[center][b]Summary:[/b] So like, this Andro-Zivon convo? [i]Serious business[/i], man. When the rest of the cast are off shooting deadly firearms or making nice nice to each other, you can rely on the A-Z team to keep the convo combo streak. P.S. Every post must now end with Margaret being depressed. P.P.S. Ryuu.[/center] [i][u] - Ryuu - [/u][/i] Ryuu was in the skies. Now, how did he reach the skies? Well, it all started with the good ol', sunglasses-wearing punk reading a book about magic. This fella sucked at reading, pals. And mind you, once he started reading about destructive magic... things could get pretty hefty. Just like now. "Oh my F--KING GOD, I'M FLYING FASTER THAN AN F-ZERO RACING MACHINE!!!!! HOW AM I ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE?!?!?!" The otaku had accidentally used an explosive projectile move... on the ground. And of course, the consequence involved him flying so high in the air, he thought he saw the stratosphere. Ryuu landed directly in front of the firearms dojo, where an extremely large crack formed. Did I mention the crack looked like his face? "...[i]BWAGH!!![/i]" Ryuu threw his face out of the small hole, shaking it to get some dirt off. "Wow, how am I still alive? Is it because this ground is made of cotton or something?" He was wrong. It was just that his head was so hard, he penetrated the face of the Earth. With that gotten over with, Ryuu stood up from the ground, stretching his body in pain as he entered the firearms dojo. He had... gotten a basic gist of how to use magic bullets! Sort of. The otaku felt thankful to himself for bringing his trusty ol', limited edition "Han Solo Pistol." He absolutely adored it, but to think that he would get the chance to actually fire something out of it... it was an honor. Ryuu had the chance to be Harrison Ford for a while, or at least, that's how he thought of it. [i]...I swear to God, though, Han never shot first.[/i] The otaku entered the firearms range and... was surprised to see a decent amount of people within the range. He frowned like a grumpy child, annoyed by the fact that there were... women... firing arrows... and the way the strings pressed against their- [i]Stormtroopers. Yup. The strings are pressing against stormtroopers.[/i] Barely avoiding a perverted thought, the otaku walked quietly up to a shooting range. He honestly did not care if there were people around him: he needed to test this out as soon as possible. Ryuu took a deep breath as he slowly took out the pistol. Personally, he never fired a gun at something before. He always wanted to, but in order to do so, practice made perfect. He would improve by himself. The otaku failed to realize that he just walked past an orange-haired girl shivering in fear. Ryuu took a deep breath, staring at what appeared to be a shooting target. ... Ryuu channeled his energy to the pistol... and focused on separating it from himself. It took him a while, but... he felt some progress. Take it slow. Take it slow... The otaku, who had always swung swords in his entire life, fired his first bullet in his entire lifetime. The bullet totally missed, but he felt power. Power exit his body. It was the first time he ever let plasma leave his body. The plasma bullet flew before crashing straight into a wall next to the target, leaving a small puff of smoke on the wall. Ryuu grinned wickedly, looking like a gangster who just killed every single one of the Yakuza. In fact, shooting the bullet felt so awesome, he decided to repeatedly fire at the target, regardless of whether he missed or not. And sure enough, he missed quite a lot... but one of the bullets went straight through the target. It was not powerful, but he was getting somewhere. The red plasma bullets made him feel awesome. After a few more shots, the otaku took a step back, sighing in relief. "I think I'm better at shooting than that one demon archer." Somewhere in Hell, Pace O. Shazt sneezed. [i][u] - Matt - [/i][/u] Matt looked around the gun shed. There were so many different kinds! Sure, he knew that there was a variety, but this many? And this was obviously not all of them. After all, there were no rocket launchers. Matt followed Lily out of the shed again, and was just about to pick up the pistol she lay down to look at it when Lily told them to put on the safety glasses and ear muffs first. Matt gave a sigh of relief that he was warned [i]before[/i] he did something stupid, and then put on the safety gear. He patted his head phones, then pick up the gun, making sure to point it down range. Sure, he really wanted to look at it to see how it worked, but something told him to wait for instructions first. "I'm ready." Matt said slightly louder than normal, as he was pretty much almost deaf. [i][u] - Xanthus - [/u][/i] [url=http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mbqrusemsr1rv2uf5o1_500.jpg] He[/url] stood on the dock, looking around at the beach, not a soul in sight. [i]Well... so much for that welcoming party I was promised...