Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 4: Deathball Championship)
03-18-2012, 10:35 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
Why? Why did he run away? He could’ve killed the damn thing. It was right there. And if he killed it, then he wouldn’t have to worry about being captured because he would have been long gone. And if the thing killed him instead…well, at least everybody else wouldn’t have to deal with this crazy city.
Marcus had met with the team that had been chasing Reudic, but managed to barrel past them for the most part. You’re supposed to kill it, monster that it is. You’re supposed to avenge an innocent life. You’re supposed to make up for your shortcomings. But no, apparently that’s not what he’s doing now. Now, he was…doing something. Just running. And with this tracker on his shoulder, it was unlikely he would stop running any time soon.
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“Geez, how’re you doing that?”
Sarika, suffering from a particularly bad headache, said nothing.
“’Cause that whole foresight thing, god, think of how you could use that if you were a player!”
This comment was worrying enough that Sarika made an effort to look up at Turaine. The recruiter laughed at her expression. “Aw, c’mon. You take everything too seriously, man. You’re much more useful as a recruiter, believe me. Why don’cha relax a little, huh?”
“Sorry,” she muttered, staring back down at the tracker in her hand. “It looks like he will come here soon.”
“Ah, great!” said Turaine, apparently completely nonplussed about the idea of confronting someone who had managed to take care of two squads at once. “Watch and learn, Rookie. Then you’ll be able to do more than sit around and see future things.” With a swagger that not very many would be able to pull off, Turaine pressed herself against a shadowy wall and prepared. Sarika herself stood up and got ready to hide, but suddenly stopped.
And stared.
A few seconds later, Marcus plowed into the alleyway, almost crashing into a wall as he tried to swerve too quickly. The next second, Turaine swept a foot under him so that he fell over and crashed to the ground.
Her cattle prod hit the ground, though, as he rolled away quite quickly, and straight into Sarika, who had simply stood there the whole time. Though, of course, having been rolled into, she fell over like a sack of feathers. “Sorry!” she yelped.
Marcus paused in his struggles to get back up on his feet. “…Sarika?”
It was actually a little difficult to recognize her now. Even though she didn’t have her headdress before, she at least had her clothing and her goggles. Now, she seemed somewhat normal. Besides all the feathery down covering her. It was certainly strange to see her, short cropped hair, bright wide eyes, in a uniform.
And then Marcus got electrocuted.
Turaine quickly kicked away the cattle prod he stole, as well as the large rifle. There was a vast number of other armaments, she was sure, but it wasn’t as though she had too much time. With a practiced hand, she twisted both his arms behind his back and handcuffed them. “Right! See, wasn’t so bad, was it? C’mon, let’s get ‘im handed in. If we hurry, he can get in on time for the next Welcoming Ceremony.”
“…You need to let him go.”
Sarika had picked up the Retribution. It was a bit too heavy for her, though, and she couldn’t really hold it up very well, considering that an unsupported wing couldn’t do much holding at all. It wasn’t too hard for Turaine to simply walk over and take it away.
The recruiter stared at her, and then looked at Marcus. “…You know him, then. Oooooh Christ, you know him. And you don’t want to turn him in and you’ll feel guilty and you just want to let this one guy off the hook, nobody else, you promise, just one guy.”
Turaine rubbed her head. Sarika only stared.
“Forget about friends, Rookie. You didn’t take this job just to let friends off. Sure, maybe one day you’ll find yourself nabbing people you know, but y’know what? It was gonna happen anyways. Even if we let him go, someone else’s gonna turn him in, see? So we might as well get the bonus.”
There were a startling number of things that Sarika found she was okay with. But this one…
Turaine tapped her lightly on the head. “Suck it up and act like a professional already.”
Sarika mumbled out a “’Sorry.’”
“And stop apologizing all the time! C’mon, help me carry him before he wakes up or something.”
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Everything was going smoothly. Everything was going smoothly. Goddamn was everything going smoothly.
Maurice had never let go of the briefcase even once, just to prove how smoothly everything was going. It was going smoothly as hell. Yes. Awesome.
Maurice did wonder what was in the briefcase, but he was smart enough to know that he shouldn’t question things. Though he couldn’t help but think it probably wasn’t a good idea to be around when the briefcase opened…but he was ordered to be there. It’d be risky to not follow the directions to a T. But it also seemed incredibly risky to stick around.
This thought process was just simply circular. So Maurice simply did his best not to think about it. Though once in a while the cycle would simply start anew. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped.
As he was thinking about how he shouldn’t be thinking, he bumped into something rather leafy. It scratched at his face as it whirled around quickly, furiously, and as he rubbed at the cuts, it lashed out at him. Pushed him over. Shoved him into the road. And the strange thing was, the more it did that, the more he couldn’t feel it, until he collapsed in a heap, ready to sleep.
And then a truck hit him.
The floating plant left and immediately forgot about him.
The briefcase, though, never left his hand. He would’ve felt vaguely proud of that, perhaps.
