The Hired Enforcer [Open, Quest]

Felicity was waiting in the half-destroyed bar in Twilight Town. Between the stories she heard of the bombing that completely destroyed this part of the town, and the heartless invasion not too long ago, she was impressed by the fact that whoever owned this establishment hadn't run off to a much more safer world. But then she looked around to see the whole place fulled with those who just wanted to drown their sorrows. Perhaps the bartender saw this as a way of taking advantage of the grief the recent happenings brought to the people. Or perhaps he was just there to provide a service. To be the one who took people out of their problematic lives for even just a day or two.

She heard that the bartender had lost his wife and son to the bombing and flooding, so this could have been an escape for him as well. Felicity looked to the side where the bartender was chatting with a buddy or two. He seemed happy enough, which was a good thing. People shouldn't be too affected by the unfairness in life, since it'll do what it damn well pleased. She poured herself another glass of vodka and wondered how long it would have been until her first target showed up.

While exploring the rubble, she was approached by a man in a trench coat with dark aviators over his eyes. "You look like someone who knows how to handle herself in a fight," he said. Always a good opening to get her attention. The guy wanted her to beat up a few thugs that had been giving them trouble. With the mercenary mentality still in her mind, and the fact that she got to punch people's face in and get paid for it, she took the job. She was given an envelope with mugshots of the thugs she was after, and for some reason a handful of white flowers. She thought it was a joke at first, but she was told that she needed to leave one of them in each area she tangled with the thugs. It was a kind of symbolic message, she guessed. Whatever.

"Hey! That's my seat!" she heard a prepubescent male call out to her from behind. From the reflection on the broken mirror behind the counter, she saw that this was her first mark, a young wannabe gangster with a mohawk in a sleeveless leather vest studded with metal spikes on the shoulders. "Hey! Did you hear me?!"

Ugh, why did these people have to be so loud? She felt her jacket getting grabbed, and she was pulled around to face the teen. She simply looked at him with unimpressed eyes. "Don't you get it, chicka? Get off my seat! Unless you want to be knocked into next week."

"Try it." Felicity said coldly as she leaned back against the counter and leaving herself open for the first strike.

"You have a death wish, girl?" the boy shouted before throwing a punch that landed on the side of Felicity's cheek. "Not so tough now, are ya? Now get off of my chair!"

Felicity stood up and rubbed her cheek. "You hit like a school girl."

"What did you say?!" the young thug screamed, winding up another punch, which he threw at the girl's face again, but this time, Felicity blocked it with her gauntlet. The boy screamed in pain as the sound of the impact rang out through the bar.

"Take it outside, you two! This place is damaged enough as it is."

Felicity looked at the bartender and nodded. "Sure thing." She refocused on the thug and pumped her arm to her side. The sound resembling a shotgun cocking was heard, and she threw a punch that connected with the thug's chest. A loud explosion came with a huge shockwave that threw the thug out the doors. The sound startled the patrons and the bartender, but otherwise did nothing. Felicity calmly walked out the door and found the boy desperately trying to catch his breath.

The brawler pulled the boy by the collar to his feet, but he had trouble keeping himself balanced. Felicity punched him again with the same explosive force in the stomach, stealing whatever breath he managed to gather. He fell to the ground, holding himself in pain. "Not so tough now, are you?" Felicity mocked.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled his almost-limp body, lifting him up to his feet again. She then delivered an uppercut with her right, the force of which lifted him up a few inches, then jabbed him with her left to send him off to the wall across the street. "Hey, you still alive?"

Felicity walked over to him to check if he was still breathing, and he was. Good. She thought for a moment there that she accidentally killed the brat. She didn't know why, but the guy who hired her didn't want any of her targets getting killed. She didn't bother asking why. She didn't need to know. With a shake of her head, she pulled out a white flower from her coat pocket and placed it on the boy's body. "You're lucky this is the only flower you'll be getting today, kid. You can have your seat back."

Now to take care of those other two. These thugs belonged to the same gang, and no doubt one of their own had heard the gunshot-like sounds her Stringers made and run off to tell the rest of the pack. She decided to find the other two quickly before they bunched up. She wasn't afraid of getting surrounded, she just didn't want to waste her time any more than she needed to. So off she went towards the ruined train station where the next guy was supposed to be hiding. With any luck, he'd put up a better fight than this sorry excuse for a thug.

A brave step into a new world, the Lionhart finally arrived at their destination. It wouldn't be their last, as it was an expedition to determine where their new home would be. As their massive ship would land on the desecrated land, a few units exited with their swords and shields raised in defense. Gorion would taker might steps down the platform, exiting the ship in his magnificent robe. Brandished on his shoulder was a steel lion, a ruby in its mouth. Resting his hand on his longsword, he looked into the distance and scanned. Destroyed. A lot of the town was destroyed, seemingly charred or withered by water. Sparks went to his side with a skip to his step. He put a hand on the lion's shoulder, and the two met eyes. They were overjoyed that they finally left Traverse Town. The bitter Revas filled the void of the other side. "Finally, it was stuffy in...Oh my. Who did all of this?" Gorion shrugged, but he did noticed that people were afflicted based on how they roamed the streets.

