Sector 6

[mistervillainman]

Dimitri grunted as apple after apple slammed into his back, knocking him forward slightly as he struggled to keep Tseng from gaining the upper hand. What the hell was THAT about?

Tseng saw what looked like flying fruit helping him and grinned slightly. Jared must be close... He'd been concerned that Dimitri had already delivered them... which raised another question... Why hadnt he?

Tseng pushed those thoughts away though and focused on the fight at hand. He ducked under a horizontal swipe from the gunblade and did a blitzball-style tackle into Dimitri's midsection, sending both combatants flying through a glass vase cart, sending shattered bits of the former works of art raining down on them.

The pedestrians nearby began looking to see what had happened, but quickly retreated again as both fighters struggled to their feet slowly. Dimitri knew he could out-fight Tseng in open spaces, but close-quarters eliminated his advantage... So he back-flipped out of the circle of carts and bounded up an archway, heading for the rooftop.

Tseng gritted his teeth and pursued quickly, determined not to lose him this time...

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Dimitri had forgotten something fairly important.

Most flat rooftops, such as those found on grocery stores, are covered with gravel for fireproofing.

Jared's body, though still without the benefit of the mind that usually governed it, smiled quietly.

A hail of tiny rocks began pelting the bounty hunter, hitting him everywhere, but aiming mainly for his face, his eyes... any exposed areas.

Then Jared found a somewhat largish piece of rock.

The smile widened.

He hurled it full force at the bounty-hunter's crotch.

[mistervillainman]

Dimitri had realized his mistake as he was bombarded, but had only reacted to protect his eyes sofar... That cost him as the rock slammed right into his crotch, instantly bringing him down to his knees. "OH that little sonova-" but that was as far as he got, because Tseng leapt up onto the roof and grinned.

"I see Jared is having fun with this..." He said smugly.

Dimitri shook his head. "Yeah not for long though."

Dimitri groaned in extreme pain and got to his feet, gimp-running across the roof and leaping to the next one, pulling out his phone in the process, he found the contact for "Doc's shop" and punched it in. The phone rang twice before Doc picked up. "Doc! I need your help FAST. You still got anymore of that dream surpressant stuff you gave my sister?!" He asked, leaping over an air vent and continuing to motor forward.

Tseng was hard-pressed to keep up with him, reguardless of his injury, but he was gaining on him because unlike Dimitri, Tseng didnt have to restrict his movements due to pain in his... manhood.

Doc listened to Dimitri's instructions and hung up, hurrying to mix the appropriate dream surpressant with the mental inhibitor he'd used earlier. He had to use the correct amount, because any more than necessary could seriously damage the kid's mind. If done correctly, the inhibitor combined with the dream surpressant would effectively create a new inhibitor to stop Jared from using his powers.

Doc filled a syringe and injected the coctail right into the IV that he'd hooked into Jared's arm.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

The baby had wailed loudly and shrilly to try warning her brother, but he seemed incapable of responding.

Hope, redfaced and screaming, decided it was time to take matters into her own tiny hands.

The syringe flew out of Doc's hand as the plunger reached the halfway mark and stuck itself into his wrist, pumping out the remains of the thingtail.

She began to clap and giggle.

Now if she could just figure out how to change her own diaper...

****

Jared felt the thingtail's effects beginning to encroach on him. Oh, no, you don't. You aren't clever as you think...

He knew his sister had only bought him a few minutes, but that would be enough... he hoped.

He snagged some more rocks from the roof and kept following the bounty hunter, dropping the load right under his feet to trip him.

[mistervillainman]

Doc didnt even have time to realize what happened, the drugs pumped into his system and before he could even react, he hit the floor and his heart burst in his chest.

-----------

Dimitri slid across the roof and hit the wall hard, grunting again. "Come on Doc what're you doing?" He said to himself, then decided he'd had enough and vaulted over the wall, landing on a fire-escape and immediately headed down, jumping off the last platform onto a dumpster.

Tseng saw Dimitri disappear over the edge and instead of following, moved to cut him off at the pass... He pulled out his machinegun and fired into the roof in a circle, then jumped on it, smashing through into the building. Tseng left the apartment he was now in and pryed open the elevator shaft, jumping in and sliding all the way down the the first floor. He came spriting out the front door just in time to see Dimitri come running out of the alley.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Jared would have gritted his teeth in frustration. There was little he could do in this state, and either way he was far too out of it to keep lending a hand for long...

He put in one last effort before the fog closed in again, shoving the Dumpster as hard as he could...

He found himself trapped inside his own mind again as his powers were cut off.

Aw, man...

****

Hope felt her brother relapse, and worse, she felt the man's soul grow dark... She began to scream again.

