Futuristic Eradication

[Hanzax]

Hans Grøngaard @Syrenrei, @Agent Nine


Listening to the two women chit-chat back and forth gave him plenty of time to finish off the slice of cake he had cut out for himself. Leaving him with nothing else to do besides looking over the crowds. How they managed to keep themselves occupied seemed to be of high importance. There was nothing hindering them from slipping out to the sidelines and just relax and maintain a conversation with whoever is doing the same. There are bound to be folk that have had a far to eventful day for their likings and this party would most certainly be out of their interest.


The mention of his name caught his attention, Skye and Novi had been looking across the crowd aswell, surely towards Novi's partner. Following their direction he spotted a young black haired bloke in his black tuxedo and a short woman who hadn't put any effort into her warddrobe. Her appearance wasn't the only thing off mark. The rifle that she had brought with her being nearly three fourths of her height only made it the more obvious that she was short. She also had a pistol holster at her hip in plain view and also out of proportion like her rifle.


"Well, my only guess is that it would be one Artis Latharnach. Having been in the military for five years it would have been hard not to have noticed her. First off she's extremely short, as you can see, and a good marksman. Ontop of that she got into a fight my a superior and was then moved into a special forces group. Never gotten to know her so I can't really say how she is." He replied after letting Novi finish her explanation of her profession. Picking up a glass off the table which had the distinct smell of rum dominating inside. He continued. "She would most likely recognise me aswell, as we both work within the same sector. That and I'm a pretty recognisable guy in the military. We could join up with them if you'd like, wouldn't want her to still your man from ya."

 

[Syrenrei]

Skye Yoona Park


A restaurant! Novi was not particularly thrilled with her admission of her current occupation but Skye's lit up with renewed vigor. She was always on the hunt for another place to eat regardless of the type of cuisine or the price- it was an indulgence that was also practical as one always had to eat. There had been a few meals that were a touch too spicy for her pleasure but she had spent a little effort on trying to build up her endurance for the heat that was so artfully woven into the complex rich sauces. "I don't cook for myself much anymore, so I order in most of my meals or eat out. I'm not sure I've been to where you work, but I'd love to visit if you give it recommendation. I promise to not overdress," she added with a gesture to her dress. She did not regret wearing the fine gown, though; this was the nicest she had looked in ages and slowly it was becoming her. Hans and Novi were both charismatic in their own ways and drew her out from solitude.


As Hans commented on the tiny female that was accompanying Novi's husband, she raised both her brows at his commentary. A recognizable guy? Given his demeanor she suspected that it was not notoriety or infamy that made him such; she would hope the more unscrupulous sorts were weeded out of the military. So what made Hans distinguished in his five years of service? Was it his approach to speak with words instead of bullets? Was he also an accomplished marksman or perhaps particularly adept at hand-to-hand combat? It was something she could seek out the answer to at a later time in private when she could have more disclosure than he might want strangers knowing. Her imagination took her to such fanciful places she was not quite certain she wanted the answer just yet.


"A fight with your superior and special forces? That explains the attire- not many can tell her what to do I imagine. What do you think, Novi? Shall we join them or would you rather stand here at the refreshments table? If we stand shoulder to shoulder I'm quite confident we can block some of this cake from being reached by other guests." Skye reached for another fat slice of cake after polishing off her own. Despite her petite figure she appeared to be a bottomless pit when it came to dessert. Internally she justified herself as needing energy for this social endeavors... but quietly she loved the way the sugar melted on her tongue and painted her taste as light. One of her friends had encouraged her to diet to be slightly thinner but Skye could not give up pastries and sucrose unless her life was literally in peril. It was too decadent and lovely.


@Agent Nine , @Hanzax

 

[Ayl]

Just as the event was going on nicely and smooth, Jacob was watching from afar the couples that were mingling together. No doubt, the results of this year's Love Harvest. "Look at those love-birds, all lovey-dovey!" his captain spoke from behind him. Dressed all in black, with state-of-the-art equipment strapped on, Jacob was here to accomplish his official mission of taking out one of the lieutenants of the underground resistance against the Government. His unofficial mission, however, was to save that man and thus, secure his entrance into the organisation. From there, he could start plotting the downfall of the government. "Oi, Morgan, snap outta it. We're here to do a job!" his captain's voice whispered again.


"Sir, I apologise, sir!" came Jacob's quick response. "Fucking idiot." he thought for himself. Before he could secure Nickolaus Karss' safety, he had to take out the squad assigned to kill him. There were a total of 4. Himself, the captain, and two other shmucks he never met before tonight. The agency made a big deal about not knowing each other's identities, so they assigned each of them codenames to go by. Jacob's was really funny, "Lullaby". The agency probably wanted to make fun of him, since he was the father of a dead boy. He didn't mind, they were gonna get theirs soon enough.


On top of a building nearby from where the ball was hosted, Jacob was looking through his sniper rifle's telescope, combing the surroundings for the target. Of course, he was not going to report his position, once found. He needed to get to him before the others, which was no picnic. He was up against trained people, not normal mercenaries. He had to be careful. Gently, he took out his sidearm from its holster and turned the safety off. A metalic click made itself heard, and Jacob hoped it wasn't loud enough to be heard by the others. He took a glance back, to see if the others noticed, only to be looking at three different guns pointed at him.


"So, you thought you could outsmart us, eh?" the captain's rough voice spoke again. "Well, guess what, you dumbass, we were warned about you and what you might be planning, so we got additional orders. You see, we were supposed to kill you at the end of the mission, but since you decided to turncoat on us, we're gonna have to improvise!". With a smirk, Jacob did not wait for the rest of the explanation, and aimed his gun at the captain's ugly mug before putting a few rounds in it.


The sound of the body hitting the ground was covered by the explosion of the other two sidearms going off simultanously. A radio emitter came to life, someone asking for a sitrep, as one of the grunts took it and spoke in it. "Doppelganger here, we've got some complications. We're gonna have to abort.". The reply from the radio came lightning-fast. "Negative Doppelganger, proceed with the mission. Take out the target!". Another boom was heard in the night, as the sniper rifle's bullet had found its target, one man falling down in the middle of the crowd of the ball, mortally shot in the head. Among the last things Jacob felt, were the stings of the two bullets puncturing his lung and heart, and strangely enough, a small feeling of satisfaction, coupled with one of content. After all he'd endured, he was finally going to be reunited with his family. He couldn't have wished for more.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Any comments to be made were shattered like the window a few metres away from her. Screams, the retort of what she knew for a fact was a high powered anti-personnel rifle, and the tell-tale thud of a falling body told her everything she needed to know. Booking it toward the fallen body as people scrambled, Artis pulled loose her Bulldog, fired one round into the air screaming for everyone to get down before lobbing it to her left.


"Heads up Hans! Time to play soldier boy!"


Confident Hans would catch her sidearm, and understand that she'd kick his ass later if he let it hit the ground, Artis sprinted to the side of the body. The direction of the blood spatter coupled with the shattered window told her all she needed to know, and thankfully the crowd seemed to get the silent gist of 'stay the fuck out of the way of the little girl with the b.f.g'. Wrapping her left hand comfortably around the grip, and her right around the underside of the barrel. She pulled the buttsdtock snugly up to her shoulder and scanned the closest buildings before grinning like a shark.


