Monday, May 30, 2011

New Post

While there is a new post on pirateplatypus, I have to ask...since you are following this account, do you still get a notice that I post to my other one? Or are you only aware of those posts when I throw an update on this account? It'd be nice to know so I'm not being hyper redundant posting this here every time I make a new post on bloggity bot. Thank you~!

Friday, May 27, 2011

This is Copy Pasta

There's a new post over on Pirateplatypus.blogspot.com. Take the time to read it please~! Thanks~!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Yozzup

There's a new post over at the other blog, the pirateplatypus.blogspot.com/The Bloggity Bot! By the way, I was looking through the traffic that I received through other sites, maybe I'm interpreting this wrong, but sites that link to my blog. I found a link that was very odd and so I clicked on it and it was apparently a porn website dedicated to the homemade art of fellatio. I have no idea how the hell that one happened, I'm curious if whoever got linked from there to Bloggity Bot is following me and how it happened. I'm very curious to know.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Bloggity Bot

There's a new post over on Pirateplatypus.blogspot.com. Take the time to read it please~! Thanks~!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Chapter 4 Final Part

(It's been awhile, I know. Thank you all for your patience. It's been a really busy weekend and I had no idea how to wrap this up. Thank you for all the support you have been giving me and in return, you all have mine.

The story thus far: The Rogues have started to plant bombs in the Egyptian catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. A team has been dispatched from Revenant to put a stop to them. They have met and begun to fight. So far, Xephyr is in a state of mental instability against two members of Revenant, Damian has quickly dispatched Lucas, and Anya is fighting Hanabi.)

    It continued like that for mere minutes, but at the speed and rate of fire each supplied against the other, it seemed to carry on for hours longer. Anya was getting nervous. She was quickly running out of  ammunition not coming as prepared as she normally would have not expecting an opponent so difficult. She knew that Hanabi on the other hand came prepared with everything she needed.
    “Running out of munitions ne?”, Hanabi asked. Anya’s slowing rate of fire must have tipped her off.
    Anya kept her mouth shut and kept firing. Every moment when Anya believed to have had her in the crosshairs, Hanabi would make the smallest of movements to dodge her projectile. Firing again and again, it made no difference, they all seemed to be repelled.
    Hanabi stopped and smiled. She stared directly at Anya as she raised her weapon one last time and squeezed the trigger.
    Click, click, click.
    Anya swore to herself. They were both aware that she was out of ammunition, and she was willing to bet that Hanabi was still well armed.
    “Take cover de gozaru”, Hanabi figured she could play with her opponent now. She unloaded her half full magazine and refreshed it with a new one while bringing out a second weapon.
    Anya threw her weapon to the ground and quickly dived behind the large structure in the room. Hanabi laughed and recklessly fired off rounds after her. She had nothing to fear so long as she could control the Anya’s range, she was certain of it.
    Anya refused to cower in fear, quit, or surrender. She still had one last trick up her sleeve. She pulled out a baton from a holster usually reserved her knives from attached to her lower back. She pulled out a zippo and lit it on fire and pulled out a large pouch of kerosene from her shorts.
    “Don’t think you can hide back there forever ne”, Hanabi slowly crept around the side, unknowing of what laid in wait for her.
    Anya filled her cheeks of the foul tasting fluid, pursed her lips and waited for her assailant. Timing would be everything.
    “Gotcha”, Hanabi quickly turned the corner ready to fire, but did not expect the fireball that engulfed her.
    “Kuso!”, Hanabi accidentally switched back to her native tongue out of surprise.
    Her over shirt quickly caught flame, but she took it off before she could suffer any major burns. The downside was that she was now more unprotected from the flames.
    “They don’t call me the Fire Breather for nothing. Let’s hope your clothes aren’t made out of polyester or you’re about to go up in flames”, Anya took another swig of kerosene.
    Anya was confident that she could win now. Although she didn’t have the speed or instant death of a bullet, in a smaller room like this, the area she could spray was much larger.
    Hanabi was no longer able to fire anymore. All she could do was roll around and hope that her clothes wouldn’t catch fire. Anya was smart though. With each burst, she worked to get Hanabi into a corner. Hanabi caught on, but saw that she could do nothing. Fear started to creep up into her chest.
    Finally, Anya knew that one last burst would finish the job. Hanabi knew it too. Anya took one last large swig and blew out as hard as she could. Hanabi no longer able to dodge took a blind shot. The bullet hit Anya in her collar bone and passed straight through. That one shot caused her to grimace and turn her head in pain and stopped the flames from enveloping Hanabi.
    Anya failed to falter however. Hanabi was ready to shoot but Anya was too quick. She rolled to the side and quickly took one last sip of her kerosene. Hanabi continuously fired no longer underestimating Anya.
    Anya had Hanabi still in the corner, but now had to take the defensive. She knew if Hanabi moved out, she would lose the battle. If she got closer, she could win. It was now down to a battle about distance. Hanabi ran out of bullets in one of her guns and tried quickly to reload it but was not fast enough.
    Anya flanked her from that side and pinned her other gun up above her head and held the flame between their faces.
    “Wait!”, Hanabi pleaded. Anya was close to setting Hanabi’s face on fire, but she felt the cold barrel of her other weapon pressed into her stomach. It appeared that Anya was not fast enough to prevent her from reloading.
    “I’m a woman of honor. We call this a draw and let each other live?”, Anya thought about it for a second. She didn’t have to think long. If she kept the fluid in her mouth, there was a chance that the fumes could build up in her nose and possible ignite, blowing her mind quite literally.
    Anya also knew spitting wasn’t an option. Fire wasn’t an instant death and so Hanabi could still shoot and kill her. On the other hand, Hanabi knew she couldn’t shoot. If she did, it could cause Anya to spontaneously spit out all of kerosene and set her on fire. They truly were at a stand still.
    Anya not being able think of any other option, decided all she could do was trust her and so nodded. Hanabi dropped her weapons and Anya turned her head, spit out the flammable liquid and dropped her torch. Slowly, Anya let go of her Hanabi’s hands, still apprehensive to trust her, and with good reason.
    Hanabi’s hands quickly snapped down to grab presumably another weapon, but Anya was still much too close and Hanabi much too hasty. Anya spun her around and wrapped her arm around her throat. Hanabi struggled, trying to take the grip off of her neck feeling her air way become restricted. She started to feel light headed and it felt like needles were starting to press into her head.
    Hanabi kicked off the wall she was now facing and knocked them both down, but Anya still held on. Hanabi struggled desperately trying to force the lock around her throat to loosen, but her fight was getting weaker by the second. Shadows started to creep in to her sight as the world around her faded from view.
    Anya was screaming in pain as Hanabi constantly slammed her head into her shoulder and collarbone wounds, but held on fiercely. The seconds ticked by, and Hanabi was finally greeted by a world of darkness. Anya breathed out in relief and released her limp captive and laid there in the dirt, her wound creating a small pool of blood. She was out of breath, in pain, but she was just thankful to be alive as the darkness soon came to take her as well…

Monday, May 16, 2011

New Post

New Post on Pirateplatypus. I was really busy today here on blogspot.