Criminals could occasionally be seen running from alley to alley. Stepping forward, Gorion had some of the units stay behind and some scout the city. There was seemingly no point in hiding as the guard was non-existent at that area. Whoever stayed in this area was likely people who couldn't make it to whatever evacuation was presented. "I don't know, but we're going to find out. You should scout ahead, make sure no one's in trouble. Sparks, go work on that schematic. I'm going to talk to the locals. Men! On me!" Gorion left with a squadron to protect him, Sparks returning to the ship to continue what he was doing. Revas warped ahead, entering some empty buildings and peering out of them. After a while, he came upon a bar, hearing a ruckus in it. Pounding his fists together, Revas was enveloped by light. His synthesis body transformed into its armor mode.

"Well, I guess it's my time to shine. After...being inside him for so long, I need to relieve myself." Dashing forward, the elf warped. He followed the girl as she left for the train station. The issue seemed to be with her, and she was the one left standing. Moving throughout the rubble and in-tact buildings, the elf would eventually notice a thug harassing a homeless civilian. Upon closer inspection, it was clearly and elf. Descending, he warped behind the thug, tapping his shoulder. When he turned around, the elf was gone. Suddenly an armored figure was zooming by on the right. A jolt slammed against the back of his neck. Flying forward, the man was underneath a mid-air Revas. Slamming his feet down, the man was smashed into the ground. Landing on him, Revas put a hand to his throat and raised his fist. The red hair of his armor flowed gracefully, which were shifting metal dreadlocks radiating with energy.

"Mala suledin nadas, SHEMLEN!" Smashing his fist down repeatedly, Revas would bash the man's face but not kill him. The elven girl would yell for him to stop. Standing up, Revas kept his appearance concealed to even the Lionhart with his armor mode. Embracing the elf, he had a face of concern. "Ir abelas, Asha." "Ma serannas..,.Wait...how do you?"[/color] Revas' eyes widened, realizing that the elf was actually one from his lands. "You...same Arla?" "Yes. It's so...It's so good to know someone else survived. After the terrible thing the shemlen did. But those people and these people aren't the same. It's not everyone, just a group. Most are good, kind. Please don't give them a reason to see us as monsters, Elvhen need Elvhenan. Enasal Iras is Eth." Revas nodded, the thug running off and likely to run into the girl running to the train station with some thugs trailing behind. "Go, it's going to get dangerous here. I was following someone and followed them. I saw what was happening, so you'll need to go to safety. If you see a Lionhart soldier, go with them. They are good people." I guess I trust them too.

As she gotten closer and closer to her destination, she slowed down a bit to watch the remains of the buildings in this district. She had seen it before during her initial arrival, but the scorch marks still gave her a sense of envy. The fires must have been glorious. A raging inferno consuming all, rising to the clouds, bellowing smoke that would have been seen for miles. Just thinking of it got her riled up. What a pleasure it would have been to see such a sight.

She pulled the gas mask up to the bridge of her nose to hide the sick smile she had. As much as she enjoyed the images of the destruction in her mind, she didn't want the locals to know that she had a burning desire to set this area aflame once again. How easy it would have been, especially since the law didn't seem to be present. How else could petty thugs like the one she beaten senseless still be roaming the streets? Had they been taken out by the unfortunate events that lead to this destruction? Perhaps they were busy elsewhere? It did not make a difference.

Up ahead, she saw the debris pile that used to be the train station. A company of two were running out of it, going to the far side. She guessed that that word got out about the brawl at the bar, if people could call it that, and they were calling for the rest of the gang. Just ahead of her, she saw a thug running out from an alleyway. From the looks of things, he must have been fighting someone he shouldn't have. He looked to be from the same gang as well. These fools just don't know how to pick their fights. She let him go and warn whoever it was he was going to warn. That should flush them out for her.

Her eyes scanned the rubble as she stopped in the middle of the platform, waiting for them to come out. She patiently waited. She knew they were there. She heard their voices, and the rustling. They were arming themselves, but she doubted that they had anything to worry about. If they had guns, she knew how to get around them. If they had bats, steel pipes, or whatever they could have pulled out from the ruins, they were already dead. Explosives? She highly doubted that.

Then they came. A pathetic swarm of six, including the injured one. They were patting their palms with pipes and wrenches, getting closer by the second.

"What do we have here?" came the venomous voice of the one she was tasked to 'talk' to. "This is Vandal territory, and I'm afraid you're trespassing, and do you know what we do to trespassers?"

"Kill them?" Felicity said flatly, shrugging her shoulders.

"We kill them. Yes. You should run. Maybe you can live for another minute."

These idiots. Always so full of themselves. They surrounded her, keeping a distance of about twelve feet. She looked at the six of them with eyes that said she had better things to do.

"Not running eh? Alright, we'll make your death hurt as much as--"

Time froze.

Felicity sighed as she calmly walked over to the man that attempted to get her from behind. Did they really think she was so stupid as to let herself get surrounded by this pathetic lot without having a trick up her sleeve? Luckily for them, she was only here to knock them out. They'd learn. Experience was a great teacher.