"Gotcha..."


Letting her gaze fall to one eye, her magnification amped up as she took a bead on the standing one of the pair of guards and coolly pulled the trigger. The recoil and retort of her gun made her giddy as her target dropped. Sliding her reticle to the next man, she could practically she his eye widen from behind his own scope before firing, sending a high calibre round and his own magnification arry hurtling through his skull and blasting out the back end.


Lowering her rifle, Artis let her mind expand again, only just now realising that the screaming had started back up and that people were hurtling out the far doors to escape.


The only mystery now was who got shot, and relocating Hans.

 

[Hanzax]

Hans Grøngaard @Veirrianna Valentine, @Agent Nine


Before he could even take the first sip of his newly acquired beverage the distinct sound of glass breaking fell upon the ears of everyone inside the ball. A splitsecond after a body dropped to the floor with a significant clunk. In a chain reaction Artis had yelled out his name and threw him her sidearm before dashing towards the lifeless body that had splattered the white floor with a nice shade of red.


Another shot rang throughout the ballroom. His ears now ringing alongside everyone elses and screams only getting louder he stood up and yelled at the peek of his lungs. "Everyone slow down, everything is fine. Get away from the windows and close to a wall." Having received a firearm was sure to put focus onto himself and away from the other participants of the ball. Turning towards Skye and Novi. "Get over to the wall and stay about a meter away from the windows, you should be safe there." He said in a serious and ordering tone.


With most problems now sorted, if people followed his orders, he dashed over the deceased man than had fallen and Artis beside it. Grabbing a hold of the mans collar he began dragging him out of the windows line of sight and towards the wall opposite the entrance that people had horded towards.

 

[CommodoreOlaf]

Duh.. Takeshi opened his mouth to reply but he was stopped by the sound of breaking glass. A man in the center of the ballroom yelped in pain and he crumpled to the floor, splashing bright red blood on a couple of the guests. Those that were splattered stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened to the man standing next to them. A rebel attack?


Artis went into commando mode and tossed her firearm across the room where a man Novi was talking to caught it cooly in his hands, which reminded him: Novi. All of the guests scattered from the man like ants this way and that, havoc forming in the center of the room. Champagne glasses were dropped, plates were shattered upon impact with the floor, and screams rang out throughout the entire center. The once calm and relatively still atmosphere became a massive mess of blending screaming people and amidst all that, was Novi. Takeshi pushed through the crowd, trying to see through the panic. Some people tripped over dresses, others were overwhelmed by the rushing crowd and fell over tables. He tried his best to see her tall figure but the people were moving too fast and they swarmed his vision. Immediately, the guards had pulled their guns up aiming them at the rooftops outside and above. Where the hell was she? And then... there. Takeshi saw Novi's paled face several meters away from the refreshment table.


"Novi!" He shouted, above the chaos. Takeshi ran to her, but at about half-way, he was knocked over by another guest. He stayed on the ground, disoriented and unbalanced. He got up and began forcing his way through the current, hoping he'd be able to get them both to safety.


@Veirrianna Valentine

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

(OOC:I fixed it! Also Jukestick is a play on Jukebox, only its like the originally ipod shuffle size with a holographic display of the song info)


Letting her tunnel vision fall away like a shed coat, Artis began scanning the crowds for Hans when she noticed a guy, black hair with red and blue highlights, the D.J. actually, discreetly slip out one of the back service doors.


Putting the locating of Hans on the back burner, Artis slid her rifle back to the mag-lock sheath on her back and set off towards the door, pulling it open and likewise slipping into the back alleyway. Looking right first and seeing nothing, Artis jerked her head left and saw her newly acquired target turning a corner. Thankful for her noise suppressing boots, Artis took off dead sprint after the man, making sure to keep him in view, but not getting too close. It wasn't until he ducked off the side of the street and back into another alley that he slowed.


Making his way to a gate, he opened it and stepped through. In the small space underneath the fence Artis could see about four more sets of feet. Stopping next to a dumpster at the opening of the alley way, Artis listened in to the 'private' conversation.


"Xain Ling Qun, here I thought you would be a no show. I take it you got the pictures we needed?"


The DJ, Xain, seemed to shuffle about for a minute as he spoke.


"Of course, mate. You've got the meds for my sister, right? So I've got your pictures, took 'em all at the very beginning of the ball as they came in. Trade for a trade. By the way, what do you need for her next set of treatment?"


"Simple," replied the unknown voice, "You'll be trekking outside the wall. You'll know why once you're out and about, alright?"


"A'right, you got it mate. Now I need to get back to the ballroom before I get missed. The distraction worked by the way."


Hearing Xain finish up, Artis raced to piece together a plan. She whipped her rifle off her back and slid it underneath the dumpster she was next to, mag-locking it to the bottom. Next she darted just out the alley and waited at it's corner on the street and pulled out her headphones and her Jukestick and set some music playing. Watching for the tell tale shadow, Artis flipped her hood up, stuck her hands in her hoodie pockets and started walking just in time for-


"Oof!"


Falling to the ground, Artis made a believable show of hitting the ground hard, shaking her head as she tried to collect her fallen Jukestick, now playing a lively beat out loud since the fall had 'accidently' pulled the headphones from the port. Almost immediately Xain was apologising and had bent down to offer her a hand up. Taking it thankfully, Artis grabbed up her Jukestick and got back to her feet, letting Xain kindly and easily pull her back up to her feet. Rubbing the back of her head she looked at him sheepishly.


"Sorry, me'n'my music, righ'? I get caught up and next thing y'know m'not even looking at where m's'posed t'be goin'." she laughed, specifically throwing in light use of the accent used by the fancier Scottish descendants.


Xain, for his part, shook his head. As Artis watched him she started noting his features. His eyes were drawn slightly on the sides, showing him to be of more asian heritage, and as she got a good look at his clothes, she realised they too were oriental looking. Still, he seemed to have a posher version of her own accent, when she chose to have it, meaning that he had at least one parent that hailed from, or at least emulated, what had been the northern parts of England. He was also noticeably handsome, and Artis didn't even realise she was staring until he spoke up.


"Don't worry about it lassie. I'm rushing to the ball for the latest couples. I'm super late, so I've been rushing along at what has proven to be a bit too fast a pace. Sorry for running you down, by the by."


Shaking her head, both to try and clear her head and to seem like she was shaking off any worry, Artis shrugged.


"M'no' going anywhere, so y'better hop along, I think th'ball started and hour ago or so." Artis smiled, waving him along before she spoke back up, "An' don't worry about it, I've taken worse tumble. Also, uh, you want to, I'unno, meet for coffee or lunch tomorrow maybe? If that'd be cool with you?"


Xain stopped two steps past the smaller girl before stopping at her invitation. He didn't have a match, after all, since the past two were both almost immediately caught due to their involvement with... trouble. And it had been a while since he'd put himself back out there. Maybe this was his lucky break. In fact...


