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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 14, 2007 8:10:59 GMT
Jared didn't know when he had lost consciousness, but he found himself crumpled on the wooden floor. And he heard Dimitri calling him out... He dragged himself to the gap in the door and saw him holding a bundle. His already decelerating heart nearly stopped.
Hope... oh, please, no...
He felt like his limbs were filled with lead, but he still managed to stand and take one step out onto the snowy, cracked to pieces sidewalk...
"Let her alone, b*****d," he wheezed before the combined effects of the trank dart and the memetic toxin sent him into unconsciousness. The toxin materia fell out of his pocket and rolled across the road directly to Dimitri's feet. The baby wailed loudly, feeling the nausea the orb provoked in her, but not in Dimitri...
****
Sarai was waiting for another volley of bullets, but it didn't come. Instead, she heard a hollow thud and saw an explosive roll to her feet.
"S**t," she muttered, going for broke and making a run for it.
A blast sounded behind her, sending her off-balance. She slipped on an ice patch and slammed head-first into a brick wall... she lay dazed in the snow, trying to tell her limbs to bring her back to an upright position, but they didn't seem to be listening at the moment... I cannot let him outdo me again... D**N THIS!
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 14, 2007 8:21:46 GMT
Dimitri kicked the orb aside after noting the effect it had on the baby and headed over to Jared, pushing his weapon aside and injecting slightly more of the tranqualizer into him just to make sure he stayed under. He then picked him up and carried both of them out to the bike. Securing the baby in a car-seat like attachment and tying Jared up in the rear seat. He heard the explosion and almost grinned, ALMOST.
"Well I'll leave them to their little reunion..." He said, driving off down the highway back towards the main square of Midgar, pulling out his cellphone as he did. He dialed in the number Kadaj had given him and waited for someone to pick up.
---------------------
Tseng got up immediately and ran over to Sarai, kicking her weapon away from her and putting his gun to her chin, but careful to stay away from her limbs. "Why did you come back? Hmm? Especially NOW of all times?"
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 14, 2007 8:34:07 GMT
Sarai, still dizzy, collected herself enough to glare up at Tseng. "My mission has two main objectives. First, locate those responsible for the murder of Rufus Shinra and eliminate on sight." She turned her head to the side and spat out blood from a cut lip. SHe returned her hateful gaze to Tseng. "Second, determine validity of his rumored heirs and return them to Shinra Corporation for genetic verification. Do you honestly think we'd let two legitimate successors to Rufus Shinra run loose... especially under the protection of someone who could easily be implicated in said murder? Oh, I know you wouldn't have killed Rufus, of course... but try telling that to the Board of Directors and see what they do to you."
She slid her hand to her side and abruptly drew her EMR, swinging it at Tseng's head...
****
The signal on Dimitri's phone told him that the number was beyond range (something of an understatement, considering the circumstances).
Jared stirred in his seat as terrible images careened through his brain... war, death, tragedy, the destruction of a distant world... but all those lost to the slaughter, the unending blood feud, suddenly wore faces that belonged to his family... he shuddered and whimpered, tears draining out of his sleeping eyes.
The baby screamed, sensing her brother's distress. Something here was extremely wrong... The long absence of her parents and the sudden introduction of this new figure were more than enough to indicate that, but now the only familiar thing she knew was now also hovering inches from destruction...
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 14, 2007 8:43:36 GMT
Tseng jerked his face back and his hand shot out like a viper, snatching her wrist in an iron grip. "Sarai... You really should know better." He said, twisting her wrist until she dropped the EMR. "Afraid I cant let you take us in though... Cause the kid is gonna take his rightful place when he's ready, then we wont have to worry about the board. Think about it for heaven's sake. Why would I go against the Shinra family? Hmm? You may not like me, but you know me better than that."
---------------------
Dimitri cursed silently, shutting the screen on the phone. "Perfect... Just perfect." He said, pulling over after a moment to check the kids. "Cant be the drugs, they wouldnt affect him in any way other than Doc said... Something else is wrong with this one... Question is... What do I do about it?"
