[hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/usTGUT9.png[/img] [img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjg4LjVhMzUzNS5VMmhwY0hCaGFTQWlRbkp2ZDI0aUlFdGhjM05vYjJ0MS4wAAAAAAAA/raggedways.regular.png[/img] [img] http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjcyLjQzYTM0ZC5UM1J6WVc1aElFc3VJRU52Y25KaGJBLCwuMgAA/vanilla-whale.regular.png[/img] [img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjE1OC5mYmRlNDEuUVhOcmFXNGdUR0VnUVhOclpYSnliMjVsLjA,/coffee-written.regular.png[/img] [sub][@Crosswire][@redbaron1234][@Oddsbod][/sub][/center][hr][hr] Well, with a little bit of roughhousing from their wolfgirl friend, they managed to get the information they needed. Brenda merely stepped back, and put a hand on her hip as Otsana wrapped the mook's mouth with duct tape, and just left him there. Well, Brenda saw him as a huge liability. She took a moment, and socked him out cold with not a ki or stone infused fist, but her good old fists. He hit the ground, and she shrugged as she put her hand back on her hip. Just in case he wiggled free, or somebody found him, he can't say a peep. They'd kill him if they found out he snitched, so they're doing him a [i]favor[/i]. She rolled her eyes up into her head. That resolved one problem, but left another little issue dangling. The strange and sudden appearance of a tiny, blonde-haired, stranger. Brenda thought he was a girl at first until she heard him speak. She knew he was a foreigner... nobody from Brazil would [i]ever[/i] look like that. But, she found it weird that he just came out of nowhere, and ask for help. She wasn't the type that'd place her trust in anyone that walked up (Well, she was taking a risk with Jonas, but she at least had the pleasure of fighting him at first). Most importantly... she didn't like the looks of him. And what didn't help was the fact that Otsana was welcoming him with open arms. Good [i]grief[/i]. She had to roll her eyes for this one. Brenda quickly grabbed onto Otsana's arm to catch her attention, then stared her dead in the eye. "Hey, I don't know what's running through your head, but," Brenda started off, as she briefly glanced at Askin, "It'd be in our best interests if we don't get every [i]gringo[/i] involved in this. We already basically have a [i]child[/i] to cart around." She tilted her head towards Brown. Otsana turned towards the taller woman, making no movment to break her arm free, instead holding her other hand up plactatingly. [color=lime] "Chill, chill. This guy's obviously a Nomad and can handle himself, "[/color] she dropped her voice to a whisper, [color=lime]"But I agree it's a little convinent for him to show up out of the blue like this right now. It'd be better to keep him close so we know he isnt getting into trouble rather than letting him run about unsupervised. Same goes for Brown. Almost a little too perky."[/color] She picked her voice back up, and broke her arm free of with a quick roll of her arm. [color=lime] "Besides, we'll need all the help in dealing with the bombs."[/color] "Alright..." She begrudgingly agreed, as she didn't feel the need to argue with her when they're on a schedule. Still, "getting all the help they can" means that they were just getting a subpar quality. She narrowed her eyes at Askin... she just didn't like the looks of him. [color=A52A2A]"HI! I'm Brown, what's your name?"[/color] Brown gave the stranger an oblivious wave, her smile wider then usual as the pat on the shoulder by the wolf-eared women reminded her of the loving affection she typically received from her own animal eared mother. She made note of how Otsana had threatened the thugs testicles and got what she wanted very quickly before returning her focus to the stranger. [color=A52A2A] "The game we're playing is find the detonators, stop the stadium from being blown-ed up, and beat the bad guys up but down't crush their skulls or snap their spinal cords or anything even though that'd be really easy given the right-er, yeah don't kill them. [/color] [color=FBDE41]"Oh, boy, yeah, killing isn't my thing, don't worry." Like the others, Brown was visibly strong, and like the wolf-woman, not especially clothed. [i]Um,[/i] thought Askin. [i]Uh.[/i] With dark eyes and blood staining her face and knuckles, Askin wasn't prepared for the girlish and rappidy-quick burst of conversation that came out of her. A little off-putting, but, Askin reasoned, there couldn't be anything wrong with having a little more friendliness in the world. "Oh, I'm Askin La Askerrone, by the way. Nice to meetcha, Brown. And, uh, you all too." He kept an eye on the dark-skinned woman. She didn't seem very happy, and had just muttered something quick and short into the wolf-woman's ear, though Askin didn't hear what. [color=A52A2A]"Aksin lu askie...