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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Jul 8, 2019 16:20:01 GMT -5
One quick step was all it took. In one instance, one blink of the eye, the night-drenched city became an arid desert. The skyscrapers vanished behind him, replaced with a dusty street lined with shabby wooden buildings. The dim lighting vanished entirely, surrounding him in the purest darkness.
Paul blinked in moderate surprise, his eyes rapidly adjusting to the total lack of light until he could see the abandoned town in its near entirety, albeit in a dull grayscale. He anxiously looked around, nothing short of baffled by the place he had been sent to and the state of utter disrepair it was in. This was where they needed to be? Was anybody even here? This town looked like it hadn't been lived in since the nineteenth century! "W-What is this...?"
He looked to his left, quickly spotting Jordan and Mic not too far off. The little yellow-turned-green angel was soaking in his surroundings with a similar expression of confusion, seemingly unbothered by the darkness. Then Paul looked down at Kelsey, still awkwardly cradled in his arms, still in a disquieting slumber. "Kels, hey, wake up. Is this really where we need to OH JESUS CHRIST."
Kelsey didn't open her eyes but started gargling in her sleep, frothy white saliva pouring from her open mouth like a backed-up soda fountain.
Panic quickly started to sink in again. Paul's gaze darted back up as he desperately resumed his search for any sign that they were not alone in this wasteland. "HEYYY!!! ANYBODY OUT THERE?! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP!!!"
Mic stifled a mortified squeak when he noticed Kelsey, further startled by Paul's hysteria. He quickly spread his wings and directed his attention towards the rooftops. "I-I'LL SCOUT AROUND...!"
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jul 8, 2019 16:35:36 GMT -5
"... Yep. I still fuckin' hate teleporters."
The sensation of going from Point A to Point B in about the amount of time it took him to blink wasn't a foreign sensation to Jordan, but he still hated it, damn the convenience of it. Anyways. Where were they now? Some kind of abandoned town that looked like it belonged in the more backwards regions of Aicarme. Oh, this had better be the right spot, because there was no fucking way he was going to traverse the desert, night or day. "Are you completely sure this is where we're supposed to be?" He pointed to Kelsey, now coughing up white foam-like saliva. "Because that looks more like a case of Stealth Fever in its final stage."
He cringed at Paul and Mic's volume. Yeah, sensitive hearing and loud people? They go together like tuna and chocolate sauce. "Ow," he groaned, rubbing his sore ears. "I'll look for something, and I'll do it in a way that won't kill her hearing." Turning around, Jordan began to run towards the buildings, looking for really, anything.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Jul 9, 2019 16:20:16 GMT -5
"I don't know!" Paul's eyes were darting all over the place. Jordan, Kelsey, the buildings, Mic, Kelsey again, down the street... "But we have to try!"
He started running down the dusty road, holding Kelsey close, straining to keep her as still as possible as he sprinted. All the while, his eyes remained peeled as he scanned every building, every window, every corner for any signs of life. "IS ANYONE HERE?! SOMEONE, PLEASE!"
Mic flew swiftly above the rooftops, looking around at the town below with similar desperation. This place was so decrepit that it was worth questioning if anyone even knew about it, let alone lived in it, but that sort of doubt never crossed Mic's mind. "HELLOOOOO?! HEY!!! WE NEED HELP DOWN HERE!!!"
Eventually, in the angel's peripheral, a soft glow cut through the darkness. His head snapped to the side as he spotted a second-story window with a light on inside, the dull yellow shine outlining a silhouette. Someone was watching him.
"AH-!!! PAUL, OVER HERE!" Mic sharply changed course and bolted over to the window, waving down the person on the other side with one hand while pointing in Paul's direction with the other. "HEY, WE NEED HELP! WE GOT A SICK GIRL DOWN HERE!"
The angel then turned again and started flying in the direction he had pointed. As she watched the green figure leave her vantage point, the woman inside whipped around and dashed through the door, unsheathing a sword from seemingly nowhere.
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jul 9, 2019 16:43:55 GMT -5
"Argh, you idiots, you've probably alerted every last thing that could live here to us!"