[/i] He chuckled, a small smile on his face. He swallowed, a bit nervous despite all of this time he'd used to prepare for this. He had to wonder where she was. He could feel her energy but it was faint and he didn't know why. For some reason, he couldn't get a good location on her. He just knew she was on this island. He pulled the scarf off of his neck and put it on his arm, content to carry it. She'd given it to him a long time ago and he'd never been able to get rid of it. So much had changed for him. He was finally able to get his old body back and... most of his things. But at what price? He didn't really know anymore. The woman he'd seen didn't seem suspicious but... he still didn't know. What were her intentions? She seemed innocent enough but he could smell the demon on her. Then again, he might have just been smelling himself at that point. He chuckled to himself again and began walking off the dock. His bags should already been in his cabin according to that woman. Cross? Something with an M. He didn't know. He had a hard time with names. Still, one name was burned into his mind. His right hand moved down to touch his left arm, touching the white feather tattooed there. [i]I'm coming...[/i] [u][i] - Kathy - [/i][/u] Kathy nodded in agreement, already looking forward to their plans without even knowing what they were going to do. Taking his other hand, she got back up with Crash’s help, her heart beginning to beat a little fast again. Noticing the sand on her clothes, she reluctantly let go of one of them to dust the sand off before she looked back at him and noticed his expression had changed a bit. Then hearing his question, she couldn’t help but laugh again. “We were going over to your place for a bit. For,” She used a finger to gently poke the visible bruise on his cheek, “This. Remember?” Giving Crash’s hand another small squeeze, she began to take the lead this time towards the beach houses. “So which were you assigned? Tell me you remember, since I don’t fancy a breaking-and-entering as the first date.” [i][u] - Andromeda - [/u][/i] Andromeda heard him whisper 'dad' but she decided not to comment. she was a little annoyed when he refused to answer her but she didn't say anything. then he started crying after whispering something "Zivon? hey are you ok?" she leaned towards him, gently putting a hand on his leg "where's your dad now?" she asked, really hoping he wasn't dead or something and she was going to make it worse. She thought about her dad, she missed him, just him though, not home, and certainly not her mother. "I've only made you feel worse this entire time haven't i?" she rubbed at her forehead, a snake gently rubbing at her hand, trying to comfort her "I'm sorry, maybe i should leave" [i][u] - Carmen - [/i][u] Carmen was still confused. However, since the group seemed to be rolling with the gun thing and leaving Lily's...unique...actions behind, she mentally shrugged and went with it, dutifully following Lily until she was set up at her own station with all the equipment. Looking over the headphones and eyewear, Carmen sighed and put on the headphones, somehow managing to equip them without taking off her hat. She was sort of thankful that there wasn't a mirror around, because she surely wouldn't be satisfied with the look if there was. She turned to Lily and asked, only somewhat joking, "Don't you have more...[i]fashionable[/i] protective items? I just can't be seen in these," she said, holding up the eyewear. Her face made it fairly obvious that she wasn't completely serious and being lighthearted about it, but...all the same, she had a glimmer of hope that more fashionable protective gear existed and was available for her use. Suddenly the prospect of learning to shoot became a smidgen less appealing. But, she reassured herself, if she stuck with it she could have more fashionable equipment made for her. Or, ordered from Amazon. [i][u] - Lily - [/u][/i] She leaned over to look at Carmen and raise a brow at her. She chuckled and shot her a smile. [b]"I think you look fine! Beautiful!"[/b] She shouted, chuckling at herself as she went back to helping Matt. She handed him the ammo and let him put it in himself, helping him along the way when he needed it. [b]"Alright, keep the safety on. I'm going to go help Carmen now."[/b] She explained, making sure Matt knew where the button was. [u][i] - Xanthus - [/i][/u] His brow raised as he watched a man fly through the air, headed toward the middle of the island. Xanthus couldn't help but chuckled at the humor of it. With a shake of his head, he was headed in that direction. [i]Might as well go where the excitement is happening. Lily's bound to be there trying to patch the pour soul up even though she knows it hurts her.