"That sounds like it'd be nice, or, iffen you were so inclined, you could accompany me to the ball? I have a plus one, but no one to bring along. If anyone tried to complain about your clothes, I can always give them a proper roughing up, eh?" he commented with a lighthearted chuckle.


Giggling along, both as part of the act and because it was a silly, granted gentlemanly, thing to do given her background, Artis nodded,


"That sounds like it'll be a barrel o'fun. Sides, m'fairly certain I've got a couple o'mates at th'ball anyway, so we could meet up with them if we find 'em, or meet up with any friends you yerself've got." she replied with a smile as she walked towards Xain.


The larger man, Artis was guessing maybe six two, about two metres, extended a polite arm for Artis to take, and the she could feel her cheeks light up, which both excited and annoyed her. She always wanted to meet someone to sweep her off her feet, romantically anyway, as just about anyone could pull off that physically. Taking the man's arm, Artis couldn't help but pray that she didn't wind up head over heels for her new mark, all while at the same time kind of hoping that just that was happening.


This was building to be an odd night.

 

[Agent Nine]

"Holding up the home-front here sounds like a better idea, to be honest," Novi replied, surprising herself a little at how effortless her responses were becoming. They weren't really ass-pulls because she was thinking about them before she said them, but she'd expected it to be a lot more difficult to talk to people. Maybe Skye's non-douche-ness was what was making it easier. Or maybe, just maybe, she was a bit better at socializing than she gave herself credit for.

Whatever it was, she was proud of her brain for helping her make it thus far. With a lazy hand wave towards the militant woman and Takeshi, she added "I don't know any of that military lingo, anyway."

Guarding the cake sounded like an all around better idea, anyway. Novi was subconsciously aware of the fact that she didn't want to seem like she was following Takeshi around, either, nor did she want him to make the same suspicion. She wasn't a clingy person. She never had been, she never would be, and she didn't want the appearance of one. Let her "partner" have his space; they'd be living together, anyway, so it wasn't like they wouldn't be near each other for a majority of the rest of their lives.

Turning back to Skye, the young woman watched as she went for another slice of cake, slightly impressed. She had a pretty damned good figure, and if she ate like this normally, Novi couldn't understand for the life of her how that food intake didn't show. Maybe she's got a fast metabolism...or a freakin' portal to oblivion for a stomach.

The sound of the gunshots and, additionally, the window shattering made Novi's heart skip a full beat. "What the hell?!" She cried out, scrambling back towards the dessert table as chaos began to settle over the endless crowd of couples. Shots fired. Shots fired...! And from outside, too. Or inside...to be honest, Novi couldn't tell. Her mind had gone numb for a moment, her very limbs overwhelmed with shock, and it took her a few angry seconds to force herself out of her stupor.

To her surprise—they really weren't over, were they?—Novi found herself scanning the heads of the crowd for Takeshi's, acting on an almost instinctual impulse to snuff him out and flag him down. Had the shots come from where he was? No, not really. Then again, the walls in the ballroom had good acoustics...for all she knew, some bozo had fired gun right behind her back.

Speaking of guns, Novi was able to catch the brief glimpse of one go flying before it was caught by Hans, who seemed to already know what to do. He urged her and Skye to go standing by a wall. ...well, he ordered it, really, but Novi was a bit busy at the moment. Where is he, where is he, where the hell is he...ah! There!

Spotting him stumbling around about a yard away, Novi waved her arms at him before shaking her head and diving towards him. Then she grabbed a hold of his arm once she was close enough and, shoving her way through the fleeing throngs of people, yanked him back over to where she'd been standing with Skye. "Alright, so, over to that wall, right?" She said, nearly tripping over her own words, her grip absentmindedly tightening over Takeshi's arm as she threw the woman a quick look.

@Syrenrei, @CommodoreOlaf
​

 

[Ebonysdagger]

Sandra had been managing to keep herself under control, barely, for the past little while at the ball by sticking near one of the windows outside and away from everyone else. 'Hopefully no one will bother little old me over here. They seem to be mostly putting on the show the government wants. With any luck I'll be allowed to go home soon, I hope.'


There was a sudden sound as the next window over from where she was standing shatters a bit and then the thud of someone in the room. Sandra blinks and looked around to figure out what happened but then she saw blood on the floor near a group in the middle of the room. Once the crimson fluid caught her eye she froze up where she stood. Her mind was caught in a loop over all the possible contaminants and dangers blood from another posed to anyone. She did not even begin to think of how lucky she was to not be standing in front of the other window.

 

[Syrenrei]

Skye Yoona Park


The sound of glass breaking repeated in her mind for what seemed like hours but was in actuality was mere seconds. The shattering a resonating melody of violence and the herald of discord. How amazing it was such a mundane frequency was amplified and made more potent by the calm and orderly setting. Both the shot itself and the thud of the body hitting the floor were more minute and unremarkable. Skye had imagined that guns would be louder than they were, but perhaps it was because the trigger was pulled so far away? Regardless she stood there, unresponsive, her eyes fixated on the bloody scene from which every sane person fled. Artis's words went unnoticed by her ears and Hans's departure from her side also fell by the side. What had happened? Why?


Skye should have been more repulsed and panicked. Novi had backpedaled when they were instructed by Hans to retreat to the wall where she would be safe. Surprisingly she was calm. Death did not scare her nearly as much as it scared them for she had experienced it and been torn asunder. Were she to be assassinated herself, Hans would be made a widower once more and her family would be disappointed, but perhaps there would be an afterlife in which James would great her with an open embrace. There were boons to being part of the living and the deceased and so she was unflinching in her confrontation with her looming mortality. The petite woman of mixed heritage was quite simply ambivalent about her own status.


The absence of fright meant that this calamity piqued her curiosity. Skye found herself fascinated by the mystery of who murdered him, why they had done so, how he was so swiftly killed, and to further what goal was the execution performed. It did not strike her as an act of passion as those were more confrontational and emotional by nature. This was colder and more impersonal, indicative of an individual or group that acted with purpose instead of blind rage. It was all assumptions that she could be entirely wrong on (and law taught her not to jump to conclusions) but it furthered her entertainment.


Belatedly she noticed that Novi was entreating her to follow her to the back wall Hans had gestured to before he ran off with a pistol. As she replayed the last minute in her mind she finally digested that Artis had tossed Hans the sidearm before disappearing. Because he cared for her, and presumably Novi did as well, they wanted her to safe. Reluctantly she casually withdrew from the ballroom floor and made her way through the scrambling masses to where she was told to go. Wide-eyed, breathless, and pale, half of the Love Harvest couples appeared close to fainting and more than a few were turning shades that indicated nausea. Skye watched them silently and ate the rest of her cake slice.

 

[kitsunemage]

@Hanzax


Aislyn didn't have long to ponder her loneliness at the ball. There had been amicable chatting, refreshments that could rival the crafting of her own chefs, ladies and gentlemen twirling and twisting under the bright lights with friends and newly found lovers. Now, there was nothing but chaos. The piercing screams of women, the panicked shouts of men, and red. Red all over the floor, her dress. Like butterflies blooming in the air, beautiful, and deadly.