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 14, 2007 8:52:33 GMT
Sarai grimaced in pain, but she still twisted her face into an evil smirk... "Of course I do... you're missing my point, Tseng... who do you think put the idea into their heads to begin with...?" She would have continued, but her wrist felt ready to snap, and the pain stole her voice as she gritted her teeth against the cry of agony fighting to come out. Provoking him was never a good idea in the past and probably still isn't a good idea now, but d**n me if it isn't fun to watch his reactions.
****
Jared fidgeted as his nightmares' intensity increased... his brain felt like it was splintering... he started breaking into cold sweats... the baby kept wailing, only wanting to be safe again...
Images of the Shinra safe house flickered into Dimitri's mind. The baby did not know her own strength, and her emotional stress was triggering her embryonic telepathy, but it was too much for someone so small... her wails suddenly carried more pain than fear...
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 14, 2007 9:01:20 GMT
Dimitri blinked confusedly. "Well it would have been nice for SOMEONE to mention that they had psychic powers..." He said, trying to come up with a strategy as he hopped on the bike and sped off with the wailing infant and the ever worsening boy.
--------------------
Tseng ground his teeth together. "You stupid greedy self-centered..." He started, but nothing could have expressed his rage as it was. "You like playing games? Well thats good, I've got one for you..." He said, dragging her by her wrist up the block all the way to the railroad tracks. He found a spike directly in the middle of them and handcuffed Sarai to it. The rails were spaced so that while stuck to the center, at least half her body would still be on the track even if she stretched as far as she could when the train came. He then quickly frisked her and took anything she could use to pick the cuffs and left her there. "The object of the game is to try to win a staring contest with a bullet train." He said simply, stealing her bike to pursue Dimitri...
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 14, 2007 9:23:08 GMT
Sarai watched him walk away, almost wanting to scream, but unwilling to give him the satisfaction. "D**n him..." she said under her breath... That was a bit more "reaction" than I was expecting.
She began to twist and writhe. I don't know when the next train comes... and I don't intend to find out.
After a few minutes of squirming, she finally forced her cell to fall out of her pocket... but she couldn't work out a way to open it without using her hands. She tried bending herself double to get it into her mouth, but couldn't quite reach it...
Suddenly she observed two tall shadows falling over her. Eyes wide, she gaped up at the pair casting them. "Oh, my G**..."
"I doubt He's listening to you," said the shorter figure as the taller one pounced, pinning Sarai down securely. She began to buck and scream as loudly as possible, forgetting her pride now...
Isis approached with a twisted grin on her face, raising her hood to reveal her Patran features... Sarai's screams took on a higher pitch...
Isis extracted a vial of black sludge from her tunic. "Shut her up, Horus!"
He clapped his brick-like hand over her mouth, effectively muffling her. Isis unscrewed the cap from the vial and held it to her forehead, allowing a strange amber glow to inundate it. Sarai's eyes widened...
Horus forced Sarai's mouth open, and she tried to pull it closed again. No use. She screamed again, but the scream was quickly muffled by the sludge, with its tar-like consistency, sliding down her throat... Horus held her nose, and eventually, Sarai was forced to make a choice: swallow or suffocate.
She swallowed, and everything went black.
A few moments later, Isis sat back, exceedingly satisifed with her handiwork. Sarai's set of memories and motivations had been neither erased nor replaced, but merely adjusted and amplified somewhat for Isis' purposes. She pulled back Sarai's eyelids to assure herself the formula had taken effect, and thusly assured, let them drop. "The concentrate should last up to eighteen hours." Carefully, she took a pair of sunglasses out of Sarai's coat pocket, sliding them onto her face to disguise one of the more obvious side effects of the concentrate...
Horus heard a distant train. "Isis, we should go."
The female Patran nodded. "Unbind her."
With one hand, he yanked loose the handcuffs. He placed Sarai several feet away from the track, leaving her to lie there.
Isis smiled as she and Horus strolled casually away from the scene. "This may work out even better than I had planned," she confided.
Horus was silent... he had quite a lot on his mind, a few things that Isis would absolutely not approve of if she decided to probe deeper and learn about them.
Long after they disappeared, Sarai continued lay still, stretched out on the freezing ground, the splintered remains of her cell (demolished by the passing train) still lying on the tracks.