[/i] [u][i] - Zivon - [/u][/i] Zivon tried himself to stop crying but it got worst when he felt someone touching his leg, he panic as he moved back screaming a bit and looked at Andromeda with so much fear. He… didn’t like being touch, not by anyone but his dad, when he looked at her he was frightened and so scared as he remembered what bad things that happen to him before. Zivon was defiantly crying and panicking but he just hugged himself and tried to keep quiet. “…..” He soon became quiet and looked away. He shook his head and still was shaken with fear. Instead of talking he decided just to shake his head for yes and no questions. He leaned back at the shelf and shook his head trying to say he doesn’t like to be touch and his father wasn’t dead but was safe… from him. Zivon sighed and tried to stop freaking out and just smiled…unwillingly but he was trying to be better at socializing. [i][u] - Andromeda - [/u][/i] Andromeda pushed herself away when he freaked out "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she dropped backwards onto her bum. he nodded a few times in response to her questions, she wasn't quite sure what it meant. [url=http://idrawgirls.com/images/2010Q4/how-to-draw-anime-sit-pose.jpg] she pulled her knees around to her side[/url] and looked at him "i always mess things up, i hate to agree with anything my mom says, but i'm pretty useless" she looked the boy over "do you want me to go Zivon? before i make things worse" [u][i] - Zivon - [/u][/i] Zivon felt immediately guilty for making Andromeda thinking that she will make things worst. He was the one freaking out and crying but she didn’t know that. He sighed and rubbed the tears from his eyes. He shook his head saying no that it was fine but as much he wanted to say it he seemed to go mute for a while. Zivon decided to use the book at the book shelf he opened one book and immediately search for words so instead of nodding his head or staying quiet he could show words in the book to show what he want to say. “Sorry, My fault, its fine” He showed the words to her and tilted his heads till unwillingly to smile but still trying his best. [i][u] - Andromeda - [/u][/i] Andromeda saw his expression change when she said she was useless. he shook his head but couldn't seem to talk, then he grabbed a book and started pointing out words, saying it was his fault and apologizing. "is something wrong with your voice? are you have troubling speaking?" she looked down at the book again then back at him. "do you want to ask me anything? I've been doing all the asking" [i][u] - Crash - [/i][/u] Crash blinked twice before he offered her a sheepish grin, his free hand still touching his forehead his eyes lit up in recognition as she spoke. As she lifted her hand to his face he felt his pulse quicken, subconsciously the eye above his bruised cheek closed as her finger made contact with the cut. “I do now” He smiled as she gave his hand another small squeeze and begun off again towards the beach houses. He momentarily focused on the ground in front of him trying to get more of a grip on his facial expressions at the moment it seemed pretty stuck on a wide smile. His ears pricked as she asked him her question. [i]Oh booften...[/i] his face fell for a moment before he could rectify it forcing a ‘thoughtful’ expression onto his face, he lifted a hand to his neck lifting his eyes to search the beach houses. “....sure...its...erm...” Crash murmured, his cheeks tinting as he wracked his brain for his door number. [i]What was it...unlucky number...13! 113![/i] “It’s 113” He announced, feeling pretty confident that he was right. [i]Saved...[/i] Perhaps he got away with that one? “You don’t? Shame” He grinned deviously. “What do you fancy on a first date then?” He asked her as they made their way through the beach houses towards 113, upon arrival the door wasn’t locked and swung open with a gentle push. It was probably about this time Crash realized that he hadn't unpacked his bags properly yet, they were still stacked in the hallway although one of them had clearly been rifled through. “Ah...I forgot about that” He admitted with a sheepish grin. [i][u] - Kathy - [/u][/i] Kathy raised an eyebrow at him, beginning to wonder if her joke would not end as one. Luckily for both of them, Crash seemed to have recalled the number he was assigned to. Laughing she replied, "Something a little more on the legal side would be a good start." She followed him towards the correct house, she tried to think about what she considered an 'ideal' first date. "Hmm... To be honest, I'm actually not too sure." There was also the issue that they were currently on an island owned by the academy with a limited number of places they could go to. [i]'I'd probably be happy with anything you'd like to do though.'