Chapter 4 Part 5

(After almost a week between blogger being down, a funeral, and still being sick, I have finally gotten a new post up. Sorry it took so long, but I hope that you enjoy it. Let me know what you think)



Minutes Before…



    Damian took a rare moment to actually feel a moment of comfort. As he walked through the tomb, he took good looks at all the people inside. None of them seemed suspect anything. He caught a glance at Anya and Xephyr and they each seemed to be enjoying each other’s company. Jack and Skylar were nowhere to be seen, which was ultimately a good thing.

    Damian acted much like a tourist and got a deep look at his surroundings. It was one thing to look at pictures of what was inside, but it’s always an entirely feel to experience it. The well crafted details and hieroglyphs. Each ‘word’ was a feat of art. If  you messed up, there was no erasing, it was permanent. From what he saw and from what he had heard Jack say earlier, they were very close to what his mindset was; one that demanded perfection.

    Damian continued to tour the tomb and found two statues opposite of each other. One of them seemed to depict the male and female form respectively. Damian was amused by both. The male was missing both of its and he laughed, albeit a bit immaturely, at the ‘piece’ the male was lacking. The woman statue looked very similar to the male the difference being the breasts and still having its arms.

    The farther back he got, the more interesting the glyphs got. Soon, he saw what appeared to be Anubis with a serpent body in place of legs. He questioned this as he always knew Anubis to be the God of Death, at least to his own knowledge. Although he had already died once, he could not remember if there was an afterlife or if there was just emptiness.

    It was a topic that brought about paranoid thoughts. He wasn’t the most religious or spiritual man, but thoughts of his beloved Sandra haunted him at times when he thought about it. He just wished to be with her after death be it through the touch of the Grim Reaper, through the Gates by St. Peter, or be it that he must meet Anubis, as long as he got her at the end, he’d endure the flames of Hell just to reunite.

    It was the only memory he had of his former life. All he could remember was her shining face, even in sickness. He had not the slightest idea of what they did, the only recollections of her was when she was in a hospital, the same one he died in, but the feelings…The same heart shattering, soul eroding feelings would always be there until he died.

    Then Damian’s ears perked up. He heard the snaps and pops of what sounded like suppressed gunfire. It was something that most people probably wouldn’t recognize, but he was veteran, he knew what that was.

    Damian was put on edge, and his hand immediately shot to his holster hidden on his person, but stopped at a click.

    “Hello Damian”, that dark, mocking voice was instantly identifiable.

    “Greetings Lucas.”

    “No need for formalities here. Turn around so I can see the look in your eyes.”

    Damian turned around to a dark barrel of a gun pointed at his face. The gun was being held by Lucas, the Paradox. Always trying to be careful using reckless tactics. Trying to impatiently wait for things to happen. Carefully planned chaos.

    “It’s strange. I thought that having you at gun point would’ve made me happier. Maybe it’s cause I’d finally see some fearful expression. Yet all I can see is that tired out look of defiance”, Lucas said with no feeling.

    “It’s strange. You have me at gun point and all you can do is keep running your mouth off. Maybe it’s because you think you have the upper hand, yet all I can see is a cowardly punk who got lucky”, Damian mocked.

    Lucas’ eyes narrowed, “I hate you.”
   

    Bang!


    Lucas heard a loud gunshot over to his left and in that momentary lapse of focus, Damian grabbed the barrel of the gun and jerked it his left. Lucas still having his finger on the trigger had it broken as it was jammed back towards his hand. In that one swift motion, Damian had effectively disarmed his opponent and had easily turned the situation around.

    “You miserable fuck. You think you got me now? You think you got the best of me!? Go ahead. Shoot me. Shoot me right in my smug prick face! It won’t do you any good. It won’t do you any good at a-ack!”, Damian was annoyed of his ramblings and hit him in the back of the head using the butt of the gun.

    Damian really hated talking and mincing words. He especially hated people like Lucas who never knew when to stop yelling. Lucas was more annoying than Xephyr. Damian wondered even to himself why he just knocked him out instead of killing him and ridding the world of another annoyance, but unable to find an answer, he just decided it was the right thing to do. He just hoped it wouldn’t bite him in the ass later.

    “Shit, that really hurt ya know?”, and it looked like it would bite him in the ass now.

    Damian knew enough to not look back. Lucas was already up and aiming another gun at his back.  
    “That was enough to give me a concussion you ass”, Damian barely perceived his words before diving out of the way avoiding a couple of bullets.

    “It’s hard enough trying to shoot you when I’m this dizzy. Why don’t you make things easier on both of us and stand still”, Lucas stumbled behind a pillar to give himself a moment to try and think.

    Lucas was overcome by many painful sensations that came rushing to him al at once. His head was throbbing and dizzy. His finger was in pain from being broken. Then came the nausea and the vomiting. Everything was starting to blur together, but Lucas knew that if he didn’t get his act together, he could be killed any moment.

    He decided his finger and being able to shoot with his right hand was the first thing he needed to take care of. Ripping off a piece of cloth from his shirt, he bit down into it and snapped his finger back into place. He immediately spit the piece of cloth out, but was still able to hold in a scream.

    Lucas then pulled out a couple of different colored pills. One which was a strong pain reliever and the other was caffeine. Adrenaline was already in his body, but he needed more. The caffeine helped him feel almost invincible, but he knew it would take time for it to kick in so there was a need to stall.

    Loading his gun, he stood up and peered around the pillar he stood behind. It seemed that the tourists had disappeared, because of the gunshots no doubt. That would make Lucas’ job easier, whatever movement he saw, he could shoot. He was confident enough that his team was far enough to be able to do this without hitting one of them.

    Lucas treaded very deliberately, but steadily making sure to go around each corner very precisely with his gun forward ready to fire it off at any moment.

    Damian heard him getting closer. The sound of his footsteps were enough to give them away. Drawing steadily nearer, Damian held a fist full of sand. He did not wish to kill Lucas, it would be a waste of bullets and in was a waste of time in general. To kill him would be like a martial artist downing an infant.

    Lucas finally peered around the corner with his gun fully extended, just as planned. Damian knocked Lucas’ arm upward causing a bullet to go into the ceiling and threw the sand into his face.

    Lucas growled in pain, but continued to try and shoot. By this time, things were almost too easy for Damian. His foe was close to blinded, disoriented and confused. Damian ducked down from a couple of gun shots, grabbed Lucas’ arm, and expertly broke his radius and ulna bones.

    “You fucking sonovabitch!”, the snapping of the bones could not be heard over his yelling.

    Lucas went for a punch using his other hand which he could not have hoped to have landed in his condition. Damian ducked this as well and punched him in the armpit, which although strange and unconventional, contained a pressure point that dropped Lucas.

    Violently struggling at that point, Damian could sense how desperate Lucas was. Arm broken, suffering from a possible concussion, blinded, finger sprained, and in a heap on the ground, Damian decided it was time to just end it. He wrapped his arm around Lucas’ neck and applied pressure in a classic sleeper hold until Lucas’ eyes rolled back and his body went limp.