Twenty rounds. That's all she had left in total until she had to reload. Four shots to the face for five of them, while she left her real mark for later. Yes, that sounded good. She wanted to make sure they'd be out for the count, but with time frozen, she couldn't gauge how many hits they could take until they died. Four shots to the head would probably be too much to take in one instant, so she had disperse the forces.

So, for the five thugs, she aimed her explosive punches at four areas. One in the stomach, one in the chest, one to their right kidneys, and one to the head. She walked back to the center of the circle, then the flow of time was restored. In one instant, all twenty explosive blasts sounded at once. The combined detonation was deafening, at least to those who weren't used to them. And the one she left untouched was definitely not used to them as he jumped out of his skin as his fellow thugs flew off from her.

--possible... the thug said, glancing at his fallen comrades. They were breathing, but it looked as if they'd be sleeping for a long while. "Impossible! H-how?!"

Felicity walked forward, and the thug began to backpedal away, but tripped on a broken-off piece of stone. "N-no! Please! Stay back! I'm waring you!" he said, his voice trembling so beautifully.

"Any last words, kiddo?" Felicity said, as she ejected the shells from her gauntlets. 24 red-cased shells in total fell to the ground. The sound of the hollow rounds seemed to bring a nervous air to the boy. Felicity reached for her back under her trench coat and pulled out two belts of ammunition, loading it to each of her Stingers. Slowly, so the thug could think of pathetic excuses to save himself.

"Look, I don't e-even w-want to be h-here, alright? It-it-it's just the guys, they w-would have beaten me up! Please! I'll go straight from now on, okay? I-I-I'll be a model citizen! I-I-I-I'll donate to charity." The sounds of Felicity's weapon as they were primed made him jump. "Please don't hurt me! I won't do this again, I promise!"

"Would you shut up? You're making this look embarrassing."

"NO! PLEASE!"

Felicity grabbed the punk's shirt and pulled him up a few inches from the ground. He offered more reasons to be spared, but those only went through the other ear. "Good night." He tried to kick and punch, but Felicity delivered a swift blow to his abdomen, shutting him up with intense pain. "Okay..." or maybe not. "I get it... You want to teach me a lesson, right? Want me to... feel what the guy we beat up... a few weeks ago felt? Huh? This is what it is, isn't it? A revenge plot... okay..."

"I almost feel sorry for you." The boy looked up, only to be met with the speeding fist. He was thrown back by the impact. After making sure he was still alive, and truly knocked unconscious, she left another flower on his chest. "So, this was a revenge plot? Guess you and your buddies got lucky. Had to get rough with the wrong people. You should learn to pick your fights a little more carefully." She looked down at the boy and felt the tiniest bit of pity for him. With any luck, he'd learn, and leave this so-called gang he's part of.

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Abilities used:
Pause -- Time stops for 1 post per character tier (can be lower, minimum of 1), leaving everything and everyone who isn't aligned with Time to freeze in place. (CD: amount of posts Pause was active)

While Felicity continued to take down the thugs, she would draw the attention of the other henchmen. More and more would pour from the alleys, amassing to thirty or so thugs with various weapons. They began to surround her, and from afar the elf could see this lone warrior finally reach the ruined train station. Crawling along the buildings, his body would shift through space to close distances and overcome obstacles. Once he neared, just as they were surrounding Felicity, he soared onto the back of one, slamming the daggers on his wrists down on the neck of one of the lesser thugs. Springing back, he summoned his normal daggers to his hands. Zooming around and warping, he'd pass the blades through the throats of at least five thugs before appearing behind Felicity with his back to her in a boxer's position.

"Well, quite the predicament you're in, shem. Need assistance?" A thug attacked Revas, which was met with a counter by shifting his hands around to deflect the weapon, then smacking and using the momenting to thrust his hand forward. He turned it, skimming along the throat and pricking the jugular, forcing blood to spray out. "Scum of the worlds, shemlen are. Since I'm feeling nice, I'll take it as you aren't on the level of these roaches." Revas would deflect thugs away from him, warping to their side and jabbing them away. His armor was powerful, so he could withstand the strikes regardless. "I guess I should go with all the formalities. I'm a Lionhart agent and I'm here to help you, such is such. Let's just exterminate the bugs." Revas was bitter, but focused on the battle at hand. Warping between three thugs, he moved like a pinball with his fists and elbows. Slamming to and fro, he built up momentum.

Eventually he swung his body around one of the thugs, kicking a stray thug towards Felicity and pinning himself to the one he wrapped around by stabbing into him. Warping above another of the three he'd thrust his leg down, slamming his foot onto the head of the thug. His head and the base of his neck would meet, the neck shattering within and killing him. Warping one more time, Revas stabbed into the outer right knee, pulling out as fast as he could before stabbing into the kidney. He'd pull out one more time and stab underneath the armpit, grabbing the thug and throwing him into the air. Spinning the daggers in his hands, he'd resume a defensive position as the group would surround both of them, splitting up a bit due to their distance.

