Inn

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno had to laugh to himself... Dude, you got NO idea... He knew very well that Amnesty had spent all the night before "thanking" Squall... Yeah, maybe just to get some of the heat off me, I really WILL tell her... right in front of her boyfriend... this might just be fun... maybe I got a better idea.

He strolled over to Samson's room and leaned on the jamb. "Eh, dude... I'd kick that bag of gil into the pot if I were you... or else I'll give Ami that invitation of yours... right in front of the guy she gave time to LAST night." He had to suppress an open smirk. "Never hide money from a Turk... and never keep secrets from a psychic. That money her parents are shelling out for us... that's everything they got. If they are a hundred gil in the black by the time this week is up, man, that'll help me sleep a little easier... 'savvy'?"

****

Ami rose to greet Dimitri. "Exceedinly punctual... I like that." She met him with a hug for an ally she had been a few days lacking. "Anyway, try prying that lead I mentioned out of my brother... he's being all cryptic again, he won't tell me about it."

Kadaj watched her silently... We can't afford to underestimate this boy. I won't be sharing any secrets until I absolutely have to, not while he isn't secure.

"But first, let's discuss your fee. What do you usually charge for this kind of thing?" Ami asked.

Rude facepalmed himself and advanced. The girl is digging herself into a hole here. Dimitri's not a bad guy... but he's still a professional. I don't trust professionals... I used to BE one. "As self-appointed chancellor of the chequer, any financial arrangements will be made with me. Make a proposal."

[mistervillainman]

Dimitri took a seat across from the gathered group and placed his hands down on the table, looking at them one at a time as he spoke.

"It depends, what exactly does the job entail? Am I going to be fetching the kid? Am I going to be killing Tseng? Am I going to be doing both? A retrieval job costs 2000, assassination jobs cost 4000. If the kid is going to be hostile I tack on an extra 500 for the extra risk associated with grabbing someone against their will and trying to keep BOTH of us alive to the end of the job."

[lutz]

Samson looked over at his door.
BLAST! those damn Turks....oh well I suppose I should do a few good deeds...
Samson walked over to the door and through the bag of Gil into Reno's face.
"haha Amnesty has a boy friend, big deal....ladies like a little bad boy sometimes! hehe"
Samson grinned and slammed the door behind him.
"tell her or don't tell her see if I care.....But do let me know when we are leaving!"
*******************************

Abel sat waiting for his food.
I can't wait to eat a big fat steak....oooo its been so long!
then a vision popped into his mind, a vision of a Sarsha Shaman waiting outside, then the vision faded away and he hear the name Aztar whispter in his ear.
Aztar?.....who the hell is Aztar?
******************************

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno smirked as he got the bag of gold, grinning at Samson's irritation as the door slammed. "Will do, Cap."

He did a little fist pump of triumph and whistled the victory tune (Ami and Loz's ringtone) to himself as he headed out to the main area. "Oh yeah... I AM the man!"

He strolled up behind Rude and dropped the bag onto the table in front of him. "Check it out, partner-- hundred gil, tax free."

Rude did a double take. "Where did you get this?"

Reno grinned. "Would you believe, a cow laid an egg on the roof?" He looked around and saw only confusion. "Never mind... inside joke. You had to be there, yo."

Rude shrugged and pulled the bag off the table. "Speaking of which... The job should merely entail retrieval of the boy. Yes, he IS hostile... consider him armed and dangerous. Tseng is fairly formidable as well-- as you know from experience-- but assassination should not be necessary." At least, I hope not. "There are a few other details you should be briefed on before you decide to accept this contract... but I warn you, if these details go outside this room after I disclose them to you, the bounty will be on YOUR head." Rude sat back. "The boy... is the son of Rufus Shinra, recently deceased, and S15-Xima, a genetic experiment derived from the Jenova Project, also deceased. His full potential is unknown, but we can assume it is great enough to make him a threat, even to fully trained fighters five times his age. He will most likely be protecting his sister, an infant named Jenova, after the Calamity. Considering the risks involved, I would normally consider your fee reasonable. But extenuating circumstances require me to at least make a token effort at having you reduce your price."

Amnesty gave Rude a look... I told him price was no object.

Rude waved her down. I know what I'm doing. He turned back to Dimitri. "If we can settle on a price... do you accept?"