[/color] Brown rolled the full name in her mouth before spitting it out like a wad of rotten chewing tobacco. [color=A52A2A]"Uh, I'm just gonna call you Asker!"[/color] She announced her new name for him with the same smile she had on her face before. [color=A52A2A] "Also don't worry if you're not good at killing, I can help with that if you need any of that done. Though we're not supposed to kill these bad guys, so it'd have to be someone else who is also bad but not trying to blow up the stadium." [/color] Askin hoped the bloodstains on her face didn't have too much to do with some of the things coming out of Brown's mouth. [color=FBDE41]"Well, never had to before, hope I won't anytime soon, but, uh, appreciate the offer." Askin looked to where the bomber lay, knocked out by a sharp and punitive punch. [i]Aw. Geez.[/i] [color=FBDE41]"Hey, uh, boss,"[/color] he said to the dark-skinned woman. Fishing through his jacket, he produced a glittery brass lamp, small, maybe the size of a fist. It looked the prop taken from a high-end theater. [color=FBDE41]"I know what's up, right? I might be a Nomad hired by the bombers? Here to stop you from saving the day? That'd make more sense than a random guy popping up out of nowhere to give a hand. I know, not trustworthy, that's cool. But..."[/color] He fingered the lamp. It had a warm, tickling heat inside. Like he was holding a little living bird between his hands. [color=FBDE41]"I, uh, haha..."[/color] Askin thought of more and more clusters of bombs, more than enough to make up for the one bunch he bottled away a few seconds earlier. [color=FBDE41]"I really don't want anyone to die. Let me help. So, here, take this."[/color] He offered her the lamp, glanced around to make sure they were alone, then muttered quietly, [color=FBDE41]"As long as you have it, I have to obey you, anything you say, anything you want. It's gotta piece of me in there. No wasting time with a debate about loyalty--all you need is this."[/color] The bags under Brown's eyes seemed darker in the bright Rio sunshine, even more so against her almost sickly pale skin. Yet they seemed darkest of all when compared to her smile which grew wider, almost twisting as she heard and mentally registered what the boy before her was saying. With fast hands Brown flung her arms out and snatched up the outstretched lamp from Askin's hands, giggling as she stepped away. "A magic lamp? Are you a genie? Do you grant wishes? OOOOOOOOH, now that I have this lamp you have to give me my three wishes!" Brown sprang up and down, bouncing between her two legs practically shaking with excitement. [color=FBDE41]"Ah!"[/color] Askin let out a little gasp, like he'd been shot him in the stomach. [color=FBDE41]"No, um, not a genie. If you could be careful with that I'd appreciate it."[/color] His heart was still racing, after having the lamp yanked so unexpectedly from his grasp by unfamiliar hands. He felt Brown's hard, unfamiliar fingers wrapped tight around his heart of hearts. Her fingers coiled around the brass lamp as she spoke over Askin's attempt to explain. [color=A52A2A]"My first wish is to be the strongest Nomad in existence, my second wish is that my fox momma gets her missing arm back, and my third wish is that[i][b] my parents arms and legs wither, they lose their ability to use their aura, and they feel pain whenever I want.[/b][/i] Which is a lot so make sure to get that part right! Wait, that was three wishes right? Details don't count towards a wish, right?"[/color] [color=FBDE41]"No wishes,"[/color] Askin said quickly, more loudly, more forcefully. A strange, shivery compulsion whispered at him, directing him nowhere and in no direction. It wasn't a proper order, but Brown's willpower still wormed its way through his body. [color=FBDE41]"I'm not a genie. Just, y'know, a Nomad. Please, I dunno we have time for any of this, Brown, if you could give it to one of your friends..."[/color] Brown stopped dead and locked eyes with Askin. Her smile withered and she stared him down as if he'd told her that her puppy dog had been run over my a school bus full of kids who were way cooler and stronger then her. For a moment her fingers dug into the metal of the lamp and she tightened her grip on it, twisting the metal slightly in her hands as her anger began to creep to the surface. She wanted to snap the lamp in half or simply began beating the possible-genie in front of her with it until he gave her the wishes that she wanted, that she [i] needed[/i]. It was only the sincere look and sound of Askin's voice that made her realize that he wasn't lying, at least not about the wishes, and that he couldn't give her what she wanted. Askin shivered. Alright, yes, he decided, the unnerving and happy Brown was, by and large, preferable to the cold Brown with dark, unchildish things in her eyes. [color=A52A2A] "Fine. One of you take it then."