    Damian was not even short of breath, it was too easy. He had no idea how Lucas was even a leader. He checked for a pulse just to make sure that he was still alive, and finding one, propped Lucas against a pillar.

    “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”, came a dark scream from the other side of the tomb. The sound was instantly recognizable as Xephyr’s other side. He knew that he had to act fast. Damian dusted himself off and started running.



    Anya followed the crowd towards the entrance and decided to duck out into a large room near the entrance she had spied on the way in. She took the time to reload into a new magazine and keep the safety on her other firearm off should in case she needed it in a pinch.

    Anya took a tablet of diazepam to steady her muscles a bit and took a hyrdocodone for her wounded shoulder. She understood that Hanabi was an equal to her in skill, if not better. She pointed her gun at the entryway ready for Hanabi to come in. She could stand there with her arms extended, ready to fire, for hours. She remember being called the ultimate camper once and took an odd pride in such a weird compliment.

    Hanabi knew that she was already in that room, no doubt ready for her. It wasn’t hard to track her, Anya stood out from many crowds. The trouble was, coming in through such a small entrance without being shot at first. Anya definitely had the advantage.

    She had many options, but no matter what she thought of, she could not think of a situation where she could have the upper hand. She decided on her best course of action and hoped that it would not get her killed.

    Hanabi picked up a rock and tossed it into the room and dived into the room in the opposite direction. Unfortunately for her, Anya would not fall for such an amateur trick and was not fooled. Hanabi gracefully stood up from her roll and continued in a dash so as not to be hit.

    Anya had fired off a few rounds only to see them miss, and knew that from that moment on, it was going to have to be a close range battle. Dashing towards Hanabi to meet her head on, Hanabi stopped in response and fired off a round. Luckily, she was close enough to be able to foresee the shot before hand and dodge it.

    Hanabi knew what Anya was trying to do. Hanabi needed to know more about the way Anya fought in order to find an open spot, a weakness, a vulnerability. Firing off a few more, she kept Anya at a distance, seeing the way she moved, but she moved very fluidly and very coordinated. Anya was very well trained as far as Hanabi could tell.

    Anya returned fire to stand her own ground to and to stop Hanabi from firing more. They both were very cautious towards each other, never giving each other an opening while staying on the offensive.

(I couldn't think of where to go after that, I may change that, but thanks again for taking time to follow along. Constructive criticism is always welcomed so that I may improve.)

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Lack of Posting

I am dearly apologetic for the lack of posts. In addition to blogspot being down, I've been down from a death in the family, lost a lot of sleep from my friend spending the weekend with Portal 2 over here and a bunch of other stuff. I  think I should have a post up by the end of the night, but it all depends on what else is happening tonight. Forgive me for the large lapse, I'll get back on schedule soon. Thanks for being patient.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Chapter 4 Part 4

(I think this is the longest post I've written so far, but I enjoyed it. Finally, some action! This is my first time writing anything fight oriented so while I understand that certain aspects may be a bit hard to understand or visualize, if it seems way too sporadic, please tell me what part and how I can improve. As always, thank you for the support! I hope you enjoy it!)


    Xephyr held onto Anya close to him, arm in arm. He knew she was saying something, but his mind was still a blank slate.  He nodded and agreed where appropriate, but he couldn’t think of anything to say himself; which was something he did not like. She smelled really nice, in a stagnant place like this, she was like an air freshener, but the effect was intoxicating.

    “-Well then why don’t you take your glasses off silly?”, she reached up to lift them from his eyes. Xephyr cursed at himself in his head for not listening harder, she must’ve asked about it and he just absentmindedly nodded his head.

    “There, that better?”, she looked up at him with what seemed to be a genuine smile. Xephyr awkwardly returned it.

    With his eyes uncovered, he felt completely vulnerable. He didn’t like people looking into his eyes. When he was a younger kid, he remembered hearing someone telling him ‘the eyes are the gateway to the soul’, and as childish as it was, it stuck with him ever since. He hated the idea of someone peering into his soul, being able to read him from the inside out. Though if he had put it back on now, she might figure that he’s not really listening and he didn’t want to seem like prick.

    They walked on and looked at the intricate carvings that the ancient people must’ve taken thousands of hours to carve; that they were going to destroy in moments.

    As Xephyr walked, it amazed him how virtually untouched this place was by the outside world. He remembered watching a documentary once about how many ancient architectures would be demolished and crumble because of various plants and animals that would bring about its destruction. Roots of trees would slowly push through, animals would help loosen the structure as small insects started to make their homes inside, water would erode away stone. This place, built in a land of sand evaded all of that.

    Xephyr realized how much of a couple they must’ve looked to other people and how lucky he was to at least be in the illusion that they were together. He saw men and women alike give them second, jealous glances. It gave Xephyr a bit of an ego boost and helped him to relax a bit.

    Anya felt X’s arm let up a little bit. Wow, it’s about time, she thought to herself. The whole time they were walking together, she noticed how unusually tense he was. It was odd to her because he always seemed to be the most lax out of everyone. Hell, he even took a nap during a mission debriefing.

    Anya tried to make small talk, but he didn’t really seem to be paying much attention. She’d say something, and all he’d be doing is just nodding or might mumble a yes, and it was rather quite frustrating not to mention unusual.

    Maybe she was just a bit to used to guys just always being the same way. It seemed like every guy she usually met was either way too strong and used tacky pickup lines and tried way too hard or they were even too shy to approach her and would just shy away. Xephyr just seemed completely uninterested.

    Anya decided to skip on her first mission of getting him calm and relaxed and decided getting him at least conscious of something other than whatever was going on inside of his mind was becoming a higher priority. She wasn’t sure how she was going to go about it yet, but she would find some way to get him a bit more out of his shell.

    First, she just needed a hook and bait. Once she had that, everything would come easy, surely it would. Xephyr was The Voice after all, he must’ve loved talking about himself, or at least talking in general.

    Anya was busy trying to think of a new way to get him talking and Xephyr was trying to think of a way to start talking when they both felt an arm go over both of their shoulders.

    “Hey buddy, whatcha been up to?”, they both looked over and there was a man with a broad grin and sandy colored hair that both of them recognized as Adva.

    Their battle sharpened reflexes took over and they both sidestepped, each of them taking out a sidearm aimed at his head.

    “Woah, woah, woah. C’mon man, is this any way you greet an old friend?”, Adva’s smile didn’t waver at all, “and what about you little lady? You’re much too pretty to be holding something too dangerous”, and Adva gave a wink to her.

    Anya cocked the hammer, “believe me, I’m much more dangerous then the gun I’m holding.”

    “What the hell are you doing here, Adva?”, Xephyr asked.

    “Do you even need to ask? A mission, duh.”

    “Well you shouldn’t have come down here alone”, Anya spat, “that was a foolish mistake that you’ll pay with your life for.”

    “But he didn’t aru…”, Hanabi stepped forward from behind a pillar holding up her weapon directly at Anya.

    They stood silently like that for a moment, the situation tense, none of them uttering a word until Adva opened his mouth again.