Things were going well. She looked behind her to see a number of thugs walking up to her, looking for blood. These people just don't know how to pick their fights. She counted around thirty of them. She cracked her knuckles while walking up to meet them. The one she wanted was right at the farthest point from her. He seemed to be a little bit cautious. Hopefully he saw the pattern and ran, so she could have fun hunting him down after she dealt with the rest of these--

She stumbled back as someone appeared in front of her, wearing some type of armor. He seemed to be offering his help, but as she watched him display his 'assistance', she could feel her blood boiling. No, this was not part of the plan. She didn't mind someone butting in to help her, she wouldn't even mind if they took care of the whole job for her, but this kind of help was not the kind she wanted right now. Especially since she was specifically told not to kill anyone. Looking at the five people he already cut the throats of, she was pretty sure they were as good as dead by day's end, if not in a few minutes. Whether this would count or not, she didn't know. But damn if she would let this 'helper' sabotage her objectives. She let out a deep sigh. This situation could still be salvaged. The guy who hired her gave her three targets to attack, and told her not to kill them. He didn't say anything about extras, so there was a chance she could still cash in on this. Wishful thinking, but it was currently the only thing keeping her from turning on her wannabe savior.

As his side of the fray attacked, so did Felicity's side. She pulled down her orange shades, and the whole world seemed to slow down for her. The others would perceive time to be flowing normally, but to her, everything was slowed down to half its speed. This allowed her to easily weave through the flurry of metal that attempted to land on her. Although she wasn't moving any faster than she would be, her reflexes would seem to be ungodly. She delivered a pair of punches each to three of her attackers, while she used the momentum of her final blast to spin herself and land a kick squarely on the jaw of a fourth, who went down in a spiraling motion.

She pulled her shades back up and she saw the world running at its normal pace. She found herself rubbing backs with the Lionhart, and in a fit of rage, triggered one of her shells to propel the back of her hand to slap him across the back of his head. "What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted at him angrily, before promptly turning her back on him so the thugs couldn't get her from behind. "I needed all of them alive! You think you can just waltz in and breach a client's specification and sabotage my mission? Once we're done here, you and I are going to have a little talk." she said coldly before priming her gauntlets again and dishing out a couple more jabs and uppercuts aimed to knock people out. She was glad to know that her third target wasn't one of the unlucky few that got killed. "I'm warning you, stranger. Kill one more, and you'll have to deal with me."

Revas shook his head, he couldn't believe how his help wasn't appreciated. They were people who deserved to die, so he killed them. Sure, he was told constantly not to kill humans. Sure, it was totally him having bias against them because they destroyed his home world. Even though years passed in comparison to these worlds, Revas was still young in his mentality. Elves from his world lived for hundreds of years, watching the humans drop dead at their usual age. Revas was a loose cannon who needed to learn to come to terms with what happened back on his home world, as well as learning self-control. Continuing his attack, he sighed. He dismissed his daggers, only having the wrist-mounted ones now. Warping around, he'd jab his extended fingers into the throats of thugs, using that in a combo mixed with a powerful knee to the gut. Grabbing a thug, he'd spin around and knock other thugs away before throwing him into the air.

When the girl tried slapping him, he'd hear the gunshot and warp in front of her, pointing a finger up to her chin but keeping distance. "These people don't deserve anything less. And don't you dare strike me, shemlen." He would instinctively flailed his arm outward, smacking a thug into a group of his allies. Sliding by Felicity, he slammed his fist into the stomach of an attack, grabbing him before he could fly away from his strike so he could throw him to Felicity to finish him off. "Heads up!" Revas was caught by several strikes from the crude weapons the thugs used. Laughing, he jet into the sky with a burst of light. His body entered a ball form while flipping, landing afar. Most of the thugs should be down by now, but Revas would continue the strenuous task of having to keep things non-lethal out of respect. Warping, he smashed his hand, with an alternate version of him doing the same but slightly lower, into a thug's face to knock him out. "I apologize for...my carnal impulses. I'm told I'm a bit hot-headed towards the round-ears."

She didn't have time for this nonsense. If he couldn't handle a simple parameter like, 'Don't kill anyone', she was going to personally strike him down. However, he seemed to at least respect her enough to put away his blades. A wise choice. With a sigh, she mentally cursed herself, having lost count of how many rounds she still had in her Stingers. She guessed only about a third was left, and so continued her flurry of flying fists. When the stranger called to her, she spun around and caught the flying thug right in the stomach. He wasn't going to be feeling anything any time soon. "Don't get me wrong. Any other day, I wouldn't mind. But I take my job seriously."

She felt the blunt edge of a pipe hit her on the shoulder, making her grunt in annoyed pain. "Lucky shot." She pulled down her visor again and sped up her perception. She fired once from both of her gauntlets behind her to propel her forward. She wound up and hit her attacker with a left hook, which dry fired. Looks like she was out of ammunition on that Stinger. Swinging the other way, it still fired, and sent the thug careening towards a group. There were only about six left on her side. A nice number to split her shots by.

Felicity ejected her shells and pulled out another set from her replicators, tossing them up in the air so she could grab a downwards swing, redirecting it masterfully with a little slight of hand so it ended up in the face of another thug. As the rounds drop, she threw her arms to the side, catching the belts in the grooves of her gauntlets. The gauntlets primed and Felicity limbered herself up, before she simply stood still and gestured for the thugs to attack her. Taking her taunt, they attacked.

