Takumi
Member of the Yato Club
HOTEL
“Believe me: there are no innocent souls on prudence.” Arcade hummed. “Not you. Not me. Not anybody here. But let’s kick that can down the road. The Kid’s brother is in the Mall. Second floor. Outside a clothing store. He’s thrown in with a few of the hunted. Good people, by the sound of it. That’s the good news. Bad news is that the Hunting Party 9s are trying to bash his head in with a bunch of ye olde style weapons. One guy's packing nunchucks. Better deal with him before things go full Kung Fu Movie down there.”
“As for those tiny bombs you got wriggling through your blood stream, you're gonna wanna head down to the Amusement Park. There’s a guy down there who can help... though he might not know it yet. You’ll recognize him by his ass collar and his even bigger, ass-er head. You can't miss him. But you'll want to hurry. Things aren't too 'fun' at the funfair. They've already got one maniac in that part of town, and our mutual friend's sanity was slipping long before he came to Prudence. So get moving!" He clapped. "Vamanos! Wash that blood off your hands and hit the road! Dilly Dally too long and well... you might miss your shot at getting off this rock alive..."
@Yun Lee @Atomic Knight
SAFE HOUSE
Frost froze for a moment. He could have tried to pull the wool over Kayn's eyes one more time. But what was the point? The path before him had frozen over. He was slipping. Frost scoffed at his errors. He rolled his eyes and pulled the bandage from his shoulder, smirking all the while. His wound had completely healed. He rolled his shoulder and laughed.
"What did I do with the medicine?" The Demon shrugged matter-of factly. "I burned it. Better to see it turned to ash that wasted on such a foul creature. My body is perfectly capable of healing itself, you see. Leaving all that medicine about the place... why, I would simply be playing into the hands of my foes! Foes such as-"
View attachment 6191
"-you." He half smiled, half sneered, unable to hide his disgust for a moment longer. "Everything you said back at the Hotel was entirely accurate, Kayn. I am one of the most powerful men on this planet. My greatest rival stands inside this room, and I'm looking straight at him. If we were to come to blows, why... I think we'd both fall. So I had to eliminate the competition. I had remove anyone who might've tried to tip the scale in your favor." He scoffed, looking down at Bad Girl. "No matter how weak they may be. Don't take it personally, Bitch. Rena was next."
Ki crackled across Frost's fingers as he charged up another energy blast. He pointed towards Charlotte's temple.
"It was good while it lasted. This little masquerade. I think I really did have you all fooled. Poor Frost. Sniveling Frost. Weak willed frost. Let's accept his drinks. Let's keep him around. Sweet little Frost... such power, but he'd never hurt a fly!" He cooed, his power rising. "If fate wasn't so fickle, I'd have kept the act up for another day or two. You all would have made excellent protectors, right up until your last, choking breaths. I would have cried tragic tears as you all succumbed to this strange new disease... perhaps I would've even injected myself with a dash of the poison, just to keep up appearances. Still. No use in playing the long game now... We'll all be dead in a few hours. God knows I'll be seeing you all in Hell..."
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"Especially considering that you're all already infected... and I'm the only one with the antidote."
Insanity Score Change:
Frost:
0 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 10
Current Insanity Score: 10
MANIAC UNLEASHED
FROST, THE POISONOUS MANIAC! CURRENT LOCATION: HC'S SAFE HOUSE! BOUNTY INCREASED!
The adrenaline coursing through Bad Girl's veins would start to fight off the poison. Her symptoms would start to fade... for now. They would likely return within a few hours.
Having ingested her dose her dose of the poison via Frost's tainted drinks, Bad Girl would show her symptoms within the next 5 hours.
Having been injected via a micro-needle during back at the Hotel, Kayn and Rena wouldn't show symptoms for another 7 hours.
"So tell me, 'Champions'... how much are your lives worth to you?"
32 HOURS REMAINING
CURRENT TIME: 2:00PM
CHAMPIONS REMAINING: 38/50/ ESTIMATED VIEWERS: 65 BILLION/ BOUNTIES PER KILL: 2,000,000/ CURRENT DEBTS: 40,000,000
@Jeremi @Ottonomous Ghost @Gummi Bunnies
SLUMS
"Curious..." The King stroked his chin. "One doesn't encounter your kind often, especially not on Prudence-- Good Souls." After a moment, the King kicked himself up off of his barrel. He looped his hands behind his back and started to base the factory. As he did so, his medic finished patching up Eight's injuries and left the scene. "But, you see... I can't ask for your help in this matter... not in good conscious. District C doesn't get news broadcasts, not like the rest of the city. The rationale is that my subjects and I are too poor to buy OBLIVION's products. Why would they waste their time advertising to us? But my nobles and I... we know things. We've been intercepting broadcasts, and... I hate to be the bearer of bad news." He turned his back to the Hunted. He hunched over, leading against a deactivated conveyor belt for support. "But the rules have changed. One of your Hunter friends leveled a building in one of the Higher Districts... As payback, Tormo's crippled your time limit. They game ends in 32 hours. I won't have you waste a single one upon us. No matter how desperate we may be, we shan't steal your final days away from you..."