Jordan muttered a few expletives after that, bemoaning how stealth was a lost art on this lot. Oh hey, he was right! There was somebody else here! Okay, he can get the bodysuit, probably more useful out here than whatever they were wearing. But the hood? Useful for stealth, but that colour's gotta go. Speaking of hoods, he pulled his own up and brought his bandana to cover the lower part of his face, leaving just one of his eyes exposed.
Ah, back to ninja-in-training mode. Fine by him.
Jordan frowned below the bandana, placing a hand on his katana's hilt. If this person wanted a fight, they can damn well go through him. "You. Move. Now."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Jul 9, 2019 17:55:49 GMT -5
El-Sayal darted out of her house and onto the street, pulling her scarf up over her mouth, hastily surveying her surroundings, longsword in hand. The angel had drifted a few blocks down, but there was another figure approaching her on foot.
For security's sake, El pointed her sword at the intruder and exchanged scowls with him. He seemed human at a glance, but he didn't seem all that friendly judging by his tone, stance and attire. No matter what the case was, she wasn't about to take any chances. "Who are you? Why are you here? How many more of those angel shkas are with you?!"
"PAUL, OVER HERE!!!"
Against the dark sky, El-Sayal could see the angel circling back around, flying her way once again. Just beneath him, someone else was fast approaching, sprinting down the street with clear purpose. "HEY HEY HEY, WAIT, WE'RE NOT GONNA HURT YOU! WE NEED HELP!"
To say the absolute least, as the second ground traveler came into view and skidded to a halt next to the hooded man, El-Sayal was quite taken aback. Blue skin and a tail were not traits she often saw on a humanoid. For a second or two, she questioned if he was one of the royalty-caste angels hiding his wings, but so much about him seemed to contradict that notion, enough to convince her to drop the theory for now. At the very least, his expression didn't seem hostile, matching the desperation in his voice.
Equally confusing was the winged creature he was carrying. The wings were distinctly fleshy, and this coupled with the curved horns created a very demonic vibe. Immediately obvious was the fact that this being was not well, hanging limply in the blue man's arms, drooling out a sickly foam, blood and vomit covering her petite face, brown curls and orange and white pajama- WAIT...
"Kelsey?" El-Sayal quickly lowered her sword and ran up to Paul, anxiously inspecting the impaired, heavily altered but still distinctly familiar demon girl. "What happened??"
"I'm not sure..." Paul wheezed out, ever worried and nearly out of breath. He briefly glanced at Mic as the little angel touched down next to him, then he looked between Kelsey and El. "We were... fighting the commander of the angel army when... when all of a sudden she just collapsed and started screaming and vomiting. I-I-I can't for the life of me figure out what could've caused this."
El-Sayal stared into Paul's eyes. His abridged explanation of Kelsey's condition was disconcerting to be sure, but she seemed just as intrigued by the mention of the angel commander. She looked down at Kelsey with pity and concern. She turned to Jordan with wary eyes. She narrowed her gaze at Mic. Then she faced Paul again with steeled nerves and a firm nod. "Come with me. We can help her."
Paul then watched as the woman in desert robes turned around and started dashing towards the next house over. He offered brief, nervous glances to Jordan and Mic, then he started following El-Sayal. Mic just shrugged to both men before quietly following suit.
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jul 9, 2019 18:11:31 GMT -5
...
...
... Okay then? I guess we're just gonna follow this strange person in the brown onesie? Perfectly logical, as all things were! Sarcasm. Whatever. At least one of 'em still had brains intact. Wait, hang on, what did the broad in the brown pajamas just say? Was... was that recognition?
Jordan lowered his bandana, but his hood remained up, pushing his hair down into his face. "... Wait, what the hell?" As a show of at least something resembling good faith, he removed his hand from the hilt, but he wasn't about to let his guard down. Things were never easy around here. "She... knows this... person in the brown pj's?" It's fun being out of the loop! So damn fun! Fun for the whole family!