'get over to the wall' Aislyn blinked, staring down at her fingers, spattered with small drops of crimson. A man, lying on the ground- now two, now three. Her vision swam, breath coming in large gulps, was she having a panic attack? Her hands began to shake, her knees weakened- her eyes squeezed shut.


'A Whitman never cries.'





How the hell was she supposed to stay strong? This wasn't supposed to happen in the society, at the love harvest ball. Where was the justice? Where were the hopes and dreams? All of them shattered before her eyes, leaving nothing but red, red and a dead body. A cold kind of calm descended over her. Was this how her mother felt, all those times her plans fell apart around her? This clear concise knowledge of exactly what she needed to do to organize the chaos and create something tangible?


"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good people to do nothing." The words left her lips like a prayer, her hands gathering her long stained skirts as she quickly followed after the military man who had dragged away the still bleeding male. Follow the red-brick road, she thought morbidly, the sight making her stomach squeeze uncomfortably.


"Hans, yes? Aislyn Whitman, do you know who this man is? My father will no doubt need to hear about this."

 

[CommodoreOlaf]

Takeshi tightened his grip as she pulled and guided him towards the wall. The low rumble of shuffling feet and the panicked voices vibrated throughout the ballroom. Eventually the ballroom had divided in half, leaving the center a plain view of the crime scene. The body had been dragged leaving a trail of blood across the polished floor.


Takeshi grabbed Novi by her shoulders and spoke quickly, "Are you ok? You alright?" He searched her eyes intently, scanning her face for any signs of discomfort. Seeing none, he released his grip as if surprised or as if he realized what he was doing.


What the hell happened?


He had heard the small sound of breaking glass, similarly to a sound produced by a careless or clumsy person handling their drinks, but the sound of piercing flesh accompanied by the dull thud of a body hitting the floor confirmed his horrors. It was an assassination. The murder of a man in the middle of the guests. It must've been from a sniper rifle or another type of long-range weapon and the assassin was clearly skilled. Killing a target among many, where the slightest movement could mean error, was only accomplished by the best in the business.


Memories came to him, memories of the train bombing his father had died in. Executed by the rebels. What was this madness? Takeshi sighed wishfully. This night was becoming a nightmare.


@Agent Nine

 

[The Kaosophile]

Oscar moved silently through the crowd, pushing past gawkers toward the body. "Step along, step along, nothing to see here. Cleanup crew already en route, just stay calm and away from this spot." His voice took a commanding tone he usually reserved for children about to do something stupid that would force him to act. He spotted the entry point, but the bullet was hollow point, so it wasn't through-and-through, less to clean up. The crew showed up seconds later, full haz-mat suits on, then whisked away the body and bleached away the blood. It was stunning to watch, really, the three cleaners moved in perfect harmony and the whole floor looked like nothing had happened in less than three minutes. Oscar returned his attention to the crowd. "Now, let's not let this ruin our night, right? Security has already found the culprit, and you are all safe once again." I hate myself for lying to these people like this... "We still have..." Oscar checked his wristwatch, "30 minutes left before we start clearing out, so please, enjoy the festivities." Or you'll end up next...

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

"-and so I said to the chap, this is a bar mitzvah, not a bar fist fight!" finished Xain as he recounted a tale about one of his DJ jobs.


Artis let out a genuine laugh as he finished, finding the tale of drunken louts to be rather humourous. Noticing they were nearing the ball again, but unsure of what was going on exactly, Artis realised that she needed to get a hold of Hans if she could, and see if he could tell the people he'd been with to forget that she'd been there earlier. Sliding her arm free from Xain's light hold, Artis pulled her comm. tablet from her back pocket and used the govt. database to search the other soldier's contacts. Once found, she sent him a brief message.


"Got a lead/new friend. Spec. Op.s mark too. Don't ask, but I wasn't at the ball. Tell everyone that saw me that you know to forget me. We're old friends instead."





Slipping her comm. tablet back into her pocket, and taking Xain's arm again, Artis flashed him a smile.


"Sorry, wanted t'figure out where my friends were, but o'em told me there's been some shooting at th'ball. Apparently they want it to continue on for thirty more minutes, but a shooting? I'unno how they plan t'have that work out."


Surprisingly, Artis felt no stiffening at the mention of the 'distraction', nor did she see any other signs that betrayed Xain's knowledge of what happened at the ball. Instead he looked down at her with what seemed to be real concern and asked if her friends were safe. Assuring him that they were all just shaken up, but okay, Xain smiled broadly.


It told Artis a couple different things, such as the fact that Xain seemed to honestly not wish ill will to anyone, but also that his loyalty to his sister was strong for him to become so well versed in his acts. It was admirable, and Artis had to admit that she liked that the man could keep his wits together.


Rounding one more corner, Xain and Artis walked about three metres before entering the ballroom again to find that while everyone had stopped screaming, there wasn't a relaxed soul in the building.


(OOC: If peeps could do me a solid, and not have their characters bring up Artis having been in the ball, that'd be awesome ^.^ )

 

[Sen Pai]

The previous conversation had caused a silence between the two people. A silence that made it uncomfortable to be around the other. It had only been less than twenty-four hours and Emilia already found herself witnessing a side of Vincent that she didn't think many people had seen.


There was pure anger in his eyes. Even if they were blank and his voice was monotone, Emilia could sense that she had tread on a rather sensitive topic for Vincent. His reaction made the girl shake in fear, almost frozen in terror. She knew that she had made a mistake and she had suffered through the consequences of her actions.


Emilia was left alone, standing outside of the door, frozen and staring at the spot where Vincent had once stood. It almost felt unreal, like this whole thing wasn't actually happening. But, Emilia knew that she had to face reality and continue to stay with Vincent. It wasn't that Emilia hated her partner's guts, no, she didn't hate him one bit.


He just made her feel so...stupid. Guilty. Unaware. No one enjoyed being undermined. He always seemed to look at Emilia like she didn't know anything, that she would never understand. Emilia thought that it was to be expected since they had practically grown up in different worlds.


But that didn't mean that she would never understand. Emilia had never experienced extreme hunger or poverty. She always had a roof over her head and food on the table. But, she was willing to try and learn. To finally understand what Vincent felt and thought. Of course, she didn't think she had that much of a chance.


Then again, she had to try, right?


Even so, Emilia knew that it would be best to simply give Vincent his space. After something like that, one would need time to cool down. Emilia also needed time to think and sort out her own thoughts. She had been standing outside of the house for quite awhile now. With the news of the Community Ball that would be taking place tonight, Emilia had to get ready. She wasn't going to rebel against the government by not attending.


The government. What did Vincent mean by that? Sure, Lower Class citizens did not get as much as the Upper Class or Middle Class but surely the government did their best to provide its people with enough to live a comfortable life. Right?


Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Emilia decided that this wasn't the right time to ponder upon the morals of the government.

----------

​

Making their way down the steps of Concord Center, Emilia found herself by the side of the person who she had a dispute with. After all, they were legally married by the government of the Community and were required to attend the government issued event together. Even if they did have an extreme disagreement in their opinion of the government.