    “So how ‘bout it, X. You and me in a fist fight, just like old times. It’s been awhile since I’ve talked to you two”, Adva still spoke positively, “and we let the two girlies fight. That sound good?”

    Xephyr thought about it for a moment. Anya hoped that Xephyr would just take the shot he already had. Unfortunately for her hopes, he holstered his weapon and put his fists up.

    “Fine. I’ll do this as a favor for you”, and Xephyr matched Adva’s grin.

    Again, they stood in silence. None of them were willing to make the first move, for if it missed, it could be all over. They each waited for the slightest moment of distraction. That came in the form of a pedestrian that walked from behind Adva and froze seeing the sight. Xephyr took a slight glance over at Adva took his chance. He dashed forward with a left jab.

    Xephyr just barely managed to dodge the punch and returned with a right elbow. With the men in the way, Hanabi and Anya both thought the same way and strafed over to in the same direction, Anya’s right and Hanabi’s left, and each took off a shot, each missing and embedding the bullets into the rock. Fortunately, though not completely silent, the suppressors they each had on their weapon deafened the noise that would alert the entire tomb.

    The bow from Xephyr missed and let him closer to Adva who took advantage and countered with an uppercut into the diaphragm. It knocked all the wind out of him but he was still able to return by slamming his elbow down into his shoulder. Adva helped take away some of the impact by dropping down to the ground and pushing away when Xephyr went for an obvious kick. The smile on both of their faces grew larger as
Xephyr drew in a deep breath.

    Anya and Hanabi were close enough now to fight in a combination of hand to hand combat and gunplay. If either of them were to show an opening, it would be over in that instant window of opportunity. It went back and forth between the two. Through the years of training and now natural instincts, they were able to predict the next move of their opponent as well as act upon it.

    Anya thrust her gun and pointed it at Hanabi’s face and fired only to have it smacked towards the side in the nanosecond before she pulled the trigger. Hanabi followed smoothly by bringing her gun pointed up at her heart only to likewise have it pushed away with Anya’s free hand.

    Anya had a slight advantage in being taller and having a slightly longer reach and kept on taking small steps toward Hanabi until she tripped over the pedestrian that by this time had become paralyzed with fear and possible admiration.

    “Get the fuck outta here!”, Hanabi yelled at the frightened Civilian as she fell.

    Hanabi tumbled backward and Anya finally took her chance to fire a couple shots in rapid succession, all missing by mere centimeters. Hanabi elegantly went into a roll and landed on her stomach in prone position and fired off a couple more shots and hit Anya in the shoulder.

    Anya resisted the urge to scream in the pain, but just grit her teeth and took it and pulled the trigger only to find that her magazine was now empty. Fortunately for her, Hanabi was also out of ammunition.

    By this time, everyone had heard the muffled blasts and the screaming and were curious as to what was going on. When that one person came running and screamed, “Run! They have guns!”, nobody thought twice and started to stampede towards the entrance giving Anya and Hanabi the perfect cover to disperse amongst the crowd and reload their weapons.

    Xephyr and Adva were still going at it however. They remained all the way on the side of the Catacombs where nobody walked so the stampeding tourists were of no concern in their world.

    Adva went with a kick to the side of the body only to be caught. Xephyr got a hook into his face and upturned his body to the ground. As Xephyr went for another punch at his downed opponent, Adva was able to bring his foot back and kick him square in the chest.

    They both ambled back up to a standing position and laughed as they looked at the battered and bloody each other now sported.

    “It’s just like old times ‘ey?”, Adva spat a little bit of blood into the dirt.

    “Yeah. I gotta say, the nostalgia feels good”, Xephyr wiped a bit of the blood from his nose.

    “C’mon now, you sound like an old man.”

    “I feel like it when I fight with you.”

    They both laughed and charged back in until a gunshot halted their movement. Adva searched his body, but found no wound then looked up to see Xephyr fall down. Opposite of him, Max held his gun and Cylvia stood beside him.

    “The fuck?! We were fightin’!”

    “No. You were having fun. This isn’t a game, it’s a mission. Regardless of how it is, they must be taken care of”, Max spoke with an uncharacteristic monotone.

    “He was still my friend! If anyone should’ve ‘taken care of him’, it should’ve been me!”, Adva was furious.

    Xephyr’s body moved and got up to its knees.

    “Well then…”, he spoke in another voice that was not his own. Low, menacing, dark, “I can’t let anyone kill me unless it’s you can I?”

    Xephyr looked up at Adva, his face twitched and his eyes changed. Adva knew that look. It was one of the few things that terrified him.

    Let me out. Let me out. Let me kill them. No mercy. Do it! You need me! A dark voice twisted inside of Xephyr. He heard it, another side of him even he himself feared. A violent furious side that was thirsty for blood.

    No. I don’t need you. I DON’T NEED YOU, “Go Away!”, Xephyr accidentally yelled aloud.

    Max looked at the enemy he thought he had killed so easily. He questioned it until he saw the two bullets that were meant to go for his heart stopped by the jacked he wore. He must be wearing bullet proof armor underneath, but he wasn’t protecting his head.

    Before he pulled the trigger, Cylvia pushed him back and blocked a slash that was meant for him with her sword. He had not noticed it, but her quick eyes discovered the hidden sword and was able to intercept what surely would’ve been a killing blow.

    Xephyr missed his opportunity at a surprise attack at Max and he wasn’t going to get a second chance. Though it was a marvel that this girl was able to intercept such a fast attack without even flinching. Max fired off another shot that Xephyr had luckily just enough time to move to end up with a grazing in the ear.

    Xephyr took a step back and Cylvia advanced forward. She put her sword back in it’s scabbard and used an attack she was taught by Hanabi. By pressing her sword up against the scabbard and drawing it, she found she could swing it with almost unparalleled speed. She wanted to end it quickly, but was halted by Xephyr’s own sword.

    Not missing a moment’s opportunity, she pressed harder and parried his sword and smashed him in the face with the scabbard. He stumbled back, sheathed his own blade and attempted to meet her with the same attack. Cylvia stepped a couple paces back out of his range and gave Max an able target who took his chance and fired but was only able to hit him in the shoulder.

    It did no damage to him, but it did mess up his swing giving Cylvia a huge opening for one more attack. In that quarter second of an advantage she was given, she stepped forward and slashed diagonally across his chest. It wasn’t a killing blow, but it was able to do harm him.

    Xephyr jumped back to avoid any follow up hits. Cylvia sheathed her sword ready for another attack and Max fired off another shot, this time aiming for the head, but missed. Xephyr sidestepped behind a pillar and examined his wound.

    It was rather deeper than he originally thought and bled fast, but it would not be fatal. Still, as the crimson river started to flow, he could hear the voice start to speak louder and grow stronger.

    See?! You need me! You need meee!!! Just let me drain her life! You can’t do this alone! They’re going up against you two to one, even it up! LET. ME. OUT!

    Xephyr could feel his sanity start to slip and finally cracked.

    “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!”, he screamed at the top of his lungs that stopped all others that remained in the tomb.
   