[/i] She thought, not quite wanting to admit that sort of cliched line aloud. Inside, her gaze immediately went towards Crash's unpacked belongings. Shaking her head, she smiled at him. "Why don't we find the that first-aid kit of yours first, then I can help you unpack your belongings and get settled in?" [u][i] - Zivon - [/u][/i] Zivon shook his head and showed her words again. ‘No, Just scared, Problems…” He sighed again, sometimes his mute problems can get the better of him but he got used to it he though about what Andromeda said and though if he wanted to ask her something since he can use the book now he was way better an communication than before. “You are nice, better talking than me, Got nothing much to say,” Zivon pointed again those words and looked at Andromeda, her snakes interested him but he felt that asking about could hurt her feelings but he just ignored it that though. He unwilling smiled again and was still shaken with fear but not as much as before. [i][u] - Andromeda - [/u][/i] "it's ok to be scared" she said. it made her smile when he called her nice "i'm only good at talking because of my mom" she tried to smile but it occured to her it probably looked more like a grimace, she didn't like talking about her mom. "would you mind if i asked you a few questions then? if you have none for me?" she looked away and it occurred to her that she had done no training what so ever this trip "have you done any training yet?" [u][i] - Zivon - [/u][/i] Zivon nodded to Andromeda and showed her again some words. “No training at all, okay to ask I guess…” He then looked around the Magical place, floating lights… he wished he could learn about this place a bit more but he just let out a content sigh. Zivon looked at his hands, he usually covered them with mittens or gloves but it always rots away so he had to be careful what he touches. At the end he does end up destroying anything he touches. He tried to cover up his hands with his sleeves and went back with his non-verbal conversation with Andromeda. [i][u] - Andromeda - [/u][/i] "i haven't trained either" she said, looking around as well. she smiled at him and asked "so were you in the contest earlier? i dressed up one of the guys, the one in the sailor outfit" she laughed at the memory. her eyes floated over the bookshelves beside them and she spotted a box she though looked interesting, she pulled it don and set it beside her to look at later. she returned her attention to Zivon "I've had a fun vacation so far, what about you?" [u][i] – Zivon – [/u][/i] Zivon tilted his head, a contest? Oh he remembered seeing the weird event things. A sailor outfit?...weird... Zivon then again looked through the pages of the book and showed some words. “No, Lost in forest, sprained ankle…scared…” He really wasn’t having a great vacation sadly but he knew it his own fault for it. Zivon looked at Andromeda and showed her some words again. “Having hard time having fun, scared really, can’t do anything about it…” He sighed and closed his eyes, he was still scared but he guessed he can never get that feeling out of him…ever… [i][u] - Matt - [/i][/u] Matt thanked Lily and attempted to load his gun. It was pretty simple, really. No gizmos or dodads. Just putting bullets into the gun. After he finished, he held it up and pointed it down range after making sure safety was on. [i]One sure needs a whole lot of safety stuff to use such small devices.[/i] Matt thought. [i]I guess that happens when you're using a death machine.[/i] "Okay, ready." Matt said. "I'm assuming it would be a bad idea to look down the barrel just to make sure there's a bullet there?" [i][u] - Margaret - [/u][/i] The orange-haired girl budged once more, in hopes of getting up. She did. This time, she did. The girl sat on her fours for a few seconds, blankly staring at the empty ground beneath her. She then applied strength to her arms, pushing her away from the dark abyss, facing yet another abyss. Margaret shivered for a split second before standing up on her feet. Margaret stood on her feet. Her bare feet. Bare. She had bare feet. Well, not exactly bare feet. There was a protective layer of... something... wrapped around it. It looked like bandages. White bandages. White. White made her feel cold. Margaret looked away from her white feet(?), slowly walking toward where the red colors had gone off to. She had blindly walked, bumping into many things in the process. She even bumped against someone with what looked like a red jacket. Ryuu wondered why someone