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Post by Londyn Avery on Jun 16, 2016 16:11:24 GMT -7
It was a quiet night, a walk home like any other. Or rather, it should have been. Her father's late hours had dragged on like an eternity, leaving Londyn to find ways of amusing herself within the main office that didn't involve her brains melting into mush out of sheer boredom. Industrial was so boring to look at, even the cheap version of the aesthetic.
The shortcut her father insisted on taking was new to her, and when her father seemed uneasy until Londyn agreed to it, it was her turn to feel that way as they neared the docks. The place just wasn't safe, and memories of the reports that had spoken of the violence in the area, she walked a step closer to the man who shielded her. Their casual talk went from stilted to silent, the tension knotting in her shoulders the longer they passed through.
It should have been a walk home like any other.
Movement from the corner of her eye caught Londyn's attention, but by the time she noticed the presence of one particularly burly looking man, several of his companions had stepped out, as well. She slowed, stopping when she nearly collided with her father's arm. Flashes of metal danced in the shadows, weapons already present.
"Dad?" Her throat closes around the word until it's barely a whisper as her heart hammers in her chest. What could they do against so many? Her concern is rewarded with a quiet grunt as he pushes her back into the shadows, out of sight. The girl catches herself before colliding with a wall or anything else; one didn't wear white without making sure it stays clean. Having the ability to restablish her balance didn't hurt, either.
“Stay back.” The murmur is soft, barely heard and soon drowned out by the footsteps of the encroaching gang. Her ears were ringing, drowning out the exact words, but her father's calm and determined expression remained in sight. Londyn tried to fix her focus on that expression, but the sound of flesh slamming into flesh broke through anyway. Frantically, her eyes dart around the darkened street. They had to have seen her, right? No one else would be there. There was no way.
She had to do something. Anything. But what? Her dad was just one person. One against many. He could defend himself well enough, but he always kept himself between the group and herself. Welts and bruises would cover his body, bones snapping in a sharp rhythm that caused bile to claw its way up her throat.
Why? She watched him fall to the ground, watched as the beating continued until she couldn't take it anymore, until she felt she couldn’t hate herself any more for doing nothing.
“Dad!” Her scream cuts through the night as Londyn lurches forward, blood cold in her veins as the beating continued. Her voice drew their attention, brought a moment's pause. There was the sound of wheezing, of something moist in his breathing.
Two against many. There could be no witnesses.
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Inactive
It's a brand new me, I got no remorse
Posts 272
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Post by Gilgamesh on Jun 16, 2016 16:42:12 GMT -7
The night was like countless others before it. Dull, pointless, and without hope as Gilgamesh continued his search. Continued to find the needle in the haystack of the shit that was drowning the slums of this city. A city that he called home so long ago. A city which had lost any glimmer of love that he could have had for it before he could even express how he felt. He felt little for the city itself other than disgust at the bloated pile of rot that it had become. That it had allowed itself to become.
The weak and the craven really did rule, those that were able walled themselves away from the troubles of their own greed. But the rest were left to wallow like pigs in the muck. And wallow they did. Night after night he failed to find the man he was looking for. Or at least a man that could lead the way. And night after night he grew frustrated and disappointed at the lack of opportunity to grow. The heroes of the city seemed content to stick to the nicer areas of this tarnished emerald. Corporate tools and muscle. Pandemonium constantly exploded in an orgy of chaos and anarchy as the mighty hydra couldn't decide on a direction before the heads started snapping at each other.
The Keepers were nearly as bad as the Bulwark. Keeping their distance and seemingly content to stay in the shadows. Playing with whispers and reputation as if that would matter when the sun rose. Not with more and more supers walking the streets every day. Not with this neighborhood, this city, this nation, and this world choking to death while everyone sat by and watched.
But Gilgamesh was no hero, he didn't want to be and frankly the day the world died he'd not shed a tear. Humanity was not worth saving, and all he could be bothered to care about now was his mission, and his quest for perfection. Upon his perch atop one of the warehouses in the Dock's he went over the activities of the night weighing his options for what would be the most entertaining use of his time. He knew that the Bloodletters were getting a shipment of narcotics from the Colombians today. Fully automatic weapons used to guard it would be a nice test of his reflexes. That could be fun. He had also seen a cop talking to a couple of the working girls on the other side of the pier. He was pretty sure that beating up a cop that still had his dick whipped out could lead to an interesting night when the police came after him. Hell, that might even get some of the Bulwark here from their ivory tower. The thrill of fighting Supers was tempting and made that the favorite option for the night. Hell, just attacking the cop in general could do it probably, even if it would be less novel.