Then, silence.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Chapter 4 Part Three

     Skylar couldn’t help but be a but confused as to why Damian would pair up her with Jack, but orders was orders. She was not going to question it. Whatever reason he had for doing so, she was not going to go with it. He wouldn’t question her on her expertise in explosives, she was going to respect his role and give him the same courtesy. Still, it nagged at her.

    She gave a quick walk around the tomb, taking notes of all the people and how fast they were walking. Popular spots that people seemed to admire most so she could plan this as well as she could. People obviously took a few moments to admire things like the burial grounds and the statues, but they tended to walk slow in general. That was going to be a bit of a problem.

    Skylar also needed to factor in her own team and if she could meet up with them and get them out of there fast enough. They all had to be out of there quick enough for her to set it off without anyone discovering the explosives first.

    Jack hobbled on after her, trying to keep to her side, but she moved very unpredictably. She’d walk briskly in one direction, turn her head, take a one-eighty, then start walking again. Jack saw a questioning look pop across her face every now and then, and she might even whisper and mumble something to himself, but she shared none of it with him.

    Skylar kept moving sporadically, but Jack eventually started to make sense of her movements until she stopped suddenly and he almost ran into her.

    “How fast can you run?”, Skylar asked.

    “Uh-what?”, Jack was suddenly taken aback by the odd question.

    “You heard me, boy. How fast can you run?”, she was persistent on knowing and Jack had no idea what to say.

    “Uhm…I don’t know exactly how fa-”

    “Are you quick on your feet? That is what I am asking”, she barked.

    “Ye-yes! I can’t fight but I can run”, Jack immediately felt stupid for saying such a cowardly thing out loud.

    Skylar almost laughed at how ridiculous he sounded, “alright, then follow me. You’re going to need to practically fly.”

    Skylar, almost gliding on her feet, went towards the back of the pit and Jack, though stumbling at first, kept up. They received a few questionable looks, but in a blink, they were out of sight and out of mind. When they stopped, Skylar quickly put her stuff onto the ground and started pulling out various papers that were a familiar to Jack.

    “Alright, listen, this is the map and layout of the catacombs. We need to do this as fast as possible, but at the same time we cannot rouse any kind of suspicion”, Skylar spoke faster and more in that one moment than Jack had ever heard out of her.

    “I could do it by myself, but that leaves a wider opportunity to be caught or have one of these found and ruin the whole mission. As much as I may not like it, you’re my only help and I can’t do this alone”, Jack just nodded carefully hanging onto every word.

    “Alright, I have memorized the layout of this whole area and I know exactly where to place it. Here’s where you’re going to help me”, Skylar spoke quicker and quicker with the more she said. She removed a highlighter from her pocket and circled a few spots and started writing down numbers.

    “Now this is very, very exact work. If you are not spot on, then this will not go off the way it needs to. Do you understand?”, Jack gulped and nodded, “I’m writing down exactly where you need to go and set one of these.”

    Skylar pulled out an explosive charge about the size of a small brick. She admired her own homemade dynamite. Skylar was sometimes marveled that more people didn’t know how to do this kind of thing. It was relatively easy to make with the materials not very difficult to acquire.

    “What am I going to do with that?”, Jack had no idea why he asked, it was pretty obvious.

    “You’re going to stick it where I need you to with a bit of duct tape without anyone realizing it. It’s a small area, but every second that you can run without being noticed is crucial. If you see someone in the area where you need to plant a bomb, skip it.”

    “But how am I going to carry it all?”

    “That’s the next part. You will have to take it one at a time. You can’t carry more than one on your person without it being noticed and I am the only one with the backpack. You will have to find me every time because I cannot obviously leave this here. I will have to move relatively slowly due to what I have in my backpack. I am relying heavily upon you. Do not fail me.”

    Jack’s palms started to sweat but he grasped the explosive that he was given tightly. She handed him the map and immediately picked out where he needed to go. After one more reassuring look up at Skylar, they each nodded and each went in their own separate directions.

    Skylar, felt something unusual for her-excitement. She was eager to put her creations to the test and feel the vibrations match her own convulsions. She could feel the goosebumps start to crawl up her arms already as she walked off. It was a bit scary to her that she enjoyed something destructive so much, but she logged that out of her mind for another time.







    Lucas crept down the staircase. His team followed suit in single file. They purposely walked slow and let other people pass. If there was some chance of Damian’s team passing them and making this an easy kill, that’d be ideal. Luca’s hoped that he’d have to hunt them down and they wouldn’t make it so easy, but it would be the best way to go about it after all.

    “Yaaaahhhh…”, Adva purposefully let out a loud, drawn out yawn. Lucas moaned in response.

    “C’mon. Can’t we go any faster? I’ll die of old age by the time we get down to the bottom. And if we die, we can’t carry out the mission very well, ey?”

    Lucas just let it be. There was nothing else to say. He knew why they couldn’t move fast, he was just speaking with no substance. Talking without really having anything to say. He wanted him to leave so badly, but knowing him, he’d charge headfirst into a fight without any tact about the mission whatsoever.

    “I have to agree de gozaru. This slow pace is rather…”

    “Irritating? Boring? A slow death that will meet us at the bottom?”

    “Not the words I would have chose but…Hai. I agree”

    That was something Lucas didn’t expect. Hanabi agreeing with such a reckless spirit like Adva. Maybe he was being a bit too slow. He decided to reconsider.

    “Fine, I guess if you feel the same way, it’s not just Adva being his usual impatient self. If you really want to go, do it”, Lucas saw the light brighten up in Adva’s eyes like a child getting what he wants for Christmas. He could tell that Adva was about to run off when Lucas stopped him.

    “Only if Hanabi goes with you”, Lucas figured that was a good enough stipulation to keep him a bit more in line.

    “Yeah, fine, whatever. C’monlet’sgo!”, Adva cracked his knuckles and started to leap down the steps. 

    “Don’ worry. I can keep an eye on him”, and Hanabi followed in Adva’s steps.

    Max was about to ask if he could follow suit, but felt more compelled to stay by Cylvia’s side. She seemed a bit on edge from when she caught up to the rest of us, but as usual, said nothing about it. It worried him a bit, but the best he could do is just remain by her side and behind Lucas.

    Adva ran down the steps as fast as he could. He almost knocked down a couple of civilians on the way, but he corrected himself at the last moment and was able to avoid them. Then he finally reached the bottom and took a deep breath. He let out a large breath of excitement. It was a long time since he was able to go out on a mission.

    Adva flexed his muscles, he was glad that this workout had come just in time. The longer he sat up on base up in space, the more he could feel his muscles degenerating. Workouts weren’t enough though. He needed some resistance.

    “You’re fast de gozaru”, Hanabi was surprised at how quickly he could move when he wanted to.

    “You’re not slouch yourself. You ready?”, though he didn’t really care for an answer, he ran outward anyway.

    He ran forward and looked around and immediately was able to pinpoint Xephyr. That ridiculous hair and his midnight black coat was signature enough.

    What is this…? Does he have a girl on his arm? And a rather cute one at that… Adva was a bit jealous actually.