[/color] Brown said, all passion and warmth drained from her voice as she tossed the small brass lamp onto the ground with enough force to cause it to skip across the soil until it clanked to a stop at Brenda and Otsuna's feet. A tiny grunt from Askin. That, at least, he was expecting. "... Now's our chance," Brenda whispered to Otsana, having watched these [i]children[/i] have a playdate for far, far, too long. "We can leave them, and not have to worry about Brown doing something stupid." [color=A52A2A] "I'm ready to go. I just want someone I want to make someone hurt right now."[/color] Brown turned to Brenda, frowning as she managed to pick up the last little bit of what she whispered to the wolf-eared women. Otsana patted Brown on the shoulder. [color=lime] "Oh, I'm sure Brown can take care of herself, despite the packed lunches."[/color] Brown's face brightened at Otsana's touch but her frown remained. [color=A52A2A] "What's wrog with packed lunches? Besides I offered to share them..."[/color] The mercenary shrugged. [color=lime] "Nothing. They smelled delicious. It's just kinda funny to see someone trying to enter a tournament while carrying lunches their mom packed."[/color] [color=A52A2A]"Oh. Well I'm sure you would have taken lunches here if your momma had packed them for you." Brown said, her disappointment and the mention of food causing her to feel peckish for a snack. [color=FBDE41]"I think it's very sweet,"[/color] Askin said, feeling a sudden surge of warmth towards Brown and her mother's packed lunch. Rubbing the bags under her eyes Brown looked to Askin with a flat face, unsure how to respond to the boy. Normally she'd have been happy for the support and positive feedback, but the mistake over what he was and what he could give her still left her feeling at odds with the lamp carrier. Askin kicked the lamp up into the air with the tip of his foot. Spinning, spinning, then he reached out an arm and caught it. An involuntary shiver went up and through his body. He offered the lamp to the other two, the tall scary one and the other tall scary one. [color=FBDE41]"So what're thinking, boss?"[/color] Otsana cocked a brow as she looked at the lamp.[color=lime] "That your weapon? Pretty unique. I would love to have you tag along, but understand that there is a pretty high penalty for screwing up. You comfortable with what may happen if we fail, right?"[/color] [color=FBDE41]"Ah, yeah. Bombs go off, lotta people die, and we all go home to feel bad about ourselves. If we go home at all. But, uh, hey, I'm already here, right? Can't just run away. I'm ready when you are, whatever you need."[/color] She pointed a finger gun at him. [color=lime] "Bingo. I'm all for extra help in this. Hit these guys hard and fast, with overwhelming force. That's the way we handled this sort of thing back in the Army." [/color] [color=FBDE41]"You'd know better than me. So where do we find these lieutenants?"[/color] Brown nodded her head at the mention of 'overwhelming force' and began to tighten up her fists in anticipation for the coming fight. "Let's just get this over wi-" That was when the sky turned black as a shadow was cast on them. "Wait, what? It's like three, how can it be getting..." That was when Brenda looked up and saw the hundreds of robots descending upon the tournament. She was awestruck... as they smashed their way into the stadium. "... We need to get back to the tournament," Brenda said, before she had another idea. "Or run." Brown did just that and ran...straight towards one of the nearby entrances to the stadium. She had no idea why robots had shown up or what their intent was. What she did know was they were robots and they seemed intent on breaking things. Finding the bombs had already slipped her mind as her eyes went wide and her hands tightened into blood drained fist, as the hunger for something to [i]kill[/i] took over. [color=FBDE41]"Tournament it is,"/color] said Askin, taking off after her. He'd barely it twenty feet, however, before the coliseum wall exploded overhead. A squadron of robots had just smashed straight through the building above and the screaming of the crowd could be heard through the hole, while four others went straight down and landed with a crash between Askin and Brown. No time to react, a single fist crashed across Askin's chest and sent him flying into the wall of a nearby building. His form vanished behind the dust and the rubble. [i]Well, he didn't last long...[/i] Brenda thought to herself, before she shot a sharp glare at Otsana. [i]'Can handle himself,' my ass.