[mistervillainman]

Dimitri heard the dumpster move and turned to react... but it just slid a few feet and stopped, Dimitri sighed, relieved. "Thanks" He said to the sky, then turned to leave. Suddenly, Tseng came flying at him and shoulder-checked him right into the side of the neighboring building.

"You dont get off that easily!" He shouted, kicking him in the ribs and then shoving the gunblade away with his foot. Tseng pulled out his EMR and flicked it open, raising it to strike Dimitri's back.

"Neither do you." Dimitri said, gasping as he brought his forearm straight up into Tseng's crotch, resulting in a very high-pitched squeak before Tseng fell down to the sidewalk.

Dimitri dove for his gunblade, with Tseng grabbing hold of his coat and pulling him, trying to keep his enemy away from the weapon. At least until he could get up again... Dimitri kicked at Tseng's hand and managed to get free, snatching his gunblade off the ground and using it to get up. Behind him, Tseng forced himself to fight through the pain and do the same.

The fight had gone on long enough and both of them were tired... So much so that both of them knew that one false move could mean their death. So it was indeed a critical moment now...

Tseng kicked up dirt at Dimitri and rushed forward with his EMR, swinging it into Dimitri's shoulder and knocking him to the right. Dimitri fought to see and swung wildly with his fist, satisfied with the feeling of his knuckles smashing right into Tseng's jaw. Dimitri gripped the gunblade in both hands and did an overhead strike, slamming it down on Tseng's EMR which barely had time to get up to a defensive position. Tseng pushed on the gunblade with his EMR hand, then snatched out with his other to choke Dimitri. Dimitri gasped and clenched his neck to try and breath, but Tseng wouldnt let up, so he used his free hand and began choking Tseng too.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Jared realized something was breaking through the thick darkness... a repetitive, grating sound that made him want to cringe...

Hope. She's crying.

His eyelids twitched. The trank was wearing off.

Hope, I'm coming.

He still felt like his limbs were full of lead... but at least he'd gotten his eyes open.

He turned his head over to find out the source of his sister's cries... and discovered a grown man, stretched out on the floor, stone cold dead.

There could be no doubt about that-- Jared knew what dead looked like.

His eyes rotated towards his sister, whose cries were beginning to ebb into fussing.

He smiled slowly. "Nice work," he managed.

His mental abilities were still impaired, but he knew they would come back when the drugs got out of his system. Right now, the next thing was to try standing up.

The first attempt was not too successful.

Neither were the second and third attempts.

Jared, worn out as all h**l, glared at Hope, who had begun to giggle at his trial and errors. "As if YOU could do better."

Finally, on his fifth go at it, he got his legs under him. He approached the baby and picked her up, edging past the body as he headed for the door.

He turned away from the corpse and smiled at her again. "Mother would be very proud of you."

A laugh bubbled out of the baby's throat.

He slipped outside and began walking slowly, one foot in front of the other, towards the market.

[matt]

"Time... We're in sector six station." Dark Blood didn't often refer to time. "I don't know about the time. But..." Looking at Sarai he monitored her heart rate and breathing patterns as well as her physical condition. "...You've probably been out for about twenty minutes." Blood slammed his fist against the field. Someone help me... Pain was surging through Bloods body while he remained near his dark half.

[mistervillainman]

Dimitri and Tseng both fell to their knees, both still struggling to finish the other off, but both of them absolutely refused to die.

Dimitri's vision began swirling and darkening, Tseng's began to become clouded by red specks floating around, neither of them would hold consciousness for much longer, the only deciding factor was which of them would lose it first...

As fate would have it, Tseng blinked to clear his vision just in time to see Dimitri slump and close his eyes, losing consciousness. Tseng grunted and shoved him away, falling onto his back himself and gasping for air. As his breathing returned to normal after a few minutes, he slowly sat up, crawling over to Dimitri and pulling out the bounty hunter's knife from his belt.

"You were good, I'll give you that... But in the end it just came down to who was stronger..." He said, raising the knife.

Suddenly, Dimitri's eyes shot open and Tseng froze, his eyes going wide with surprise. "Nope, it came down to who was smarter." Dimitri said, then arched his foot back and delivered a bone-shattering kick straight to Tseng's face, breaking his nose and sending the former Turk flying away from him into the dumpster, which was just barely close enough because Jared had moved it earlier. Dimitri rubbed his throat sorely and took a minute to compose himself before finally struggling to his feet.