Although just a split second later, there was another combined explosion on them, and the empty shells from her gauntlets were ejected, each casing clinking and clanking on the concrete. This was too easy. With her side of the field taken care of, she reloaded her Stingers and walked over to her third target, who ended up being thrown against a pile of debris. She checked his pulse before leaving a third white flower on his unconscious body.

"You done over there, Lionhart? I better not be seeing any more bodies." Just a friendly little reminder in case he did kill another and needed to run from the woman before she unleashed her fury on him.

When everything was said and done, the elf's armor retracted into his right arm, allowing him to show Felicity his true form. He donned red garment with a lion's head on his left shoulder, his gauntlets holding a similar theme. His ears pierced the veil of his brown, scruffy hair and he stood at a decent height. Smiling, the elf brushed himself off. "Well, I take my work seriously too. I'm a mercenary, and I put the blade to those that deserve it. Sure, they don't put me on many jobs. Ah, probably need to calm down. My fingers just itch when I see humans." Revas looked over at Felicity, feeling a twitch in his body. It was that carnal hatred and rage towards the race that ended his place at home. It was elves, too, but they were tricked into corruption. Elves trusting in humans was always a bad idea. At least a lion led their mercenary group. Revas looked the mercenary girl up and down, not moving from his spot until he was certain she wouldn't try to smack him again.

"Well, I guess before the big lion shakes the ground by his steps, I should introduce myself. My name is Red, Red Soleimon. I work as a mercenary for the Lionhart Guild. We hail from Traverse Town and are journeying for a new home. This would be perfect for helping the homeless...but no coin in it. If you ever need a small militia as a resource, I'm sure Gorion would take you." Revas knew he had to give this speech to potential members for the guild to grow, however on the inside he hated it. He hated talking to the dirty hume that corrupted the air around him. He hated that he had to give in to some non-elvhen's offer just so he could survive the attack on the shop, only to be taken to a place elsewhere. Maybe that was just him being too judgmental, but for now, he needed to recruit someone he couldn't argue had skill. "Also when you see a big lion-man, don't make him laugh. Please. Now, as for your name?"

Felicity turned around just in time to see the man switch out of his armor. Of course, he had to be one of those high-and-mighty types. Elves. They had them back in Haven, and they weren't all bad, but they all had their prejudices. She could just tell from the way he looked at her that he felt a bit of spite for her just for being a human. As far as she was concerned, he could have thought of her as the devil for all she cared. So long as he kept whatever he has to say to himself, she wouldn't have to break is neck.

As he introduced himself, miraculously without making himself sound like someone she'd kick where it would hurt, she had began to feel the pain on her left shoulder from the pipe that managed to hit her. That hit must have been stronger than she expected. She sat down on a pile of rubble and took off her jacket, placing it on a piece of steel jutting out of the rubble. She was wearing a plain white tank top underneath, and one could see a few scars on her arms. Most of them were defensive wounds. Looking at her injury, she rubbed her sore shoulder and winced. It was pretty swollen and probably fractured somewhere, but it was not the worst she suffered.

She looked up at the elven mercenary when he asked for her name, narrowing her eyes slightly. Pulling down her gas mask, she breathed a sigh. "Felicity Rodriguez. 1st Lieutenant, Crimson Shadows." She stood up and put on her jacket, zipping it up to her neck. "Your peers just as bloodthirsty as you are, or are you the troublemaker of the group?" she scoffed, but in a light manner as she walked over the unlucky corpses.

Revas kept his distance from Felicity, being wary of her furious punch she seems quite fond of. The elf saw her in pain, knowing that it was his duty to assist with anyone who wasn't seen as an enemy of the Lionhart. But on the inside, his vice against the hume had held him back. Sighing, he walked slowly over to the mercenary. "Do you need a medic? We have some healers who can help you." He hesitated in saying it, but the boy realized that he owed her that much for intruding on her job. Revas still knew what it was like to go by the books, even if he didn't personally do it. So making up for it by offering the resources of his guild might help make amends. Maybe he'll gain some trust from Gorion by recruiting Felicity. When she asked if the others were like him, he shook his head, but trailed his eyes off in the distance. Nobody had the spite he had for hume, nobody had the hatred. If someone hated anyone, it was everyone. Nothing ever so specific and malicious.

"No. I'm my own person. My guild is seen in good regard back home, but I'm not." Revas looked down, scratching the back of his head. "Like I said, people say I'm a bit of a hothead. Long story. I'm an elf, most shemlen deserve their suffering. But I sit and think sometimes, maybe we all do. That about sums up that headache." Revas wagged his head, closing his eyes before refocusing. "If you ever want to freelance, my leader will be happy to work with you. Besides, I think Sparks would like taking a peek at your tech." He pointed at shotgun gloves, before turning and hearing a mighty roar. It shook the ground around them, making him sigh in annoyance. "And there's the wonderful leader coming this way." A massive anthro walked along the broken road, his steps causing tremors. It was Gorion, the might lion ward of the elf.