"He's my half brother, yes, but our mother raised us as if we shared the same blood," The King smiled, reflecting on better days. "We may not look alike, but once upon a time we were inseparable. We were as thick as thieves, once upon a time. But times change. Our mother died. He used his inheritance to buy a few factories on this world. At the time, I was proud of him. I thought he was doing something with his life. Something worthy of respect. One day, he invites me to visit 'his city'. He gave me a tour of this place, grinning all the while. He had told me all about his employment rates and profit margins... but he had neglected to inform me about all the suffering he had caused. His employees... they were being worked to death. They were paid in crumbs. All who defied him were starved. Beaten. He told me that it was simply the way things were. He told me it was 'just business'. We've never spoken since. I did everything I could to make things right for the people of this district. I didn't want to see my mother's money weaponized like my brother had done. I didn't want all this to be her legacy. So I poured every penny I had into saving these people. Buying them foot. Repairing their clothes. But coin can only carry you so far, and even a fat inheritance only lasts so long. Before I knew it, I was a beggar, just like the others, slaving away in one of my brother's factories. One day I snapped. I turned my hammer on one of the Overseer Droids. Next thing I know, everyone else is following suit. The rest his history. Cluth and I may be bound by blood, but we're as different as chalk and cheese. We're as different as droids as men..."
The Unknown Hunter went back to snapping photo's of Allison's surrender, his finger eagerly tapping the capture button. He change his filter every couple of snaps. Regular. Ultra-Violet. Spectrum lens. If his time on the road had taught him anything, it was that there was no harm in being too thorough.
. He slowly made his way back towards the vent. He crawled back inside the factory, breaking Aerosmith's direct line of sight.
"If it doesn't matter," The solider grunted. "Then you won't mind if I insist that you drop them. Just as a precaution." His tone betrayed his words. Despite his polite phrasing, the guards' tone remained firm and sharp. His weapon remained fixed on Allison's position. "Fail to comply and we will be forced to open fire! Drop the weapon! No sudden movements!"
@Lucky @Capri @Jeremi @Takumi
So, they were half brothers? Interesting. She wondered if Cluth knew that the King of Beggars was his own half brother, or even cared if he did.
She vaguely remembered the feeling of hands squeezing her throat and the teary eyes of her mother before she let go. Chise wasn't a stranger to the idea of someone, even if they were family, trying to kill one of their own.
"What use is honor to the dead?" Frost scoffed. "I am what I am-- a survivor. I thought you of all people would understand!"
Frost's eye twitched. A telekinetic command caught the gold bring before it could strike the Demon's head. Sensing its sender, Frost set the bullion spiraling through the air back towards Kayn, striking him in the ribs as he drew back his scythe. Before Kayn could cleave him in two, Frost rocketed back across the room, landing in the Safe House's top right corner.
"The blood of the innocent clings to your hands, Kayn! How many have you killed since we arrive? How many of them were already wounded? Unable to fight back?! We're both Demons, Kayn! One and the same!"
Insanity Score Change:
Kayn and Rhaast
0 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 10
Current Insanity Score: 10
MANIAC UNLEAHSED!
KAYN! THE CORRUPTED MANIAC!
CURRENT LOCATION: HC'S SAFE HOUSE! BOUNTY INCREASED!
"You were stupid to have trusted anyone to begin with, harlot!" Frost cackled. "It's a dog-eat-dog world out there! Opening up? You might as well be showing us your neck!"
A scream of crimson flashes ruptured forth from Frost's fingers. His Death Beams burned a series of holes straight through the furniture around Rena. The beams kept on travelling until the scarred the floor bellow the safe house.
"Look at us! We're all mad now! Just a pack of killers, all charging over the edge! Go on! Try to kill me! If I die, the cure dies with me!"
Insanity Score Change:
Rena Ryugu
0 [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] 10
Current Insanity Score: 10
MANIAC UNLEASHED
RENA RYUGU, THE ZEALOT MANIAC!