Still, he was going to follow Paul, at least for now. Someone had to be on-guard for this shit in case this was just a cleverly-disguised ambush. (If so, he hoped Will would find the letter.) As Mic followed the dragon man, Jordan put two fingers to his eyes, then pointed the same digits at the angel that was supposedly on their side.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Jul 9, 2019 18:26:52 GMT -5
Paul didn't say anything, but he was similarly surprised by this woman's familiarity with Kelsey. At the very least, it was a bit of a relief that Kelsey's unconscious ramblings hadn't led them to a dead end, but the actual story behind their relationship remained a mystery. Probably something he would've learned had Kelsey remained lucid long enough to explain her morning.
El-Sayal stopped at the front door of the house and grabbed the knob, but found herself met with resistance. She let out an irritated growl and started banging on the locked door. "MINO! WAKE UP AND GET DOWN HERE! WE NEED YOUR HELP!"
"YIPE-!!!" Mic scrambled to a halt next to Paul, tripping over himself and landing face-first in the dirt. What was that name she just used??
"MINOOOOO! IT'S KELSEY! THE ANGELS DID SOMETHING TO HER!"
Mic propped himself up on his arms, staring at the door like it was a loaded cannon pointed right at him. Paul anxiously watched the door for a moment, then glanced down at Mic, almost as shocked as he was. Didn't Kelsey mention something about a doctor in the middle of her delirious babbling?
Oh, doggoned doofers...
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jul 9, 2019 18:36:27 GMT -5
Hang on.
Why did this little guy react so strongly to that name? What, was it like the John of angel names? He wasn't willing to completely discount that, but Jordan wasn't also discounting some kind of deception. He walked up to the short angel, scowling and placing a firm hand on Mic's shoulder.
"Explain before this Mino comes out. Now." He reached into his cloak, pulling out a kunai and, curiously, a sack with some red powder around the mouth. Licking the blade, Jordan stuck the small knife into the sack, coming out a few seconds later, coated in more of the red powder around the edge. "If you don't answer, more than just the spice will fl-"
Alas, before he could get to the fun part, someone- HELLO, nurse!- came out of the not-so-abandoned-after-all house. OI FOCUS JORDAN THAT'S AN ANGEL!! There's no need to get distracted! Instead, he cleared his throat, lowering his bandana and pushing some of his hair out of his face.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Jul 9, 2019 18:56:52 GMT -5
Well, Mino had been sleeping. The first round of screams down the street pretty effectively pulled him out of it, leaving the angel to simply lie in bed, scowl at the ceiling, and begrudgingly wait until whatever was going on outside became his problem. Maybe El would leave him be, maybe not. Either one wouldn't have surprised him. He just really wasn't looking forward to the latter. He'd already had his fill of social interaction for one week in the span of a single morning.
Lo and behold, El-Sayal started banging on his door and demanding his attention. In turn, Mino growled to himself, got out of bed, and slogged out of his room, knowing too well that he was not going to be left alone tonight, opting not to prolong El's irritation. He was stomping down the stairs by the time El started hollering for him again, tossing in a familiar name for good measure. Kelsey was back? What did they do to her this time?
After clicking on a gas lamp in the living room, Mino completed his trek to the front door, unlocked it, and opened it to meet his unwanted guests with a deadpan glare. "Alright, alright, what?"
Oh, bloody hell, there were way too many people outside. El was staring up at him desperately, but also calmly to some degree. Behind her was a man with distinctly draconic attributes, down to the scaly blue hide, yellow eyes, horns, and tail. He spotted Kelsey in the dragon man's arms, looking much more demonic than before, teetering between consciousness and catatonia, covered in and still leaking numerous bodily fluids. The sight of her in particular earned a flat exhale through the nose and an embittered slump from Mino. "Well, don't you look like hell?"
He only briefly glanced at the human in the hood, easily the least visually interesting of the bunch. The angel on the ground next to him, though, Mino found himself tilting his head to get a better look at. The casual clothing was a bit odd, and maybe Mino was just seeing things weirdly in the dark, but he seemed to have a moderately green complexion. Everything else, though, from his small size to his glasses to his curls to his facial features... even if the color contradicted his memories, Mino could recognize this angel anywhere.