Why? Why did he run away? He could’ve killed the damn thing. It was right there. And if he killed it, then he wouldn’t have to worry about being captured because he would have been long gone. And if the thing killed him instead…well, at least everybody else wouldn’t have to deal with this crazy city.
Marcus had met with the team that had been chasing Reudic, but managed to barrel past them for the most part. You’re supposed to kill it, monster that it is. You’re supposed to avenge an innocent life. You’re supposed to make up for your shortcomings. But no, apparently that’s not what he’s doing now. Now, he was…doing something. Just running. And with this tracker on his shoulder, it was unlikely he would stop running any time soon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Geez, how’re you doing that?”
Sarika, suffering from a particularly bad headache, said nothing.
“’Cause that whole foresight thing, god, think of how you could use that if you were a player!”
This comment was worrying enough that Sarika made an effort to look up at Turaine. The recruiter laughed at her expression. “Aw, c’mon. You take everything too seriously, man. You’re much more useful as a recruiter, believe me. Why don’cha relax a little, huh?”
“Sorry,” she muttered, staring back down at the tracker in her hand. “It looks like he will come here soon.”
“Ah, great!” said Turaine, apparently completely nonplussed about the idea of confronting someone who had managed to take care of two squads at once. “Watch and learn, Rookie. Then you’ll be able to do more than sit around and see future things.” With a swagger that not very many would be able to pull off, Turaine pressed herself against a shadowy wall and prepared. Sarika herself stood up and got ready to hide, but suddenly stopped.
And stared.
A few seconds later, Marcus plowed into the alleyway, almost crashing into a wall as he tried to swerve too quickly. The next second, Turaine swept a foot under him so that he fell over and crashed to the ground.
Her cattle prod hit the ground, though, as he rolled away quite quickly, and straight into Sarika, who had simply stood there the whole time. Though, of course, having been rolled into, she fell over like a sack of feathers. “Sorry!” she yelped.
Marcus paused in his struggles to get back up on his feet. “…Sarika?”
It was actually a little difficult to recognize her now. Even though she didn’t have her headdress before, she at least had her clothing and her goggles. Now, she seemed somewhat normal. Besides all the feathery down covering her. It was certainly strange to see her, short cropped hair, bright wide eyes, in a uniform.
And then Marcus got electrocuted.
Turaine quickly kicked away the cattle prod he stole, as well as the large rifle. There was a vast number of other armaments, she was sure, but it wasn’t as though she had too much time. With a practiced hand, she twisted both his arms behind his back and handcuffed them. “Right! See, wasn’t so bad, was it? C’mon, let’s get ‘im handed in. If we hurry, he can get in on time for the next Welcoming Ceremony.”
“…You need to let him go.”
Sarika had picked up the Retribution. It was a bit too heavy for her, though, and she couldn’t really hold it up very well, considering that an unsupported wing couldn’t do much holding at all. It wasn’t too hard for Turaine to simply walk over and take it away.
The recruiter stared at her, and then looked at Marcus. “…You know him, then. Oooooh Christ, you know him. And you don’t want to turn him in and you’ll feel guilty and you just want to let this one guy off the hook, nobody else, you promise, just one guy.”
Turaine rubbed her head. Sarika only stared.
“Forget about friends, Rookie. You didn’t take this job just to let friends off. Sure, maybe one day you’ll find yourself nabbing people you know, but y’know what? It was gonna happen anyways. Even if we let him go, someone else’s gonna turn him in, see? So we might as well get the bonus.”
There were a startling number of things that Sarika found she was okay with. But this one…
Turaine tapped her lightly on the head. “Suck it up and act like a professional already.”
Sarika mumbled out a “’Sorry.’”
“And stop apologizing all the time! C’mon, help me carry him before he wakes up or something.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everything was going smoothly. Everything was going smoothly. Goddamn was everything going smoothly.
Maurice had never let go of the briefcase even once, just to prove how smoothly everything was going. It was going smoothly as hell. Yes. Awesome.
Maurice did wonder what was in the briefcase, but he was smart enough to know that he shouldn’t question things. Though he couldn’t help but think it probably wasn’t a good idea to be around when the briefcase opened…but he was ordered to be there. It’d be risky to not follow the directions to a T. But it also seemed incredibly risky to stick around.
This thought process was just simply circular. So Maurice simply did his best not to think about it. Though once in a while the cycle would simply start anew. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped.
As he was thinking about how he shouldn’t be thinking, he bumped into something rather leafy. It scratched at his face as it whirled around quickly, furiously, and as he rubbed at the cuts, it lashed out at him. Pushed him over. Shoved him into the road. And the strange thing was, the more it did that, the more he couldn’t feel it, until he collapsed in a heap, ready to sleep.
And then a truck hit him.
The floating plant left and immediately forgot about him.
The briefcase, though, never left his hand. He would’ve felt vaguely proud of that, perhaps.