“Dad!”
The sound of the scream ripped through the air and he found himself frozen in place. The scream was coming from the opposite direction then he had planned to go, but the voice sounded young. The shrill pitch of terror unmistakable. And in this neighborhood he knew what that likely meant. Something that wasn't his problem, and likely nothing even worth his time. He had better things to do now, Bulwark to bait out, police to piss off and maybe, just maybe try and dodge a hail of bullets.
And yet when he leaped from the roof it was toward the scream, jaw clenched as he came upon the scene. A man beaten and battered on the ground. Maybe living, maybe not and a group of thugs circling around a small girl. He got it, no witnesses. It didn't really matter if she was a kid or not, not when it was her life of theirs, that's just how it was. He'd leap from the roof to the street, landing gracefully in a kneeling position with his fist slammed into the pavement at the edge of the dock. Standing between the young girl and the encircling horde of thugs, the beaten man paid little to no heed. He was either dead or beyond able to fight. Either way he was useless. With a smirk he'd gracefully make his way up to a standing position as he slid into a defensive combat stance.
"Two against many. There won't be any witnesses."
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Post by Londyn Avery on Jun 16, 2016 17:04:43 GMT -7
Not good. Not good. The words ran in endless circles in her mind, echoing loudly, but not enough to drown out the fear. Get up. Move. Run. But her father wasn't, and her movements only served to pin her against the water, the wood of one of the piers creaking under the pressure of her heels against the wood.
It wouldn't last long, and her father wasn't responding. Wide-eyed, she glanced back to him for a hopeful, foolish second, but there was no change.
At least, not until the ground literally shook and the shadows came alive. Her head whipped in the direction, tensing further as she took another fateful step and her heart caught in her throat. Another one? And strong. She braced herself, certain it was over, that they had just one more member that would reveal themselves at their own leisure. She tried to reach for something, anything, but what did she have? Barrettes? Jewelry? What good would those do? Sure, they were nice, but she couldn’t exactly pay these people to go away.
No. She can't just do nothing! No matter what, that one conviction stays with her, breaking through the rustle of panic that clouded her mind. That still left the question of what, and any minute now, the hooded figure would turn around and strike...
Then his words reach her, freezing her in place as she takes a step forward. Two versus many? Did he mean her dad? Was this person going to finish him off first. She couldn't let it happen that way!
She leaps at him, intending to fight, even if there was nothing in her favor that would make that effective. She couldn't stand around and do nothing.
No witnesses? No matter. They already wanted her dead.
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Inactive
It's a brand new me, I got no remorse
Posts 272
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Post by Gilgamesh on Jun 16, 2016 17:15:00 GMT -7
The cloak, the symbols, the location. He'd heard it before from other members of Pandemonium, but he had been getting quite the reputation from the criminal gangs that frequented the docks. Apparently his little hobby had even slowed down some of Pandemonium's own recruitment efforts. Good riddance as far as he was concerned. They were trash anyways. All the same, this trash knew exactly who he was, and what that likely meant for him.
One of the thugs called out to the others to get him. Snapping everyone out of the momentary trance of his unexpected entrance. Gilgamesh's smirk twisted into a scowl as he lunged forward, causing Londyn to miss him with her own attack as he moved forward with incredible speed and grace. An elbow slamming into the temple of the first guy with a sickening crack of bone on bone as the man dropped. A second thug, this one with a baseball bat raised above his head came from behind only to be met with Gilgamesh kicking back with his leg, slamming it into the man's gut with enough force to send him flying back past Londyn and her Father. A third whipped a chain for Gilgamesh's face as he rose up an gloved hand to intercept it. The chain slamming into his hand and wrapping around it.
Both Gilgamesh and the thug pulled on it to try and send the other stumbling toward them. But in the show of strength the thug had no chance against the Warrior King. He'd stumble forward toward Gilgamesh just in time to have a knee slam into the base of his rib cage. From behind Gilgamesh Londyn could see the flash of metal in the street lights. The bladed weapon obvious for what it was as the man tried to advance while Gilgamesh's back was turned!