decided to bump against him, but continued to practice his Han Solo shooting practice. The orange-haired girl walked. Walk. She walked. Walk. She walked. Walk. She walked. She walked more. She walked even further. The girl saw two bright colors again. Two red colors. They looked very pretty together. Maybe such was the reason why she had been thrown away. She was not pretty. Pretty. She was not pretty. She was defective. Defective. Too defective. Defective products were eventually thrown off to the trash. Trash. Was she trash? Maybe she was trash.:'( Margaret Clementine weakly trudged toward the two red colors, eyeing them without any emotions in her face. After all, defective things like her could not express emotions right at the moment. She walked toward the lights. She wanted the warmth to keep her warm. Just for a little while. [i][u] - Carmen - [/i][/u] Carmen reacted to Lily's playful compliment as any fashionista would: "Oh, [i]stop[/i] it," with the requisite flip down of the hand and flip up of the head. It was wonderful. Still, she wasn't looking forward to putting on the glasses, but it looked like it was inevitable if she wanted to shoot. So she put them on and gingerly picked up the gun, flipping it over and over again in her hand. To an outsider it looked like she was looking at an alien artifact, and as far as she was concerned it was one. She had no idea how it worked except that you pressed the trigger to fire. She had read about guns in the books, but none of them ever had a practical explanation on how to fire one. [i]Best learned in person, I guess,[/i] she thought to herself as she waited for Lily to come and help her out. [i][u] - Crash - [/i][/u] Crash’s grin widened as she took his devious comment in a lighthearted manner. “Ok, legal is a must...this is good we’re getting somewhere with this decision making” He commented before listening out for her answer to his question he bit his lower lip thoughtfully, he’d hoped she’d of had some idea. He adopted a rather serious and thoughtful expression as they moved over towards the beach house. [i]...ideas, come on! Think knucklehead think![/i] Crash lifted a hand to the back of his neck, the tops of his cheeks tinting in embarrassment as he cast his gaze to his feet. “Puppy on speed” He shrugged at her as if this was a perfect explanation, he grinned and nodded at her before hesitantly releasing her hand he moved over to his bags grabbing both of them and tugging them into the room with a window (?) throwing the bags on the bed, he started rummaging through the empty one. “Kathy, ” Crash turned to glance at her, holding the first aid box in his hand though he’d managed to turf all of the clothing out of his bag whilst searching for it. “For the minute, just forget we’re on this island ok...we’re back at the academy. We can go anywhere we like, we can do anything we like” He told her. “Where would you like to go? Don’t hold back, just tell me whatever springs into your mind” He smiled at her warmly, before turning his attention to his first aid box pulling out a tube of cream, he waited patiently for her answer fumbling with the lid on the cream, he gripped the hem of his shirt hesitating for a moment. “I’m just going to take this off...” He warned her, giving her a chance to react. [i][u] - Kathy - [/i][/u] Kathy was about to offer to help carry one of the bags over to his room, but had to settle for just following Crash because he had already started to carry to carry them both over with ease. She looked around the room and commented, "I guess all the houses are just the same." For some reason she had a slight thought that perhaps Crash's room would be different from hers, which made no sense considering the fact he hadn't even unpacked yet and the houses were probably all built to be near-identical to one another. "Hm?" Hearing her name, she turned her attention back to Crash and listened to his question. She smiled back at him, "I could ask the same to you really." She momentarily stuck a small portion of her tongue out at him again. Then looking thoughtful again, she gave him an actual answer to his question. "Maybe... Go to a movie together." There was a slight tint of colour in her cheeks as she gave him the answer, despite the fact she didn't seem to be saying anything to embarrassing. Getting distracted for a moment, she let out a small laugh and pointed at some of the clothes Crash had taken out. "You may want to put some of that away." He had accidentally laid out some more 'personal' articles of clothing into view. Apparently she wasn't too shy with seeing undergarments though, since she didn't attempt to shield her eyes or turn away as she pointed them out. Then hearing his warning she began, "Ah, um..." Her face turning even more