Delilah meant nothing by her casual dismissal of Marcus' concerns. Unfortunatly she still casualy dismissed one of Marcus' concerns which, being the prideful person that he was, stung. Especialy comming from her. Letting out a quiet snort of irritation, Marcus stiffened his jaw.
'Nothing we can do about it huh? Ooooh Lilah, I'ma make you eat dem words, sure as sure.'
But for now, he would let his pride tuck itself in a corner and lick it's wounds while he listened to Orions story, much of which he had heard from the boy himself before back in the early months when he first came to Long Beach.
Still, hearing Narin Carter and Shugo's names made the man's eyes darken and nostrils flare. He had butted heads with the pair, playing a deadly game of chess using the students as pawns way back in his time in 552 during the Civil war. Despite the years, the reminder continued to bring up ghosts of old resentments.
"Your Welcome by the way."
Marcus would mutter, not realizing he had spoken loud enough for the pair to hear.
"Unless there was another Civil war After mine that I didn't know about."
Which could have easily been the case considering how hard Marcus fought to keep his head down and his mind on his studies during his senior year.
When Orion Mentioned Rina, Marcus looked up sharply and opened his mouth, nearly forgetting himself before giving his head a shake and choosing to remain silent. Rina? An Experiment? Well that definatly blew his mind quite thoroughly, she never mentioned that to him before.
'Yeah but you haven't seen her in a damn while. Wonder how the little scamp is doing?'
Marcus wasen't too terribly curious, no offense to Orion, but Delilah would probably want to probe him, so when the lad was done, Marcus kept his silence, eyes darting from The young Engineer to the young glowing lad before shooting around the room looking for shiny things.
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Post by Raikotsu Sudeki on Jan 10, 2013 23:34:47 GMT -8
Marcus would see a spoon.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Jan 14, 2013 20:06:01 GMT -8
Delilah listened with an interested expression, taking Orion's words and picking them apart. The empath bit was intriguing; normally, she was rather good at deciphering people's emotions from their body language, so she had chalked up his emotional output to that. She glanced slide long at Marcus as he spoke up and tipped him a wink that was accompanied by a smirk before facing Orion again.
His personal history was illuminating as well, but what she wanted to hear was about the Experiments.
It was heartening to know that not all Experiments were loyal to Barker. But they were challenged by their lack of normalcy and how the people would react. It made sense, of course...but the little streak of justice in her would not let that stand.
And as a First Crow, maybe it was up to her to lend a hand?
"No, no more questions. But maybe I can help," the chair legs creaked as she slowly rocked it back and forth, still bracing her arms against the back of it. "I think we can organize a little meet and greet with my civilians and troops and your diplomats and such. Help ease some understanding into the 'normal' people and reintroduce the Experiments to society.
"I can grant you and your people unrestricted access to our lands, to use our resources and supplies as if they were our own. It's what I've extended to the Dragons, and so far, things have been improving relation wise."
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Orion
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Posts: 303
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Post by Orion on Jan 17, 2013 13:40:09 GMT -8
"Unless there was another Civil war After mine that I didn't know about."
"There was. I blame Konstantine, Narin, Shugo, and Xavier for not actively being Pillars and thus encouraging our GLORIOUS headmaster to take his own measures, which ended with bombs and terror..."
A simple response to Marcus. He figured the guy would want to know.
"I think we can organize a little meet and greet with my civilians and troops and your diplomats and such. Help ease some understanding into the 'normal' people and reintroduce the Experiments to society.
"I can grant you and your people unrestricted access to our lands, to use our resources and supplies as if they were our own. It's what I've extended to the Dragons, and so far, things have been improving relation wise."
Orion sighed, leaning back.
"Well, see... this is the difficult bit. The meet and greet with your troops with Experiment diplomats? That's what we're doing here. I'm the only diplomat in the Experiments, as anyone else with even the slightest bit of authority are back at the Olympian Apartments, bickering. Some of said persons want to kill me for being here, honestly: they don't like people or the idea that we can work with "normals.
"As for the unrestricted access to land, resource using... The first part is pointless, as they're all hermits. I don't think any Experiment leaves unless it is to do something mission wise. The only exceptions to that is myself, as I wander through all territory without a care, and Rina, who lives near the docks instead of at the apartments. As for resources... those would actually be useful. At least a little bit."
Orion sighed.