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Post by Londyn Avery on Jun 16, 2016 17:44:53 GMT -7
Things were happening too fast for her to keep up with, try as Londyn might. There's nothing for her efforts but a blur of black ahead of her as the newcomer instead focuses on the gang that had taken an interest in her and her father. That, and the faint breeze between her fingers as her attack was completely pointless. She blinked, staring as the events sprawled out in bloody violence.
Was he...was he helping them?
Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, she turns and hurries to her father's side, dropping down to her knees as she hesitantly puts a hand on his shoulder.
"Dad?" The rush of movement caught her eye again, or was it the sound of a body hitting the water. Her head jerks up at the sound in time to see the flash of metal as her mystery savior focuses on the person with the chain.
"Behind you!" she shouts, hand still on her father's shoulder as she takes in the rush of violence spilling around them, believing she could help someone who was helping her in turn.
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Inactive
It's a brand new me, I got no remorse
Posts 272
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Post by Gilgamesh on Jun 17, 2016 19:12:45 GMT -7
Everything seemed to happen in an instance. As Londyn called out her warning Gilgamesh's body twisted and turned as his hand released the chain as the kneed thug collapsed to the ground into a crumpled heap. As had happened before the snap kick was quick and brutal, slamming across the knife wielding thug's cheek. There was a sickening cracking sound as the man went flying outside of the pools of light that illuminated their momentary arena. The whole ordeal only took a moment, but at the end the only adult left standing was Gilgamesh, his back to the girl and her Father as he started to slowly and deliberately walk away from them, back to the shadows from whence he came.
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Post by Londyn Avery on Jun 17, 2016 21:06:07 GMT -7
The motions are all a blur. One moment his back is turned, and the next the attacker is disarmed and sent flying into the shadows. The breath that froze in Londyn's chest came out as a small sigh of relief as the world went still and silent. Save for the shadows merging with the figure in the dark cloak as the hooded stranger just...left.
"Wait!" She called out to them before they could disappear from sight, starting to shift her position and speak further when her father sputtered and coughed. Not dead, then. Thankfully. Londyn looks back down at her father's face, battered and bloodied, and let out a shaky breath.
"Dad..." She hesitated, wondering if she should move him, but the fear of making things worse for him won out. Hands shaking, she groped around for her phone, forgetting where it was despite it being in its usual. They needed help, and not just the violent sort of justice that had reigned down upon them.
She looks up as the phone rings, seeking for some sign of the man who had saved them. Maybe he had even stopped? Either way, it felt like the first responder was taking forever to pick up.
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Inactive
It's a brand new me, I got no remorse
Posts 272
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Post by Gilgamesh on Jun 17, 2016 21:16:55 GMT -7
His footstep hesitated when the young girl called for him to stop. Uncertainty stopping him for only a moment, he shouldn't have come here. Letting things get personal was stupid, and this wasn't the same as before. He wasn't the Iron Fist, not yet. And he wasn't here to deliver justice to the masses or protect the weak. He had come to Emerald City for a reason, a very specific purpose.
The beaten man sputtered and coughed as he clung to life. Another difference between the two nights. His resolve returning to him with signs of the man's life not being snuffed out he'd continue to walk into the darkness.
"I don't do cops."
The appeal of messing with them for the night had lost some of it's luster, and he no longer felt like it was a good night for fun. No, it seemed like a better night to return to the dojo and reflect on what he was doing and if he was really spending his time wisely. Perhaps he had allowed himself to become distracted with his hobbies.
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Post by Londyn Avery on Jun 17, 2016 21:26:59 GMT -7
She hadn't thought he'd actually stop, but when his words reach her, Londyn finds she's not surprised. Wary, but unsurprised. Of course a guy dressed in black that spawned out of the shadows didn't want to deal with cops. She didn't, either. It was going to be difficult to explain to them, nevermind her mother.
"Or the fashion police," she mutters under breath. What was with the symbols on his cloak and stuff?
"But who are-" She stops as the phone is answered, speaking quietly as she looks from her father to the last place she'd seen the mysterious dark savior, trying to hear him as well. What kind of person would just randomly come in like this and walk away, anyway?
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