"Lo and behold! Not everyone seems to be dead! But I assume the bodies aren't your's m'lady. Revas, you did good. I didn't kill EVERY human this time. Ha! Now, who is the wonderfully dressed woman before me?" Revas took a step forward, taking a proper stance and saluting the lion before being signalled to rest at ease. "Sir, her name is Felicity and is a fellow mercenary, apparently a Lieutenant of the Crimson Shadows." Gorion laughed with a low bellow, putting his massive paws at his waist. "Sure you don't want to work for a guild standing for pride and honor? Don't take this kid as an example." Revas sighed, as usual. [color#6666ff]"You know, I'm hungry for some big game, sir."[/color] Gorion growled at the elf. "And I am a carnivore, Boy."

She waved off his offer to see a medic. The shoulder would heal on its own, and although quite a number of people would see her act as hardheaded or arrogant, she was simply acting out of caution. She knew no one would swoop in and save her if the offer turned out to be a trap. Red's confession about his hatred of humans also weighed down against him. But then the elf asked her if she would be interested in freelancing for their guild. She thought about it. There wasn't anything keeping her from doing that. The Shadows were very lenient on their policies, and it helped root themselves into other organizations, which gave them unprecedented access to anything they wanted to know or have. Not bad for a group that started out as scavengers.

Felicity's eye twitched when he made mention of someone who would have liked to take a peek at her gauntlets. She didn't like anyone touching her gear, and the thought alone was enough to give her a little tick of annoyance. A roar caused her to send her hand to a screwdriver on her tool belt, however, she realized that the oncoming anthromorphic lion was the leader Red spoke about. The way he spoke made him sound friendly enough, although she kept her guard up just the same. "Pride and honor, huh? Heh. You sound just like my superior. Hope that doesn't mean you're as insane as he is."

Speaking of which, she remembered that her commanding officer disappeared around the same time the portals showed up. There was a good chance he was skulking about somewhere. Though, knowing him, he'd be the one to find her. She put her hand to her chin and examined the two mercenaries. If Ghost was going to expand the Shadows to these worlds, he'd need some form of contact with as many groups as he could to make settling in easier. These... Lionhearts, was it? They might make a good node in the network. She didn't fully trust them yet, since she knew how easy it was to mask one's personality, but she knew she could get herself out of trouble well enough. "How strong are your men, physically, and number-wise?" she asked simply, staring at the lion with a bored expression.

Revas grumbled with his arms crossed as Felicity mentioned that he was insane. It might be true, but words still hurt. Sure, he might have sliced the throats open of several thugs that probably should have been imprisoned, but that wasn't the point. Sure, he almost jeopardized her mission over the fact that he hates humans. Sure, he might have almost attacked her when she tried smacking him. Sure, he'd rather everyone in the group fight die but him. Sure -- she's right. He's not right in the head. Gorion kept his chuckling bellow as he walked over to the elf, putting a heavy paw on his body and nearly knocking him over. "No, no. This kid just needs some fine-tuning. Training. Needs to learn some damn responsibility. He could be one of the best, if he wasn't so blood-thirsty. But our men?" The lion crossed his arms and held a triumphant pose.

"I train them personally. They are the best for what we've got. Good soldiers, great warriors. I make sure each one leaves the training stage with horror stories. It makes them better. They leave with a few scars, but they also leave full of pride and might!" Gorion looked at some of the men around him, they were courageous, but they feared their leader. Respect and fear, but they don't fear him as the leader. They fear him as the trainer. The lion that whipped them into submission and put them through horrible trials. "I don't have horror stories. By the time I trained, I was already ahead of everyone." Gorion looked at Revas, who made a frustrated face as he looked away. "Now, now. I remember that time you were walking across the smoldering rocks and you yelped like a little girl." Revas point furiously at Gorion. "You had Sparks inject something in me that made me feel everything so much more! I felt the air in a way I never thought I would! Damn you!" Gorion roared at Revas, making him take a step back. "Watch your tongue, you are still on thin ice. I'm proud you didn't kill so many people this time, but you're still too damn reckless. You're lucky I didn't leave you home!" Revas crossed his arms and the two went silent.

Felicity looked at the lion. He sure looked to be the leading type, just from his stance and speech alone. And during his banter with Red, the pyro could tell that the latter had a sense of fear from their leader. Though, considering said leader had the capacity to snap bone and grind it into powder with just one bite, only a fool wouldn't be wary.

"You give your guild a lot of hype," she said, taking a canteen from her belt and drinking from it. With the lion's sensitive nose, he might be able to pick up the strong scent of alcohol from the girl's drink. She sighed a little, returning the container to her belt before scanning the group in front of her. Clean uniforms were one thing, but she had to know if they lived up to the hype their leader built up. What better way than to gauge that herself?

They looked tough, but she wondered if it was all jelly at the center. "Tell you what. What about you give me a little demonstration of your troops' training? I want to see if they live up to the hype you built up." She smirked, pulling up her gas mask and adjusting her shades on her head. Just before her face was partially covered, they might have seen a fairly enthusiastic smile come from the girl. "I want to spar with some of your men, then I'll decide if I would want to work with your guild. How about it? Just pick whoever and how many you want to represent."