She wasn't wearing anything special, she had simply slipped on a dress that was given to her. Emilia didn't look absolutely gorgeous like the princess attending the ball, she just looked like one of the other women who wished that the prince would glance at them. It wasn't that the dress was terrible. It was of high fashion and complimented Emilia. She just didn't have the confidence or pose to pull it off.


Although her posture was straight, Emilia didn't seem to have the sparkle that Cinderella had when she arrived in her pumpkin carriage.


The ride on the way to the event was silent and awkward. Neither of the two people attempted to initiate a conversation after what had happened before. It wasn't that they were outwardly ignoring the other, they just simply didn't speak or hold a conversation. Even Emilia, who would usually try to commence at least a little polite chit chat, was deep in her thoughts.


However, upon arrival at the Community Ball, which they had found themselves being late to, Emilia was whisked away to speak with the rest of the Upper Class citizens. As her arm was being pulled, Emilia glanced back at Vincent, a little worried about his well being.


"I shouldn't worry. He's a strong person. He can take care of himself. He'll be alright..." Emilia thought to herself in attempt to sooth the guilt that continued to grow within her. Perhaps she just needed to get her mind off things and indulge in the mindless conversation of the Upper Class girls...

----------

​

Ironically, Emilia found herself screaming as a man in the large crowd of people was shot down and killed instantly on site. Aislyn Whitman, a girl that Emilia was quite familiar with, had been standing next to the man who had been murdered. Blood splattered on her dress and Emilia paled at the sight of the bleeding corpse.


Ripping her gaze away from the murder, Emilia spun around and held her face in her hands, eyes wide open. How horrifying. Her heart was beating faster than a train and Emilia had to keep herself from collapsing on the ground and breaking down.


Someone was just murdered. And she had witnessed it.


@Lucem Tenebris

 

[Agent Nine]

The grip on the shoulders practically startled Novi, something that was difficult to do considering all the other shocks and surprises of the night that were acting on her brain. The muscles in her limbs went rigid, and she could only blink at Takeshi as he inspected her, the urge to smack his hands away subdued. "I'm...fine. I'm fine," she replied, trying to ease some reassurance in her voice for her partner's sake. She only succeeded in making herself sound a bit less startled than she felt.

Suddenly eager to rid herself of the awkwardness that had been created, Novi got on the toes of her heeled shoes and craned her neck to look over Takeshi's shoulder, straining to sneak a peek at the "scene of the crime." The chaotic crowd of panicking couples had thinned out, some pairs having made it out the front doors soon after the shot had been fired, while others were currently sliding themselves under tables and chairs, hiding from an assailant who had probably already fled the premises.

Yes, a single assailant. Novi was sure of this. A lone gunman was responsible; a sniper, probably. The "why" was the real mystery, here, but the young woman had a feeling that she wouldn't be getting any answers anytime soon. What mattered right now was...well, laying low until the commotion died down so that they could leave.

Some soldiers seemed to have moved in and gotten rid of the body, leaving behind an unsettling trail of blood that stood out against the overbearing whiteness of the ballroom. Looks like the janitor is gonna have a hell of a lot of bleaching to do, Novi mused, following the trail with her eyes. Her gaze was detoured after a moment, and fell upon an oddly calm-looking Skye who was standing near them, casually chewing her cake.

Man. That murder might as well not have happened, with how she was acting.

Working on diluting the adrenaline rush that seemed to have started up inside of her, Novi was quiet for a minute or two. "So, uhhh...I guess the ball's over, now," she said after a while, sounding uncertain. "Unless they bring in a cleaning crew and attempt to blow it all over, of course, but...well, it's one creative way to end a party. That's for sure. ...Hey Takeshi, where'd your uncle run off to?"

@CommodoreOlaf, @Syrenrei
​

 

[Lucem]

For the longest time, Vincent had not spoken a single word. It was perhaps the second longest period he had gone without speaking. It wasn't that he couldn't speak, it's just that he didn't want to. To be more specific, there was just nothing to say.


Since the moment he had finished speaking to Emilia at her home, he had been in his own little world. While his silence didn't make it seem like the earlier conversation had bothered him, he was thoroughly upset. However, he was done venting his frustration. Nothing he could do or say could properly release what he was feeling.


Even as he stood by her side, walking down the series of steps that led to the current festivities, he made no sounds and kept his attention focused on what was in front of him. He would have been gone right now if it were up to him, roaming the streets of his district, but it was not his decision to make. This was a mandatory event, which meant if you didn't arrive, they would come for you.


He would take his gaze away from the destination that awaited in order to adjust the article of clothing that was currently threatening to choke him to death. Vincent had never worn a tie, or any formal attire for that matter, but he knew that the clothing one wore shouldn't be on the verge of causing suffocation. The rest of his apparel was none too pleasant either. In fact, the problem with everything else was just the opposite.


The suit that had been provided for Vincent was far too large for his smaller size. He had to roll the ends several times in order to prevent himself from tripping and hurting himself. Normally he would've been deeply annoyed, but he kept to himself and remained lost in his own thoughts.


It seemed as though his legal wife had no intention of speaking either, as she had been quiet for just as long. On the ride here, neither of them spoke a single word. He hadn't been focusing on his anger, but was in a sort of blank state where he let his mind take him wherever it wanted. He had been distracted for so long that he had almost forgotten where he was at the time and who he was with. It was a shame that it couldn't have lasted for just a bit longer.


As soon as they had entered the building, Vincent noticed that Emilia had been whisked away by other women in similarly fancy dresses, presumably from the Upper Class. After watching her be dragged off for a fraction of a second, Vincent began to walk off on his own. He wasn't leaving, however. He wasn't looking to be shot just yet, so he would resign himself to one of the less populated areas. He may have been forced to come here, but they couldn't force him to participate.


----------


As the ball continued, Vincent kept to himself, as he watched the military officers from his position near the window. As expected, the government wasn't taking any chances. If something were to happen, it would make them look bad in the eyes of the public and they wouldn't want that. They didn't spare anything when it came to their image.


After turning away from the accumulating officers, finding himself put off by their appearance, he began to watch the people that filled the area. All he could see was a flurry of vibrant colors and his ears were being assaulted by the sounds of horrendous music and chattering. Just as soon as he had turned to look at them, he turned away. He really couldn't stand places like this. Not just the lively atmosphere, but the carefree people that acted as if nothing bad could ever happen.


Settling on turning his gaze toward the ceiling, Vincent let out a breath of air. This place was just a large headache for him. 'Just kill me now...'


He was brought out of his thoughts when the window suddenly shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere. Caught of guard by the sudden event, Vincent covered his face with the sleeve of his blazer and nearly lost his footing. His ears were no longer being filled with the sounds of merriment, as they had been replaced by a high-pitched ringing.


Rubbing his temples as he steadied himself, Vincent heard the sudden screams of people in the room. Turning to figure out what all the commotion was about, Vincent placed a bit when he stared at the body lying on the ground, blood beginning to drip onto the floor from the head that obviously suffered from a bullet wound. The previously joyous atmosphere had shifted into something darker.