****
Lost in his own mind, Jared kept searching for a way out of this horrorland... the sound of one motorcycle joined the first, and familiar vibrations accompanied the noise... Tseng.
If he had still been conscious, he might have called for help. He had sunk so far that none of his fear or pride could have stopped him from begging anyone to set him free...
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Post by matt on Jan 15, 2007 19:18:37 GMT
As dark Blood passed through the sector he was wasting no time on stealth. Blood was now concious and in no condition to fight. Watching for a moment Jareds' pain, Dark Blood considered helping him. Dropping down Dark Blood sent a psychic wave at Jared and attempted to restored him to his normal state. Seeing this had little effect Dark Blood entered Jareds mind. Now inside Jared's mind Dark Blood began to find the source of Jareds pain.
Sensing a dark hatred within the boy dark blood created a field around him and Blood and headed towards the train tracks where he sensed another dark prescence. Looking at the passed out body he heard another train coming. She could be useful Dark Blood contemplated as he lifted her off of the tracks. Hearing loud noises coming from near Jareds location he realised that the boy may not have been alone, and headed back there with the villainess over his shoulder. Attempting to restore Sarai to her normal state Dark Blood stopped by the field holding Blood and the boy.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 15, 2007 19:38:29 GMT
((Matt, not to be picky, mate, but I'd be really happy if you started to read back in the threads a little more carefully.
Jared is on a MOVING MOTORCYCLE with Dimitri the bounty hunter. There is no way Blood or even Dark Blood could have gotten hold of him.
Sarai was already off the tracks, but that's a minor detail... I'll just assume he got her from wherever Horus left her.
Everybody slips up now and again, so I'll try and be relaxed about it... but dude, you've SERIOUSLY got to pay better attention.
Carrying on...))
Sarai stirred, realizing someone was carrying her over his shoulder. Naturally, as the last thing she remembered was a pair of silver-haired terrors looming over her, she began to kick and scream like a banshee. "Leave me alone! PUT ME DOWN!"
Suddenly she retched... She rolled off Dark Blood's shoulder into the dirty snow and began to throw up violently.
This day just keeps getting better and better...
When her nausea had spent itself, she looked wearily up at the person who had taken her away from tracks. She blinked in surprise. "You aren't the one who..." She heaved again, but managed to recover herself. She dragged herself up to her feet with the few tattered shreds of dignity she had left. "My name is Sarai Bar-Terah. And you would be?"
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Post by matt on Jan 15, 2007 19:42:38 GMT
(((Sorry... whoops. Ignore the Jared bit then.)))
"My name is Blood" Dark Blood responded. Stepping back a bit he casted esuna on her, unsure if it would help or not. "Feeling better?" Dark Blood asked in a caring yet somehow cold voice. Blood slammed his hand against the field as Dark Blood strengthened it.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 15, 2007 19:51:26 GMT
((What the h**l is esuna?
I'm no materia expert... most of the materia I use, I made up.))
Sarai glared over at the mess she had left and kicked some snow over it. "Perfect waste of an Eggs Benedict," she muttered. "Somewhat, thank you. May I inquire as to our exact location and the approximate local time?" She had no idea whether she had been out for twenty minutes or twenty years. (Ironically, her first guess was the correct one... it had been almost EXACTLY twenty minutes since the Patran attack.) She kept a wary eye open... she had no idea where those two freaks had gotten off to, or whether or not they intended to return for her... "Could you speed it up, please? I'm in something of a hurry, young man."
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 16, 2007 6:44:09 GMT
"So can you explain to me what the hell is wrong with him then?" Dimitri asked Doc as he looked Jared over. Doc scratched his chin thoughtfully and began mixing a few chemicals again as he did before.
"I think I may have an idea..." He said to himself more than to Dimitri.
"Well that makes one of us then, cause as of now I have no contact and no dropoff point, so if I want to get paid, I have to hold onto these kids and keep them in GOOD health until contact is re-established."
Doc had stopped paying attention completely and finished mixing the concoction he'd been working on. "Alright, this should help him a bit... At least make him feel better, I dunno whats actually WRONG with him, but the pain should help. Its a psychotropic inhibitor, I made it with drugs specially designed for use on psychics. Any mental activity goin' on in this kid's head is going to basically get the same kind of treatment your mouth does at a dentist. No pain."