"Mic?"
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Jul 9, 2019 19:17:49 GMT -5
Paul awkwardly glanced down at Jordan as the young man started interrogating an increasingly uncomfortable Mic, whispering sharply through gritted teeth, "Uh, Jordan, maybe put away the..."
Then the door opened and Paul's eyes widened to saucer size as he was greeted by an angel, one not only possessing a Prasino color scheme and an immediate sour attitude, but who surpassed Paul's height by at least two inches. Sure, his slouching kind of put them on the same level, but still. The woman accompanying them clearly seemed to trust him, though, if her demeanor towards him was any indicator. And if his name was anything to go by, Paul sensed that they could make some progress with him.
El-Sayal stifled a sigh of relief before nodding to Mino, her expression warm, worried, but still in control of the situation. "Good, you're up. Mino, these men appeared here just now. I don't know who they are or how they got here, but Kelsey... they don't know what's wrong with her."
Right on cue, Kelsey let out a wet, violent belch, spewing out a mixture of her own blood and some sort of white, creamy fluid. Paul whimpered at the sight, then shot a pleading look at Mino.
Before the matter at stake could be addressed any further, Mino's attention turned to Mic. Immediately, Paul felt the dread welling up in his stomach, reaching its boiling point the moment the taller angel spoke the smaller one's name. Not helping was El's response: "You know...? Wait... This is Mic? But he's..."
"Eeeuuuuuhhhhh, yeah... Hi, Mino." Despite his nerves, still lying on the ground, Mic forced an awkward, toothy smile and waved to the monolithic Prasino. Part of him was genuinely, absolutely ecstatic to see the guy. The rest of him was more worried about the edgelord bounty hunter with the poison-tipped knife. "Long time, no see, eh, bro? So this is where you've been hiding out. It's nice. I like your new friend."
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jul 9, 2019 19:31:48 GMT -5
Hang on.
Did the Mino that just came from the door address the Mino that was with them as "Mic?" Ha, he was right! There was some degree of deception going on! Well, he was going to let Paul handle the Mino-actually-named-Mino in case things went sour. As they entered the house, Jordan looked around. Okay, they're occupied with Kelsey, who still looked like she was in the final stage of Stealth Fever. Just fine by him.
Jordan grabbed Mic by the shoulder again, pulling the tiny angel aside. "It's in your best interest if you tell me your name. And by that, I mean your real name, not whatever pseudonym you were using to try and pull a fast one on us," he whispered dangerously, the spice-laced knife gleaming from within the cloak. "In fact, I'd suggest telling me everything now, otherwise this brotherly reunion will come to a sudden, sticky end."
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Jul 10, 2019 21:13:14 GMT -5
Between the sorry state that Kelsey was in and the awkward-as-ever ramblings of his brother, Mino could only think to take in a deep breath, let out a long, muffled groan that lasted a solid ten seconds, then scowl at the night sky for another five. He should've known helping this girl would open the door to further intrusion.
Well, Pandora's box was already wide open. Not much he could do about it now without looking like an a-hole.
"Get her inside," Mino grumbled, tilting his head towards the living room before turning around and retreating back inside himself, making a beeline towards the staircase. "Set her on the couch. El, check her temp and pulse. I gotta get my stuff."
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Jul 10, 2019 21:48:27 GMT -5
"Thank you." With the leeway given to him, Paul quickly stepped inside the house and into the living room, gently lowering Kelsey onto the couch sitting along the far wall, El-Sayal crouching next to him. He had no time to spare observing his minimalist surroundings. All his focus was on Kelsey, who had stopped coughing up fluids and seemingly resumed her uncomfortable slumber.
Paul did, however, turn and glance over his shoulder as Mic awkwardly shuffled into the house behind Jordan with his head low, cheeks flushed and hands in his pockets, the two retreating to the opposite side of the room. "Jordan? Just... don't be too harsh on him, okay?"
With that said, Paul looked down at Kelsey again, on whom El-Sayal was already running whatever diagnostics she could. "Okay... temperature is very high..." A hand to the forehead, then two fingers to the wrist. "Severely arrhythmic pulse... Kelsey, can you hear us?"