"There's sadly not much I can offer you. I can't give you a guarantee that you'll be safe crossing our land: actually, it's the reverse. I can guarantee that you will be attacked if your uncareful. As for resources... the only thing unique is that every Experiment, aside from myself, has some sort of power, a QI. I am unsure as to how powerful they are, but... strong enough."
Orion brought his arms out wide.
"The only thing I can offer you is myself, temporarily. My assistance in matters personally. My repertoire of tricks I can tell you, and you've seen some of my combat abilities first hand."
He brought his arms down, bringing the chair down with him.
"That's it."
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Jan 17, 2013 23:38:50 GMT -8
"There was. I blame Konstantine, Narin, Shugo, and Xavier for not actively being Pillars and thus encouraging our GLORIOUS headmaster to take his own measures, which ended with bombs and terror..."
"Xaier."
Marcus would absent mindedly correct the young man. Xaier was one of the hardest fights Marcus had ever had. Mostly because the man was one of the rare few who could grapple better than he could. No surprise those guys would drop the ball so bad though. Probably busy patting themselves on the back for getting rid of Stien or something like that.
As Delilah and Orion talked shop, Marcus found himself distracted by a SPOON of all things. Tilting his head curiously, he reached over to pick it up, wanting to twirl it around his fingers for alittle while to amuse himself with. Until he rememered what was done to his hands that is. Still, fiddling clumbsily with a spoon was better than nothing. At least he would keep one ear on what was going on between Delilah and Orion.
If Orion was all he could offer, than Marcus at leat would take it, having seen what the young man could do already.
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Post by Delilah A. Black on Jan 18, 2013 0:36:16 GMT -8
Delilah's head tilted thoughtfully to the side as Orion spoke, the wheels turning behind her eyes. It would be difficult, then, to even start forming relations with this group.
Was that going to stop her from trying? No sirree.
"That doesn't leave us with a lot of options," she agreed. "But the offer will still stand, should you ever need to take it. And I don't know if you noticed back there or not--" The metallic coating she had earlier bled up through her skin to cover her hands. "But the vast majority of us aren't exactly 'normal' either. In fact, a few of my close friends are Barker's original Experiments."
She looked over at Marcus and frowned slightly at him "You're gonna make the skin blister, stupid-head," she muttered. Then she reached across the table and took his hands in hers, both of which now coated with the cool metal of her Qi. This wasn't something tender or romantic...Delilah still had a man waiting back at the 'Nest for her, after all. But it was a gesture nonetheless. Her focus switched back to Orion.
"We can still offer aid. Every week, we'll drop off what food and supplies we can at the borders of your lands. If that doesn't intrigue your leaders, then I'm not sure what will.
"In the meantime, I thank you for the offer of your abilities. If you don't think it would strain your responsibilities with the Free Experiments, then I welcome your help gladly."
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Orion
Soldier
Craftsman extraordinaire
Posts: 303
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Post by Orion on Jan 18, 2013 10:27:48 GMT -8
Orion chuckled as Delilah showed off her QI once more.
"Anyone from those damn hellholes we called school can no longer be called normal. Judging by the damage three of us managed to wreck alone..."
He ignored the "moment" between Marcus and Delilah. Not his business, and in any case he would swear his emotions were deadened to the point that he couldn't feel anything. Sometimes he wondered, though. Back to the matter at hand.
"That will, most likely, get their attention at the very least. Beyond that... we'll have to pray. And no, my helping you wouldn't get in the way of my other duties."
Orion considered Delilah's earlier words.
"Actually... maybe you could help me reach the Dragons as well? From what I understand, your on good terms, and that may get me a meeting quicker with one of the Elders. But before that..."
Orion cracked a rare mischievous smile.
"Who wants to have a drinking contest to celebrate our new-found partnership?"
Just to see if they were paying attention to what he actually said. He figured Marcus would agree even if he was; didn't matter, if they agreed, they would find themselves getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter by Orion.
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Post by Raikotsu Sudeki on Jan 18, 2013 18:35:17 GMT -8
As Marcus played with the spoon his hands would start to feel more and more relived instead of his hands blistering they would begin to heal. What is this magical device otherwise known as a Spoon?!?!
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Post by Marcus Prasad on Feb 6, 2013 20:56:58 GMT -8
"Ummmm guys?"
Marcus would intone with much gravitas. Turning slowly to the others with a raised spoon in his now clean and healed hand.
"I have found.......A Magic spoon!"
{{OOC}} Short, sweet and WTF!?!?!?! {ooc}
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