    Adva cracked his knuckles and silently approached. When he got near enough, he draped his arms over both of their shoulders.

    “Hey buddy, whatcha been up to?”, the look on his face was priceless…





(Long post so thanks for bearing with me. I would write more, but the next part is actually going to have some action and I didn't want to end up having to quit halfway through. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the support!)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Chapter 4 Part Two

     Damian finally made it to the bottom step. It was a bit of a walk just to look at some crumbling rock, but he imagined it must’ve been worse to actually create the steps than it was to walk it. He smirked glad that as bad as he viewed his own duties, it couldn’t have been anywhere near as carving ninety-nine steps into stone that were all the exact size. A pain in the ass in other words.

    Damian turned and saw that his team was right behind him and they all seemed to have lightened up quite a bit. The pre-mission jitters must have finally worn off. They all stood in front and stared at him, waiting for his next set of orders, but Damian just frowned. He was a bit disappointed they couldn’t be more self-sufficient by now.

    “Hey, get outta the way of the people comin’ down. Don’ be rude”, Damian chastised.

    The older couple just smiled and mumbled a thanks and continued on down the tunnel. Damian remained indifferent to them, but looking at his team, with special regard to Jack and seeing an exception in Skylar, a look of dejection crossed their faces. It was getting quite annoying.

    “Listen, you need to get over it!”, Damian snapped, “you are all soldiers are you not? You have killed before, ‘cept you Jack, but even so, you will have to get used to it! We didn’t sign up for this, but it’s our fate. Now man up.”

    Damian didn’t want to yell at Jack, he was the Innocent after all, but he couldn’t look soft or look like he was playing favorites. He needed all of them to get their heads out of their own naïve ideals. As the old saying went, you need to crack a few eggs to make an omelet.

    “Alright…now, Skylar”, she gave the slightest look up, “do you know how you’re going to do this? It seems pretty cramped in here. How are you going to do this without being caught?”

    Skylar allowed herself a smile. It was one out of confidence, but she had no ego behind it. She absolutely loved what she did and now that she was going to be able to actually do something, a little smirk couldn’t hurt.

    “Don’t worry, sir. I got it all under control. I’ll just need someone to make sure to have my back and make sure not too many people come around me so I can plant what I need to.”

    “Alright then. Jack, you’re up.”

    Jack gave Damian a look of questioning. He had no idea why him and not someone like X or Anya. X looked threatening enough to be able to make anyone cautious enough to approach or could at least talk them away. Anya was at least someone who actually had social skills if the last ten minutes demonstrated anything about her.

    Yet, to Damian’s and even his own surprise, he just gave a nod without any objections.

    “Good. Alright, well…it looks like X, Anya and I will just look around and keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Is that okay?”, Damian felt a bit apprehensive about leaving her and not being able to do anything himself, but it seemed that it had to be left at that.

    Skylar gave a nod, hoisted her backpack back onto her shoulder, then tipped her head in her direction indicating Jack to follow. Jack didn’t hesitate to follow and almost tripped moving so suddenly. He quickly walked by her side like a dog. He just hoped that he could be as brave and as loyal as one.

    “Sooo…what does that mean we get to do cap’n?”, Damian almost forgot what Xephyr’s voice sounded like. Then he remembered how much he hated it as soon as he said that.

    “It means…you get to just take in the sights. There, is that what you wanted to hear?”

    “Very much so”, and Xephyr walked away with Anya still in his arm.

    “Smartass…”, Damian muttered to himself and walked after them.

(I usually have longer posts than this, but I'm extremely tired. I'll add to this later, I swear. Sorry for the lack of updates, Mother's Day weekend kept me busy. By the way, for some reason, blogspot stopped giving me updates of all the people I follow. I'm trying to find some way to fix this. If you got any ideas on a way to go around or otherwise fix this, please let me know. Thanks!)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Chapter 4 -Complete Redo

(I was not satisfied with the way I originally wrote my first couple of posts at all. I feel like I had hastened the story a bit and tried to over explain things in a short amount of time. I completely rewrote and rebooted the whole thing and I am much more pleased with the way things turned out.)