[mistervillainman]

"It doesnt matter to me who the kid is and as with any contract I undertake, there is always a confidentiality agreement. As for payment... I'll accept whatever you can afford of the fee right now and you can pay me the rest when the job is complete. HOWEVER... as a security measure for myself, expenses I incure during the job will be paid for by you upon its completion, mostly this will consist of gas for my bike and tranquilizer for the boy. And the kid does not leave my custody until I recieve full payment for the job. The expenses fees we can figure out afterwards though." He said. "Also, am I supposed to be snatching BOTH kids or just the boy?"

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Ami, Rude, and Reno exchanged looks. "Both," Rude spoke for the group. "However, as her retrieval will not pose any additional difficulties to you-- except the expense of her care, of course-- we are willing to pay your initally proposed fee of $2,500 as well as business and personal expenses. Your terms are acceptable-- we are prepared to pay half your fee up front."

Reno nodded. A two for one sale. Let's see if he goes for it, partner.

"And for the record... you SHOULD care who the kid is," Ami added. "The blood he has in him means he could very well decide this planet's future when he's old enough."

Rude glared at her. She made a face in return. What?

Rude shook his head. I guess Remnants aren't designed for haggling. We'll be lucky now if Dimitri doesn't sell the kid to the highest bidder, let alone drive down his price.

[mistervillainman]

Dimitri thought it over a minute. It went against his better instincts... the ones that kept reminding him the rent was due... but he had made up his mind.

"Yes well, I cant charge you for what the kid might BECOME. So I'll accept the terms and take the job."

He would be mentally kicking himself for the next few hours.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Reno almost sighed in relief... That was very nearly financial suicide.

Ami beamed at Dimitri and hugged him again. "Thanks... you have NO idea how important this is."

Rude merely watched her reaction... Thank G** for that much.

Kadaj tapped Ami again. "Allow me to confer with our bounty hunter friend in private for a moment."

Ami smirked. "Never knew you swung that way, brother."

He stiffened irritably, swallowing curses like dinner mints. Ami backed off, knowing THAT look meant no more trifles.

He watched her get to a respectable distance. "About that lead I had her mention..." He lowered his voice, almost conspiratorially. "I can mentally link with the boy... but only for a few moments. He can usually block me because he knows my mental signature... but my consciousness was altered recently, and I might be able to reach him before he detects me and adapts to shut my signature out again. It happened last night while I was ill and my mentality was tampered with... it was tampered with again a few hours later."

[matt]

Sitting up in his bed Blood listened to the conversation in the other room. Thats a lot of gil. I wonder if they can afford it. Reaching into his bag he dug out the last of his gil. 78 gil. That wouldn't help much .

Unkowns blade clashed with the young man's, causing sparks to fly into the bushes. Asuka stumbled backwards as the bush caught fire and drew two of her kunai. Hurling one at the man( which caused a large gash in his cheek), Asuka charged forwards and clashed with the man's second blade.
"He he... he's pretty good" Asuka laughed as she struck the man with lightling, which was deflected back at her by the man's blade sending her crashing into the side of a tree. "Owww.... that always works on Akira..."
Unknown used Asuka's diversion to ram himself into the man, and pierce his throat with his blade. The mans wounds quickly healed, as he seemed to be taking no damage from the blows.

Back at the Inn, Blood found himself in a sudden rush of pain. His cheek split open, and his throat was pierced. "What's happening..." Blood dropped the gil on the floor as he struggled for air.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Yazoo heard something... it sounded like someone dropping a lot of coins, and then a heavy thud... Otherwise unoccupied for the moment, he looked for the course of the sound, motioning Loz to follow.

He pushed open Blood's coor quietly and found the boy bleeding and broken. He moved forward automatically, grabbing a decor pillow from a corner chair and pushing it against the boy's throat to stem the bleeding. "Loz, get Reno," Yazoo ordered, supporting the boy.

Loz turned and made a beeline for the ex-Turk, who was trying to return to his breakfast (while mooching a little coffee from his partner). "Reno?"

"Kinda busy here, bruiser," he cut him off.

"But Blood..."

"Is a big boy who can take care of himself while I help myself a little coffee," Reno argued.

"While you help yourself to MY coffee, you mean," Rude grumped, snatching the mug away. "Go see about the kid."

Reno rolled his eyes and muttered darkly as Loz dragged him back to Blood's room... His reluctance gave way to shock, however, when he saw the red-soaked pillow. "What the h**l..."

He moved in and began healing the boy... again. "Something tells me this ain't your average razor burn, yo." He felt the psychic sting at the back of his head again... he turned to Yazoo. "Did you..."

Yazoo nodded... he had the empathetic gift, and right now he was sensing some major tension from not too far away. He headed out to investigate, grabbing his melee pistols on the
way...