Dimitri sighed, relieved that the kid would at least be stable for awhile. "Well I'll be back in about a half hour, I'm gonna run to town and pick up some supplies." Dimitri said, heading out to his bike. "Call me if you need me." He said as he exited the building.
Doc shook his head. "Well wouldnt ya know it... Head of the SOLDIER medical division to babysitter in less than 5 years... its a cryin' shame I tell ya."
----------------
Tseng was sick of running. He had been sprinting in the direction Dimitri had taken off in for about an hour already and was done with it. After Sarai's bike had crapped out on him, he'd been stuck without transport on an empty road and was now just getting into another town. He went out into the middle of the town's road and waited for a bike to go by, then as it passed him, he stuck his arm out and clotheslined the rider right off it. "I need your bike..." He said quickly as he picked up the downed vehicle. Tseng slung his gun onto his back, mounted the bike, and sped off, now at a much faster pace than walking...
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 16, 2007 6:59:24 GMT
The bike rider stood up and cursed loudly, just in time to get nailed in the small of the back by a passing chocobo. But that's another story.
****
Jared's nightmares had relented, and now he found himself in a dark, thick fog. Flashes of amber sparked along frayed wires... Wait a minute. Those aren't wires. Those are nerve cells... neurons... synapses. That materia I got from the amber-eyed Seraph, that Isis... it was a trick. She wanted to kill me.
I was right to not trust her... but when I felt Tseng coming, I was ready to scream for help.
What does that mean?
It doesn't matter. I've GOT to get out of here. G** knows what that creep is doing to Hope right now...
****
Hope kept whimpering. No cries or wails would help her here, she could tell.
She wanted her brother. But he was asleep and wouldn't wake up.
Then a familiar vibration came from a distance, and her cries picked up in volume...
****
Jared felt the vibrations deep within his mind and he redoubled his efforts to escape. Where are you? Get me out of here!
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Post by mistervillainman on Jan 16, 2007 7:07:27 GMT
Dimitri pulled up to the market and parked his bike outside the roped-off area, heading in to get food for the baby and something for Jared to eat... whenever he came around. As he moved through the carts, the crowd was large, so he had to squeeze past people and then he bumped into someone... That someone just happened to be Tseng.
"YOU!" The former Turk said incredilously.
Dimirti swore under his breath and didnt waste time responding, he just delivered a massive punch right to Tseng's sternum, knocking him backwards into the crowd of people behind him. The Turk wasnt about to go down that easily though. He fought through the need to breath and forced himself up, gasping in a quick lungful of breath (painful as it was) and launched himself back at the bounty hunter. Dimitri braced himself and grabbed hold of Tseng as they struck each other. The two delivered punches to each other, trying to knock the other one off-balance. As the battle went on, the crowds began running for cover, feeling that as was usual... This was going to get bloody.
Dimitri took a massive smash to his jaw and was spun completely around. Tseng took advantage and snapped out his EMR, rushing at his foe swinging. Dimitri just barely managed to catch Tseng's wrist with his boot, giving him enough time before Tseng's counter-attack to draw his gunblade and block it. Tseng popped out his second EMR and the two dueled fiercely, smashing through carts of food and sending the occasional pedestrian flying.
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Post by Amnesty Lazuli on Jan 16, 2007 7:13:31 GMT
Jared felt the flood of hostility, the rush of adrenaline, and he knew a fight was on...
I need to do something.
He gingerly reached out with his mind... no pain yet. But he still couldn't pull himself into consciousness.
He reached farther, as he had with his father on the test range, shooting at the distant test dummy.
How far can I go... hopefully, a lot farther than this...
****
A cowering grocery shopper, a tangle-haired nineteen-year-old girl who had moments ago been shopping for apples, suddenly performed a very satisfying double take.
At least a dozen Granny Smiths, under no obvious external influence, were shooting directly at the guy with the gunblade, hurled faster than rocks from a sling.
****
So, THAT's how far... Jared's mind was starting to sting and throb again, but he had to risk it.
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