"You want me to do it
What if I just stayed here and ruined your ambition?
Christ, you deserve it"
"Y-Yeah, it's pretty much been that in terms of communication," Paul mumbled. "I'm not even sure if she knows where we are right now..."
Mic sadly watched the examination unfold from where he and Jordan had stopped. He snapped back to his present moment with a startled jump the moment Jordan started talking, the little angel sinking lower and curling inward.
"Okay okay okay..." Mic was already out of breath before he started talking, sputtering out his words a mile a minute. "My name is Micrathene, just Mic if you want, I'm really a Plasmis but Paul and Kelsey and a bunch of others had already seen me once when we first arrived on the island and I was worried they might recognize me and turn me away so I changed my color and my name just to be safe and I just chose my brother's name 'cause I was nervous and couldn't think of anything else BUT EVERYTHING ELSE I SAID ABOUT PROTECTING PAUL AND NOT WANTING TO BE A PART OF PARADISO'S PLANS IS TRUE I SWEAR PLEASE DON'T HURT ME I BRUISE EASILY AND I'M MAD AT LIDERC FOR KILLING LOBO TOO!!!"
He stood there cowering in the corner and gasping for air for a good ten seconds. Then Mic stared at the floor in complete dread. That was it, wasn't it? A verbal declaration of his defection. Never in a million years would Mic have imagined that he would reach this point. He had a lot of regrets that night, but to his horror and dismay... this was not one of them. Why didn't he feel bad about this?
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Post by DanteMGalileo on Jul 11, 2019 11:48:43 GMT -5
"... Fucking hell man, can you please learn to control your volume?"
Jordan cringed at Mic's shouted possibly-a-confession-of-defection, rubbing his ears from sheer force of loud. "Okay. Mica... Mickey... Micathe... Fuck it, I'm just gonna call you Mickey D's until otherwise, got it?" Kid was probably close enough in colour to the average item served there anyways, if probably a bit less dubious. "For now, I'm going to assume you're telling the truth, so don't give me a reason to slice your wings off. Understand?"
Whatever, that was close enough. "Anyways. I've got a couple of questions, so you might as well find a seat." Even if Mic didn't take a seat and Jordan was the one who sat down, he was still taller. "Okay, are we comfy? I really don't care, but you might be more inclined to answer me if the answer is yes." Pragmatism, a lost art these days. "Question number one, why did you defect? Mistreatment? Couldn't stand 'em anymore? Lost your boyfriend, girlfriend, gender-neutral-romantic-partner? Question number two, why are you so concerned with Paul's safety, assuming you are a genuine defector? I mean, I'm sure the rest of us would like to be alive too, thanks. Question what comes after two, not actually a question but please stop giving me that look, I only let my kid sister make that face to me!" And this is why he usually leaves someone a bit more even-tempered to this crap. "Okay, question number four, and this time it's an actual question. Why..." Jordan inhaled and exhaled, looking down, clenching a fist. Don't show weakness around the perp.
Once he had regained his composure, he resumed his questioning. "... Why was Lobo targeted specifically, besides this Libby's apparent raging hate boner?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Jul 11, 2019 21:01:00 GMT -5
Mino trudged back down the stairs, gloves donned, medical bag in hand, wholly unfazed by his brother's yelling. He did, however, stop at the base of the staircase and raise an eyebrow at Mic when he heard that last bit. "Huh. So the Black Eagle is dead. ...Hm. Shame." Then he turned right back around and left his brother and the human to their business.
Pulling up an ottoman to sit on, Mino situated himself near Kelsey's head and started pulling tools out of his bag one by one. "Okay, let's see what your problem is..."
Temperature was indeed high; definitely high for a human, and Mino would dare call it high for a demon. Heartbeat was wildly inconsistent. Breathing was rough and labored. Blood pressure was fairly high, but nothing too alarming. Mino didn't speak throughout his examination until he turned to look at Paul and El-Sayal. "This might take me a while. Might just wanna leave us alone for now."
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