Tseng was out cold, but he wasnt stupid enough to go check to make sure, he pointed the gunblade right at his face just long enough to take his knife back, (along with all Tseng's guns as well). Dimitri halted a moment before leaving and shook his head at the Turk, lowering the gunblade. "Not the professional thing to do..." He said and made tracks out of there, heading back towards his bike. The pedestrians who had fled before were now speaking to the security division, so Dimitri took the long way around the market to get to his still waiting bike. He mounted it and slowly motored off down the street, heading back to Doc's shop.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

As the bike roared past a newsstand, some crumpled classified papers stirred and finally blew away down the street, to reveal where Jared and his sister had been hiding.

"That was close." He looked down at his sister, who had calmed down considerably, but still appeared to be rather uncomfortable. "We can't be far now."

He kept tracking the vibrations. He had hoped his mental capacities would gradually recover, but instead they only seemed to be slowing down still more. The poison Isis gave me. That must be it.

He finally tracked Tseng down.

He froze with shock. Is he...

No, he's still alive. But he's hurt. A concussion, I think...

He bent down, cradling the baby with one arm. He shook the Turk gently. "Tseng... Tseng, wake up. It's us. Come on, wake up."

[mistervillainman]

Tseng bolted back to consciousness, looking around quickly before realizing it was the kids, he sighed with relief, falling back against the dumpster, moving his jaw around painfully. "That jerk really caught me good... Where were you two? I told you to go one block up, what happened?"

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Jared's eyes dropped. "I'm sorry... the baby started to cry and I knew they'd hear it, so I just ran. I think I panicked... I don't know what got into me..."

He knelt and hugged Tseng, crying with relief. "I was so scared. I thought I'd gotten us all killed... I thought I'd never see you again."

Crying on him... I don't believe this. I'm losing my mind... literally, I think. If I could think straight, this wouldn't be happening... He hung on as another wave of dizziness swept through his mind.

Caught between them, the baby squirmed and gurgled, obviously in a far less negative mood now. The people who kept her safe were with again, and that was all she needed to keep her happy... besides a clean diaper, that is.

[mistervillainman]

Tseng hugged him back, sitting up. This wasnt something he'd expected to see...

"Dont worry about it kid, you did good and I dont care as long as you guys are alright... You ARE alright arent you? What happened to you during the fight?" He asked.

------------------

Dimitri got off the bike and stopped dead... the door was open... Doc hadnt left his door open and unbolted in all the time Dimitri had known him and there was no reason for him to start now...

The bounty hunter grabbed his gunblade from the bike and rushed down the alley to the door, entering and looking around. "Doc! You here?!" He called out.

That was when he saw him... Doc was lying down on the floor, sprawled on his back with a needle stuck in his arm and the kids were nowhere to be found. Dimitri dropped his gunblade to the floor and took two steps forward, but that was as far as he got. He dropped down to his knees, unable to take his eyes off the cold dead form of the closest thing he'd had to a father since his arrival in this god-forsaken world... The one responsible for keeping him and his sister safe all this time... Dimitri's hands curled into fists and he began taking deep breaths, trying to get a grip on himself.

He got to his feet, tearing his eyes away from Doc's body and he slammed his palms down on the table Jared had been placed on. Dimitri dug his nails into the wood, but it didnt work, he lost it.

The usually cool-kat bounty hunter lost control for the first time since... The first time. He turned and grabbed the rack of chemist vials, hurling it across the room, shattering them all over the floor. He kicked the table, sending it flipping over and spilling beakers and a bunson burner to the concrete floor. Dimitri picked up a microscope and smashed it through the window, screaming in rage he hadnt let himself feel since his family was massacred in front of him... He eventually slumped against the second table and slid to a sitting position on the floor, staring at Doc's body again.

Dimitri shook with anger, running a hand through his dishevled hair stressfully... "Okay... The time for being professional is over... I spare his life and they take one from me... Not acceptable." He said to himself, draping a lab coat over Doc before grabbing his gunblade and storming out the door to go search for his enemies... Not his targets... his enemies. The rulebook went out the window with the microscope... now it was personal.

[Amnesty Lazuli]

Jared sat back to collect his thoughts and memories, leaving the baby with Tseng. But the harder he tried to catch his words, the more they seemed to elude him.

He swayed dizzily, unable to tell his muscles to hold him upright... He propped his head on his hand, rocking slightly, squeezing his eyes shut as the spell passed. "I dunno..." he slurred. He coughed, twice, into his sleeve.

Shaking, he tried agian to pull himself together. "I got tranked... but there was something else..." He knocked himself in the head. "C'mon, iddit, think..."

His eyes cleared for a second. "Something else survived. It brought a poison from the motherworld--"

That was as far as he got before he blanked out. He shook his head miserably and started rocking again, feeling like the world was trying to slip out from under him.

The baby began to fuss. If she had learned how to think in words yet, she would have been thinking something along the lines of, Oh, no, not again...