Fantasy Anything Goes

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria nods and looks down at her hands resting on the bar. She sighs and looks back at him. "If he is so terrible, why'd you listen to him? What if he was lying?"

 

[OmegaFang232]

He shook his head and spoke slowly, choosing his words with care. There was no short or easy answer. "Tsatsu and I have this twin thing going on. We can almost tell what the other is thinking or doing, sometimes." He explained as he fumbled through his pockets in search of a cigarette. "Usually he goes to war zones or places of really spooky nature. So it struck my curiosity for two reasons. Firstly, he stayed here for five hours and even had drinks. Why would he stay in such a happy place like this? And secondly, he hates cute stuff, and yet he didn't turn this place into moon dust. Why?" He said as he rose to his feet and clenched a cigarette between his teeth, gesturing for her to join him outside. "Seriously, he hates cute things. When we were little, our parents took us to Disney World once. He tried to set Cinderella on fire and attempted to trade Mickey Mouse's soul to a demon in exchange for immortality. We didn't stay long after that part."

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria gets out of her seat and goes outside with him. "Guess he wouldn't like me then," she says teasingly. "I'm pretty cute, aren't I?" She nudges him in the side with her elbow.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He simply winked in reply as he struck an old, battered zippo lighter and lit his cigarette, taking a seat on the patio and exhaling over his shoulder. She didn't seem to mind, but he didn't want to be rude. "Tsatsu's the type of person who'd burn down a Build-A-Bear Workshop on Valentine's Day, and use the flames to make S'mores out of the survivors, just to "artistically express" his deep rooted hatred for the word 'love'. He's.....he's a little bent. I wish I could say he's adopted, but God's not without a sense of irony, I suppose." He said as he took a long drag and exhaled the smoke through his nose.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria laughs. "At least you have a sibiling, even if you wish he was adopted." She sits down next to him and looks at the sky.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He tilted his head to the side in curiosity. "You're the only child?" He inquired, curious as to what she was contemplating. True, Tsatsu could be destructive at times, but deep down, he wouldn't trade the boy for the world. They'd travelled together on several occassions, and even crossed paths once or twice. Each time the two had gotten into some sort of hijinks and made absolute fools of themselves, but they were fond memories all the same. To say they'd led a charmed life would be an understatement.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria nods. "I'm an only child. I might have a half-sibiling somewhere, but I have no idea. I wouldn't even know where to begin looking."

 

[OmegaFang232]

He sat for a moment, smoking and thinking deeply. Tsatsu had often made remarks about going on a real adventure, like he'd done in the military. Shinu envied his brother, in a way, and often found himself in agreement. Going on an actual mission, with a really good plan, and a goal to strive towards. Such daydreams had often found their way into his thoughts, just as they did now. "It is not what we seek in life, but what we find." He said aloud as he finished his cigarette. More often than not, whenever he'd set out to find something, he'd never succeeded. But when he allowed adventure to find him, somehow it never failed.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria smiles. "It is hard to find anything if you can never get away." She sighs and looks up and down the street. "I suppose I could leave whenever I wanted, but I don't know where I would go. Don't know what I would do."

 

[OmegaFang232]

He smirked as he gazed up at the sky, letting the breeze ruffle his snowy white hair as he spoke. "Does a bird? No. The bird goes where it pleases." He said with a wise tone. He'd never cared where he went or what he had to do, only that he arrived safely and enjoyed his living. He'd seen the good and bad of life, and he would trade few of those memories for anything. He'd trade Afghanistan and Chechnya, sure, but those were not places that God or the Devil dared to tread. He silently swore an oath to himself that if he ever returned to either of those places, to save his brother or not, his mother would be very upset at the beating he would visit upon whoever or whatever demanded his presence.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

"I'm not a bird," Victoria says simply. She begins to pace back and forth, suddenly anxious and restless.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He raised an eyebrow as she began to pace. Had he upset her with a mere metaphor? Snuffing out the cigarette between his fingers, he rose to his feet and kept a watchful eye on her. "What is it?" He asked. Was she going to change again?

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria doesn't answer; she just continues to pace up and down. She keeps her gaze focused intently on her feet.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He knew something wasn't right, but he could not determine exactly what it was. And so, he did the only thing he could think of. Letting his eyes drift shut, he began to slip into somewhat of a meditative state, humming in a low tone similar to the acient monks of lore. Gradually, and with measured intervals, he began to channel his energy into his surroundings, creating a cool and soothing feeling in the world around him. It wasn't much, nor did it reach far, but he had to do something. If she was upset, perhaps this would help her. If she was on the verge of changing, he sincerely hoped his efforts would be enough to hold her back until he could get her away from the town.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria takes a deep breath and stops momentarily, trying to calm herself down. Despite her and Jack's efforts, a growl escapes from her throat and her eyes become more cat-like.