Gorion took time to think after his guild was challenged. Nodding as he paced, he looked over to Revas and to some of the soldiers accompanying him. Furling his brow, the lion internally debated on who to send. Extending his arm, he waved over from one of the soldiers to Felicity. "One of the Tiger Knights, Serif. A good ol' duel. I train them, but few are adept in magic. So keep in mind, they won't be pulling out neat little tricks." Gorion smiled, signalling Serif to take a duelling position. Space was given for the two to fight. Serif, himself, held a bastard sword and medium shield, clearly built to do both offense and defense. He took a pose akin to the Romans, for he in fact was from a world like Olympus in theme, just without the gods and mostly warring until few remained. The world crumbled from the destruction his people brought to it, Serif at least was different. He wanted to do something good, not kill his own world.

"I'm ready, madame."

Felicity nodded when the leader introduced her to her opponent, a warrior with a sword and shield. It was also good to know that only a few of them knew magic, which evens out since she herself hardly knew any. She only had one spell in her arsenal, and she learned it in case she wanted to start a quick fire, or to rearm herself if her replicators got damaged.

She looked at the warrior in front of her as the others gave them space. She held her hands at her side, and the Stingers popped out, instantaneously covering her lower arms. "Don't hold back, because I won't." She pulled down her shades and primed the stingers, which both made very pleasing cha-chiks, at least to the girl.

"Alright, let's start!" She dashed forward, firing one shot from each of her stingers, blasting herself forward. She threw a heavy punch at the shield to get Serif off-balanced before throwing another punch with her other hand. Both punches would explode with a force that would deliver a force equal to her regular punches, basically doubling the force of her punches.

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Stingers:
8/12 || 8/12

Serif smiled, shifting his body so that the shield would take the force of the heavy punch. The punch would allow him to spin much faster than normal. In order to do this, he timed it so that it was right as she was trapped by momentum. In an attempt to utilize the momentum, Serif would enter the spin and slash at the same time. The force would hopefully slam Felicity onto the ground, cancelling out her next move and leaving her open to a following stab to the back. Revas chuckled, expecting Serif to lose, but lose with pride. "Did Gorion forget to mention Serif is an expert of the sword-and-shield style? I prefer dual-wielding or single-handed myself." Serif also knew how to fight with just one of his two weapons. His shield withstood against the mighty punch, due to moving with the blow. "I should also mention that my home world wasn't known for mercy." Gorion himself expected for the second attack to fail, as it was too reckless.

((I forgot how to math... Stingers have 10 rounds left each, not 8.))

Seeing Serif use the momentum she gave him to slash at her, she used her second punch to push herself farther to avoid the wide slash, and a simple stab attack was easy enough to dodge. "You don't say," she said in response to Red's tip about her opponent, "And here I thought he was going to fight me using his sword as a boomerang."

She smirked under her mask when her opponent told her that his home wasn't known for mercy. "Well that's good then. All the more reason not to hold back." At that moment, Felicity doubled her perception of the speed of time, making everything around her go in slow motion. To everyone other than herself, time would pass as normal. Her skill didn't make her any faster, physically, but mentally instead. This allowed her to react to things quite easily, which was a must have when fighting in close proximity.

Felicity ran towards the warrior at full speed, and when she was within striking distance from his sword, she slid down, using her left hand to shield herself from, and parry his blade, should it come for her, while her other hand went to hit his right thigh. Can't fight a mobile opponent if your legs don't work. Once she slid to a safe distance, she used one shot from her left to pick herself up. When she stopped, she turned around, preparing for another attack. She decided to take this slow for now.

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Stingers
9/12 || 9/12

Serif made sure he was precise with his timing, so when she slid he didn't use his sword. No, that would be foolish. She could use those massive gauntlets to fire a round into him or snatch the blade away. Since it took a bit of time for her to reach her full speed, he was able to articulate a counter. As she slid towards him, he would use the pointed bottom of his medium shield and he, too, would crouch low. But when he went to do this, he'd point his sword upward in case she road the shield upward with her momentum. The point end would be aimed to stab into her lower body, hoping to pin her. "Well, we do have some unique fighters here." Gorion quipped, seeing as what she said as sarcastic. Serif himself angled his sword up, but was prepared to also stab to the left or right.

Felicity pointed down and behind her, then triggered her gauntlets to push herself up to avoid the shield's pointed bottom and get herself upright. As she flew slightly towards the warrior, she wound her arm back to punch Serif, but half-way through, she disappeared from thin air, only to silently reappear behind him instantly, with a fully-wound punch that she sent directly into the back of his head, then she quickly followed up with another strike to the body with her opposite hand. She shot two more rounds in front of her to push herself to a safe distance.

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7/12|| 7/12
Seek -- Felicity repositions herself to where she was at a certain time in the past, however her current status isn't affected. (CD: 3)

Serif would immediately go over the shield as she projected herself, using this opportunity to stab her in the stomach. If successful, he'd slam his shield into her to slam her into the ground immediately afterwards. She underestimated him, seeing as he timed the counter to happen as soon as she neared, leaving her right next to him. In the event that she was able to continue the attack to his back, he'd know to be wary of the back. Serif, due to having to train with a man who teleports everywhere, also known as Red Soleimon, suspected that when she vanished to immediately turn around. While he dodge the first punch with a weave, this left him open to the second and he was sent to a tumble. He kept a good grip on his equipment, recovering after a moment and taking a defensive pose. "Well, if you didn't know this already, our community hot-head likes to do a bit of that too. But that was a good shot to the chest." Serif waited for her next move, fighting on the defensive and using openings to his advantage.