He spotted Asuka and Unknown fighting... Blood? Wait a second... this is getting familiar. Like how the Puppeteer transferred his wounds to Nikky...

He got between the combatants. "Hold on," he prompted, summoning a few Shadowcreepers to both protect the dark figure and prevent him from doing anything cute. "Who the h**l are you?"

[matt]

The man grinned as he dropped his guard. "Don't you recognise me... I'm Blood" grinning a sinister expression crossed the mans face as he lifted his blade again. "...And once I take control of my other half... I will have control over all of my powers... I am the result of his misuse of the dark arts... So, if you have no further business with me, I will take what is rightfully mine!"
At that moment the mans sword sent itself spiraling towards Unknown, the parried it easily to see the man half way towards the inn, as the shadow creepers suddenly turned on him and Asuka.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile at the inn, Blood felt a dark prescence coming closer. Unable to do much but wait, Blood reached for his blade, in no condition to fight anyway, but it made him feel safer.

"Soon I will take what is rightfully mine, and become whole again."

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Ami left Kadaj and Dimitri to their own counsel, returning to Rude, who was counting out the gil Dimitri would require. "Any sign of the sky pirates yet?"

He hitched a thumb over at the bar... Abel was munching a steak. Ami blinked... she had been so busy dealing with Dimitri that she hadn't noticed him come in. "I'll confer with him AFTER he gets a bite... 'till then, I have certain pressing matters with my brothers to deal with."

She wandered off to find her other brothers for the express purpose of threatening to chew their heads off if they mentioned the previous nights events to their parents, who were thankfully still in bed. I still don't know how I'm going to convince Mom and Dad to go home... and NOT take all their funds with them... Maybe I'll have Kadaj or Yazoo talk to them... they're supposed to be older and wiser... plus Yazoo could talk the legs off a horse and then persuade him to go for a walk afterwards...

She found Loz in Blood's room, along with Reno, who had just finished patching the boy up. "Blood? Are you OK?" She shot Loz a look that meant, As soon as I'm done talking to them... you and I get to have a serious discussion.

Loz groaned inwardly... he hated serious discussions.

Reno nodded. "We got some kind of weirdo around transferring injuries to him, so far as his vibes are telling me."

"The Puppetmaster?" That'd be all we needed...

Reno shook his head. "Wrong signature, yo."

Ami peered outside the window... she spotted her brother... fighting AGAINST three Shadowcreepers?

****

It went against Yazoo's grain, but he reminded himself that technically Shadowcreepers could not be hurt-- they were a Summon, so there was no real way to kill them. He fired away at his former allies, destroying them in short order. He then turned his attention back to Dark Blood, pursuing him back to the Inn and sniping at him...

****

Ami braced herself. This fellow looked distinctly familiar. "I'm getting officially sick of evil twins, guys."

She returned to Squall's room, where she had left her Puppeteer blade. This thing is REALLY not my style... I'll need new weapons soon.

She glanced at the tousled sheets on the bed and could not keep herself from grinning... Just make it through the day, girl.

Ami took the blade in hand and waited in the common area by the entrance... "Guys, I think we're gonna have company."

[Squall]

Squall headed towards a window near the door and peered through the drapes to look outside. Wish id been listening! I dont even know what Im looking for! Squall gazed up and down the street, not spotting anything out of the ordinary he turned and looked back into the room. Im so lost! Squall took his hand from his gunblade and ran it through his hair, sighing and looking outside again. " Hey... Who is that?!" squall said sternly, spotting a familiar figure

[Amnesty Lazuli]

It clicked in Ami's mind as she added two and two together. "Looks like Blood has a new friend. A double!"

****

Yazoo kept blasting away, but he wasn't even slowing the kid down... Loz, I need backup.

Coming right up...

He left Reno with the kid, failing to offer explanation, and made directly for the door. He charged out swinging, ready to meet whoever --or whatever-- this new threat was... He was almost shocked. A kid? Wait... that's not just any kid...

He charged up the Dual Hound and swung it at the boy like a wrecking ball.

[Squall]

" Hey whats happening?... HEY!" Squall got no response as Loz disappeared outside, " If this is because of me and Ami... Christ grow up!" Squall looked desperately around the room, Stop daydreaming about Ami and do somethign! Squall took out his gunblade and walked through the door, standing just outside and watching loz charge off... Towards a kid! This is one of those moments... Squall looked around, time moved in a kind of slow motion as he gazed around, things seemed so peaceful, everything seemed normal, and then Squall gazed up the two brothers attacking a young kid. ... nuts