 

[OmegaFang232]

It always started when the wind changed direction. That was his superstition, his way of telling when things were about to go very badly. And the wind had just changed from east to south. His eyes shot open and he locked his gaze with Victoria's, knowing full and well what was about to happen. One of two animals was about to be set loose on the town, and it was going to take every trick in his playbook to get out of this. With careful movements, he stepped back a few paces, creating a good distance between them as he mentally did the mathematics. He had plenty of room to maneuver, one hell of a hand cannon, and a 50/50 chance of making it to the countryside without any innocent bustanders getting hurt. He'd try to calm her down and let her burn some steam with the effort of chasing him, but if she wanted to hurt the closest thing she could find, he'd have to resort to more drastic measures. He'd sold the forge master one of two pistols. The one he'd kept was infused with blood magic and the language of his species, and he called it The Absolution for a reason. The gun had not found a target it could not subdue or outright kill, if the need arose. It was a last resort, but it was the last word in handheld firepower. And he sincerely prayed that he would not need it today.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Inky black wings sprout from Victoria's back and her transformation begins. Once again, long, sharp talons grew from her fingers and her skin melted away into scales. Her muscles stretched and twisted as she grew larger. Once the change had been completed, she falls onto all four of her legs, leaving large impressions into the road beneath her. She looks down at Jack and releases a load roar.

 

[OmegaFang232]

"Ooh shit." He mumbled to himself. He stared back at her, unafraid but thinking rapidly. He had to take this somewhere safe. If she wanted to fit, then so be it. With a strength that left small craters in the stone beneath his feet, he shot forward like a bullet and darted between her legs, running for dear life as he shouted over his shoulder. "Damn it, not in front of the kids!"


With an agility that nearly escaped the human eye he leaped, bounded, and tumbled his way through town; implementing every scrap of parcour and free-running knowledge he had to his name.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria turns and starts after him, having some trouble manouvering between the buildings. She growls and swings her tail, knocking in the side of a building to her right. People pour from the building, screaming and trying to get away. Victoria snaps at them. Once again, the building was blocking her way. Her neck was not long enough to reach around the building. She roars again and leaps off the ground, taking flight.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He ran as quickly as his legs could carry him, leading her out into the countryside. He'd tend to the wounded later, once he had the situation contained. With nomble fingers, he fetched Absolution from his bag and broke open the chamber of the gun. He had no intention of killing her, but it was certainly going to take a very powerful bullet to subdue Victoria. He jammed an ebony cartridge into the breech and slammed the gun closed, locking the barrel to the reciever. Once he'd reached a safe distance, he skidded to a halt and turned, taking aim with a decent amount of uncertainty. A Purifier cartridge would normally cause a shifter to revert back to their normal state, but it wasn't always a guarantee, and the Absolution's enchantments had a tendency to deliver a round at higher velocities than normal. He'd seen the gun propel paint slugs at velocities strong enough to dent a tank's armor, but ultimately it depended on the user. He calmed himself as best he could, so as not to feed the weapon any extra energy. He needed the round to shatter against her scales and spread the liquid compound like a water balloon, and that would require an immense amount of concentration from him. As she drew closer, he let his mind drift away, going to that quiet place in the back of his mind where most people found sleep or meditation.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria approaches him and blows a long stream of fire at him. She passes over him, but circles back around and lands behind him. She snarles at him, baring her teeth.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He launched himself high into the air, backflipping as the fire engulfed the soft grass he'd been standing on moments before. As she landed, he lined up the shot and fired. Being upside down, and moving towards his target made aiming a difficult process, but skill made little difference at this point. The massive .600 Nitro Express cartridge barked with the thunder of a dozen howitzers, propelling the neon green round at almost one hundred and forty six miles and hour. The slug left the barrel in a crimson streak that tore through the air like a laser, enchanted by the ancient lycan inscriptions carved into the barrel. The recoil not only turned the wolf right side up, it pushed him back and away from Victoria, towards the gout of flame where he'd originally been standing. As he tumbled through the air, he watched the slug strike the center of her chest, spraying the viscous green liquid like paint splattered on canvas by an angry child. It was small, but potent. By his calculations, she should begin to change back by the time he hit the ground. If he was lucky, of course...

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria is thrown off her feet by the impact. She falls onto her side and growls in annoyance. Carefully, she gets back up and faces Jack. She feels a tingly sensation on her stomach, but it quickly subsides.

 

[OmegaFang232]

He landed in a rather ungraceful crouch, glaring at the spot where the round had struck. Had it not worked? He cursed and spat in the dirt, reloading the pistol with blinding speed and efficiency. He readied another Purifier round and fired from a kneeling position, this time absorbing the recoil much more efficiently. Another crimson streak lanced outward, striking just above where the first round had landed. If nothing else, his aim was improving.

 

[MissZoeHatter]

Victoria gets hit again. She roars once again and advances towards Jack, snapping at him.