CURRENT LOCATION: HC'S SAFE HOUSE! BOUNTY INCREASED!
31 HOURS REMAINING
CURRENT TIME: 3:00PM
CHAMPIONS REMAINING: 38/50/ ESTIMATED VIEWERS: 67 BILLION/ BOUNTIES PER KILL: 2,000,000/ CURRENT DEBTS: 40,000,000
"Shut up, you invalid cur!" Frost snapped, turning his attention back towards Charlotte. "I'd be conserving my breath if I were you! Better suck down some air whilst you still can-- you'll be choking on the stuff soon enough!!"
With a crash, Chuck and HC game charging back into the room.
"I'm gonna ask this once and only once..." HC groaned. "Why the hell are you guys throwing down inside my safe house? Do you guys not know what Safe means? Come on..." He rolled his eyes and casually walked across the battlefield and into the kitchen. "Hey Katey, where did you put my mic?"
Katey burst into the room a moment later, her weapon loaded and trained on the big guy with a scythe.
"Bottom drawer." She snapped. "Cabinet on the left."
Whilst the pair rummaged through the box of old towels and cooking utensils, Chuck approached the counter. He removed a knife from the wrack and flipped it around in his hand.
"So... we're killing each other again, huh?" He grumbled. "You want to take this outside? Away from my kid? Away from the fucking Safe House?"
Footsteps could be heard pounding up the staircase at the end of the hall. Another Hunter was on their way up. The party was going to get a little bit more crowded.
@Ottonomous Ghost @Jeremi @Gummi Bunnies
FACTORY
"Don't be a smart ass!" The Captain of the Guard grunted. "You. Can. Move. Slowly!" He demanded, stepping a little closer to her. He raised his blaster up towards her forehead. "I won't ask you again! Comply! Drop! Them! Slowly!"
@Lucky
HOTEL--> DISTRICT B MALL
"Hey, don't thank me!" Arcade chimed, finally putting his bottle down. "Thanks implies that we're even. You owe me now, Yashie. Don't go forgetting that..."
Prototype nodded, heeding Yashamaru's orders. A route to the mall was charted. The Blade Wolf turned out into the streets and sprinted towards their destination, matching even the samurai's incredible speed.
As they faded from sight, Arcade approached the Hotel's shattered front window and smiled. He couldn't help himself. Everything was finally coming together. He stepped over a couple of dismembered bodies and approached the lobby's security panel and twisted its emergency key. The Hotel's shuttered came grinding down. He could've sworn that he had heard something stirring in the wreckage of that fallen tower. He didn't want to stick around to find out who or what it was...
***
Diaz and Yashamaru arrived at the mall just in time to watch the fight escalate. Unshaken by the swordsman's show of force, the 9's continued to charge forth, their weapons drawn.
The two raised hunters tossed their weapons to the floor and cried out to another one of their own. The third hunter came charging in. Skidding across the floor and picking up his stunned allied weapons, he swept Daniel's legs, exploiting the confusion of the loud, violent scene.
Ouka's sword successfully pierced the armor of the one of the hunters, forcing him from the mortal plane. He wasn't so lucky when it came to the next. Dodging Ouka's follow up strike, the Hunter planted a right hook against Ouka's jaw, force the kids head to roll to the side.
Samus fired a few frantic shots towards their swarming foes, but the constant presence of the cheering crowd was enough to force her to hold back. She could afford any collateral damage.
Despite their great powers, the Hunted still out numbered 2 to one. The 9s had been fighting together for decades. They knew how to put up a fight.
@Atomic Knight @Yun Lee @Takumi @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch
Seeing one of the Hunter's suddenly go for Daniel, Ouka quickly tried to form a barrier around the younger Diaz before the 9 could strike any further. Losing focus on his own barrier as it dropped, he spit out blood from the force of the blow to his face.
Wiping it away, with the other as close as he was, he thrusted his hand out open palmed to strike the Hunter in the chest, water bubbling and floating in the air around his hand before making it's way to his palm and shooting forwards as it crystalized in an attempt to spear the hunter through the chest.
If successful, he'd go to the 9 that tried attacking Daniel, attempting to give a hard roundhouse kick to the head with enough force to kick him away from the younger Diaz.
He was more annoyed by the 9s than anything else. He, in all honesty, wasn't used to fighting multiple people at once. Perhaps this could be seen as a learning experience, in the end. If he survived it anyway.
Either way, he wasn't sure how long he could keep it up. The group of civilians who were cheering were starting to give him a headache.
@Sark @Atomic Knight @Gummi Bunnies @Crunch @Yun Lee @District B/Mall