[/i] Otsana gave her a shrug from behind a vending machine, quickly opening her machine gun's case. [color=lime] "Okay, so I am big enough to admit I might have made a bad judgement call there. I owe you a beer." [/color] Well, at least he wasn't in the way anymore. Her right fist was coated in stone, before it was quickly surrounded by lava. She had her eye on the robot that just clocked Askin. He probably died, but his spirit will rest happy knowing that Brenda avenged him. She charged forward, with her fist extended. She punched the robot into chunks with one punch! More than that weakshit fairy could accomplish. However, the rest of them turned their guns on Brenda, as she took one step back as she put her arms up. Covered with stone, the bullets were easily stopped. After a moment of firing, the robots hesitated, Brenda's shield unimpressed by their barrage. Before they could change strategies, however, there was an explosion of sparks and a sound like grinding gears—the robots fell back, two of them riddled with swords hammered hilt-deep into their metal, the wounds shooting orange crackles of static and black splattery oil. Behind them approached Askin, dusty and rustled-looking, but apparently unharmed. Beneath his cloak, he fingered one of the brass containers. [color=FBDE41][i]Eight swords used, six hits. Seven shots left. Okay. Okay. Yes, sure, great, I can do this.[/i][/color] From the folds of his cloak shot out another sword, this one nailing the unhurt robot in the arm. A barking laugh punctuated the bot's destruction. Hmmmm. Brenda maybe jumped the gun when she made a decision on him. He took out all the robots, and Brenda just thought she'd be carrying him as if he was a load. Bounding forward her eyes locked onto the remaining robot Brown yanked her Yo-you out and began to rapidly spin in as she closed distance. In mere moments the wooden Yo-yo and the white string attached to it became a blur and audibly cut through the air like the propeller of a plane. The robot she approached staggered backwards from the impact of Askin's sword. Despite the loss of one of it's manipulators its remaining gun arm was still fully operational. Sensors dilating it recognized the fast approaching threat and primed the high caliber machine gun to fire when- [color=A52A2A]Taikutsunakiba!!!!"[/color] [b]CRACK![/b] A sharp acoustic snap echoed outwards as the robot's steel head collapsed inwards. Precision optics burst, exploding outwards like shattered coke bottles as Brown's yo-yo pulverized the robot's cranium with a single blow. Blind and unable to see the death machine began to fire aimlessly, spraying high caliber machine gun rounds in erratic sweeps in front of it. Bullets wizzing past her head and between her legs Brown didn't so much as flinch as she pulled her yo-yo back and lashed out with it again. The wooden head of the yo-yo rocketed outwards and wrapped around the leg of the robot. Brown yanked the cord and the yo-yo string went taut, and the robot fell backwards as it's leg was pulled out from under it. Blind and on it's back the robot continued to fire into the ceiling. Brown walked up to it, wincing only slightly at the unpleasant loudness of the gunfire before bending over and grabbing the robot's machinegun arm. Hands tightening around the metal Brown began to turn the gun. The robot attempted to resist, but despite the strength of it's servo motors Brown was somehow stronger and with a shower of sparks the robot's arm was snapped backward still firing as it was pointed directly at it. Brown's eyes went wide with glee as the robot before her was ripped apart by it's own machine gun, it's chromed body convulsing under the force of the gunfire that tore through it's battle hardened frame like tissue paper. The gun quickly ran dry and produced little more then empty clicks, but by then the robot was beyond any state of recognition. "Pathetic" Brown hissed, throwing down the empty machine gun and kicking the robot remains across the floor. "Anything designed to kill might as well be designed to fail." Her joyous, jovial tone from before was gone. In it's place was a more even but harsher voice that oozed with a frustrated malice. Not bothering to check if Askin was alright she ran forward once more in search of more robots... Lava and stone and single, obliterating punches—very stylish, very effective, very dangerous. Exactly the kind of raw power Askin would expect from someone like the serious-faced stranger, and he was sure the wolf-woman had something just as frightening up her sleeves (so to speak). But Brown's viciousness was like a power all to its own, like guns and fists and superpowers grounded down to the finest powder and transformed into some intangible anger, wholly unfamiliar with mercy or restraint. Askin looked to the shattered robot, then to the others, as though hoping they would answer some unspoken question lingering in the air. [color=FBDE41]"Are, uh, are you guys alright?"