red, Kathy murmured, "... S-Should I help you with your back..?" She didn't think she could really stare at the front of his torso, but thought she might be able to handle his back. Hopefully. After all, she [i]did[/i] accept his invitation out of the dojo to help him to treat the bruises. [i][u] - Crash - [/i][/u] Crash glanced at her momentarily, looking thoughtful for a second. “Really? I thought the girls rooms would have been ‘fancier’” He mused, his smile broadening as she momentarily poked her tongue out at him. “You could” He agreed with her. He chewed his lip thoughtfully hearing her answer and watching the color seep into her face, he chuckled. “Ok, why are you blushing?” He asked aware this could cause her to flush further. “A movie sounds like a great idea...we could even do that here you know” He pointed out to her with a small smile. “If you could watch any movie what would it be?” Was his next question, he had a warm smile plastered on his face. He blinked at her as she let out a small laugh, he felt hi cheeks color as she pointed at his bed, he noticed a scattered assortment of boxers...He dropped the cream on his bed momentarily, quickly scooping them back up and into the bag she didn’t need to see the collection of cartoon characters adorning his undergarments, he tried particularly hard to hide the ones with a familiar little red Bandicoot on them. “Erm..yeah sorry about that” He smiled rubbing the back of his neck once he’d stuffed them back in the bag.Crash watched her face flush with color, expecting her to turn away he blinked in surprise as she offered to help him...he hadn’t...”I’m not sure what the damage is...but that would be appreciated” He murmured, he felt warmth seep into his own cheeks, he pulled his shirt over his head turning side on to her and chucking it on the bed instantly pulling a face at the assortment of purple marks adorning his abdomen, “I really got to be more careful” He sighed, trying to see the damage to his back there was probably only a few here and there nothing major unlike his front, he’d already started treating those. “Arnica, should bring out the bruising quicker and sooth them...erm thanks for this...sorry to ask you” He thanked her. [u][i] - Lily - [/u][/i] She walked over to Carmen with a smile on her face. She had just enough time to see that girl again, headed towards Matt. She felt herself tense up but she wanted to ignore it. So she did. Her face dropped a bit, however as she walked over to Carmen. [b]"Here. I'll show you how to load it."[/b] She told Carmen, holding out her hand for the gun. She took in gingerly and slowly put ammo into the barrel. When done, she made sure the safety was on and that Carmen knew where it was. She looked up at gave Carmen a weak smile before walking back a bit. [b]"Alright. You may take off your safety and fire at will."[/b] She yelled. [b]"Clear on the gun range!"[/b] She shouted as she walked into the range master's station to watch. [u][i] - Xanthus - [/u][/i] He felt his heart beat quicken when he heard her voice shouting to clear the gun range. It didn't matter what she was talking about, he was mostly just proud of himself that he'd been able to locate her so quickly. He chuckled. [i]I guess I know the love of my life pretty well then, eh?[/i] With a smile on his face he drew closer to the gun range and stepped inside. He couldn't immediately see her but his eyes scowered the range for her. He raised a brow and chuckled again when he noticed the same guy that had been flying threw the sky. [i]I guess you never really know what to expect at these sort of places.[/i] For now, Xanthus kept his presence hidden. He didn't want Lily feeling his energy though he didn't know if he could hide it with the close proximity. She'd have to realize soon. It kind of blew his mind that she wasn't already looking for him. He walked up to the guy he'd seen flying through the air and simply watched with bright eyes, content to enjoy everything for now. He'd get his reunion soon enough. [i][u] - Margaret - [/u][/i] The girl saw one of the lights move away... It must have hated her. Hate. She... did not want to hate. But was she hated? Hate. It synchronized well with defective. Defective. She was a hated defective. Was she? Maybe. The girl shivered again, walking closer to the red color that remained still on the station. It glowed brightly. It was beautiful. Beautiful. Red was beautiful. So far it was beautiful. Margaret shivered again. She felt cold. The girl reached out for the red color once more, intent on rubbing it for warmth once more. Though, she would do it lightly so that the color would not smash her off somehow. She felt scared. Scared. Scared that she would be tossed aside again. Trash. She did not want to be trash.