    Lucas walked down the city streets with his team loosely following him. Just like their targets they were in charge of pursuing, they had to remain undedected and blend in with the crowd. Alexandria was a bustling place with a variety of people. He passed all kinds of faces as he led his team closer and closer to the Catacombs, but none of them were granted even a second look.
    Approaching closer from the North put the front of the Catacombs into view. Lucas glanced down at his watch. One-thirty. They should have made it there by now. Lucas was a patient man, but was steadily getting more ambitious as the time was drawing closer.
    “Aqua. Go to the Northeast, you’ll find a small patch of trees. I want you to go to it and scope out the targets. We will meet you there.”
    “Yessss…”, she hissed and darted off. Aqua ran and dodged or otherwise leapt over any and all obstacles on her way off. She weaved between civilians who gave her no other thought other than an apparent rude look and she ran through traffic before disappearing.
    “Alright team. Here we go, the time is approaching. Let’s quicken our pace.”, they all stepped a bit faster,  surely nothing out of the ordinary.
    All their rushing was a bit unnecessary as they stopped at a crosswalk. Lucas was starting to feel his patience slip away. He could wait on other people easily, but hated being late more than anything. Punctuality was something he needed to have at all time.
    “C’mon, let’s just go already”, Adva walked out into the street.
    “What are you doing?! Get back over here now!”, Lucas spit through his teeth. The other thing he hated; insubordination and acting out of line.
    “Let’s just go. There’s not even any cars. Let’s just be neutral good and go”, Lucas felt his teeth grind against each other, but Adva did have a point and everyone followed suit.
    “Hello? Sir?”, Aqua’s voice rang into Luca’s earpiece.
    “Yes. Have you acquired the targets?”
    “Yes sir! They’re in my sights now!”, Aqua sounded giddier than usual.
    “Alright, stand down until we arrive.”
    “But Lucas, they’re in my sights! All I’d have to do is just pull this trigger and BAM! Done and we could pack it up and get home before anyone would even know what would happen and we’d be happy and schmooze and be merry and-”
    “No! I told you your orders, now stand down. Just keep them in your sights until then”, Lucas heard her about to protest, but he clicked off his receiver.
    Aqua sighed. Her finger was twitching above the trigger and she longed to rip the trigger back and feel the wonderful recoil slam back into her shoulder. She wanted to see their heads explode. Their body’s fall into a crumpled mess. It made her sweat just from thinking about it.
    Aqua bit deep into her scarred lips and sucked on the blood that came out. It helped soothe her anticipation a bit, but she still longed to fire off at least one round. All of them were each a morsel of temptation in their own right, but there was one that attracted her eye the most.
    The blonde, quiet bombshell. Aqua was sure she was the one she had heard of, the Explosive Soul Skylar. She exuded a quiet exterior, but to Aqua’s precise eye, she could feel the intensity rippling beneath. As quiet and impassive as Skylar looked, she knew there was a fiery passion that lied deep beneath her creamy skin. Aqua longed to exterminate that fire and it made her heart pound just thinking about it. One way or another, she would be hers.
    Aqua heard a rustling around in the brush around her and she pulled her side arm from her with light speed reflexes.
    “Don’t worry girly. It’s only us”, Adva emerged from the brush along with the rest.
    Aqua sighed with disappointment. She was hoping to fire off a couple of shots into someone as a quick warm-up, but even she knew that it was bad to kill a comrade.
    “So they’re just out there?”, Lucas asked.
    “Yessss sir. You can just seem them standing there. They’re talking about something, but I can’t make out the words.”
    Lucas looked through a pair of binoculars and recognized them all except one. The Passion, Damian. The Explosive Soul, Skylar. The Fire Breather, Anya. The Voice, Xephyr. The last one, the boy, was one that he didn’t recognize off the bat, but he didn’t seem to be too much of a threat. Regardless, he could not underestimate him. Countless life and death encounters reminded Lucas of what happened when you did something as foolish as that.
    Adva sat back against a tree and observed the rest of his team. They all seemed so jumpy and serious. He hated how much of a drag they were to be around. He lounged back and closed his eyes, ears perked for anything they said.
    “Ey, yo, Max, wake me when we’re movin’ on out. I think I’m gonna take a nap. I’m already bored to death of this mission.”
    Max let out a breath akin to that of a sigh in response, but neither thought anything of it. It was nothing new. He instead started to do the opposite and stay active. Max stretched his body, trying to keep limber with various calf, quad, shoulder and hamstring stretches. The last thing he wanted to do was pull something during a mission.
    “What about you Cylvia? You sleepin’ over there? You’re awfully quiet”, Max teased his female teammate.
    She raised an eyebrow and just rolled her eyes. Max returned with a playful smile, but Cylvia just remained indifferent. She just wanted to get the mission over with and as far away from Aqua as she could whenever she got the chance.
    Cylvia never took her eyes off of Aqua. She was dangerous like a nuclear armament. She was liable to go off should you handle her wrong and Cylvia refused to be on the other side of any weapon Aqua handled.
    Her bloody lips disgusted her. They were scars all along the top and bottom lips from countless times when she would chew on them; the blood thirsty monster. Cylvia gripped the hilt of her sword ready for any kind of counter attack. Aqua had a limited sanity, and knew that at any moment she could snap. She would be ready.
    Max could easily see the look in Cylvia’s eyes and didn’t like it. She always got like that around Aqua. Yin and Yang they were, and it was constantly unsettling.
    “Don’t be like that Cylvia. She’s up in her tree keeping her eye on the Rogues. Just try and relax. You may be the youngest out of us all, but I swear you’re the most high strung”, Max threw his arm around her and gave her a slight squeeze.
    “Yosh, I quite agree”, Hanabi said positively.
    While she did concur with Max, Hanabi was still just as wary about Aqua as Cylvia was. She leaned back against another tree and made sure to keep everyone in her sight, observing all of them, but always keeping a particular eye on Aqua and Adva.
    To her, they were the two unknown variables of the group. Lucas was a constant leader. Although sometimes he did things she did not agree with, he did have her respect. Max was a great friend to just about everyone, there was not a sense of unease anywhere with him. Cylvia was completely serious, however, she was completely committed to doing what she had to do. She was loyal to duty.
    If anything, Aqua was more predictable than Adva, at least in her eyes. Her first priority would be to get a kill at some point or another. There were even noted times of her killing ‘suspicious’ civilians. Nobody could prove it, but everyone knew the truth.
    Adva on the other hand was unreadable. He lacked any kind of negative emotion. He was always claimed to be ‘dying’ of boredom, but other than fighting, he never really displayed any notion of ever having any other fun. He was a slacker and had untapped potential, she had no idea where his limits were.
    Aqua felt her body start to quake a bit. They tremors were coming. She knew that once she got to a certain point, her body would start to face ‘withdraws’. It only happened however when tempted with the fact that she had a target in her sights but could not fire off the trigger. She was getting very impatient, but still tried to maintain her steadiness so she could properly aim.
    “C’mon Sir. I want to shoot them. Please? Pretty please? Just a couple rounds! This isn’t fair! Just think of the bloody mess! Can we just say that it was an accident? You’re killin’ me here!”, Aqua whined.
    “No. In fact…”, Lucas kept a steady observation over the Rogues and saw them start to walk towards the Catacombs, “I’m having you stay here. You’re going to keep an eye on the entrance. Should they somehow get wise to us and try to flee, you’re going to pick them off.”
    “Whaaaaaaaaat? But Lucaaaaaaaaaaas”, as murderous as she was, her whining was just like a little girls cry and it annoyed him to no end.
    “No, and that is final. As for the rest of you. It’s time to move out.”
    Adva got up first and almost leapt up, but sluggishly walked forward after that. Hanabi walked forward with confidence. Max followed suit along the other two. Cylvia however stopped.
    “I know the kindsss of looks you give me, brat.”, Aqua spat at Cylvia with Malice.
    “So judgmental on what I do when all I’m doing is enjoying my job. You’d do best to at least smile once in awhile…”, Aqua was toying with her now. She was a cute girl, but her seriousness and those looks really got on her nerves. Aqua wished she could somehow break her.
    “You know…You’re not so different than me”, Cylvia sharpened her eyes in response, “you kill with such…elegance. It truly is a shame you don’t like this more.”
    Aqua sauntered over. The look in Cylvia’s eyes annoyed her to no end. She wished to make those lifeless. Or at least make her passionate towards death, blood, and most of all, herself. She put an arm around Cylvia and in the next instant had a sword at her throat.
    Cylvia could not stand the very touch of her greasy hands. Her clammy, sweaty palms. Her very aura was disgusting and filled with death. Cylvia wanted to purge her.
    “You’re quite hostile arncha? Do it. Kill me. You’d be no better than me.”, Aqua egged her on, hoping she’d do it. Breaking Cylvia would bring such joy and happiness to her that death would be a sweet treat.
    Instead, Cylvia just shook her head, sheathed her sword back into her cloak, and walked towards the rest of the group.
    A destructive smile spread wide over Aqua’s face. Her body started shaking in such a pleasurable way. Aqua knew, that by the end of the day, she’d be bathing in blood. And that made her heart pound.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Chapter 4, slight edit

(I made a slight edit to chapter 4. Something about it still doesn't seem right. I really need suggestions. Thank you for your time)