Felicity would smirk, teleporting a little earlier than she planned, but things worked out alright as her initial plan got an attack through. She hopped back and gave a slow clap. "Not too shabby." However, she wasn't satisfied with this fight yet. It was an oversight on her part to ignore the constant teleports of the elf to be playing part Serif's training, but she had a trick or two up her sleeves. Something that had gotten her out of a number of tight spots before. Everything froze in one frame in time. The Lionhearts, their leader, Red... everything but her were stuck in a single moment.

"Let's see you dodge this," she'd say as she walked over to a time-frozen Serif. She pulled her arm back and freely hit the mercenary. Two shots to the head, three to the body, and a love tap on the shoulder holding the shield. She walked over to the side, in a different place than she was initially to see if he'd go flying from the impacts. To the others, they may think she teleported again. She shot the last shells into the air so she could reload later. When time returned to normal, the six shots into Serif would have blasted in unison. Felicity would then eject the rounds from her gauntlet and load in orange shells into her stingers.

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12/12 | 12/12
Pause -- Time stops for 1 post per character tier (can be lower, minimum of 1), leaving everything and everyone who isn't aligned with Time to freeze in place. (CD: amount of posts Pause was active)

Seek (3 posts)

Once time would stop, Serif would be sent tumbling along the ground. To brace for impact, he'd tighten his forearm and slam the shield into the ground, angled to let him roll and stab the sword into the dirt. Resuming his defensive position, he'd close the distance, leaving enough room to try and goad Felicity into an attack. He'd move his shield, going for a feint stab, but if she were to try and parry, he'd pull back and move his shield to the front once more. If she punched at the shield directly, it'd be low enough for him to arch his arm over it and attempt to stab down into her arm where it isn't protected. He was definitely sore from the strikes she dealt, but it wasn't the end of the world. While a few more moments like that would certainly finish him, he'd continue fighting on.

"I 'saw' you do this only a little bit ago. Things suddenly happened like that, so I'm going to assume it's some sort of time manipulation." Gorion sighed and rolled his eyes, he hated major element manipulation. Especially with Red teleporting everywhere. "Oh, brother. We have another one of those. Red, why couldn't you be the only one? Space. Time. What next, someone likes looking at the moon a lot and decides to manipulate how much it glows?"

Felicity chuckled a little. "You can assume what you want," she'd say. He hit the mark on that one, but she wasn't going to confirm nor deny that. When he motioned to stab her, she instinctively raised her gauntlets to redirect his attacks, but as she did so, he pulled back and tried to bash her with the shield. With things going in slow motion for her, she saw the little ruse and pulled back.

So far she'd been the one doing most of the attacking. She raised her arms up to chest level and circled the warrior, looking for an opening, then she realized something. She softly ejected the unused rounds, linked them together and wrapped them around herself as a belt, then took out another set of shells from her replicators. They were red and they should be the answer to such a defensive player. She hopped a few steps back and punched the air in front of her, triggering the shell. A glowing projectile shot from her Stinger and tracked the warrior. She aimed it at his hand to get him to drop the sword, and shot another one in case the first missed. On impact, the projectile would explode. She spread her legs slightly apart to get herself balanced and fired two shots from each gauntlet.

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Flareshots
9/12 | 9/12

Serif thrusted his body into a slide, giving himself the angle to throw the spiked bottom of his shield like a spear. It would glide hard towards Felicity's midsection. He would do this right as she made her movements backwards, The bullet would soar past his shoulder, missing him and he would slash hard against the second with the flat side of his blade, causing him to swing back and under, bring his arm up with the momentum and under-hand throwing his sword straight towards Felicity as soon as she would stay still or move.. Flinching from the explosion, he'd take the time to resume his rush. If he hit her with the shield, it'd likely force her to the ground. He'd pick up his shield then before stabbing down. If he missed, he'd go on the offensive and would use a 3-slash combo to keep Felicity at bay on the defensive. She didn't seem to be the defensive type. But he'd make sure to recover his sword. Gorion was proud of such a fighter, triumphantly hmph-ing. "Shemlen, don't play that pointless game. And you, Lion, don't keep that smile on your face. Serif has released his shield."

With time slowed down for her, she easily avoided the shield by making a corkscrew dive to the side, following with a tumble to continue her attack. When the sword was thrown at her, she decided to be fancy and grab its hilt as it sailed past her. She was taken by the momentum, but that was already taken to account. She used that force to swing around a full 360 degree and send it back to its owner. It wasn't as graceful as when Serif did it, but it wasn't meant to.

Skidding a bit, she locked her feet in place, then threw two punches in quick succession, sending the projectiles at Serif. The way she set up the attack, the sword would have barred the warrior's advance, and if he either took the time to catch his sword, or dive for cover, the projectiles would have been there to knock him back.

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8/12 || 8/12