As panic began to set in Vincent's gaze remained on the body, his own yet to move. This lasted for a moment before he managed to compose himself, color beginning to return to his face. Vincent was used to death, since people died every day and everyone eventually died. However, it had happened so suddenly that he had been caught off guard. While he may have been used to it, he still possessed some underlying issues when it came to the dead, the brief stun stemming from events in his own life, rather than the end of the person right before him.


Before the body could be taken away, he observed it closely from where it was. It was obviously a bullet wound, anyone could tell. Judging by where it hit, he must've died instantly. He didn't see a particularly large mess, so the skull must've remained intact to some degree. He continued to go over it until he brushed the thoughts aside. It didn't matter how he died, he was dead and these thoughts of his were useless.


Turning away from the body, he observed the window that had been damaged. If he had been closer, it would've been very unfortunate for him. He was lucky that the worst of his problems had to due with the shards of glass.


He observed the hole that stood out for awhile, before he decided that there was no use. He knew medicine, not detective work. Then again, he didn't use that knowledge anyway. Just like with the body, it didn't matter who the shooter was. These thoughts were useless and he was forgetting that.


-----------


When the body was finally dealt with the body, Vincent finally noticed Emilia who had been standing there the entire time. He hadn't noticed her before, but he certainly did now. Blood stained her dress and she looked like she was in bad shape. In contrast, he was perfectly fine, with the exception of a slight pain in his side.


Holding his hand over the area, he decided he would look at it outside. Right now, he had an excuse to leave. He found the insistence of the man who had entered just a while ago to continue with the ball ridiculous. Nobody was in a partying mood anymore.


Moving in the direction of the door, Vincent kept his hand on his side, intending to find some peace and quiet. However, as he tried his best not to, he kept staring at the woman he had arrived with. Her hands covered her face and the red stains remained. Like before, it made him uncomfortable when she acted like that. 'It really is just a horrible day.'


Continuing his trek, Vincent stopped briefly to face Emilia. 'I hate this.' Removing the handkerchief from his breast pocket, he placed it on Emilia's shoulder, as her hands were busy holding her face. "Pull yourself together." After those three words, he continued on his way outside, feeling the annoyance returning.


@Darth Pai

 

[Auren]

Sammy didn't notice how reserved Flynn had been acting, as her attention was focused on the ballroom around her. Her eyes traveled over the other attendees dresses and suits. The expensive fabric of many of the dress swished about the room. A gaggle of women's voices rose in laughter while many kept their voices conversational. The hum of the room around her made Sammy quite giddy as she grinned. A party such as this was the most grand thing she had ever attended.


Her head subconsciously went to the pair of goggles on her head that she insisted her mother let her wear. She slid them over her eyes, forgetting about the make up that might smear, as she gazed over the crowd, her fingers tinkering with the nobs on the side of goggles.


"Wowsa! Everyone went all out. Look! That lady has some really fancy fabric on her dress,"she said as her hand fumbled blindly to grab Flynn's arm while the other pointed.


"The government sure is something else. All these couples suit each other so well. I mean, they all look so happy together, ya know?"she giggled. Sammy pushed her goggles back atop her head, some of her make-up smears on the rims of the lenses. She didn't notice, and other than a layer of concealer leaving her skin, her make-up was, thankfully, otherwise unbothered.


"Oh! Refreshments, right."she recalled as her eyes traveled about. "There,"she said as she pointed out with her finger and started walking towards it, glancing back to make sure Flynn was following.


"So, do you think that--" A gun shot rang through the room, and Sammy froze. There was an announcement immediately afterwards, and a crowd seemed to have gathered elsewhere. Sammy's eyes locked onto where the sound had come from and she took a step closer to Flynn. She laughed nervously. "I guess... the party's over huh?"she said quietly as she moved behind the boy. "What should we do?"


(( @Flabbysaurus I apologize for the delay... again... haha..ha... >___>" ))

 

[Hanzax]

Hans Grøngaard @kitsunemage


Having dragged the body across the ballroomfloor, leaving a nice trail of deep red blood in its wake. Hans looked up in reaction to his name being spoken. An upper-class looking woman had followed his procedure and asked him for the mans name, flaunting her own in the process. She had highly likely been positioned near the man when the shot had been fired. Her dress had been splattered with a red that had only been constrasted by the white dress she wore. It was not of any concern that she somehow knew his name, she surely had some outreaching connections if this mans death was of importance.


"I dunno who he be, but he's dead." He said as he wiped his own blood stained hands off on the mans jacket. He had been shot cleanly into the head, wouldn't have felt a single bit of pain before passing away in the same instant. "I'm guessing it's gonna cost ya to get that dress cleaned up." Hans joked as he spotted yet another person approaching him. A blond middle-aged chap had taken center-stage and announced that they would start cleaning up the mess. An abnormally quick response-team appeared from behind the scenes and swept away most nearly all of the mess. It was perhaps far too quick, it if were a surprise attack they wouldn't have be prepared for something nearly as bold as this. Whether or not the government had organized this whole ordeal just to get the hit off on someone who opposed them was rather rich.


In the midst of the cleanup he had received a message from Artis who had barely spotted running in a different direction as he started dragging the corpse. She had given the impossible task of rinsing the minds of everyone in the ball that had witnessed a small girl return sniper fire. "So uhh, you didn't see a girl return fire, right?" Hans said, looking back towards the blonde haired woman that had called his name. Atleast now he had an excuse and explain to her that he tried to convince people that Artis wasn't there. They were to continue the festivities for another thirty minutes with his hands now uncomfortable by the coagulating blood and Artis' pistol in his pocket.

 

[Flabbysaurus]

Flynn continued to nod and smile as Sammy went on andon about how grand and beautiful the ball was. It was both of those things but Flynn had been to plenty of events like this before, it was no different. He followed Sammy as she walked around excitedly. Like a girl in a toy store. Flynn wanted to groan and roll his eyes as Sammy was about to ask another question but was abruptly cut off by a loud gunshot, the sound of breaking glass and now screaming. Flynn's eyes widened in shock at the sudden loud noise as well as the now dead body. He had raised his arms in front of his face instinctively even though they would hardly protect him from a bullet. Flynn tried to move to but his body was frozen in shock for a few seconds. Needless to say he didn't such a thing to happen at this event whatsoever.


Flynn turned to Sammy. He was surprised how calm she was. Flynn shrugged in response to her question. "Well I really doubt anyone is in the mood to party anymore... We'll most likely be sent back to our homes soon." Flynn replied as he looked at the mess left behind by the corpse. Flynn wondered why the person was killed. Were they and important figure, related to an important figure or was this just a random attack to scare the government and all the civilians here. Whatever the reason Flynn felt a lot more paranoid now knowing someone had been murdered tonight and he could easily be killed too by another sniper.


@Auren

 

[kitsunemage]

@Hanzax


Aislyn couldn't tell if the man was unsettled by the shooting, or if he was merely uncertain of how to proceed from here. She herself was a little wary of what she should do- another half hour at this ball, covered in another mans blood and with the gruesome scene still firmly planted upon the backs of her eyelids?


And what was with that response? She understood that the government had to be prepared for every eventuality, but to be so quick to take away the mans body and clean away the blood left on the floor... Aislyn was half surprised that they hadn't swept her up along with it, to expunge her of the red specks and make her shine like the white expanse beneath her once more.