"Please captain, can I take the shot? Please, pretty please? They're in my sights I could do it and take them all out and it wouldn't even be hard and this mission would be over and-"
      "Silence! I told you we just needed visual confirmation of the targets. Nothing more"
       Aqua licked her top lip and bit her lower one in anticipation, "but siiiiiiiiiir, just think of the bloody mess it would make. Just let me squeeze the trigger, we could just say it was an accident."
      "I said no. That is final.", Lucas demanded.
       Aqua gave a small bite through her bottom lip just so she could ease her ravenous nature for blood. She savored everything about it. Her finger quaked over the trigger of her rifle. She longed to pull on it and feel the recoil press into her shoulder. Being able to control the life of another gave her a high unlike any other.
       Aqua was a bloodthirsty member of the corps., which sometimes that would be a great quality to have. She would never so much as blink twice when ordered to kill someone. Though at a time like this, before the fight, the observation, she was on pins and needles and it annoyed Lucas to no end. Her insensate nagging made her quite the bother. On the plus side, this bottled up her lust for blood and made her that much more efficient on the battlefield.
      "Now come down to the rest of us", and Lucas clicked off his receiver.
       Aqua took one last look through her scope. She picked out which member she would try to save for last. The one with the black coat and purple hair appeared to obvious. The kid was just a kid, and they’re always so scared that it’s no fun. It’s always nice to have a fight. Then Aqua looked at the blonde. The look of intensity in her eyes made her the target she wanted. That passion and intensity was what she wanted to extinguish.
       Satisfied, she took apart her gun with great care and efficiency that most would reserve for an infant. She stood and had a insidious smirk on her face and bit harder into her lip and drew more blood. They had scars all over from the countless times when she forced herself to wait before a kill.
      Lucas took a deep breath. He always hated that he needed her on certain missions, though on the other hand, he hated it more when he couldn’t have her. He was very fortunate to be able to snag her at the last minute and add her to his group. Lucas had garnered a very precise group that would be the most efficient to take down these rogues and Aqua was his ace in the hole.   
       Lucas was picked by the higher ups for having known just about every one of the Rogues who had defected. He knew firsthand what each of them were capable of and how to defeat each one. All except for the boy, that is. He had seen a bit of him and the boy looked like a meek child, but the years of battle had beaten into him the mistake of underestimating anyone.
       Lucas’ team was made up of six members, two members who were exceptional with firearms, one who was excellent at recon and hand to hand, a swords expert, and of course, himself and Aqua. Of course they were all trained to use firearms and various melee techniques, though each of them had their own expertise. There was no way they were failing this mission.
       The rogues were foolish; doing half the work for them. Sticking themselves in a tomb, the irony was almost beautiful. All his team had to do was go in there, quickly dispose of them, and if somehow, somehow any of them were to get out, there's always Aqua who was going to camp outside and pick off anyone else.
      Lucas smiled, they had so many advantages over them that it was almost like cheating. He got to pick his team, they were forced to be with each other. His team know who the Rogues are whereas the Rogues have no idea of their existence, just like the Ghosts they are. Having an extra member can make all the difference as well. It was probably almost unnecessary.
       Cylvia noticed that look on her leader's face. It was a dark, twisting grin that many of the members of Revenant were so prone to having. Many of these soldiers were so willing, even happy, to be killing. It made Cylvia sick to her core, especially in regard to Aqua.
      "Hey, you got somethin' buggin' you Cylvia?", Max asked.
       Max was a bit worried. He knew just from the subtle differences in her behavior and facial expressions that Cylvia hated to be around Aqua. Everyone was cautious around her, but she never seemed to put up any kind of defense, though a feeling of disdain emanated from her.
       Cylvia didn’t respond, though she gave the slightest shake of her head. Again, another subtle expression. Her hair barely even moved with her skull.
      Max put his arm around Cylvia and gave her a reassuring squeeze, "Hey, Lucas said this mission shouldn't last too long. It'll all be over soon. Then we can go home", he gave her a smile.
      Cylvia just shook her head again, but she at least tried to return the same smile. Max was very in tune to her, he was the only person she felt comfortable with. He did not seem like his being was dedicated into killing others. Out of many of the Ghosts she had seen, Max was probably the most human. Unlike Aqua.
      Aqua climbed down to them and Cylvia instantly felt sick. Aqua emitted this aura that just made her feel like throwing up. Aqua was always on the verge to kill. It wouldn't surprise her if she were to kill all of them just to satiate her own appetite for death.
      When Cylvia got a better look at her opposite, she even noticed Aqua was trembling, almost twitching. There was only two moments when she noticed anyone would ever quake. One was what happened with many new recruits after their first kill. Most of the Rookies had never held any kind of weapon before Revenant, much less taken a human life, and almost all of them would tremble at what they had done.
       Then there was Aqua. She would quiver whenever she was excited. The only time she was ever excited was in anticipation of a kill. Whatever she saw in the Rogues up there must have excited her quite a bit.
      Vera observed Aqua's quaking and made a mental note of it. That is exactly what she needed to restrain herself of becoming if at all possible. Aqua had Vaseline on the trigger, always ready to slide off rounds into a body.
       Vera had heard the stories like all the rest. Aqua would kill innocent civilians or those who had already surrendered. She always claimed that they were ‘suspicious’, but nobody could ever prove it. Nobody was stupid though, they all knew the truth. Aqua was a monster who took pride in what she did. Who reveled and dance in fields of blood and death.
      Vera could hardly believe that they were almost of the same cloth. The way they came into this world of theirs was the same, but their origins were different. Rarely does anyone know very much about how they came to be, but everyone knew of Cylvia's past. It was no secret, it might have even given her a bit of infamy.
      Cylvia was once a serial killer that slipped up and got caught only to be put to death. Somehow, Revenant got a hold of her and got her to work for them. It probably did not even entail a large amount of convincing, just a promise of being able to kill once more.
       Vera always made sure to be able to react to Aqua should anything happen. She was sure Aqua had noticed by now, it was her job after all to notice the tiniest of changes. Vera always made sure to keep eye contact and keep one hand near her gun. All Aqua was is a dangerous beast, she made sure to treat her that way.
      "Alright, so can we go now? I'm dying of boredom here”, Adva broke into everyone’s thoughts. He could sense the tension in air that Aqua always brought with her and it annoyed him.
      "Yeah, c'mon Cap'n! Let's go! I wanna be able to-"
       "Yes, we know, we all know what you want. Now that you're back, we can finally move out. Is everyone ready?"
       "Sir!", They all snapped a salute and got up. Some of them might not have been as sincere about it, but all he needed was to have their loyalty. Lucas would not put up with anything else.
      They moved fluidly as a unit, snaking through the people on their way to the Katacombs. Nobody really seemed to give them much more than a second glance. So far, so good.
       They made it to about 100 meters away before they stopped again. Lucas took out a set of binoculars and tracked around for them. They were still standing and talking, they seemed so disorganized. They stood out so much. Especially that Xephyr. Black coat, blue hair, purple sunglasses. There was no mistaking him. He had a girl wrapped around his arm, Anya. She was definitely a beauty.
      The boy was still there, he was an X-factor. That boy could potentially be anyone or anything. He was going to have to keep a close eye on him. Skylar was there, cold as ever. Her face expressionless. Eyes sharp. She said something, and even from the distance they were at, Lucas could still see a slight tension due to whatever she said.
      Oddly enough, Damian seemed pleased. It was the oddest thing, he hadn't seen an expression like that from his former comrade in a long time. If only he knew what was in store for him.

Monday, May 2, 2011

New Post

New post on pirateplatypus.blogspot.com. I promise I'll have a new update soon, but I've been busy lately.

I know I must sound like a broken when I'm always saying this, but I am very sincere when I tell you all that I am very thankful for all the support.