[/color] The gunfire had scattered in every direction—hopefully no one was hit. That girl was like an animal when she fought... there was something fundamentally [i]wrong[/i] with her that Brenda saw as clear as day and night. If these were real people, Brenda would be turning her fists onto Brown right about now. However, she focused on the task at hand. She threw one punch, and knocked the head of a robot clean off, before she kept charging. She turned her head, and Askin asked her if she was alright. "Perfectly fine!" Brenda had to shout over the mayhem. "Just focus on staying safe yourself!" [color=lime] "Still think she's a kid? [/color] Otsana shouldered her machine gun and popped out from behind her cover to send a stream of bullets down the hallway, robotic bodies dancing as they were riddled with bullets before crumpling to the ground. Robotic limbs flew through the air as she smoothly moved to the center of the hallway, the ground becoming slick with oil. Ears forward and eyes focused, her buzzaw cut down the first row of robots, the deadly stream only stopping to avoid her allies in the fight. The two other woman—[color=FBDE41][i]I really need to get their names[/i][/color]—dived straight into the fray without a second thought. Askin always forgot that real nomads were actually quite good at the whole bulletproof thing. Just nearby, the stone-powered woman was knocking heads; one punch, one decapitated robot. The wolf-woman was tearing through the enemy with a deluge of gunfire. Askin, meanwhile, was dodging where he could, but hits were landing, and he couldn't keep this up much longer. They were surrounded now, a sea of guns and fists and glinting metal faces. The entrance was just up ahead—[color=FBDE41][i]if it's blocked, the civilians can't escape.[/i][/color] Askin ducked below the outstretched arms of the robots nearby, then uncorked his sword-container entirely. A sighing noise, almost inaudible over the clashing robots. Then, like partners in a hoe-down, seven swords sprang up around Askin in a spinning, twirling, eager-to-please circle, cutting at the robots around him, forcing back the quick ones and slashing open the unlucky ones. There, a gap in the fighting—Askin forced his way towards the nearby coliseum gate and shouted to the others as loud as he could, [color=FBDE41]"The entrance! We gotta clear it so the normals can get out!"[/color] [color=lime] "Heads up, I'm going to clear the way with a grenade!" [/color] Otsana waited for the others to get out of the way as she loaded the grenade into her launcher. [color=FBDE41]"Gotcha!"[/color] Askin fingered one of his newly-empty containers, whispering quick whispers of power and magic. Pulling back an arm, he made to throw the container aside, and in the instant before it left his hand, Askin vanished. The imperceptible brass container soared through the air and clattered some ways away, unnoticed by the robots. Brenda nodded her head, as she punched the ground hard as she could, and flipped up a stone wall to defend herself while Brown threw herself behind an overturned vending machine and jammed her fingers in her ears. Blood thirsty rage or not, she wasn't one to want to lose an entire range of hearing... [color=lime] "Fire in the hole!" [/color] As soon as she said that, she fired right into the center of the mob of robots. The grenade's fuse kept it from exploding right away as it punched through a handful of their attackers, richocheing slightly. Despite this, the explosvie made it into the thick of the crowd, exploding in a show of pyrotechnic force. She didn't even flinch at the explosion, instead scanning the clearing smoke for signs of movement. The robots in the hallway had been reduced to scrap, and she casually walked past Brenda and Brown, pulling out her pistol to finish off a few crippled survivors. [color=lime] "God I love using that." [/color] Her ears perked up, picking up the tell-tale sounds of servos and clanking coming from behind them. [color=lime] "Come on, sounds like we got more inbound."[/color] She motioned down the hall with her head. Nuzzled up in a dark world with an afternoon sky and a motionless sea, Askin counted to ten, the burst free from the container, appearing from thin air at the edge of the devastation, just in time to hear the wolf-woman's words. Damn. Fire and wreckage, body after body after body all around them. No survivors, of course. The adrenaline was rushing through Brenda, and she had everything she needed to clear out these machines. Her arms were covered in solid stone as she moved forward. Seemingly leading the bunch until Brown charged ahead of her, tackling robots and swinging her Yo-yo about, pounding metal and crushing servos under her feet. She breathed in the smells, sounds, and vibrations of the fighting around her and was driven forward with an unspoken thirst...