"Well, I'm not certain I would ever want to wear this dress again, considering the circumstances..." Like she would need the reminder to recall how quickly it all happened, and the people who seemed to be dropping like flies around her so suddenly. "And I happened to be standing right beside the blonde woman who fired, but considering how she called your name and passed you a gun...?" Aislyn raised one delicate eyebrow, nearly hidden behind the white-gold lace of her mask "I'm going to assume that you're implying I should not have seen her fire."

 

[Syrenrei]

Skye Yoona Park


She had watched as Takeshi made his way over Novi, obviously frantic to ascertain that she was uninjured. It was in moments of panic that sometimes one was able to get a glimpse of a person's core. In the case of this young couple, they obviously sought each other out in the traumatic circumstances and even now appeared to be doing their best to smooth out the anxiety of the situation for each other. The Upper Class had a tendency to react to tragedy in that way. They would paint the world with beautifully vague words, slide their hands across the unseemly wrinkles, and hope their gowns of existence would be freed of the blemish. If only the world could be so altered and cleansed. If syllables could bring back James and the travesty that was his early death she would speak for an eternity. Skye put down her emptied plate on a nearby table and adjusted her dress such that it was not more scandalous than intended. "If you'll excuse me Novi and... monkey suit," she smiled, "it looks like a young lady's newly minted husband doesn't know how to console her. Incompetence knows no boundaries. Don't worry, I'll probably be back for more cake." At this assertion she winked and waved, making her way to the centre of the floor where a Emilia stood paralyzed with shock.


Her thoughts wandered on her approach from the more mundane to grave matters. Takeshi (as she heard Novi call him) looked to be at least close to pureblood Japanese. It was a curiosity to see someone that hadn't become intermingled with other ethnicities in their parent's pairing. Her own parents had thought it was fortuitous they been paired with another Asian so they could preserve some of their heritage instead of becoming completely "whitewashed" as they called it behind closed doors. They were kind, loving, doting parents but they could also be very judgmental and derisive on matters. James had been a dream considering his Korean background but they were unlikely to be similarly impressed with Hans. Her mother in particular would not voice any objections, even if they were hidden deep within her heart; she'd count herself lucky to have any grandchildren after James's passing. They could be green and she'd not bat an eye after three years of anxious anticipation of whether her daughter would be able to be matched. Was a poor pairing to blame for Emilia's lack of comforting? The government did not believe in such things but they also touted that genetics alone made the basis for a marriage and the social construct was also only important for rearing children. Suffice to say the system was not without flaws.


Skye hadn't actually talked to Emilia in years, and then it had only been greetings in passing at a formal event. All of the Upper Class children were expected, however, to know the relations and importance of the other families. It was for this reason she knew who Emilia was and was not adverse to engaging in a conversation. Most of her 'friends' had shrunk back in terror and retreated to their prize spouses to whimper about what they had seen. Skye wished she could say this was the first time she had seen the selfishness of her class but it was not- they were raised as pretty little princes and princesses who felt the world revolved around them. How could they exercise an abundance of compassion for someone who was merely in orbit of their splendor? "Emilia dear, let's get you cleaned up, okay? Why don't we go to the bathroom where it's nice and quiet?"


Skye glanced at Hans. He was engaged with another girl, Aislyn, who Skye also recognized. Well, the shooter had certainly made a statement by shooting right into a gaggle of society's glittering gems. Hopefully her calm composure and warm demeanor would be enough to get through to Emilia; if not, she'd recruit Aislyn for help with the younger lady.

 

[Pequeno Burraidh]

Artis and Xain re-entered the ball to a number of calmed down, yet unsettled, high class folk. Xain made a point to try to steer them both clear of the more disgruntled looking guests.


As they meandered around, Artis noticed that many of the people were mentioning leaving, and it made Artis think of an idea, especially since she just noticed Hans over speaking to another high class, yet somewhat calm, woman.


"Heya, Xain, what'ya say we skedaddle from here. I've seen a couple o'm'mates, and I know a pretty decent, and clean, pub a couple blocks from here. I figure I can talk't'a couple of m'mates, see iffen they're up for joining, eh?"


Xain nodded his agreement, commenting that a few of the people seemed to be looking at Artis funny anyway, believing it had to do with her clothes.


Leading Xain towards Hans, Artis reached, then nudged, the soldier as she finally reached him, ready to offer her idea for anyone open to it.

 

[Sen Pai]

Chaos and anarchy coursed through Concord Center since a man in the middle of the ballroom was shot and killed on site. Another woman whipped out a gun and put a single bullet in the air. "I wonder who would get injured when that bullet comes down upon the crowd." A large dark figure watched from afar, completely disguised in the darkness of the night. Crouched down on her haunches, the figure rolled her shoulders forward and got even lower to the ground.


Feeling the stable, though albeit dirty, floor under the balls of her feet, the woman placed her gloved hands down, her fingertips just touching the ground for balance. The attack on the crowd of civilians was a lucky add-on for her. With the people already in mayhem, the deed would be much more easier to follow through. Of course, that didn't mean that it would be easy. It was still difficult as fuck. Perhaps even impossible.


There were guards stationed all around the buildings, totting their guns while their hovercrafts and helicopters were ready for action. Even with the assassination of a man in the ballroom, the military remained calm and logical. It was idiotic for a bunch of people to go rushing into an already crowded arena. Only a few guards came in, the ones that had already been there were quickly and efficiently containing the crowd of panicking people.


Looking closely, the figure frowned when the screams began to die down and the people were simply doing their best to move on from what had happened. "A man was just assassinated and they're still going along with their little tea party." They all were speaking with one another, some avoiding the topic, others going off to clean themselves up. It seemed like barely any of them were really contemplating what had just happened. "Absolutely disgusting."


Readjusting the earpiece that was secured to her ear, the woman spoke quietly but firmly into the microphone. "Bluejay, chihuahuas at three o'clock." Staring down at the military guards that continued to patrol the area, the unknown figure frowned. He wasn't the type of person to simply get caught by the military.


It was silent for a moment, the woman didn't see anything move around the corner of building sector S5. She was definitely sure that was a good thing. When the guards turned the corner, their guns ready in their arms, the woman allowed a smirk to crawl onto her face as they continued on their patrol, as if nothing was there.


The earpiece made a small static sound before clicking once and allowing the speaker on the other end to be heard. "Gotcha, Carmen." The voice was clear, a little loud, and very boyish. One could say that the other speaker had a voice as smooth as good quality chocolate, but the situation was not a good time for that. After all, they were about to commit a crime against the government.


The woman's eyes widened in irritation as she quickly glanced around her area, a nervous habit to make sure that she was safe and unnoticed. After doing so, the woman hissed into the microphone, pressing her fingers on the earpiece to activate it. "Bluejay...! Do not use my real name during missions." Massaging her temples with one hand, the woman let out a tired sigh before returning her full attention to the people in the ballroom.


The man on the other side of the end scoffed, you could practically hear the grin on his face. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Bulldog." Chuckling softly to himself, the other speaker stopped speaking for a moment, allowing a moment of silence between the two darkly dressed people. "Have you spotted the egg yet, Carmen?" There was a significant difference between the two tones of voice. The previous one had a more jolly and carefree ring to it, one that made people relax around the owner. This one, however, was serious and low.


It's too bad that the voice crack ruined the moment.


Doing her best not to laugh out loud, the woman simply smirked and made sure that she had that little puberty slip up recorded. Staring down at the area, the woman nodded, although aware of the fact that the person on the other end would not see the action. "Yes. She's conversing with..." Narrowing her eyes, the woman moved her fingers to the dark shades that she wore to cover her eyes. "A soldier." This one little fact could and would over complicate things.


"Cool beans." The man on the other end stated as if the fact was nothing that would make his task much more difficult. "Anyway, I'm going in." The words were said so fast that the woman didn't have enough time to respond before she saw a flash move on top of the roof of Concord Center. It was hard to notice and difficult to spot that little movement, but it wasn't impossible. This made the woman panic.


If she could see it, so could the guards. Taking a deep breath before hurrying off, the woman knew that this was her task. All she had to do was keep the guards at bay while he secured the egg. Carmen had to be confident that he could do it. As she ran across the roofs of the buildings, jumping from one thing to another, Carmen nodded and assured herself, "Dante will be fine."


Spotting a few guards who were running off towards the moment on top of the building, Carmen swore to herself before grabbing a hold of a metal pole and swinging down onto the soldiers. "He knows what he's doing."


Glass Roof, Concord Center; Dante's POV

"What the fuck am I doing?" Dante burst out laughing, shielding his face with his right hand. Carmen would have thrown a fit if she heard what he had just said. Fortunately, the microphone was turned off. Staring down at the crowded arena through the glass roof, Dante blended perfectly into the night sky.


He was confident in his abilities to remain hidden. After all, he was the one who suggested that they wear all black (because it was "cool" and made him feel like a "secret agent") and if this mission failed due to the wrong choice of clothing, Dante was sure that Carmen would rip his head off with those long fingernails of her's.


Spotting the golden colour of the targeted egg, Dante breathed deeply as he quickly reached for the laser Isaiah had given him for the job of cutting through the thick glass of the large building. Grabbing a suction cup, Dante stuck it onto the glass that was a little to the left of the target. Burning through the glass with the laser, the young man lifted the glass up and placed it over to his right.


Making sure his rope was secured, Dante kept his gaze focused on the target, only glancing around the arena to look over the other people in the crowd. Without a thought, he jumped through the hole in the roof and took a hold of the egg.


She was in the middle of a conversation with a man (one who was taller than Dante so fuck him). "Well, I'm not certain I would ever want to wear this dress again, considering the circumstances..." Dante heard the voice get louder as he appeared behind her, the rope slowed down slightly to reduce the bungee cord effect.


Wrapping an arm around the egg's waist, Dante smirked with triumph and said, "Don't worry about it," Immediately, the rope lifted Dante and the target up into the air. "You still look great." Laughing at all of the guards and people, Dante found himself near the roof in a matter of two seconds. Just as he was about to reach for the glass roof and pull himself and the successfully captured target through the roof, the rope got jammed.


Eyes widening, Dante froze, a silly grin still on his face. "Well, fuck." And so, there he was, dangling more than one hundred and ninty-seven feet off the ground, the target still in his arms. Death was eminent if they dropped from this height. Turning his head over to the victim of the kidnapping, Dante grinned sheepishly. "So, how's your day been?"


It wouldn't be soon until the guards would start shooting at him but Dante knew that they wouldn't. He was holding the daughter for an upper class man with many connections. They could risk hitting the girl or causing Dante to drop her. Therefore, all ending up in the target's unfortunate death. Pity, really. She was quite pretty. But Dante's seen many pretty people die.


However, he wouldn't allow the target to die before they even got out of the Community. Carmen would kill him. So, Dante simply began politely chatting with the girl. After all, what else could he do? A few seconds passed and Dante was beginning to nervously sweat. It wouldn't be long until the guards figured out something that would kill him and save the target. He had to work fast.


Reaching for the glass roof, Dante found himself a little too short to pull himself and the target up and out of the building. If only he was tall like a basketball player.... No, now wasn't the time for if onlys, Dante struggled to reach the glass hole that he had created, but it was inches away! Fuck the Community's government for not providing him with enough food which resulted in his somewhat stunted growth!


Then, an angel appeared.


"Isaiah!" Dante beamed with joy and happiness. He wasn't going to die today! The younger boy (Dante was senior by one year) rolled his eyes and quickly helped Dante up through the roof. "Damn, did I miss you buddy." Dante grinned as he slung the target over his shoulder and the two boys hurried off into one of the military's state of the art helicopters.


Shouts and screams could be heard from the military, they were firing at the helicopter that held the two rebels and a kidnapped upper class lady. However, their own technology was used against them and the helicopter road off into the night sky with a few bullet holes and an injured engine. As the helicopter neared the giant walls of the Community, the two boys paled when they heard the engine fail and die.


"We have to jump!" Isaiah yelled as the helicopter was about to ram into the top of the Community walls. And so, they did. Everything seemed to go in slow motion as their arms flailed about in the air. The screams of two were drowned out by the laughter of one blue haired young man.


"Mission Kidnap Aislyn Whitman is a success!" Dante hollered as the two young men (with a young woman slung over the shoulder of one of them) hurried off into the unknown past the Community walls. The whole thing seemed as if it was impossible, a complete ludicrous dream. The whole plan was executed so messily, so barbarically, that the government had no idea what to do.


1 for the resistance, 0 for the government.


@kitsunemage


(So I ended up not bunnying Aislyn in the end. I didn't write any of her reactions since I rushed the whole thing. Oops.)

 

[Hanzax]

Hans Grøngaard @Veirrianna Valentine


Hans got a quick and to the point answer without any sway or flake in her voice. She didn't seem to be shakin or stirred by the assassination that took place. It could be that she was still in a state of shock, in a state of emotional disconnect, it mattered not, Aislyn's calmness was only a good thing. In the middle of the Aislyns response a blur quickly fell down below her before shooting back upwards which was then followed by a deep clunk. The young upperclass woman was now stuck hanging close to one hundren meters in the air alongside her kidnapper. His had felt for the pistol inside his pocket his hand laid dorment ontop of it, the risk was far to great considering his inexperiance with the pistol he had been given.


Hans starting to look acroos to the other side of the room, having left his newly acquainted wife so rashly left a bad taste in the back of his mouth. He spotted the glary golden dress walking across the floor, heading in the direction of another young woman who had clearly been taken away by the shootings. A swift and precise jab landed into his side before he could yell out to Skye and holla her over.


His eyes were met by the familiar sight of short woman who had thrown him a loaded pistol, across a room filled to the brim with civilians. Standing beside her was an asian looking fellow, fairly close to his own height but a tad bit shorter. His hair looked like it had been out raving last night and had strands of pink and blue running through the otherwise onyx base. "So uhhh, who's ya new recruit? I'm Hans Grøngaard by the way." He asked first directed at the linx that had needled his muscles and subsequently the new guy.